中国西南喀斯特森林土壤有机碳空间变化及影响因素

喀斯特地区土壤碳储量及其影响因素的认识是评估我国陆地土壤生态系统碳汇能力不可或缺的内容。本文通过对中国西南北起秦岭北坡南至中越边境一条剖面上土壤有机碳的分析,研究了喀斯特森林0~10cm土壤有机碳空间变化及其控制因素。研究发现西南地区土壤有机碳含量和碳密度平均为32.3 g/kg和33.1t/hm2。无论是在整个西南区还是其省市范围内,二者均低于非喀斯特森林土壤。通径分析表明,影响喀斯特表层土壤碳含量和密度的主要因素有土壤容重、地形海拔和有机质C/N;粘粒含量和年平均气温的影响很小,而降水量仅在地处最北部的陕西省构成了土壤碳密度的影响因素。此现象与世界许多地区特别是高纬度地区形成鲜明对比。本研究结果表明,不同区域/气候带土壤碳库的主要影响因素会存在很大差异,这对认识气候变化背景下土壤碳库的反馈作用具有重要意义。     

系统响应气候变化脆弱性定量评价国内研究综述

定量评价气候变化脆弱性是人类采取适应性措施应对全球气候变化,以减少其不利影响的关键和基础。在对气候变化脆弱性有关概念进行讨论,及对国际、国内系统响应气候变化脆弱性评价研究回顾的基础上,对中国近十几来有关气候变化脆弱性定量评价研究的成果从三个方面进行了较为系统的总结：气候情景的模拟预测、系统变化过程的模拟、脆弱性指标的选取及脆弱性层次的划分。最后,从评价对象、技术手段、指标体系、时间尺度等方面探讨了该领域研究的不足及发展方向。     

关于高等学校引入低碳教育的思考

全球气候变化问题日益受到全人类的关注,国际社会加快了温室气体减排,发展低碳经济的步伐。解决气候变暖问题,发展低碳经济,实现可持续发展,必须通过低碳教育培养全民的低碳意识。大学生是传播低碳理念和实践低碳发展的生力军,提高大学生的低碳意识有利于提高全民族的低碳意识。为此,高校必然成为进行低碳教育的重要阵地。高等学校应在课程设置、学生生活实践以及学校管理等诸多方面贯彻低碳教育的理念。     

近48a宁夏寒潮的变化特征及可能影响的成因初步分析

利用1961—2008年宁夏日温度及逐月北半球500 hPa环流特征量、北极涛动指数(AOI)和NCAR/NCEP再分析资料,对宁夏寒潮频次变化的气候特征进行了分析,并对影响其变化的可能原因进行了讨论,结果表明:宁夏寒潮活动各地差异较大,主要出现在春季;近48年,春秋季寒潮频次呈弱增加趋势,冬季呈弱减少趋势;寒潮频次与AOI、气温呈负相关,与西伯利亚高压、东亚冬季风强度及入侵中国的冷空气活动频次呈正相关,相关关系在秋冬季明显,春季不明显;在气候变暖的大背景下,从20世纪80年代末开始,随着AOI从负位相转为正位相,冬季西伯利亚高压和东亚冬季风强度的减弱使得宁夏地表温度持续升高,是宁夏冬季寒潮频次减少的可能原因;春季也有类似的变化,不同的是:20世纪80年代中期以前,西伯利亚高压对寒潮活动作用更显著,之后,随气温持续增暖,冷空气活动对寒潮频次的影响更明显;秋季,西伯利亚高压和冷空气活动对寒潮的影响更直接明显。研究还发现,进入21世纪后,随着全球持续增暖,北极涛动对西伯利亚高压和东亚冬季风的影响有所减弱。因此,北极涛动、西伯利亚高压、冷空气活动频次、东亚冬季风、气温这几者之间的相互反馈作用是宁夏寒潮频次变化的可能原因。     

An assessment of safety climate,job satisfaction and turnover intention relationships using a national sample of workers from the USA

The association between safety climate, job satisfaction and turnover intention has not been thoroughly researched. This research is needed so that safety researchers and practitioners can begin to delineate the impact of safety on organizational and business outcomes. A path analysis was completed using data from a national sample of workers from the USA (n?=?1525). The overall fit of the model was excellent and analyses determined that both training and resource adequacy positively affected safety climate and job satisfaction. Safety climate also positively influenced job satisfaction. Both safety climate and job satisfaction were negatively associated with respondents’ turnover intention. In the study, the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention is reiterated in a sample of workers across many industries. This study is novel because it is one of the first studies to confirm that turnover intention is reduced with increased safety climate in a diverse sample of workers.     

Perceived mastery climate,felt trust,and knowledge sharing

Interpersonal trust is associated with a range of adaptive outcomes, including knowledge sharing. However, to date, our knowledge of antecedents and consequences of employees feeling trusted by supervisors in organizations remains limited. On the basis of a multisource, multiwave field study among 956 employees from 5 Norwegian organizations, we examined the predictive roles of perceived mastery climate and employee felt trust for employees' knowledge sharing. Drawing on the achievement goal theory, we develop and test a model to demonstrate that when employees perceive a mastery climate, they are more likely to feel trusted by their supervisors at both the individual and group levels. Moreover, the relationship between employees' perceptions of a mastery climate and supervisor‐rated knowledge sharing is mediated by perceptions of being trusted by the supervisor. Theoretical contributions and practical implications of our findings are discussed.     

