Epidemiologic Analysis of Factors Associated with Local Disappearances of Native Ranid Frogs in Arizona

Abstract:  We examined factors that may independently or synergistically contribute to amphibian population declines. We used epidemiologic case–control methodology to sample and analyze a large database developed and maintained by the Arizona Game and Fish Department that describes historical and currently known ranid frog localities in Arizona, U.S.A. Sites with historical documentation of target ranid species ( n = 324) were evaluated to identify locations where frogs had disappeared during the study period (case sites) and locations where frog populations persisted (control sites). Between 1986 and 2003, 117 (36%) of the 324 sites became case sites, of which 105 were used in the analyses. An equal number of control sites were sampled to control for the effects of time. Risk factors, or predictor variables, were defined from environmental data summarized during site surveys and geographic information system data layers. We evaluated risk factors with univariate and multifactorial logistic-regression analyses to derive odds ratios (OR). Odds for local population disappearance were significantly related to 4 factors in the multifactorial model. Disappearance of frog populations increased with increasing elevation (OR = 2.7 for every 500 m, p < 0.01). Sites where disappearances occurred were 4.3 times more likely to have other nearby sites that also experienced disappearances (OR = 4.3, p < 0.01), whereas the odds of disappearance were 6.7 times less (OR = 0.15, p < 0.01) when there was a source population nearby. Sites with disappearances were 2.6 times more likely to have introduced crayfish than were control sites (OR = 2.6, p = 0.04). The identification of factors associated with frog disappearances increases understanding of declines occurring in natural populations and aids in conservation efforts to reestablish and protect native ranids by identifying and prioritizing implicated threats.     

Composition of Floating Debris in Harbours of the United States

As part of a programme to characterize floating anthropogenic debris in the aquatic environment, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted 18 field surveys in the harbours of major metropolitan cities of the east, west, and Gulf coasts of the United States and the Mid-Atlantic Bight. the surveys were designed to provide information on the types, relative amounts, and distributions of aquatic debris in different geographic regions of the United States. Neuston nets (0.33 mm mesh) were used to collect surface debris during outgoing tides on two or three consecutive days in selected areas of each city. After each net tow, the debris, which ranged in size from small resin pellets to large plastic sheeting pieces, was identified, categorized, and counted. the data are being used to qualitatively characterize aquatic debris in coastal metropolitan areas, to examine potential regional variations, and to tentatively identify potential sources.     

Sustainability: a Dissent

Abstract:  Broadly conceived and considered in its many usages, sustainability has grave defects as a planning goal, particularly when used by conservationists: it confuses means and ends; it is vague about what is being sustained and who or what is doing the sustaining; it is uninspiring; it is little more than Pinchot-era conservation (and thus ignores the many lessons learned since then); it need not be linked to land, to the land's functioning, or to any ecological science; it need not include a moral component; it is consistent with the view of humans as all-powerful manipulators of the planet; and, in general, it is such a malleable term that its popularity provides only a facade of consensus. When sustainability is defined broadly to include the full range of economic and social aspirations, it poses the particular risk that ecological and biodiversity concerns will be cast aside in favor of more pressing human wants. Given these many defects, the conservation movement should discard the term in favor of a more alluring goal, attentive to nature and its ecological functioning. A sound goal would incorporate and distill the considerable ecological and moral wisdom accumulated since Pinchot's day while giving conservationists the rhetorical tools needed to defend the land against competing pressures. In our view, conservation would be well served by an updated variant of "land health," Aldo Leopold's ecologically grounded goal from the 1940s. Land health as an independent understanding should set the essential terms of how we live and enjoy the earth, providing the framework within which we pursue our many social and economic aims.     

小城镇的生态环境保护

在城镇化不断发展的进程中，小城镇的生态环境日益恶化。分析了小城镇生态环境存在的问题，提出了应采取的生态环境保护规划与对策。     

Concurrency: a system design approach to environmental management and sustainability

The lessons of history indicate that mismanagement of natural resources and the environment often leads to potentially adverse consequences.The increasing interest in economic development,particularly in the developing countries of the world coupled with increasing population pressures and the globalization of economic activity is placing noticeable stresses on the ultimate sustainability of both human and environmental systems.Sustainable development is not a new concept.It has been an area of concern for different elements of society for some time.Yet efforts to understand the implications of sustainable development have not,until recently,been formalized.We have focused singularly on economic development and environmental quality as if they were mutually exclusive.This paper focuses on the concept of concurrency as both a conceptual framework and practicable method of understanding and implementing the ecology and economy of sustainability.     

高锰酸盐指数测定中校正系数K值的变化验证

运用数理统计方法,验证了高锰酸盐指数测定的校正系数K值在4～5h内不会随时间和水样的变化而变化,K值不必每个样品都测定。     

常减压蒸馏装置改造危险因素分析及安全对策

应用危险性预分析法,对一套常减压蒸馏装置扩容改造施工的危险因素进行分析,制定出相应的防范对策,以确保改造工作的安全.     

酸碱度变化对日本三角涡虫生存及再生的影响

用自来水和去离子水配制不同的pH溶液，测定涡虫生存及再生的情况，以及涡虫可承受的pH变化幅度，确定日本三角涡虫对不同酸碱环境的耐受性。结果表明涡虫对酸碱环境的耐受力较强。     

不锈钢薄板拉伸、冲压成形性能的试验研究

采用德国产SCHENCKTREBELRM2 5 0电子万能试验机对SUS3 0 4不锈钢 0 .5mm薄板进行了拉伸试验 ,研究了SUS3 0 4不锈钢薄板的硬化指数 (n值 )、屈服强度 (σs)、极限强度 (σb)、均匀延伸率(δ)等机械性能 ,并分析了SUS3 0 4薄板的冲压成形性能     

浅谈油田开发项目事故风险环境影响和防治措施——以大庆太19区油田开发为例

通过对国内外油田开发的类比事故调查及资料分析,结合大庆太19区油田开采的实际情况,事故风险主要来自于钻井(井下作业)天然气集输管线以及站场等工艺环节,危险其安全的潜在危险因素主要有自然灾害、腐蚀环境、误操作、设备缺陷、施工及人为破坏等同题.在油田开发过程中所发生的事故,不论是人为因素引起的还是自然灾害,其最终结果都是导致原油、天然气或含油污水的泄漏及火灾爆炸事故,并产生不同程度的环境风险,因此采取风险防治措施显得尤为重要.