Cost‐effectiveness of conservation payment schemes for species with different range sizes

Payments to compensate landowners for carrying out costly land‐use measures that benefit endangered biodiversity have become an important policy instrument. When designing such payments, it is important to take into account that spatially connected habitats are more valuable for many species than isolated ones. One way to incentivize provision of connected habitats is to offer landowners an agglomeration bonus, that is, a bonus on top of payments they are receiving to conserve land if the land is spatially connected. Researchers have compared the cost‐effectiveness of the agglomeration bonus with 2 alternatives: an all‐or‐nothing, agglomeration payment, where landowners receive a payment only if the conserved land parcels have a certain level of spatial connectivity, and a spatially homogeneous payment, where landowners receive a payment for conserved land parcels irrespective of their location. Their results show the agglomeration bonus is rarely the most cost‐effective option, and when it is, it is only slightly better than one of the alternatives. This suggests that the agglomeration bonus should not be given priority as a policy design option. However, this finding is based on consideration of only 1 species. We examined whether the same applied to 2 species, one for which the homogeneous payment is best and the other for which the agglomeration payment is most cost‐effective. We modified a published conceptual model so that we were able to assess the cost‐effectiveness of payment schemes for 2 species and applied it to a grassland bird and a grassland butterfly in Germany that require the same habitat but have different spatial‐connectivity needs. When conserving both species, the agglomeration bonus was more cost‐effective than the agglomeration and the homogeneous payment; thus, we showed that as a policy the agglomeration bonus is a useful conservation‐payment option.     

Fault detection and diagnostics of a three-phase separator

A high demand of oil products on daily basis requires oil processing plants to work with maximum efficiency. Oil, water and gas separation in a three-phase separator is one of the first operations that are performed after crude oil is extracted from an oil well. Failure of the components of the separator introduces the potential hazard of flammable materials being released into the environment. This can escalate to a fire or explosion. Such failures can also cause downtime for the oil processing plant since the separation process is essential to oil production. Fault detection and diagnostics techniques used in the oil and gas industry are typically threshold based alarm techniques. Observing the sensor readings solely allows only a late detection of faults on the separator which is a big deficiency of such a technique, since it causes the oil and gas processing plants to shut down.A fault detection and diagnostics methodology for three-phase separators based on Bayesian Belief Networks (BBN) is presented in this paper. The BBN models the propagation of oil, water and gas through the different sections of the separator and the interactions between component failure modes and process variables, such as level or flow monitored by sensors installed on the separator. The paper will report on the results of the study, when the BBNs are used to detect single and multiple failures, using sensor readings from a simulation model. The results indicated that the fault detection and diagnostics model was able to detect inconsistencies in sensor readings and link them to corresponding failure modes when single or multiple failures were present in the separator.     

Solar energy for electricity and fuels

Solar energy conversion into electricity by photovoltaic modules is now a mature technology. We discuss the need for materials and device developments using conventional silicon and other materials, pointing to the need to use scalable materials and to reduce the energy payback time. Storage of solar energy can be achieved using the energy of light to produce a fuel. We discuss how this can be achieved in a direct process mimicking the photosynthetic processes, using synthetic organic, inorganic, or hybrid materials for light collection and catalysis. We also briefly discuss challenges and needs for large-scale implementation of direct solar fuel technologies.     

Efficacy of created and restored nesting sites for the conservation of colonial Laridae in the South of France

