Formulaic Expert Method to Integrate Evaluation and Valuation of Heritage Trees in Compact City

Urban trees serve important environmental, social and economic functions, but similar to other natural endowments they are not customarily depicted in monetary terms. The needs to augment protection, funding and community support for urban greening call for proper valuation. Heritage trees (HTs), the cream of urban-tree stock, deserve special attention. Existing assessment methods do not give justice to outstanding trees in compact cities deficient in high-caliber greenery, and to their social-cultural-historical importance. They artificially separate evaluation from valuation, which should be a natural progression from the former. Review of tree valuation methods suggested the formula approach to be more suitable than contingent valuation and hedonic pricing, and provided hints on their strengths and weaknesses. This study develops an alternative formulaic expert method (FEM) that integrates evaluation and valuation, maximizes objectivity, broadly encompasses the key tree, tree-environment and tree-human traits, and accords realistic monetary value to HTs. Six primary criteria (dimension, species, tree, condition, location, and outstanding consideration) branched into 45 secondary criteria, each allocated numerical marks. Each primary criterion was standardized to carry equal weight, and a tree's maximum aggregate score is capped at 100. A Monetary Assignment Factor (MAF) to consign dollar value to each score unit was derived from three-year average per m² sale price of medium-sized residential flats. The applicability of FEM was tested on selected HTs in compact Hong Kong. The aggregate score of a tree multiplied by MAF yielded monetary value, which was on average 66 times higher than the result from the commonly-adopted Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers method. The computed tree values could be publicized together with multiple tree benefits to raise understanding and awareness and rally support to protect HTs. The property-linked FEM could be flexibly applied to other cities, especially to assess HTs in compact developing cities.     

园林树木保健问题的探讨

本文论述了影响树木健康的原因和园林树木保健措施。     

Imazaquin degradation and metabolism in a sandy loam soil amended with farm litters

Irnazaquin applied in legume crops has a long residual time in soil, which often impacts safety of the susceptible crops. To increase safety of imazaquin application, two composted litters, bovine manure （BM） and chicken manure （CM）, were used to determine their effects on imazaquin environmental behavior by incorporating each kind of manure into the tested sandy loam soil at 10% （w/w）. The degradation of imazaquin in BM- and CM-amended soil was about 2.4 and 1.5 times, respectively, faster than that in unamended soil. The half-lives of imazaquin in BM-amended soil varied between 6.7 and 15.4 d over the temperature range of 20 to 40℃, and the degradation rate constant （k） increased by a factor of about 1.5 for every 10℃ change. Higher mix ratio did not significantly increase the degradation, and the optimal active degradation of imazaquin was observed approximately at the mix ratio of 10：1 of soil to BM. The different moisture levels had negligible effect on imazaquin degradation. In both unamended and BM-amended treatments, two metabolites were observed at 5, 10 and 30 d after treatment. One metabolite at retention time （RT） of 8.4 rain was identified as 2-（4- hydroxyl-5-oxo-2-imidazolin-2-yl） quinoline acid, originating from the loss of isopropyl group and hydroxylation at the 4-position of imidazolinone ring. The other at RT of 12.9 rain was identified as quinoline-2,3-dicarboxylic anhydride, resulting from detachment of imidazolinone ring and the forming of dicarboxylic anhydride. This finding suggested that the addition of farm litters into soil might be a good management option since it can not only increase soil fertility but also contribute to increase safety of imazaquin application to the following susceptible crops.     

An analysis of assessment outcomes from eight years' operation of the Australian border weed risk assessment system

The majority of Australian weeds are exotic plant species that were intentionally introduced for a variety of horticultural and agricultural purposes. A border weed risk assessment system (WRA) was implemented in 1997 in order to reduce the high economic costs and massive environmental damage associated with introducing serious weeds. We review the behaviour of this system with regard to eight years of data collected from the assessment of species proposed for importation or held within genetic resource centres in Australia. From a taxonomic perspective, species from the Chenopodiaceae and Poaceae were most likely to be rejected and those from the Arecaceae and Flacourtiaceae were most likely to be accepted. Dendrogram analysis and classification and regression tree (TREE) models were also used to analyse the data. The latter revealed that a small subset of the 35 variables assessed was highly associated with the outcome of the original assessment. The TREE model examining all of the data contained just five variables: unintentional human dispersal, congeneric weed, weed elsewhere, tolerates or benefits from mutilation, cultivation or fire, and reproduction by vegetative propagation. It gave the same outcome as the full WRA model for 71% of species. Weed elsewhere was not the first splitting variable in this model, indicating that the WRA has a capacity for capturing species that have no history of weediness. A reduced TREE model (in which human-mediated variables had been removed) contained four variables: broad climate suitability, reproduction in less or than equal to 1year, self-fertilisation, and tolerates and benefits from mutilation, cultivation or fire. It yielded the same outcome as the full WRA model for 65% of species. Data inconsistencies and the relative importance of questions are discussed, with some recommendations made for improving the use of the system.     

