A Revealed Preference Approach to Estimating Supply Curves for Ecosystem Services: Use of Auctions to Set Payments for Soil Erosion Control in Indonesia

Abstract:  To supply ecosystem services, private landholders incur costs. Knowledge of these costs is critical for the design of conservation-payment programs. Estimating these costs accurately is difficult because the minimum acceptable payment to a potential supplier is private information. We describe how an auction of payment contracts can be designed to elicit this information during the design phase of a conservation-payment program. With an estimate of the ecosystem-service supply curve from a pilot auction, conservation planners can explore the financial, ecological, and socioeconomic consequences of alternative scaled-up programs. We demonstrate the potential of our approach in Indonesia, where soil erosion on coffee farms generates downstream ecological and economic costs. Bid data from a small-scale, uniform-price auction for soil-conservation contracts allowed estimates of the costs of a scaled-up program, the gain from integrating biophysical and economic data to target contracts, and the trade-offs between poverty alleviation and supply of ecosystem services. Our study illustrates an auction-based approach to revealing private information about the costs of supplying ecosystem services. Such information can improve the design of programs devised to protect and enhance ecosystem services.     

Application of random pore model for SO2 removal reaction by CuO

In this work, mathematical modeling of SO₂ removal reaction with CuO was accomplished by the random pore model. The partial differential equations, describing the reaction of a gaseous reactant with a single pellet and also a packed bed of solid reactant, were solved by the finite element method. The results of modeling consist of CuO conversion-time profiles at different temperatures and SO₂ concentrations, and also break through curves which were compared with the literature experimental data in a good accuracy. The rate constants were estimated from the initial slope of the conversion-time curves, and the product layer diffusivities were evaluated from the whole conversion-time profiles.     

泰山桃花源索道车厢进出站加减速的曲线的分析

通过介绍单线脱挂抱索器客运架空索道关键技术之一的加减速器的原理和作用,分析对比了直线（梯形）加减速曲线和“S”型加减速曲线的优劣。在原设计方图纸数据的基础上,通过对泰山桃花源索道车厢进站和出站加减速曲线的计算,得出实际车厢进站减速曲线和出站加速曲线数据并绘制出图形,同时根据计算得出的实际曲线的特点,结合所分析的直线（梯形）加减速曲线和“S”型加减速曲线的特性,对加减速器相关部件检查维护提出了相应的建议。     

核电站主变压器包络线水喷雾系统设计探讨

针对目前扑救核电站主变压器立体火灾的水喷雾系统涉及的两个普通问题,即水喷雾覆盖存在干表面和着火变压可能爆炸,提出包络线法水喷雾灭火技术思想,并以某核电站变压器为例,介绍设计原理和步骤。     

高浓度有机氰废水的好氧可生化性研究

采用BODs／COD比值法和好氧呼吸曲线法在国内外首次针对高浓度有机氰废水及其污染物进行了全面的好氧可生化性的研究。结果表明，6种废水中，一段、二段急冷废水的可生化性能很差，很难用生化法进行处理I四效蒸发液，四效冷凝液可生化性较好适于生化处理，腈纶工艺废水在低浓度下，可以用生化法处理；高浓度有机氰废水中的9种污染物，丙烯腈、乙腈、丙烯酸、CN^-的好氧可生化性能较差，高浓度下对活性污泥有抑制作用，聚合物的可生化性能最差，根本无法被好氧生物降解。     

砷胁迫下蜈蚣草光合作用的变化

利用荧光成像技术研究了营养液培养条件下砷胁迫对蜈蚣草光合作用的影响。在0、5、10、20和40mg·L-1质量浓度的砷处理中,蜈蚣草地上部、地下部生物量无显著差异(P=0.01),变化范围分别为1.24～1.33,0.24～0.30g;地上、地下部砷质量分数变化范围分别为191～1129和160～548mg·kg-1,其质量分数的比值范围为1.20～2.35。砷胁迫下,全叶片蜈蚣草Fv/Fm变化范围为0.498～0.566,与对照(0.786)相比较下降超过30%;快速光曲线中最大潜在相对电子传递速率(Pm)、半饱和光强(Ik)随砷处理浓度的增加而下降,其变化范围分别为24.52～47.67和140.50～217.45μmol·m-2·s-1,下降比例分别为28%~49%和24%~35%;快速光曲线的初始斜率(α)随砷处理浓度的增加下降不明显,变化范围为0.17～0.22。以上结果显示尽管蜈蚣草对砷超量吸收并且有效向地上部分转移,但Fv/Fm显著下降反映蜈蚣草光合作用受到明显的砷胁迫。Pm、Ik的下降反映出蜈蚣草光耐受能力和电子传递能力在砷胁迫下逐渐减弱;α下降不明显反映蜈蚣草捕光能力在砷胁迫过程中始终维持较高水平,砷胁迫并未对蜈蚣草捕光系统造成显著伤害。     

