A study on the dilemmas of resource utilization and tourism in Africa

This paper explores, explains and discusses issues around the dilemma between local conservation of natural resources (often, endangered species and habitats) and tourism needs in Africa. Often and in constitutional terms, local people have a right to exploit and use resources endowed in their local area. However, tourists often are interested in viewing the vegetation and animal resources undisturbed. Inevitably, there is an undeclared animosity of values and interests between local communities and tourists and state agencies. As a result, the dilemma is thus of governance. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the governance dilemma of resource utilization and tourism in Africa in a bid to create an informed stewardship framework for sustainability. This is achieved by way of case studies and narratives from Africa. As such, this paper will be a review literature on how different communities perceive tourism and derive livelihoods from their immediate environment. It also explains how the external factors influence local needs and interests. A more sustainable and operational framework that reduces friction among stakeholders is suggested.     

基于多源遥感数据及DEM的人口统计数据空间化——以浙江省为例

利用DMSP/OLS遥感夜间灯光数据进行人口等社会经济数据的空间化时,往往受到其较低的空间分辨率、像元过饱和以及像元溢出现象的影响。植被指数（如NDVI）与不透水面呈负相关关系,与夜间灯光数据在反映人类活动、提取建成区方面可以互补,将这两种数据融合可以有效减少夜灯数据像元过饱和等因素引起的误差。通过进一步融合DEM数据对基于DMSP/OLS夜间灯光数据和NDVI构建的人居指数进行了海拔修正,基于修正后的人居指数与统计人口之间很强的线性相关建立人口空间化模型,获得2010年浙江省1 km×1 km分辨率下的人口密度空间分布。模拟结果显示,浙江省平均人口密度为515人/km2,模拟的平均相对误差为183%,相比海拔订正前的模拟误差减少约5%,表明利用多源遥感数据融合后的人居指数在省级尺度上模拟人口空间分布的精度较高     

Economic feasibility of autonomous hybrid wind–diesel power systems for residential loads in hot regions: a step to mitigate the implications of fossil fuel depletion

Today, energy occupies a pivotal position around which all socio-economic activities revolve. No energy means no life, and supply of energy in a cheap, plentiful, long-sustainable and environmentally safe form is a boon for everyone. In the light of rising cost of oil and fears of its exhaustion coupled with increased pollution, the governments worldwide are deliberating and making huge strides to promote renewable energy sources such as wind. Integration of wind machines with the diesel plants is pursued widely to reduce dependence on fossil-fuel-produced energy and to reduce the release of carbon gases that cause global climate change. The literature indicates that commercial/residential buildings in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consume an estimated 10–40% of the total electric energy generated. The aim of this study is to analyse wind-speed data of Dhahran (East-Coast, KSA) to assess the economic feasibility of utilising autonomous hybrid wind–diesel power systems to meet the electrical load of 100 typical residential buildings (with annual electrical energy demand of 3512 MWh). The monthly average wind speeds range from 3.3 to 5.6 m/s. The hybrid systems simulated consist of different combinations of 600 kW commercial wind machines supplemented with diesel generators. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's hybrid optimisation model for electric renewables software was employed to perform the techno-economic analysis.

The simulation results indicate that for a hybrid system comprising 600 kW wind capacity together with a 1.0 MW diesel system (two 500 kW units), the wind penetration (at 50 m hub-height, with 0% annual capacity shortage) is 26%. The cost of generating energy (COE, $/kWh) from this hybrid wind–diesel system was found to be 0.070 $/kWh (assuming diesel fuel price of 0.1 $/l). The study exhibits that for a given hybrid configuration, the number of operational hours of diesel generator sets (gensets) decreases with an increase in the wind-farm capacity. Concurrently, emphasis has also been placed on wind penetration, un-met load, effect of hub-height on energy production and COE, excess electricity generation, percentage fuel savings and reduction in carbon emissions (relative to diesel-only situation) of different hybrid systems, cost breakdown of wind–diesel systems, COE of different hybrid systems, etc.     

