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.     

Endocrine disruption of water and sediment extracts in a non-radioactive dot blot/RNAse protection-assay using isolated hepatocytes of rainbow trout

Goal, Scope and Background In order to evaluate the estrogenic activity of sediments and XAD water extracts of selected sites of the catchment area of the River Neckar, a river system in Southern Germany, an integrative assessment approach was used to assess the ecological hazard potential of endocrine-disrupting compounds in sediment and water. Methods The approach is based on estrogen receptor-mediated vitellogenin synthesis induced in isolated hepatocytes of rainbow trout and quantified in a non-radioactive dot blot/RNAse protection-assay in parallel to comprehensive chemical analyses of estrogenic substances. Results and Discussion Numerous investigated extracts revealed an estrogen activity comparable to that of the positive control (1 nM 17?-estradiol corresponding to 270 ng/L in the test medium). Based on a concentration factor of 30 in the extracts and a recovery of XAD resins of approximately 80 %, 17?-estradiol equivalent concentrations between 20 and 26.7 ng/L could be calculated downstream of a sewage treatment plant (< 0.1 ng/L for a reference site). A comparison of the bioassay-derived Bio-TEQs (toxicity equivalents) and the Chem-TEQs revealed a high correlation with a Pearson coefficient of 0.85, indicating that the same ranking of the samples could be obtained with respect to the endocrine disrupting potential with both chemical and bioanalytical analysis. However, the TEQ concentrations computed from chemical analyses were significantly lower than the bioassay-derived TEQ concentrations. In fact, in none of the samples, more than 14 % of the vitellogenin-inducing potency could be attributed to the substances (steroids, alkylphenols, bisphenol A, diethylstilbestrol) analyzed. A comparison of the endocrine disrupting potential of sediments extracted by the solvents acetone and methanol revealed lower biological effects for acetone-extracted samples. Possible reasons may be a masking of endocrine effects in acetone extracts by cytotoxicity, a low extraction efficiency of the solvent acetone, or anti-estrogen potencies of some extracted sediment compounds. Using a mass balance approach, the contribution of the compounds analyzed chemically (Chem-TEQs) to the total endocrine activity (Bio-TEQs) was calculated. Based on the very low detection limits, particularly of the steroids with their high TEF factors, results revealed that a calculation of the Chem-TEQs is associated with considerable scale inaccuracy: Whereas only 7-15 % of the biological effectiveness (Bio-TEQs) could be explained by endocrine substances identified above the detection limits, the assumption of concentrations slightly below the given detection limits would result in a significant over estimation (137-197 %) of the Bio-TEQs. Even the interassay variation of the dot blot assay with different fish donors for primary hepatocyte (factor 2 - 2.5) is relatively low, when compared to the large range of the Chem-TEQ concentrations (factor 20) obtained when applying different modes of calculation. Conclusions and Outlook Overall, only a minor portion of the endocrine activity detected by bioassays could be linked to compounds identified by chemical analysis. In vitro assays for assessment of endocrine activities are useful as sensitive integrating methods that provide quantitative estimates of the total activity of particular receptor-mediated responses. Although discrepancies may also result from different bioanalytical approaches, it is overall likely that bioanalytical and not chemical analytical approaches give the correct estimate of endocrine disrupting potencies in environmental samples. As a conclusion, assessment of endocrine disruption based on chemical analysis alone does not appear sufficient and further research into the spectrum of substances with potential endocrine activity as well as into additive or even synergistic effects in complex environmental samples is urgently needed.     

