A double‐edged sword: Realities of artisanal and small‐scale mining for rural people in the Alaotra region of Madagascar

A growing number of people are entering the artisanal and small‐scale mining (ASM) sector worldwide. In Madagascar, millions of individuals depend on this informal activity. Through a case study in the Alaotra‐Mangoro region of Madagascar, our research aimed to understand the “bottom‐up” dynamics and ripple effects of the sector, by looking at the realities for rural communities where inhabitants are both directly and indirectly affected by ASM. We were interested in community members' and miners' perceptions of the socio‐economic and environmental impacts of ASM, and in identifying the factors attracting people living in one of the country's agricultural hubs to this activity. Our results show a wide diversity of push and pull factors leading people to enter the sector. Although many positive impacts of ASM exist for miners and communities within the vicinity of mines, most miner participants considered themselves worse off since starting to mine, highlighting the high risk and low probability of return of ASM. ASM's potential for local and national development will remain squandered if its negative impacts continue to go unmanaged. Accounting for local contexts and the ripple effects of ASM will be crucial in achieving safety and security for miners, and to tap into the benefits it may offer communities while minimising environmental damage.     

Treatment,residual chlorine and season as factors affecting variability of trihalomethanes in small drinking water systems

Seasonal variability in source water can lead to challenges for drinking water providers related to operational optimization and process control in treatment facilities. The objective of this study is to investigate seasonal variability of water quality in municipal small water systems (<3000 residents) supplied by surface waters. Residual chlorine and trihalomethanes (THM) were measured over seven years (2003–2009). Comparisons are made within each system over time, as well as between systems according to the type of their treatment technologies. THM concentrations are generally higher in the summer and autumn. The seasonal variability was generally more pronounced in systems using chlorination plus additional treatment. Chloroform, total THM (TTHM) and residual chlorine concentrations were generally lower in systems using chlorination plus additional treatment. Conversely, brominated THM concentrations were higher in systems using additional treatment. Residual chlorine was highest in the winter and lowest in the spring and summer. Seasonal variations were most pronounced for residual chlorine in systems with additional treatment. There was generally poor correlation between THM concentrations and concentrations of residual chlorine. Further study with these data will be beneficial in finding determinants and indicators for both quantity and variability of disinfection byproducts and other water quality parameters.     

陕北水蚀风蚀交错区小流域苔藓结皮的空间特征及其影响因子

生物结皮是旱区普遍存在的活性地被物,在生态系统中发挥重要的生态功能,研究其发育特征与形成机理是有效管理和利用该资源的基础。退耕还林（草）工程实施以来,黄土高原地区生物结皮大面积发育,但相比荒漠地区,相关的研究工作还较薄弱。生物结皮的发育具有过程的复杂性和空间的分异性,诸多荒漠地区的研究结果不能直接外推至黄土高原地区。鉴于此,论文选择黄土高原典型小流域,通过全面调查和测算分析,应用GIS 软件,探讨了生物结皮的空间特征及其影响因子。结果表明：①流域内藓类共有2 科8 属13 种,狭网真藓、真藓、尖叶对齿藓分布最广;②苔藓结皮占绝对优势,面积为4.18 km²,占流域面积的60.7%,主要分布在干扰少、侵蚀弱、水分好的梁峁坡或梁峁顶上;③土壤、植被、坡向均对苔藓结皮的发育有显著影响。同黄土地相比,沙地苔藓结皮的覆盖度高、呈连片分布。乔、灌植被下的生物结皮发育优于草本群落,植被盖度对苔藓结皮产生先促进后抑制的作用（拐点约在覆盖度30%处）。总体上,阴坡生物结皮的覆盖度、厚度均高于阳坡。     

复合指纹识别泥沙来源:潜在泥沙源地的选择

复合指纹识别技术应用于泥沙源解析的前提是假设研究者能够确定流域内泥沙的潜在来源类型,并且各泥沙源地所占比例之和为1,对潜在源地预判的不确定性将会对结果产生一定的影响。以南京市九乡河上游流域为例,对不同源地各指纹因子做均值显著性检验,检验各个预判源地能否单独作为潜在泥沙源地,同时对比分析不同沙源地对复合指纹因子判断泥沙来源正确率的影响,定量分析沙源地预判过程中的不足,探讨如何减少沙源地选择对泥沙来源识别的影响。通过对比研究发现,预判的4种泥沙源地被重新调整为农田、林地和道路3种类型。调整后各源地指纹因子差异性明显提高,不同泥沙来源的正确判别率最高达到89.2%,泥沙贡献率从高到低依次为农田(39.9%~87.8%)、林地(0.1%~47.7%)和道路用地(0~25.6%)。     

