Current practices in the identification of critical habitat for threatened species

The term critical habitat is used to describe the subset of habitat that is essential to the survival and recovery of species. Some countries legally require that critical habitat of listed threatened and endangered species be identified and protected. However, there is little evidence to suggest that the identification of critical habitat has had much impact on species recovery. We hypothesized that this may be due at least partly to a mismatch between the intent of critical habitat identification, which is to protect sufficient habitat for species persistence and recovery, and its practice. We used content analysis to systematically review critical habitat documents from the United States, Canada, and Australia. In particular, we identified the major trends in type of information used to identify critical habitat and in occupancy of habitat identified as critical. Information about population viability was used to identify critical habitat for only 1% of the species reviewed, and for most species, designated critical habitat did not include unoccupied habitat. Without reference to population viability, it is difficult to determine how much of a species’ occupied and unoccupied habitat will be required for persistence. We therefore conclude that the identification of critical habitat remains inconsistent with the goal of protecting sufficient habitat to support persistence and recovery of the species. Ensuring that critical habitat identification aligns more closely with its intent will improve the accuracy of the designations and may therefore help improve the benefits to species recovery when combined with adequate implementation and enforcement of legal protections.     

通信产品与环境协调设计-产品演进中的电磁兼容分析

本文总结了产品与环境协调设计在通信产品研发中的应用，并从电磁兼容设计角度来举例说明通信产品演进中的产品与环境协调设计的分析途径。     

国内外生态厕所类型分析及其应用研究

本文通过对国内外不同类型生态厕所特点及应用效果的综合分析与比较，提出了适合城市地区使用的循环水型生态环保厕所。     

Degradation and re-emergence of the commons: The impacts of government policies on traditional resource management institutions in China

In the vast majority of cases studied to date, rapid changes in indigenous resource management institutions and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) have been reported with profound implications for indigenous livelihoods, biodiversity, and system resilience worldwide. In this case study, we examined how policy changes in China over the past 60 years have influenced indigenous resource management institutions designed to manage common pool pastoral systems in eastern Inner Mongolia. Based on semi-structured interviews (n = 91), focus group discussions (64 participants involved), and participant observation, we found that for over half a century rescaling efforts by the Chinese government shifted the focus to national level development planning, which led to the degradation of indigenous institutions that managed common pool pastoral systems in the region. However, we also highlight how local actors have used recent changes in government policies to revitalize traditional herding institutions. This provides a rare glimpse at the re-emergence of the commons from the bottom up.     

Informational governance – A systematic literature review of governance for sustainability in the Information Age

The rapid developments in all kinds of new information technologies, information networks and social media are increasingly affecting societies around the world. The so termed Information Age not only influences social relationships, economy and science, but also governance. Against this background and in the specific field of sustainability, informational governance is an emerging concept. It addresses two interrelated processes: (1) new forms of governing through information, and (2) transformative changes in governance institutions due to the new information flows. The aim of this article is to gain more insights into ways in which the Information Age impacts sustainability, and to suggest a research agenda with relevance to the field of informational governance. A systematic literature review resulted in a selection of 39 articles, of which 23 and 16 articles were identified in two-parallel searches. The increased human interconnectedness through e-governance, self-organization, private governing and empowerments are identified as core informational governance trends dealing with sustainability in the Information Age, and essential to future research.     

高速公路建设对生态环境的影响及防护措施

分析研究高速公路建设对周围生态环境的影响,提出各种相应的保护措施,以达到生态保护目的。     

An integrated methodology for environmental impacts and costs evaluation in industrial processes

The development of methods for process analysis has contributed to the improvement of production systems. In this context, many models and methodologies have been established in the literature in order to evaluate environmental performance of industrial processes, since it has become an important issue for society. However, few of them analyze environmental impacts and related costs simultaneously. So, this work presents an integrated methodology to perform this evaluation, based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Activity-Based Costing (ABC) principles. The proposed methodology was applied in a metallurgical industry in Brazil. As result, it allowed to identify the production process stages which have critical environmental impacts and greatest contribution to increase environmental costs of the company.     

The water-energy-food nexus: Is the increasing attention warranted,from either a research or policy perspective?

In recent years, the notion of a nexus involving water, energy, and food has been gaining attention in the scholarly literature and popular press, due partly to the impetus provided by an international conference on the nexus in 2011, and partly to the increasing interest among researchers and public officials in determining the investments and policies needed to achieve and sustain water, energy, and food security. While the notion of such a nexus is compelling to some observers, interactions involving water, energy, and food have been known and studied for many years by scientists and policy analysts. The need for greater integration of research and policy discourse across sectors and regions has been expressed in international meetings since the late 1940s. In addition, the conceptual basis for including water, energy, and food in the “nexus,” to the exclusion of other resources and inputs is not evident. In many cases, the information excluded from studies claiming to implement a nexus approach might be of greater importance to science and policy than the information included in the analysis. In this paper, I review some of the experience gained in earlier attempts to enhance integration and policy coherence, and to promote systems analysis. The challenges observed in implementing programs of integrated natural resources management (INRM) and integrated water resources management (IWRM), in particular, suggest that efforts to implement a water-energy-food nexus approach will not enhance the policy process in all settings. In sum, it is not clear that the increasing attention given to studies claiming to implement a nexus approach is warranted.     

城市水环境治理运作机制构建与创新——基于对“武汉水专项”案例的分析

中国实行改革开放以来,工业化和城市化推动了城市经济的快速增长,但城市水环境破坏严重.政府部门曾采取一些措施来改善水环境,但并未有效解决污染问题.由于城市水环境治理问题的重要性和紧迫性,国家科技部在武汉市汉阳区启动"水专项"寻求有效的治理模式.由于采用新的制度安排,注重科学技术与管理制度的结合,明显改善了汉阳地区的水环境."武汉水专项"的试验显示出市场机制在城市水环境治理这类公益项目中同样是有效率的.构建更加有效的城市水环境治理运作机制既是必要的,也是可能的.构建城市水环境治理运作机制的核心是在确保水环境改善的公共目标的基础上,实现城市水环境治理投入的外部效应内部化,城市水环境治理可以成为具有广阔市场和丰厚盈利的现代服务业.     

Climate, entropy and environment

The IPCC Working Groups I–III 2007 publications does not consider the question of the influence of the entropy increase in the atmosphere on current climate development. An investigation into this question, both in general terms as well as by two quantitative approaches, reveals we must consider the entropy produced by man in connection with climate development, especially with regard to the temperature increase of the atmosphere. The IPCC report also fails to mention the production of CO₂ by humans and livestock, but calculations show we must also consider such greenhouse gas CO₂ production. For solving the mitigating processes, we therefore have to take into account both the human induced entropy production and the direct human and livestock CO₂ output. In consideration of these findings, it seems necessary to introduce an “entropy identity” to people who wish to be able to continue to live on the planet. The introduction of an entropy tax might also help in solving the most urgent fundamental problem humanity has ever had to face. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.