Economics analysis of food waste treatment in China and its influencing factors

• Economics of food waste treatment projects at 29 pilot cities in China was examined. • Roles of location, population size, processing technique, and income were studied. • Economic benefits were limited with a profit to cost ratio of 0.08±0.37. • Service population size affects construction economics significantly (P = 0.016). • Choice of food waste processing technique affects operating economics notably. This study examines the economic benefits of food waste treatment projects in China and factors affecting them. National-level pilot projects for food waste treatment located in 29 cities were selected as samples. The economics of food waste recycling from the investors’ perspective, in terms of investment during the construction phase and cost and benefit during the operation phase, was assessed. Results indicate that the average tonnage investment of food waste treatment projects was RMB 700.0±188.9 thousand yuan, with a profit to cost ratio of 0.08±0.37. This ratio increased to 0.95±0.57 following the application of government subsidies. It highlights the limited economic benefits of food waste treatment facilities, which rely on government subsidies to maintain their operations in China. Further analysis using a multi-factor analysis model revealed that regional location, service population size, processing techniques, and urban income exerted varying impacts on the economy of food waste treatment. Population size exerted the highest impact (P = 0.016) during the construction stage, and processing techniques notably influenced the project economy during the operation stage. The study highlights the need to prioritize service population size and processing techniques during economic decision-making and management of food waste recycling projects. The results of this study can serve as a valuable practical reference for guiding future policies regarding food waste treatment and related planning.     

西藏粮食安全状况及主要粮食供需关系研究

西藏粮食安全事关当地的长治久安以及社会经济的可持续发展。论文基于2010年农户层面的食物消费调研数据,并且结合粮食市场调研、粮食加工企业调研以及政府部门调研数据等,在研究西藏粮食生产和消费基础之上,重点分析了西藏主要粮食（青稞、小麦和水稻）供应和需求之间的关系。结果显示,全区粮食供应数量较高,特别是外地调入粮食供给能力不断增强,提高了西藏粮食安全保障程度。2010年全区主要粮食生产为85.09万t,而家庭层面主要粮食消费为88.81万t,粮食生产和消费基本持平;但是考虑到本地粮食消费比重为60.8%,2010年本地粮食消费只有54.0万t。从整个西藏地区来看,虽然西藏地区粮食供应已经大于其需求（西藏地区三大粮食作物总供应146.3万t,而总需求超过95.9万t,供应为需求的1.5倍）,但是从不同地区来看,区域之间的粮食供需差别非常大,尤其是藏北牧区（主要是那曲地区）,粮食缺口比较大,未来需要加强藏北地区粮食的供给力度,提升其粮食安全的保障能力。随着内地粮食进藏数量和种类不断增加,未来需要进一步转变粮食购销体制系统,把粮食生产者（即农民）考虑在粮食流通市场之内,进一步加强和重视西藏粮食生产者在粮食流通中所发挥的作用,从而增加西藏农村地区家庭中余粮流通,增加青稞特色产业发展,提高农民收入。     

Industrial land expansion in rural China threatens environmental securities

• China’s rural industrial land (RIL) area quadrupled from 1990 to 2015. • RIL expansion cost 9% of China’s crop production and threatened human/ecosystem safety. • The underprivileged population bears a disproportionally large share of the risks. China’s rural industrialization has been a major driver for its rapid economic growth during the recent decades, but its myriad environmental risks are yet to be fully understood. Based on a comprehensive national land-use data set, our study shows that the area of China’s rural industrial land (RIL) quadrupled during 1990–2015, reaching 39000 km² in 2015, comparable to urbanization in magnitude but with a much greater degree of landscape fragmentation which implies stronger ecological and environmental impacts. About 91% of the protected areas in the central China were within 50 km from rural industrial land, thus exposed to industrial disturbances. Accelerated rural industrial land expansion, particularly in regions under high geo-hazard risks, led to dramatically increased environmental risks, threatening the safety and health of both rural industrial workers and residents. Moreover, negative effects from rural industrial land expansion could partially offset the crop production growth in recent decades. The underprivileged rural population in the west bears a disproportionally large share of the increased environmental risks. China urgently needs to design and implement sustainable policies to restrict and reshape its rural industrialization. This study aims to inspire policy makers and researchers to rethink the current model of industrial expansion and improve rural industrial land planning, which is important for achieving the sustainable development goals of China.     

大数据发展的信息安全风险防御探析

大数据的发展及广泛应用加大了信息化系统及数据的脆弱性,信息安全风险向系统化、复杂化方向发展。在搜集、整理国内外相关研究成果基础上,系统辨识数据采集、数据传输、数据存储、数据分析4个大数据核心环节的信息安全风险,围绕“风险辨识、脆弱性降低、风险沟通、强化风险管理”的风险治理流程,以防范与化解信息安全风险为目标,提出大数据发展的信息安全防御策略。研究结果表明:大数据全生命周期是信息安全风险辨识的起点,强化大数据发展的信息安全风险防御,需要在风险辨识基础上,积极推进预防准备、风险沟通、信息安全事件处置及恢复总结。     

广州市城市生态用地空间冲突与生态安全隐患情景分析

生态安全隐患区域的空间检测和获取对城市生态安全保护起到重要的作用。论文利用智能计算模型和空间分析技术,对广州市城市生态用地空间冲突与生态安全隐患进行了多情景模拟和分析。研究表明：① 空间冲突区域主要分布在城市边缘区。在城市生态用地占广州市总面积的15%、30%和50%情景下,分别占空间冲突总面积的95.40%、86.28%和77.45%,白云、花都、天河和番禺是空间冲突发生的主要区域。与之相反,城市核心区冲突区域面积所占比例逐渐增加。在50%情景时,空间冲突区域面积急剧增加,广州市城市生态用地控制指标面临着巨大的空间冲突压力。② 城市生态安全隐患区域主要分布在城市边缘区,在50%情景时,城市边缘区的隐患区域面积占隐患区域总面积的74.13%,白云区和花都区是生态安全隐患区域分布最集中的区域。而位于城市核心区的隐患区域,面临着更大的生态安全压力。研究结果可为城市生态安全的监控和预警提供参考,为城市生态保护提供可借鉴的方法和分析工具。     