区域生态环境服务价值评估 --以延安市宝塔区为例

将小尺度行政区域作为研究对象,建立区域生态环境服务价值评估模型。模型重点考虑了2个方面:第一,主体生态系统对区域生态环境服务价值的贡献大小及主体生态系统之间的相互影响;第二,估算主体生态系统价值时考虑直接使用价值、间接使用价值、非使用价值的重复或遗漏及生态环境服务价值随社会经济的变化。以陕西延安市宝塔区为例进行评估,得到2002年宝塔区生态环境服务价值为118322.214万元。     

高海拔排土场边坡安全稳定性SBAS-InSAR监测

为解决高海拔排土场边坡安全稳定性监测中常规监测仪器布置和人员值守的高投入、高风险问题,分析西藏山南桑日县某排土场边坡25景Sentinel-1A数据,利用短基线集合成孔径雷达干涉测量(SBAS-InSAR)技术监测终了排土场边坡从2018年11月4日-2020年12月23日期间的地表形变,采用基线估计状态空间模型、自适...     

超细水雾抑制煤燃烧的模拟实验研究

为了研究超细水雾对煤燃烧的抑制效果,基于小尺寸空间抑制燃烧实验平台,研究了超细水雾对煤燃烧的抑制效果,计算在超细水雾作用下实验空间内部氧气、二氧化碳、一氧化碳体积分数的变化情况以及燃烧空间内不同部位的温度变化情况,并且与煤自由燃烧的情况做对比。研究表明超细水雾对煤燃烧的火灾发展过程有很好的抑制作用。研究结论对超细水雾应用于熄灭矿井煤炭火灾具有一定的指导意义     

Benefits and challenges of streamlined life-cycle assessment for SMEs – findings from case studies on climate change impacts

ABSTRACT

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have a substantial role in the economy and job creation, but they are a remarkable source of environmental impacts. SMEs often lack skills and resources to compile environmental impact assessments; Streamlined Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) can provide efficient tools for this. An application of streamlined LCA relying heavily on database data, LCA clinic, was developed and tested on 23 SMEs in Finland. The climate change impacts were mainly caused by the production of raw materials, electricity and heating, whereas packaging and transportation were not influential. A significant amount of emissions were indirect, i.e. caused by production of raw materials. Thus, decreasing emissions from raw material production or selecting raw materials with a smaller environmental load could be a more efficient way to decrease emissions than reducing direct emissions such as those from electricity use. Lack of data in the LCA-databases was considered a challenge. An access to regionally customised datasets is important for the implementation of LCA clinics. Company feedback indicated that LCA clinics were useful in climate-friendly product design and increased environmental awareness, but did not lead to immediate actions to reduce emissions because of inadequate investment capabilities. Company managers had limited possibilities to use the results in marketing as comparative assessments would require a full LCA. Many company managers were willing to pay a fee sufficient to cover the costs of an LCA clinic, but some considered that the costs should be covered by external funding sources.     

三峡小城镇污水处理厂污水处理工艺探讨

在调查研究三峡库区重庆段小城镇污水处理现状的基础上,根据库区水质特征、水环境保护的特殊要求和库区地理环境与经济条件特点,对适用污水处理工艺和技术进行比选,认为利用地形高差,采用跌水曝气式生物滤塔+氧化沟处理工艺适用于库区小城镇污水处理。     

Population structure and community characteristics of Acer catalpifolium Rehd北大核心CSCD

Acer catalpifolium Rehd., a critically endangered tree species with an extremely limited range of distribution, is one of the 120 plant species with extremely small populations, as approved by the state forestry administration of the People's Republic of China and requires urgent rescue action. In order to comprehensively understand the population status and the future developmental trend of A. catalpifolium, the plant communities were investigated from 5 sites, including Caishenmiao (CSM), Banruosi (BRS), Zhangshancun (ZSC), Fuhusi (FHS), and Baoguosi (BGS). The population structure of A. catalpifolium as well as the species composition and community characteristics of its habitat were investigated. The results showed that A. catalpifolium is mainly distributed in the evergreen broad-leaved and deciduous broad-leaved mixed forests, in different community layers, namely, the tree layer, shrub layer, and herb layer, and is accompanied by 52, 74, and 52 plant species, respectively. Analyses of the distribution of population abundance revealed that BRS had the largest distribution of A. catalpifolium, accounting for 26.04% of the total population, followed by FHS, ZSC, BGS, and CSM, in that order. Analyses of the community characteristics revealed that the species diversity indices in FHS, BRS, BGS, and CSM were greater than that in ZSC. Analyses of the population age structure of A. catalpifolium revealed the gap in the distribution of the levels of seedlings and young trees. There were serious obstacles to the regeneration of the natural population. We concluded that the obstacle to the regeneration of the population of A. catalpifolium might be caused by the high competitive pressure from the dominant species and the micro-environment in the forest. Understanding the community characteristics and the population structure of A. catalpifolium could provide a theoretical foundation for its reintroduction and recovery. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.