Water, Workfare and Poverty: The Impact of the Working for Water Programme on Rural Poverty Reduction

In 1995, the government of the Republic of South Africa launched the Working for Water (WfW) programme that links environmental and developmental goals through the removal of high water-consuming alien plants with pro-poor rural employment opportunities. Whilst bio-physical evaluations have widely reported on the hydrological, ecological and conservation components of the programme, there exists growing uncertainty over the programme’s role as a poverty reduction mechanism. This paper evaluates three projects in the Luvuvhu catchment, Limpopo Province, against five socio-economic workfare criteria and the underlying biophysical rationale. Results show that asset creation from incremental streamflow is economically efficient and is likely to improve significantly if biodiversity benefits, community harvesting of riparian goods and services, ecological non-use values and seasonal water demand values are incorporated into the analysis. However, socio-economic benefits are more questionable: poverty targeting is weak with wage rates failing to self-select the poor; a minor proportion (0.5%) of catchment households benefit from the highly-valued employment opportunities; high variability in monthly employment causes financial difficulties for labourers; labourers are not ‘empowered’ as is evidenced by the failure of the 2-year exit strategy; and programme efficiency is high in proportional allocation of cash-flow to non-management wage labour. It is concluded that the Working for Programme is a potentially replicable model in other semi-arid contexts in developing countries if based on its core biophysical remit but is a transitory and limited poverty reduction mechanism for improving rural livelihoods.     

亚热带典型岩溶区地表溪流水文地球化学昼夜变化及其影响因素研究

为了解岩溶区地表溪流水文地球化学的昼夜变化过程及其影响因素,于2013-07-09～2013-07-14期间,在广西壮族自治区融安县官村地下河出口(G1)和下游雷崖村(G2)设置两个监测点同时展开了为期5 d的高分辨率昼夜监测工作,每15min监测水温(T)、pH、溶解氧(DO)和电导率(Spc),每2 h进行人工采样工作,样品测试Ca2+、HCO-3和NO-3等主要离子以及δ13CDIC.结果发现:1 G1和G2点都是HCO3-Ca型水,但是两个监测点表现出不同的水文地球化学昼夜变化过程;2监测期间官村地下河出口(G1)的物理化学参数和主要离子(Ca2+、HCO-3和NO-3等)基本上保持稳定,而雷崖监测点(G2)的物理化学参数(T、pH、DO、Spc)和Ca2+、HCO-3和NO-3离子表现出有规律的昼夜变化特征;3 G2监测点的溶解无机碳(DIC)和δ13C值表现出相反的昼夜变化特征,DIC在白天下降晚上升高而δ13C值白天上升晚上下降,并表现出较好的负相关关系(相关系数为-0.87,P<0.01).结果表明,水生植物的光合作用和呼吸作用、水温以及脱气作用共同影响岩溶区地表溪流水文地球化学的昼夜变化,控制了岩溶地表溪流内部物质循环过程.     

基于熵值法的城镇污水处理厂污泥处置方案选择研究

随着城镇污水处理厂数量不断增加,污泥问题越来越严重,污泥处置不当会造成严重的二次环境污染.论文首先对污泥处置技术及其投资运行成本进行简要分析;然后建立城镇污水处理厂污泥处置评估技术指标体系,以天津市为例,采用熵值法计算各评估技术指标的权重,对土地利用、填埋、焚烧及建材利用4种污泥处置方案进行了综合评价,结合天津市的实际情况,结果表明以土地利用为最佳处置方案.     

水生植物在河道生态修复工程中应用研究

近年来,随着水体修复技术的不断进步和创新,水生植物在河道生态修复工程中得到快速发展及广泛的应用。作为河道水体生态修复技术的重要组成部分,水生植物能否成功应用,往往是整个工程成败的关键。基于已往工程实践经验的总结以及工程实践应用的角度,文章论述了在河道生态修复工程中,水生植物的设计、施工和后期维护管理的技术要点和注意事项,对于水生植物在河道生态修复工程中的应用有一定指导意义。     

Seasonal variations in the concentration and removal of nonylphenol ethoxylates from the wastewater of a sewage treatment plant

In this study, we investigated the occurrence and fate of nonylphenol (NP), nonylphenol monoethoxylate (NP1EO) and nonylphenol diethoxylate (NP2EO) in a full scale sewage treatment plant, which applied an Anaerobic/Oxic process. Concentrations of NP, NP1EO and NP2EO in the wastewater were measured during the period spanning a whole year. The results showed remarkable seasonal variation in the concentrations of the compounds. The NPnEO compounds were most abundant in winter, with the total concentrations of influent NP, NP1EO and NP2EO ranging from 3900 to 7000 ng/L, 4000 to 4800 ng/L and 5200 to 7200 ng/L, respectively. Regarding the total removal efficiencies of the three types of short-chain NPnEO compounds, different trends were exhibited according to different seasons. The average removal efficiency of NP for the different seasons ranked as follows: winter > summer > autumn > spring; NP2EO concentrations decreased as follows: summer > autumn > winter > spring, while NP1EO concentrations reduced according to: spring > summer > autumn > winter. We also investigated the contribution ratio of individual treatment units in the A/O process, with the findings suggesting that the anaerobic treatment unit plays an important role in the elimination of short-chain NPnEOs from the wastewater.     

