China's dairy crisis: impacts,causes and policy implications for a sustainable dairy industry

The dairy industry is an important part of the global economy, and the rapidly developing dairy enterprises in China have become increasingly important to the rest of the world. Due to increasing demand for dairy products and support from the government, China's dairy industry has thrived in recent decades. But rapid growth has been accompanied by a suite of industry/structural problems associated with raw milk supply, processing enterprises, product retailing and profit allocation. Thus, a major dairy crisis took place in 2008, triggered by a notorious melamine-contaminated milk event. The dairy crisis has had devastating impacts on China's dairy industry, negatively affecting farmers, consumers, processing enterprises and even government agencies. The Chinese government has developed rigorous measures to prevent future incidents of this sort, including the enactment of the Food Safety Law and reinstatement of the no-exemption quality inspection of food products. In this paper, we analyse the wide-ranging impacts and root causes of the recent dairy crisis in China. We also examine how the crisis has been handled and what measures have been put in place in its aftermath. Then we discuss policy implications for promoting the sustainability of China's dairy industry. Lessons learned from this crisis, as well as implications for policy improvements, should be valuable for the development of a sustainable dairy industry in other regions of the world.     

A review of ecological mitigation measures in UK environmental statements with respect to sustainable development

SUMMARY

The European and UK legislation on environmental assessment (EA), as well as requiring assessment of significant ecological effects, also requires development proponents to recommend mitigation measures for adverse impacts.

Drawing on a review of proposed ecological mitigation measures in 194 environmental statements (ES) for UK development proposals, this paper highlights problems with the current legislation in ensuring that ecological impacts are mitigated effectively, with a view to sustainable development.

The review reveals confusion about the extent to which ecological mitigation is required. First, there is no objective basis for deciding which potentially adverse impacts should be mitigated. Proposed mitigation measures do not always relate directly to the ecological impacts identified in ES and there is a high risk of residual adverse effects. Second, there is no generally accepted method for evaluating the effectiveness of proposed mitigation measures, despite a clear recommendation from the UK's Department of the Environment (DOE, 1989) that an ‘assessment of the likely effectiveness’ of mitigation measures should be included in ES. Methods which can be used to evaluate the likely feasibility, costs and redistributional effects of ecological mitigation measures in EA are needed. Some of the factors which should be taken into account are considered in this paper.     

我国鸟类监测的现状、问题与对策

鸟类是开展生物多样性监测的重要指示类群.对鸟类的长期、系统监测工作在欧美已经有百余年历史,且野鸟多样性指数已经成为欧美一些国家开展生物多样性监测工作的官方指标.通过对国内鸟类监测现状的分析,结合监测对象、指标、抽样策略和监测方法等监测工作中应重点关注的几个方面,提出了我国鸟类监测存在的问题,并结合国情提出了下一步开展鸟类监测工作的对策与建议.建议我国有关部门尽快制定鸟类监测技术规程和标准,统一数据收集和分析平台,逐步构建政府引导,科研院所、高等院校、自然保护区、观鸟协会和志愿者等多方参与的鸟类监测网络.     

人类活动对上海市生物多样性空间格局的影响

为了揭示人类活动对城市化地区生物多样性空间格局的影响及其景观生态学机制,文章将上海市作为研究对象,选择3个人类活动指标、3个主要类型生态系统的4个景观特征指标与8个生物多样性指标,探讨人类活动强度、野生动植物生境景观特征及生物多样性三者之间的相互关系。结果显示,人口增长和城市扩张对上海市生物多样性的空间格局产生了显著影响。在上海地区,人口密度较高、交通较为发达的区域,湿地和农田的景观连续性较低,生物多样性也较低,外来入侵物种丰度较高。这表明在快速城市化过程中,人类活动通过改变野生动植物栖息地景观质量来对区域生物多样性产生影响。本研究还显示,经济发展并非一定对生物多样性具有负面影响。因此,在保持经济发展的同时,通过优化产业结构与加强生物多样性管理,可实现对生物多样性有效保护。     

