Measuring and decomposing changes in agricultural productivity, nitrogen use efficiency and cumulative exergy efficiency: Application to OECD agriculture

This paper uses an aggregate quantity space to decompose the temporal changes in nitrogen use efficiency and cumulative exergy use efficiency into changes of Moorsteen-Bjurek (MB) Total Factor Productivity (TFP) changes and changes in the aggregate nitrogen and cumulative exergy contents. Changes in productivity can be broken into technical change and changes in various efficiency measures such as technical efficiency, scale efficiency and residual mix efficiency. Changes in the aggregate nitrogen and cumulative exergy contents can be driven by changes in the quality of inputs and outputs and changes in the mixes of inputs and outputs. Also with cumulative exergy content analysis, changes in the efficiency in input production can increase or decrease the cumulative exergy transformity of agricultural production. The empirical study in 30 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development from 1990 to 2003 yielded some important findings. The production technology progressed but there were reductions in technical efficiency, scale efficiency and residual mix efficiency levels. This result suggests that the production frontier had shifted up but there existed lags in the responses of member countries to the technological change. Given TFP growth, improvements in nutrient use efficiency and cumulative exergy use efficiency were counteracted by reductions in the changes of the aggregate nitrogen contents ratio and aggregate cumulative exergy contents ratio. The empirical results also confirmed that different combinations of inputs and outputs as well as the quality of inputs and outputs could have more influence on the growth of nutrient and cumulative exergy use efficiency than factors that had driven productivity change.     

A model for measuring leaf growth rate of vegetative shoot in the seagrass, Zostera marina

A new model for determining leaf growth in vegetative shoots of the seagrass Zostera marina (eelgrass) is described. This model requires the weights of individual mature and immature whole leaves and leaf plastochrone interval (P_L) as parameters, differing from the conventional leaf marking technique (CLM) that requires cutting and separation between new and old tissue of leaves. The techniques required for the model are the same as for the plastochrone method, but the parameters differ between both methods in use of the weight of individual immature leaves. In a mesocosm study, eelgrass growth was examined, and parameters for the new model and plastochrone method (the weights of individual mature and immature leaves and P_L) were measured. Leaf growth rate was measured using the CLM and determined by the new method and the plastochrone method. The results were then compared between the CLM, the new model, and the plastochrone method. The results obtained with the new model were similar to those obtained with the CLM. However, the results of the plastochrone method differed from those of the CLM, while the weight of immature leaves varied seasonally. The new model was also used to determine leaf growth in a natural eelgrass bed in Mikawa Bay, Japan, and revealed the growth rates in all shoots and those of different ages. This method would be advantageous as an accurate means of direct measurement in fieldwork, and should therefore be a useful tool for monitoring seagrass growth.     

有机质腐解对穗花狐尾藻生长及磷积累的影响

在室内以原沉积物（处理1）和分别添加0.5%与1%有机质（植物残体）（处理2和处理3）的沉积物作为底质培养沉水植物,研究了植物残体的腐解对穗花狐尾藻生长及各器官磷积累的影响。结果表明：在试验的早期阶段,植物残体的腐解对狐尾藻的生长及磷积累有一定的抑制,其干质量积累量与磷积累量均表现为处理1〉处理2〉处理3,与处理1相比,处理2和处理3植株干质量积累量分别降低了16.9%和24.35%,磷积累量降低了24.38%和44.18%;但在培养的中后期,则表现为处理2〉处理3〉处理1,与处理1相比,处理2和处理3的穗花狐尾藻干质量和磷积累量分别增加了22.45%和7.48%、75.53%和17.21%。整个培养实验结果表明低含量植物残体的残留,促进了植株生长及磷积累,但当植物残体残留过高时,沉水植物的生长及磷积累受到抑制。3个处理不同器官干质量和磷分配比均表现为叶〉茎〉根,叶是穗花狐尾藻主要的磷累积器官。     

栅藻LX1和雨生红球藻的胞外产物产生特性及其对藻细胞生长的影响

基于微藻在资源化大规模培养过程中,其胞外产物对藻细胞生长影响的不确定性,对比研究了两株高含油脂藻种,栅藻LX1（Scenedesmus sp.LX1）和雨生红球藻（Haematococcus pluvislis）的生长特征、胞外产物的产生特性,以及胞外产物对藻细胞生长的影响。研究结果表明,在相同培养条件下,栅藻LX1与雨生红球藻的内禀生长速率基本相当,分别为0.16和0.17 d-1。两株藻在不同生长期的胞外产物（以DOC值表征）产生速率不同,其中栅藻LX1胞外产物的对数期产生速率（1.4 mg·L-1·d-1）﹥稳定期后期产生速率（0.56 mg·L-1·d-1）﹥稳定期产生速率（0.48 mg·L-1·d-1）;雨生红球藻胞外产物的稳定期后期产生速率（2.3 mg·L-1·d-1）﹥稳定期产生速率（0.88 mg·L-1·d-1）﹥对数期产生速率（0.66 mg·L-1·d-1）。栅藻LX1胞外产物对其整个生长过程都有明显抑制;雨生红球藻胞外产物则在稳定期后期才对其生长产生明显抑制作用。     

林丹短期暴露对斑马鱼生长发育和繁殖的影响

以斑马鱼为受试生物,研究在低浓度(0.005、0.05、0.5峭μg·L-1)林丹暴露条件下,林丹对斑马鱼体长、体质量、肝脏指数、性腺指数、产卵量和受精率的影响.结果显示,经14 d暴露后,处理组斑马鱼体长和体质量与空白对照组或溶剂对照组之间差异不显著;与空白对照组和溶剂对照组相比,0.5μg·L-1处理组雄性和雌性斑马鱼肝脏指数均显著增加(P＜0.05),雄性斑马鱼性腺指数显著降低(P＜0.05),其他处理组无明显变化;林丹对斑马鱼产卵量和受精率表现出明显的抑制作用,与空白对照组相比,0.05和0.5μg·L-1处理组斑马鱼平均产卵量和受精率均极显著降低(P＜0.01).该研究表明林丹具有环境内分泌干扰物特性,在低浓度暴露条件下可对斑马鱼的生长发育和繁殖产生一定抑制影响.     

