Environmental cost of using poor decision metrics to prioritize environmental projects

Conservation decision makers commonly use project‐scoring metrics that are inconsistent with theory on optimal ranking of projects. As a result, there may often be a loss of environmental benefits. We estimated the magnitudes of these losses for various metrics that deviate from theory in ways that are common in practice. These metrics included cases where relevant variables were omitted from the benefits metric, project costs were omitted, and benefits were calculated using a faulty functional form. We estimated distributions of parameters from 129 environmental projects from Australia, New Zealand, and Italy for which detailed analyses had been completed previously. The cost of using poor prioritization metrics (in terms of lost environmental values) was often high—up to 80% in the scenarios we examined. The cost in percentage terms was greater when the budget was smaller. The most costly errors were omitting information about environmental values (up to 31% loss of environmental values), omitting project costs (up to 35% loss), omitting the effectiveness of management actions (up to 9% loss), and using a weighted‐additive decision metric for variables that should be multiplied (up to 23% loss). The latter 3 are errors that occur commonly in real‐world decision metrics, in combination often reducing potential benefits from conservation investments by 30–50%. Uncertainty about parameter values also reduced the benefits from investments in conservation projects but often not by as much as faulty prioritization metrics.     

Credibility and advocacy in conservation science

Conservation policy sits at the nexus of natural science and politics. On the one hand, conservation scientists strive to maintain scientific credibility by emphasizing that their research findings are the result of disinterested observations of reality. On the other hand, conservation scientists are committed to conservation even if they do not advocate a particular policy. The professional conservation literature offers guidance on negotiating the relationship between scientific objectivity and political advocacy without damaging conservation science's credibility. The value of this guidance, however, may be restricted by limited recognition of credibility's multidimensionality and emergent nature: it emerges through perceptions of expertise, goodwill, and trustworthiness. We used content analysis of the literature to determine how credibility is framed in conservation science as it relates to apparent contradictions between science and advocacy. Credibility typically was framed as a static entity lacking dimensionality. Authors identified expertise or trustworthiness as important, but rarely mentioned goodwill. They usually did not identify expertise, goodwill, or trustworthiness as dimensions of credibility or recognize interactions among these 3 dimensions of credibility. This oversimplification may limit the ability of conservation scientists to contribute to biodiversity conservation. Accounting for the emergent quality and multidimensionality of credibility should enable conservation scientists to advance biodiversity conservation more effectively.     

西安市重污染与清洁天PM2.5组分及其活性氧物质对比

针对重霾污染,在西安市冬季重污染日(2015-11-30~2015-12-09)和清洁日(2016-01-13~2016-01-22)各进行了为期10d的PM_(2.5)采集,测量其中的有机碳、元素碳,及NH_4~+、NO_3~-、SO_4~(2-)等无机水溶性离子,探讨两种污染条件下的组分特征及其成因.结果表明:观测期,重霾日和清洁日PM_(2.5)质量浓度分别为(170±47.5)μg·m~(-3)和(48.6±17.9)μg·m~(-3),且重霾日伴随低能见度、高湿静风等多种不利气象条件;重霾日二次无机离子(NH_4~+、NO_3~-、SO_4~(2-))组分占PM_(2.5)质量浓度的49.8%±13.1%,而清洁日为19.4%±5.95%,并且重霾日硫氧化速率(sulfur oxidation ratio,SOR)和氮氧化速率(nitrogen oxidation ratio,NOR)分别为0.282±0.157和0.269±0.124,远高于清洁日(SOR和NOR分别为0.189±0.057和0.077±0.046),重霾日二次有机组分浓度[(6.22±3.87)μg·m~(-3)]是清洁日[(1.44±1.63)μg·m~(-3)]的5倍,表明二次污染及不利气象条件是造成重霾期间相关组分浓度升高的重要原因.最后,通过二氯荧光黄双乙酸盐(2',7'-DCFH)化学荧光分析法测定了其中活性氧物质(reactive oxygen species,ROS)的浓度,探讨其对于二次无机组分形成的影响,结果表明观测期ROS平均浓度(以H_2O_2计)分别为(4.99±1.54)nmol·m~(-3)(重霾期),(0.492±0.356)nmol·m~(-3)(清洁期),二次反应及积累效应可能是西安重霾条件下ROS浓度升高的主要原因.NO_3~-、SO_4~(2-)与ROS均呈现正相关(P0.05),表明ROS可能通过二次氧化过程参与到二次无机组分形成过程中.     

人为干扰对小兴安岭森林湿地土壤碳组分和酶活性的影响

以小兴安岭落叶林沼泽湿地为研究对象,对比研究皆伐地、火烧地和落叶松湿地土壤碳组分和酶活性.结果表明:(1)3种湿地类型土壤SOC含量表现为对照地显著高于皆伐地和火烧地(p0.05),在0~10 cm土层中皆伐地与对照地相比降低了58.38%,火烧地与对照地相比降低了61.96%.皆伐地与火烧地在不同土层的土壤中SOC含量差异不显著(p0.05);DOC含量对照地显著高于皆伐地和火烧地(p0.05).在0~10cm土层中火烧地DOC含量是皆伐地的1.99倍,两者差异不显著(p0.05);不同干扰方式对土壤MBC含量影响的差异主要表现在0~10 cm的土层土壤,对照地分别比皆伐地和火烧地高23.13%和95.79%(p0.05).在不同的土层中皆伐地MBC含量均大于火烧地,与SOC含量的变化趋势一致.(2)与对照地相比,皆伐地与火烧地0~10 cm土层的土壤蔗糖酶活性分别降低了45.59%和36.76%,脲酶活性显著降低了18.22%和55.69%(p0.05),蛋白酶活性降低了19.65%和17.34%,淀粉酶活性降低了6.29%和10.69%.土壤碳组分和酶活性在垂直方向上均表现为随着土层深度增加而减小.皆伐和火烧造成森林湿地土壤碳组分和酶活性降低.     