Climate change and the cost of conserving species in Madagascar

We examined the cost of conserving species as climate changes. We used a Maxent species distribution model to predict the ranges from 2000 to 2080 of 74 plant species endemic to the forests of Madagascar under 3 climate scenarios. We set a conservation target of achieving 10,000 ha of forest cover for each species and calculated the cost of achieving this target under each scenario. We interviewed managers of projects to restore native forests and conducted a literature review to obtain the net present cost per hectare of management actions to maintain or establish forest cover. For each species, we added hectares of land from lowest to highest cost per additional year of forest cover until the conservation target was achieved throughout the time period. Climate change was predicted to reduce the size of species' ranges, the overlap between species' ranges and existing or planned protected areas, and the overlap between species' ranges and existing forest. As a result, climate change increased the cost of achieving the conservation target by necessitating successively more costly management actions: additional management within existing protected areas (US$0-60/ha); avoidance of forest degradation (i.e., loss of biomass) in community-managed areas ($160-576/ha); avoidance of deforestation in unprotected areas ($252-1069/ha); and establishment of forest on nonforested land within protected areas ($802-2710/ha), in community-managed areas ($962-3226/ha), and in unprotected areas ($1054-3719/ha). Our results suggest that although forest restoration may be required for the conservation of some species as climate changes, it is more cost-effective to maintain existing forest wherever possible.     

General and specific measures in organizational behavior research: Considerations,examples, and recommendations for researchers

Deliberation over and relative preference for general or specific (broad or narrow) constructs has long been an important issue in organizational behavior research. In this article, we provide a review of this general issue and some specific recommendations for researchers. We begin by discussing whether the general versus specific issue is an important debate and by discussing other underlying issues (the role of researcher preferences, distinction between reflective and formative indicators, and distinction between constructs and measures of constructs). Building on Chen's (this issue) analysis of core self‐evaluations, we first discuss how the general–specific debate has progressed in core self‐evaluations research. We then discuss three other important areas in which this debate has played out: intelligence, five‐factor model of personality, and job attitudes. Finally, we offer a framework to help guide decisions about whether to utilize general measures, specific measures, or both and conclude by providing recommendations for the use of general and specific measures in organizational behavior research. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

草原煤矸石堆放的生态环境问题及其治理措施综述

综述了内蒙古自治区煤矸石排放对草原生态系统造成的危害,比较了物理、化学和生物学方法对治理煤矸石的优缺点,重点分析了丛枝菌根真菌技术在煤矸石山生态重建中的应用及其意义,并提出了当前研究工作中存在的问题及以后的研究重点。     

硫酸储罐爆炸事故分析及预防

介绍了山东省某化工有限公司苯胺厂的工人在废硫酸罐顶部焊接管线时发生的一起废硫酸罐爆炸事故。通过对事故发生经过及现场情况的调查分析,找出了导致事故发生的原因,由于废硫酸罐耐酸瓷瓦破损,废硫酸渗漏与罐体接触反应产生的氢气,与由苯-稀硫酸萃取分离器串入废硫酸罐的苯或硝基苯蒸气及罐内空气混合形成爆炸性混合物,遇到因违章操作产生的明火、高温发生爆炸。通过对这次事故的详细描述、分析,在吸取事故教训的基础上,提出了相应的预防措施,为预防类似事故的发生提供参考。     

我县石英砂加工粉尘治理措施效果评价分析

目的:为加强本县石英砂加工行业防尘监督管理,保护职工身体健康,对石英砂实施系列粉尘水淋除尘治理措施,治理后的粉尘检测结果进行比较,对其控制效果进行评价分析。方法:主要对石英砂一级破碎、二级破碎机水淋除尘,采取现场职业卫生调查、职业卫生检测等方法,对生产设备粉尘治理前后作业岗位矽尘总浓度TWA进行采样检测,比较分析及评价。结果:共检测6个企业粉尘作业岗位,治理后各岗位的矽尘浓度均低于治理前(P<0.001)说明治理效果明显。结论:采取水淋除尘设备治理后矽尘控制效果符合《工作场所有害因素职业接触限值》等相关标准要求,控制效果可行。     

青藏高原野外地质调查工作安全保障对策

通过对青藏高原高寒缺氧、复杂多变的气候条件和艰苦恶劣生存环境的分析,就怎样做好野外地质工作人员的安全保障工作问题,从衣、食、住、行、遇险、自救互救等方面进行了深入的研究,并结合实际．在实践中总结出一些宝贵经验,以供安全管理工作者及野外工作者参考。