The Boundary-Quality Penalty: a Quantitative Method for Approximating Species Responses to Fragmentation in Reserve Selection

Abstract:  Aggregation of reserve networks is generally considered desirable for biological and economic reasons: aggregation reduces negative edge effects and facilitates metapopulation dynamics, which plausibly leads to improved persistence of species. Economically, aggregated networks are less expensive to manage than fragmented ones. Therefore, many reserve-design methods use qualitative heuristics, such as distance-based criteria or boundary-length penalties to induce reserve aggregation. We devised a quantitative method that introduces aggregation into reserve networks. We call the method the boundary-quality penalty (BQP) because the biological value of a land unit (grid cell) is penalized when the unit occurs close enough to the edge of a reserve such that a fragmentation or edge effect would reduce population densities in the reserved cell. The BQP can be estimated for any habitat model that includes neighborhood (connectivity) effects, and it can be introduced into reserve selection software in a standardized manner. We used the BQP in a reserve-design case study of the Hunter Valley of southeastern Australia. The BQP resulted in a more highly aggregated reserve network structure. The degree of aggregation required was specified by observed (albeit modeled) biological responses to fragmentation. Estimating the effects of fragmentation on individual species and incorporating estimated effects in the objective function of reserve-selection algorithms is a coherent and defensible way to select aggregated reserves. We implemented the BQP in the context of the Zonation method, but it could as well be implemented into any other spatially explicit reserve-planning framework .     

Determination of the critical length of the crack-like flaws and its effect on safety

Methodologies of API 579 have been widely accepted as the de-facto standard guideline for fitness for service assessment on crack-like flaws in pressure equipment. For different purposes and needs, the evaluation is divided into three levels, from critical length estimation in level 1, use of the failure analysis diagram (FAD) in level 2, to performing finite element stress analysis in level 3, that is from simplified to accurate. It is generally considered safe as long as the crack is smaller than the critical crack, but not all of them are actually the case. Therefore, it is very important to study the physical meaning behind the critical crack and understand the conservativeness of it.In this study, numerous examples of critical cracks determined according to API 579 Level 1 were put into Level 2 analysis for comparison. Each case is mapped onto the FAD of level 2 analysis to see its position and distance from the borderline between safe and danger zones. A huge amount of examples covering the majority of possible scenarios, including the geometry, thickness, inner diameter, pressure and half-length of the flaw, depth of the crack, crack tip and crack bottom, as a whole, there are 960 cases to be analyzed.Results show that cracks on the circumferential direction of the cylindrical and spherical vessels are distributed tightly in a small area far from the borderline on the FAD diagram. In these cases, the vessel is actually not as dangerous as the critical crack implies, since most of the points lie quite far from the danger zone. As for the longitudinal cracks of a cylindrical vessel, the results are scattered around, and three data points are located outside the allowable zone. The peculiar results are partly due to a discrepancy of interpolating procedure as the influence coefficient is being computed. Through this study, it is also found that the cumbersome process of estimating the critical crack length can be greatly simplified for longitudinal cracks in a cylindrical vessel.     

一种特殊电除尘器钢支架计算方法的讨论

以某工程为例,介绍了一种特殊电除尘器钢支架的结构形式,通过结构设计软件计算和有限元整体屈曲分析,证明采用传统的计算长度系数法进行立柱稳定计算,其结果偏不安全,建议采用整体屈曲分析计算.     

高炉喷吹用潞安贫瘦煤爆炸下限与返回火焰长度的试验研究

该试验通过测定爆炸下限与返回火焰长度这两个参数来确定4种煤粉的爆炸性。爆炸下限指能使喷入一定装置中的粉尘云点燃并维持火焰传播的最小粉尘浓度,是确定粉尘爆炸性重要参数,试验室通常使用20L的爆炸装置进行测定。喷吹现场广泛采用长管式煤粉爆炸性测试仪检测煤尘引燃后产生的返回火焰长度,该长度随煤粉爆炸性的强弱而显著变化:返回火焰长度大于600 mm可认定该煤粉具有强爆炸性;在400~600 mm之间则煤粉具有中强度爆炸性;小于400 mm则煤粉具有弱爆炸性。结果表明:20 L球测得4种煤粉的爆炸下限在60~85 g/m3之间;长管式煤粉爆炸性测定仪测得4种煤粉的返回火焰长度在20~50 mm之间。由测定的返回火焰长度可知,试验所用的4种煤样均属于弱爆炸性煤种。     

闽江干流下游河段纳污能力的研究

建立闽江干流下游河段二维非稳态水质水量模型,根据2004年实测资料对模型中的水质参数进行率定;对各排污口进行概化,应用模型模拟出闽江干流下游河段浓度场,并得出排污口混合带长度与排污量的响应关系;根据概化排污口在限定混合带长度下的平均纳污能力扩展到有效纳污能力计算长度后得到整个水体的纳污能力。经计算,闽江干流下游河段对COD的纳污能力为58195t/a。     

Evaluating the Role of Plantations as Carbon Sinks: An Example of an Integrative Approach from the Humid Tropics

/ Despite their fast growth, tropical plantations are a small sink of atmospheric carbon because they occupy only a small area in relation to other land uses worldwide. Proper design and management of plantations can increase biomass accumulation rates, making them more effective C sinks. However, fast-growing plantations can extract large amounts of nutrients from the soil, and site fertility declines may limit sustained plantation forestry after a few rotations. We measured aboveground biomass accumulation, carbon sequestration, and soil chemistry in three young plantations of 12 indigenous tree species in pure and mixed designs in the humid lowlands of Costa Rica. Annual biomass increments for the three mixed plantations ranged from 10-13 Mg/ha. The mixtures of four species gave higher biomass per hectare than that obtained by the sum of one fourth hectare of each species in pure plots. At this early age of the plantations, estimated annual C sequestration values were comparable to other reports from young plantations of exotic species commonly grown in the tropics. Four years after planting, decreases in soil nutrients were apparent in pure plots of some of the fastest growing species, while beneficial effects on soils were noted under other species. The mixed plots showed intermediate values for the nutrients examined and, sometimes, improved soil conditions. A mixture of fast and slower growing species yields products at different times, with the slower growing species constituting a longer term sink for fixed carbon. Examination of the role of tropical plantations as C sinks necessitates integrative approaches that consider rates of C sequestration, potential deleterious effects on ecosystem nutrients, and economic, social, and environmental constraints.KEY WORDS: Native trees; Aboveground biomass; Stem increments; Rotation length; Soil nutrients; Economics