Metal removal with two biochars made from municipal organic waste: adsorptive characterization and surface complexation modeling

The adsorptive characteristics of biochar produced from garden green waste (S-char) and a mixture of food waste and garden green waste (FS-char) were investigated. Adsorption of Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, and Mn²⁺ onto the two biochars reached equilibrium within 48 hours. The metal adsorption was effectively described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm models which suggest heterogeneous chemisorption. The initial solution pH influenced adsorption of Zn²⁺ and Mn²⁺ but not of Cu²⁺. Simulation via a surface complexation model showed that the fraction of XOCu⁺ adsorbed onto biochar was increased with increasing pH until it reached the adsorption maximum at pH 8.5, while the endpoint for the maximum of XOMn⁺ was higher than pH 12.     

Industrial ecology flows of agriculture and food industry in Finland: utilizing by-products and wastes

Although half of the administrative units in China are said to have implemented their local Agenda 21, the promotion of sustainable communities is not pervasive. In this paper, we adopted a relatively untried mode of analysis and a socio-economic context to illustrate the potentials and failures of China's grassroots local government bodies in achieving sustainable waste management. Our study shows that, among the three main functions of sustainable waste management (ensuring environmental hygiene, provision of recycling logistics and changing the consumption pattern of the local community) for local governments, grassroots local government bodies in mainland China are only able to do the minimum, i.e. ensuring environmental hygiene and handling complaints. One of the reasons for the failure is that, despite the emphasis on capacity building in China's Agenda 21, the reality is that no action is taken to empower grassroots local government. Despite the high profile accorded by the Chinese central government to motivating local governments to formulate their own Agenda 21, local sustainability and waste management performance have little relevance to the appraisal systems of these government agents.     

Empirical analysis on the influence of the Shaanxi fruit industry on regional food security

As part of its development policy to relieve rural poverty in west China, the Chinese government has introduced measures such as agricultural tax exemptions, agricultural subsidies, and scientific, technological and restructuring improvements to agriculture. Following these actions, farmers’ incomes have increased greatly and the economy in poor areas of west China has seen rapid improvements. However, agricultural restructuring, infrastructure construction and ecological restoration projects have reduced the area of land under arable farming, restricting opportunities for increasing total grain yield. Regional food security is therefore threatened and an imbalance between economic development and food security is created. Shaanxi is a representative province in west China where agricultural restructuring has resulted in large areas of arable land being converted into orchards that produce higher economic returns. This study randomly surveyed 1430 farm households in three counties in the apple-producing region of Shaanxi Province (Luochuan, Changwu and Baishui). The standard of living and household income of farmers in the fruit production areas were higher than in grain-producing areas, thus discouraging grain production. Land under agriculture in the counties studied comprised 59% orchards and 39% arable, with 2% under other uses. Per capita, 204.3 kg of grain was produced, 51% of that required for self-sufficiency. Other staple foods produced amounted to only 13.9% of that needed for self-sufficiency. As a result, nearly half of the grain needed by the community was purchased from outside, resulting in very poor regional food security. Clearly, fruit production in this region seriously affects regional food security. Coordination of relationships between rural economic development and regional food security is key for sustainable development of the regional agriculture and economy of west China.     

Demonstrating a correlation between infrastructure and national development

This paper demonstrates a correlation between the extensiveness of infrastructure and national development. This was achieved by considering kilometres of paved roads, kilometres of rail, kilometres of paved runways, quality of shipping ports and quality of urban infrastructure. Data were collected from a variety of sources including the World Bank and the United Nations databases. Measures of the quantity or extensiveness of the infrastructures were normalized based on the populations of the various countries, transforming them into per capita measures, which were then logarithmically transformed to produce indices of the extensiveness of the infrastructures. These indices were then plotted against the national development indicator, the human development index (HDI). Of the infrastructures considered, paved roads per capita index showed the strongest correlation with HDI, while quality of port infrastructure index showed the weakest correlation. When the indices for the different infrastructures were combined into a single index the correlation with HDI appeared to be strongest, highlighting the synergistic effect of different infrastructures when working in tandem. Based on this, the findings of this study support the position of holistically managing a country's infrastructure assets.     

Prioritising development planning in the Indian semi-arid Deccan using sustainable livelihood security index approach

This paper presents the status of sustainable livelihood security index (SLSI) of Karnataka, the most drought prone state in the Southern part of India. Computation of ecological security index, economic efficiency index and social equity index, and finally SLSI were carried out at the district level for the entire state, using empirical data. The selected indicators were first normalised, and then using estimated weights, indices were computed. The results indicate that the state has a very low SLSI with only 27.6% of total geographical area (TGA) and 21.7% of population being placed in the ‘sustainable’ and ‘highly sustainable’ categories (covering 10 districts) while only 34% of the TGA covering six districts falls in the ‘moderately sustainable’ category. The remaining area, confined mostly to the northern parts of the state, comprising 14 districts (51.8% of the state’s TGA) is categorised as ‘less sustainable’ and ‘very less sustainable’ exposing 44.4% (27.14 million) of state’s population to the perils of uncertain rainfall, high soil erosion rates, high social inequality and poor resource use efficiency. There is an urgent need to reorient development programmes and prioritise development investments in these vulnerable districts so that they are provided resources and opportunities to improve their ecological (more forest cover and less soil erosion), economic (higher agricultural productivity) and social (improved health and education facilities and rural infrastructure) status and achieve sustainable levels of livelihood.     

