Identifying Determinants of Nations' Wetland Management Programs Using Structural Equation Modeling: An Exploratory Analysis

Integrated management and policy models suggest that solutions to environmental issues may be linked to the socioeconomic and political characteristics of a nation. In this study, we empirically explore these suggestions by applying them to the wetland management activities of nations. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate a model of national wetland management effort and one of national wetland protection. Using five predictor variables of social capital, economic capital, environmental and political characteristics, and land-use pressure, the multivariate models were able to explain 60% of the variation in nations' wetland protection efforts based on data from 90 nations, as defined by level of participation in the international wetland convention. Social capital had the largest direct effect on wetland protection efforts, suggesting that increased social development may eventually lead to better wetland protection. In contrast, increasing economic development had a negative linear relationship with wetland protection efforts, suggesting the need for explicit wetland protection programs as nations continue to focus on economic development. Government, environmental characteristics, and land-use pressure also had a positive direct effect on wetland protection, and mediated the effect of social capital on wetland protection. Explicit wetland protection policies, combined with a focus on social development, would lead to better wetland protection at the national level.     

经济增长与建设用地扩张的脱钩分析

为分析经济增长与建设用地扩张之间的相互关系,论文探讨了经济增长与建设用地扩张脱钩的定义,将环境领域的脱钩概念和脱钩分析引入土地利用分析,在IPAT模型基础上建立了包含建设用地和GDP等变量在内的核算方程,据此对环境领域基于变化量的脱钩评价方法加以了改进,建立了经济增长与建设用地扩张脱钩分析方法。在此基础上,文章以我国经济增长与建设用地的相互关系为例,分别分析了2002—2007年期间全国以及31个省级区域GDP增长与建设用地扩张、非农产业GDP增长与建设用地扩张以及第三产业GDP增长与建设用地扩张之间的脱钩关系。分析表明:以年度为时间尺度,在2002—2007年之间,从GDP和建设用地角度考察,除青海省、上海和海南在个别年份落在强脱钩区域,其余28个省级区域均落在弱脱钩区域;从非农产业GDP和建设用地角度考察,除上海在2006年落在强脱钩区域外,其余30个省级区域均落在弱脱钩区域;从第三产业GDP和建设用地角度考察,除西藏在2003年落在扩张性复钩以及青海、上海、海南和广西在个别年份落在强脱钩区域外,其余26个省级区域均落在弱脱钩区域;以2002—2007年时间段为时间尺度,全国及31个省级区域均落在弱脱钩区域。鉴于建设用地扩张与经济增长之间的滞后关系,以时期为时间尺度进行脱钩分析更为合适;分析还表明,在经济增长过程中,提高建设用地效率对于实现脱钩有重要作用,有效控制建设用地总量是实现强脱钩的重要手段。     

城市污泥的高温好氧消化及动力学参数分析

高温好氧消化工艺是稳定化处理污泥的新工艺。文章分别研究了不同污泥类型(初沉泥、二沉泥)分别在高温(45℃、58℃)条件下的稳定化效果及动力学参数。结果表明,在45℃条件下,二沉泥在10d内达到稳定,而初沉泥需要15d;反应温度从45℃提高到58℃有利于二沉泥降解,而不利于初沉泥降解;VSS的动力学拟合曲线相关性好于TSS的拟合曲线。对于不同的污泥类型,二沉泥的拟合曲线相关性高于初沉泥;在相同停留时间条件下,初沉泥的衰减常数kd值随温度的增加而增加;在相同温度条件下,二沉泥kd值不随停留时间的延长而增加,在58℃时二沉泥的kd值还有所下降。说明二沉泥能立即被用作碳源,而初沉泥则不能。     

毛细压力法对水处理滤料亲油亲水比的研究

基于Washburn方程,定义了滤料的亲油亲水比(LHR),利用毛细压力法测定了果壳、锰砂、陶粒、石英砂和瓷砂的润湿速率,计算了LHR值,并对滤料的表面微观结构进行了研究.实验表明,直线拟合程度较好,结果重现性较高.实验方法可行.数据可靠.其中果壳的LHR值最大,达到66.87,表现出了最强的亲油性,其次是锰砂、陶粒、石英砂,三者的亲油性略好于瓷砂,其LHR值分别为1.24、1.22、1.16和0.80,与XPS和FTIR分析结果一致,证实了滤料LHR值的差异主要取决于滤料表面微观结构的不同.     

