Marijuana trajectories and associations with driving risk behaviors in Canadian youth

Objective: Research on risky driving practices involving marijuana use among youth and young adults often relies on cross-sectional data, which fail to account for longitudinal changes in substance use patterns. A better understanding of the longitudinal patterns of marijuana use and its effect on risky driving practices during young adulthood is needed in order to better inform prevention efforts. The current study examined whether different longitudinal patterns of marijuana use across the transition from adolescence to young adulthood are associated with impaired driving risks in young adulthood.

Methods: Data were from the longitudinal Victoria Healthy Youth Survey, which interviewed youth biennially on 6 occasions across 10 years (2003 to 2013).

Results: Youth who reported consistently high levels of marijuana use from adolescence to young adulthood (chronic users) and youth who reported increasing levels of use across this period (increasers) were more likely to engage in risky impaired driving behaviors compared to the other 3 user groups (occasional users, decreasers, and abstainers). Frequency of marijuana use was also predictive of impaired driving risks in young adulthood after controlling for individual characteristics (age, sex, socioeconomic status, age of onset of marijuana use), frequency of other substance use (heavy episodic drinking and illicit drug use), and simultaneous use of marijuana and other substances (alcohol and illicit drugs). By young adulthood, youth who use marijuana more than once a week are more likely to simultaneously use alcohol and engage in heavy episodic drinking. They are also more likely take driving risks.

Conclusions: Harm reduction strategies and legislative approaches targeting impaired driving risks associated with marijuana use should include approaches to target these high-risk groups and to reduce simultaneous use of alcohol.     

Understanding the effects of different social data on selecting priority conservation areas

Conservation success is contingent on assessing social and environmental factors so that cost‐effective implementation of strategies and actions can be placed in a broad social–ecological context. Until now, the focus has been on how to include spatially explicit social data in conservation planning, whereas the value of different kinds of social data has received limited attention. In a regional systematic conservation planning case study in Australia, we examined the spatial concurrence of a range of spatially explicit social values and land‐use preferences collected using a public participation geographic information system and biological data. We used Zonation to integrate the social data with the biological data in a series of spatial‐prioritization scenarios to determine the effect of the different types of social data on spatial prioritization compared with biological data alone. The type of social data (i.e., conservation opportunities or constraints) significantly affected spatial prioritization outcomes. The integration of social values and land‐use preferences under different scenarios was highly variable and generated spatial prioritizations 1.2–51% different from those based on biological data alone. The inclusion of conservation‐compatible values and preferences added relatively few new areas to conservation priorities, whereas including noncompatible economic values and development preferences as costs significantly changed conservation priority areas (48.2% and 47.4%, respectively). Based on our results, a multifaceted conservation prioritization approach that combines spatially explicit social data with biological data can help conservation planners identify the type of social data to collect for more effective and feasible conservation actions.     

Assessing the shelf life of cost‐efficient conservation plans for species at risk across gradients of agricultural land use

High costs of land in agricultural regions warrant spatial prioritization approaches to conservation that explicitly consider land prices to produce protected‐area networks that accomplish targets efficiently. However, land‐use changes in such regions and delays between plan design and implementation may render optimized plans obsolete before implementation occurs. To measure the shelf life of cost‐efficient conservation plans, we simulated a land‐acquisition and restoration initiative aimed at conserving species at risk in Canada's farmlands. We accounted for observed changes in land‐acquisition costs and in agricultural intensity based on censuses of agriculture taken from 1986 to 2011. For each year of data, we mapped costs and areas of conservation priority designated using Marxan. We compared plans to test for changes through time in the arrangement of high‐priority sites and in the total cost of each plan. For acquisition costs, we measured the savings from accounting for prices during site selection. Land‐acquisition costs and land‐use intensity generally rose over time independent of inflation (24–78%), although rates of change were heterogeneous through space and decreased in some areas. Accounting for spatial variation in land price lowered the cost of conservation plans by 1.73–13.9%, decreased the range of costs by 19–82%, and created unique solutions from which to choose. Despite the rise in plan costs over time, the high conservation priority of particular areas remained consistent. Delaying conservation in these critical areas may compromise what optimized conservation plans can achieve. In the case of Canadian farmland, rapid conservation action is cost‐effective, even with moderate levels of uncertainty in how to implement restoration goals.     

From Rio to Johannesburg and Beyond: A long and winding road

This paper analyses the evolution of urban form in two North American metropolitan regions (Portland and Toronto) and asks how more sustainable regional form might come about in the future in these and other urban areas. In the past, dominant patterns of urban form have emerged in such regions at different historical periods. These morphological phases include mid 19th-century grids, streetcar suburb grids, garden suburbs, automobile suburbs and New Urbanist neighbourhoods (which have only recently made an appearance and may or may not become widespread). Judging by the performance of past types of urban morphology, five design values appear particularly important for more sustainable urban form in the future: compactness, contiguity, connectivity, diversity and ecological integration. Although these principles were not well supported by 20th-century development, contemporary movements such as the New Urbanism and Smart Growth re-emphasise them. The example of these two regions indicates that, in the absence of new technological, economic or geographical forces, public sector institutions and urban social movements represent the most likely means to bring about new, more sustainable types of urban form.     

Using social network analysis to examine planner involvement in environmentally oriented planning processes led by non-planning professions

Broad stakeholder involvement cannot be assumed in all environmental planning and management processes that have critical land use dimensions. This paper illustrates how concepts and techniques from social network analysis (SNA) can be used to examine and better understand the roles of one type of stakeholders, planners, in environmentally oriented planning and management processes led by other professions. Two cases of natural hazard mitigation planning led by emergency managers illustrate the usefulness of three SNA concepts of network structural characteristics in understanding how differences in planner involvement may influence incorporation of land use approaches in local natural hazard mitigation plans aimed at reducing long term risks from natural hazards.     

