A multiscale hierarchical Markov transition matrix model for generating and analyzing thematic raster maps

A model is described for generating hierarchically scaled spatial pattern as represented in a thematic raster map. The model involves a series of Markov transition matrices, one for each level in the scaling hierarchy. In full generality, the model allows the transition matrices to be different at each level, potentially making available a large number of parameters for landscape characterization. The model is self-similar when the transition matrices are all equal. A method is presented for fitting the model to data that take the form of a single-resolution thematic raster map. Explicit analytic solutions are obtained for the fitted parameters. The fitting method is based on a relationship between the hierarchical transitions in the model and spatial transitions at varying distance scales in the data map, a categorical analogy of the geostatistical variogram.     

Land Development in and around Protected Areas at the Wilderness Frontier

Protected areas’ chief conservation objectives are to include species within their boundaries and protect them from negative external pressures. Many protected areas are not achieving these goals, perhaps in part due to land development inside and outside protected areas. We conducted spatial analyses to evaluate the ability of Canadian protected areas to mitigate the effects of nearby land development. We investigated correlations of national patterns of land development in and around protected areas and then examined national patterns of roads, urban area, and croplands in protected areas. We calculated the amount of developed land in protected areas and within 25–100 km of protected‐area borders, the density of roads, and extent of urban and cropland area in protected areas. We constructed logistic‐regression models to test whether development in a protected area was associated with landscape and protected‐area characteristics. Land development was far less extensive inside than outside protected areas. However, several protected areas, particularly small southern areas near small urban centers had substantial development inside their boundaries, and nearly half of protected areas had roads. The cumulative extent of development within 50 km of protected areas was the best predictor of the probability of land development in protected areas. Canadian First Nations, industries, government, and nongovernmental organizations are currently planning an unprecedented number of new protected areas. Careful management of areas beyond protected‐area boundaries may prove critical to meeting their long‐term conservation objectives. Desarrollo de Tierras Dentro y Alrededor de Áreas Protegidas en la Frontera Silvestre     

Application of decision tools to ethical analysis in biodiversity conservation

Achieving ethically responsible decisions is crucial for the success of biodiversity conservation projects. We adapted the ethical matrix, decision tree, and Bateson's cube to assist in the ethical analysis of complex conservation scenarios by structuring these tools so that they can implement the different value dimensions (environmental, social, and animal welfare) involved in conservation ethics. We then applied them to a case study relative to the decision-making process regarding whether or not to continue collecting biomaterial on the oldest of the two remaining northern white rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum cottoni), a functionally extinct subspecies of the white rhinoceros. We used the ethical matrix to gather ethical pros and cons and as a starting point for a participatory approach to ethical decision-making. We used decision trees to compare the different options at stake on the basis of a set of ethical desiderata. We used Bateson's cube to establish a threshold of ethical acceptability and model the results of a simple survey. The application of these tools proved to be pivotal in structuring the decision-making process and in helping reach a shared, reasoned, and transparent decision on the best option from an ethical point of view among those available.     

Effects of Forest Fragmentation on Seed Dispersal and Seedling Establishment in Ornithochorous Trees

Abstract: Habitat fragmentation increases seed dispersal limitation across the landscape and may also affect subsequent demographic stages such as seedling establishment. Thus, the development of adequate plans for forest restoration requires an understanding of mechanisms by which fragmentation hampers seed delivery to deforested areas and knowledge of how fragmentation affects the relationship between seed‐deposition patterns and seedling establishment. We evaluated the dispersal and recruitment of two bird‐dispersed, fleshy‐fruited tree species (Crataegus monogyna and Ilex aquifolium) in fragmented secondary forests of northern Spain. Forest fragmentation reduced the probability of seed deposition for both trees because of decreased availability of woody perches and fruit‐rich neighborhoods for seed dispersers, rather than because of reductions in tree cover by itself. The effects of fragmentation went beyond effects on the dispersal stage in Crataegus because seedling establishment was proportional to the quantities of bird‐dispersed seeds arriving at microsites. In contrast, postdispersal mortality in Ilex was so high that it obscured the seed‐to‐seedling transition. These results suggest that the effects of fragmentation are not necessarily consistent across stages of recruitment across species. Habitat management seeking to overcome barriers to forest recovery must include the preservation, and even the planting, of fleshy‐fruited trees in the unforested matrix as a measure to encourage frugivorous birds to enter into open and degraded areas. An integrative management strategy should also explicitly consider seed‐survival expectancies at microhabitats to preserve plant‐population dynamics and community structure in fragmented landscapes.     