Effects of Grazing Pressure on Succession Process and Productivity of Old Fields on Mediterranean Islands

Poterium spinosum, competitive under conditions of overgrazing and fire, accounted for 70%–85% of the total plant cover in all sites, except Santorini, where participation of spiny species was very low. In the recently abandoned sites, annuals accounted for 50%–60% of the standing biomass, but constituted only a tiny fraction in those abandoned for 30 years or more. This was not paralleled by any remarkable increase of the total plant cover. In fact, the yearly produced green biomass decreased with the years after abandonment. The productivity of old fields abandoned for a long time is insufficient to support the grazing animals present. This shortfall, given the animals' requirements, is most dramatic in Symi. The nonrecovering vegetation in the old fields of these mountainous islands constitutes a severe environmental threat; remedial measures appear imperative.     

佳木斯台形变观测对东北地区几次浅震"场兆"异常的探讨

大地震在主破裂前往往行成地壳变形,高应力作用下进入峰值后的变形阶段,反映到地倾斜观测日均值曲线上,表现为固体潮形变趋势异常,这些异常能否指示远距离的地震,近年来不少研究者发现,远场前兆往往出现在对应力、应变变化反应灵敏的特殊构造部位.佳木斯台可能处于这种特殊的构造部位,对东北地区浅源地震短期前兆异常"场兆"的趋势性变化具有一定的意义.     

Simple screening models of NAPL dissolution in the subsurface

Three simple screening models of nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) dissolution in the subsurface are proposed based on the NAPL mass conservation and the assumption of proportionality between the residual NAPL source zone concentration and the remaining residual NAPL mass. The purpose of the proposed models is to predict the solute concentration in the zone of the residual NAPL as a result of dissolution. The predicted source zone concentration decrease is used to simulate and account for the decrease of dissolution rate with time. The proposed simple NAPL dissolution models enable the pseudo-equilibrium formulation to be used and therefore the numerical simulations for field application problems can be simplified compared to the non-equilibrium counterpart. With proper choice of empirical parameters, the proposed simple screening models can work as well as more complex dissolution rate correlation models, such as that of Imhoff et al. [Water Resour. Res. 30 (1994) 307-320]. It is found that the proposed models are very good for quantifying non-equilibrium dissolution, which is characterized by tailing of breakthrough curves. The models are especially useful for situations of small residual NAPL saturation, which are typical for many field applications.     

Residual gasoline saturation in unsaturated soil with and without organic matter

The goal of this study was to investigate the influence of one variable, natural organic matter, on residual gasoline saturation in sandy soils. Capillary pressure-saturation (P_c−S) relationships (air-gasoline) were determined for three physically-similar sandy soils, with different organic carbon contents (0.086%, 0.89% and 1.65%) and residual gasoline saturations were compared. Two initial moisture conditions, residual water saturation and air-dry, were evaluated. One soil type was packed to two different bulk densities. Visualization of the soils using cryo-scanning electron microscopy was performed to aid in better understanding the role of the organic matter in the soil. The results showed that soils with higher organic contents had higher residual gasoline saturations when starting with an initially air-dry soil. Increasing the bulk density of the same air-dried soil resulted in an increase in residual gasoline saturation. In the presence of a residual water saturation, however, residual gasoline saturations were virtually identical for the three soils and independent of bulk density; approximately 5–10 times lower than in soil that was initially air-dry. The presence of the residual water effectively coated the surface of the soil thereby reducing or eliminating gasoline/soil interactions. Some residual water may also be occupying very small pore spaces, making these locations inaccessible to the gasoline.