How Do Groups Solve Local Commons Dilemmas? Lessons from Experimental Economics in the Field

The use of experimental settings to observe human behaviour in a controlled environment of incentives, rules and institutions, has been widely used by the behavioural sciences for sometime now, particularly by psychology and economics. In most cases the subjects are college students recruited for one to two hour decision making exercises in which, depending on their choices, they earn cash averaging US$ 20. In such exercises players face a set of feasible actions, rules and incentives (payoffs) involving different forms of social exchange with other people, and that in most cases involve some kind of externalities with incomplete contracts, such as in the case of common-pool resources situations. Depending on the ecological and institutional settings, the resource users face a set of feasible levels of extraction, a set of rules regarding the control or monitoring of individual use, and sometimes ways of imposing material or non-material costs or rewards to those breaking or following the rules. We brought the experimental lab to the field and invited about two hundred users of natural resources in three Colombian rural villages to participate in such decision making exercises and through these and other research instruments we learned about the ways they solve - or fail to - tragedies of the commons with different social institutions. Further, bringing the lab to the field allowed us to explore some of the limitations of existing models about human behaviour and its consequences for designing policies for conserving ecosystems and improving social welfare.     

Malnutrition in Emergencies: How Can We Do Better and Where Do the Responsibilities Lie?

Over many years, the international relief system has been repeatedly criticised in terms of slowness of response, poor inter-agency co-ordination, and technical incompetence on a larger or smaller scale. Notwithstanding many initiatives to improve co-ordination and other aspects of international relief performance, relief failures, including epidemic malnutrition, continue to occur. The reasons for these failures are discussed from the perspective of the characteristics of the international system, and the way in which this would be expected to perform under different conditions. The chief limitations of the international system identified are: the lack of any focus for imposing co-ordination, other than governments of affected countries; the lack of any requirement for donor nations to ensure that adequate resources are supplied; and a tendency for the system to respond uncritically to the international media. A broad typology of international responses is proposed. It is suggested that relief failure can be recast in terms of the lack of any system which can ensure the correct allocation of food and other resources between emergencies, and ensure the systematic distribution of such resources as are supplied. It concludes that the scope for further improvement in the performance of the international relief system is now limited, but that the most promising area for investment would, where possible, support governments in affected countries to take greater control of the management of the international relief system.     

Magnesium and the regulation of lead in three populations of the garden snail Cantareus aspersus

Helicid snails appear to regulate Pb more closely than other toxic metals, though it is reported as the least toxic. No regulatory mechanism has been described in animals, and the possible role of Mg in limiting Pb assimilation is examined here for the first time. Three populations of Cantareus aspersus were fed Pb and Ca with three levels of Mg for up to 64 days. Metal assimilation and production efficiency was calculated for each of 108 snails. Populations differed in their pattern of uptake but soft tissue Pb was unaffected by dietary Mg. The proportion of Pb assimilated did not change as soft tissue concentrations increased, indicating no specific regulatory mechanism. The daily addition of Pb to the soft tissues increases with growth rate suggesting uptake is instead some function of growth or cell turnover. Bioconcentration factors varied with time and are unreliable indicators of an evolved regulatory mechanism for Pb.     

Bottom-Up Risk Regulation? How Nanotechnology Risk Knowledge Gaps Challenge Federal and State Environmental Agencies

Nanotechnologies have been called the "Next Industrial Revolution." At the same time, scientists are raising concerns about the potential health and environmental risks related to the nano-sized materials used in nanotechnologies. Analyses suggest that current U.S. federal regulatory structures are not likely to adequately address these risks in a proactive manner. Given these trends, the premise of this paper is that state and local-level agencies will likely deal with many "end-of-pipe" issues as nanomaterials enter environmental media without prior toxicity testing, federal standards, or emissions controls. In this paper we (1) briefly describe potential environmental risks and benefits related to emerging nanotechnologies; (2) outline the capacities of the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act to address potential nanotechnology risks, and how risk data gaps challenge these regulations; (3) outline some of the key data gaps that challenge state-level regulatory capacities to address nanotechnologies' potential risks, using Wisconsin as a case study; and (4) discuss advantages and disadvantages of state versus federal approaches to nanotechnology risk regulation. In summary, we suggest some ways government agencies can be better prepared to address nanotechnology risk knowledge gaps and risk management.     

关于完善资源利用和保护法律法规体系的基本思考

本文分析了我国在资源利用和保护中存在的问题，提出了加强资源立法的基本原则，指出贯彻可持续发展战略，应建立完善的资源利用和保护法律法规体系。     

基于外部性内化的农地城市流转调控政策工具研究进展评述

本研究采用文献回顾法、归纳法,从农地城市流转外部性的分析与测度及政策工具在农地城市流转调控中的运用两个方面,对国内外相关研究进行了归纳与总结。结果表明,现有研究从内容和方法上都有待进一步的丰富和深入:在农地城市流转外部性的理论分析和定量测算方面,其外部性的内涵、分类与边界等尚未得到严格的界定与划分,评估技术的选择和应用尚存亟待回答的问题;在基于外部性内化的农地政策流转调控政策工具的运用方面,尚需在分析思路、政策工具的系统化和细节设计方面有所深入;在实证研究方面,亟需结合我国国情结合具体事例探讨政策工具运用的预期效果及不同政策工具可能的交互作用;此外,应考虑不确定与信息不对称对调控政策工具运行效率的影响。因此,我国学者应借鉴国内外已有的研究成果和经验,从外部性内化的角度设计适于我国国情的政策工具,从而为农地城市流转调控提供可靠的理论依据,以达到合理规制农地转用秩序的目的。     

