Human Dimensions of Forest Disturbance by Insects: An International Synthesis

Ecological disturbances of forests by insects have a complex array of associated human dimensions presenting complications for natural resource decision making and relationships between stakeholders and managers. This article discusses the human context of forest disturbances by insects by reviewing four cases of bark beetle forest disturbance from British Columbia in Canada, Bavarian Forest National Park in Germany, the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, and the north central region of Colorado. Findings and lessons learned from these studies are outlined along with their implications for managing forest disturbances by insects in general. Conclusions focus on the need to assess the broad array of impacts and risks perceived by local residents and the capacity for local action and involvement in managing forest disturbances. Communication and interaction between resource managers and local stakeholders can facilitate the identification of management priorities and potentially reduce some of the risks associated with forest disturbances by insects.     

Technological Progress, Structural Change and China＇s Energy Efficiency

China has witnessed rapid economic development since 1978, and during the time, energy production and consumption developed at a tremendous speed as well. Energy efficiency which can be measured by energy consumption per unit of GDP, however, experienced continuous decrease. Theoretically, the change of energy efficiency can be attributed to industry structural change and technological change. In order to explain the transformation of Chinese energy efficiency, we adopt logarithmic mean Divisia index techniques to decompose changes in energy intensity in the period of 1994-2005. We find that technological change is the dominant contributor in the decline of energy intensity, but the contribution has declined since 2001. The change in industry structure has decreased the energy intensity before 1998, but raised the intensity after 1998. Decomposed technological effects for all sectors indicate that technological progresses in high energy consuming industries such as raw chemical materials and chemical products, smelting and pressing of ferrous metals, manufacture of non-metallic mineral products and household contribute are the principal drivers of China＇s declining energy intensity.     

Post-fire seeding on Wyoming big sagebrush ecological sites: regression analyses of seeded nonnative and native species densities

Since the mid-1980s, sagebrush rangelands in the Great Basin of the United States have experienced more frequent and larger wildfires. These fires affect livestock forage, the sagebrush/grasses/forbs mosaic that is important for many wildlife species (e.g., the greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus)), post-fire flammability and fire frequency. When a sagebrush, especially a Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis (Beetle & A. Young)), dominated area largely devoid of herbaceous perennials burns, it often transitions to an annual dominated and highly flammable plant community that thereafter excludes sagebrush and native perennials. Considerable effort is devoted to revegetating rangeland following fire, but to date there has been very little analysis of the factors that lead to the success of this revegetation. This paper utilizes a revegetation monitoring dataset to examine the densities of three key types of vegetation, specifically nonnative seeded grasses, nonnative seeded forbs, and native Wyoming big sagebrush, at several points in time following seeding. We find that unlike forbs, increasing the seeding rates for grasses does not appear to increase their density (at least for the sites and seeding rates we examined). Also, seeding Wyoming big sagebrush increases its density with time since fire. Seeding of grasses and forbs is less successful at locations that were dominated primarily by annual grasses (cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.)), and devoid of shrubs, prior to wildfire. This supports the hypothesis of a "closing window of opportunity" for seeding at locations that burned sagebrush for the first time in recent history.     

Modeling Postfire Response and Recovery using the Hydrologic Engineering Center Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC‐HMS)1

