Lithium extraction from salt lake brines with high magnesium/lithium ratio: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The demand for lithium is growing rapidly with the increase in electric vehicles, batteries and electronic equipments. Lithium can be extracted from brines, yet...     

How does population structure affect pollutant discharge in China? Evidence from an improved STIRPAT model

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - China is the most populous country in the world, and the pollution caused by the excessive population should not be underestimated. In recent years,...     

Difference in the net value of ecological services between natural and artificial forests in China

Land degradation is a global problem that seriously threatens human society. However, in China and elsewhere, ecological restoration still largely relies on a traditional approach that focuses only on ecological factors and ignores socioeconomic factors. To improve the effectiveness of ecological restoration and maximize its economic and ecological benefits, a more efficient approach is needed that provides support for policy development and land management and thereby promotes environmental conservation. We devised a framework for assessing the value of ecosystem services that remain after subtracting costs, such as the opportunity costs, costs of forest protection, and costs for the people who are affected by the program; that is, the net value of ecosystem services (NVES). To understand the difference between the value of a resource and the net value of the ecosystem service it provides, we used data on VES, timber sales, and afforestation costs from China's massive national afforestation programs to calculate the net value of forest ecosystem services in China. Accounting for the abovementioned costs revealed an NVES of ¥6.1 × 10¹² for forests in 2014, which was 35.9% less than the value calculated without accounting for costs. As a result, the NVES associated with afforestation was 55.9% less than the NVES of natural forests. In some regions, NVES was negative because of the huge costs of human-made plantations, high evapotranspiration rates (thus, high water opportunity costs), and low forest survival rates. To maximize the ecological benefits of conservation, it is necessary to account for as many costs as possible so that management decisions can be based on NVES, thereby helping managers choose projects that maximize both economic and ecological benefits.     

A fragment constant QSAR model for evaluating the EC50 values of organic chemicals to Daphnia magna.

The quantitative relationship between the median effective concentration (EC50) of organic chemicals to Daphnia magna and the number of molecular fragments was investigated based on experimental EC50 values for 217 chemicals derived from the literature. A fragment constant model was developed based on a multivariate linear regression between the number of fragments and the logarithmically transformed reciprocal values of EC50. Functional correction factors were introduced into the model. The model was verified using an independent set of randomly selected data. The mean residual of the final model was 0.4 log-units. The robustness of the model was discussed based on the results of three jackknife tests.     

灰色协调度模型在产业用水系统分析中的应用

揭示产业用水系统的时空动态发展规律，探讨其内部的协调关系，是开展节水型社会建设规划，实现水资源可持续利用的关键。然而，目前对产业用水系统的协调性分析还缺乏较为有效的理论和方法。以往在利用协调度模型进行用水系统有序度研究时，通常采用两段叙述的线性分段函数表示，较不适用于描述产业用水系统内部要素的非线性结构。因此，针对产业用水系统的特性，利用灰关联原理建立有序度函数，以建立更适于用水系统分析的灰色协调度模型。利用该模型对上海市1997~2005年产业用水系统进行实证研究，结果显示：上海市产业用水系统基本有序，发展比较协调，其用水综合效益较大，但距离最优状态尚有潜力可挖；其中，农业用水子系统的发展较为欠缺，在未来用水规划中应予以重视。     

Processes involved in uptake and release of nitrogen dioxide from soil and building stones into the atmosphere

Atmospheric NO₂ was taken up by samples of various soils and building stones. The NO₂ uptake rate constants were highest in soil samples taken during the summer months. However, the NO₂ uptake rate constants of the soils and building stones were not significantly correlated with any of the following variables: moisture, pH, ammonium, nitrite, or nitrate. NO₂ uptake by soil and stone was not abolished by autoclaving indicating a chemical uptake process. NO₂ uptake by acidic and air-dry soils and stones resulted in nearly stoichiometric reduction of NO₂ to NO. This reduction was enhanced by the addition of ferrous iron and was further enhanced by incubation under 1 ppmv SO₂. The results suggest that NO₂ reduction may be coupled to oxidation of ferrous to ferric iron which may be reduced again by atmospheric SO₂ thus regenerating the ferrous iron content of the soil or stone. Conversion of NO₂ to NO was not observed in neutral or/and moist soils and stones. NO₂ was also taken up by purified and sterilized quartz sand moistend with water. This uptake was enhanced by addition of humic material but not by addition of bacteria which both had been extracted from genuine soil. Under most conditions, only uptake but no release of NO₂ was observed. However, NO₂ was released in air-dry soils that were heated to 45–65°C, or in ammonium-fertilized soil or stone that was drying up at room temperature. Under the latter conditions mimicking field practice, the NO₂ release reached rates that were similar to the NO release rates.     

长江三峡地区坡地发育初步研究

坡地发育是地貌学研究的基本问题之一。三峡地区坡地发育的研究对三峡库岸稳定性的评估和三峡移民的土地开发具有十分重要的意义。首先从概括坡地发育的研究进展，阐述科学家们对坡地发育的不同看法入手，引出三峡地区坡地发育的特殊性。初步研究三峡地区的坡地发育具有分段式分进的特点，包括中山峰陡坡的剥蚀后退过程，山顶缓坡的风化剥蚀夷平的过程，上段斜坡的片流坡地侵蚀过程，下段陡坡的剥坡后退过程，山麓堆积缓坡的剥蚀过程等。通过分析三峡地区坡地的五种坡段的成因、现状、发展趋势以及它们对三峡库区的稳定性和三峡移民的土地开发的影响，预测未来的三峡库岸，大部分为剥蚀陡坡，部分为崩塌滑坡陡坡，三峡沿岸城镇开发建设的重点将是库岸有坡地的防护工程。     

Study on the Balance of Agricultural Water and Land Resources on Ningxia Plain

The article puts forward the process and means of regional water and land balance research, and then from two scenarios which are the balances under natural regulation and human intervention, calculated and analysed the balance between water and land on Ningxia Plain. For the balance under natural regulation named farmland water balance, using farmland water resource balance equation, the research estimated the monthly farmland＂ water balance of 8 major crops for all of the 12 counties on Ningxia Plain in the period of 1960-2001; for the balance under human intervention, the research estimated land-use water balance equation of the counties in 2000, and calculated the balance between land use and water resources including irrigating water of all the 12 counties on Ningxia Plain. Results showed that ①precipitation can not meet the water demand of the crops for growth and development on Ningxia Plain, and water shortage is the primary character of farmland water balance under natural regulation. ②the diversity of water and land balance of different counties is distinctly influenced by the crop structure, water quantity for irrigation and irrigation level. ③Irrigation water could meet the crop water demand on Ningxia Plain in 2000, but there was not much space to expand irrigating cultivated land.