钱塘江河口滩涂进一步治理与开发研究

钱塘江河口滩涂湿地面积大，分布范围广，钱塘江河口滩涂湿地的合理开发、利用和保护对河口地区的经济发展、岸线工程建设、航道开发、生态净化及环境保护等至关重要。区分了河口滩涂治理与滨海滩涂治理的不同，阐述了钱塘江河口滩涂岸线冲淤演变的历史，介绍了钱塘江河口滩涂近几十年的开发进程，尚存滩涂的面积与分布区域及河口滩涂几十年治理中在经济发展、防汛抗旱等方面取得的显著成效。分析了现在钱塘江河口滩涂开发治理在进度、利用及保护等方面存在的主要问题；并提出了钱塘江河口滩涂进一步围垦治理中要依据河口涨落潮流近些年发生的变化及滩涂冲淤速度，注重岸线工程建设与保护，优化江道河势，注意动态平衡，进行科学有序围垦，走综合性开发与可持续发展的道路等建议。     

大数据条件下环境规制的变革——环境信息规制功能的视角

环境规制往往面临规制失灵的困境，而信息不对称是规制失灵的重要原因。环境信息是一种重要的环境规制工具，可以改变环境规制能力不足与规制意愿不足的问题。在大数据条件下，环境信息可以降低政府环境规制成本，实现环境规制的互动。随着技术的发展，环境大数据对环境规制会发挥更加积极的作用，并促进环境规制向精准规制、反身性规制、整体性规制的方向发展，有效地提高环境规制的绩效。     

SO2诱导的萱草保卫细胞凋亡及其信号调节

SO2是一种常见的大气污染物,急性和慢性暴露都会对植物造成伤害.因此,本文以景观绿化植物萱草叶片下表皮为材料,研究了SO2对气孔保卫细胞的致死效应及其可能的信号调节途径.结果表明,利用SO2体内衍生物-亚硫酸钠和亚硫酸氢钠混合液处理萱草表皮3 h后,随着处理浓度(1.0~5.0 mmol·L-1)的增加,萱草保卫细胞生理活性下降,甚至死亡;浓度超过2.0 mmol·L-1时,细胞死亡率显著增高(p0.05),死细胞出现核固缩、核拉长、核碎片等典型凋亡特征,保卫细胞内的活性氧种(ROS)、一氧化氮(NO)和Ca2+水平显著升高.采用不同浓度的抗氧化剂过氧化氢酶(CAT)、抗坏血酸(AsA),Ca2+螯合剂乙二醇双四乙酸(EGTA)和Ca2+通道抑制剂氯化镧(LaCl3)及NO清除剂羧基-2苯-4,4,5,5-四甲基咪唑-1-氧-3氧化物(C-PTIO)和合成抑制剂叠氮钠(NaN3)处理后,均可使SO2衍生物诱发的细胞死亡率降低,以200 U·mL-1CAT、0.05 mmol·L-1的AsA、EGTA、LaCl3及0.20 mmol·L-1的C-PTIO、NaN3的效果最佳,同时胞内ROS、NO和Ca2+水平下降.以上结果表明,一定浓度的SO2可诱导萱草保卫细胞死亡,可能通过诱导ROS和NO爆发,激活细胞质膜钙通道,进而引起胞内Ca2+增加,通过ROS-NO-Ca2+信号途径介导细胞死亡.SO2诱导的萱草细胞死亡可能存在细胞凋亡过程.     

基于结构方程的流域水环境承载力评价——以湟水流域小峡桥断面上游为例

针对流域水环境承载力评价中指标体系构建及权重确定缺乏客观依据的问题,以湟水流域小峡桥断面上游为例,通过兼顾压力与水环境承载力的控制断面水质影响路径分析,建立了面向水环境承载力评价的结构方程模型(Structural Equation Modeling, SEM);在此基础上,构建了湟水流域的水环境承载力综合评价体系,并获得各指标权重,进而利用向量模法对流域水环境承载状态进行了综合评价.结果表明:SEM模型能够定量反映土地利用/景观格局及污染物排放因素与水环境承载状态的相关关系;SEM模型的路径分析可为水环境承载力综合评价指标体系的建立提供科学依据;由SEM模型得到的路径影响相关系数,可为权重的确定提供新的科学方法;研究区16个控制子单元呈上、中、下游水环境承载状态逐渐变差的梯度特征;最后,针对湟水流域不同区域的社会、经济、环境和资源差异,从流域水环境承载力双向调控的角度,提出改善水环境承载状态的相关建议,进而为流域水系统持续协调发展提供精细化管理支撑.