Simulating secondary succession of elk forage values in a managed forest landscape,western Washington

Modern timber management practices often influence forage production for elk (Cervus elaphus) on broad temporal and spatial scales in forested landscapes. We incorporated site-specific information on postharvesting forest succession and forage characteristics in a simulation model to evaluate past and future influences of forest management practices on forage values for elk in a commercially managed Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii, PSME)-western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla, TSHE) forest in western Washington. We evaluated future effects of: (1) clear-cut logging 0, 20, and 40% of harvestable stands every five years; (2) thinning 20-year-old Douglas fir forests; and (3) reducing the harvesting cycle from 60 to 45 years. Reconstruction of historical patterns of vegetation succession indicated that forage values peaked in the 1960s and declined from the 1970s to the present, but recent values still were higher than may have existed in the unmanaged landscape in 1945. Increased forest harvesting rates had little short-term influence on forage trends because harvestable stands were scarce. Simulations of forest thinning also produced negligible benefits because thinning did not improve forage productivity appreciably at the stand level. Simulations of reduced harvesting cycles shortened the duration of declining forage values from approximately 30 to 15 years. We concluded that simulation models are useful tools for examining landscape responses of forage production to forest management strategies, but the options examined provided little potential for improving elk forages in the immediate future.     

Copper recycling and scrap availability

According to existing estimates, available old copper scrap has more than tripled over the past 40 years. Secondary production (that is, copper produced from recycling old scrap), however, has only doubled. Indeed, over the past 10 years, while copper consumption and primary production have continued to expand briskly, while available old scrap has increased by over 35%, secondary production has actually stagnated.For a world concerned with sustainable development and the quality of the earth's environment, this performance is disappointing and in need of explanation. Other things being equal, one would expect the amount of recycling to increase with the availability of scrap, as many econometric models of the world copper market developed over the past several decades explicitly assume.The key to understanding sluggish growth in secondary production, this paper argues, is distinguishing carefully between (1) the flow of old scrap that arrives each year from products reaching the end of their useful lives during the year and (2) the available stock of old scrap that was not recycled during earlier years presumably because it was too costly to do so. Using an econometric model, the paper shows that old scrap stocks, which have contributed most of the increase in available old copper scrap over the years, have a very modest impact on secondary production. Old scrap flows have a much greater effect, but they account for only about 4% of the available old scrap for any given year.     

二次加压泵房噪声与振动治理

针对楼盘受低频噪声的困扰,本文提出建筑物内的设备运行造成的结构传声是扰民的主要声源。研究了二次加压泵房噪声与振动的特性,在此基础上研究了设备的隔声、隔振技术,并成功应用于实际项目中。     

原油储罐火灾事故环境风险评价分析

通过运用ADMS模型,对2万m3原油储罐发生火灾爆炸事故时有毒有害气体及燃烧次生污染物的环境影响进行预测。结果表明,其产生的废气污染物对环境影响较大;在火灾持续6h的情况下,产生的主要废气污染物在距离事故中心120m范围内的人员将有半数死亡;距120～240m范围内造成组织缺氧;距240～4725m人员不会有生命危险;距离4725m范围内污染物的浓度超出车间最高允许浓度要求。同时提出了相应的环境风险管理措施,为今后类似事故环境影响评价作借鉴,为环保部门环境管理提供参考。     

垂直管理背景下建设二级环境监测站能力的策略

尽管近些年我国经济已经得到了较大的发展,但是与此同时也带来了严重的环境污染问题,在新的时代背景下,国家越来越重视环境整治力度,因此做好环境监测工作显得尤为重要。为了发挥出环境监测站的工作职能,目前该领域朝着垂直管理的方向不断发展,有效地提高了整体的质量管理意识,建立起了标准的工作体系。本文将着重针对在垂直管理背景下如何提高二级环境监测站能力进行深入分析。     

Mercury contamination in vicinity of secondary copper smelters in Fuyang, Zhejiang Province, China: Levels and contamination in topsoils

In the present study, we aim to investigate the extent of soil contamination by Hg, particularly by anthropogenic Hg, and tentatively estimate the total Hg (Hg_T) accumulation in topsoils (0-15 cm) in Fuyang, Zhejiang Province—a secondary Cu smelter of China. The results show that the levels of soil Hg in the vicinity of the smelters have been substantially elevated following local smelting activities. The spatial distribution of soil Hg in this area reveals a rapid decrease as the distance from the smelter reaches 1.5 km, which is probably due to the quick deposition process of particulate Hg and reactive gaseous Hg emitted from the smelters. The total accumulation of Hg_T in the topsoils of the study area of 10.9 km² is approximately 365-561 kg and of which 346-543 kg might be contributed by anthropogenic emission alone with an annual emission of 17.3-27.2 kg Hg to the topsoils.     

