New view of environmental health: Toward an environmental research policy for international strategies

We are witnessing a growing concern with the global dimension of many environmental issues, reflected in the increase in the number and significance of international environmental organizations. Yet there is no internationally applicable strategy for environmental research which is management oriented. A new type of research policy, which integrates ideas derived from environmental and human ecology, is required in order to deal with cultural and ecological diversity and their interactions as reflected in the ecology of landscapes. The newly defined concept of environmental health is proposed to fill this gap. This concept integrates the latest developments in landscape evolutionary ecology and environmental health, bringing out a conflict between making the environment conducive to human health and increasing the available options for supporting the essential biological and ecological processes of the environment. Lessons derived from the evolution of human environments are used in order to illustrate how health may become un umbrella for developing an environmental research policy, which could also serve as a catalyst for international environmental projects.     

Determining regional water quality patterns and their ecological relationships

A multivariate statistical method for analyzing spatial patterns of water quality in Georgia and Kansas was tested using data in the US Environmental Protection Agency's STORET data system. Water quality data for Georgia and Kansas were organized by watersheds. We evaluated three questions: (a) can distinctive regional water quality patterns be detected and predicted using only a few water quality variables, (b) are regional water quality patterns correlated with terrestrial biotic regions, and (c) are regional water quality patterns correlated with fish distributions? Using existing data, this method can distinguish regions with water quality very different from the average conditions (as in Georgia), but it does not discriminate well between regions that do not have diverse water quality conditions (as in Kansas). Data that are spatially and temporally adequate for representing large regions and for multivariate statistical analysis are available for only a few common water quality parameters. Regional climate, lithology, and biotic regimes all have the potential to affect water quality, and terrestrial biotic regions and fish distributions do compare with regional water quality patterns, especially in a state like Georgia, where watershed characteristics are diverse. Thus, identifiable relationships between watershed characteristics and water quality should allow the development of an integrated landaquatic classification system that would be a valuable tool for resource management. Because geographical distributions of species may be limited by Zoogeographic and environmental factors, the recognition of patterns in fish distributions that correlate with regional water quality patterns could influence management strategies and aid regional assessments.     

Problems with using overlay mapping for planning and their implications for geographic information systems

As part of the planning process, maps of natural factors are often superimposed in order to identify areas which are suitable or unsuitable for a particular type of resource management. Overlay maps may also be used to identify analysis areas for predictive modeling of resource productivity and ecological response to management. Current interest in applying computer-assisted mapping technology to making overlay maps is drawing attention to geographic information systems for this purpose. The resultant maps, however, may be so inaccurate or unable to capture significant units of productivity and ecological response that they could lead to imperfect or false conclusions. Recommendations are made on how to proceed in light of these problems.     

Managing Ontario's urban landscape

In Canada, increasing costs of maintenance, a shifting perception of what makes a city beautiful, a recognition of the needs and the importance of urban wildlife, and changing recreational demands are all contributing to a pressure for change in current practice. This study examines the extent to which the ecological approach has influenced the design and management of urban green space in Canada, focusing on the city of Toronto and its surrounding region as an example.     

FLOOD FREQUENCY ANALYSIS FOR SMALL WATERSHEDS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS1

ABSTRACT: Twenty-two gaging stations were selected for developing a regional flood frequency curve for small (area less than 2 square miles) watersheds in southern Illinois. Five probability functions were compared, and the extreme value type I function was selected to develop the regional flood curve. The curve was generated with the index flood method and also another empirical method that related the function parameters to the watershed area. Estimated peak discharges with various return periods were compared with the results obtained from multiple regression analysis.     

In search of effective scales for stream management: does agroecoregion,watershed, or their intersection best explain the variance in stream macroinvertebrate communities?

Our lack of understanding of relationships between stream biotic communities and surrounding landscape conditions makes it difficult to determine the spatial scale at which management practices are best assessed. We investigated these relationships in the Minnesota River Basin, which is divided into major watersheds and agroecoregions which are based on soil type, geologic parent material, landscape slope steepness, and climatic factors affecting crop productivity. We collected macroinvertebrate and stream habitat data from 68 tributaries among three major watersheds and two agroecoregions. We tested the effectiveness of the two landscape classification systems (i.e., watershed, agroecoregion) in explaining variance in habitat and macroinvertebrate metrics, and analyzed the relative influence on macroinvertebrates of local habitat versus regional characteristics. Macroinvertebrate community composition was most strongly influenced by local habitat; the variance in habitat conditions was best explained at the scale of intersection of major watershed and agroecoregion (i.e., stream habitat conditions were most homogeneous within the physical regions of intersection of these two landscape classification systems). Our results are consistent with findings of other authors that most variation in macroinvertebrate community data from large agricultural catchments is attributable to local physical conditions. Our results are the first to test the hypothesis and demonstrate that the scale of intersection best explains these variances. The results suggest that management practices adjusted for both watershed and ecoregion characteristics, with the goal of improving physical habitat characteristics of local streams, may lead to better basin-wide water quality conditions and stream biological integrity.     

文明转型与价值重铸--可持续发展的人道主义思考

本文通过对人道主义思想和可持续发展理念的剖析,阐述了可持续发展理念的内涵和实质对人道主义思想精神内核的质疑,指出现代工业文明价值指针的片面所在,提出随着经济发展和社会进步,人类应该重新审视自然与人的关系,践行“协调”与“和谐”的人地共生论;应该重新审视自然的宽泛价值,认识“非资源”的非经济价值,从而实现文明取向和价值评判上的转型与重铸,以使可持续发展真正得以良性持续。     

炼铁厂2#电除尘的设计与应用

新疆八一钢铁有限责任公司炼铁厂上料系统1^#转运站，1^#a转运站，2^#转运站及1^#、2^#高炉高道料仓在上料时，粉尘污染较为严重，为解决粉尘污染问题，1999年炼铁厂组织设计与施工了40m^2单室卧式3电场除尘器，工程投运后，收尘效果良好，岗位粉尘浓度与外排浓度均低于国家标准。     

Landscapes and environments on the island of Ouessant,Brittany, France: From traditional maintenance to the management of abandoned areas

For about 50 years the desertion of areas by traditional activities has led to an important evolution of landscapes and environments on the island of Ouessant. The study of this evolution has been undertaken at different spatial and temporal scales. On one part of the island, a scientific investigation carried out at the scale of the parcel enabled the form of the landscape in 1850 to be compared with that of 1985. On the whole island, the evolution of spatial organization and land use was compared between 1950 and 1985. For each of three main ecological environments, vegetational successions after the decrease of agriculture have been studied along with their future potential changes. This work highlights some considerations about the present management of the environment in relation to the major objectives of island environmental policies.     

自然灾害综合区划的基本类别及定量方法

依据区域灾害系统论原理,提出了以灾害强度、灾害势、抗灾力和灾度４个状态参量描述的区域自然灾害系统状态,建议以之为基础,将自然灾害综合区划分为灾害强度区划、灾害势区划、抗灾力区划和灾度我划４个基本类别、并结合自然灾害综合区划定量方法的讨论,以实例说明了上述基本类别类别划分的可行性。