Rethinking assessment of success of mitigation strategies for elephant-induced crop damage

Crop damage is the most common impact of negative interactions between people and elephants and poses a significant threat to rural livelihoods and conservation efforts. Numerous approaches to mitigate and prevent crop damage have been implemented throughout Africa and Asia. Despite the documented high efficacy of many approaches, losses remain common, and in many areas, damage is intensifying. We examined the literature on effectiveness of crop-damage-mitigation strategies and identified key gaps in evaluations. We determined there is a need to better understand existing solutions within affected communities and to extend evaluations of effectiveness beyond measurement of efficacy to include rates of and barriers to adoption. We devised a conceptual framework for evaluating effectiveness that incorporates the need for increased emphasis on adoption and can be used to inform the design of future crop-damage mitigation assessments for elephants and conflict species more widely. The ability to prevent crop loss in practice is affected by both the efficacy of a given approach and rates of uptake among target users. We identified the primary factors that influence uptake as local attitudes, sustainability, and scalability and examined each of these factors in detail. We argue that even moderately efficacious interventions may make significant progress in preventing damage if widely employed and recommend that wherever possible scientists and practitioners engage with communities to build on and strengthen existing solutions and expertise. When new approaches are required, they should align with local attitudes and fit within limitations on labor, financial requirements, and technical capacity.     

Effects of calcination temperature on physicochemical property and activity of CuSO4/TiO2 ammonia-selective catalytic reduction catalysts

CuSO_4/TiO_2 catalysts with high catalytic activity and excellent resistant to SO_2 and H_2 O,were thought to be promising catalysts used in Selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides by NH_3.The performance of catalysts is largely affected by calcination temperature.Here,effects of calcination temperature on physicochemical property and catalytic activity of CuSO_4/TiO_2 catalysts were investigated in depth.Catalyst samples calcined at different temperatures were prepared first and then physicochemical properties of the catalyst were characterized by N2 adsorption-desorption,X-ray diffraction,thermogravimetric analysis,Raman spectra,Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy,temperature-pro grammed desorption of NH_3,temperature-programmed reduction of H_2 and in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy.Results revealed that high calcination temperature had three main effects on the catalyst.First,sintering and anatase transform into rutile with increase of calcination temperature,causing a decrement of specific surface area.Second,decomposition of CuSO_4 under higher calcination temperature,resulting in disappears of Br(?)nsted acid sites(S-OH),which had an adverse effect on surface acidity.Third,CuO from the decomposition of CuSO_4 changed surface reducibility of the catalyst and favored the process of NH_3 oxidation to nitrogen oxides(NO_x).Thus,catalytic activity of the catalyst calcined under high temperatures(≥600℃) decreased largely.     

Microbiological characteristics in a zero-valent iron reactive barrier

Zero-valent iron (Fe⁰)-based permeable reactive barriertreatment has been generating great interest for passivegroundwater remediation, yet few studies have paid particularattention to the microbial activity and characteristics withinand in the vicinity of the Fe⁰-barrier matrix. The presentstudy was undertaken to evaluate the microbial population andcommunity composition in the reducing zone of influence byFe⁰ corrosion in the barrier at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plantsite. Both phospholipid fatty acids and DNA analyses were usedto determine the total microbial population and microbialfunctional groups, including sulfate-reducing bacteria,denitrifying bacteria, and methanogens, in groundwater andsoil/iron core samples. A diverse microbial community wasidentified in the strongly reducing Fe⁰ environment despitea relatively high pH condition within the Fe⁰ barrier (up topH 10). In comparison with those found in the backgroundsoil/groundwater samples, the enhanced microbial populationranged from 1 to 3 orders of magnitude and appeared to increase from upgradient of the barrier to downgradient soil. Inaddition, microbial community composition appeared to change overtime, and the bacterial types of microorganismsincreased consistently as the barrier aged. DNA analysisindicated the presence of sulfate-reducing and denitrifyingbacteria in the barrier and its surrounding soil. However, theactivity of methanogens was found to be relatively low,presumably as a result of the competition by sulfate/metal-reducing bacteria and denitrifying bacteria because of the unlimited availability of sulfate and nitrate in the site groundwater. Results of this study provide evidenceof a diverse microbial population within and in the vicinity ofthe iron barrier, although the important roles of microbial activity, either beneficially or detrimentally, on the longevityand enduring efficiency of the Fe⁰ barriers are yet to be evaluated.     

