Does seston size structure reflect fish-mediated effects on water quality in a degraded semiarid wetland?

This study evaluates whether the size structure of seston (the sum of living and nonliving particles in the water column) reflects the effects of fish on wetland water quality. Using enclosures, we measured water quality and zooplankton community structure in the presence and absence of two fish species with distinct foraging strategies [benthivorous carp (Cyprinus carpio) and planktivorous mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki)]. Seston collected from the enclosures was counted and sized automatically with a Coulter counter, and the size structure in the range of 1–60 μm was modelled using the underlying Pareto distribution of particles. Only Cyprinus contributed to a loss of water quality (increased nutrient levels, algal and non-algal turbidity, hypoxia), while both fish species changed zooplankton community composition compared to fishless controls. However, these changes were not reflected in parameters [goodness of fit (r ²) and parameter c (slopes)] of Pareto models. Multivariate statistics suggest that seston size structure responded more to environmental gradients related to water depth but the relationships were also weak. Our overall result contrasts with the regulation of size spectra constructed from living organisms. Although seston integrates many structural and functional features of the water column, the lack of strong relationships between Pareto model parameters and water quality suggests that a size-based approach to characterise seston structure has a limited potential for assessing biota-mediated effects in wetlands in a straightforward manner.     

南宁市城区大气微生物污染状况调查与评价

为了解南宁市城区大气微生物的污染状况,本文利用自然沉降法对南宁市城区不同功能区74个监测点进行大气微生物含量调查,并分析评价了南宁市城区大气微生物的污染状况。调查结果表明:南宁市城区大气微生物含量变化范围为1101~29094 cfu/m3,平均值含量高低顺序为交通干线区>工业区>商业区>居民区>文教机关区>休闲广场区>公园旅游区;大气微生物中细菌占79.2%,霉菌占20.8%;在参与评价的74个监测点中,大气微生物总数属于清洁~较清洁级的有60.8%,轻微污染~污染级的有32.8%,中污染占5.4%。     

对如何开展建设项目环境风险评价的建议

分析了建设项目环境风险评价现状,并结合实际工作经验,提出了几点建议。     

Forest carbon accounting methods and the consequences of forest bioenergy for national greenhouse gas emissions inventories

While bioenergy plays a key role in strategies for increasing renewable energy deployment, studies assessing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from forest bioenergy systems have identified a potential trade-off of the system with forest carbon stocks. Of particular importance to national GHG inventories is how trade-offs between forest carbon stocks and bioenergy production are accounted for within the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector under current and future international climate change mitigation agreements. Through a case study of electricity produced using wood pellets from harvested forest stands in Ontario, Canada, this study assesses the implications of forest carbon accounting approaches on net emissions attributable to pellets produced for domestic use or export. Particular emphasis is placed on the forest management reference level (FMRL) method, as it will be employed by most Annex I nations in the next Kyoto Protocol Commitment Period. While bioenergy production is found to reduce forest carbon sequestration, under the FMRL approach this trade-off may not be accounted for and thus not incur an accountable AFOLU-related emission, provided that total forest harvest remains at or below that defined under the FMRL baseline. In contrast, accounting for forest carbon trade-offs associated with harvest for bioenergy results in an increase in net GHG emissions (AFOLU and life cycle emissions) lasting 37 or 90 years (if displacing coal or natural gas combined cycle generation, respectively). AFOLU emissions calculated using the Gross-Net approach are dominated by legacy effects of past management and natural disturbance, indicating near-term net forest carbon increase but longer-term reduction in forest carbon stocks. Export of wood pellets to EU markets does not greatly affect the total life cycle GHG emissions of wood pellets. However, pellet exporting countries risk creating a considerable GHG emissions burden, as they are responsible for AFOLU and bioenergy production emissions but do not receive credit for pellets displacing fossil fuel-related GHG emissions. Countries producing bioenergy from forest biomass, whether for domestic use or for export, should carefully consider potential implications of alternate forest carbon accounting methods to ensure that potential bioenergy pathways can contribute to GHG emissions reduction targets.     