Effects of human footprint and biophysical factors on the body-size structure of fished marine species

Marine fisheries in coastal ecosystems in many areas of the world have historically removed large-bodied individuals, potentially impairing ecosystem functioning and the long-term sustainability of fish populations. Reporting on size-based indicators that link to food-web structure can contribute to ecosystem-based management, but the application of these indicators over large (cross-ecosystem) geographical scales has been limited to either fisheries-dependent catch data or diver-based methods restricted to shallow waters (<20 m) that can misrepresent the abundance of large-bodied fished species. We obtained data on the body-size structure of 82 recreationally or commercially targeted marine demersal teleosts from 2904 deployments of baited remote underwater stereo-video (stereo-BRUV). Sampling was at up to 50 m depth and covered approximately 10,000 km of the continental shelf of Australia. Seascape relief, water depth, and human gravity (i.e., a proxy of human impacts) were the strongest predictors of the probability of occurrence of large fishes and the abundance of fishes above the minimum legal size of capture. No-take marine reserves had a positive effect on the abundance of fishes above legal size, although the effect varied across species groups. In contrast, sublegal fishes were best predicted by gradients in sea surface temperature (mean and variance). In areas of low human impact, large fishes were about three times more likely to be encountered and fishes of legal size were approximately five times more abundant. For conspicuous species groups with contrasting habitat, environmental, and biogeographic affinities, abundance of legal-size fishes typically declined as human impact increased. Our large-scale quantitative analyses highlight the combined importance of seascape complexity, regions with low human footprint, and no-take marine reserves in protecting large-bodied fishes across a broad range of species and ecosystem configurations.     

2015~2020年洪泽湖浮游植物群落结构及其环境影响因子

洪泽湖是南水北调东线工程的重要调蓄湖泊,在气候调节、防洪防汛等方面起着重要的作用.为研究洪泽湖浮游植物群落结构演替及与环境因子的关系,了解“十年禁渔”前洪泽湖生态系统状况,于2015～2020年进行了逐月监测.研究期间,总氮(TN)年平均浓度从2017年之后呈显著下降趋势,总磷(TP)和化学需氧量(COD)总体呈下降趋势,水温无明显变化趋势,水深和透明度从2015～2018年上升,之后显著下降.调查期间共鉴定有浮游植物8门102属310种,浮游植物优势门类主要包括绿藻门和硅藻门,其次为蓝藻门和甲藻门.主要优势属为栅藻(Scenedesmus)、直链藻(Aulacoseira)、隐藻(Cryptomonas)、小环藻(Cyclotella)、四角藻(Tetraedron)、微囊藻(Microcystis)和长孢藻(Dolichospermum).非度量多维尺度分析方法(NMDS)表明,洪泽湖浮游植物群落结构组成在不同年份、不同季节和不同采样区域有显著差异,其变化主要是浮游植物的优势种属间再分配.NMDS分析结果显示,洪泽湖浮游植物群落结构变化与水温、 TN、 TP、水深和透明度等因素有关...     

2000~2020年西南地区植被NDVI对气候变化和人类活动响应特征

研究植被变化及其对气候变化和人类活动的响应机制,对区域生态保护和植被恢复具有重要现实意义.利用MODIS NDVI数据、基于站点的气象数据和土地利用数据,结合Theil-Sen Median趋势分析、Mann-Kendall显著性分析、残差分析、偏相关分析和复相关分析等方法,基于不同地貌单元,分析2000～2020年中国西南地区植被覆盖时空演变特征及其对气候和土地利用变化的响应特征.结果表明,2000～2020年西南地区植被NDVI整体呈波动上升趋势,上升斜率在空间上呈东南高和西北低的分异格局.气候变化和人类活动对西南地区植被NDVI上升均以促进作用为主,且对广西丘陵植被生长的促进作用强于其他地貌单元.2000～2020年间西南地区植被NDVI与气温和降水呈正相关,与相对湿度和日照时数呈负相关,且温度是影响西南地区植被NDVI变化的气候主导因子.城市扩张在一定程度上减少了区域植被覆盖,但得益于适宜的气候条件以及林业生态工程的实施,西南地区整体植被覆盖以上升为主.研究结果可为西南地区生态保护及经济可持续发展提供科学依据.     

