Seasonal fluctuations of DDTs and PCBs in zooplankton and fish of Lake Maggiore (Northern Italy)

Concentrations of DDTs and PCBs were determined in the zooplankton and in three different fish species (shad, whitefish and roach) collected seasonally during 2009 and 2010 in three sites in Lake Maggiore, a south-alpine lake that has been contaminated by DDT since 1996. As previously observed in 2008, even during 2009 DDTs concentrations were higher in zooplankton than in fish, probably due to the very unstable situation of the lake still influenced by local inputs. The situation changed in 2010, when all DDT compounds increased in fish to levels much higher than those measured in zooplankton. Biomagnification was statistically demonstrated for pp′DDE in all the three fish species, indicating a probable signal of recovery of the lake.Although with respect to total PCBs we observed that the contamination levels varied across time periods and across fish species, biomagnification was evident from zooplankton to fish both in 2009 and in 2010. As concern individual PCBs, biomagnification from zooplankton to all three fish species was significant for PCB 153 and PCB 138.     

Planning for cooler cities: a plan quality evaluation for Urban Heat Island consideration

ABSTRACT

City strategic plans and enabling policies provide a framework for and inform future development across multiple scales. An exemplar city strategic plan will be one based on evidence, enabled by complementary policy outcomes, and built on the knowledge of the existing landscape. This study evaluated the plan quality of eighteen metropolitan strategic plans for city members in the 100 Resilient Cities initiative. A protocol was developed containing thirty-two indicators to assess plans capacity to act as a strategic planning tool to develop, analyse and implement strategies for the Urban Heat Island (UHI) and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The evaluation indicated that strategies addressing the UHI are rarely included in metropolitan plans. Strategic plans showed a lack of evidence-base to inform the potential actions. Urban warming is often linked to extreme weather events anticipated under climate change, not the UHI as a systemic and increasing phenomenon. We recommend that the pathway to addressing UHI mitigation and adaptation may lie in its nexus to aspects of climate change that concurrently can serve to support liveable and resilient cities.     

滨海城市环境工程地质问题成灾特点分析

滨海城市是我国经济最发达的地区，近年来经济与城市建设均得到迅速发展，城市土地开发力度加大，由此起起的环境工程地质问题也日趋严重。本文分析了我国滨海城市环境工程地质问题的主要类型，研究了环境工程地质问题的成灾特点。     

Climate change,adaptation and Eco-Art in Singapore

Eco-Art has recently emerged as a potential means to place emphasis on environmental issues such as climate change, recycling and the metabolism of the city experienced both materially and conceptually within local, regional and global contexts. Such art presents the possibility of shaping civic practices in arenas beyond those of traditional planning domains. Adopting a pragmatic approach, which recognises the contextual pluralism that exists in debates regarding climate change, this paper is interested in how Eco-Art projects encourage the re-imagining of urban spaces within the context of sustainability, and flows of materials and the recycling of plastic in art specifically.     

资源型城市可持续发展对碳排放的影响研究——基于资源依赖的视角

基于2003~2018年285个地级市的面板数据,首先使用双重差分模型考察《全国资源型城市可持续发展规划(2013~2020年)》(以下简称《规划》)对碳排放的影响;其次,探究该政策通过资源依赖这一路径对碳排放的影响效果;进一步地,基于城市区域和城市规模两个视角分析该政策通过资源依赖影响碳排放的异质性效果;最后,探究《规划》的空间溢出效应.结果表明《规划》显著地降低了资源型城市的碳排放;机制分析表明,《规划》能够通过降低资源依赖进而减少碳排放,且产业结构升级和技术进步对《规划》的碳减排效应起到了正向调节作用;异质性分析表明,《规划》通过降低资源依赖进而促降碳排放的效果在东､中部地区以及大城市更为明显;《规划》对本地及周边地区均具有显著的碳减排效应.本研究对于在双碳目标下实现中国资源型城市的可持续发展具有重要的政策启示.     