Structural-functional organization of lower vegetation layers in tree communities of the upper timberline ecotone in the Polar Urals

Typologically identical (dwarf birch-herb-dwarf shrub-moss) open and closed larch forests growing on the same altitudinal transect have proved to differ in the structural-functional organization of lower vegetation layers. Coverage, general species composition, and species richness of the herb-dwarf shrub layer are higher in the open forest than in the closed forest. Correlations between individual species of vascular plants weaken upon transition from the open to the closed forest. Conversely, the coverage of the lichen-moss layer increases in the closed forest, which contributes to its role as a factor of selection of vascular plant species against the background of the prevailing influence of the tree layer.     

可靠性理论在公共安全领域的应用研究

对公共安全体系从系统可靠性的视角,综合运用可靠性方面的知识,构建公共安全系统混联模型;进而将可靠性分配理论与故障树分析方法相结合,根据系统安全目标的要求,确定混联系统的第一层次各单元事件的可靠性目标值,对构成各单元的各个下属单元采取最小工作量可靠度分配方法,从而建立系统中各单元可靠度再分配量化模型。通过建筑物火灾引起人员伤亡事故实例,详述系统各单元可靠性分配的计算过程。研究表明,可靠性理论可以成功地应用到公共安全领域;使系统在给定的目标值条件下达到系统的安全性优化,实现了公共安全保障效能,减小灾害损失。     

对杭州市部分自然灾害应急预案完备性评价的实证研究

采用故障树分析方法,从灾害的预防与应急准备、监测与预警、应急响应、后期处理4个方面,对2008年以前杭州市编制的部分自然灾害应急预案的完备度进行评价。结果表明:各类自然灾害应急预案的完备度不一,一些应急预案具有较高的完备度,而一些应急预案完备度偏低;大部分应急预案在灾害监测与预警方面具有较高的完备度,部分应急预案在灾害预防与应急准备、灾害后期处理完备度偏低;各应急预案中志愿者队伍的建设、灾害风险评价、应急人员的安全防护、灾后的保险理赔、重要设施的安全防护、启动应急避难场所等基本事件的缺失率较高,反映了部分应急预案编制过程中灾害全过程管理理念的缺失。     

基于事故机理和管理因素的地铁坍塌事故分析——以杭州地铁坍塌事故为实证

从技术角度分析地铁坍塌事故发生的机理,以安全事故致因层次为基础,将管理因素分为4部分,即人员因素、环境因素、材料因素和设备因素;进一步分析地铁坍塌事故发生的原因,构建地铁坍塌事故致因的鱼刺图;实证分析杭州地铁坍塌事故的致因,并构建杭州地铁坍塌事故致因的鱼刺图;在实证分析基础上,从地铁施工前与地铁施工时两时间段,针对人员因素、环境因素、材料因素和设备因素4方面管理因素,提出地铁坍塌事故的防范措施。以事故机理研究为基础,以管理因素研究为核心是研究地铁坍塌事故的必由之路,将对地铁工程的安全管理有一定的指导意义。     

模糊事故树在分析氯乙烯单体槽爆炸风险中的应用

在对氯乙烯单体槽爆炸事故构建事故树的基础上,根据现场设备实际运行状况的统计及依据专家经验所提供的模糊信息,运用模糊事故树理论,引入L-R型模糊数,应用其尖态型隶属函数,对氯乙烯单体槽进行了模糊可靠性分析,求出了氯乙烯单体槽爆炸事故的模糊概率可能性分布;并利用结构重要度系数近似值法对其进行结构重要度分析,运用对事故树底部事件进行排序分级的加权结构重要度分析法,确立了影响系统的最主要因素,为系统安全分析提供了新的方法和途径。     

饮食业油烟道火灾的模糊事件树分析

对饮食业油烟道火灾事故进行事件树分析时,历史数据的缺乏常常导致无法进行事件序列的定量计算.针对这一问题,利用专家对事故的模糊评判,引入模糊事件树进行定量计算研究.在模糊集理论的基础上,结合德尔菲法和判断矩阵法, 将模糊性语言转换为三角模糊数或梯形模糊数,应用模糊数截集以及模糊数清晰化方法,对后果事件发生概率进行计算.研究表明,饮食业油烟道火灾事故概率的模糊事件树分析是切实可行的,有助对饮食业油烟道火灾的认识、预防和扑救工作.