A Note on the Use of Conservation Practices in U.S. Agriculture

This article measures the effect of an increase in productivityattributable to an increase in soil organic carbon associated with theincrease in the use of conservation practices in agriculture in theUnited States. Both the direct and indirect effects are calibrated. Theanalytical approach used consists of a dynamic computable generalequilibrium model composed of 14 producing sectors, 10 consumingsectors, seven household categories classified by income, and agovernment. The results suggest that the impact of a change inproductivity is an increase in output over a six year period starting in1998 in field crops. The most significant impact is felt in thelivestock sector. This is because field crops are a major input in theproduction of livestock. The food processing sector also exhibits arelatively large increase because of the increase in inputs of both fieldcrops and livestock. Manufacturing output increases primarily becauseoverall investment rises and most investment utilizes manufacturinggoods. The other producing sectors are generally unaffected by theincrease in agricultural production due to an increase in soil organiccarbon. Coincident with the increase in the production of field cropsis a relatively large decrease in the price of field crops. Othernoticeable price reductions occur in the livestock sector and the foodprocessing sector. For the consuming sectors, the consumption offood and alcohol and tobacco increase but consumption in all of theother sectors remains basically unchanged. Prices in the food andalcohol and tobacco sectors decline by about 1% while theprices in the other sectors remain static. Household welfare increasesin the aggregate by only 0.1% with this increase occurringuniformly across all household categories. Revenue received by thegovernment increases a modest 2% in response to an increase inoutput and, hence, an increase in taxes paid. The results indicate thatthere are significant production benefits for several sectors that can berealized by an increase in the use of conservation practices inagricultural production which, in turn, enhances soil organic carbon.There are a number of policy options available to promote the use ofconservation practices. These include education and technicalassistance, financial assistance, research and development, landretirement, and regulation and taxes.     

Small mammals as indicators of short-term and long-term disturbance in mixed prairie

Disturbance by military maneuvers over short and long time scales may have differential effects on grassland communities. We assessed small mammals as indicators of disturbance by military maneuvers in a mixed prairie in southern Oklahoma USA. We examined sites on two soil series, Foard and Lawton, across a gradient of disturbance intensity. A MANOVA showed that abundance of small mammals was associated (p = 0.03) with short-term (cover of vehicle tracks) disturbance but was not associated (p = 0.12) with long-term (loss of soil organic carbon, SOC) disturbance intensity. At the individual species level, Sigmodon hispidus (cotton rat) and Peromyscus maniculatus (deer mouse) occurred across all levels of disturbance and in both soil types. Only P. maniculatus abundance changed (p < 0.01) with short-term disturbance and increased by about one individual per 5% of additional track-cover. Abundance of P. maniculatus also increased (p = 0.04) by about three individuals per 1% increase in soil carbon. Chaetodipus hispidus (hispid pocket mouse) and Reithrodontomys fulvescens (fulvous harvest mouse) only occurred in single soil types limiting their potential as more general indicators. Abundance of P. maniculatus was positively related to shifts in plant species composition and likely reflected changes in vegetation structure (i.e. litter depth) and forage availability resulting from disturbance. Peromyscus maniculatus may be a useful biological indicator of ecosystem change because it responded predictably to both long-term and short-term disturbance and, when coupled with soil, plant, and disturbance history variables, can reveal land condition trends.     

Soil and vegetation carbon stocks in Brazilian Western Amazonia: relationships and ecological implications for natural landscapes

The relationships between soils attributes, soil carbon stocks and vegetation carbon stocks are poorly know in Amazonia, even at regional scale. In this paper, we used the large and reliable soil database from Western Amazonia obtained from the RADAMBRASIL project and recent estimates of vegetation biomass to investigate some environmental relationships, quantifying C stocks of intact ecosystem in Western Amazonia. The results allowed separating the western Amazonia into 6 sectors, called pedo-zones: Roraima, Rio Negro Basin, Tertiary Plateaux of the Amazon, Javari-Juruá-Purus lowland, Acre Basin and Rondonia uplands. The highest C stock for the whole soil is observed in the Acre and in the Rio Negro sectors. In the former, this is due to the high nutrient status and high clay activity, whereas in the latter, it is attributed to a downward carbon movement attributed to widespread podzolization and arenization, forming spodic horizons. The youthful nature of shallow soils of the Javari-Juruá-Purus lowlands, associated with high Al, results in a high phytomass C/soil C ratio. A similar trend was observed for the shallow soils from the Roraima and Rondonia highlands. A consistent east–west decline in biomass carbon in the Rio Negro Basin sector is associated with increasing rainfall and higher sand amounts. It is related to lesser C protection and greater C loss of sandy soils, subjected to active chemical leaching and widespread podzolization. Also, these soils possess lower cation exchangeable capacity and lower water retention capacity. Zones where deeply weathered Latosols dominate have a overall pattern of high C sequestration, and greater than the shallower soils from the upper Amazon, west of Madeira and Negro rivers. This was attributed to deeper incorporation of carbon in these clayey and highly pedo-bioturbated soils. The results highlight the urgent need for refining soil data at an appropriate scale for C stocks calculations purposes in Amazonia. There is a risk of misinterpreting C stocks in Amazonia when such great pedological variability is not taken into account.     