Growth and nutrient accumulation of Phragmites australis in relation to water level variation and nutrient loadings in a shallow lake

Shallow lake eutrophication is a global environmental issue. This study investigated the effects of water level variation and nutrient loadings on the growth and nutrient accumulation of Phragmites australis (reed) by field samplings in Baiyangdian Lake, the largest shallow lake of northern China. The field samplings were conducted in two sites of different nutrient loadings during the whole growth period of reeds, and three types of zones with different water depths were chosen for each site, including the terrestrial zone with water level below the ground, the ecotone zone with the water level varying from belowground to aboveground, and the submerged zone with water level above the ground. The result showed that reed growth was more limited by water level variation than nutrient loadings. The average stem lengths and diameters in terrestrial zones were about 26.3%-27.5% and 7.2%-12.0% higher than those in submerged zones, respectively. Similarly, the terrestrial status increased the aboveground biomass of reeds by 36.6%-51.8% compared with the submerged status. Both the nutrient concentrations and storages in the aboveground reeds were mainly influenced by the nutrient loadings in surface water and sediment rather than the water level variation of the reed growth environment, and the nutrient storages reached their maxima in late August or early September. It was observed that the maximum nitrogen storage occurred in the terrestrial zone with higher nutrient loadings, with the value of 74.5 g/m 2 . This study suggested that water level variation and nutrient loadings should be considered when using reeds to control and remediate eutrophication of shallow lakes.     

海洋微藻对游离氨基酸的利用特性研究

分别以4种游离氨基酸——丙氨酸、甘氨酸、谷氨酸和天冬氨酸为唯一氮源,采用实验室一次性培养的方法,研究典型赤潮藻——东海原甲藻(Prorocentrum donghaiense)、球形棕囊藻(Phaeoecystis globosa)和米氏凯伦藻(Karenia mikimotoi)及常见种类中肋骨条藻(Skeletonema costatum)的生长特性、光合特征及对氨基酸的吸收动力学特征,以无机氮源硝氮、氨氮作为对照.研究结果表明,在无菌条件下,东海原甲藻和球形棕囊藻可以利用多种游离氨基酸快速生长,而米氏凯伦藻和中肋骨条藻在以游离氨基酸为唯一氮源条件下不能维持生长.东海原甲藻和球形棕囊藻在丙氨酸中的生长速率最高,天冬氨酸和谷氨酸次之,甘氨酸最低.氨基酸处理组的Fv/Fm值在培养后期降幅小、降速慢,且高于无机氮处理组.东海原甲藻和球形棕囊藻对丙氨酸的最大吸收速率和半饱和常数分别为3.32、0.41pmol·cell-1·h-1和6.99和20.54pmol·L-1.因此,海洋微藻对游离氨基酸的吸收利用具有显著的种间差异,东海原甲藻和球形棕囊藻具有更广的氮营养生态位,在近海有机污染不断加剧的背景下,更容易形成优势甚至暴发赤潮.     

Regional features of the radial growth of larch in north central Siberia according to millennial tree-ring chronologies

A 1138-year tree-ring chronology has been constructed for the region of the Bol’shoi Avam River (the Putoran Plateau). Its comparison with millennial chronologies for the Taimyr Peninsula and Mangazeya has shown that all these chronologies are fairly synchronous with respect to both high-frequency (annual) and low-frequency (long-term) components, although each has its specific regional features. The results of dendroclimatic analysis provide evidence for the prevailing influence of air temperature in July (compared to that in June) on the radial growth of larch in the middle reaches of the Bol’shoi Avam. Consistent long-term changes in radial tree increment (and in summer air temperature) in a large sector of the Subarctic over the past 1000 years have been revealed.     

ECONOMIC GROWTH AND THE QUALITY OF THE ENVIRONMENT: TAKING STOCK

There is a long-standing debate on the relationship between economic development and environmental quality. From a sustainable development viewpoint there has been a growing concern that the economic expansion of the world economy will cause irreparable damage to our planet. In the last few years several studies have appeared dealing with the relationship between the scale of economic activity and the level of pollution. In particular, if we concentrate on local pollutants many empirical contributions have identified a bell-shaped curve linking per capita pollution to per capita GDP (in the case of global pollutants like CO₂ the evidence is less clear-cut). This behavior implies that, starting from low per capita income levels, per capita emissions or concentrations tend to increase but at a slower pace. After a certain level of income (which typically differs across pollutants) – the “turning point” – pollution starts to decline as income further increases. In analogy with the historical relationship between income distribution and income growth, the inverted-U relationship between per capita income and pollution has been termed “Environmental Kuznets Curve”. The purpose of this paper is not to provide an overview the literature: there are several survey papers around doing precisely that. We instead reconsider the explanations that have been put forth for its inverted-U pattern. We consider the literature from this perspective. In addition, without resorting to any econometric estimation, we consider whether simple data analysis can help to shed some light on the motives that can rationalize the Environmental Kuznets Curve. This paper is part of the research work being carried out by the Climate Change Modelling and Policy Unit at Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and has been prepared for the 2004–2005 ESRI Collaboration Project. The author is grateful to Nicola Cantore for skillful assistance.