Effects of a tropical cyclone on the drinking-water quality of a remote Pacific island

The effect of a cyclone (Ami, January 2003) on drinking-water quality on the island of Vanua Levu, Fiji was investigated. Following the cyclone nearly three-quarters of the samples analysed did not conform to World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline values for safe drinking-water in terms of chlorine residual, total and faecal coliforms, and turbidity. Turbidity and total coliform levels significantly increased (up 56 and 62 per cent, respectively) from pre-cyclone levels, which was likely due to the large amounts of silt and debris entering water-supply sources during the cyclone. The utility found it difficult to maintain a reliable supply of treated water in the aftermath of the disaster. Communities were unaware they were drinking water that had not been adequately treated. Circumstances permitted this cyclone to be used as a case study to assess whether a simple paper-strip water-quality test (the hydrogen sulphide, H(2)S) kit could be distributed and used for community-based monitoring following such a disaster event to better protect public health. The H(2)S test results correlated well with faecal and total coliform results as found in previous studies. A small percentage of samples (about 10 per cent) tested positive for faecal and total coliforms but did not test positive in the H(2)S test. It was concluded that the H(2)S test would be well suited to wider use, especially in the absence of water-quality monitoring capabilities for outer island groups as it is inexpensive and easy to use, thus enabling communities and community health workers with minimal training to test their own water supplies without outside assistance. The importance of public education before and after natural disasters is also discussed.     

Turning Scientific Approaches into Practical Conservation Actions: The Case of Comunidad Indigena de Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro, Mexico

Optimum natural resource management and biodiversity conservation are desirable goals. These, however, often exclude each other, since maximum economic benefits have promoted drastic reductions in biodiversity throughout the world. This dilemma confronts local stakeholders, who usually go for maximizing economic inputs, whereas other social (e.g., academic) sectors are favor conservation practices. In this paper we describe the way two scientific approaches—landscape and participatory research—were used to develop sound and durable land use scenarios. These two approaches included expert knowledge of both social and environmental conditions in indigenous communities. Our major emphasis was given to detect spatially explicit land use scenarios and capacity building in order to construct a decision support system operated by stakeholders of the Comunidad Indigena de Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro in Mexico. The system for decision-making was fed with data from inventories of both abiotic and biotic biodiversity components. All research, implementation, and monitoring activities were conducted in close collaboration with members of the indigenous community. As a major result we obtained a number of forest alternative uses that favor emerging markets and make this indigenous community less dependent on a single market. Furthermore, skilled members of the community are now running the automated system for decision-making. In conclusion, our results were better expressed as products with direct benefits in local livelihoods rather than pure academic outputs.     

秦皇岛市可持续发展的条件与能力测试

本文以秦皇岛市为例,探讨了实施可持续发展的基本条件,并从生存与发展能力、生态建设与环境治理能力和社会保障与科技发展能力等三个方面评估了秦皇岛市的可持续发展能力。这种评估方法简便、数据易得、其结果具有很强的可比性和说服力,其评估结果可为城市制定可持续发展战略和实施环境与发展综合决策提供科学依据。     

Volatile sesquiterpenes from Stachybotrys chartarum: Indicators for trichothecene producing mold species?

Trichodiene, a volatile sesquiterpene which is structurally related to trichothecene mycotoxins, has been identified in the headspace of growing Stachybotrys chartarum by GC/MS. It is possible that volatile sesquiterpene patterns can be used to characterize S. chartarum and related mold isolates as trichothecene producers, thus providing clear criteria for decisions concerning the occupancy and renovation of contaminated buildings.     

Mining with communities

To be considered as sustainable, a mining community needs to adhere to the principles of ecological sustainability, economic vitality and social equity. These principles apply over a long time span, covering both the life of the mine and post-mining closure. The legacy left by a mine to the community after its closure is emerging as a significant aspect of its planning. Progress towards sustainability is made when value is added to a community with respect to these principles by the mining operation during its life cycle. This article presents a series of cases to demonstrate the diverse potential challenges to achieving a sustainable mining community. These case studies of both new and old mining communities are drawn mainly from Canada and from locations abroad where Canadian companies are now building mines. The article concludes by considering various approaches that can foster sustainable mining communities and the role of community consultation and capacity building.     

