The Effects of Ocean Disposal of Sewage Sludge On the Relative Abundance of Benthic Megafauna

Disposal of sewage sludge in the New York Bight Apex (12-Mile Dump Site) ceased at the end of December 1987. Previous efforts to quantify the effects of sludge were hindered by the inability to obtain true replication. the cessation of dumping afforded the opportunity to apply the technique of replication in time, also known as a Before/After, Control/Impact design. Conditionally, this method allows one to separate treatment effects from the natural differences that confound many environmental impact studies. the Environmental Processes Division of the Northeast Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Service sampled the benthic environment of the New York Bight Apex from June 1986 through September 1989 using a sample design based on the technique of replication in time.

Three dominant species (rock crab, Cancer irroratus; little skate; Raja erinacea; and winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus) and total demersal finfish, collected by otter trawl, showed no statistically significant response to the cessation of disposal. American lobster (Homarus americanus) increased in local abundance, but this result was possibly confounded by a change in fishing effort.     

道路干扰对澜沧江流域景观格局的影响

道路交通在促进人类社会经济发展的同时,也给生态环境带来了诸多影响。研究道路交通的干扰强度、空间格局及其影响,对保护自然环境、维持生态系统健康意义重大。研究基于道路等级、道路所处的环境特征等因素构建道路干扰指数,定量评价了澜沧江流域道路网络的干扰强度,系统分析了流域道路干扰的空间格局特征及其对流域景观的影响。结果表明,澜沧江流域道路网络干扰程度存在明显的区域分异,中游和下游地区明显大于上游地区。流域道路干扰域为边界复杂的不规则多边形,呈现出以离散的强干扰区域为中心,干扰强度向外围逐渐减弱的空间格局。对比不同等级道路干扰域内的景观格局及其变化特征发现,耕地和建设用地等代表人类活动的景观集中分布于道路强干扰区域内,并且强干扰区域内景观组分的变化幅度远大于低干扰区域。从上述分析结果可以看出,道路对其沿线景观格局的变化具有很强的驱动作用,流域道路发展应避开生态环境敏感区域。     

Higher education in urban environmental management: a new programme at the Asian Institute of Technology,Bangkok

Environmental management and planning is now considered as a new field of professional expertise. There are even professional associations for interested professionals. To date, urban environmental management has been regarded as a subdiscipline of environmental management, but since the Rio Conference in 1992, with the new focus of urban management on environmental problems, it can itself be considered as a professional field. This paper traces the emergence of the field and tries to identify the new skills required for it. The question of formal training, in higher education, for a new type of professional is raised and discussed. It refers at length to an initiative taken by the Asian Institute of Technology (Bangkok) to propose and offer a new graduate programme in this discipline, and draws on the author's experience of an Asian workshop (Bangkok, May 1993) aimed at defining the need for such a new profession in Asia.     

Exploring long-term land cover changes in an urban region of southern Europe

This paper addresses two important issues for large Mediterranean city regions: the differential impact of compact urban ‘growth’ and low-density ‘sprawl’ on land cover changes (LCCs), and their final effect on changing land cover relationships (LCRs). The urban expansion of Rome (Italy) during the last 50 years and the related LCCs were investigated as a paradigmatic example of compact versus dispersed urban development. LCCs were assessed over 5 years (1960, 1974, 1990, 2000, 2006) by analysing diachronically the distribution of 12 land cover categories derived from digital land cover maps covering the entire Nuts-3 prefecture of Rome (5353 km²). LCRs were studied using multi-way data analysis. LCCs were found to have relative differences during ‘growth’ (1960–1990) and ‘sprawl’ (1990–2006) phases. Conversion to urban land uses concentrated in the 1960s and 1970s at the urban fringe, while expanding progressively far from the city in the 1990s and 2000s. During the ‘growth’ phase, the land cover classes with the highest probability of being converted to urban uses were arable lands, annual crops, vineyards and pastures. During the ‘sprawl’ phase, olive groves, orchards and forest surfaces also decreased due to the development of low-density built-up areas and infrastructure. Planning suggestions aimed at mitigating the alteration of the rural landscape through sprawl conditions are discussed.     

Facilitating resilient rural-to-urban sustainable agriculture and rural communities

ABSTRACT

This article contributes to efforts to validate a common set of parameters and principles of sustainable agriculture. Comparisons between alternative forms of sustainable agriculture and rural-to-urban community resilience are investigated. Conclusions are drawn between multiple sustainable/alternative agriculture systems and evaluated. A set of common baseline parameters and principles is proposed as a method of evolving a common structural framework for strengthening sustainability of agriculture and rural contexts. Concepts of rural-to-urban community sustainability are proposed, supporting sustainable agriculture contexts as rural and urban. In the twenty-first century, agriculture is becoming more diversified and less typified as a rural occupation. Urban agriculture is expanding as the need for fresh, affordable, accessible agriculture produce increases in urban areas. Evidence supports symbiotic relationships between sustainable agriculture and rural/urban communities, although some claim this relationship has not been clearly defined.

This article investigates sustainable agriculture from two perspectives. We ask ‘what are common parameters and principles of the various forms of sustainable agriculture,’ and ‘why urban-to-rural context.’ Organic agriculture parameters and principles are proposed as a conceptual framework toward establishing baseline parameters and principles for sustainable agriculture. Best management parameters of urban and rural sustainable agriculture in the United States and the United Kingdom are examined for their potential to develop a strengthening framework of parameters and principles of agriculture and rural-to-urban sustainability. These results are compared and evaluated for their effectiveness in redefining current sustainable agriculture practices, and their value in strengthening sustainable agriculture symbiosis with rural-to-urban community systems.     

