The impact of human frequentation on coastal vegetation in a biosphere reserve

We aimed to assess the impacts of recreational trampling on rare species, plant communities and landscape structure in the Iroise Biosphere Reserve (western France). Focusing on coastal grasslands, we first identified indicators discriminating human-induced short grasslands (i.e. maintained short by intensive trampling) from natural short grasslands (i.e. maintained by environmental constraints): the presence of lichens and succulent or woody species, which are known to be highly sensitive to trampling, as well as a shallow soil were good indicators of natural short grasslands. Recreational activities affected the majority of plots containing rare species, but one third of rare species (according to their habitat preference) appeared currently not threatened by recreational activities. The other rare species were found in grasslands with low trampling intensity and were not found in grasslands with greater trampling intensity. One lichen species (Teloshistes flavicans) was not affected by trampling intensity, while two plants species (Scilla verna and Ophioglossum lusitanicum) showed higher abundances when trampling was low to medium. When it occurs in natural short grasslands, tourist trampling reduced drastically plant species richness. However, when considering maritime high grasslands, we observed that species richness was higher under low trampling vs. no trampling, but decreased at higher trampling intensity. At a landscape scale, the mean annual rate of path creation was about 1.6% and tourist trampling has already completely destroyed 3.5ha of natural coastal vegetation. Trampling of maritime-high grassland has also created 31ha of short grasslands, which represent 50.8% of the whole short grassland habitat of the island. Moreover trampling affected respectively, 41% and 15% of natural short grasslands and maritime-high grasslands. One of the main suggestions for managers to minimise trampling impacts should be to protect areas of rocky soil covered by short grassland that are still non-trampled and not impacted. Fortunately, this appears compatible with a relatively free access of visitors to coastal areas, as tourists can be redirected towards maritime-high grasslands, an habitat which is less impacted by tourism in terms of affected surface, soil cover, loss of species, or presence of rare species host.     

Private Property Rights and Selective Private Forest Conservation: Could a Nordic Hybrid Policy Address a United States Problem?

Political and legal conflicts between the need for targeted private forest conservation and the continued assurance of private property rights in the U.S. presents a seemingly intractable resource management problem. Scandinavian use of habitat protection areas on private forests offers an additional tool that may be suitable for solving the historical and on-going tension found within U.S. efforts to reconcile desires to maintain lands in a forested condition while also respecting private property rights. This article presents a comparative cross-sectional policy analysis of Sweden, Finland, and the U.S., supported with a supplemental case example from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Similarities in all three countries among forest ownership patterns, use of public subsidies, and changing attitudes towards conservation are generally encouraging. Additionally, Virginia’s current consideration and development of state-wide forest policies focused on forestland and open space conservation suggests both a need and an opportunity to systematically assess the applicability of the Nordic forest reserve approach to local private forest conservation. Future research at a high-resolution, and specifically at the state level, should focus on the social and political factors that would ultimately determine the viability of a forest reserve program.     

Protecting people and property: the influence of land-use planners on flood hazard mitigation in New Urbanist developments

Research suggests that characteristics of local government land-use planners help determine the priority that local communities place on flood hazard mitigation. However, research has not examined the significance of land-use planners' values and role orientations for flood hazard mitigation. Multiple regression analysis is used to examine the influence that land-use planners' values and role orientations have on flood hazard mitigation in a national sample of New Urbanist development projects. Findings indicate that land-use planners' values and role orientations have significant implications for flood hazard mitigation in these projects. The paper recommends that local governments adopt a land-use planning approach to flood hazard mitigation that relies on land-use planners to help direct development away from hazardous portions of development sites.     

家居室内设计及新进展的思考

在对传统室内设计基本观点阐述与理解的基础上分析其整体性、可持续发展,并着重探讨在物质文明和精神文明高度发展的今天,现代室内设计在个性化、自然性、现代性、艺术性等方面发展的新趋势.通过对现代室内设计特点和发展趋势的分析,创造出一个适合人们现代生活的理想空间.     

城市天然气管道风险特征与肯特法的改进

根据城市高压天然气管道特点,将适合于城市天然气管道风险分析的肯特评分法加以改进,包括调整评分项目和事故因素权重,使其成为适于城市天然气管道的风险分析法。将改进后的肯特评分法应用于常州21km高压天然气管道的风险评价,得出8个相对高风险管段,其分析结果可作为安全管理人员合理分配维护资源的理论依据。工程应用实例证明:改进后的肯特法具有较强的可行性,是城市高压天然气管道风险评估的有效工具。     

2007年中国安全生产事故与自然灾害状况

综述了2007年中国安全生产事故状况和自然灾害情况.2007年中国共发生各类安全生产事故506 376起,死亡101 480人,同比分别减少19.3%和10.1%.非煤矿山共发生伤亡事故1 861起、死亡2 188人,同比分别下降0 6%和3.9%.火灾发生15 9万起,死亡1 418人,受伤863人,直接财产损失9 9亿元.共发生森林火灾9 260起,草原火灾248起.2007年各类自然灾害共造成39 777 9万人(次)不同程度受灾,因灾死亡2 325人; 农作物受灾面积4 899万hm2,上升19 2%,其中绝收面积575万hm2,上升6.2%.因灾直接经济损失2 363亿元,比2006年下降6.5%.安徽、四川、河南、湖南、云南、重庆、浙江、陕西等地受灾较为严重.全国因气象灾害共造成经济损失约2 342亿元.2007年共发生风暴潮、海浪、海冰、赤潮和海啸等灾害性海洋过程163次,造成直接经济损失88 37亿元,死亡(含失踪)161人.地质灾害共发生25 364起,死亡598人,造成直接经济损失24 75亿元.大陆地区共发生5级以上地震17次,地震灾害造成死亡3人,直接经济损失20.19亿元.结果表明,2007年中国安全生产事故的发生较2006年有所缓和,自然灾害状况也较2006年轻.     

长江流域地质—生态环境的演化机制及综合自然灾害区划

地质－生态环境是新一轮国土资源大调查的新概念, 同时也是现代地学研究的一个重要的范畴,在分析地质－生态环境系统及其演变的动力学机制的基础上,本文首先探索了长江流域地质－生态环境的演化机制,结合其自然环境状况,揭示了长江流域自然灾害形成的综合机制及其分布规律;并在此基础上,依托图文信息可视化系统技术手段,采取自上而下和自下而上两种进行综合自然灾害区划,其区划等级体系为3个自然灾害区和9个自然灾害亚区,为合理利用自然资源及防治自然灾害和环境退化提供了基本依据。     

防洪物资储备决策方法初探

根据防洪抢险物资储备属于一种信息不全型决策问题的特点,本文提出了一种用于确定每年防灾物资准备量概率排序决策模型,并以孙不河流泥石流灾害预报火灾决策为例进行说明。     

陕西省2000年天气气候异常变化与自然灾害

分析陕西省2000年天气气候变化发现,隆冬降雪明显增多,春旱异常严重,秋霖明显,沙尘暴天气明显增加,这是多年来未曾见到的现象。异常的天气气候使得多种自然灾害并发。     

水中色度测定的研究

针对目视比色法色度测定不足之处,利用分光光度法进行改进.(1)在天然水的测定中,研究了以往的380nm作最大吸收波长测吸光度方法的问题.寻找到最佳波长455nm,吸收池5cm测定天然水吸光度A.(2)在5～400℃测定温度对吸光度无影响,溶液浊度、pH值对吸光度测定的影响呈线性关系.(3)在工业废水的测定中,先扫描出其最大吸收波长,以仪器检测限吸光度0.010为稀释终点.改进废水稀释倍数法.