Riverbanks and the law: The arbitrary nature of river boundaries in New South Wales,Australia

Key aspects of environmental management exist within a legislative framework. The Rivers and Foreshores Improvement Act 1948 (NSW) and several Regional Environmental Plans created under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) make reference to ‘the top of the bank’ for defining areas of protected land adjacent to rivers, within which development consent may be required. It is an arbitrary term and its use within the Rivers and Foreshores Improvement Act 1948 (NSW) leads to confusion. This paper examines the range of definitions of ‘the top of the bank’ in respect of natural watercourses and aims to provide a more lucid and effective definition that will clarify existing ambiguities in legal interpretation. The paper examines the historical origins of the phrase ‘top of the bank’, finding that stereotyped Eurocentric views of what a river ‘should look like’ have impaired the legal definition for Australian rivers, thereby influencing common law and the development of statutory definitions. Judicial applications of the phrase ‘top of the bank’ are examined from a geomorphological perspective, demonstrating the misconceptions of the term in a legal context. The paper identifies the existence of widespread support for the need to protect land adjacent to rivers in the interests of environmental, economic and social sustainability. It concludes by calling for legislative reform that is both tailored to the individual site and consistent with overarching goals at the catchment scale.     

国有重点煤矿企业安全科技人才现状研究

依据对我国国有重点煤矿企业抽样调查的结果,着重对国有重点煤矿企业安全科技人才的总量、密度、结构、流失等进行了系统的分析,并与美国煤炭行业的人才状况进行了比较分析。笔者在此基础上,给出了国有重点煤矿企业安全科技人才现状的基本评价,国有重点煤矿企业安全科技人才断层已经出现,安全科技人才总量严重不足,人才的问题已经开始制约煤炭行业的发展,尤其是严重制约着煤炭行业建立安全生产长效机制;对进一步加强和优化国有重点煤矿企业安全科技人才队伍建设提供了可靠的依据,具有重要指导意义。     

安全生产事故人员伤残间接损失统计研究

针对安全生产事故的人员伤残损失统计,除直接经济损失外,还包括因死亡和伤残而导致的间接经济损失。为了计算我国安全生产事故导致的人员伤残损失,DALY(伤残调整寿命年)是目前国际疾病负担应用较多的统计指标,其将因伤残导致的健康寿命损失和死亡寿命损失综合计算。笔者首次应用DALY来计算2005年我国工矿商贸企业伤亡事故导致的伤残寿命损失,2005年因事故伤亡导致的健康寿命损失至少有3 651 862人年,折合成静态经济损失约878亿元。通过DALY计算健康寿命损失可以从一个全新的角度发现事故造成的间接损失,在调查处理安全生产事故时,除了直接损失外,还应该重视安全生产事故带来的间接损失。     

Equity and productivity assessments in the Olifants River basin, South Africa

Emerging approaches to water resources development and management typically highlight equity and productivity as two main objectives. In the context of integrated water resources management within a river basin, managers and stakeholders often need a comparative assessment of different options for water augmentation and/or allocation. Pitting such options against predefined objectives, such as equity and productivity, requires an assessment of the effects that available options will have on these objectives. Available documentation indicates that not only does the interpretation of such objectives vary widely, but also the available methods for assessing equity and productivity run into significant limitations in the availability of adequate data. This limitation has largely kept decision makers from gaining a comprehensive overview of equity and productivity scenarios, whether within or across sectors, that could facilitate better‐informed decisions. To address this methodological gap, this article scrutinizes different notions associated with equity and water productivity, and limitations in prevalent assessment methods with the view to develop and demonstrate pragmatic methodologies for assessing equity and productivity in data‐scarce contexts. The discussion and findings are based on a review of relevant literature and empirical and consultative research work in the Olifants River basin in South Africa. The demonstrated methodologies for assessing equity and productivity, besides being useful in data‐scarce contexts, are insightful for initiating several policy measures and also for exploring the relationship between equity and water productivity.     

USE OF DELPHI METHODOLOGY TO ASSESS GOALS AND SOCIAL IMPACTS OF A WATERSHED PROJECT1

ABSTRACT: The major objective is to report the way the Delphi methodology was employed in an environmental study aimed at identifying and ranking goals and social impacts of Cooper Dam and Reservoir Project located in the East Texas area. The Delphi procedures were modified to accommodate the nature of social field under study. Data were collected through personal interviews from twenty-seven respondents representing the government agency responsible for planning the Project and three communities geographically contiguous to the project. The respondents were provided an initial list of the Project's goals and social impacts and were asked to rank them in terms of degree of importance and to add to the list other goals and impacts that they would consider necessary. Respondents were interviewed in two successive rounds. Data show that on the whole the Delphi procedures were helpful in action analysis of the Project by identifying and ranking its goals and social impacts in terms of selected criteria.     

AHP-模糊综合评价方法的分析与研究

系统安全评价是保证生产系统安全生产的基础。笔者在简要分析层次分析 (AHP)与模糊综合评价两种方法的特点的基础上 ,结合这两种方法的优点 ,提出了多层次的AHP -模糊综合评价法 ,并应用于企业作实证分析。结果表明 :该方法具有这两种方法的优点 ,能够较好地保证评价结果的客观性。