Understanding the effects of different social data on selecting priority conservation areas

Conservation success is contingent on assessing social and environmental factors so that cost‐effective implementation of strategies and actions can be placed in a broad social–ecological context. Until now, the focus has been on how to include spatially explicit social data in conservation planning, whereas the value of different kinds of social data has received limited attention. In a regional systematic conservation planning case study in Australia, we examined the spatial concurrence of a range of spatially explicit social values and land‐use preferences collected using a public participation geographic information system and biological data. We used Zonation to integrate the social data with the biological data in a series of spatial‐prioritization scenarios to determine the effect of the different types of social data on spatial prioritization compared with biological data alone. The type of social data (i.e., conservation opportunities or constraints) significantly affected spatial prioritization outcomes. The integration of social values and land‐use preferences under different scenarios was highly variable and generated spatial prioritizations 1.2–51% different from those based on biological data alone. The inclusion of conservation‐compatible values and preferences added relatively few new areas to conservation priorities, whereas including noncompatible economic values and development preferences as costs significantly changed conservation priority areas (48.2% and 47.4%, respectively). Based on our results, a multifaceted conservation prioritization approach that combines spatially explicit social data with biological data can help conservation planners identify the type of social data to collect for more effective and feasible conservation actions.     

Value Plurality among Conservation Professionals

Abstract: Debate on the values that underpin conservation science is rarely based on empirical analysis of the values conservation professionals actually hold. We used Q methodology to investigate the values held by international conservation professionals who attended the annual Student Conference in Conservation Science at the University of Cambridge (U.K.) in 2008 and 2009. The methodology offers a quantitative means of examining human subjectivity. It differs from standard opinion surveys in that individual respondents record the way they feel about statements relative to other statements, which forces them to focus their attention on the issues they believe are most important. The analysis extracts the diverse viewpoints of the respondents, and factor analysis is used to reduce the viewpoints to a smaller set of factors that reflect shared ways of thinking. The junior conservation professionals attending the conference did not share a unifying set of core values; rather, they held a complex series of ideas and a plurality of opinions about conservation and how it should be pursued. This diversity of values empirically challenges recent proposals for conservation professionals to unite behind a single philosophy. Attempts to forge an artificial consensus may be counterproductive to the overall goals conservation professionals are pursuing.     

限速值对信号交叉口交通安全的影响分析

为研究交叉口进口道车辆限速值对交叉口的安全和运行产生的影响,通过微观仿真平台,分析车辆在交叉口限速分别为30,38和46 km/h时的车均延误、车均行程时间,并将车辆行驶轨迹输入安全辅助评价(SSAM)软件中展开分析。结果表明,车辆限速值的提高对车均延误的影响不大,但会减小车辆在进口道的车均行程时间。另外,限速值从30 km/h提高到46 km/h,引起的碰撞时间(TTC)、后侵占时间(PET)数值变化不显著,但使总冲突数从42个增加到59个。     

环氧氯丙烷工艺中分离罐气相出口的燃爆危险性分析

环氧氯丙烷生产工艺中双氧水分解产生的氧气与含氯丙烯、环氧氯丙烷、甲醇的可燃气体混合存在燃爆危险,为预防燃爆发生,利用5L爆炸极限测试仪测定分离罐气相出口可燃气在不同氧气浓度条件下的爆炸极限,并以此绘制爆炸极限三元图,得到不同工况条件下"可燃气-氧气-氮气"混合体系的燃爆区域。结果表明:随着氧气浓度的升高,可燃气爆炸上限明显提高,但爆炸下限变化不明显;随温度上升,气相出口组分发生变化,LOC值逐渐降低;正常冷却条件下极限氧含量为12%,冷却效果差时为10%,冷却失效时为9.3%;设置氧浓度报警时参考最小LOC值,留出裕度空间,控制体系氧含量小于5%有助于预防燃爆发生。     

