Multicriteria evaluation of simulated logging scenarios in a tropical rain forest

Forest growth models are useful tools for investigating the long-term impacts of logging. In this paper, the results of the rain forest growth model FORMIND were assessed by a multicriteria decision analysis. The main processes covered by FORMIND include tree growth, mortality, regeneration and competition. Tree growth is calculated based on a carbon balance approach. Trees compete for light and space; dying large trees fall down and create gaps in the forest. Sixty-four different logging scenarios for an initially undisturbed forest stand at Deramakot (Malaysia) were simulated. The scenarios differ regarding the logging cycle, logging method, cutting limit and logging intensity. We characterise the impacts with four criteria describing the yield, canopy opening and changes in species composition. Multicriteria decision analysis was used for the first time to evaluate the scenarios and identify the efficient ones. Our results plainly show that reduced-impact logging scenarios are more 'efficient' than the others, since in these scenarios forest damage is minimised without significantly reducing yield. Nevertheless, there is a trade-off between yield and achieving a desired ecological state of logged forest; the ecological state of the logged forests can only be improved by reducing yields and enlarging the logging cycles. Our study also demonstrates that high cutting limits or low logging intensities cannot compensate for the high level of damage caused by conventional logging techniques.     

3S技术在财产保险防洪救灾中的应用

分析了保险业防灾减损的研究现状,阐述了3S的技术特点及其应用领域。和如何将3S技术应用于财产保险防洪救灾领域,建立财产保险防洪救灾决策支持系统。介绍了系统的整体构架及其功能特点,该系统可与保险公司业务系统紧密结合,显示直观。同时包括保险分析、灾害分析和专题图显示等多项功能。实现了多源数据的无缝集成。因而能从理论方法和关键技术上指导保险公司的防灾减损工作。切实提高保险公司的经济效益。以深圳市为示范区,该系统在应用中取得了良好效果。     

社区防灾减灾对策的复杂性科学问题

"社区研究"已有约150年的历史,社区的防灾减灾对策是一个综合性的科学问题。充分发挥社区的防灾减灾功能十分必要,确立社区防灾减灾最优对策在中国的现代化建设和可持续发展战略中具有重要意义。利用复杂性科学的理论和模型来处理社区的防灾减灾对策问题,是系统科学或复杂性科学中的一个有意义的发展方向。本文提出并分析了社区防灾减灾对策研究中的4个问题,即如何界定社区防灾减灾应急管理的角色和方向;何为防灾减灾安全社区;如何预警突发性灾难事件;社区防灾减灾系统是如何自组织的。本文引入复杂性科学理论对社区的防灾减灾对策进行了研究,讨论了复杂性科学应用于社区防灾减灾对策的理论框架。     

An Investigation of Environmental Racism Claims: Testing Environmental Management Approaches with a Geographic Information System

The purpose of this research was to explore the concept of an environmental racism claim through the use of several environmental management tools. The EPAs Toxics Release Inventory, Cumulative Exposure Project, and the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services' Hot Zone Census Tract Assessment were combined with racial and socioeconomic data to test claims that minorities in South Central Los Angeles are disproportionately exposed to environmental lead. Multivariate analysis indicated that race is strongly associated with the number of cases of elevated blood lead levels in South Central, irrespective of poverty status. Proximity to point sources, a common focal point for studies of environmental racism, was not a contributing factor to health outcomes. Proximity to transportation corridors was consistently the strongest indicator of environmental lead exposure, while median home values were significantly and positively related to elevated blood lead levels. Implications for environmental justice advocates and social and environmental scientists are discussed.     

What Is a Good Public Participation Process? Five Perspectives from the Public

It is now widely accepted that members of the public should be involved in environmental decision-making. This has inspired many to search for principles that characterize good public participation processes. In this paper we report on a study that identifies discourses about what defines a good process. Our case study was a forest planning process in northern New England and New York. We employed Q methodology to learn how participants characterize a good process differently, by selecting, defining, and privileging different principles. Five discourses, or perspectives, about good process emerged from our study. One perspective emphasizes that a good process acquires and maintains popular legitimacy. A second sees a good process as one that facilitates an ideological discussion. A third focuses on the fairness of the process. A fourth perspective conceptualizes participatory processes as a power struggle—in this instance a power play between local landowning interests and outsiders. A fifth perspective highlights the need for leadership and compromise. Dramatic differences among these views suggest an important challenge for those responsible for designing and carrying out public participation processes. Conflicts may emerge about process designs because people disagree about what is good in specific contexts.     

Evaluating Nonpoint Pollution Policy Using a Tightly Coupled Spatial Decision Support System

Policy makers often must rely on the cumulative impact of independent actions taken by local landowners to achieve environmental goals. The connection between policy, regulation, and local action, however, is often not well understood and, thus, the impact of proposed policies may be difficult to predict. In this study we evaluate the effectiveness of alternative policy scenarios for agricultural set aside programs (e.g., the conservation reserve program administered by the United States Department of Agriculture) in reducing nonpoint pollution. Two alternative policy scenarios are developed and analyzed; one based on the erodibility index (detachment), the other sediment yield (transport). An estimate of the cumulative impact of associated land use change on nonpoint pollution is made using the AGNPS distributed parameter watershed model. This work is completed within the Cypress Creek watershed in southern Illinois. An analysis of the resulting data suggests that the most efficacious regulatory strategy for achieving nonpoint water pollution goals depends, in part, on place-specific land use patterns. This conclusion provides a solid argument for place-based regulatory strategies.     

回燃及其对腔室火灾过程的影响

从火灾中的两种特殊火行为－轰燃和回燃的发生机理出发,着重讨论了回燃在整个火灾过程中的作用以及回燃对轰燃的影响。结果表明,由于回燃和轰燃同为火灾全过程中的分过程,并且由于二者发生机理的相似性,因而,它们可以建立联系。当具备合适的热解产物浓度时,回燃过程可以使火灾系统的状态突变到完全发展状态,即引发轰燃。     

Using Multicriteria Methods in Environmental Planning and Management

In environmental planning and decision processes several alternatives are analyzed in terms of multiple noncommensurate criteria, and many different stakeholders with conflicting preferences are involved. Based on our experience in real-life applications, we discuss how multicriteria decision aid (MCDA) methods can be used successfully in such processes. MCDA methods support these processes by providing a framework for collecting, storing, and processing all relevant information, thus making the decision process traceable and transparent. It is therefore possible to understand and explain why, under several conflicting preferences, a particular decision was made. The MCDA framework also makes the requirements for new information explicit, thus supporting the allocation of resources for the process.     

浅论灾害科学的研究现状

在查阅了大量灾害科学方面的专著、期刊、学位论文和其它文献资料的基础上 ,本文试图对国内外的灾害科学研究现状进行粗浅的讨论     

基于多目标决策的室内空气质量评价模型

在室内空气质量各单项评价指标的基础上，应用运筹学的决策理论，建立室内空气质量评价模型。并通过实例应用此模型对室内空气品质进行了评价研究，取得了满意的结果。与其他评价方法相比，该评价模型结构严谨、计算简便、结果合理、分辨率高。为室内空气质量评价提供了一种简单而适用的评价方法。