The specification of sustainable urban transport strategies

Transport strategies have been developed for nine European cities to achieve optimum performance in terms of a range of objective functions. The functions selected represent economic efficiency, sustainability and a combination of these. The strategies have been based on combinations of a standard set of policy instruments, including public transport infrastructure, frequency and fares, road capacity increases, low cost road pricing and parking charges. The optimisation method is described, and results presented. The reactions of city authorities to the proposed strategies are discussed and implications for transport policy outlined.     

复合型抑尘剂的制备研究

配制的复合型抑尘剂是甲基丙烯酸甲酯-丙烯酸丁酯共聚物乳液。采用正交法构造四因素三水平设计正交实验,用预乳化法合成抑尘剂。对数据直观分析,得出在乳化剂质量分数为2%,引发剂质量分数为1.1%,交联剂质量分数为2%,搅拌强度为100 r/min的实验条件下,抑尘剂性能较好。抑尘剂应用性能测试表明:抑尘剂具有较好的吸水保水性,配制的复合型抑尘剂具有较好的经济效益和社会效益,应用前景广阔。     

Reduced effect of Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease at the disease front

Pathogen-driven declines in animal populations are increasingly regarded as a major conservation issue. The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is threatened with extinction by devil facial tumor disease, a unique transmissible cancer. The disease is transmitted through direct transfer of tumor cells, which is possible because the genetic diversity of Tasmanian devils is low, particularly in the major histocompatibility complex genes of the immune system. The far northwest of Tasmania now holds the last remaining disease-free wild devil populations. The recent discovery of unique major histocompatibility complex genotypes in the northwestern region of Tasmania has raised the possibility that some animals may be resilient to the disease. We examined the differences in the epidemiology and population effects of devil facial tumor disease at 3 well-studied affected sites in eastern Tasmania and 1 in western Tasmania (West Pencil Pine). In contrast to the 3 eastern sites, there has been no rapid increase in disease prevalence or evidence of population decline at West Pencil Pine. Moreover, this is the only onsite at which the population age structure has remained unaltered 4 years after the first detection of disease. The most plausible explanations for the substantial differences in population effects and epidemiology of the disease between eastern and western sites are geographic differences in genotypes or phenotypes of devils and functional differences between tumor strains in the 2 regions. We suggest that conservation efforts focus on identifying whether either or both these explanations are correct and then, if resistance alleles exist, to attempt to spread the resistant alleles into affected populations. Such assisted selection has rarely been attempted for the management of wildlife diseases, but it may be widely applicable.     

Assessing citizen contributions to butterfly monitoring in two large cities

Citizen science may be especially effective in urban landscapes due to the large pool of potential volunteers. However, there have been few evaluations of the contributions of citizen scientists to knowledge of biological communities in and around cities. To assess the effectiveness of citizen scientists' monitoring of species in urban areas, we compared butterfly data collected over 10 years in Chicago, Illinois (U.S.A.), and New York City, New York (U.S.A.). The dates, locations, and methods of data collection in Chicago were standardized, whereas data from New York were collected at any location at any time. For each city, we evaluated whether the number of observers, observation days (days on which observations were reported), and sampling locations were associated with the reported proportion of the estimated regional pool of butterfly species. We also compared the number of volunteers, duration of volunteer involvement, and consistency of sampling efforts at individual locations within each city over time. From 2001 to 2010, there were 73 volunteers in Chicago and 89 in New York. During this period, volunteers observed 86% and 89% of the estimated number of butterfly species present in Chicago and New York, respectively. Volunteers in New York reported a greater proportion of the estimated pool of butterfly species per year. In addition, more species were observed per volunteer and observation day in New York, largely due to the unrestricted sampling season in New York. Chicago volunteers were active for more years and monitored individual locations more consistently over time than volunteers in New York. Differences in monitoring protocol--especially length of sampling season and selection protocol for monitoring locations--influenced the relationship between species accrual and sampling effort, which suggests these factors are important in volunteer-based species-monitoring programs.     

洛阳市不同功能区地表灰尘重金属的粒径分布特征

以洛阳市为例,分析了工业区、商业区、居民区、城乡结合处、城市绿地和城市主干道等不同功能区地表灰尘颗粒组成及重金属（Cu、Zn、Pb、Cd）粒级效应。结果表明：洛阳市不同功能区地表灰尘粒径分布具多峰性,分别在850~250、150~96及〈75μm出现分布峰值。不同功能区地表灰尘粒径差异显著,居民区和城市绿地细颗粒比重较大,工业区和城市主干道粗颗粒相对较多。各金属元素的质量分数粒级效应不一,Pb在工业区各粒级中质量分数最高,具粒级效应,其它功能区粒级效应不明显,Cd、Cu粒级效应明显,Cd富集更趋向于细粒（96~75和〈75μm）,Cu在180~150μm粒径质量分数迅速升高,并随着粒径减小,基本呈上升趋势,除工业区和城乡结合部外,其它功能区均在〈75μm粒径达到峰值。除居民区和城乡结合部各粒径Zn分布较平均外,Zn主要富集于180~150μm粒径颗粒,且质量分数明显高于其它各粒级,粒级效应基本呈现正态分布。