Discrimination of different social companions in spectacled parrotlets (Forpus conspicillatus): evidence for individual vocal recognition

Individual recognition is generally assumed to be a prerequisite for establishing and maintaining a complex social system. Indeed, there is good evidence that highly social species have complex systems of vocal communication with individual recognition by acoustic cues. In this study, we provide experimental evidence that vocal class and individual recognition is present in a non-passerine bird, the spectacled parrotlet (Forpus conspicillatus). Spectacled parrotlets live in a complex system of social relationships. Soon after fledging, the young establish close sibling relationships which are important for successful socialization, pairing and reproduction. In a series of playback experiments we tested if spectacled parrotlets use contact calls for vocal recognition. The results showed that spectacled parrotlets discriminate between the contact calls of different social categories. Adult birds preferred to respond to the contact calls of their mates. Subadult individuals recognized the contact calls of their siblings. During the period of pair bond formation, the affiliative contacts to the siblings decrease, but the parrotlets continue to respond to the calls of their siblings. This is the first evidence that vocal sibling recognition might outlast the period of strong sibling interaction and extends into the period of pair bond formation. In cases of mate loss or divorce, the acoustic contact to their siblings might facilitate the re-establishment of close sibling relationships. Received: 29 October 1997 / Accepted after revision: 5 April 1998     

Moral Responsibility for Environmental Problems—Individual or Institutional?

The actions performed by individuals, as consumers and citizens, have aggregate negative consequences for the environment. The question asked in this paper is to what extent it is reasonable to hold individuals and institutions responsible for environmental problems. A distinction is made between backward-looking and forward-looking responsibility. Previously, individuals were not seen as being responsible for environmental problems, but an idea that is now sometimes implicitly or explicitly embraced in the public debate on environmental problems is that individuals are appropriate targets for blame when they perform actions that are harmful to the environment. This idea is criticized in this paper. It is argued that instead of blaming individuals for performing actions that are not environmentally friendly we should ascribe forward-looking responsibility to individuals, a notion that focuses more on capacity and resources than causation and blameworthiness. Furthermore, it is important to emphasize that a great share of forward-looking responsibility should also be ascribed to institutional agents, primarily governments and corporations. The urge to ascribe forward-looking responsibility to institutional agents is motivated by the efficiency aim of responsibility distributions. Simply put, if responsibility is ascribed to governments and corporations there is a better chance of creating a society in which the opportunities to act in an environmentally friendly way increase.     

Individual risk analysis of high-pressure natural gas pipelines

Transmission pipelines carrying natural gas are not typically within secure industrial sites, but are routed across land out of the ownership of the pipeline company. If the natural gas is accidentally released and ignited, the hazard distance associated with these pipelines to people and property is known to range from under 20 m for a smaller pipeline at lower pressure to up to over 300 m for a larger pipeline at higher pressure. Therefore, pipeline operators and regulators must address the associated public safety issues.This paper focuses on a method to explicitly calculate the individual risk of a transmission pipeline carrying natural gas. The method is based on reasonable accident scenarios for route planning related to the pipeline's proximity to the surrounding buildings. The minimum proximity distances between the pipeline and buildings are based on the rupture of the pipeline, with the distances chosen to correspond to a radiation level of approximately 32 kW/m². In the design criteria for steel pipelines for high-pressure gas transmission (IGE/TD/1), the minimum building proximity distances for rural areas are located between individual risk values of 10⁻⁵ and 10⁻⁶. Therefore, the risk from a natural gas transmission pipeline is low compared with risk at the building separated minimum distance from chemical industries.     

