Soil erosion vulnerability under scenarios of climate land-use changes after the development of a large reservoir in a semi-arid area

Climate and land-use/cover changes (LUCC) influence soil erosion vulnerability in the semi-arid region of Alqueva, threatening the reservoir storage capacity and sustainability of the landscape. Considering the effect of these changes in the future, the purpose of this study was to investigate soil erosion scenarios using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model. A multi-agent system combining Markov cellular automata with multi-criteria evaluation was used to investigate LUCC scenarios according to delineated regional strategies. Forecasting scenarios indicated that the intensive agricultural area as well as the sparse and xerophytic vegetation and rainfall-runoff erosivity would increase, consequently causing the soil erosion to rise from 1.78 Mg ha^?1 to 3.65 Mg ha^?1 by 2100. A backcasting scenario was investigated by considering the application of soil conservation practices that would decrease the soil erosion considerably to an average of 2.27 Mg ha^?1. A decision support system can assist stakeholders in defining restrictive practices and developing conservation plans, contributing to control the reservoir's siltation.     

Result-oriented approaches to the management of drinking water catchments in agricultural landscapes

Management of water quality in drinking water catchments is of ongoing, high importance as nitrate concentrations are often still very high. We analysed the Augsburg catchment in Germany, a unique example where a result-oriented approach has been implemented. We investigated the historical evolution of the water protection programme, the result-oriented payment contracts with farmers, and farmer satisfaction with the contracts, based on interviews with the water utility and farmers as well as an analysis of the literature. Today, the water protection programme has been successfully implemented, and a significant reduction of nitrate concentration was achieved due to the following factors: (1) investment of non-negligible amounts of money for high compensation and remuneration payments, (2) different contract options, (3) farmers’ participation in the negotiation process for result-oriented payment contracts, (4) involvement of “outside” people and institutions in negotiation processes, (5) anticipation of starting a programme when nitrate levels were still far below legislative thresholds, and (6) a political and legislative framework allowing direct decisions by a water supplier.     

Bison and cattle grazing management,bare ground coverage,and links to suspended sediment concentrations in grassland streams

This study quantified the impact of bison and cattle grazing management practices on bare ground coverage at the watershed, riparian, and forested riparian scales within the Flint Hills ecoregion in Kansas. We tested for correlations between bare ground coverage and fluvial suspended sediment concentrations during base‐flow and storm‐flow events. We used remotely sensed imagery combined with field surveys to classify ground cover and quantify the presence of bare ground. Base‐flow water samples were collected bi‐monthly during rain‐free periods and 24 h following precipitation events. Storm‐flow water samples were collected on the rising limb of the hydrograph, using single‐stage automatic samplers. Ungrazed treatments contained the lowest coverage of bare ground at the watershed, riparian, and forested riparian scales. Bison treatments contained the highest coverage of bare ground at the watershed scale, while high‐density cattle treatments contained the highest coverage of bare ground at the riparian and forested riparian scales. In bison and cattle‐grazed treatments, a majority of bare ground was located near fence lines, watershed boundaries, and third‐ and fourth‐order stream segments. Inorganic sediment concentrations at base flow were best predicted by riparian bare ground coverage, while storm‐flow sediment concentrations were best predicted by watershed scale bare ground coverage.     

农地整理项目农户耕地损失补偿额度的实证研究——基于耕地资源价值与农户受偿意愿

从耕地资源价值出发,测算农地整理项目农户耕地损失补偿额度,并基于湖北省孝感市和潜江市的农户调查数据分析农户的受偿意愿及其影响因素。研究表明:基于耕地资源价值体系,测算得到孝感市和潜江市农地整理项目农户耕地损失补偿额度分别为1 449 695.76、1 784 296.17元/hm~2;农户所期望得到的耕地损失补偿标准远低于耕地资源价值体系测算出来的理论值,两市农户对耕地损失的平均受偿意愿额度为336 197.95元/hm~2,可以农户受偿意愿为主、耕地农业生产价值和社会保障价值为辅,制定农地整理项目农户耕地损失补偿标准;受教育程度对补偿标准有显著负向影响,农户文化程度的提高有助于提高其对农地整理事业的认知程度,进而促进我国农地整理事业的发展;土地权属调整是解决农户耕地损失的一项重要措施,做好农地整理项目土地权属调整工作需充分尊重农户的意愿,并以农业现代化作为土地权属调整的目标。     

