The Ability of Landowners and Their Cooperatives to Leverage Payments Greater Than Opportunity Costs from Conservation Contracts

In negotiations over land‐right acquisitions, landowners have an informational advantage over conservation groups because they know more about the opportunity costs of conservation measures on their sites. This advantage creates the possibility that landowners will demand payments greater than the required minimum, where this minimum required payment is known as the landowner's willingness to accept (WTA). However, in recent studies of conservation costs, researchers have assumed landowners will accept conservation with minimum payments. We investigated the ability of landowners to demand payments above their WTA when a conservation group has identified multiple sites for protection. First, we estimated the maximum payment landowners could potentially demand, which is set when groups of landowners act as a cooperative. Next, through the simulation of conservation auctions, we explored the amount of money above landowners’ WTA (i.e., surplus) that conservation groups could cede to secure conservation agreements, again investigating the influence of landowner cooperatives. The simulations showed the informational advantage landowners held could make conservation investments up to 42% more expensive than suggested by the site WTAs. Moreover, all auctions resulted in landowners obtaining payments greater than their WTA; thus, it may be unrealistic to assume landowners will accept conservation contracts with minimum payments. Of particular significance for species conservation, conservation objectives focused on overall species richness, which therefore recognize site complementarity, create an incentive for landowners to form cooperatives to capture surplus. To the contrary, objectives in which sites are substitutes, such as the maximization of species occurrences, create a disincentive for cooperative formation. La Habilidad de Propietarios y Sus Cooperativas para Implementar Pagos Mayores que los Costos de Oportunidad en Contratos de Conservación     

大连市农业循环经济发展主要措施及重大项目简介

"十二五"期间,大连市将投资近100亿元在全市农村全面开展环境综合整治、污染治理、废物资源化循环利用,改善农村生态环境质量,调整产业布局和结构,节能减排,开发新能源,建立有机食品基地,发展生态农业,创建农业生态产业园区,实施农业循环经济发展的重点工程,提高农民收入和生活水平,促进农村经济可持续发展。     

Agricultural pesticide residues of farm runoff in the Okanagan Valley,British Columbia,Canada

The objectives of this study were to determine environmental occurrence and concentrations of selected currently-used-pesticides and some transformation products in agricultural farms in the Okanagan Valley (OKV), and to conduct a simple risk assessment of environmental pesticides levels detected in OKV on non-target aquatic organisms. The OKV is the tree fruit country of the Province of British Columbia where considerable amount of pesticides are applied annually. Water, sediment and soil samples were collected at eleven sites in early June and late September following rainfall events and/or extended periods of irrigation from drainage ditches and/or from small streams. Undisturbed reference sites were also sampled. Study results showed that forty of the eighty chemicals analyzed, including organochlorine, nitrogen-containing and organophosphate pesticides commonly used for OKV crops, were detected in runoff and small stream water samples. Among which, endosulfan-sulfate was the most frequently detected chemical. Also, azinophos-methyl (0.699–25.5 ng/L), diazinon (0.088–214 ng/L) exceeded, and α-, β- endosulfan, endosulfan sulphate approached the guidelines for the protection of aquatic life.     

基于层次全息模型的农业土地利用环境风险识别

提出了基于层次全息模型(HHM)框架识别农业土地利用环境风险的方法:通过构建农业土地利用环境风险识别的HHM框架,从多维度描述农业土地利用过程中存在的9大类别风险源,并应用双重标准风险矩阵方法对各类别风险源进行初步筛选、过滤和分级;在此基础上,依据多重准则标准和定量化风险矩阵进一步对各个环境风险因子进行定量评估.以湖南省桃江县为例,应用HHM风险识别方法对该县农地利用的环境风险进行系统识别,结果表明桃江县农地利用的主要环境风险源包括重金属污染、水体富营养化、污水灌溉和工厂排污.     

车用CNG气瓶安装和使用安全问题分析及对策

近年来,CNG汽车发展很快,根据国家有关法规和标准的要求,结合CNG气瓶工作实际需要,对车用CNG气瓶的安装许可、安装监督检验、定期检验周期、使用管理中存在的问题,进行分析研究。本文认为应加强气瓶安装资质管理,监督检验应包括气瓶和燃气系统。现行国家标准对钢质内胆纤维缠绕气瓶和全钢瓶的要求不一致,应及时完善,出租车用气瓶检验周期应与其他车辆不同。提出气瓶安装中要注意的几个技术问题,包括气瓶数量和布置、气瓶固定方式、非燃气系统检查等。为保证CNG汽车安全使用,指出气瓶安装行政许可、车辆检验和气瓶检验、车辆保险和气瓶保险等需要解决的问题。     

