Advancing adaptive governance of social-ecological systems through theoretical multiplicity

In recent years there has been rising scientific and policy interest in the adaptive governance of social-ecological systems. A systematic literature review of adaptive governance research during the period 2005–2014, demonstrates a vibrant debate taking place that spans a variety of empirical and theoretical approaches. The particular strength of adaptive governance is that it provides a theoretical lens for research that combines the analyses of novel governance capacities such as adaptive capacity, collaboration, scaling, knowledge and learning. As a way to give greater depth and analytical rigour to future studies over the next decade and beyond, we highlight the added value of theoretical multiplicity (i.e., focusing on the combination of theories to address complex problems). We argue that theoretical multiplicity can encourage stronger synergies between adaptive governance and other theoretical approaches and can help address epistemologically grey areas in adaptive governance scholarship, such as power and politics, inclusion and equity, short term and long term change, the relationship between public policy and adaptive governance.     

The effectiveness of protection policies and legislative framework with special regard to karst landscapes: Insights from Slovenia

Karst terrain offers a great range of economic assets, provides unique habitats and valuable ecosystem services. Owing to its particular nature, this environment is highly susceptible to destruction. Any interference is likely to have irreversible impacts and disturb the natural balance of the elements (water, soil, flora and fauna) and processes (e.g. corrosion, CO₂ sequestration, speleothem growth) that constitute it. Karst areas must therefore be holistically managed in an appropriate and careful manner. A critical overview of current protection legislation in Slovenia has been prepared, with particular reference to karst areas. The major problem is a lack of harmonised multi-sector policies regulating land use and planning throughout the karst region, the absence of detailed guidelines and insufficient pursuance of karst in all its complexity and vulnerability. A comprehensive management approach for karst areas has been proposed and could subsequently be adopted by other karst-rich countries. Management is based on the enforcement of karst-specific legislation, including provision of detailed management plans and their strict implementation. Common database maintenance, reconciliation between various stakeholders and raising public awareness are additional important parts of the approach.     

A dynamic approach for evaluating the consequences of toxic gas dispersion in the chemical plants using CFD and evacuation modelling

Accidental releases of toxic gas in the chemical plants have caused significant harm to the exposed occupants. To evaluate the consequences of these accidents, a dynamic approach considering the gas dispersion and behavior evacuation modelling has been proposed in this paper. This approach is applied to a hypothetical scenario including an accidental chlorine release in a chemical plant. CFD technique is utilized to calculate the time-varying concentration filed and evacuation modelling is used to obtain the evacuation routes. The exposure concentrations in the evacuation routes are calculated by using the code of data query. The integrated concentration toxic load model and probit model are used to calculate the probability of mortality of each occupant by using the exposure concentrations. Based on this dynamic approach, a new concept of average probability of mortality (APM) has been proposed to quantify the consequences of different accidental scenarios. The results show that APM decreases when the required detection time decreases or emergency evacuation mode is implemented. The impact of the detection time on APM becomes small as the wind speed increases. The effect of emergency evacuation mode is more obvious when the release occurs in an outdoor space.     

Biodiversity conservation research challenges in the 21st century: A review of publishing trends in 2000 and 2011

The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 recognizes the increasing importance of scientific knowledge to support conservation policies and decision making. In this study, we assessed the tendency of such knowledge in the first decade of the 21st century. We carried out a systematic review of publications in biodiversity conservation, considering the following aspects: type of research, main topic of study, object of study (i.e. biodiversity organizational level, taxonomic groups and ecosystems), pressures and drivers of change, as well as geographical distribution. In total, 966 publications were analyzed within the three journals with higher academic reach in the field under study: Biodiversity & Conservation, Biological Conservation, and Conservation Biology. Our results show that there are several biases in scientific knowledge associated with the object of study, and analyzed drivers of changes, as well as geographical distribution. However, research trends are not uniform along the first decade of 21st century, as there are some differences between 2000 and 2011 regarding the main topic of the study, the spatial scale and geographical region, and the analyzed ecosystems. We finally discuss the implications of current knowledge trends in biodiversity conservation for achieving the targets delineated by the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020.     

绿色大学建设中的生态足迹

生态足迹分析法是评价绿色大学建设水平最好的指标之一.生态足迹分析法有综合法和成分法2种.本文简要介绍了生态足迹成分法的基本原理和算法,并以东北大学为例将该方法应用大学校园的研究.结果表明,东北大学2003年的生态足迹为24787hm2,即需要约25000hm²的生态生产性土地支持学校的各类消费并吸纳所产生的废弃物.其生态效率(即单位生态生产性土地可支持的学生数)为0.94人·hm^-2.生态足迹中,能源消费的足迹最大,占总足迹的2/3多;食物消费和固态垃圾次之,分别占总足迹的21.9%和5.7%.     

