Improving performance of eco-industrial parks

Abstract

Industrial Ecology hypothesises that networks of industries designed to be analogous to the structure and properties of food webs may approach a similarly sustainable and efficient state. Although ecology is the metaphor for designing Eco-Industrial Parks (EIPs), prior research has shown that EIPs are inferior in performance compared to natural ecosystems. One EIP design approach is to enlarge EIPs by combining two or more synergistic networks to create a larger, and hopefully more successful, synergistic mega-network. A quantitative analysis using structural ecosystem metrics is presented in this paper in order to test the potential of this approach. The findings indicate that merely enlarging EIPs by significant amounts may not be the best strategy for improving performance, but that special attention should be placed on the inclusion of key actors like agriculture that act like detritivores and promote more intense internal cycling.     

太湖流域农村生活污水处理技术探讨

2010年江苏省太湖流域主要污染物排放情况显示,太湖流域内的农村生活污水、农田径流和养殖污水是导致太湖水体富营养化的主要污染源。目前,在中国针对农村生活污水的处理技术已有一定研究。根据太湖流域农村生活污水的特点,人工湿地处理技术和稳定塘系统等新型污水处理技术具有良好的应用前景。     

Sensitivity of Thermal Habitat of a Trout Stream to Potential Climate Change,Wisconsin, United States1

Abstract: Airborne thermal remote sensing from four flights on a single day from a single‐engine airplane was used to collect thermal infrared data of a 10.47‐km reach of the upper East Branch Pecatonica River in southwest Wisconsin. The study uses a one‐dimensional stream temperature model calibrated with the longitudinal profiles of stream temperature created from the four thermal imaging flights and validated with three days of continuous stream temperature data from instream data loggers on the days surrounding the thermal remote‐sensing campaign. Model simulations were used to quantify the sensitivity of stream thermal habitat to increases in air and groundwater temperature and changes in base flow. The simulations indicate that stream temperatures may reach critical maximum thresholds for brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) mortality, particularly if both air temperature increases and base flow declines. The approach demonstrates that thermal infrared data can greatly assist stream temperature model validation due to its high spatial resolution, and that this spatially continuous stream temperature data can be used to pinpoint spatial heterogeneity in groundwater inflow to streams. With this spatially distributed data on thermal heterogeneity and base‐flow accretion, stream temperature models considering various climate change scenarios are able to identify thermal refugia that will be critical for fisheries management under a changing climate.     

Mercury Levels in Pristine and Gold Mining Impacted Aquatic Ecosystems of Suriname, South America

Mercury levels in sediment and predatory fish were measured for 53 localities in Suriname. The average mercury level in bottom sediment surpassed the Canadian standard for sediment in most localities, except the coastal plains. Of the predatory fish, 41 % had a mercury level above the European Union standard for human consumption of 0.5 μg g⁻¹. Highest mercury levels were found in fish from the Brokopondo Reservoir and from the Upper Coppename River. High levels of mercury in fish in pristine areas are explained by atmospheric transportation of mercury with the northeastern trade winds followed by wet deposition. Contrary to gold mining areas, where mercury is bound to drifting sediments, in “pristine” areas the mercury is freely available for bio-accumulation and uptake. Impacts on piscivorous reptiles, birds, and mammals are unknown, but likely to be negative.     

Management of the Spring Snowmelt Recession in Regulated Systems

In an effort to restore predictable ecologically relevant spring snowmelt recession flow patterns in rivers regulated by dams, this study defined a methodology by which spring flow regimes can be modeled in regulated systems from the quantifiable characteristics of spring snowmelt recessions in unregulated rivers. An analysis of eight unregulated rivers across the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California found that unregulated systems behaved similarly with respect to seasonal spring patterns and recession limb curvature, and thus prescribed flows could be designed in a manner that mimics those predictable characteristics. Using the methodology to quantify spring recession flows in terms of a daily percent decrease in flow, a series of flow recession scenarios were created for application in an existing hydrodynamic model for the regulated Rubicon River. The modeling results showed that flow recessions with slow ramping rates similar to those observed in unregulated rivers (less than 10% per day) were likely to be protective of native aquatic species, such as the Foothill yellow‐legged frog, while flows that receded at greater rates would likely result in desiccation of egg masses and potential stranding of tadpoles and fry. Furthermore, recession rates of less than 10% per day provided the most spatially diverse hydraulic habitat in the modeled domain for an appropriate duration in spring to support all native species guilds and maximize aquatic biodiversity.     

