Comparison of Three Algaecides for Controlling the Density of Prymnesium parvum1

Rodgers, John H., Jr., Brenda M. Johnson, and West M. Bishop, 2010. Comparison of Three Algaecides for Controlling the Density of Prymnesium parvum. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 46(1):153-160. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2009.00399.x Abstract: Prymnesium parvum has become more prevalent in water resources of the southern United States. As the potential impacts of P. parvum are relatively well known, especially its capability to severely affect fish, managers have sought efficacious, environmentally sound, and socially acceptable strategies for mitigating this noxious species. Laboratory testing was used to identify an effective algaecide for control of P. parvum from Texas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Cutrine^®-Plus at 0.2 mg Cu/l significantly decreased the density of P. parvum in samples from all of these locations. Both copper sulfate and Phycomycin^® were less effective for controlling the population growth of P. parvum. The predicted response from the laboratory study was confirmed in the field at the Arizona site. Strategic use of Cutrine^®-Plus in larger water resources could provide toxin-free refugia to allow some fish to survive and repopulate the water resource when the golden alga infestation abates.     

Global Genetic Relationships Among Isolates of Golden Alga (Prymnesium parvum)1

Lutz-Carrillo, Dijar J., Gregory M. Southard, and Loraine T. Fries, 2010. Global Genetic Relationships Among Isolates of Golden Alga (Prymnesium parvum). Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 46(1):24-32. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2009.00388.x Abstract: Prymnesium parvum is considered among the most harmful algal species in the world for finfish and other gill breathing organisms. Although it is globally distributed, with the exception of Antarctica, P. parvum is usually associated with coastal and brackish waters. Historically, P. parvum incidents were recorded in the eastern hemisphere; however, in 1985 it was detected in inland Texas waters. We used DNA sequence variation of the first internal transcribed spacer in the nuclear ribosomal operon (ITS1) among multiple samples of P. parvum from Texas and other locales to address the possible origins of P. parvum in Texas and the United States (U.S.). With the exception of a sample from Diversion Lake, other samples from Texas, South Carolina, and Wyoming exhibited limited genetic variation and were similar in sequence to a sample from Scotland. The Diversion Lake sample was similar in sequence to samples from Denmark and Norway, and the Maine sample was highly similar to samples from England. These results suggest multiple independent introductions of P. parvum to the U.S.     

Adaptive environmental management of tourism in the Province of Siena, Italy using the ecological footprint

Adaptive management as applied to tourism policy treats management policies as experiments that probe the responses of the system as human behavior changes. We present a conceptual systems model that incorporates the gap between observed and desired levels of the ecological footprint with respect to biocapacity. Addressing this gap (or 'overshoot') can inform strategies to increase or decrease visitation or its associated consumption in the coming years. The feedback mechanism in this conceptual model incorporates a gap between observed and desired ecological footprint levels of tourists and residents. The work is based on longer-term and ongoing study of tourism impacts and ecological footprint assessments from the SPIN-Eco Project. We present historical tourism and environmental data from the province of Siena, Italy and discuss the use of discrete, static environmental indicators as part of an iterative feedback process to manage tourism within biophysical limits. We discuss a necessary shift of emphasis from certain and static numbers to a process-based management model that can reflect slow changes to biophysical resources. As underscored by ecological footprint analysis, the energy and material use associated with tourism and local activity can erode natural capital foundations if that use exceeds the area's biological capacity to support it. The dynamic, and iterative process of using such indicators as management feedback allows us to view sustainability more accurately as a transition and journey, rather than a static destination to which management must arrive.     

Tourism’s Impacts on Natural Resources: A Positive Case from China

Tourism development may result in negative impacts on natural resources owing to overuse and mismanagement. However, tourism may also play positive roles in natural resource conservation, which has rarely been verified in practice, although some researchers have demonstrated this in theory. In this article, taking the Jiuzhaigou Biosphere Reserve as a case study area, we conducted an analysis for the environmental impacts from tourism development based on social survey and interpretation of remote sensing images. The results show that the natural environment was not degraded and some indicators are even improving because all the residents have participated in tourism and given up farming and hunting. It is concluded that it is possible to use tourism as a way to balance natural resource conservation and economic development under the preconditions of making effective policies to encourage and help local people participate in tourism business and to benefit from it.     

生态旅游和旅游环境影响评价

生态旅游是一种全新的旅游业。本文介绍了生态旅游的概念，含义，特征和进行生态旅游开发的必要性，探讨了在进行生态旅游开发前进行旅游环境影响评价的原因以及旅游环境影响评价的内容，存在的问题和改进方法，从而为生态旅游开发的环境可行性、旅游规划的优化制定提供科学依据。     

土壤-植物系统中的微界面过程及其生态环境效应

土壤 植物系统是地球生态系统中与人类生存与健康关系最为密切的亚系统 .该系统中的水分、养分 污染物的运移必须历经土壤固 液界面、根土界面 (根际微环境 )、细胞跨膜运输和植物体内不同组织和细胞内不同组分间的再分配等微界面过程 .这些微界面过程涉及到系统中许多生物、生物化学和物理化学反应机理 ,与植物对土壤中养分高效利用、污染物迁移转化及其归宿具有密切的关系 .理解这些微界面过程对提高农作物生长、改善土壤环境质量和提高农产品安全品质具有直接的理论和实践指导意义     

