大贵寺国家森林公园野生青檀居群的遗传多样性

利用ISSR分子标记技术对湖北省大贵寺国家森林公园野生青檀（Pteroceltis tatarinowii Maxim．）居群进行遗传多样性分析。用11条ISSR引物对6个青檀居群64个样品进行扩增,扩增片段长度在200bp至3000bp之间,检测到179个位点,其中多态位点165个,多态位点百分率（P）为92．14％。青檀在物种水平上的Nei基因多样性指数（胁）和Shannon信息指数∽分别为0．273和0．423,在居群水平上分别为0．225和0．343,显示出青檀有着较高的遗传多样性。居群间的遗传分化系数（Gsr）为0．192,表明青檀居群间存在着较大的遗传分化;UPGMA聚类分析表明遗传距离与海拔差距有一定的相关性,相邻海拔的青檀居群间遗传距离较近。不同海拔导致的异质生境可能是影响青檀居群遗传分化的主要原因。     

溴氟丙烯/13X沸石复合粉体抑制汽油火的试验研究

为提高粉体灭火介质的灭火性能,基于粉体灭火剂在火灾防治领域的重要性,通过减压吸附的方法,将洁净高效的气体灭火剂溴氟丙烯负载在13X沸石的孔洞之中,形成气-固复合粉体灭火剂。采用X-射线衍射仪、扫描电镜等对复合粉体的结构和组分进行表征。通过模拟试验研究溴氟丙烯含量不同的复合粉体对汽油油池火的灭火效果,并和普通的干粉灭火剂进行对比。结果证明,溴氟丙烯和13X沸石所形成的气-固复合粉体灭火剂针对汽油油池火具有很好的灭火性能,在同样的试验条件下,其灭火时间和灭火剂用量远少于普通的干粉灭火剂,且随着复合粉体中溴氟丙烯的含量增加,复合粉体的灭火性能逐渐提高。     

冰雪灾害对川南森林可燃物的影响

冰雪灾害是影响森林的一个重要气象干扰因素,并会引起生态系统中其他次生干扰。研究冰雪灾害对森林可燃物的影响,提出可行的灾后可燃物管理技术将为今后应对类似的极端气候事件提供科学依据。基于对川南典型森林雪灾后受损情况调查,定量分析雪灾对各类可燃物的影响。按不同森林类型和受灾强度测定林分基本特征和各类可燃物载量,地表可燃物载量调查采用线状相交可燃物调查方法。结果表明：森林受害程度与树种、林龄、海拔、地形等因素有关,针叶林和针阔混交林树冠受损程度为5%~45%,阔叶林树冠受损程度为3%~8%。雪灾引起的主要是较大径级可燃物载量显著增加,径级≥7.0cm的可燃物占可燃物增量的48%~100%。灾后阔叶林地表径级可燃物载量达1.75 kg/m2,其他林分为0.18kg/m2~0.55 kg/m2。雪灾还改变可燃物空间分布,大量断枝和折断树干增加了可燃物垂直分布连续性,地表火更容易发展为树冠火。受灾严重的林分郁闭度下降,也会引起林下草本增加,有利于火灾的发生与发展。建议对受灾林分的地表可燃物清理以人工或机械清理为主。     

CFD simulation of pool fires situated at differing elevation

When two or more pool fires happen to burn so close to each other that they interact, they are termed ‘multiple pool fires’ (MPF). Past accident analysis reveals that MPFs occur quite frequently in chemical process industries. Controlled experiments done so far to study MPFs have indicated that MPFs lead to increase in the fuel burning rate, flame height and heat release rate (HRR) but the nature and the extent of the impacts of different factors on these manifestations is as yet poorly understood. In this context computational fluid dynamics (CFD) appears to be a tool which can enable more detailed and realistic simulation of MPFs than other possible approaches, especially due to its ability to closely approximate the underlying physical phenomena. In tank farms there are situations where different storage tanks are placed at different elevations yet close to each other. If such tanks happen to catch fire, the resulting fires may influence each other in a manner that may be a function of the difference in the tanks’ elevation. However no CFD study has been carried out which addresses this type of situation. Hence an attempt has been made to employ CFD to study MPFs involving two pools with fuel surfaces are at different elevations. Results reveal that good correlation is possible between the experimental findings and the CFD simulations.     

Contemporary forest loss in Myanmar: Effect of democratic transition and subsequent timber bans on landscape structure and composition

This study addresses the effect of political transition and subsequent timber bans on forest loss in Myanmar, in the context of identified drivers. Cook’s Distance (CD) was applied to remotely sensed time-series forest loss dataset to measure the effect of the events. Forest loss derived fragmentation metrics were linked to drivers at a landscape scale. Results show that at the national level, the political transition in 2011 had maximum effect (CD 0.935) on forest loss while the timber bans decreased forest loss by 612.04 km² and 213.15 km² in 2015 and 2017 (CD 0.146 and 0.035), respectively. The effect of the events varied for different States/Regions. The dominant drivers of change shifted from plantations in 2011 to infrastructure development in 2015. This study demonstrates the effects of policy on forest loss at various scales and can inform decision-makers for forest conservation, planning and development of mitigation measures.     