抚顺市经济增长与水环境质量关系研究

为了揭示沈阳经济区发展对水环境的影响,以典型城市抚顺为研究对象,以环境库兹涅茨曲线理论为基础,根据1995-2008年辽宁省环境统计资料、辽宁省统计年鉴和抚顺市统计年鉴的数据,构建了抚顺市经济增长与工业废水排放量、COD排放量的库兹涅茨曲线模型,分析了抚顺市经济增长与水环境之间的关系;按照三种减排情景,预测出抚顺市2010年、2015年COD的排放量。结果表明,经济增长与水环境质量的关系符合倒U形曲线;GDP按照年均增长16%,COD排放量按照16.3%削减,2015年抚顺市COD排放量是2005年的48.29%;如果2006年至2015年期间COD不进行削减排放,则2015年COD排放将是2005年的近两倍;按照GDP年均增长16%,若想使水环境逐年改善,则"十一五"期间COD需要减排55.78%",十二五"期间需要减排44.79%。     

煤矿工人安全认知的影响因素研究

为提高煤矿工人的安全认知能力,预防不安全行为的发生,从管理角度提出组织政治(煤矿企业正式结构外的决策影响力)、管理公平性和管理者安全支持对安全认知影响的假设关系。利用问卷调查获取数据,运用结构方程模型(SEM)探讨3个因素对安全认知的影响。实证分析表明:管理者安全支持和管理公平性对矿工安全认知有直接影响关系;组织政治对管理者安全支持和管理公平性具有直接负向影响关系,并通过管理者安全支持间接负向影响安全认知;管理公平性对管理者安全支持具有显著的正向影响关系,并通过此变量间接影响安全认知。管理者安全支持和管理公平性是矿工安全认知的重要影响因素,具有预测矿工安全认知的效果。     

中小城市居民垃圾分类行为影响因素——以张家港市为例

为识别中小城市居民分类行为的影响因素和决策机制,本文构建了中小城市居民垃圾分类行为决策模型,并以江苏省张家港市为例,运用结构方程拟合与修正,分析了主客观因素对居民分类行为的影响,并与大城市相关研究进行了比较.结果表明：张家港市垃圾分类参与率达95%,高于一、二线大城市.对于张家港市居民而言,“行为意愿”是影响其分类行为最显著的因素,其次是“环保意识”和“社会影响”;“经济回报”和“法规影响”的显著性较低,尚未发挥应有的激励作用;“分类知识掌握程度”和“时间花费”的影响不显著.总体来看,主观意识（敏感性系数：0.629）仍是影响中小城市居民分类行为的主导因素,但在强制垃圾分类背景下,随着分类设施的建设完善、法律法规的颁布和社区管制加强,其影响作用趋于减弱,而客观环境对应的显著观测变量更多,对居民分类行为的影响逐渐增强,将是政府制定管理政策的有效发力点.     

Victoria's emerging framework of regional governance for sustainability: the case of catchment management authorities and regional catchment strategies

The aim of this paper is to presents a progress report on how a subnational jurisdiction, the Australian state of Victoria, is attempting to implement regional governance for sustainability through its catchment planning framework. The paper examines the lessons learnt from a best practice approach to the implementation of network governance to see whether there are actions that can be taken to improve regional governance for sustainability in Victoria. The authors argue that Victoria is implementing a network governance approach to natural resource management (NRM) as a significant component of sustainability and that this has certain advantages. In particular the emergence of Regional Catchment Strategies developed by the State's ten statutory Catchment Management Authorities as 'regional sustainability blueprints' is bringing a significant level of maturity to the state's governance framework. Furthermore the state is currently working to complete its governance for sustainability through new statewide integrating frameworks—an Environmental Sustainability Framework as well as a statewide Catchment Management and Investment Framework. The paper concludes that taking a network governance approach could have transformative potential but there are significant challenges ahead: the complex task of aligning of national, state, catchment and local government strategies through an outcomes focus; the scarcity of mechanisms and tools to assist in translation of strategies into integrated investment priorities; gaps in knowledge and understanding of natural resource management problems; limitations in the capacity of regional and local bodies, including local government; and getting the policy tools right within the framework. However, as the best practice examples illustrate, taking a gradual approach to the development of the institutions—building on successive wins in capacity—is the best and only way to proceed.     

Exploring the influence of outdoor recreation participation on pro-environmental behaviour in a demographically diverse population

This study used structural equation modelling to examine the effects of socio-demographic variables and outdoor recreation participation on pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) among an ethnically diverse population of adult state-park visitors near Atlanta, Georgia, USA (N?=?319). Data collected through intercept surveys at three state parks were used to examine interactions among potential predictors of PEB, including socio-demographics (ethnicity, gender, education, and income), outdoor recreation participation (during childhood and adulthood), and environmental value orientations (biocentric and anthropocentric). The best fitting model accounted for 40% of the variance in self-reported PEB and indicated the strongest positive relationship between adult outdoor recreation participation and PEB (β?=?0.54, t?=?5.70). Biocentric and anthropocentric value orientation scores were also significant antecedents of PEB (β?=?0.17, t?=?1.99, and β?=?0.19, t?=?2.56, respectively), and both were influenced by socio-demographic variables. Overall, results suggest that a diverse public's environmental ethos and propensity to engage in PEBs could be influenced by outdoor recreation opportunities.