Mega-Development Trends in the Amazon: Implications for Global Change

This paper describes four global-change phenomena that are having major impacts on Amazonian forests. The first is accelerating deforestation and logging. Despite recent government initiatives to slow forest loss, deforestation rates in Brazilian Amazonia have increased from 1.1 million ha yr^–1 in the early 1990s, to nearly 1.5 million ha yr^–1 from 1992–1994, and to more than 1.9 million ha yr^–1 from 1995–1998. Deforestation is also occurring rapidly in some other parts of the Amazon Basin, such as in Bolivia and Ecuador, while industrialized logging is increasing dramatically in the Guianas and central Amazonia.The second phenomenon is that patterns of forest loss and fragmentation are rapidly changing. In recent decades, large-scale deforestation has mainly occurred in the southern and eastern portions of the Amazon — in the Brazilian states of Pará, Maranho, Rondônia, Acre, and Mato Grosso, and in northern Bolivia. While rates of forest loss remain very high in these areas, the development of major new highways is providing direct conduits into the heart of the Amazon. If future trends follow past patterns, land-hungry settlers and loggers may largely bisect the forests of the Amazon Basin.The third phenomenon is that climatic variability is interacting with human land uses, creating additional impacts on forest ecosystems. The 1997/98 El Niño drought, for example, led to a major increase in forest burning, with wildfires raging out of control in the northern Amazonian state of Roraima and other locations. Logging operations, which create labyrinths of roads and tracks in forsts, are increasing fuel loads, desiccation and ignition sources in forest interiors. Forest fragmentation also increases fire susceptibility by creating dry, fire-prone forest edges.Finally, recent evidence suggests that intact Amazonian forests are a globally significant carbon sink, quite possibly caused by higher forest growth rates in response to increasing atmospheric CO₂ fertilization. Evidence for a carbon sink comes from long-term forest mensuration plots, from whole-forest studies of carbon flux and from investigations of atmospheric CO₂ and oxygen isotopes. Unfortunately, intact Amazonian forests are rapidly diminishing. Hence, not only is the destruction of these forests a major source of greenhouse gases, but it is reducing their intrinsic capacity to help buffer the rapid anthropogenic rise in CO₂.     

Terpenes and phenolics in response to nitrogen fertilization: A test of the carbon/nutrient balance hypothesis

Nitrogen fertilization resulted in a linear increase in the growth ofAbies grandis seedlings, but linear decrease in foliage concentrations of phenolic compounds. These data are consistent with the inverse relationship between growth and production of carbonbased secondary chemicals predicted by the carbon/nutrient balance (CNB) hypothesis. However, in contrast to predictions of the CNB hypothesis, nitrogen fertilization had no effect on foliage terpene concentrations. The results suggest that not all carbon-based chemicals respond in the same manner to environmental variation, and that the carbon/nutrient balance hypothesis does not adequately explain all patterns of environmentally-induced variation in secondary metabolism.     