秦皇岛市财富水平和构成与可持续发展能力研究

本文以秦皇岛市为例,探讨了财富水平的估算、构成及其与可持续发展能力的关系。结果表明,通过对财富水平及其构成的监控,可以从宏观上全面的反映一个地区的可持续发展能力,并对制定地区的可持续发展战略提供科学依据。     

经济发展可持续性状态与趋势定量评价方法研究

提出了基于环境绩效的可持续经济发展的定义,并设计了一个三角图．通过经济发展、资源能源消耗和环境污染三相互关系的研究,定量评价了经济发展的可持续性．利用三角图法对中国经济发展的可持续性状态和长期变化趋势进行了评价．结果表明,2000年中国的经济发展呈现出相对较弱的可持续性状态,中国大陆31个行政区大部分处于由弱不可持续性到弱可持续性的状态;1980—1991年中国经济发展表现出较弱的可持续性趋势,而1991—2000年则呈现出较强的可持续性趋势．这是中国改革开放20年来在环境保护方面不断加强的结果．案例研究表明,三角图法原理简单、计算简便、结果表现直观、评价指标和对象选择灵活,是一种值得推广的评价经济发展可持续性状态和长期变化趋势的定量方法。     

Reliability of Indicators of Decline in Abundance

Abstract: Although there are many indicators of endangerment (i.e., whether populations or species meet criteria that justify conservation action), their reliability has rarely been tested. Such indicators may fail to identify that a population or species meets criteria for conservation action (false negative) or may incorrectly show that such criteria have been met (false positive). To quantify the rate of both types of error for 20 commonly used indicators of declining abundance (threat indicators), we used receiver operating characteristic curves derived from historical (1938–2007) data for 18 sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) populations in the Fraser River, British Columbia, Canada. We retrospectively determined each population's yearly status (reflected by change in abundance over time) on the basis of each indicator. We then compared that population's status in a given year with the status in subsequent years (determined by the magnitude of decline in abundance across those years). For each sockeye population, we calculated how often each indicator of past status matched subsequent status. No single threat indicator provided error‐free estimates of status, but indicators that reflected the extent (i.e., magnitude) of past decline in abundance (through comparison of current abundance with some historical baseline abundance) tended to better reflect status in subsequent years than the rate of decline over the previous 3 generations (a widely used indicator). We recommend that when possible, the reliability of various threat indicators be evaluated with empirical analyses before such indicators are used to determine the need for conservation action. These indicators should include estimates from the entire data set to take into account a historical baseline.     

南昌市浅层地下水水质评价及监测指标优化

地下水环境监测过程中保证地下水水质评价代表性的同时尽量优化监测指标数量,对地下水环境管理具有重要的意义.选取南昌市地区2014年和2019年浅层地下水监测数据,运用统计分析、 Piper三线图和熵权水质指数(EWQI)分析水化学特征及水质变化,并耦合逐步多元线性回归分析构建基于水质评价的关键指标优化方法,评估此方法应用的可行性.结果表明,南昌市地下水2014年和2019年水化学类型主要为HCO₃-Ca型;pH值、 NO^-₃、 I^-、 Fe和Mn等5项超标指标是水质变化的主要影响因子;2019年水质状况总体上高于2014年,基本为“中等”水质,二者EWQI平均值分别为53.72和82.34;基于关键指标优化方法构建的最优模型EWQI_min-4能够较好地代表实际的EWQI,关键指标包括Mn、 NO^-₃、 TH、 Fe、 pH值和I^-,其决定系数(R²)和百分比误差(PE)值分别为0.865和10...     

Effects of vermiculite on the growth process of submerged macrophyte Vallisneria spiralis and sediment microecological environment

Ecological restoration is one of the hot technologies for the reconstruction of eutrophic lake ecosystems in which the restoration and propagation of submerged plants is the key and difficult step. In this paper, the effect of vermiculite on the growth process of Vallisneria spiralis and sediment microenvironment were investigated, aiming to provide a theoretical basis for the application of vermiculite in aquatic ecological restoration. Results of growth indexes demonstrated that 5% and 10% vermiculite treatment groups statistically promote the growth of Vallisneria spiralis compared to the control. Meanwhile, the results of ecophysiological indexes showed that photosynthetic pigment, soluble sugar content, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) activity of 5% and 10% group were increased compared with the control while the malondialdehyde (MDA) content exhibited the opposite result (p < 0.05), which illustrated that vermiculite can improve the resistance of plants and delay the aging process of Vallisneria spiralis. In addition, result of PCA (Principal Component Analysis) demonstrated 5% and 10% group has improved the sediment physical conditions and create more ecological niche for microorganisms directly, and then promoted the growth of plants. The dissolution results showed that vermiculite can dissolve the constant and trace elements needed for plant growth. Furthermore, the addition of vermiculite increased the diversity of microorganisms in the sediments, and promoted the increase of plant growth-promoting bacteria and phosphorus-degrading bacteria. This study could provide a technique reference for the further application of vermiculite in the field of ecological restoration.