Abstract: This paper investigates application of the Army Corps of Engineers’ Hydrologic Engineering Center Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC‐HMS) to a burned watershed in San Bernardino County, California. We evaluate the HEC‐HMS’ ability to simulate discharge in prefire and postfire conditions in a semi arid watershed and the necessary parameterizations for modeling hydrologic response during the immediate, and subsequent recovery, period after a wildfire. The model is applied to City Creek watershed, which was 90% burned during the Old Fire of October 2003. An optimal spatial resolution for the HEC‐HMS model was chosen based on an initial sensitivity analysis of subbasin configurations and related model performance. Five prefire storms were calibrated for the selected model resolution, defining a set of parameters that reasonably simulate prefire conditions. Six postfire storms, two from each of the following rainy (winter) seasons were then selected to simulate postfire response and evaluate relative changes in parameter values and model behavior. There were clear trends in the postfire parameters [initial abstractions (I_a), curve number (CN), and lag time] that reveal significant (and expected) changes in watershed behavior. CN returns to prefire (baseline) values by the end of Year 2, while I_a approaches baseline by the end of the third rainy season. However, lag time remains significantly lower than prefire values throughout the three‐year study period. Our results indicate that recovery of soil conditions and related runoff response is not entirely evidenced by the end of the study period (three rainy seasons postfire). Understanding the evolution of the land surface and related hydrologic properties during the highly dynamic postfire period, and accounting for these changes in model parameterizations, will allow for more accurate and reliable discharge simulations in both the immediate, and subsequent, rainy seasons following fire.     

基于道化法(DOW)的计算机辅助软件开发

传统的评价方法费时费力,效率低下.将计算机技术与评价方法相结合是评价工作发展的趋势.介绍了为世界各国石油化工企业所广为接受的美国道化学公司(DOW)火灾、爆炸危险性指数评价法,以及根据该法的评价思路所开发的辅助软件的设计思路和功能.     

自供电方式的输气站发电机房火险管理

结合涩宁兰输气管道涩北首站实际情况,就发电机房发生火灾事故后的应急反应程序进行了详细论证,提出了具体的火灾防范措施和改进需求,对基于自供电输气场站的发电机房火灾事故应急工作提供了参考.     

浅谈脱硫系统的防火设计

火灾报警及消防系统是人身、设备安全的重要保证.针对脱硫系统的具体实际,对火灾报警及消防系统设计进行了探讨,并给出一定的设计参考意见.     

聚氨脂泡沫填缝剂生产工艺火灾危险性分析与对策

以聚氨脂泡沫填缝剂基本生产原理及其特点为基础,对生产原料进行火灾危险性分析,结果表明:该类生产场所的火灾危险等级应划分为甲类;提出聚氨酯泡沫填缝剂生产中存在的安全问题及原因;运用危险度评价法对聚氨脂泡沫填缝剂生产工艺的火灾危险性进行了定量的安全评价,得出聚氨脂泡沫填缝剂生产工艺的危险程度为高度危险;并从建筑设计、防火管理和生产工艺等方面提出了预防火灾事故发生的对策。     

我国商用厨房火灾危险分析及对策研究

烹饪操作特点及食用油燃烧特性决定了商用厨房火灾呈现的特定危害规律,因此必须采用专门规范和技术加以防治。针对我国商用厨房消防安全现状,分析其火灾危险特点,探讨商用厨房消防监管的不足,在研究商用厨房灭火技术发展的基础上,提出加强商用厨房消防安全和健全商用厨房法规体系的对策及建议,建议从主动灭火和被动防火两方面,完善现有的灭火系统和厨具设备消防安全规范,加强商用厨房本质型消防安全,为通风系统和排油烟系统等火灾高发区域的消防安全提供了新手段。     

层次分析法在高层学生公寓火灾危险性评价中的应用

分析高层学生公寓的消防安全特点及其火灾发生危害性,评述现有的高层建筑火灾风险评价方法;在现有的评价方法的基础上,从人员因素、建筑物属性、安全疏散设施、报警与灭火系统、防火与防烟系统、建筑物内电气因素和消防安全管理7个方面综合考虑,建立了高层学生公寓的建筑火灾危险评价指标体系;利用层次分析法对高层学生公寓火灾危险性进行分析,确定其评价指标体系中各层次各指标的权重;分析结果表明:消防安全教育与培训是学生公寓火灾危险评价指标体系中最重要的因素。加强和改进高层学生公寓消防安全管理,对预防或减少高层学生公寓火灾具有现实指导价值。