Effects of Fireplace Use on Forest Vegetation and Amount of Woody Debris in Suburban Forests in Northwestern Switzerland

Urban forests are popular recreation areas in Europe. Several of these temperate broad-leaved forests also have a high conservation value due to sustainable management over many centuries. Recreational activities, particularly the use of fireplaces, can cause extensive damage to soil, ground vegetation, shrubs, and trees. Firewood collection depletes woody debris, leading to a loss of habitat for specialized organisms. We examined the effects of fireplace use on forest vegetation and the amount of woody debris by comparing disturbed and control plots in suburban forests in northwestern Switzerland. At frequently used fireplaces, we found reduced species densities in the ground vegetation and shrub layer and changes in plant species composition due to human trampling within an area of 150–200 m². Picnicking and grilling also reduced the height and changed the age structure of shrubs and young trees. The amount of woody debris was lower in disturbed plots than in control plots. Pieces of wood with a diameter of 0.6–7.6 cm were preferentially collected by fireplace users. The reduction in woody debris volume extended up to a distance of 16 m from the fire ring, covering an area of 800 m² at each picnic site. In order to preserve the ecological integrity of urban forests and to maintain their attractiveness as important recreation areas, we suggest depositing logging residues to be used as firewood and to restrict visitor movements near picnic sites.     

Use of Descriptors of Ecosystem Functioning for Monitoring a National Park Network: A Remote Sensing Approach

Baseline assessments and monitoring of protected areas are essential for making management decisions, evaluating the effectiveness of management practices, and tracking the effects of global changes. For these purposes, the analysis of functional attributes of ecosystems (i.e., different aspects of the exchange of matter and energy) has advantages over the traditional use of structural attributes, like a quicker response to disturbances and the fact that they are easily monitored through remote sensing. In this study, we described the spatiotemporal patterns of different aspects of the ecosystem functioning of the Spanish national parks and their response to environmental changes between 1982 and 2006. To do so, we used the NOAA/AVHRR-GIMMS dataset of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a linear estimator of the fraction of photosynthetic active radiation intercepted by vegetation, which is the main control of carbon gains. Nearly all parks have significantly changed during the last 25 years: The radiation interception has increased, the contrast between the growing and nongrowing seasons has diminished, and the dates of maximum and minimum interception have advanced. Some parks concentrated more changes than others and the degree of change varied depending on their different environmental conditions, management, and conservation histories. Our approach identified reference conditions and temporal changes for different aspects of ecosystem functioning, which can be used for management purposes of protected areas in response to global changes.     

Review of Agri-Environment Indexes and Stewardship Payments

Agri-environment programs aim to secure environmental and social stewardship services through payments to farmers. A critical component of many agri-environment programs is an agri-environment index (AEI) used to quantify benefits and target investments. An AEI will typically comprise multiple indicators, which are weighted and combined using a utility function, to measure the benefit of investment options (e.g., projects, farms, regions). This article presents a review of AEIs with 11 case studies from agri-environment programs in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. We identify a generic procedure used to define AEIs and explore the implications of alternative methodological approaches. We conclude that AEIs have become an extremely important policy instrument and make suggestions for their improvement.     

突发性环境污染事故应急管理系统研究进展

随着社会经济的发展,突发性环境污染事故频繁发生。为有效预防和控制突发性环境污染事故,各国开发了相应的应急管理系统,为污染事故处置提供应对技术和决策支持。本文综合论述了国内外突发环境污染事故应急管理系统的开发和应用情况、服务内容及特点,并对我国应急管理的发展提出建议。     

可靠性技术的发展与应用

本文介绍了可靠性标准体系与参数体系,可靠性的分析与设计方法,可靠性试验的发展趋势,指出可靠性管理是产品可靠性工作的核心,以及提高电子设备可靠性的发展策略。     

海油陆采HSE管理初探＊

文章阐述了国内外海油陆采HSE管理现状,通过分析总结滩海油气生产设施从设计到投入使用全过程HSE管理经验,归纳整理出可借鉴的HSE管理技术,为中国石油海油陆采油田HSE文化的培育提供了有益的建议。     

炼化企业大检修作业的环保管理

以克拉玛依石化公司为例,对检修作业前环境危害因素进行了辨识,提出了检修前、检修期间环保管理的措施,从废气、废水、噪声、固废四个方面详细介绍了大检修期间进行污染控制的具体措施,分析了大型炼化企业在停工大检修作业期间存在的环境影响因素,提出了大检修作业期间的环保管理内容及污染控制措施。     

A scenario-based study on information flow and collaboration patterns in disaster management

Disaster management (DM) is a continuous, highly collaborative process involving governments, DM organisations, responders, the construction sector, and the general public. Most research approaches to DM include the development of information and communication technologies (ICT) to support the collaboration process rather than the creation of a collaboration process to provide information flows and patterns. An Intelligent Disaster Collaboration System (IDCS) is introduced in this paper as a conceptual model to integrate ICT into DM and the mitigation process and to enhance collaboration. The framework is applicable to the collaboration process at the local, regional and national levels. Within this context, the deployment of ICT tools in DM is explored and scenario-based case studies on flooding and terrorism—examples of natural and human-induced disasters, respectively—are presented. Conclusions are drawn regarding the differences found in collaboration patterns and ICT used during natural and human-induced disasters and the differences between currently available ICT and proposed ICT.     

基于制度与技术情境的企业绿色管理战略研究

企业绿色管理已有研究将制度和技术在两个不同的领域进行分析,忽视了绿色管理是对制度和技术压力的反应,两种压力同时并存甚至相互影响.技术创新的"正外部性"和环境问题的"负外部性"要求在分析企业绿色管理行为时,整合制度和环境技术创新以及二者的相互关系.已有文献普遍强调作为强制性制度的环境规制对技术创新的驱动效果,而较少关注制度压力与技术创新的交互作用.通过对企业面临的制度压力和技术压力相互关系的分析,本文构建了基于制度与技术情境的企业绿色管理战略选择模型.企业绿色管理战略是制度压力和环境技术等因素相互作用的结果,对制度压力的反应有助于技术效率的提高,而企业所处的制度情境也影响到其对技术压力的响应方式.针对我国目前的环境监管现状,本文为制定有助于清洁技术采纳和扩散的环境政策提出相应建议.     

国外流域管理的成功经验对雅砻江流域管理的启示

世界各国对流域管理的不断探索,大大丰富了流域管理的理论和实践,流域管理已成为国家和地区水资源管理的一种行之有效的模式。我国的流域管理尚处于最初的探索阶段,如何借鉴国外流域管理的成功经验,形成有效的流域管理模式已成为我国水资源管理的主要任务之一。为了给国内流域管理实践提供一些有益的借鉴,分析总结了具有代表性的美国田纳西河流域管理模式、澳大利亚墨累 达令河流域管理模式和英国泰晤士河流域管理模式的成功经验和存在的问题。以雅砻江流域水电开发为实例,在对该流域的实际情况进行全面分析的基础上,将该流域与上述三条流域进行比较,充分借鉴三条流域管理模式成功经验,提出了雅砻江流域管理的相关对策和建议。