Adaptive flood hazard management strategy and its effect on settlements in the lower Yellow River area in Ming–Qing China: a case study of Kaifeng Prefecture

This paper examines the settlements and embankments of the Yellow River in central China in late imperial China (late fourteenth century to the early twentieth century) through the approach of historical geographical information system. The Yellow River frequently flooded and changed paths in the lower Yellow River area, creating a disaster-prone environment in the populous capital city, Kaifeng in Henan Province. The official policies of constructing embankments in the alluvial fan for the sake of both preventing flood and ensuring canal transportation for grains were important factors in shaping the settlements of the region. Historical data from some counties in Kaifeng Prefecture indicate that people took shelter along the embankments during floods and, as a consequence, villages steadily developed along the embankments. This is in despite official restrictions on the use of the bottomlands along the Yellow River. This historical case not only illustrates the operating modes of official flood prevention strategies in dynastic China, but also shows how archaic settlement patterns and landscapes have shaped the geography of contemporary China.     

连环湖牙门气泡沉积物重金属演化和污染研究

2010年8月在牙门气泡的湖心位置采集了柱状沉积岩心.采用HNO3-HClO4-HF联合消解并运用ICP-MS测试了柱状沉积岩心中金属元素Cr、Cu、Mn、Ni、Fe、Pb、Zn、Cd、Al、Ba、Ca、K、Li、Mg、Na和Sr的含量,结合沉积岩心年代测定,研究了该湖区沉积物重金属元素演化特征及污染历史.应用富集系数法探讨了湖泊重金属的污染特征.结果表明,1950年以前各元素含量变化趋势平稳,1950～1990年间波动较大,1990年以后金属元素Mn、Zn、Cd、Pb、Fe、Ni、Cr、Cu、Ca、Li和Sr浓度明显增加.牙门气泡重金属元素Mn、Zn、Cd、Pb存在轻微污染,而Ni、Cr和Cu无污染.     

生态缺水条件下流域生态经济系统安全性分析

生态用水和社会经济用水的竞争状况使得研究水资源短缺地区的流域生态经济系统安全状况、有效进行生态缺水条件下流域生态经济系统的调控十分必要.从宏观角度出发,首先分析了流域生态经济系统演化的机制和影响因素,在此基础上,通过建立指标体系,提出了构建流域主要指标为状态变量的生态经济系统演化模型,并利用模型进行系统安全性分析.以潮白河流域为例,构建了人口数量、人均GDP、生态系统指数以及生态用水比例为状态变量的生态经济系统演化模型.模型模拟结果表明,如果不加以调控,该流域将无法提供生态经济系统的安全保障.提出了提高生态用水比例、控制经济增长速度和积极进行生态建设、控制水土流失的对策,为实现潮白河流域的生态经济系统安全保障服务.     

灾害视角下基于隐患因素的生态安全演变机理与系统动力学特征

通过"灾害学"视角认识和理解生态安全,针对隐患因素对安全状态的影响,探讨了生态安全演变的隐患触发传递与响应控制机理,并从系统动力学的视角论述生态安全是反馈的动力系统和非线性的动态系统特征。研究表明,生态安全因素分析必须包含隐患因素分析;安全评价要素范围必须扩展。生态安全系统由隐患触发传递系统和响应控制管理系统组成,且两系统之间以及子系统各要素之间相互影响、相互联系,是隐患因素不断触发、传递、响应和控制的复合高阶演变过程,具有非线性灾变性、自组织及被组织性和有序与无序的动态性。     

太湖流域水污染对太湖水质的影响分析

从太湖地区(苏州、无锡、常州、杭州、嘉兴和湖州)的污染物排放量、水质监测结果，以及工农业发展、人口变化、人民生活水平的提高、东太湖萎缩，底泥中营养物的变化和湖泊生态系统失衡的特点入手，分析了太湖流域水污染现状。结果表明，工业废水排放量高于城镇生活废水排放量；太湖湖体、环湖河流水质与省、市边界断面主要超标项目分别为：总磷、总氮和氨氮；水体水质演变是由工农业迅速发展、人口过度增加、污染防治措施相对滞后，以及太湖水生态系统失衡等原因造成的。     

