Biodiversity and industry ecosystem management

The term biodiversity describes the array of interacting, genetically distinct populations and species in a region, the communities they comprise, and the variety of ecosystems of which they are functioning parts. Ecosystem health, a closely related concept, is described in terms of a process identifying biological indicators, end points, and values. The decline of populations or species, an accelerating trend worldwide, can lead to simplification of ecosystem processes, thus threatening the stability and sustainability of ecosystem services directly relevant to human welfare in the chain of economic and ecological relationships. The challenge of addressing issues of such enormous scope and complexity has highlighted the limitations of ecology-as-science. Additionally, biosphere-scale conflicts seem to lie beyond the scope of conventional economics, leading to differences of opinion about the commodity value of biodiversity and of the services that intact ecosystems provide. In the face of these uncertainties, many scientists and economists have adopted principles that clearly assign burdens of proof to those who would promote the loss of biodiversity and that also establish near-trump (preeminent) status for ecological integrity. Electric utility facilities and operations impact biodiversity whenever construction, operation, or maintenance of generation, delivery, and support facilities alters landscapes and habitats and thereby impacts species. Although industry is accustomed to dealing with broad environmental concerns (such as global warming or acid rain), the biodiversity issue invokes hemisphere-wide, regional, local, and site-specific concerns all at the same time. Industry can proactively address these issues of scope and scale in two main ways: first, by aligning strategically with the broad research agenda put forth by informed scientists and institutions; and second, by supporting focused management processes whose results will contribute incrementally to the broader agenda of rebuilding or maintaining biodiversity.     

Congestion at Recreation Areas: Empirical Evidence on Perceptions, Mitigating Behaviour and Management Preferences

Economists have tried to estimate the demand for recreation under conditions of congestion, struggling especially with a model that uses observed rather than stated behaviour to obtain results. This paper reports statistical analyses of data on perceptions, mitigating behaviour and management preferences in order to highlight the difficulties related to empirical analysis of congestion. We offer evidence that may be of assistance to those wishing to construct measures of congestion for use in an observed behaviour model. The results may also be useful to recreation area managers who can implement a quota or permit system or change site entry or access fees to control access to the site they manage.     

从生态环境角度论鄱阳湖区农业可持续发展

鄱阳湖区农业资源十分丰富，具有发展大农业的优越条件。本文通过对湖区农业生态环境的脆弱性分析，指出湖区农业的非良性循环特性，提出防洪、抗旱、治涝、血吸虫病治理等对策措施，为湖区农业可持续发展提供决策参考。     

黄冈市矿业经济布局研究

文章针对黄冈市矿业经济发展的需要，在充分考虑黄冈市地区经济发展，矿产资源分布，矿业经济合理布局的必要性的基础上，对黄冈市矿业经济布局作了详细深入研究，提出了“一个中心，四个矿业规划区，五类开发矿种，十个矿业基地”的布局构架，为该市矿业经济发展提供了明确的发展思路，并指出了发展重点，也为政府宏观调控和矿政管理提供了依据。     

西部旅游资源的困境与保护

充分评价了西部旅游资源的优势特点，详细地分析了目前西部旅游资源受到的各种威胁和存在的困境，并有针对性地提出了一些切实可行的保护措施。     

A New Modus Operandi for the Agricultural Economics Profession

Agricultural economics has, until the 1990s, enjoyeda reputation for relevance and usefulness to theagri-food industry and policy-makers. Thatreputation has been jeopardized by a growinginfatuation with models and quantification, and aconcomitant underemphasis placed on many complexproblems and issues of society. An illustrativeexample is explored, using agriculturalactivity-related damage to the natural resourcebase, environment and ecology. Agriculturaleconomists are urged to respond by broadening theirterms of reference and joining forces with otherdisciplines.     

The economics of tire remanufacturing

The world market for tires is described to identify the current material flow from raw materials to tires and the used tire disposal problem. Then, I describe the value-adding operations in the tire production process and in the tire retreading process. Once retreading is identified as the only recovery alternative that maximizes tire utilization, I explain why heat generation is the only recovery alternative, when retreading is not technically feasible. The economic values of heat generation in electric plants and in cement kilns are discussed. The paper culminates with the case of retreading, the tire remanufacturing process and the recommendation of a simple decision rule for selecting the number of times a tire should be retreaded to maximize its utilization.     

MUNICIPAL WATER USE AND WATER RATES DRIVEN BY SEVERE DROUGHT: A CASE STUDY1

ABSTRACT: This paper synthesizes and interprets data pertaining to the evolution of average water revenue, water use, and the average cost of water supply in the City of Santa Barbara, California, from 1986 to 1996, a period which included one of the most devastating droughts in California this century. The 1987–1992 drought hit the study area particularly hard. The City of Santa Barbara was dependent exclusively on local sources for its water supply. That made it vulnerable as the regional climate is prone to extreme variability and recurrent droughts. The 1986–1992 drought provided a rare opportunity to assess the sensitivity of municipal water use to pricing, conservation, and other water management measures under extreme drought conditions. Our analysis indicates that the average cost of water rose more than three-fold in real terms from 1986 to 1996, while the gap between the average cost of supply and the average revenue per unit of water (= 100 cubic feet) rose in real terms from $0.14 in 1986 to $ 0.75 in 1996. The rise of $3.08 in the average cost of supplying one unit of water between 1986 and 1996 measures the cost of hedging drought risk in the study area. Water use dropped 46 percent at the height of the drought relative to pro-drought water use, and remains at 61 percent of the pre-drought level. The data derived from the 1987–1992 California drought are unique and valuable insofar as shedding light on drought/water demand adaptive interactions. The experience garnered on drought management during that unique period points to the possibilities available for future water management in the Arid West where dwindling water supplies and burgeoning populations are facts that we must deal with.     

INTEGRATED RIVER BASIN OPTIMIZATION: MODELING ECONOMIC AND HYDROLOGIC INTERDEPENDENCE1

ABSTRACT: This paper presents an integrated optimal control model that optimizes economic performance of reservoir management in watersheds in which there are significant economic and hydrologic interdependencies. The model is solved using the General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS). Results show that application of this model to New Mexico's Rio Chama basin can increase total system benefits over historical benefits by exploiting complementarities between hydroelectricity production, instream recreation, and downstream lake recreation.     

人工湿地系统在河网水质污染治理中的应用初探

姚北平原河网水体榨菜废水污染严重，根据废水的排放特点，分卤水落水前、卤水落水期和卤水落水后3个典型时段对河网水质进行监测，结果表明，其污染类型为有机污染。基于榨菜废水排放的分散性和不定期的特点，提出人工湿地系统治理榨菜废水污染的方案设想，并就工艺流程、耐盐型水生植物等进行了初步探讨。