Modelling the effect of constant and fluctuating food supply on egg production rates of Acartia grani

A mathematical model of the individual budget of a spawning female of the copepod Acartia grani (Sars) has been used to simulate the time-scale of egg production over various external forcings (or inputs) of food fluctuation conditions. The budget matter in the body of the copepod females is distributed through four compartments: the whole digestive tract (globally named as gut), the hemolymph (which include the body fluid with available nutriments for the organs), the structural body weight, and the gonad. This small calanoid species does not carry lipid reserves but cumulate some labile reserves in its body, according to food availability. The model results show how the continuous spawning varies with food fluctuations, and suggest the mechanisms inducing the delay of response to starvation by using the metabolic reserves. Three different patterns in egg production response are observed: food fluctuations with frequencies below 12 h have no effect on egg production; food fluctuations of 12 h to 5 days induce synchronous egg production fluctuations; beyond 5 days the strong physiological changes induced by long starvation durations create delays in the responses to food replenishment. The available data of cultivated cohorts under laboratory conditions are used to validate the model. The properties underlined by the model, in particular its weak capacity to respond to starvation, allow explaining A. grani distribution in specific habitats. Different experimental protocols for complementary experiments are proposed to complete the model validation in other forcing conditions.     

Adding rigor to ecological network models by evaluating a set of pre-balance diagnostics: A plea for PREBAL

The widespread use of ecological network models (e.g., Ecopath, Econetwrk, and related energy budget models) has been laudable for several reasons, chief of which is providing an easy-to-use set of modeling tools that can present an ecosystem context for improved understanding and management of living marine resources (LMR). Yet the ease-of-use of these models has led to two challenges. First, the veritable explosion of the use and application of these network models has resulted in recognition that the content and use of such models has spanned a range of quality. Second, as these models and their application have become more widespread, they are increasingly being used in a LMR management context. Thus review panels and other evaluators of these models would benefit from a set of rigorous and standard criteria from which the basis for all network models and related applications for any given system (i.e., the initial, static energy budget) can be evaluated. To this end, as one suggestion for improving network models in general, here I propose a series of pre-balance (PREBAL) diagnostics. These PREBAL diagnostics can be done, now, in simple spreadsheets before any balancing or tuning is executed. Examples of these PREBAL diagnostics include biomasses, biomass ratios, vital rates, vital rate ratios, total production, and total removals (and slopes thereof) across the taxa and trophic levels in any given energy budget. I assert that there are some general ecological and fishery principles that can be used in conjunction with PREBAL diagnostics to identify issues of model structure and data quality before balancing and dynamic applications are executed. I humbly present this PREBAL information as a simple yet general approach that could be easily implemented, could be considered for further incorporation into these model packages, and as such would ultimately result in a straightforward way to evaluate (and perhaps identify areas for improving) initial conditions in food web modeling efforts.     

Topological analysis of the ecological importance of elasmobranch fishes: A food web study on the Gulf of Tortugas, Colombia

We built a trophic network based on a matrix of interspecific trophic relationships to assess the role of elasmobranch fishes in shaping community structure of the Gulf of Tortugas in the Colombian Pacific Ocean. We analyzed diet similarities to define trophic components (nodes) - rather than taxonomical groups - in the network. We evaluated the ecological function of species or trophic entities through topological analysis of their structural importance in trophic networks by applying one local and several mesoscale network indices. We found that top predatory elasmobranchs play an important ecological role in top-down control and in propagating indirect effects through the system owing to high values of the node degree, centrality and topological importance indices. However, invertebrates and teleost fishes had higher connectivity and topological importance than other elasmobranchs in the network before and after removal of top predators from the system. Results from our study thus suggest that elasmobranchs at intermediate trophic levels - commonly referred to as “mesopredators” - are not so important in all complex coastal ecosystems as previously reported.     

基于景观格局的辽河三角洲湿地生态安全分析

以1990年和2005年遥感影像为基本信息源,在GIS技术支持下,在对辽河三角洲湿地景观格局分析的基础上,采用破碎度、分离度、优势度等景观格局指数和景观类型脆弱度为评价指标研究辽河三角洲湿地景观生态安全。20世纪90年代以来大规模的资源开发,加剧了辽河三角洲湿地景观的破碎化程度,使景观优势度增高,多样性下降。从1990-2005年,研究区主要湿地景观类型水稻田、苇田、滩涂的干扰程度有所增加,生态安全度均有所下降,表明人类对自然湿地生态系统的干扰越来越明显。总体来说,15年来研究区整体景观生态安全度呈现下降趋势。以往湿地生态安全的研究主要集中在环境脆弱性和保护策略方面,研究层次着重在生态系统层面,而从景观格局角度对湿地景观生态安全的研究涉及较少,文章涉及的是景观生态学可持续发展研究的一个新领域,所提出的内容实质上是景观生态安全定量表征的方法探讨。应用景观生态学方法研究生态安全,揭示景观结构与功能关系并进一步分析区域生态环境的变化趋势及其内在因素,不但为辽河三角洲湿地及其生物多样性的保护和资源开发提供了科学依据,而且丰富和发展了我国生态安全研究的理论与方法。