楔横轧轴肩的成形曲面的设计

此文分析在二辊楔横轧中轧制各类轴肩的过程。在假想工件轴端固定的图上确定楔侧面截面轮廓形状,再通过叠加轴向刚性移动量确定各截面实际位置,比较直观简便地设计出轧制轴肩的辊面上的成形曲面。最后归纳了设计步骤。     

绿色贸易壁垒若干问题的探讨

分析了国际贸易中绿色贸易壁垒的成因，即环境问题的全球化、社会化以及西方国家第三次贸易保护主义浪潮的兴起；介绍了这种新兴的技术性壁垒的基本形式，包括环境标准和法规、环境标志制度及其门槛提高、成本内在化与绿色补贴、包装的环保要求等；最后对绿色贸易壁垒的一些特点作了客观性的评价。     

无顺市水污染物总量分配探讨

根据抚顺市地表水系和水域功能区划的分布情况，采用了定额达标分配、治理费用最小，及按现有排污总量进行达标分配的方法对水污染物进行总量分配，从而对减少污染物排放，控制水体污染提供了技术支持。     

淮河中游地区水环境功能区划研究

从地表水质现状出发，寻求有利经济结构调整、重大区域开发规划布局与水质目标管理的科学水环境功能区划方案，为实施水污染物排放总量控制，改善地表水质提供技术支持。     

ACF的结构及其滤材特性的研究

根据活性炭纤维与颗粒状活性炭的平行实验，对比了ＡＣＦ与ＧＡＣ的物化特性和基本结构，以说明ＡＣＦ作为新型环境功能材料的特点，在实验室建立的流动法测定材料吸附特性的系统中，对ＡＣＦ在不同流量下对不同上游浓度污染气体（ＮＨ３）的吸附性能进行了测定，获得了ＡＣＦ的穿透曲线，对其吸附性能与吸附床流量和上游浓度进行了相关分析，并对以ＡＣＦ为滤料的空气过滤器的除污性能进行了测试。     

城市地铁暗挖施工地层变形机理及控制实践

笔者结合深圳地铁一期工程的某些暗挖标段工程及地质条件 ,在土层性质试验研究的基础上 ,深入分析了地层大变形机理及其主要影响因素 ,由此确定了地层大变形控制的原则和技术措施。在施工中 ,应用地层变形控制原则及相应的综合技术措施后 ,使地层变形大幅度降低 ,满足了地表环境保护的要求 ,取得了预期的效果     

山林地表慢渗系统处理农村生活污水厂尾水研究

利用山区污水处理厂周边森林植被构建慢速渗滤污水处理系统,用来处理山区农村生活污水厂尾水。结果表明,慢渗系统能够深度净化污水尾水,对COD_(Cr)、NH_3-N、NO_3-N、TN、TP的平均去除率分别为23.8%、40.2%、14.3%、11.3%和23.6%。并且土层越深,COD_(Cr)、TN、TP浓度越低,相应的去除率越高,而NO_3-N、TN去除率则呈降低趋势;山体坡度越大,COD_(Cr)、氨氮浓度有升高趋势,硝态氮、TN、TP有降低趋势;而坡长越大,COD_(Cr)、NH_3-N、NO_3-N、TN浓度有降低趋势,TP有升高趋势。此外,植被类型对水样化学性质有一定影响,竹林更利于COD_(Cr)、NH_3-N、TP浓度的降低,针阔混交林更利于NO_3-N、TN浓度的降低。