Differences in the Spatial Variability Among CO2, CH4, and N2O Gas Fluxes from an Urban Forest Soil in Japan

The spatial variability of carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O) fluxes from forest soil with high nitrogen (N) deposition was investigated at a rolling hill region in Japan. Gas fluxes were measured on July 25th and December 5th, 2008 at 100 points within a 100 × 100 m grid. Slope direction and position influenced soil characteristics and site-specific emissions were found. The CO₂ flux showed no topological difference in July, but was significantly lower in December for north-slope with coniferous trees. Spatial dependency of CH₄ fluxes was stronger than that of CO₂ or N₂O and showed a significantly higher uptake in hill top, and emissions in the valley indicating strong influence of water status. N₂O fluxes showed no spatial dependency and exhibited high hot spots at different topology in July and December. The high N deposition led to high N₂O fluxes and emphasized the spatial variability.     

A holistic life cycle analysis of waste management scenarios at increasing source segregation intensity: The case of an Italian urban area

Life cycle analysis of several waste management scenarios for an Italian urban area was performed on the basis of different source segregation collection (SS) intensities from 0% up to 52%. Source segregated waste was recycled and or/recovered by composting. Residual waste management options were by landfilling, incineration with energy recovery or solid recovered fuel (SRF) production to substitute for coal. The increase in fuel and materials consumption due to increase in SS had negligible influence on the environmental impact of the system. Recycling operations such as incineration and SRF were always advantageous for impact reduction. There was lower impact for an SS of 52% even though the difference with the SS intensity of 35% was quite limited, about 15%. In all the configurations analyzed, the best environmental performance was achieved for the management system producing SRF by the biodrying process.     

Global Analysis of Anthropogenic Debris Ingestion by Sea Turtles

Ingestion of marine debris can have lethal and sublethal effects on sea turtles and other wildlife. Although researchers have reported on ingestion of anthropogenic debris by marine turtles and implied incidences of debris ingestion have increased over time, there has not been a global synthesis of the phenomenon since 1985. Thus, we analyzed 37 studies published from 1985 to 2012 that report on data collected from before 1900 through 2011. Specifically, we investigated whether ingestion prevalence has changed over time, what types of debris are most commonly ingested, the geographic distribution of debris ingestion by marine turtles relative to global debris distribution, and which species and life‐history stages are most likely to ingest debris. The probability of green (Chelonia mydas) and leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) ingesting debris increased significantly over time, and plastic was the most commonly ingested debris. Turtles in nearly all regions studied ingest debris, but the probability of ingestion was not related to modeled debris densities. Furthermore, smaller, oceanic‐stage turtles were more likely to ingest debris than coastal foragers, whereas carnivorous species were less likely to ingest debris than herbivores or gelatinovores. Our results indicate oceanic leatherback turtles and green turtles are at the greatest risk of both lethal and sublethal effects from ingested marine debris. To reduce this risk, anthropogenic debris must be managed at a global level. Análisis Global de la Ingesta de Residuos Antropogénicos por Tortugas Marinas     

Water–energy–greenhouse gas nexus of urban water systems: Review of concepts,state-of-art and methods

Water supply and wastewater services incur a large amount of energy and GHG emissions. It is therefore imperative to understand the link between water and energy as their availability and demand are closely interrelated. This paper presents a literature review and assessment of knowledge gaps related to water–energy–greenhouse gas (GHG) nexus studies in an urban context from an ‘energy for water’ perspective. The review comprehensively surveyed various studies undertaken in various regions of the world and focusing on individual or multiple subsystems of an urban water system. The paper also analyses the energy intensity of decentralized water systems and various water end-uses together with the major tools and models used. A major gap identified from this review is the lack of a holistic and systematic framework to capture the dynamics of multiple water–energy–GHG linkages in an integrated urban water system where centralized and decentralized water systems are combined to meet increased water demand. Other knowledge gaps identified are the absence of studies, peer reviewed papers, data and information on water–energy interactions while adopting a ‘fit for purpose water strategy’ for water supply. Finally, based on this review, we propose a water–energy nexus framework to investigate ‘fit-for-purpose’ water strategy.     

Integrated urban water management modelling under climate change scenarios

The concept of integrated water management is uncommon in urban areas, unless there is a shortage of supply and severe conflicts among the users competing for limited water resources. Further, problem of water management in urban areas will aggravate due to uncertain climatic events. Therefore, an Integrated Urban Water Management Model considering Climate Change (IUWMCC) has been presented which is suitable for optimum allocation of water from multiple sources to satisfy the demands of different users under different climate change scenarios. Effect of climate change has been incorporated in non-linear mathematical model of resource allocation in term of climate change factors. These factors have been developed using runoff responses corresponding to base and future scenario of climate. Future scenarios have been simulated using stochastic weather generator (LARS-WG) for different IPCC climate change scenarios i.e. A1B, A2 and B1. Further, application of model has been demonstrated for a realistic water supply system of Ajmer urban fringe (India). Developed model is capable in developing adaptation strategies for optimum water resources planning and utilization in urban areas under different climate change scenarios.     