西安市建筑垃圾渣土资源再利用研究

建筑垃圾渣土作为"建筑副产品",已造成严重的城市环境问题。通过对西安市建筑垃圾渣土的现场调查及工程再利用,借鉴发达国家及国内省市建筑垃圾渣土的成功管理经验和资源再利用的成功范例,提出了西安建筑垃圾资源再利用的对策建议,对"十三五"期间减少已有建筑垃圾的存量并遏制增量和建设西安森林城市具有参考意义。     

西安市PM2.5燃煤源谱特征研究

针对西安本地源谱缺乏的现状,总结统计了西安目前灰霾特征和主要成因,对西安市燃煤源进行了测定.研究发现,在煤烟尘PM2.5中SO2-4的含量最高(25%),其次为OC(12%)、NH+4(7%)、Cl-(5%).对固定源燃煤与民用散烧煤,不同脱硫方式、脱硝方式和锅炉类型的固定源成分谱分析得出:1.SO2-4及Al、Si、Ca在固定源煤烟尘PM2.5中含量大于民用燃煤,OC与之相反;2.炉内喷钙法PM2.5中SO2-4明显高于其它脱硫法含量;双碱法PM2.5中Na的含量显著高于其它脱硫工艺流程的含量;氧化镁法PM2.5 中Mg含量为各类脱硫工艺中最高;石灰石膏法颗粒物中Mg、Al、Si、Ca等元素含量均高于大多数工艺;3.不同的脱硝工艺中NO-3离子在各类成分谱中的含量极低;4.链条炉与层燃炉PM2.5中OC、EC含量高于循环流化床炉、煤粉炉.     

君安矿区复垦土壤的环境质量分析与评价

以君安矿区复垦土壤为调查研究对象,分析了该矿区不同复垦基质的主要重金属污染元素Pb、Cu、Cd和Cr的含量,并采用三步评价法对该矿不同区域复垦土壤的环境质量进行了分析与评价。结果表明:君安矿西区、东区复垦土壤环境质量合格,北区、南区和中区复垦土壤均不符合我国土壤环境质量标准;通过将矿区与全国土壤背景值进行比较可知,矿区复垦土壤未受到重金属Cu的污染,受Cd、Cr的污染较轻,受Pb的污染较严重。该研究可为进一步确定矿区土壤复垦方向提供依据。     

电除尘器船型灰斗内部粉尘在停机后的温度研究

本文以土耳其SILOPI 2#机电除尘器为工程分析对象,对燃煤电厂电除尘器船型灰斗内的粉尘在停机后的温度变化情况进行分析计算和有限元模拟,通过粉尘随时间的温度变化数据判断粉尘的凝结情况,得出该项目在最低气温-9.3℃环境下,119小时内船型灰斗不会因粉尘凝结而发生严重堵塞情况,模拟结果与实际一致。本文为工程上电除尘器因故停机的检修提供时间参考。     

西安市人为源挥发性有机物排放清单及研究

对西安市各类VOCs人为源进行系统分类,收集活动水平数据,应用国内外排放因子研究的最新成果,采用排放因子法建立了西安市2014年人为源VOCs排放清单.结果表明:2014年西安市人为源大气VOCs排放量为11.51×104t,其中,固定燃烧源、生物质燃烧源、工艺过程源、有机溶剂使用源、移动源、油品存储与销售源和废弃物处理源的排放量分别占VOCs排放总量的2.53%、3.32%、13.30%、51.50%、23.64%、4.82%和1.02%.油墨印刷、建筑涂料和汽车喷涂为有机溶剂使用源重点排放行业,VOCs排放量占到排放总量的48.89%;工艺过程源中化学药品、医药制造、原油加工和化学纤维为重点排放行业,VOCs排放量占到排放总量的10.19%.各区县中,长安区、雁塔区、未央区、碑林区VOCs排放量明显较高,其分担率分别为16.53%、14.88%、14.47%和12.99%.     

Fundamental Moral Attitudes to Animals and Their Role in Judgment: An Empirical Model to Describe Fundamental Moral Attitudes to Animals and Their Role in Judgment on the Culling of Healthy Animals During an Animal Disease Epidemic

In this paper, we present and defend the theoretical framework of an empirical model to describe people’s fundamental moral attitudes (FMAs) to animals, the stratification of FMAs in society and the role of FMAs in judgment on the culling of healthy animals in an animal disease epidemic. We used philosophical animal ethics theories to understand the moral basis of FMA convictions. Moreover, these theories provide us with a moral language for communication between animal ethics, FMAs, and public debates. We defend that FMA is a two-layered concept. The first layer consists of deeply felt convictions about animals. The second layer consists of convictions derived from the first layer to serve as arguments in a debate on animal issues. In a debate, the latter convictions are variable, depending on the animal issue in a specific context, time, and place. This variability facilitates finding common ground in an animal issue between actors with opposing convictions.