Direct electrochemical detection of glyphosate at carbon paste electrode and its determination in samples of milk,orange juice,and agricultural formulation

Abstract

This paper describes a simple, inexpensive, highly sensitive, selective, and efficient electrochemical method to determine glyphosate (GLY) in samples of milk, orange juice, and agricultural formulation. The oxidation reaction on the electrode surface was electrochemically characterised by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV). The investigation of GLY at carbon paste electrode revealed a non-reversible oxidation peak at +0.95 V versus Ag/AgCl, which was used for electrochemical detection of GLY. The operating parameters (pH, frequency, step potential, and amplitude) were optimised in relation to the peak current intensity, and a calibration curve was set up in a concentration range of 4.40?×?10^?8–2.80?×?10^?6 mol L^?1, with a detection limit of 2?×?10^?9 mol L^?1. After calibration curve was plotted, the developed procedure was applied to determine GLY in previously contaminated samples: milk and orange juice, and in a commercial formulation, obtaining recovery values between 98.31% and 103.75%. These results show that the proposed method can be used for GLY quantification in different samples with high sensitivity, specificity, stability, and reproducibility.     

Influence of several fungicides on the antioxidant activity of red wines (var. Monastrell)

The antioxidant activity of wines obtained from grapes treated with six fungicides (famoxadone, fenhexamid, fluquinconazole, kresoxim-methyl, quinoxyfen and trifloxystrobin) was investigated. Two field trials in triplicate were carried out for each formulation of the fungicide at the recommended dose of the manufacturer. The first trial was carried out under good agricultural practices (GAP), following the recommended pre-harvest interval, and the second one under critical agricultural practices (CAP) that involves treating the same field just before the harvest. The residue levels were determined by gas and liquid chromatography coupled to mass detectors (GC-MS and LC-MS). The antioxidant activity was determined in the wines obtained from the thirteen trials including one control, six from treated grapes obeying the pre-harvest interval, and six from grapes treated at the day of harvest or at most unfavorable conditions. Elimination of 40–100% of the initial fungicide residues present in grapes was observed during the wine-making process. It can be inferred from the results that the use of these fungicides did not produce any decrease of the antioxidant activity in the wines (7.19 ± 0.22 mmol Trolox/L for the blank wine versus a range of 6.45 ± 0.82 mmol Trolox/L to 10.06 ± 0.59 mmol Trolox/L for the treated wines) at the pre-harvest interval and most unfavorable conditions. Nevertheless, the presence of famoxadone, kresoxim-methyl and quinoxyfen increased the antioxidant activity and this was directly related to their residue levels in the grapes. Also, the wine phenolic composition was altered in variable intensity by the presence of the fungicide residues.     

长江三角洲典型地区农田土壤中多氯联苯残留状况

选择地处长江三角洲的苏南某市为试区,对该市农田土壤中18种PCBs同系物的残留量进行了调研,以揭示非污染区农田土壤中PCBs的残留现状,以及各种同系物在农田土壤中的分布特征.结果表明:PCBs残留总量介于数十至数千ng·kg^-1水平,除PCB₇₇未检出外,其它17种PCBs同系物有不同程度地检出,残留量及检出率最高的分别是PCB₁₃₈和PCB₁₈₀.土壤的不同利用方式对PCBs残留量有一定影响,水稻土中PCBs残留量最高,传统菜地中PCBs残留量最低.不同利用方式土壤中同系物残留的分布状况具有不同的特征,而同系物的分布特征从一定程度上能反映污染物的来源:稻土中PCBs主要来源于灌溉水,而传统蔬菜地PCBs主要来源为大气降尘,大棚土壤中PCBs则主要来自于农用化学品.     

Economic assessment of producing a fluting paper using agricultural residues – a case study: Iran,Mazandaran Province

Given limited forest resources and increased paper consumption and imports, establishing fluting paper mills using non-wood raw materials seems more essential than ever. This paper aims to investigate, technically and economically, the possibility of establishing a fluting paper mill (with a capacity of 10,000 tons a year) from agricultural residues in Iran's Mazandaran province. The average annual agricultural residues output (including wheat, barley, rice, corn, oil seeds and cotton) in the province was about 1.3 million tons from 2000 to 2010, showing the potential of the province as an appropriate source for providing raw material from agricultural residues. For economic evaluation of the project, economic indices such as rate of return, pay-back period and production break-even point were measured. The results indicated that establishing a fluting paper mill based on agricultural residues is feasible.     

电驱动道路车辆 动力锂离子电池系统试验中的实验室安全和防护

由于电池组/系统的体积和质量远大于电池芯,试验的侧重和方法有所不同。实验室安全和防护方面也就显得复杂和厚重。基于实践和探索,本文介绍了关于电池组/系统试验的安全和防护。