By rapidly modifying key habitat components, habitat restoration is at risk of producing attractive cues for animals without providing habitats of sufficient quality. As such, individual fitness components, such as reproduction, could be reduced and restored habitats could become ecological traps. This risk notably appears by using artificial constructions in restoration projects, yet few studies have evaluated their efficacy in a robust way. We investigated this by analyzing 154 islets that were created or restored to improve the conservation status of 7 colonial Laridae species in the South of France. From 2007 to 2016, we compared occupancy dynamics and breeding parameters of these species between the restored sites and 846 unmanaged nesting sites. We also explored species’ preference for different nesting site characteristics and their respective effect on breeding parameters. Restored nesting sites were 2–9 times as attractive as unmanaged sites for all species except the Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus). Colonization probability was up to 100 times higher in sites already used by other species the previous year and increased with distance to the shore until >0.2 when distance was over 250 m. Abandonment probability was 29–70% lower when breeding was successful the previous year in all species except the Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis). Productivity and breeding success probability were 2 times higher on managed sites. Distance from the shore was an important attractive characteristic of artificial nesting sites in all species. Other nesting site characteristics had species-specific effects on colonization, abandonment, and breeding success. Our results indicate that managed nesting sites are successful conservation tools for colonial Laridae in the Mediterranean and do not act as ecological traps. Our study showed that testing the ecological trap hypothesis is a robust way to evaluate the success of restoration projects of breeding habitats.     

改良剂对广西环江强酸铅锌污染土壤的修复作用

广西环江沿岸农田土壤具有强酸、多重金属污染等特点,失去了农业生产能力,为此,本研究试用了土壤淋溶实验探究不同类型改良剂(生石灰、钙镁磷肥、有机肥、聚丙烯酰胺)组合对广西环江沿岸污染土壤的修复效果,土壤重金属迁移规律及对农田适耕性的影响.结果表明,对照组T1土壤酸化严重,降低清洁接触土壤层p H值,而处理方式T2、T3、T4、T5均能显著提高污染土壤p H值(P0.05),对供试土壤p H变化大小分别为2.7~3.2、1.6~2.7,均能达到南方农业生产土壤p H值范围.较对照组T1,在污染土壤0~20 cm处,处理方式T2、T3、T4、T5能有效地活化Pb,钝化Zn的作用;在清洁土壤20~60cm处,各个处理方式对DTPA-Pb、DTPA-Zn的作用不存在显著差异(P0.05).较对照组T1,处理方式T4、T5能为植物提供良好的种植营养物质,以期能为今后结合生物修复等措施提供技术支撑.     

苯酚的褐煤吸附过程及影响因素分析

以污染物苯酚为研究对象,褐煤作为吸附剂,通过批量实验研究了褐煤对废水中苯酚的吸附特性,考察了褐煤粒径、褐煤投加量、反应温度、反应p H、反应时间对吸附作用的影响,并对吸附过程进行了分析。采用Lagergren动力学方程和拟二级吸附动力学方程分析苯酚吸附过程,结果表明,褐煤对苯酚的吸附动力学曲线更符合拟二级吸附动力学方程,反应初始速率随着苯酚初始浓度的升高而增大,但随着煤粉粒径的增大而减小。颗粒内扩散模型对苯酚的吸附动力学曲线分析结果表明:苯酚在褐煤上的吸附首先经历了速率较快的膜扩散控制阶段,进而经历了吸附较缓慢的颗粒内扩散控制阶段,最后到达吸附平衡,褐煤对苯酚的吸附过程主要受到颗粒内扩散控制。     

基于神经网络的碳排放预测及影响因素分析

基于新疆1995—2014年农业生产碳排放源,建立碳排放关系数据库。应用广义神经网络(generalized regression neural network,GRNN)构建了排放量预测模型,结合平均影响值(mean impact value,MIV)方法对碳排放影响因素进行量化。结果表明:1)GRNN模型预测碳排放的平均绝对百分误差和拟合优度分别为2.7860%和0.8720;2)新疆人口、人均GDP、农业贡献值、农机总动力和农户固定资产投资等因素对农业生产碳排放的影响程度分别为0.6210、0.2377、0.3698、0.8500和0.1000。该成果可为新疆碳排放总量分析和影响因素量化方面提供参考。     

