Bottom up and top down: analysis of participatory processes for sustainability indicator identification as a pathway to community empowerment and sustainable environmental management

The modern environmental management literature stresses the need for community involvement to identify indicators to monitor progress towards sustainable development and environmental management goals. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of participatory processes on sustainability indicator identification and environmental management in three disparate case studies. The first is a process of developing partnerships between First Nations communities, environmental groups, and forestry companies to resolve conflicts over forest management in Western Canada. The second describes a situation in Botswana where local pastoral communities worked with development researchers to reduce desertification. The third case study details an on-going government led process of developing sustainability indicators in Guernsey, UK, that was designed to monitor the environmental, social, and economic impacts of changes in the economy. The comparative assessment between case studies allows us to draw three primary conclusions. (1) The identification and collection of sustainability indicators not only provide valuable databases for making management decisions, but the process of engaging people to select indicators also provides an opportunity for community empowerment that conventional development approaches have failed to provide. (2) Multi-stakeholder processes must formally feed into decision-making forums or they risk being viewed as irrelevant by policy-makers and stakeholders. (3) Since ecological boundaries rarely meet up with political jurisdictions, it is necessary to be flexible when choosing the scale at which monitoring and decision-making occurs. This requires an awareness of major environmental pathways that run through landscapes to understand how seemingly remote areas may be connected in ways that are not immediately apparent.     

皂素生产废水处理方法比较研究

皂素生产废水为难处理高浓度酸性含硫有机废水,目前常用处理工艺为UASB+SBR,但该工艺运行效果较差。文章对UASB+SBR改进工艺进行了比较研究,结果表明:在UASB中加入适量铁屑和颗粒活性炭解除了SO42-的二次抑制,COD去除率比对照组UASB高2%～3%,出水水质COD一直稳定在1300mg/L左右,去除率在95%以上,出水无异味。UASB中污泥增长速率约为0.0686d-1,是仅加活性炭污泥增长速率(0.0197d-1)的3.48倍,可见加入铁屑后污泥增长速率改变明显。该改进UASB+SBR工艺的COD去除率高于对照组,出水COD维持在200mg/L以下,略带浅黄色(20倍左右),低于GB8978-1996《污水综合排放标准》原料药料二级排放标准值(300mg/L),SBR污泥增长速率为0.3083d-1,略高于对照组。     

铁路运输含硫原油过程中H_2S挥发规律模拟试验研究

以塔河12区含硫原油为研究对象,通过模拟铁路运输原油工况,研究罐内原油中H_2S挥发规律.结果表明,铁路运输过程中原油里H_2S析出浓度与时间的关系近似为6次多项式,并建证了H_2S浓度随时间变化的曲线方程;对影响罐内原油中H_2S挥发的2个主要因素罐内原油温度和罐车振动强度进行了分析.结果表明,罐内原油温度是原油中H_2S挥发的主要影响因素,升高罐内原油温度可以明显增加H_2S的挥发浓度.加大罐车振动强度对原油中H_2S挥发有促进作用,但不明显.     

Sludge concentration dynamic distribution and its impact on the performance of UNITANK

UNITANK is a biological wastewater treatment process that combines the advantages of traditional activated sludge process and sequencing batch reactor, which is divided into Tank A, B and C. In this study, the sludge distribution and its impact on performance of UNITANK were carried out in Liede Wastewater Plant （WWTP） of Guangzhou, China. Results showed that there was a strong affiliation between Tank A and B of the system in sludge concentration distribution. The initial sludge concentration in Tank A could present the sludge distribution of the whole system. The sludge distribution was mainly influenced by hydraulic condition. Unsteady sludge distribution had an impact on variations of substrates in reactors, especially in decisive reactor, and this could lead to failure of system. Settler could partially remove substrates such as COD and NO3-N, but there was adventure of sludge deterioration. The rational initial sludge concentration in Tank A should be 4000-6000 mg/L MLSS.     

Denitrification potential enhancement by addition of external carbon sources in a pre-denitrification process

The aim of this study is to investigate the denitrification potential enhancement by addition of external carbon sources and to estimate the denitrification potential for the predenitrification system using nitrate utilization rate （NUR） batch tests. It is shown that the denitrification potential can be substantially increased with the addition of three external carbon sources, i.e. methanol, ethanol, and acetate, and the denitrification rates of ethanol, acetate, and methanol reached up to 9.6, 12, and 3.2 mgN/（g VSS.h）, respectively, while that of starch wastewater was only 0.74 mgN/（g VSS,h）. By comparison, ethanol was found to be the best external carbon source. NUR batch tests with starch wastewater and waste ethanol were carried out. The denitfification potential increased from 5.6 to 16.5 mg NO3-N/L owing to waste ethanol addition. By means of NUR tests, the wastewater characteristics and kinetic parameters can be estimated, which are used to determine the denitrification potential of wastewater, to calculate the denitrification potential of the plant and to predict the nitrate effluent quality, as well as provide information for developing carbon dosage control strategy.     