基于城镇污水处理厂运行情况的城镇生活污水污染核算方法——以滇池流域城镇生活污水污染核算为实例

根据城镇污水处理厂运行情况和城市供排水平衡分析提出一种简化的城镇居民生活污染源产排污总量核算的思路与方法,并以滇池流域为例核算了2010年滇池流域城镇居民生活主要污染物产生与排放总量。     

基于生态系统服务价值的京津冀城市群湿地主导服务功能研究

湿地是地球三大生态系统之一,在气候调节、水资源供给、净化环境等方面具有重要的价值和作用。基于1990-2015年6期土地生态遥感解译数据和社会经济数据,通过修正生态系统服务价值当量因子和计算湿地价值的内外部贡献率,利用GIS定量研究了京津冀城市群及各个城市25年间不同湿地类型、不同功能生态系统服务价值的变化,并基于此进行功能定位。结果表明：（1）京津冀城市群湿地的生态系统服务价值呈现先上升后波动下降的趋势,2015年湿地价值较1990年上升了29.3亿元,主要是由于河渠、水库坑塘价值的增加,以及水文调节、水资源供给价值的增加;（2）京津冀城市群的13个城市中,天津市生态系统服务价值最高,且东部沿海区域湿地价值有增加趋势,南部内陆城市不仅湿地面积少且价值逐年下降;（3）水文调节、水资源供给和净化环境是京津冀城市群大部分城市湿地的主导功能,而河渠、水库坑塘、滩地则是提供服务功能的主要湿地类型。生态系统服务价值的减少与增加都与人类活动密切相关,因此了解湿地价值的变化趋势及变化原因,明确湿地的功能定位,不仅可以增强人们对湿地生态的保护意识,同时也为未来京津冀地区湿地的修复、恢复及可持续利用提供科学依据。     

人工浮岛对城市景观用水水质净化效果的研究

为了研究浮岛对城市景观用水的水质净化效果,用美人蕉制作了人工浮岛,分别在大连市某小区户外水塘和实验室内进行了实验。对其水样进行化验、观察、分析和研究。结果表明:人工植物浮岛对水质净化有明显的效果,在室内对总氮、总磷和COD的去除率分别为91.35%、45.46%和56.49%;在户外对总氮、总磷和COD的去除率分别为60%、84.33%和24.25%。实验证明了人工浮岛在城市景观用水处理中有广阔的应用前景。     

Emergy analysis of the urban metabolism of Beijing

Cities can be modeled as if they were superorganisms with a range of metabolic processes. Research on this urban metabolism can contribute to solving urban environmental problems by revealing details of the metabolic throughput of the system. A key issue is how to find a common basis for measuring the environmental and economic values. By providing a single unified unit, emergy theory integrates the natural and socioeconomic systems and thoroughly evaluates a system's metabolism. We analyzed Beijing's urban metabolic system using emergy synthesis to evaluate its environmental resources, economy, and environmental and economic relations with the regions outside the city during 14 years of development. We compared Beijing's emergy indices with those of five other Chinese cities and of China as a whole to assess Beijing's relative development status. These indices are the emergy self-support ratio (metabolic dependence), the environmental load ratio (metabolic loading), empower density (metabolic pressure), emergy used per person (metabolic intensity per capita), and the monetary equivalent of emergy (emdollars; metabolic intensity). Based on our emergy analysis, Beijing's socioeconomic system is not self-sufficient, and depends greatly on external environmental resources. Its GDP is supported by a high percentage of emergy purchased from outside the city. During the study period, Beijing's urban system showed an increasing dependence on external resources for its economic development. Beijing's loading and pressure on the ecological environment is continuously increasing, accompanied by continuously increasing human emergy consumption. In the future, it will become increasingly necessary to improve Beijing's metabolic efficiency.     

Integrated urban ecosystem evaluation and modeling based on embodied cosmic exergy

This paper presented a thermodynamic synthesis that involved resource accounting, evaluation and modeling of urban ecosystems based on embodied cosmic exergy (EcE), which redefined embodied exergy with the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) as the reference for solar exergy. In a case study of the Beijing urban ecosystem, the major resources supporting the urban ecosystem, both from free natural resources and from the economy, were accounted for, analyzed and evaluated in the same units, Cosmic Joules (Jc). These indicators revealed the current performance of the Beijing urban ecosystem by considering five aspects of the system: EcE sources, EcE intensity, EcE welfare, environmental impacts and economic efficiency. Moreover, through the combination of the EcE synthesis with a systems dynamics, this research constructed an embodied cosmic exergy-based urban system model (EESM) using Beijing as an example of urban development. The results show that the 10 years from 2010 to 2020 will be very critical for the sustainable development of Beijing because many key factors, such as water resources, wastes and urban assets, might be confronted with great changes during this period. These changes will inevitably transform the urban system not only in its external circumstances but also in its inner structure and may lead to serious consequences. Of all the necessary resources, the most sensitive factor is water supply.