The territorial dimension of environmental sustainability in Italy along the urban–rural continuum

Single territories contribute in different ways to the transition towards a more environmentally sustainable development (SD), according to their structural features. This study returns a multi-dimensional picture of the territorial divides of environmental sustainability across Italy, analysing how it correlates with rurality, with a focus on the urban–rural continuum. Italy represents an interesting case study because of its peculiar territorial urban–rural structure. We first assess the environmental sustainability targets across Italian NUTS 3 regions and their capital cities using two composite sustainability indexes, by referring to both standard values (i.e. conforming to legislation) and optimum values (i.e. desired values). Then, we investigate the relationship between environmental sustainability and rurality. Results suggest that a positive link between the two exists, being stronger at city level. Among major policy implications, the environmental dimensions of territorial cohesion should be integrated more strongly in key European policies to reach a more balanced SD.     

火灾事故时人员避灾策略的研究进展

对火灾事故时人员避灾策略的研究进展进行了评述,介绍了火灾探测技术、火灾中人员进灾的一般行为模式、火灾时最佳避灾路线的选择以及火灾时系统的控制决策等领域的研究现状,并对火灾事故时人员避灾策略的未来发展进行了展望。     

Screening for Selected Human Pharmaceuticals and Cocaine in the Urban Streams of Manaus,Amazonas, Brazil

Pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs are contaminants that are generally ubiquitous in wastewater treatment plant effluents with their release into the environment being well understood in North America, Europe, and Asia. There is, however, less information on the release of human pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs from regions undergoing rapid land use, economical, and social changes, such as Brazil. This encompasses many areas in the tropical zone where releases of emerging contaminants may impact pristine, bio‐diversity rich ecosystems. In this study, the occurrence of human pharmaceuticals and the illicit drug cocaine was determined in the Rio Negro and two of its tributaries that receive large amounts of untreated sewage, the Igarapé Mindu and the Igarapé do 40, passing through the city of Manaus, Brazil. In addition to cocaine and its metabolite, benzoylecognine, propranolol, diclofenac, amitriptyline, carbamazepine, carbamazepine‐epoxide, citalopram, metoprolol, carisoprolol, and sertraline were all detected in two urban tributaries at low ng/l concentrations similar to those typically found in urban surface waters. Concentrations in the Rio Negro were typically lower than detection limits due to the large level of dilution, although traces of a range of pharmaceuticals were detected in the Rio Negro in proximity of the confluence of the urban streams. The data represent new information on the emissions of pharmaceuticals from a newly industrialized region of Brazil.     

三北防护林工程区植被覆盖变化与影响因子分析

利用1982~2006年间GIMMS AVHRR NDVI植被覆盖数据和气象站点气候数据,分析了三北防护林工程区25a来植被覆盖的时空变化特征及其与气温、降水变化的相关性,并在此基础上通过采用残差分析法探讨了人类活动对研究区植被覆盖变化影响的空间格局.结果表明:研究区25a的年植被变化量增加幅度略大于减少幅度,植被覆盖整体呈缓慢上升趋势,其中Ⅰ区和Ⅳ区NDVI值上升最明显(P<0.001),Ⅱ区则呈微弱下降趋势,而四大建设区植被覆盖度有不同程度提高;研究区植被和气温、降水整体呈正相关关系,17.74%的地区植被与气温呈负相关,而6.84%的地区呈正相关,10.60%的地区植被与降水呈负相关,19.53%的地区则呈正相关,植被与降水正相关面积明显大于植被与气温正相关面积,说明降水是研究区植被生长的关键因子;研究区植被残差年际变化显著正相关面积大于显著负相关面积,人类活动对植被建设作用要强于破坏作用,三北防护林建设工程带来的生态效益正在呈现.