九龙江口滨海湿地生源要素空间分布特征

为了揭示亚热带典型滨海湿地生源要素的空间分布特征及影响因素,选取九龙江口滨海湿地为研究对象,于2009年夏采集表层沉积物及柱状样,利用元素分析仪和流动注射分析仪对主要生源要素碳、氮、磷、硫(C、N、P、S)进行分析.结果表明,九龙江口滨海湿地生源要素含量较高,总碳、总氮、总磷、总硫(TC、TN、TP、TS)的均值分别为(12.64±2.66)、(1.57±0.29)、(0.48±0.06)、(2.61±1.37)g·kg-1,空间分布差异性显著.红树林植被区表层沉积物的TC、TN、TP含量高于米草植被及光滩,高潮位TC、TN、TP含量>中潮位>低潮位,TS在米草植被及中潮位含量较高.柱状样的TC、TN具有相似的垂直变化趋势,均表现为由表层向下逐渐降低,且不同植被间的柱状样TC、TN含量在同一深度上都表现为:红树区>米草区>光滩区;柱状样TP平均值是光滩最低,TS平均值是光滩最高.冗余分析表明,植被类型、pH及潮位是影响表层沉积物生源要素(C、N、P、S)分布最显著的环境因子,解释量分别为24.0%、19.0%和11.6%.     

氮氟掺杂二氧化钛(N,F-TiO2)的制备及可见光催化活性的研究

以氨水为氮源,氢氟酸为氟源,采用溶胶-凝胶法制备了氮氟掺杂二氧化钛(N,F-TiO2)光催化剂,并通过X-射线衍射(XRD)和扫描电镜(SEM)技术对其晶型和形态进行表征.最后以酸性红B为模型污染物,探讨了N和F加入量、焙烧温度、焙烧时间、照射时间、催化剂用量、溶液初始浓度和照射功率等因素对N,F-TiO2可见光催化活性的影响.结果表明,制备的N,F-TiO2以锐钛型为主,N和F的掺杂对TiO2的晶相没有明显改变,但可以扩大TiO2的可见光响应范围.当N和F的加入量均为2.0%,且在500℃下焙烧40 min时,得到的N,F-TiO2的可见光催化活性明显高于单N或单F掺杂的TiO2(N-TiO2或F-TiO2).对于50 mL浓度为10.0 mg·L-1的酸性红B溶液,当催化剂加入量为1.5 g·L-1,128W光照3.0 h,溶液pH=5.6时,去除率为85.40%.适当延长光照时间至4.0 h,降解率几乎可达100%.另外,研究还证明了N,F-TiO2催化可见光降解过程中有.OH自由基生成.     

北京夏季灰霾天臭氧近地层垂直分布与边界层结构分析

后奥运时期首都北京的空气质量被更加关注,尤其是对于灰霾天与光化学复合污染的状况,而近地层数百米高度内的大气污染物与大气物理参数垂直分布观测对于空气质量变化过程评估至关重要.因此,本研究于2009年8月1-16日,在北京市325 m气象塔进行了相应的立体观测,观测平台垂直分布在距离地面高度8、47、120和280 m四层中.同时,在近地面320 m高度以内,分15层分别观测了大气温度、湿度、风速、风向.另外,使用气溶胶后向散射云高仪观测了边界层2.5 km内气溶胶后向散射系数.利用垂直分层的O3数据与边界层物理观测数据并结合天气形势、后向轨迹模式等方法,综合分析了本次观测数据之间的相互关系和内在联系.结果表明:夏季西北部低压槽控制的北京区域不利于低空大气扩散,容易形成光化学污染叠加灰霾污染,污染形成时白天地面小时最大φ(O3)可达120×10-9,280 m高度处可达155×10-9;来自西北偏西的气流一般较为干净,有利于北京污染物的清除,而来自西南和偏南的气流使北京的O3污染加重,导致区域性高浓度O3污染;在稳定天气条件下,夜间残留层与地面的φ(O3)差别越大,次日光化学生成的φ(O3)起点越高,表明残留层O3在次日混合层抬升过程中卷夹到地面,影响地面空气质量;300 m以内的近地层,在50 m高度左右存在φ(O3)变化程度剧烈层,这是城市冠层界面与大气化学反应共同作用的结果.