基于多行业DSGE模型的中国碳减排政策效应

碳达峰和碳中和目标的提出,标志着中国低碳减排进入新的阶段,从国家层面的宏观政策包括各个行业的行业政策都在推行各种低碳减排政策,从行业异质性视角动态分析碳减排政策的效应具有重要的学术和实践意义。为此,构建一个包含环境外部性和碳减排政策的多行业动态随机一般均衡模型,研究许可证交易和碳税两种政策情景下,行业技术冲击、税收政策和减排政策调整冲击对宏观经济、环境和行业排放的动态效应。模拟发现:许可证交易政策情景下,行业技术冲击具有明显的结构性效应,覆盖行业企业减排率上升,排放下降,而未覆盖行业排放随产出上升而上升,而在碳税政策情景下,这种差异并不明显。政府采用盯住总排放波动的碳减排政策能够有效地减少冲击带来的福利损失,提高对维持排放水平的关注程度能够减少相应的福利损失。建议政府有效地权衡经济增长和改善环境二者之间的关系,在不造成大的负面经济影响的前提下,加大减排政策力度,推广和扩大碳交易试点范围,尽快在全国建立统一的碳市场。制定碳减排政策时,考虑碳减排政策收入的返还机制,配以减税的财政政策以刺激经济,缓和减排政策的负面影响。政府应根据排放水平顺周期地动态调整碳减排政策的强度,适当提高对维持排放水平的关注程度。     

Research on whole life cycle carbon emission model of typical buildings

Based on the theory of life cycle assessment (LCA), this article analyzes the influence factors on carbon emissions from residential buildings. In the article, the life cycle of residential buildings has been divided into five stages: building materials production period, construction period, operation and maintenance period, demolition period, and solid waste recycle and disposal period. Based on this definition, the authors provide a theoretical model to calculate carbon emissions of residential building life cycle. In particular, the factor of human activities was introduced in the calculation of carbon emissions from the buildings. Furthermore, the authors put forward a model for calculation with the unit of carbon emissions for per-capita living space.     

中国低碳城市试点的政策设计逻辑

政策试点是中国国家治理策略体系的重要组成部分,是中国政府遵循“由点到面”逻辑以试验手段制定政策的一种常规性工作方法。低碳城市试点是中国应对气候变化战略的重要组成部分,通过选择不同类型、不同发展阶段、不同资源禀赋的地区开展试点,探索经济增长与碳排放脱钩的模式。现有文献侧重低碳城市建设的内涵、建设模式与路径、温室气体的核算方法、政策手段、峰值研究与达峰路径、效果评估等,有力地支持了低碳城市建设决策,但对于低碳城市试点的政策设计鲜有涉及。本文从政策过程理论、央地关系两个视角,结合府际学习与竞争关系,建构了中国低碳城市政策“试点–扩散”机制与政府行为的分析框架。中国的低碳城市试点具有探索型开拓性、综合型专业性、授权型自主性的特点,结合三批低碳城市试点的文件要求和实践进展,从政策试点的选点、设计、执行、监督和评估五个方面对于中国低碳城市试点进行了系统的梳理分析。相较于经济领域的其他政策试点,低碳城市政策试点具有弱激励弱约束的政策环境。地方政府基于自身的学习能力和领导力,在政策创新方面表现出争先、自主、效仿和守成四种行为特征,并以杭州、深圳、镇江、成都四个表率城市做了实证。政策“试点-扩散”的过程从本质上讲是中国政策创新与扩散的过程,可能在现实中需要往复多次进行,中国已陆续开展的三批低碳城市试点工作就遵循这样的政策逻辑。试点的意义是试出问题、解决问题、积累经验。从前三批试点城市评估结果来看,试点城市在低碳发展目标设定、转型路径探索和低碳发展动力转换等方面与社会的预期仍有差距,为此本文提出了推进低碳城市建设的四点建议:一是激发城市低碳发展的内生动力;二是完善低碳城市试点的科学论证机制;三是建立激励与约束并举的长效机制;四是强化市场公平竞争的政策导向。