The Misdiagnosis: Rethinking “Nature-deficit Disorder”

This study examines and critiques “nature-deficit disorder” (NDD), Richard Louv's popular theory of how and why children are alienated from nature. Specifically, I explore NDD within the context of one forest conservation education program that aligns with and operationalizes Louv's message. Underlying Louv's and forest educators' discourses are culturally specific assumptions about human-nature relationships. Both evoke a fall-recovery narrative—that children are separated from nature and must return—and promote science and naming to reconnect. I argue that, in the absence of deeper cultural examination and alternative practices, NDD is a misdiagnosis—a problematic contemporary environmental discourse that can obscure and mistreat the problem. I call on adults to rethink human-nature disconnectedness by returning to the psyche, digging deeper to the problem's cultural roots, and using nontraditional communication practices such as emotional expression and non-naming.     

Incipient Forest Decline in the Province of Trento (Northern Italy). Preliminary Sem Observations and Consideration of Inorganic Components of Leaves and Roots

One year old needles of both healthy and damaged silver fir and Norway spruce from the area of Trento (Northern Italy) were observed by SEM. Needles of damaged trees show quite evident structural alterations of epidermis, expecially epicuticular waxes. Roots and needles of both fir and spruce are also tested for their metal content. Evidence is reported of an increasing concentration of Fe, Mg and Ca in roots of plants grown on alkali soil. Ca, and to a lesser extent Fe, Al and Pb, appears to be more present in old needles, whereas K and Mg exhibit higher amounts in young needles. Some indications are found between damage and the content of some metals such as Mg and Mn in needles.     

Review of sustainability management initiatives within Finnish forest products industry companies—Translating Eu level steering into proactive initiatives

Sustainability has become a major focus area within forest products industry. The European operational environment and national environmental steering in EU member states highlight the importance of sustainable development and the development of associated new management approaches to promote sustainability. This article reviews some key elements of sustainability management, covering examples of both Finnish forest products industry initiatives and public environmental steering at the European level. An assessment is made of the current situation and an outline of a future outlook for sustainability management, with special emphasis on bridging the gap between industry initiatives and environmental steering in the form of legislation, policies and strategies at the EU level.This study applied a hybrid approach comprising a review of EU sustainability initiatives, a policy and legal review and a questionnaire survey of forest industry actors. The results of the future outlook indicate that energy efficiency is perceived to be the most important focus area in addition to e.g. environmental and waste management and recycling. Less than half of the companies aim at applying sustainability management. Life-cycle management is also considered to be important whereas product-based approaches, climate change and local industrial symbiosis receive very little attention. All responding companies aim to integrate the principles of sustainability into their operations and most companies consider that life-cycle thinking, management and assessment are useful for them. Energy efficiency is identified as the most important focus area with energy and materials efficiency seen as the most crucial factors for the achievement of responsible competitive advantage and building of sustainable value-added. The findings indicate that sustainability and life-cycle management are not receiving enough management focus at the moment and neither is the industry receiving enough guidance at either the EU level or via national steering and regulatory frameworks.     

Conservation Threat of Increasing Fire Frequencies in the Western Ghats, India

Abstract:  The acceleration of processes such as forest fragmentation and forest fires in landscapes under intense human pressures makes it imperative to quantify and understand the effects of these processes on the conservation of biodiversity in these landscapes. We combined information from remote-sensing imagery and ground maps of all fires in the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary (MWLS) in the Western Ghats of India over 14 years (1989–2002). These spatial data on fire occurrence were integrated with maps of vegetation types found in the MWLS to examine fire conditions in each. We calculated the average fire-return interval for each of the vegetation types individually and for the MWLS as a whole. Using vegetation data from the larger Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and the entire Western Ghats region, we conservatively estimated fire-frequency information for these larger regions. Because the MWLS does not contain tropical evergreen or montane forests, we were unable to estimate fire conditions in these forest types, which represent 31% of all Western Ghats vegetation cover. For the MWLS, all vegetation types had average fire-return intervals of <7 years, and the sanctuary as a whole had a fire-return interval of 3.3 years. Compared with a 13-year MWLS fire data set from 1909–1921, this represents a threefold increase in fire frequency over the last 80 years. We estimated average fire-return intervals of roughly 5 years for both the larger Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and the entire Western Ghats region. Given other recent reports, the estimated fire frequencies for the Western Ghats forests outside protected reserves are conservative. We conclude that the current fire regime of the Western Ghats poses a severe and persistent conservation threat to forests both within and outside protected reserves.