鄱阳湖沉积物可转化态氮分布特征及其对江湖关系变化的响应

选取不同高程鄱阳湖表层沉积物,通过研究其总可转化态氮与各形态可转化态氮含量及分布特征,试图揭示江湖关系变化导致的水位变化对鄱阳湖沉积物氮潜在释放风险的影响.结果表明:1鄱阳湖表层沉积物总氮(TN)含量在389~3 865 mg·kg-1之间,空间分布上呈"五河"入湖尾闾区湖心区北部湖区的趋势;总可交换态氮含量在319.36~904.56 mg·kg-1之间,占TN的52%,空间分布趋势与TN相同;2鄱阳湖3个湖区沉积物各形态可转化态氮的含量大小排列次序均为:SOEF-N(强氧化剂可提取态氮)≈SAEF-N(强碱可提取态氮)WAEF-N(弱酸可提取态氮)IEF-N(离子交换态氮);3江湖关系变化致使鄱阳湖枯水期沉积物出露时间提前并且延长,进而导致不同高程沉积物可转化态氮(TTN)含量差异明显,3个湖区沉积物可转化态氮含量均表现为枯水期丰水期,高程越高,由于其沉积物出露时间较长,可转化态氮含量较高,即可转化态氮含量12 m~13 m高程沉积物11 m~12 m高程沉积物10m~11 m高程沉积物;4随着高程的增加,沉积物各形态可转化态氮含量都呈现增加的趋势,其中SAEF-N和WAEFN含量及其占总可转化态氮的比例变化幅度较小,而IEF-N和SOEF-N含量以及其占总可转化态氮比例的增幅均较为显著.如果江湖关系进一步变化,枯水期水位继续下降,势必会引起沉积物出露面积增大及出露时间延长,从而导致沉积物TN、可转化态氮以及释放风险较高的氮形态IEF-N和SOEF-N含量的增大,来年丰水期可能会增加鄱阳湖沉积物氮释放风险.     

基于数据包络分析的水污染物排放指标初始分配方法与案例研究

基于数据包络分析(DEA)的点源水污染物排放指标初始分配方法,是将基于DEA的线性规划评价方法进行改进,从而使其适用于评价企业的水环境绩效,并依此进行排污指标初始分配。将非期望产出作为投入指标处理,构造了5输入1输出的规模可变DEA模型,并以南京市280家企业的COD排放指标初始分配为例进行了分析。结果表明,方法的模拟分配结果在公平的基础上,反映了企业的环境效率,效率越高,可得到的COD排放指标也越高,这将对企业治污起到激励作用,分配方法具有一定的可操作性;对案例企业进行分组并实行组内参评,基本可以避免部分极值原始数据对评价结果的影响,得到的COD排放指标分配结果也更为合理。     

Morphology and composition of particles emitted from a port fuel injection gasoline vehicle under real-world driving test cycles

Traffic vehicles, many of which are powered by port fuel injection (PFI) engines, are major sources of particulate matter in the urban atmosphere. We studied particles from the emission of a commercial PFI-engine vehicle when it was running under the states of cold start, hot start, hot stabilized running, idle and acceleration, using a transmission electron microscope and an energy-dispersive X-ray detector. Results showed that the particles were mainly composed of organic, soot, and Ca-rich particles, with a small amount of S-rich and metal-containing particles, and displayed a unimodal size distribution with the peak at 600?nm. The emissions were highest under the cold start running state, followed by the hot start, hot stabilized, acceleration, and idle running states. Organic particles under the hot start and hot stabilized running states were higher than those of other running states. Soot particles were highest under the cold start running state. Under the idle running state, the relative number fraction of Ca-rich particles was high although their absolute number was low. These results indicate that PFI-engine vehicles emit substantial primary particles, which favor the formation of secondary aerosols via providing reaction sites and reaction catalysts, as well as supplying soot, organic, mineral and metal particles in the size range of the accumulation mode. In addition, the contents of Ca, P, and Zn in organic particles may serve as fingerprints for source apportionment of particles from PFI-engine vehicles.     