三峡水库水生态环境保护与增殖渔业发展对策研究

三峡水库试验性蓄水175m成功后,水库水生态环境的管护成为水库管理的重点工作之一。针对目前三峡水库渔业的现状、取得的进展、存在的问题展开调研。在实地考察调研的基础上,提出了巩固取消三峡水库网箱养鱼的成果,防止反弹;开展三峡水库增殖渔业研究;建立三峡水库渔业开发总公司,实行公司化运作,实现渔业科学、有序、可持续的良性发展;加强水库增殖渔业的行政管理等建议。为政府在完善保护三峡水库水质和发展增殖渔业决策时提供参考。     

N-methylcarbamate pesticides and their phenolic degradation products: hydrolytic decay,sequestration and metal complexation studies

We report on the rates of decomposition of a group of N-methylcarbamate (NMC) pesticides (carbaryl, carbofuran and propoxur) under pre-determined tropical field conditions. Rates of decomposition for three NMCs were determined at pH 7.08 and T?=?20?°C and pH 7.70 and T = 33?°C respectively, as follows: carbaryl (78?days and 69?days); carbofuran (143?days and 83?days) and propoxur (116?days and 79?days). Investigation on methods for removal of NMCs and their phenolic decomposition products shows that activated charcoal outperforms zeolite, alumina, diatomaceous earth, cellulose and montmorillonite clay in the removal of both NMCs and phenols from aqueous solution. Furthermore, metal complexation studies on the NMCs and phenols showed that Fe (III) forms a complex with isopropoxyphenol (IPP) within which the Fe:IPP ratio is 1:3, indicative of the formation of a metal chelate complex with the formula Fe(IPP)₃.     

Managing water services in tropical regions: From land cover proxies to hydrologic fluxes

Watershed investment programs frequently use land cover as a proxy for water-based ecosystem services, an approach based on assumed relationships between land cover and hydrologic outcomes. Water flows are rarely quantified, and unanticipated results are common, suggesting land cover alone is not a reliable proxy for water services. We argue that managing key hydrologic fluxes at the site of intervention is more effective than promoting particular land-cover types. Moving beyond land cover proxies to a focus on hydrologic fluxes requires that programs (1) identify the specific water service of interest and associated hydrologic flux; (2) account for structural and ecological characteristics of the relevant land cover; and, (3) determine key mediators of the target hydrologic flux. Using examples from the tropics, we illustrate how this conceptual framework can clarify interventions with a higher probability of delivering desired water services than with land cover as a proxy.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-014-0578-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Downstream Dissipation of Storm Flow Heat Pulses: A Case Study and its Landscape‐Level Implications

Storms in urban areas route heat and other pollutants from impervious surfaces, via drainage networks, into streams with well‐described negative consequences on physical structure and biological integrity. We used heat pulses associated with urban storms as a tracer for pavement‐derived stormwater inputs, providing a conservative estimate of the frequency with which these pollutants are transported into and through protected stream reaches. Our study was conducted within a 1.5‐km reach in Durham, North Carolina, whose headwaters begin in suburban stormwater pipes before flowing through 1 km of protected, 100‐year‐old forest. We recorded heat‐pulse magnitudes and distances travelled downstream, analyzing how they varied with storm and antecedent flow conditions. We found heat pulses >1°C traveled more than 1 km downstream of urban inputs in 11 storms over one year. This best‐case management scenario of a reach within a protected forest shows that urban impacts can travel far downstream of inputs. Air temperature and flow intensity controlled heat‐pulse magnitude, while heat‐pulse size, mean flow, and total precipitation controlled dissipation distance. As temperatures and sudden storms intensify with climate change, heat‐pulse magnitude and dissipation distance will likely increase. Streams in urbanized landscapes, such as Durham municipality, where 98.9% of streams are within 1 downstream km of stormwater outfalls, will be increasingly impacted by urban stormwaters.     

添加NaOH对水生植物固体厌氧发酵产甲烷的作用

为了提高木质纤维素生物质的甲烷产率,固体厌氧发酵以及预处理技术得到了广泛应用。本研究以水生植物菹草为例,探讨了厌氧固体发酵同步碱处理提高甲烷产率的可行性。采用2种来源的微生物(厌氧污泥和牛粪),初始生物质浓度为20%TS(total solid,总固体重量),考察不同的NaOH添加量(基于反应体系总TS 0%、2.0%、3.5%和5.0%)对菹草厌氧发酵产气和固体水解效率的影响。结果表明,与对照实验组相比,初始NaOH加入量为3.5%时,接种污泥和牛粪的实验组中甲烷总产量分别为787.1 mL和1 165.4 mL,与对照实验组相比(619.1 mL和834.8 mL),分别提高了27.1%和39.6%,而且接种牛粪的实验组中单位挥发性固体(VS)产甲烷率最高,为186.5 mL/g。对发酵后的木质纤维素残渣组分进行分析,结果表明,NaOH有助于促进菹草中纤维素及半纤维素的分解,以及木质素结构的破坏,从而提高了菹草厌氧发酵产气产甲烷效率。