Cumulative impact assessment in environmental planning: A coastal wetland watershed example

Several theoretical, analytical, and institutional difficulties have impeded the development and application of the assessment of cumulative environmental impacts. Watershed development on coastal wetlands offers an ideal context for evaluating the land disturbance target approach to cumulative impact assessment. A model land use planning system involving a time series approach was developed for Elkhorn Slough in California. The approach included four major components: evaluation of erosion susceptibility, measurement of land disturbance, establishment of a land disturbance target, and a comparison of existing and target land disturbance values. Further research is needed to test the transferability of the approach in a wide range of coastal watersheds and to verify the applicability of the methods to other cumulative impact problems.     

From proposal to decision: Suggestions for tightening up the “NEPA process”

Although the process of documenting compliance with NEPA (the National Environmental Policy Act) requires no drastic revisions, it can be managed more rigorously. Suggestions for revision can be grouped under five major steps: 1) getting a complete proposal from the applicant; 2) getting the decision-making process onto the right decision-making path; 3) modifying the applicant's proposal 4) going down a shorter path through the EA/FONSI (environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact) or through categorical exclusion review; and 5) going down the longer path through the EIS. Step 2 is perhaps the most critical, because there a decision must be made whether to write an EA/FONSI or an EIS, on the basis of whether the proposal would “significantly affect … the … environment.” In the past, this decision has not always been made promptly or rigorously. Accordingly, we suggest that the agency responsible for NEPA compliance should develop a system (a “black box”), consisting of a core group of specialists working with an interdisciplinary team, using sophisticated techniques for modeling impacts and directing both their research and their writing according to the concept of significance. By determining more efficiently and reliably whether the impacts of a proposal would be significant, such an approach would improve management of the total process.     

Inaction levels for the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta (hym.: formicidae): A predator of the boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis (col.: curculionidae)

The density of red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), necessary to limit boll weevil abundance, Anthonomus grandis Boheman (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), below the action level was determined. An inaction level of 0.4 fire ants per shake bucket sample (i.e., four ants per 10 plant terminals) will provide boll weevil control approximately 90% of the time. A dynamic inaction level is also provided. Total mortality of boll weevil developmental stages including eggs through teneral adults averaged 97.9%. Of 100 boll weevil eggs deposited in cotton squares (flower buds), an average of two adults survive of which about half are female. Thus, the net replacement rate per generation (R_o is 1.0 which, in this case, indicates a stable boll weevil population.     

浅析沈阳市高层建筑周边PM_(10)与PM_(2.5)质量浓度对应性

以空气中可吸入颗粒物(PM2.5和PM10)为研究对象,分析了采暖期和非采暖期不同监测点位PM10与PM2.5的相关性。结果表明,采暖期和非采暖期不同高度PM10与PM2.5的相关性均相当明显,可吸入颗粒物中PM2.5占绝大比重;采暖期不同高度PM10与PM2.5的相关系数大于非采暖期,季节变化规律明显。     

阳澄湖浮游植物群落结构与环境因子的典范对应研究

2013年4月（春季）和10月（秋季）对阳澄湖6个点位的浮游植物群落结构进行了调查,共发现浮游植物8门91属184种,其中硅藻门为阳澄湖的主要优势门类,硅藻门中的小环藻属占主要优势种.对六个点位的浮游植物结构组成与9个环境因子的关系进行典范对应分析,结果表明东湖南与中湖北的浮游植物群落结构与其他4个点位差异性较大,pH、高锰酸盐指数、总磷、氨氮、水温是影响浮游植物分布的主要环境因子.     

Plant communities in relation to flooding and soil contamination in a lowland Rhine River floodplain

Using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), relationships were investigated between plant species composition and flooding characteristics, heavy metal contamination and soil properties in a lowland floodplain of the Rhine River. Floodplain elevation and yearly average flooding duration turned out to be more important for explaining variation in plant species composition than soil heavy metal contamination. Nevertheless, plant species richness and diversity showed a significant decrease with the level of contamination. As single heavy metal concentrations seemed mostly too low for causing phytotoxic effects in plants, this trend is possibly explained by additive effects of multiple contaminants or by the concomitant influences of contamination and non-chemical stressors like flooding. These results suggest that impacts of soil contamination on plants in floodplains could be larger than expected from mere soil concentrations. In general, these findings emphasize the relevance of analyzing effects of toxic substances in concert with the effects of other relevant stressors.     

公路交通事故黑点成因的对应分析法

为了便捷获取公路事故黑点的形成原因,应用对应分析构建立事故黑点成因分析模型。该模型设立事故样本和事故影响因素之间的列联表,将列联表中影响变量的状态呈现于二维对应分析散点图中,以直观简洁的形式描述事故样本与影响因素之间的对应关系。进而设定相关系数判定对应分析模型的收敛性,应用点子排除法剔除特殊影响变量,增强了分析结果的鲁棒性。通过G205事故黑点路段(K954+50-K954+900)的实例分析表明,运用对应分析法所建立的模型与算法可以获得公路事故黑点形成的主要和次要因素,准确确定直接原因与根本原因的对应关系。     

Effects of labelled meaning on the affective quality of housing scenes

A series of studies examined the effects of labelled meaning on affective response to housing scenes. Students at Ohio State University assessed their feelings towards imagined housing (public or private) and cities (Memphis, Houston and San Francisco). Expected differences in the affective quality were found. Responses to color photographs of specific housing scenes labelled as either private condominiums or public housing were obtained. Differences in scene-affect as a function of labelled meaning were found. Responses to housing scenes labelled as located in either Memphis, Houston or San Francisco revealed no differences in scene-affect as a function of label meaning. This latter finding was confirmed in a non-repeated measure examination. Differences in the fittingness, potency or relevance of the information provided may account for the pattern of findings.