中小城市空气环境指标的多角度分析研究——以楚雄市为例

文章根据楚雄市空气污染数据,采用统计的方法从不同的角度探求中小城市空气污染指标的变化规律,并求出三种污染物的同时置信区间及它们之间的关联性。结果表明:楚雄市的空气污染主要由SO2造成,室外空气质量能达到一类地区的水平,三种污染物之间两两相关性较弱,但整体相关性较强,同时根据结论提出了相应的建议。     

Institutions for a sustainable development—experiences from EU-countries

This article is based on an international comparative study analysing innovations in national administrative institutions. Results of that research are presented and discussed here. Against the background of the institutionalising process of political institutions the study focused on innovations initiated or introduced by governments or parliaments by example of policies and politics supporting sustainable development. The countries involved in the original study were Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Three general lessons can be drawn: (1) Countries with a long tradition of integrated environmental policy-making are more open to the concept of sustainability. (2) A (institutional) “cure-all” solution does not seem to exist. It seems necessary to diffuse the concept of sustainability into all spheres of politics and society. Reaching this strategic goal requires a specific policy and polity mix. (3) Strong and well-equipped institutions result from specific policies and politics: they play a central role in promoting and intensifying sustainable development. Successful innovations integrating SD into everyday politics and policies are only a very first step though. Further improvements with regard to effective participation and public debate, global orientation of policies and the measurability of achieved progress are necessary.     

Populations of orchids at the northern limit of their distribution (Murmansk Oblast): Effect of climate

The effect of climatic conditions on the dynamics of 21 populations of 10 species of the family Orchidaceae at the northern limit of their range in Europe was studied between 1992 and 2004. The abundance of orchid populations proved to depend primarily on air temperature during the previous and current growing seasons.     

Estimating the Value of Non‐Use Benefits from Small Changes in the Provision of Ecosystem Services

Abstract: The unit of trade in ecosystem services is usually the use of a proportion of the parcels of land associated with a given service. Valuing small changes in the provision of an ecosystem service presents obstacles, particularly when the service provides non‐use benefits, as is the case with conservation of most plants and animals. Quantifying non‐use values requires stated‐preference valuations. Stated‐preference valuations can provide estimates of the public's willingness to pay for a broad conservation goal. Nevertheless, stated‐preference valuations can be expensive and do not produce consistent measures for varying levels of provision of a service. Additionally, the unit of trade, land use, is not always linearly related to the level of ecosystem services the land might provide. To overcome these obstacles, we developed a method to estimate the value of a marginal change in the provision of a non‐use ecosystem service—in this case conservation of plants or animals associated with a given land‐cover type. Our method serves as a tool for calculating transferable valuations of small changes in the provision of ecosystem services relative to the existing provision. Valuation is achieved through stated‐preference investigations, calculation of a unit value for a parcel of land, and the weighting of this parcel by its ability to provide the desired ecosystem service and its effect on the ability of the surrounding land parcels to provide the desired service. We used the water vole (Arvicola terrestris) as a case study to illustrate the method. The average present value of a meter of water vole habitat was estimated at UK£12, but the marginal value of a meter (based on our methods) could range between £0 and £40 or more.     

浮顶油罐油气惰化防火防爆实验研究

对浮顶油罐的油气空间进行惰化,是一种新的油罐防火防爆方法。向浮顶油罐一、二次密封间的油气空间中加入氮气,可缩小浮顶油罐的一、二次密封之间环形空间油气的爆炸极限的范围。根据这一原理,通过模型实验对大型双重密封型浮顶油罐的油气空间进行了氮气惰化保护实验研究。实验结果表明油气空间内氮气的体积分数会随着氮气通入时间的增长而逐渐升高,油气的体积分数则逐渐降低。氮气通入开始一段时间,环形空间内氮气的体积分数会迅速上升,油气体积分数迅速下降。但随着氮气通入时间的增长,氮气体积分数的上升和油气体积分数的下降速度都会趋于平缓。另外当入口处氮气流量从27Nm3/h变化到54Nm3/h时,为使油气体积分数下降至油气爆炸下限1%所需氮气持续通入的时间也从300分钟左右下降至200分钟左右。