The influence of use-related,environmental, and managerial factors on soil loss from recreational trails

Recreational uses of unsurfaced trails inevitably result in their degradation, with the type and extent of resource impact influenced by factors such as soil texture, topography, climate, trail design and maintenance, and type and amount of use. Of particular concern, the loss of soil through erosion is generally considered a significant and irreversible form of trail impact. This research investigated the influence of several use-related, environmental, and managerial factors on soil loss on recreational trails and roads at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, a unit of the U.S. National Park Service. Regression modeling revealed that trail position, trail slope alignment angle, grade, water drainage, and type of use are significant determinants of soil loss. The introduction of individual and groups of variables into a series of regression models provides improved understanding and insights regarding the relative influence of these variables, informing the selection of more effective trail management actions. Study results suggest that trail erosion can be minimized by avoiding “fall-line” alignments, steep grades, and valley-bottom alignments near streams, installing and maintaining adequate densities of tread drainage features, applying gravel to harden treads, and reducing horse and all-terrain vehicle use or restricting them to more resistant routes.     

Shrub Encroachment Impacts the Potential for Multiple Use Conflicts on Public Land

Public rangelands in North America are typically managed under a multiple use policy that includes livestock grazing and wildlife management. In this article we report on the landscape level extent of grassland loss to shrub encroachment in a portion of the Rocky Mountain Forest Reserve in southwestern Alberta, Canada, and review the associated implications for simultaneously supporting livestock and wildlife populations while maintaining range health on this diminishing vegetation type. Digitized aerial photographs of 12 km of valley bottom from 1958 and 1974 were co-registered to ortho-rectified digital imagery taken in 1998, and an un-supervised classification used to determine areas associated with grassland and shrubland in each year. Field data from 2002 were over-layed using GPS coordinates to refine the classification using a calibration-validation procedure. Over the 40-year study period, open grasslands declined from 1,111 ha in 1958 to 465 ha in 1998, representing a 58% decrease. Using mean production data for grass and shrub dominated areas we then quantified aggregate changes in grazing capacity of both primary (grassland) and secondary (shrubland) habitats for livestock and wildlife. Total declines in grazing capacity from 1958 to 1998 totaled 2,744 Animal Unit Months (AUMs) of forage (−39%), including a 58% decrease in primary (i.e., open grassland) range, which was only partly offset by the availability of 1,357 AUMs within less productive and less accessible shrubland habitats. Our results indicate shrub encroachment has been extensive and significantly reduced forage availability to domestic livestock and wildlife, and will increase the difficulty of conserving remaining grasslands. Although current grazing capacities remain marginally above those specified by regulated grazing policies, it is clear that continued habitat change and decreases in forage availability are likely to threaten the condition of remaining grasslands. Unless shrub encroachment is arrested or grassland restoration initiated, reductions in aggregate ungulate numbers may be necessary.

环境规制对技术效率和生产力损失的影响分析

以中国工业为研究对象,以经济发展程度不同所分的东部、中部和西部地区兰个地区作为研究区域,采用非参数数据包络法(DEA)中的径自效率测量方法(radial efficiency measure)为主要研究方法,分析了在1998-2005年期间环境规制对中国工业的技术效率和生产力损失的影响.研究结果表明,在指定的研究期间,环境规制使得中国工业技术效率提高,但是对于生产力的发展却产生了负面的影响.三个地区之间受环境规制影响的差异较大,其中东部为环境规制所付出的成本最大,即东部为环境污染所付出的环境成本最高,这也是为何从九十年代开始,污染物从东部往中西部转移的原因;从受污染物影响的角度来看,因控制废水而引起的生产力损失大于因控制SO2而引起的生产力损失,即对于中国工业,废水的环境成本大于SO2的环境成本.另外,从研究结果中也可知,在中国现有的生产方式下,实施严格的环境规制有一定难度,所以改变旧的生产方式,实施可持续发展的生产方式是当务之急.     