关于大中型企业防震减灾工作的探讨

文章通过介绍强烈地震对大中型厂矿企业所造成的地震灾害 ,主要探讨在大中型厂矿企业开展抗震设防、地震应急及防震减灾宣传三方面工作     

Modelling cheetah relocation success in southern Africa using an Iterative Bayesian Network Development Cycle

Relocation is one of the strategies used by conservationists to deal with problem cheetahs in southern Africa. The success of a relocation event and the factors that influence it within the broader context of long-term viability of wild cheetah metapopulations was the focus of a Bayesian Network (BN) modelling workshop in South Africa. Using a new heuristics, Iterative Bayesian Network Development Cycle (IBNDC), described in this paper, several networks were formulated to distinguish between the unique relocation experiences and conditions in Botswana and South Africa. There were many common underlying factors, despite the disparate relocation strategies and sites in the two countries. The benefit of relocation BNs goes beyond the identification and quantification of the factors influencing the success of relocations and population viability. They equip conservationists with a powerful communication tool in their negotiations with land and livestock owners, which is key to the long-term survival of cheetahs in southern Africa. Importantly, the IBNDC provides the ecological modeller with a methodological process that combines several BN design frameworks to facilitate the development of a BN in a multi-expert and multi-field domain.     

Exploring nationality and social identity to explain attitudes toward conservation actions in the United States and Australia

Understanding human attitudes toward wildlife management is critical to implementing effective conservation action and policy. Understanding the factors that shape public attitudes toward different wildlife management actions is limited, however, which can result in unpredictable public responses to interventions. We drew on comparisons between residents of 2 countries on separate continents to explore differences in attitudes toward wildlife management and determine factors important in shaping these attitudes. We surveyed representative publics via market research panels in Australia (n = 881 respondents) and the United States (n = 1287). We applied a social-identity approach and demography to identify factors that explained variance between responses about wildlife management. We compared responses between countries overall and within subgroups of respondents who strongly identified as environmentalists, animal rights activists, wildlife conservation advocates, and farmers. We created aggregate scores for the management-related response items per respondent and used regression analyses to identify the relative importance of country, identity, age, and gender in explaining variance between responses. These factors accounted for 15.3% of variance among responses. Australians overall were generally more accepting of lethal wildlife management actions than U.S. respondents. Differences in national attitudes reflected differences between United States and Australian wildlife management and policy, highlighting the importance of understanding social attitudes in shaping conservation policy. Identifying as a farmer followed by identifying as an animal rights activist most shaped attitudes toward wildlife management. Identity-related conflicts could be initiated or exacerbated by conservation interventions that fail to consider identity-related processes.     

Analysis of rodent populations in technogenically transformed areas (with reference to <Emphasis Type="Italic">Apodemus</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">S.</Emphasis>) <Emphasis Type="Italic">uralensis</Emphasis> from the EURT zone)

It is shown that the response of rodent populations to acute and chronic irradiation depends on its functional structure, i.e., on specific features of animals with two alternative types of ontogenetic development. Upon acute irradiation, sexually immature young of the year (animals with the second type of ontogeny) are most radioresistant. Exposure to chronic irradiation, as in the zone of the Eastern Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT), leads to an increase in the proportion of mature young of the year (animals with the first type of ontogeny), which are the most radiosensitive part of the population. The abundance and fecundity of mice in the impact zone are consistently higher than in the background zone, which improves the adaptive potential of the population. The role of species ecological specialization and configuration of the contaminated zone in the formation of migrant rodent population is emphasized. It is concluded that a high migration activity allows the pigmy wood mouse (a radiosensitive species) to avoid long-term radiation exposure.     

渤海区域生态补偿机制的研究

生态系统方法是保护和管理自然资源的新理念，得到世界各海洋大国的普遍关注和认可。生态系统方法要求运用生态补偿机制。构建海洋生态补偿机制的基本思路是：①根据海洋生态系统服务功能变化及其对利益相关者的影响界定补偿主体和补偿对象：②补偿途径以财政转移支付和环境资源税费为主；③遵循理论计算值与现有实践相结合的原则制定补偿标准。围绕影响渤海生态系统健康的关键是人类活动．提出了构建渤海区域生态补偿机制的初步设想。主要包括：改革现有“排污收费制度”。提高收费标准，增强制度的生态补偿效力。以减少陆源污染物排海；建立流域和海域之间的用水生态补偿机制。以增加入海淡水量；推广“退渔还湿”的生态补偿政策；加大资金投入．强化现有渔业生态补偿政策；以同区域内的土地价格为参照。对围海造地收取生态补偿金。