A field experiment characterizing variable detection rates during plant surveys

Surveys aimed at finding threatened and invasive species can be challenging due to individual rarity and low and variable individual detection rates. Detection rate in plant surveys typically varies due to differences among observers, among the individual plants being surveyed (targets), and across background environments. Interactions among these 3 components may occur but are rarely estimated due to limited replication and control during data collection. We conducted an experiment to investigate sources of variation in detection of 2 Pilosella species that are invasive and sparsely distributed in the Alpine National Park, Australia. These species are superficially similar in appearance to other yellow-flowered plants occurring in this landscape. We controlled the presence and color of flowers on target Pilosella plants and controlled their placement in plots, which were selected for their variation in cover of non-target yellow flowers and dominant vegetation type. Observers mimicked Pilosella surveys in the plots and reported 1 categorical and 4 quantitative indicators of their survey experience level. We applied survival analysis to detection data to model the influence of both controlled and uncontrolled variables on detection rate. Orange- and yellow-flowering Pilosella in grass- and heath-dominated vegetation were detected at a higher rate than nonflowering Pilosella. However, this detection gain diminished as the cover of other co-occurring yellow-flowering species increased. Recent experience with Pilosella surveys improved detection rate. Detection experiments are a direct and accessible means of understanding detection processes and interpreting survey data for threatened and invasive species. Our detection findings have been used for survey planning and can inform progress toward eradication. Interaction of target and background characteristics determined detection rate, which enhanced predictions in the Pilosella eradication program and demonstrated the difficulty of transferring detection findings into untested environments.     

重污染天气应对“绩效分级、差异化管控”措施首次实践效果后评估

为提高重污染天气应对的科学性和精准度,2019年7月生态环境部制定重污染天气应对“绩效分级、差异化管控”措施.为应对9月底至10月初的重污染过程,京津冀及周边共68个城市启动重污染预警,该措施得以首次实践.通过时间序列断点回归方法对该措施效果进行评估发现,空气质量改善存在滞后的现象,SO₂、 NO₂和CO这3个气态污染物改善速度较快,对涉及二次生成的O₃和PM_2.5两个污染物见效速度相对较慢. 10月1日恰逢在北京举办庆祝中华人民共和国成立70周年阅兵式,对10月1日当天进行评估,发现与假如不采取措施的情形相比,重污染应急措施使北京市PM_2.5、 NO₂和CO日均浓度显著下降,下降幅度分别为54.1%、 62.4%和25.8%.如果不采取重污染应急措施,北京10月1日上午可能出现中重度污染,但实际上空气质量保持在良的水平.区域启动预警的68城市PM_2.5、 PM₁₀、 NO₂、 SO     

初始扰动对CO2抑制瓦斯爆炸特性研究*

为了预防实际生产过程中发生的瓦斯爆炸事故,利用20 L球形爆炸装置,通过改变粉尘仓充压压力产生不同的扰动,研究9.5%CH4浓度下不同扰动条件对CO2抑爆特性的影响。通过对所得参数进行分析,得到CO2抑爆特性与初始扰动的关系。研究结果表明:相较于均匀静置状态,初始扰动的存在均能提高CH4的爆炸强度,当引发初始扰动的粉尘仓压力为1.5 MPa时,最大爆炸压力达到0.78 MPa;随CO2浓度增大,爆炸强度整体下降,呈二次下降趋势、最大爆炸压力时间呈上升趋势,且各初始扰动压力间爆炸强度均大于均匀静置状态、最大爆炸压力时间小于均匀静置状态;同时利用CHEMKIN软件得到绝热平衡压力,计算热损失参数发现,同一气体混合比例工况下,初始扰动状态的热损失及热损失分数明显低于均匀静置状态的,且当CO2浓度为15%时,差距最大,不同初始扰动间热损失及热损失分数最小值分别为0.013 19 kJ/m2,17.9%,远小于静置状态下0.036 29 kJ/m2,46.4%,说明初始扰动对于CO2抑爆效果存在削弱作用。     

面向设计的地铁车站防火安全韧性评价*

为提升地铁车站防火安全韧性,以设计方案为切入视角,基于防火安全韧性的吸收、抵抗、恢复和适应能力4个维度,构建基于ANP-熵权法面向设计的地铁防火安全韧性评价指标体系,运用逼近理想解法建立地铁车站防火安全韧性设计评价模型,通过3个已建地铁车站（青岛、沈阳、福州某地铁车站）的设计案例验证该模型的有效性和可行性。研究结果表明:3个应用案例中,沈阳某地铁车站设计防火安全韧性最高,福州某地铁车站设计防火安全韧性最低,需进一步提升防火安全能力。评价结果与各案例的实际运行阶段基本吻合,研究思路和结果对改善地铁车站的防火安全设计具有一定参考意义。     

Do microbial processes regulate the stability of a coral atoll's enclosed pelagic ecosystem?