Modeling potential herbicide loss to surface waters on the Swiss plateau

Lack of sufficiently detailed data often limits the applicability of complex transport-reaction models for estimating potential herbicide loss to surface waters. Therefore, there is also a need for simple models that are easy to apply but still capture the main features of the underlying processes.In this study, a simple regression model was developed to assess the vulnerability of catchments in the Swiss Plateau to diffuse herbicide loss to surface waters. The model is designed as a screening tool to rank the catchments in a relative sense and not to calculate Predicted Environmental Concentrations (PEC) of pesticides. The main goal is to capture two dominating factors controlling diffuse herbicide transport into streams and rivers. These factors are herbicide application and fast flow processes that are mainly responsible for herbicide transport. In a first step vulnerability of sites to herbicide loss is estimated based on site-specific conditions irrespective of actual herbicide application. In the second step, this vulnerability assessment is combined with actual herbicide application data to estimate the potential herbicide loss.The fast flow index (FFI), derived from discharge data using a base flow separation method, was applied as a proxy for the amount of fast flow occurring. The influence of catchment attributes (including topographic, climatic and soil data) on the FFI was analyzed using a multiple regression approach based on data from 57 catchments of the Swiss Plateau. By combining regression analysis with mechanistic knowledge, a two factor non-linear model based on river density and soil permeability as dominant input factors was selected as the best model for FFI prediction given the available data. Higher dimensional models had to be excluded because the strong correlation between the potential input factors led to unrealistic dependences while only minimally improving the quality of the fit.The spatial pattern of the predicted FFI as a measure for the vulnerability to diffuse herbicide losses shows a clearly increasing trend from the western to the eastern part of the Swiss Plateau and towards the pre-alpine/alpine regions in the south.In general the pattern of herbicide use corresponds to site conditions typical of a low FFI. However, the spatial analysis revealed exceptions, namely areas in which high actual herbicide use coincides with a high FFI.Despite the uncertainties in the model, this simple approach seems to be useful for supporting site-adapted agricultural practice whenever the higher accuracy of more detailed models is not required or too expensive to achieve. In addition, in combination with data on actual herbicide application, it can support the design of monitoring strategies by identifying critical areas of actual herbicide loss.     

浅谈新疆风电场水土保持措施配置——以新疆华电小草湖风电场二场一期工程为例

风能作为一种清洁无污染的可再生能源,已经被广泛运用到电力事业的发展中来。近年来,新疆的风力发电发展迅速,风电场建设过程中不可避免地会对土壤及植被造成一定的破坏,人为地加剧了水土流失。概述了风电项目水土流失特点,以新疆华电小草湖风电场工程为例,结合项目区具体特点,分区设置防治措施。通过工程措施、植物措施与临时措施的有机结合,有效地防止水土流失。     

吨量煤体的自燃过程实验模拟研究

为更好地弄清矿井实际的煤自然发火规律,利用装煤量达5吨的大型实验台对两种烟煤分别进行了自燃模拟实验。大煤量的实验能够很好地模拟煤矿中煤低温氧化和传热传质共同作用导致的发火过程,实验得到的自然发火期与煤矿实际发火期也是一致的。实验中煤样从缓慢氧化变为快速氧化的临界温度为100～110℃。当煤温低于,临界温度时,煤样的升温受到空气流带走热量和向外界散热的影响很大,因此夹层水的保温作用就很关键。当煤温超过临界温度后,反应加快,温度急剧上升,散热的影响明显降低,反应主要受限于氧气的供应情况。