生物法脱氮新技术及研究进展

生物法脱氮技术一直是水处理领域所关注的热点和难点。本文对几种近年来新研究的生物法脱氮工艺和理论基础做了简要介绍和分析,并评述了它们的研究进展和发展方向,为污水生物脱氮技术更深入的研究提供了借鉴。     

Distribution of heavy metals in sediments of the Pearl River Estuary, Southern China: Implications for sources and historical changes

The distribution of heavy metals (Pb, Zn, Cd and As) in sediments of the Pearl River Estuary was investigated. The spatial distribution of heavy metals displayed a decreasing pattern from the turbidity maxima to both upstream and downstream of the estuary, which suggested that suspended sediments played an important role in the trace metal distribution in the Pearl River Estuary. In addition, metal concentrations were higher in the west part of the estuary which received most of the pollutants from the Pearl River. In the sediment cores, fluxes of heavy metals were consistent with a predominant anthropogenic input in the period 1970-1990. From the mid-1990s to the 2000s, there was a significant decline in heavy metal pollution. The observed decline has shown the result of pollution control in the Pearl River Delta. However, it is noteworthy that the metal concentrations in the most recent sediment still remained considerably high. Taken together, the enrichment of heavy metals in sediments was largely controlled by anthropogenic pollution.     

Extinction rate of discovered and undiscovered plants in Singapore

Extinction is a key issue in the assessment of global biodiversity. However, many extinction rate measures do not account for species that went extinct before they could be discovered. The highly developed island city–state of Singapore has one of the best-documented tropical floras in the world. This allowed us to estimate the total rate of floristic extinctions in Singapore since 1822 after accounting for sampling effort and crypto extinctions by collating herbaria records. Our database comprised 34,224 specimens from 2076 native species, of which 464 species (22%) were considered nationally extinct. We assumed that undiscovered species had the same annual per-species extinction rates as discovered species and that no undiscovered species remained extant. With classical and Bayesian algorithms, we estimated that 304 (95% confidence interval, 213–414) and 412 (95% credible interval, 313–534) additional species went extinct before they could be discovered, respectively; corresponding total extinction rate estimates were 32% and 35% (range 30–38%). We detected violations of our 2 assumptions that could cause our extinction estimates, particularly the absolute numbers, to be biased downward. Thus, our estimates should be treated as lower bounds. Our results illustrate the possible magnitudes of plant extirpations that can be expected in the tropics as development continues.     

A method to estimate pre-exploitation population size

Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) were commercially exploited on the subantarctic island of South Georgia for over 100 years and nearly driven to extinction. Since the cessation of harvesting, however, their populations have rebounded, and they are now often considered a nuisance species whose impact on the terrestrial landscape should be mitigated. Any evaluation of their current population requires the context provided by their historic, pre-exploitation abundance, lest ecologists fall prey to shifting baseline syndrome in which their perspective on current abundance is compared only with an altered state resulting from past anthropogenic disturbance. Estimating pre-exploitation abundance is critical to defining species recovery and setting recovery targets, both of which are needed for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's recent efforts to develop a green list of recovering species. To address this issue, we reconstructed the South Georgia fur seal harvest from 1786 to 1908 from ship logbooks and other historical records and interpolated missing harvest data as necessary with a generalized linear model fit to the historical record. Using an approximate Bayesian computation framework, harvest data, and a stochastic age-structured population model, we estimated the pre-exploitation abundance of Antarctic fur seals on South Georgia was 2.5 million females (95% CI 1.5–3.5 million). This estimate is similar to recent abundance estimates, and suggests current populations, and the ecological consequences of so many fur seals on the island, may be similar to conditions prior to human harvest. Although the historic archive on the fur sealing era is unavoidably patchy, the use of archival records is essential for reconstructing the past and, correspondingly, to understanding the present. Article impact statement: Defining species recovery requires an understanding of baseline population state, which can be estimated through statistical methods.     

区域历史地理研究与国土规划

人口与资源和环境之间的相互关系是一个历史过程。从发生学观点研究特写区域这种关系及其变化规律是区域历史地理研究的核心内容，探索历史上人口与资源和环境之间相互关系的规律及其演化机制，可为区域国土规划与整治中人口、资源与环境发展提供必要的历史借鉴和客观依据。同时，国土规划与整治的现实任务亦为区域历史地理研究提供了发展机遇。