Complex marine ecosystems contain multiple feedback cycles that can cause unexpected responses to perturbations. To better predict these responses, complicated models are increasingly being developed to enable the study of feedback cycles. However, the sparseness of ecological data often limits the direct empirical parameterization of all model parameters. Here we use a Bayesian inverse analysis approach to synthesize empirical data and ecological theory derived from published studies of a coral atoll's enclosed pelagic ecosystem (Takapoto Atoll, French Polynesia). We then use the estimates of flux magnitudes to parameterize probabilistic compartment models with two forms of heterotrophic consumption: (1) “bottom-up” donor-controlled heterotrophic consumption and (2) “top-down” mass-action heterotrophic consumption. We explore how the flux magnitudes affect the ecosystem's stability properties of resilience, reactivity, and resistance under both assumptions for heterotrophic consumption. The models suggest that the microbial uptake of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) regulates the long term rate of return to steady state following a temporary or pulse perturbation (resilience), and the cycling of carbon between abiotic pools and heterotrophic compartments regulates the short-term response (reactivity). In the bottom-up process model, the sensitivity of steady state masses following a sustained or press perturbation (resistance) is highest for the DOC pool following a sustained change to the microbial uptake rate of DOC. Further, a change in the microbial uptake of DOC propagates through the ecosystem and affects the steady state values of zooplankton. The analysis suggests that the food web is highly dependent on the recycling between the abiotic and biotic carbon pools, particularly as mediated by the microbial consumption of DOC, and this recycling determines how the ecosystem responds to perturbations.     

Incentive compatibility tests of choice experiment value elicitation questions

This paper uses laboratory experiments with induced values to address fundamental issues related to the incentive compatibility of choice experiment value elicitation questions. In particular, we compare two- versus three-option choice sets and the effect of using alternative provision rules, including one where the outcome is influenced by both participant and “regulator” votes. We find the overall proportion of choices that are inconsistent with induced preferences is rather low. However, there are more deviations from induced preferences for two-option choice sets, and for alternatives to a simple plurality vote implementation rule. A multinomial probit analysis of choices in tandem with a mixed logit welfare analysis suggests there is a statistically significant but modest degree of bias towards selecting the status quo option.     

Simulating dynamic and mixed-severity fire regimes: A process-based fire extension for LANDIS-II

Fire regimes result from reciprocal interactions between vegetation and fire that may be further affected by other disturbances, including climate, landform, and terrain. In this paper, we describe fire and fuel extensions for the forest landscape simulation model, LANDIS-II, that allow dynamic interactions among fire, vegetation, climate, and landscape structure, and incorporate realistic fire characteristics (shapes, distributions, and effects) that can vary within and between fire events. We demonstrate the capabilities of the new extensions using two case study examples with very different ecosystem characteristics: a boreal forest system from central Labrador, Canada, and a mixed conifer system from the Sierra Nevada Mountains (California, USA). In Labrador, comparison between the more complex dynamic fire extension and a classic fire simulator based on a simple fire size distribution showed little difference in terms of mean fire rotation and potential severity, but cumulative burn patterns created by the dynamic fire extension were more heterogeneous due to feedback between fuel types and fire behavior. Simulations in the Sierra Nevada indicated that burn patterns were responsive to topographic features, fuel types, and an extreme weather scenario, although the magnitude of responses depended on elevation. In both study areas, simulated fire size and resulting fire rotation intervals were moderately sensitive to parameters controlling the curvilinear response between fire spread and weather, as well as to the assumptions underlying the correlation between weather conditions and fire duration. Potential fire severity was more variable within the Sierra Nevada landscape and also was more sensitive to the correlation between weather conditions and fire duration. The fire modeling approach described here should be applicable to questions related to climate change and disturbance interactions, particularly within locations characterized by steep topography, where temporally or spatially dynamic vegetation significantly influences spread rates, where fire severity is variable, and where multiple disturbance types of varying severities are common.     

冷轧乳化液废水处理试验研究

对武钢冷轧乳化液废水采用超滤和氧化破乳法进行对比试验,从试验运行效果、投资费用、运行成本等方面进行了比较分析,得出处理冷轧乳化液废水的最佳方法－超滤法。对冶金行业乳化液废水的处理具有一定的参考价值。     

沙湾县三个泉子退耕还草项目区对区域生态环境的影响

沙湾县三个泉子退耕还草项目区的建设,彻底改变了长期以来由于草地在陆地生态系统中的巨大作用和在国民经济发展中的重要地位未被充分认识,加之受传统的重农轻牧,重牧轻草,轻草贱草等社会思想的影响,彻底改变了草地建设等许多措施没有落到实处,尤其是草地生态建设的步伐远远不能适应生态环境发展要求的现状。