哈大齐工业走廊承接产业转移水环境风险评价

为了分析承接产业转移对水环境的影响,以哈大齐工业走廊为研究对象,在分析风险源、胁迫因子、生境、评价终点之间相互作用关系的基础上构建承接产业转移的水环境相对风险评价模型,并将研究区按照行政界线划分为3个风险评价单元,选取哈大齐地区重点承接的污染产业为风险源,选择水域作为风险受体,农田、林地、草地3种生境作为传播胁迫因子的媒介或载体,水质、水量、水生态为评价终点,对哈大齐承接产业转移水环境风险进行了定量评价.结果表明,哈尔滨市为最高风险区,其次是大庆市、齐齐哈尔市,相对风险分别为146.40、110.70和41.16.不同风险小区的最主要风险源不同,哈大齐3个城市主要风险源分别为医药制造业、化学原料与化学制品制造业及食品制造业.相反,各风险小区的主要胁迫因子大致相同,主要有需氧有机污染物、营养物质、生境破坏等.     

三峡水库水环境中内分泌干扰物TBT的多介质迁移和归趋模拟

运用环境多介质QWASI等量浓度模型模拟了三峡水库水环境中内分泌干扰物TBT在各环境介质中的浓度分布及迁移归趋,同时讨论了三峡水库运行方式对库区水环境中TBT环境行为的影响.结果表明,QWASI模型能够较为合理地给出各个物理化学过程的速率参数,可对TBT在三峡水库这种超大型河道型水库中跨介质间的迁移传输、各环境相分布等作出定性和定量的模拟估计,模型输出结果与实测结果较为吻合.研究表明,三峡水库的运行方式对TBT在库区水环境中沉积物和水相间的迁移转化有重要影响.     

基于水化学分析的煤矿矿井突水水源判别

矿井突水是煤矿生产过程中的主要自然灾害,准确判定矿井突水水源是解决突水问题的重要条件。基于模糊综合评判和矩阵方程分析数学原理,分别建立了矿井突水的模糊综合评判和矩阵方程分析模型;在水化学分析的基础上,建立了水样6项指标评判标准,利用两种方法分别对某煤矿3个不同突水巷道水样进行了水源判别,并与实际突水水源相比较。结果表明,模糊综合评判和矩阵方程分析均能有效判别矿井突水水源,但各有其优越性及局限性,选择何种判别方法应视矿井突水水化学资料状况而定。     

Dehydration of ethanol with different salts in a packed distillation column

This work aimed the evaluation of a saline extractive distillation for the ethanol production. A thermodynamic model was used to predict the influence of the salts in the liquid–vapor equilibrium of the system water–ethanol and inside the packed column. The experiments were done in a distillation unit, with an internal diameter of 5.9 cm and a packing section with 37 cm of height, packed with raschig rings with 0.73 cm of characteristic inner made of glass. All the bottom and top samples were analyzed by refractive index. Two synthetic charges with the same composition of ethanol that are produced in the refinery (0.02 and 0.25 mol.L^-1) were distilled under atmospheric pressure. Sodium chloride, calcium chloride, potassium acetate, calcium nitrate and a mixture of sodium and potassium acetates were added to the synthetic charges and the results were compared to the experiments already done without the presence of the salts, revealing the ethanol enrichment in the top product of the distillation unit, for all the systems analyzed. Another charge from the refinery, known as load of wine without yeast, was evaluated and the results indicated the same behavior, enriching the ethanol with the application of the saline extractive distillation.     

乌江水库水体中有机胶粒的三维荧光特征研究

超滤与三维荧光光谱的结合可以表征不同类型荧光物质相对分子量的分布规律,揭示它们的来源以及组分差异.本项研究用截留相对分子量为1 000和10 000的再生纤维素超滤膜,对乌江水库不同深度水体中的溶解有机质进行了分离,利用三维荧光光谱表征了3种不同相对分子量组分中发荧光有机质的光谱特征.结果表明:荧光物质主要存在于真溶液(＜1 000)中.水体在丰水期和枯水期的荧光峰存在差异.丰水期主要存在4种类型的荧光峰:类富里酸荧光A峰和C峰,类蛋白荧光峰B峰和D峰.枯水期则只表现出3种类型的荧光峰,类富里酸荧光峰C不明显,原因可能是此时水库处于蓄水状态,内部生物活动作用显著,产生的类蛋白荧光物质强度较大从而掩盖峰C的强度.然而72 m以下由于厌氧还原条件的出现,沉积物向水体释放了溶解有机质组分,原本强度被掩盖的荧光峰C明显出现在1 000～10 000组分中.     

Monthly survey of N-nitrosamine yield in a conventional water treatment plant in North China

A sampling campaign was conducted monthly to investigate the occurrence of N-nitrosamines at a conventional water treatment plant in one city in North China. The yield of N-nitrosamines in the treated water indicated precursors changed greatly after the source water switching. Average concentrations of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), N-nitrosomorpholine (NMOR), and N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR) in the finished water were 6.9, 3.3, and 3.1 ng/L, respectively, from June to October when the Luan River water was used as source water, while those of NDMA, N-nitrosomethylethylamine (NMEA), and NPYR in the finished water were 10.1, 4.9, and 4.7 ng/L, respectively, from November to next April when the Yellow River was used. NDMA concentration in the finished water was frequently over the 10 ng/L, i.e., the notification level of California, USA, which indicated a considerable threat to public health. Weak correlations were observed between N-nitrosamine yield and typical water quality parameters except for the dissolved organic nitrogen.