几种水陆交错带植物对底质氮磷释放的抑制作用

选取太湖贡湖湾水陆交错带内的黄菖蒲、双穗雀稗、李氏禾、黄花水龙及香菇草这5种植物,长江下游常见沙壤土、水陆交错带新生底质两种土壤,模拟扰动条件下5种水生植物对底质氮磷释放的抑制.结果表明,植物对底质总磷释放具有显著的抑制作用,双穗雀稗、香菇草、黄菖蒲可以将上覆水总磷浓度控制在0.02 mg·L~(-1),李氏禾、黄花水龙控制在0.03mg·L~(-1);李氏禾、黄花水龙试验组总磷释放率控制在0.1 d-1,双穗雀稗、香菇草、黄菖蒲试验组控制在0.05 d-1.植物生长增加了底质氮的赋存,带来底质氮释放的增加,而黄菖蒲、双穗雀稗则可以将底质总氮释放速率控制在0.02 d-1,上覆水总氮浓度控制在0.4 mg·L~(-1).植物须根根长密度、根重密度、根表面积密度成为抑制底质氮磷释放的主要因素,须根穿插增加底质中粒径≤50μm的颗粒物,从而减少了水体扰动造成的底质上扬;同时须根在生长过程增加底质总氮含量,吸收底质中的磷.5种水陆交错带植物正是通过上述两种机制抑制底质中氮磷的释放,其中黄菖蒲、双穗雀稗因为其发达的根系,抑制氮磷物质释放的效果最佳,其次为李氏禾、香菇草,黄花水龙对底质氮磷释放的抑制作用在5种植物中最小.     

广东镇海湾红树植物器官中氟喹诺酮类（FQs）抗生素吸收及转运特征研究

红树林高位养殖中抗生素氟喹诺酮类(FQs)有较多残留,但目前关于红树植物对抗生素的吸收及器官转运特征鲜有研究.本研究采用高效液相色谱-质谱联用法定量分析了广东镇海湾的两种优势红树植物桐花(Aegiceras corniculatum)、秋茄(Kandelia candel)根、枝、叶中4种FQs—氧氟沙星(OFL)、诺氟沙星(NOR)、环丙沙星(CIP)、恩诺沙星(ENR)的含量,用植物器官转移因子(PF)的方法评价了4种FQs在植物体内的转移能力,探讨了植物含脂率(LR)对器官中FQs残留的影响.结果表明:两种红树植物器官中均有4种FQs检出;OFL、NOR、ENR的含量在桐花树中为:枝(6.36~12.23μg·kg~(-1))叶(4.05~10.92μg·kg~(-1))和根(5.01~10.47μg·kg~(-1)),秋茄中为:根(6.27~24.70μg·kg~(-1))叶(5.74~10.98μg·kg~(-1))枝(3.63~7.00μg·kg~(-1)),CIP不符合此规律.4种FQs的根向枝/叶转移因子PFTL/R皆为PFTL/R(桐花树)PFTL/R(秋茄)1,说明桐花树、秋茄根部的FQs均可向地上部分大量转移,且桐花树根部向地上部分转运FQs的能力比秋茄强;桐花树对FQs有吸收及转运作用,秋茄的根则对FQs的吸收作用较强.LR的高低不是4种FQs吸收和转运的关键影响因子.     

Reliability data acquisition and evaluation in process plants

Based on the practical experience of assessing reliability data in two plants of the explosives industry, the organization and scope of the data collection, the component delimitation, the procedures of quality assurance and the data evaluation for their final use in PSA studies are presented. An example is given for the type of detection and repair, etc. The mathematical background for evaluating observed component lifetimes is discussed. Both frequentist and Bayesian methods are addressed. The resulting failure rate distributions and their approximations by log-normal distributions for several key components are presented. They were obtained using a Bayesian approach with a non-informative prior. Remarks on uncertainty, their treatment and a proposal for transferring data to plants other than the ones investigated conclude the presentation.     

Benefits of indoor plants on attention capacity in an office setting

This research studied possible benefits of indoor plants on attention capacity in a controlled laboratory experiment. Participants were 34 students randomly assigned to one of two conditions: an office setting with four indoor plants, both flowering and foliage, or the same setting without plants. Attention capacity was assessed three times, i.e. immediately after entering the laboratory, after performing a demanding cognitive task, and after a five-minute break. Attention capacity was measured using a reading span test, a dual processing task known to tap the central executive function of attention. Participants in the plant condition improved their performance from time one to two, whereas this was not the case in the no-plant condition. Neither group improved performance from time two to three. The results are discussed in the context of Attention Restoration Theory and alternative explanations.     

Ecological niche modeling of customary medicinal plant species used by Australian Aborigines to identify species-rich and culturally valuable areas for conservation

Customary medicinal plant species used by Australian Aborigines are disappearing rapidly with its associated knowledge, due to the loss of habitats. Conservation and protection of these species is important as they represent sources of novel therapeutic phytochemical compounds and are culturally valuable. Information on the spatial distribution and use of customary medicinal plants is often inadequate and fragmented, posing limitations on the identification and conservation of species-rich areas and culturally valuable habitats.In this study, the habitat suitability modeling program, MaxEnt, was used to predict the potential ecological niches of 431 customary medicinal plant species, based on bioclimatic variables. Specimen locality records were obtained from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data portal and from Australia's Virtual Herbarium (AVH).Ecological niche models of 414 predicted species, which had 30 or more occurrence points, were used to produce maps indicating areas that were ecologically suitable for multiple species (concordance of high predicted ecological suitability) and having cultural values. For the concordance map, individual species niche models were thresholded and summed. To derive a map of culturally valuable areas, customary medicinal uses from Customary Medicinal Knowledgebase (CMKb) (www.biolinfo.org/cmkb) were used to weight individual species models, resulting in a value within each grid cell reflecting its cultural worth.Even though the available information is scarce and fragmented, our approach provides an opportunity to infer areas predicted to be suitable for multiple species (i.e. concordance hotspots) and to estimate the cultural value of a particular geographical area. Our results also indicate that to conserve bio-cultural diversity, comprehensive information and active participation of Aboriginal communities is indispensable.