Motivations for Conserving Urban Biodiversity

Abstract: In a time of increasing urbanization, the fundamental value of conserving urban biodiversity remains controversial. How much of a fixed budget should be spent on conservation in urban versus nonurban landscapes? The answer should depend on the goals that drive our conservation actions, yet proponents of urban conservation often fail to specify the motivation for protecting urban biodiversity. This is an important shortcoming on several fronts, including a missed opportunity to make a stronger appeal to those who believe conservation biology should focus exclusively on more natural, wilder landscapes. We argue that urban areas do offer an important venue for conservation biology, but that we must become better at choosing and articulating our goals. We explored seven possible motivations for urban biodiversity conservation: preserving local biodiversity, creating stepping stones to nonurban habitat, understanding and facilitating responses to environmental change, conducting environmental education, providing ecosystem services, fulfilling ethical responsibilities, and improving human well‐being. To attain all these goals, challenges must be faced that are common to the urban environment, such as localized pollution, disruption of ecosystem structure, and limited availability of land. There are, however, also challenges specific only to particular goals, meaning that different goals will require different approaches and actions. This highlights the importance of specifying the motivations behind urban biodiversity conservation. If the goals are unknown, progress cannot be assessed.     

自上而下的城市能源消耗碳排放估算方法

快速的城镇化进程带来城市碳排放的快速增长,准确的城市水平碳排放数据对于制定科学合理的碳减排政策极为关键,明确碳排放源的关键类别可以做到有的放矢和精准管控.但是目前中国碳排放数据的研究主要集中在国家、地区和省级层面,城市水平由于所需基础数据的不透明和不准确,长久以来缺乏完整的碳排放清单.为解决该问题,在以前相关研究的基础上,通过省级能源平衡表,尝试利用合理的分配指标从省级碳排放数据估算出下属城市的碳排放,构建了一套自上而下的城市能源消耗碳排放估算方法.通过与现有可获得的城市水平数据进行对比,发现估算差距均在10%以内,证明了该方法的可行性和准确性,并尝试在时间尺度进行了扩展.为获取在时间和空间上均连续的中国城市能源消耗碳排放数据提供了科学的方法和合理的思路,也能为各城市分配减排任务和城市间进行减排协商提供可靠的数据支撑.     

淮南市持续发展的生态安全评价

淮南市是一所典型的煤炭资源型城市。是建立在资源、环境、经济和社会等子系统上的复杂系统。是城市发展与资源和环境保护之间矛盾较为突出的区域。主要表现在：城市布局不合理。城市整体结构不完善；人类进行煤炭资源开发利用过程中对生态和景观产生了干扰和破坏。从而造成其生态结构、功能的破坏以及量观的破碎化。本研究从压力-状态-响应三方面构建了淮南市生态安全评价指标体系。指标体系包括目标层、系统层、要素层和指标层。并给出了计算各评价指标值之闻均衡度的模型。量后结合RS、GIS技术实施该评价模型。对淮南市为实例进行了分析和评价。评价结果与实际情况基本符合。     

1993-2003年特大火灾发生规律、特征及原因分析

火灾作为一种灾害现象,其发生与发展具有随机性和确定性的双重特性.火灾统计分析是研究火灾随机性规律的一种有效方法,它通过总结、整理和分析大量的原始火灾资料,归纳出火灾发生的统计性规律.本文从1993-2003年我国火灾形势着手,联系火灾形势发展过程中的火灾起数、火灾中人员伤亡和直接财产损失等大量数据,重点分析了特大火灾的原因及类别特征,总结了特大火灾发生发展的规律和趋势,为正确认识和预测我国火灾形势、做好特大火灾的预防工作提供了参考.     

Effects of urban greenspace configuration and native vegetation on bee and wasp reproduction

Pollinator welfare is a recognized research and policy target, and urban greenspaces have been identified as important habitats. Yet, landscape-scale habitat fragmentation and greenspace management practices may limit a city's conservation potential. We examined how landscape configuration, composition, and local patch quality influenced insect nesting success across inner-city Cleveland, Ohio (U.S.A.), a postindustrial legacy city containing a high abundance of vacant land (over 1600 ha). Here, 40 vacant lots were assigned 1 of 5 habitat treatments (T1, vacant lot; T2, grass lawn; T3, flowering lawn; T4, grass prairie; and T5, flowering prairie), and we evaluated how seeded vegetation, greenspace size, and landscape connectivity influenced cavity-nesting bee and wasp reproduction. Native bee and wasp larvae were more abundant in landscapes that contained a large patch (i.e., >6 ha) of contiguous greenspace, in habitats with low plant biomass, and in vacant lots seeded with a native wildflower seed mix or with fine-fescue grass, suggesting that fitness was influenced by urban landscape features and habitat management. Our results can guide urban planning by demonstrating that actions that maintain large contiguous greenspace in the landscape and establish native plants would support the conservation of bees and wasps. Moreover, our study highlights that the world's estimated 350 legacy cities are promising urban conservation targets due to their high abundance of vacant greenspace that could accommodate taxa's habitat needs in urban areas.