The strategic use of innovation to influence regulatory standards

This paper investigates the welfare consequences of strategic behavior by firms to affect the amount of environmental regulation they face. Environmental regulation often attempts to force an industry to develop cleaner technology, but the regulator may have no means to commit to a specific standard. This lack of regulatory commitment induces firms to choose innovation strategically. It is well-known that firms have incentives to suppress innovation to induce the regulator to ratchet down the standard, and this strategic behavior lowers welfare. This paper explores a countervailing incentive. In oligopoly settings, firms have heightened incentives to innovate so as to increase regulation and raise rivals costs. In equilibrium, the incentive to raise rivals cost can mitigate the welfare loss arising from no regulatory commitment. Also, a regulator who is unable to commit ex ante to the stringency of a regulatory standard can induce more clean technology than a regulator with a commitment mechanism.     

Modelling the response of tree growth to temperature and CO2 elevation as related to the fertility and current temperature sum of a site

A methodology for simulating climate change impacts on tree growth was introduced into a statistical growth and yield model in relation to variations in site fertility and location implemented with current temperature sum. This was based on a procedure in which the relative enhancement in stem volume growth was calculated from short-term runs of a physiological simulation model for Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.) stands. These simulations were made for a set of stands with species-specific variations in stand characteristics, location and fertility type first in current climatic conditions and then in different combinations of CO₂ and temperature elevations. Based on these simulations, the relative enhancement of volume growth induced by the climate change (relative scenario effect, RSEv) was calculated and modelled in relation to: (i) CO₂ and temperature elevation, stand density and the competition status of the tree in its stand, and (ii) variations in site fertility type and current temperature sum of a stand. Finally, these transfer functions for RSEv were applied to adapt the stem volume growth in the statistical growth and yield model to reflect the response to climate change.     

基于GIS和RS的晋江市土地利用变化与可持续利用研究

采用GIS和遥感技术，在拟订土地分类系统的基础上，对1996和2001年晋汀市土地资源进行遥感解译，得到这两期1：10万土地利用现状图及数据库，分析了晋江市土地利用类型的构成与比例，以及土地利用面积动态变化状况。结果表明，晋汀市自1996年以来，城镇居民点与工矿用地扩展较大，面积增幅达5312．55hm^2，交通面积增加1507．02hm^2，林地而积增加了293．05hm^2，园地面积也增加了4．17hm^2；但耕地面积锐减，减少面积为6419．43hm^2，减幅为14．6％，其去向主要是建设用地、生态退耕、园地和池塘用地。在此基础上，认为土地利用变化存在的主要问题是：耕地面积锐减；土地利用结构小平衡；生态环境恶化等。应采取针对性的土地可持续发展措施，重视土地管理制度创新和土地利用的优化配置。     

黄河水量统一调度实施前后河口三角洲生态环境变化研究

全流域水量统一调度是缓解黄河断流,维护流域生态环境的重要举措。水量调度效果如何,河口生态环境变化状况是非常重要的衡量指标。文章提出了评价水量调度效果的河口生态环境对比指标,并尝试运用遥感技术、水文数据和调查资料,对比分析了水量调度前后河口三角洲生态环境变化情况。结果表明,黄河水量统一调度后,河口三角洲最小河道生态基流在非汛期基本得到满足,断流现象不再发生,径流入海率和输沙入海量有所增加,淡水湿地面积逐渐增多,物种多样性明显得到改善。这反映出黄河流域水量统一调度后,河口三角洲生态环境正逐步恢复。     

Effects of body mass,age, dominance and parasite load on foraging time of bighorn rams,<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Ovis canadensis</Emphasis>

In sexually dimorphic ungulates, males generally spend less time foraging than females, possibly because of difference in body mass or because of the energetic requirements of lactation. The relationship between body size and foraging time has received little attention at the intra-specific level, because few studies have documented activity budgets for individuals of known size. Bighorn rams are a good model to explore how body mass affects foraging time, because they range in mass from 55 to 140 kg. We examined how the foraging time of bighorn rams varied according to individual characteristics. We observed rams in a marked population and constructed time budgets during the 3 months preceding the rut. We determined ram social rank based on agonistic encounters and collected fecal samples to count lungworm larvae. Time spent foraging was negatively correlated with body mass. After accounting for age differences, larger rams spent less time foraging and more time lying than smaller rams. Among rams aged 6–12 years, dominants spent less time feeding than subordinates, while fecal output of lungworm larvae was negatively correlated with foraging time for rams of all ages. Body mass accounts for much of the individual variation in foraging time, suggesting that sexual dimorphism is important in explaining differences in feeding time between males and females.Communicated by P. Heeb     

Breeding Distributions of North American Bird Species Moving North as a Result of Climate Change

Abstract:  Geographic changes in species distributions toward traditionally cooler climes is one hypothesized indicator of recent global climate change. We examined distribution data on 56 bird species. If global warming is affecting species distributions across the temperate northern hemisphere, these data should show the same northward range expansions of birds that have been reported for Great Britain. Because a northward shift of distributions might be due to multidirectional range expansions for multiple species, we also examined the possibility that birds with northern distributions may be expanding their ranges southward. There was no southward expansion of birds with a northern distribution, indicating that there is no evidence of overall range expansion of insectivorous and granivorous birds in North America. As predicted, the northern limit of birds with a southern distribution showed a significant shift northward (2.35 km/year). This northward shift is similar to that observed in previous work conducted in Great Britain: the widespread nature of this shift in species distributions over two distinct geographical regions and its coincidence with a period of global warming suggests a connection with global climate change.     