Spatial pattern of impervious surfaces and their impacts on land surface temperature in Beijing, China

Land surface temperature （LST）, which is heavily influenced by urban surface structures, is a significant parameter in urban environmental analysis. This study examined the effect impervious surfaces （IS） spatial patterns have on LST in Beijing, China. A classification and regression tree model （CART） was adopted to estimate IS as a continuous variable using Landsat images from two seasons combined with QuickBird. LST was retrieved from the Landsat Thematic Mapper （TM） image to examine the relationships between IS and LST. The results revealed that CART was capable of consistently predicting LST with acceptable accuracy （correlation coefficient of 0.94 and the average error of 8.59%）. Spatial patterns of IS exhibited changing gradients across the various urban-rural transects, with LST values showing a concentric shape that increased as you moved from the outskirts towards the downtown areas. Transect analysis also indicated that the changes in both IS and LST patterns were similar at various resolution levels, which suggests a distinct linear relationship between them. Results of correlation analysis further showed that IS tended to be positively correlated with LST, and that the correlation coefficients increased from 0.807 to 0.925 with increases in IS pixel size. The findings identified in this study provide a theoretical basis for improving urban planning efforts to lessen urban temperatures and thus dampen urban heat island effects.     

《大气污染防治行动计划》实施对经济与环境的潜在影响

基于全产业链视角,采用资源环境投入产出模型,定量化模拟了在现有产业技术条件下国家《大气污染防治行动计划》(下称《计划》项目)实施对社会经济和资源环境的潜在影响. 结果表明,《计划》项目实施:①将拉动我国GDP累计增加20 570×108元,非农就业岗位累计增加260×104个,起到刺激经济发展、促进社会就业等作用;②将直接带动环保装备制造、建筑安装、综合技术服务、锅炉技术改造以及新能源汽车等相关行业的发展,同时通过产业链关联间接带动金属冶炼压延加工业,化学工业(不含塑料和橡胶,下同),非金属矿物制品业,电力、热力的生产和供应业等传统高耗能、高污染产业的发展;③将累计新增SO₂、NO_x、烟粉尘排放量分别为121.3×104、96.0×104和60.7×104 t,年均新增排放量相当于预期减排能力的3.8%、2.2%、2.2%,主要集中于电力、热力的生产和供应业,金属冶炼压延加工业,非金属矿物制品业,化学工业以及石油加工炼焦核燃料加工业等5个行业;④将累计新增煤炭、水资源消耗量分别为1.6×108和108.2×108 t,二者的年均新增消耗量相当于2010年消耗量的1.05%和0.36%,主要集中于电力、热力的生产和供应业及金属冶炼压延加工业. 未来应加快环保产业发展,不断优化产业结构,进一步提高火电、钢铁等国民经济基础性行业污染治理效率和资源使用效率,从产品供给角度减少大气治理活动对环境的影响.      

HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF FLOODING DAMAGE ON A USA/QUEBEC RIVER BASIN1

ABSTRACT: There is a general belief in the public eye that extreme events such as floods are becoming more and more common. This paper explores this hypothesis by examining the historical evolution of annual expected flooding damage on the Chateauguay River Basin, located at the border between the United States and the province of Quebec, Canada. A database of basin land use was constructed for the years 1930 and 1995 to assess anthropogenic changes and their impact on the basin's hydrology. The progressive modification of the likelihood of a flooding event over the same period was then investigated using homogeneity and statistical tests on available hydrometric data. The evolution of the annual expected flooding damage was then evaluated using a coupled hydrologic/hydraulic simulator linked to a damage analysis model. The simulator and model were used to estimate flooding damage over a wide range of flooding return periods, for conditions prevailing in 1963 and 1995. Results of the analysis reveal the absence of any increasing or decreasing trend in the historical occurrence of flooding events. However, a general increase in the annual expected flooding damage was observed for all studied river sections. This increase is linked to an historical increase in damages for a given flooding event, and is the result of unbridled construction and development within the flood zone. To assess for future trends, this study also examined the potential impacts linked to the anticipated global warming. Results indicate that a significant increase in seasonal flooding events and annual expected flooding damage is possible over the next century. In fact, what is now considered a 100‐year flooding event for the summer/fall season could become a ten‐year event by the end of this century. This shows that potential future impacts linked to climate change should be considered now by engineers, land planners, and decision makers. This is especially critical if a design return period is part of the decision making process.     

Hybrid input-output analysis to evaluate economic impacts of biomass energy

ABSTRACT

The introduction of the new biomass industry exerts influences that change the interactions among economic sectors by drawing the resources for generating electricity, pricing alterations from the existing market and competitively selling electricity to the power grid. These influences should be described and identified to ensure the benefits to the local economy. In this article, we deem to test the potential of hybrid I-O analysis to analyze the economic impacts and address the change in characteristics of the economic impacts of the biomass power plant. The resource utilization data from the existing biomass power plant located in Kochi Prefecture (Japan) is collected and then analyzed by a hybrid input-output (I-O) analysis. We found that (1) the use of cutoff function could determine the new economy’s structure included the biomass power plant where the allocation of resource in the economy is changed according to the consumption and production of the biomass power plant, (2) The power plant increases the total production of Kochi prefecture’s economy, and this benefit overthrows the negative effect of the loss of resource demand of the existing economic sectors. The use of the hybrid I-O to forecast the economic impacts on the local economy could enhance the decision made by the policymaker.