Morphology, composition, and sources of individual aerosol particles at a regional background site of the YRD, China

Aerosol samples were collected at Lin'an, a background site of Yangtze River Delta(YRD).Morphology, size, composition, and mixing state of individual aerosol particles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy(TEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDS), and the soluble ions of PM_(1.0) were studied by aerosol mass spectrometer(AMS). The daily average AMS mass concentrations of sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium were about 5.8, 8.6, and 5.6 μg/m~3, respectively. Individual aerosol particles were classified into seven types: S-rich, K-rich, organic matter(OM), soot, fly ash, metal, and mineral. S-rich particles were dominant in all size bins, and 51%(by number) of S-rich particles were internally mixed with other particles. The fraction of organic coating particles was 13.7% in morning, 25.2% in afternoon, and 11% in evening, suggesting that the strong photochemical process during afternoon produced more secondary organic aerosols(SOA) on the surface of inorganic particles. Fly ash and metal particles were abundant during the day, suggesting the influence of emissions from coal-fired power plants and steel plants. The results indicate that the intense industrial emissions in the YRD significantly transported to the background areas. PM_(2.5) concentration may be lower in background air than in urban air but complex mixing state of aerosol particles indicates that the long-range transported particles substantially influenced the background air quality.     

基于破产模型的新增建设用地指标分解方法——以湖北省枣阳市为例

传统新增建设用地指标分解方法存在测算指标时视角单一和分解指标时行政力量干预严重等问题。基于公平和效率的思想引入破产模型,以湖北枣阳为研究对象,运用6种破产模型解对其新增建设用地指标进行分解,并创造性地运用有向图博弈理论对各种分解结果进行比较分析。研究结果表明：（1）比例法则和Piniles法则符合“公平优先”主张,适用于在经济相对发达的发展阶段和地区应用均衡发展策略;（2）限制均分损失法则和Talmud法则符合“效率优先”主张,适用于在经济相对落后的发展阶段和地区应用非均衡发展策略;（3）限制平等法则和限制均分收益法则适用于有发展条件的贫困地区应用重点扶持的发展策略。新方法不仅有效规避了传统方法存在的问题,还为发展策略选择提供了多种方案。     

从碳排放权交易角度谈治理兰州市大气污染的应用研究

随着城市的发展,环境污染问题日益突出,碳排放权交易作为《京都议定书》认定的碳交易机制,在解决环境污染问题上发挥了重要作用。在分析配额型碳交易在美国的成功应用的基础上,针对兰州市的污染现状,构建兰州市碳排放权交易制度来治理大气污染：核定兰州市大气环境容量,确定总量控制目标;确定交易单位;确立碳排放权初始分配机制;制定交易规则,建立监管机构;政府监管并进行相应的惩罚。     

Closing the open sea: Development of fishery management in four Icelandic fisheries

The article outlines the development of Iceland's fishery rights and the extension of its territorial waters between the 1950s and the mid‐1970s, whereby Iceland gained exclusive control and use of the marine resources of the waters within 12, later 50, and ultimately 200 nautical miles around the island. The article concentrates on four of Iceland's main fisheries: shrimp, herring, capelin and cod. These four fisheries are discussed separately and in depth, presenting the beginnings and growth of the industry and detailing the development of management practices and the corresponding legislation and regulatory measures. Iceland's initial concern was to gain control over the marine resources surrounding the island, but once this was achieved, the focus of attention shifted to managing first the economic and soon also the ecological aspects of its tremendous resource. Informed mainly by indigenous expertise, Iceland's concern was to limit overfishing, manage its fisheries sustainably both from the economic and ecological points of view, and find the best ways to distribute the revenues from the marine harvest. The article looks at each of the four fisheries to clarify how the individual transferable quota (ITQ) system came into being, how initial quota holdings were allotted, and analyses the circumstances under which the ITQ system became the management tool of choice. For each fishery, the process of regulatory evolution was quite unique. At the same time, there is a common pattern to all the fisheries, which may be summarized as follows. Firstly, serious attempts to reform management practices only got underway when the fishery had collapsed or was close to collapse. Secondly, stakeholders invariably started the process of regulation by limiting access to the fishery. Thirdly, a variety of rules were implemented to allocate rights to participate in the fishery to additional entrants once membership had been closed. Finally, prior to the invention of the ITQ system, prices were used to manage fisheries in Iceland. It may be concluded that the management of fisheries by ITQs may be a historical accident, rather than the end point of a logical evolution.