Variation in soil organic carbon mineralization and microbial community structure induced by the conversion from double rice fields to drained fields北大核心CSCD

Land use conversion is an important factor influencing the carbon gas exchange between land and atmosphere. The effect of land use conversion on soil organic carbon mineralization and microbial function is important for soil organic carbon sequestration and stability. This research studied the effects of land use conversion on soil chemical properties, organic carbon mineralization and microbial community structure after two years of conversion from double rice cropping (RR) to maize-maize (MM) and soybean-peanut (SP) double cropping systems in southern China. The results showed that soil pH significantly decreased by 0.50 (MM) and 0.52 (SP, P = 0.002), and dissolved organic carbon significantly increased by 23%- 35% (P = 0.016). No significant difference was found in soil organic carbon mineralization rate with the land use conversion, though the accumulated mineralization decreased after 13 days of incubation (P = 0.019). Land use conversion from paddy to upland significantly changed soil microbial community structure. The total PLFAs, bacterial, gram-positive bacterial (G+), gram-negative bacterial (G-) and actinomycetic PLFAs decreased significantly (P < 0.05), the ratio of fungal PLFAs to bacterial PLFAs (F/B) increased significantly (P = 0.006). But no significant differences in microbial groups were found between MM and SP. The accumulated mineralization at the beginning period of the incubation were significantly positively correlated with soil actinomycetic PLFAs (P = 0.034). After 13 days of incubation, soil F/B showed a positive correlation with the accumulated mineralization (P = 0.004). However, soil microbial community structure(P = 0.014)and total PLFAs(P = 0.033)showed a positive correlation with the accumulated mineralization after 108 days of incubation. Our results indicated that after conversion from paddy soils to drained soils, soil pH and total nitrogen are the key factors regulating the variations in soil microbial community structure and biomass, and then influencing soil organic carbon mineralization.     

Changes in nitrogen budget and potential risk to the environment over 20 years(1990–2010) in the agroecosystems of the Haihe Basin,China

The nitrogen balance can serve as an indicator of the risk to the environment of nitrogen loss from agricultural land. To investigate the temporal and spatial changes in agricultural nitrogen application and its potential threat to the environment of the Haihe Basin in China, we used a database of county-level agricultural statistics to calculate agricultural nitrogen input, output,surplus intensity, and use efficiency. Chemical fertilizer nitrogen input increased by 51.7% from1990 to 2000 and by 37.2% from 2000 to 2010, concomitant with increasing crop yields.Simultaneously, the nitrogen surplus intensity increased by 53.5% from 1990 to 2000 and by16.5% from 2000 to 2010, presenting a continuously increased environmental risk. Nitrogen use efficiency decreased from 0.46 in 1990 to 0.42 in 2000 and remained constant at 0.42 in 2010,partly due to fertilizer composition and type improvement. This level indicates that more than half of nitrogen inputs are lost in agroecosystems. Our results suggest that although the improvement in fertilizer composition and types has partially offset the decrease in nitrogen use efficiency, the environmental risk has still increased gradually over the past 20 years, along with the increase in crop yields and nitrogen application. It is important to achieve a better nitrogen balance through more effective management to significantly reduce the environmental risk,decrease nitrogen surplus intensity, and increase nitrogen use efficiency without sacrificing crop yields.     

齐齐哈尔市土地利用变化及其对地下水水质的影响

为了探究齐齐哈尔市土地利用变化及其对地下水水质的影响,利用1995年、2003年、2011年遥感影像解译结果,比照地下水水质长期监测数据开展相关研究。结果表明,研究区土地利用类型以旱田、湿地和建设用地为主,其中旱田面积最大,占45%以上;近20a来,湿地面积持续减少,减少面积达112.38km2,主要转变为旱田、水田和建设用地,而建设用地的增加主要来自于开发旱田;1995~2003年、2003~2011年2个时期的综合土地利用动态度分别为0.97%、0.60%,研究区2003年之前总体土地利用变化程度明显高于后期。地下水中NO-3-N、SO2-4、Cl-和总硬度浓度变化趋势,与建设用地和旱田间的相互转变密切相关。城镇化建设快速发展及工矿用地土地资源的长期开发,成为对该地区地下水水质产生直接影响的主要土地利用方式。     

不同土地利用方式下土壤重金属污染修复技术研究

土壤重金属污染的修复问题备受人们的关注,而在不同土地利用方式下受污染的土壤能够通过不同途径对人群健康构成威胁.国内外有关土壤重金属污染修复方法可分为生物修复、化学修复、物理修复以及联合修复,各修复方法适用范围差异较大.结合农业土壤、城市土壤以及矿区土壤中重金属的污染特征能够提出相应的更加合理的修复措施,最终为相关部门环境污染治理的决策提供理论依据.     

废旧电池的管理及处置研究

世界电池产量的一半来自中国内地,中国的电池消费能力居世界首位,废旧电池的随意丢弃和处置方式不当都会造成环境污染.中国的回收现状亟待改善,寻找安全科学的处理方法,使电池循环利用,有害物质无害化,并产生经济效益.调研了国内外废旧电池管理及处置现状,对处理废旧电池的成本、经济效益、环境效益、社会效益进行了阐述,总结了国内外废旧电池处理处置的法律法规现状,针对中国废旧电池处理过程中存在的问题提出相关建议,为对废旧电池的科学管理提供决策支持.