森林净生态系统生产力及其生物影响因子研究进展

在全球大气二氧化碳浓度上升的背景下,陆地生态系统碳循环及碳汇功能研究得到了广泛的关注,日益成为今后的政治和外交的重大议题之一.净生态系统生产力(net ecosystem production, NEP)是生态系统光合固定的碳与生态系统呼吸损失的碳之间的差值;或者为生态系统净的碳积累速率.NEP 的研究整合生态系统地上和地下部分,把生态系统碳循环的影响因子有机地联系了起来.当NEP为正值时,说明生态系统为碳汇,NEP为负值则表明生态系统为碳源.随着植物和土壤相互联系及其对生态系统过程研究的深入,NEP已经成为生态系统碳循环研究的核心概念之一.以森林NEP为出发点,综述了国内外的最近的 NEP 研究进展,分析了 NEP 研究的科学意义;探讨了植物群落组成/生物多样性、土壤微生物群落、大型/土壤动物和人为的管理或干扰等生物因子对NEP的影响.根据综述研究提出未来研究应在:(1)土壤生物过程、土壤食物网及其与地上部分植物/动物相互作用对NEP的影响;(2)自然林生物多样性的竞争/共存机制与生态系统碳吸存稳定性;(3)人工林固碳潜力和不同植物功能群(灌草层)对生态系统碳动态影响等方面加强,以期为全面认识生物因子对森林生态系统系统固碳现状、机制和潜力提供理论基础.     

The vulnerable do‐gooders: security strategies of German aid agencies

Humanitarian and development agencies have confronted growing insecurity in some of the regions in which they work over the course of the past decade. Consequently, aid agencies are changing their approach to security issues. Compared to aid agencies from other countries, especially the United Kingdom and the United States, German aid agencies have been relatively slow to adopt security measures. In addition, the security measures they have selected differ from one agency to another, even in comparable security contexts. The literature on organisational learning helps to explain these differences. The findings show that external and internal organisational factors influence an aid agency's choice of a particular security measure. The different responses of German aid agencies to the changing security environment demonstrate that security measures are not only influenced by an organisation's identity but also can be a way for them to demonstrate their identity and thereby distinguish themselves from other actors that deliver aid.     

A fresh perspective on food safety in Canada: risk communication,public involvement,and the impact of the 2008 listeriosis outbreak

While the listeriosis outbreak of 2008 brought attention to food safety decision making in Canada, little of that attention was placed on public involvement and risk communication. With a primary focus on Health Canada (HC) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), this article describes the state of microbial-related public involvement and risk communication undertakings and suggests ways in which improvements can be made. The findings show that public involvement and risk communication activities have been strengthened since the outbreak, but they have become neither dialogical nor highly participatory. HC engages with experts to a far greater extent than with the lay public and it has fallen short in fulfilling its stated commitment to openness and transparency. Furthermore, both HC's and the CFIA's approach to risk communication has been overly general, has failed to provide opportunities for dialogue with vulnerable and more general groups with whom it is communicating and is not rooted in foodborne surveillance data. Public involvement in food safety governance would be improved if HC provided the lay public with a seat on advisory committees and improved its public involvement reporting methods. HC and the CFIA could also make risk communication improvements by creating opportunities for dialogue between officials and the general public, and by exploring alternative risk communication vehicles, such as food labels.     

土壤跳虫(Folsomia candida)对食物中铜污染物的吸收和排泄

重金属污染物在生物体内的累积、迁移和传递已成为当今的研究热点。土壤弹尾目昆虫作为土壤生态系统的重要组成部分,针对其对重金属的吸收、积累和排泄的动态过程以及相应解毒机制的研究意义重大。本研究通过弹尾目跳虫(Folsomia candida)对Cu的吸收-排泄效率实验发现,跳虫体内Cu含量随暴露时间的延长而显著增加(r~2=0.8878,F_(1,5)=29.59,P<0.01);跳虫体内Cu含量随排泄时间的延长而明显逐渐降低(r~2=0.7836,F_(1,3)=7.13,P<0.01)。跳虫对Cu的吸收-排泄Budget实验表明,只有少量的Cu被跳虫摄取到体内,其中小部分被体内组织消化吸收,大部分则可能通过中肠细胞的褪皮作用和产卵等方式排出体外。可见,褪皮和排卵是跳虫排泄重金属Cu的重要途径,跳虫对Cu具有较低的吸收率(8.13%)和较高的排泄率(57.3%),表明跳虫对Cu可能有较高的耐受性。     

河流流域生态安全综合评估方法

在国内外生态安全相关研究的基础上,提出了河流流域生态安全的定义. 以河流流域生态安全为研究对象,基于DPSIR(驱动力-压力-状态-影响-响应)模型框架,构建了评估指标体系,并利用多准则群体决策模型的层次分析法和熵权法确定指标权重. 以晋城市沁河流域为例,对该流域2005─2009年生态安全状况进行了综合评估. 结果表明:5年内沁河流域的生态安全综合指数从2005年的0.487升至2009年的0.641,状态从“安全”区域底部逐步提升到顶部,人均GDP增长、单位工业产值COD_Cr和NH₃-N排放强度的降低、污水处理厂投入使用和环保投资的逐年增加是影响其变化的关键因素.