Effect of oxygenated liquid additives on the urea based SNCR process

An experimental investigation was performed to study the effect of oxygenated liquid additives, H₂O₂, C₂H₅OH, C₂H₄(OH)₂ and C₃H₅(OH)₃ on NO_x removal from flue gases by the selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) process using urea as a reducing agent. Experiments were performed with a 150 kW pilot scale reactor in which a simulated flue gas was generated by the combustion of methane operating with 6% excess oxygen in flue gases. The desired levels of initial NO_x (500 ppm) were achieved by doping the fuel gas with ammonia. Experiments were performed throughout the temperature range of interest, i.e. from 800 to 1200 °C for the investigation of the effects of the process additives on the performance of aqueous urea DeNO_x. With H₂O₂ addition a downward shift of 150 °C in the peak reduction temperature from 1130 to 980 °C was observed during the experimentation, however, the peak reduction efficiency was reduced from 81 to 63% when no additive was used. The gradual addition of C₂H₅OH up to a molar ratio of 2.0 further impairs the peak NO_x reduction efficiency by reducing it to 50% but this is accompanied by a downward shift of 180 °C in the peak reduction temperature. Further exploration using C₂H₄(OH)₂ suggested that a 50% reduction could be attained for all the temperatures higher than 940 °C. The use of C₃H₅(OH)₃ as a secondary additive has a significant effect on the peak reduction efficiency that decreased to 40% the reductions were achievable at a much lower temperature of 800 °C showing a downward shift of 330 °C.     

Spatial distribution and internal metal concentrations of terrestrial arthropods in a moderately contaminated lowland floodplain along the Rhine River

Soil metal concentrations, inundation characteristics and abundances of 14 arthropod taxa were investigated in a moderately contaminated lowland floodplain along the Rhine River and compared to the hinterland. Internal metal concentrations were determined for the orders of Coleoptera (beetles) and Araneida (spiders) and were related to soil concentrations. The floodplain was characterized by larger arthropod abundance than the hinterland, in spite of recurrent inundations and higher soil metal concentrations. Most arthropod taxa showed increasing abundance with decreasing distance to the river channel and increasing average inundation duration. For Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn, significant relations were found between arthropod concentrations and concentrations in soil. Significant relations were few but positive, indicating that increasing soil concentrations result in increasing body burdens in arthropods. For arthropod-eating vertebrates, these results might imply that larger prey availability in the floodplain coincides with higher metal concentrations in prey, possibly leading to increased exposure to metal contamination.     

Environmental and human health risk assessment of organic micro-pollutants occurring in a Spanish marine fish farm

In this work the risk posed to seawater organisms, predators and humans is assessed, as a consequence of exposure to 12 organic micro-pollutants, namely metronidazole, trimethoprim, erythromycin, simazine, flumequine, carbaryl, atrazine, diuron, terbutryn, irgarol, diphenyl sulphone (DPS) and 2-thiocyanomethylthiobenzothiazole (TCMTB). The risk assessment study is based on a 1-year monitoring study at a Spanish marine fish farm, involving passive sampling techniques. The results showed that the risk threshold for irgarol concerning seawater organisms is exceeded. On the other hand, the risk to predators and especially humans through consumption of fish is very low, due to the low bioconcentration potential of the substances assessed.     

Pollution sources of atmospheric fine particles and secondary aerosol characteristics in Beijing

To investigate the secondary formation and pollution sources of atmospheric particles in urban Beijing, PM_2.5 and its chemical components were collected and determined by URG-9000D ambient ion monitor (AIM) from March 2016 to January 2017. Among water-soluble ions (WSIs), NO₃^?, SO₄^2- and NH₄⁺ (SNA) had the largest proportion (77.8%) with the total concentration of 23.8 μg/m³. Moreover, as fine particle pollution worsened, the NO₃^?, SO₄^2- and NH₄⁺ concentrations increased basically, which revealed that secondary aerosols were the main cause of particle pollution in Beijing. Furthermore, the particle neutralization ratio (1.1), the ammonia to sulfate molar ratio (3.4) and the nitrate to sulfate molar ratio (2.2) showed that secondary aerosols are under ammonium-rich conditions with the main chemical forms of NH₄NO₃ and (NH₄)₂SO₄, and vehicle emission could be the main anthropogenic source of secondary aerosols in Beijing. Source analysis further indicated that secondary aerosols, solid fuel combustion, dust and marine aerosol were the principal pollution sources of PM_2.5, accounting for about 46.1%, 22.4% and 13.0%, respectively, and Inner Mongolia and Hebei Provinces could be considered as the main potential sources of PM_2.5 in urban Beijing. In addition, secondary formation process was closely related with gaseous precursor emission amounts (SO₂, NO₂, NH₃ and HONO), atmospheric ozone concentration (O₃), meteorological conditions (temperature and relative humidity) and particle components. Sensitive analysis of the thermodynamic equilibrium model (ISORROPIA II) revealed that controlling total nitrate (TN) is the effective measure to mitigate fine particle pollution in Beijing.