Modeling of air quality with a modified two-dimensional Eulerian model： A case study in the Pearl River Delta （PRD） region of China

A modified two-dimensional Eulerian air quality model was used to simulate both the gaseous and particulate pollutant concentrations during October 21-24, 2004 in the Pearl River Delta （PRD） region, China. The most significant improvement to the model is the added capability to predict the secondary organic aerosols （SOA） concentrations because of the inclusion of the SOA formation chemistry. The meteorological input data were prepared using the CALMET meteorological model. The concentrations of aerosol-bound species such as NO3^-, NH4^＋, SO4^2-, and SOA were calculated in the fine particle size range （〈2.5 μm）. The results of the two-dimensional model were compared to the measurements at the ground level during the PRD Intensive Monitoring Campaign （IMC）. Overall, there were good agreements between the measured and modeled concentrations of inorganic aerosol components and O3. Both the measured and the modeled results indicated that the maximum hourly O3 concentrations exceeded the China National Air Quality Standard. The predicted 24-h average SOA concentrations were in reasonable agreement with those predicted by the method of minimum OC/EC ratio.     

Nitrogen cycling of atmosphere-plant-soil system in the typical Calamagrostis angustifolia wetland in the Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China

The nitrogen (N) distribution and cycling of atmosphere-plant-soil system in the typical meadow Calamagrostis angustifolia wetland (TMCW) and marsh meadow Calamagrostis angustifolia wetland (MMCW) in the Sanjiang plain were studied by a compartment model. The results showed that the N wet deposition amount was 0.757 gN/(m2·a), and total inorganic N (TIN) was the main body (0.640 gN/(m2·a)). The ammonia volatilization amounts of TMCW and MMCW soils in growing season were 0.635 and 0.687 gN/m2, and the denitrification gaseous lost amounts were 0.617 and 0.405 gN/m2, respectively. In plant subsystem, the N was mainly stored in root and litter. Soil organic N was the main N storage of the two plant-soil systems and the proportions of it were 93.98% and 92.16%, respectively. The calculation results of N turnovers among compartments of TMCW and MMCW showed that the uptake amounts of root were 23.02 and 28.18 gN/(m2·a) and the values of aboveground were 11.31 and 6.08 gN/(m2·a), the re-translocation amounts from aboveground to root were 5.96 and 2.70 gN/(m2·a), the translocation amounts from aboveground living body to litter were 5.35 and 3.38 gN/(m2·a), the translocation amounts from litter to soil were larger than 1.55 and 3.01 gN/(m2·a), the translocation amounts from root to soil were 14.90 and 13.17 gN/(m2·a), and the soil (0-15cm) N net mineralization amounts were 1.94 and 0.55 gN/(m2·a), respectively. The study of N balance indicated that the two plant-soil systems might be situated in the status of lacking N, and the status might induce the degradation of C. angustifolia wetland.     

沿海发达地区土地利用研究新进展与方向

土地资源的短缺、质量退化与低效利用．已成为影响沿海发达地区生态安全与可持续发展的重要制约因素，也是土地利用管理与规划决策所面临的现实难题。我国沿海经济发达地区作为人地矛盾激化和经济快速转型背景下特殊的人文生态脆弱区，受到了包括地理学、生态学、经济学和社会学等多学科学者的密切关注，尤其是近10多年来在沿海土地利用变化及其效应研究方面取得了丰硕成果。主要以土地科学研究新方向和沿海地区经济社会发展态势为基本背景．从土地利用类型及其转换格局、驱动力因素辨识与驱动机制、土地利用转换的效应、区域土地可持续利用．以及土地利用优化配置与调控等方面，对沿海地区土地利用研究进行了初步梳理和评述，并指出今后应重视深化沿海发达地区土地利用研究的9个重点问题。     

基于效果-效率-适应性的养殖废弃物资源化利用管理模式评价框架构建及初步应用

由于产业发展正处于转型阶段,我国畜禽养殖污染治理中的管理问题比技术问题更加突出,选择适宜的组织管理模式尤其重要。融合了效果分析、效率评价和适应性分析,尝试构建一个养殖废弃物资源化利用管理模式综合评价框架,并选择太湖流域4个不同类型的典型案例进行方法例证。研究表明,传统的养殖企业主导型管理模式应用于小型、分散养殖废弃物资源化利用时面临着经济效率低、适应性差难题;农村废弃物处理中心、种植企业和有机肥企业的参与可以改善小型、分散养殖废弃物资源化利用的经济效率;综合考虑效果、效率与适应性,种植企业、有机肥企业主导型模式的适宜推广范围更广。应根据不同地区种植-养殖产业关系、污染治理需求、经济发展水平与政府投入能力等,灵活组合应用不同管理模式。     

Comparison of an assay for Dehalococcoides DNA and a microcosm study in predicting reductive dechlorination of chlorinated ethenes in the field

The study aims to compare the detection of 16S rRNA gene of Dehalococcoides species and the microcosm study for biotransformation in predicting reductive dechlorination of chlorinated ethenes in ground water at hazardous waste sites. A total of 72 ground water samples were collected from 12 PCE or TCE contaminated sites in the United States. The samples were analyzed and used to construct microcosms in the laboratory. The results showed that the presence of Dehalococcoides DNA was well associated with dechlorination to ethene in the field. Nearly half of the wells where Dehalococcoides DNA was detected had ethene as a dechlorination end product. In comparison, for ground water samples of 16 wells where ethene was detected, ethene was produced in 11 of the corresponding microcosms. For most microcosms, during two years of incubation, dechlorination was less extensive than that observed in the field.