Are Modern Biological Invasions an Unprecedented Form of Global Change?

Abstract:  The uniqueness of the current, global mass invasion by nonindigenous species has been challenged recently by researchers who argue that modern rates and consequences of nonindigenous species establishment are comparable to episodes in the geological past. Although there is a fossil record of species invasions occurring in waves after geographic barriers had been lifted, such episodic events differ markedly from human-assisted invasions in spatial and temporal scales and in the number and diversity of organisms involved in long-distance dispersal. Today, every region of the planet is simultaneously affected and modern rates of invasion are several orders of magnitude higher than prehistoric rates. In terms of its rate and geographical extent, its potential for synergistic disruption and the scope of its evolutionary consequences, the current mass invasion event is without precedent and should be regarded as a unique form of global change. Prehistoric examples of biotic interchanges are nonetheless instructive and can increase our understanding of species-area effects, evolutionary effects, biotic resistance to invasion, and the impacts of novel functional groups introduced to naïve biotas. Nevertheless, they provide only limited insight into the synergistic effects of invasions and other environmental stressors, the effect of frequent introductions of large numbers of propagules, and global homogenization, all of which characterize the current mass invasion event .     

Lag Effects in the Impacts of Mass Coral Bleaching on Coral Reef Fish, Fisheries, and Ecosystems

Abstract:  Recent episodes of coral bleaching have led to wide-scale loss of reef corals and raised concerns over the effectiveness of existing conservation and management efforts. The 1998 bleaching event was most severe in the western Indian Ocean, where coral declined by up to 90% in some locations. Using fisheries-independent data, we assessed the long-term impacts of this event on fishery target species in the Seychelles, the overall size structure of the fish assemblage, and the effectiveness of two marine protected areas (MPAs) in protecting fish communities. The biomass of fished species above the size retained in fish traps changed little between 1994 and 2005, indicating no current effect on fishery yields. Biomass remained higher in MPAs, indicating they were effective in protecting fish stocks. Nevertheless, the size structure of the fish communities, as described with size-spectra analysis, changed in both fished areas and MPAs, with a decline in smaller fish (<30 cm) and an increase in larger fish (>45 cm). We believe this represents a time-lag response to a reduction in reef structural complexity brought about because fishes are being lost through natural mortality and fishing, and are not being replaced by juveniles. This effect is expected to be greater in terms of fisheries productivity and, because congruent patterns are observed for herbivores, suggests that MPAs do not offer coral reefs long-term resilience to bleaching events. Corallivores and planktivores declined strikingly in abundance, particularly in MPAs, and this decline was associated with a similar pattern of decline in their preferred corals. We suggest that climate-mediated disturbances, such as coral bleaching, be at the fore of conservation planning for coral reefs.     

土地利用变化对城郊农业区生态效益的影响——以四川省南充市高坪区为例

借鉴生态效益综合评价的有关理论和数学模型,以四川省南充市高坪区为例,选取生物多样性指数、植被覆盖指数、水土保持效益指数、土壤改良指数、涵养水源指数、拦截径流指数和湿度指数7个指标作为评价因子,建立生态效益评价体系,对该区域1996和2005年2个时期综合生态效益进行评估和比较.结果表明,该区域综合生态效益值分别为7.85和7.95,2005年比1996年略为升高;基于GIS的图层叠置、分割等分析功能,就区域土地利用变化对其内部生态效益造成的变化进行了分析,该区域可被划分为生态效益显著增强区、增强区、保持区、减弱区和显著减弱区5个等级.     

集约化农区经济发展对耕地土壤有机碳含量变化的影响

陆地生态系统土壤有机碳储量变化是全球气候变化研究的重要方面,而耕地土壤有机碳含量是当中最活跃的部分,与人类利用行为以及社会经济发展水平相联系。文章选取黄淮海平原的北京市大兴区、河北省曲周县和黄土高原的山西省兴县的446个耕作层土壤20世纪80年代和2000年的有机碳含量数据和当地的社会经济、投入产出资料,结果表明:20年来,不同区域耕地土壤有机碳含量存在空间变异,但是其空间分布格局并未发生变化;对土地的集约利用并未造成土壤有机碳含量的降低,相反,各区域土壤有机碳含量普遍增加。结合相应的农户调查和统计资料,发现区域经济发展强烈地影响着土壤有机碳储量发生变化。无论自然条件优劣,还是经济发展水平处于何种阶段,经济的发展都能够促使农户增加对土地的投入,经济发达地区有充足的资金和市场保障,通过农业结构调整会增加对土地的投入;经济落后地区追求作物高产,促使土地投入也不断增加;使得作物经济产量和生物产量获得提高,促使耕地土壤有机碳含量增加。