Improving construction site safety through leader-based verbal safety communication

Background

The construction industry is one of the most injury-prone industries, in which production is usually prioritized over safety in daily on-site communication. Workers have an informal and oral culture of risk, in which safety is rarely openly expressed. This paper tests the effect of increasing leader-based on-site verbal safety communication on the level of safety and safety climate at construction sites. Method: A pre-post intervention-control design with five construction work gangs is carried out. Foremen in two intervention groups are coached and given bi-weekly feedback about their daily verbal safety communications with their workers. Foremen-worker verbal safety exchanges (experience sampling method, n = 1,693 interviews), construction site safety level (correct vs. incorrect, n = 22,077 single observations), and safety climate (seven dimensions, n = 105 questionnaires) are measured over a period of up to 42 weeks. Results: Baseline measurements in the two intervention and three control groups reveal that foremen speak with their workers several times a day. Workers perceive safety as part of their verbal communication with their foremen in only 6-16% of exchanges, and the levels of safety at the sites range from 70-87% (correct observations). Measurements from baseline to follow-up in the two intervention groups reveal that safety communication between foremen and workers increases significantly in one of the groups (factor 7.1 increase), and a significant yet smaller increase is found when the two intervention groups are combined (factor 4.6). Significant increases in the level of safety are seen in both intervention groups (7% and 12% increases, respectively), particularly in regards to 'access ways' and 'railings and coverings' (39% and 84% increases, respectively). Increases in safety climate are seen in only one of the intervention groups with respect to their 'attention to safety.' No significant trend changes are seen in the three control groups on any of the three measures. Conclusions: Coaching construction site foremen to include safety in their daily verbal exchanges with workers has a significantly positive and lasting effect on the level of safety, which is a proximal estimate for work-related accidents. It is recommended that future studies include coaching and feedback at all organizational levels and for all involved parties in the construction process. Building client regulations could assign the task of coaching to the client appointed safety coordinators or a manager/supervisor, and studies should measure longitudinal effects of coaching by following foremen and their work gangs from site to site.     

A Quantitative Tool for Assessing the Integrity of Southern Coastal California Streams

We developed a benthic macroinvertebrate index of biological integrity (B-IBI) for the semiarid and populous southern California coastal region. Potential reference sites were screened from a pool of 275 sites, first with quantitative GIS landscape analysis at several spatial scales and then with local condition assessments (in-stream and riparian) that quantified stressors acting on study reaches. We screened 61 candidate metrics for inclusion in the B-IBI based on three criteria: sufficient range for scoring, responsiveness to watershed and reach-scale disturbance gradients, and minimal correlation with other responsive metrics. Final metrics included: percent collector-gatherer + collector-filterer individuals, percent noninsect taxa, percent tolerant taxa, Coleoptera richness, predator richness, percent intolerant individuals, and EPT richness. Three metrics had lower scores in chaparral reference sites than in mountain reference sites and were scored on separate scales in the B-IBI. Metrics were scored and assembled into a composite B-IBI, which was then divided into five roughly equal condition categories. PCA analysis was used to demonstrate that the B-IBI was sensitive to composite stressor gradients; we also confirmed that the B-IBI scores were not correlated with elevation, season, or watershed area. Application of the B-IBI to an independent validation dataset (69 sites) produced results congruent with the development dataset and a separate repeatability study at four sites in the region confirmed that the B-IBI scoring is precise. The SoCal B-IBI is an effective tool with strong performance characteristics and provides a practical means of evaluating biotic condition of streams in southern coastal California.     

Influence of Riparian Seepage Zones on Nitrate Variability in Two Agricultural Headwater Streams

Riparian seeps have been recognized for their contributions to stream flow in headwater catchments, but there is limited data on how seeps affect stream water quality. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of seeps on the variability of stream NO₃‐N concentrations in FD36 and RS, two agricultural catchments in Pennsylvania. Stream samples were collected at 10‐m intervals over reaches of 550 (FD36) and 490 m (RS) on 21 occasions between April 2009 and January 2012. Semi‐variogram analysis was used to quantify longitudinal patterns in stream NO₃‐N concentration. Seep water was collected at 14 sites in FD36 and 7 in RS, but the number of flowing seeps depended on antecedent conditions. Seep NO₃‐N concentrations were variable (0.1‐29.5 mg/l) and were often greater downslope of cropped fields compared to other land uses. During base flow, longitudinal variability in stream NO₃‐N concentrations increased as the number of flowing seeps increased. The influence of seeps on the variability of stream NO₃‐N concentrations was less during storm flow compared to the variability of base flow NO₃‐N concentrations. However, 24 h after a storm in FD36, an increase in the number of flowing seeps and decreasing streamflow resulted in the greatest longitudinal variability in stream NO₃‐N concentrations recorded. Results indicate seeps are important areas of NO₃‐N delivery to streams where targeted adoption of mitigation measures may substantially improve stream water quality.     

Air‐Water Temperature Relationships in the Trout Streams of Southeastern Minnesota's Carbonate‐Sandstone Landscape

Carbonate‐sandstone geology in southeastern Minnesota creates a heterogeneous landscape of springs, seeps, and sinkholes that supply groundwater into streams. Air temperatures are effective predictors of water temperature in surface‐water dominated streams. However, no published work investigates the relationship between air and water temperatures in groundwater‐fed streams (GWFS) across watersheds. We used simple linear regressions to examine weekly air‐water temperature relationships for 40 GWFS in southeastern Minnesota. A 40‐stream, composite linear regression model has a slope of 0.38, an intercept of 6.63, and R² of 0.83. The regression models for GWFS have lower slopes and higher intercepts in comparison to surface‐water dominated streams. Regression models for streams with high R² values offer promise for use as predictive tools for future climate conditions. Climate change is expected to alter the thermal regime of groundwater‐fed systems, but will do so at a slower rate than surface‐water dominated systems. A regression model of intercept vs. slope can be used to identify streams for which water temperatures are more meteorologically than groundwater controlled, and thus more vulnerable to climate change. Such relationships can be used to guide restoration vs. management strategies to protect trout streams.