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。     

水资源约束下江苏省城镇开发安全预警

城镇规模的扩张离不开水资源的支撑,水资源承载力是影响城镇开发的重要因素。论文提出一种以水资源约束测算城镇开发度阈值及从"状态-趋势-效应"尺度进行开发度预警的方法,并以江苏省为例进行实证探索,最终划分综合预警分区。结果显示:到2020年,苏州、 无锡、 常州、 南京将成为重度预警区;徐州、 连云港为高度预警区;镇江、 扬州、 泰州、 南通为中度预警区;淮安、 宿迁、 盐城为轻度预警区。利用GM(1,1)模型和相关方程,对城镇开发度、 开发容量、 开发临界时点及开发后温度变化与碳汇损益定性定量化,进行整个开发过程的模拟,客观反映城镇开发安全变化的动态性,以期为政府制定差别化的开发政策和预警措施提供科学依据和理论支撑。     

基于熵值法和GM(1,1)模型的重庆城市生态系统健康评价

应用信息熵值反映数据本身的效用值来计算指标权重系数,建立熵权综合评价模型,对重庆城市生态系统健康进行了评价.根据评价结果和灰理论数学建模特点,建立GM(1,1)灰色预测模型,对重庆市生态系统健康进行了动态预测分析.结果表明:2005~2009年期间,重庆城市生态系统健康总体水平良好,其中各要素指数评价大小依次是活力指数、恢复力指数、组织结构指数、服务功能指数、人群生活指数;2010~2015年期间,重庆城市生态系统健康综合评价值将以e0.1268的增速保持良好发展态势.此外,建立以熵权综合评价为基础的GM(1,1)灰色预测模型对城市生态系统健康进行评价,能够得出更客观、更全面的评价结果.     

长江三角洲城市内河环境治理的居民支付意愿比较研究 ——上海、南京与杭州实例调查

应用意愿价值评估法(CVM)的技术调查上海、南京和杭州城市内河环境治理的居民支付意愿,并探讨研究结果是否在城市间保持稳定.基于1258份问卷的统计分析,结果显示:上海、南京和杭州居民的支付意愿均值分别为20.5,25.4,20.3元/(户×月);进一步的线性对数模型分析结果表明,收入、环境意识等变量在3城市都呈现显著影响,而户籍、教育等因素在各城市模型中存在显著性差异;3城市混合数据模型显示,南京样本支付意愿显著高于其他2城市样本,杭州与上海调查样本无显著性差异.上述结果揭示了不同城市居民对城市内河治理的支付意愿呈现稳定性,为意愿价值评估法在我国不同区域间的“效益转移”研究提供了实证支持.但另一方面,参数模型表现出一定的差异,需要对模型作进一步的优化.     

漳州市城市绿地表土磁性特征及其环境意义

为揭示土壤磁性物质的来源和成因,对漳州市城区4个不同绿地功能区土壤进行了环境磁学测定,并探讨其环境意义. 结果表明,土壤样品的磁化率(χ)平均值为302.77×10-8 m3/kg,频率磁化率(χ_fd)平均值为1.45%,不同绿地功能区土壤磁化率变化趋势为居住区绿地＞道路绿地＞单位附属绿地＞公园绿地.分析4种绿地功能区的频率磁化率可以得知,公园绿地存在超顺磁颗粒. 对单个采样点进行分析发现,磁化率与频率磁化率呈负相关,饱和等温剩磁(SIRM)和软剩磁(Soft IRM)呈极显著正相关,饱和等温剩磁和硬剩磁(Hard IRM)的相关性不强,表明土壤磁化率的变化主要受亚铁磁性矿物控制,但也存在不完整反铁磁性物质的贡献,土壤磁化率的增强与工业排放、机动车尾气等人类活动有关.