Changes in Grassland Ecosystem Service Values in the Three-River Headwaters Region,China

[Method] This study aimed to assess the changes in grassland ecosystem Service values in the Three-River Headwaters Region of China, the source of the Yangtze, Yellow （Huang He） and Lantsang （Mekong） rivers. [Method] Biophysical values of four services were monetized within the region, including water regulation, air quality regulation, climate regulation and soil conservation. [Result] The total ESVs were 884.97×10^8 Yuan, 1 302.06×10^8 Yuan and 1 299.49×10^8 Yuan in 2000, 2005 and 2008, respectively. The amount of value per unit area experienced a steep increase from 2000 to 2005（18.10×10^4 Yuan/km2）, and then remained almost unchanged from 2005 to 2008 （-0.31×10^4 Yuan/km2）. The ESV tended to decline from the southeastern to the northwestern. ESV in the eastern and central part increased faster than that in the south-central and western part of the TRHR from 2000 to 2008. It could be seen that the ecosystem condition of grassland in the TRHR improved signifi- cantly over the study period of 2000-2008. [Conelusion] The results provided good information to assess the effectiveness of current ecological protection measures in the TRHR and support regional sustainable management policies.

Assessing the Economic Value of Vernacular Architecture of Mountain Regions Using Contingent Valuation

Human pressure on mountain resources poses certain threats to their natural and man-made environment. Although there are many parameters involved, one of the driving forces behind this situation is the emphasis given so far only to the market value of mountain goods and services, ignoring the true social and environmental costs of using mountain resources. Towards this direction, the use of non-market valuation techniques could prove to be beneficial. Bearing in mind the above remarks, the paper presents an application of the Contingent Valuation Method, which aims at estimating the monetary value of a mountain settlement’s vernacular architecture, namely Metsovo. For this purpose, the survey focuses on Metsovo visitors’ willingness to pay a single annual voluntary contribution to an institution that would be founded in order to undertake all necessary actions required to preserve the town’s traditional character. The results are very promising and indicate that vernacular architecture holds a significant economic value that could justify the implementation of appropriate policies towards the protection of vernacular settlements in mountain areas.

A Method of Catchments Health Assessment under Value-pressure Model and Its Application in Urbanized River Network Area:A Case Study in Shanghai,China

Catchments health assessment is fundamental to effective catchments management. Generally, an assessment method should be selected to reflect both the purpose of assessment and local characteristics. A trial in Shanghai was conducted to test the method for catchments health assessment in urbanized fiver network area. Seven indicators that described four dimensions of river, river network, land use and function, and local feature were used to assess catchments values; while possible change rate of urbanization and industrialization in the next 3 years were chosen for catchments pressure assessment in the value-pressure model. Factors related to catchments classification, indicators measurement and protection priority have been considered in the development strategies for catchments health management. The results showed that value-pressure assessment was applicable in urbanized catchments health management, particularly when both human and catchments had multiple demands. As a result of over 30-year rapid urbanization, more than 70% of Shanghai fiver network area was still in a healthy condition with high catchments values, among them, 39.3% was under high pressure. Poor water quality, simplified river system and weakened local feature of fiver pattern had largely affected catchments health in Shanghai. Lack of long-term monitoring data would seriously restrict the development and validity of catchments health assessment.

Synthetic security assessment for incomplete interval-valued information system

In order to understand the security conditions of the incomplete interval-valued information system （IllS） and acquire the corresponding solution of security problems, this paper proposes a multi-attribute group decision- making （MAGDM） security assessment method based on the technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution （TOPSIS）. For IllS with preference information, combining with dominance-based rough set approach （DRSA）, the effect of incomplete interval-valued information on decision results is discussed. For the imprecise judgment matrices, the security attribute weight can be obtained using Gibbs sampling. A numerical example shows that the proposed method can acquire some valuable knowledge hidden in the incomplete interval-valued information. The effectiveness of the proposed method in the synthetic security assessment for IIIS is verified.

Economic Value Evaluation of Wetland Service in Yeyahu Wetland Nature Reserve,Beijing

Based on multi-source data,this paper evaluated the economic value of ecological services in the Yeyahu Wetland Nature Reserve,Beijing,China.The ecological services of wetland included gas regulation,water quality im-provement,biodiversity maintenance,erosion control,water supply,recreational opportunity,raw material supply and existence value.Multiple conventional evaluation methods were used to calculate the value of eight wetland services.The results showed that significant values came from biodiversity maintenance and recreational opportunity.The main reasons were as follows.Firstly,Yeyahu Wetland Nature Reserve was the habitat for migrant birds,and government had payed more efforts to protect precious birds.Secondly,the population is large in Beijing.People enjoyed going outside and enjoyed the natural and artificial wetland scenes.At the same time,most people were prepared to pay for wetland conservation.The decline of vegetation cover made the economic value of erosion control the lowest.While the shrink of water resource and the deteriorative water quality caused the economic value of water supply lower.The evaluation results could help decision-makers understand the present status of the Yeyahu Wetland Nature Reserve and provide a scientific basis for strategic decision.

Numerical Simulation and Probabilistic Hazard Assessment of Tephra Fallout at Jinlongdingzi Volcano,Longgang Volcanic Field in Jilin Province

Tephra fallout is an important type of hazard caused by explosive volcanic eruption, and numerical simulation has become a fast and effective approach to assess the dispersion and deposition of tephra fallout. According to the improved 2D diffusion model of Suzuki （ 1983）, we edited a tephra diffusion program that can run in the Windows system. Based on previous data, we simulated the diffusion scope of the Jinlongdingzi volcanic eruption, which is the latest eruption in the Longgang volcanic cluster. The simulated results are in good agreement with the results from measurement in situ, indicating that the model is reliable and the parameters used in the model are suitable. By using wind profiles of ten years, 7, 021 simulations under different wind profiles were carried out, and then probabilistic hazard maps of tephra fallout were constructed for tephra thickness thresholds, lcm and 0.5cm. This study can provide an important scientific basis for volcanic hazard analysis, risk mitigation plans and countermeasures in the Longgang volcanic area.

Economic Value of Crop Productivity Biodiversity in ljebu Ode Agricultural Zone of Ogun State, Nigeria

Biological diversity involves genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity. Genetic diversity denotes the variation within species in the functional units of heredity present in any plant or animal, microbial or other origin of living things. Species diversity encompasses the variety of species--whether wild or domesticated, within a geographical area. This study assesses the economic value of crop productivity biodiversity in Ijebu Ode agricultural zone of Ogun State. The authors proposed a dynamic model of market equilibrium with vertical product differentiation that enabled us to take into account the economic consequences of respondents＇ monthly income and species crop of three different communities. The objectives of the study are to identify the personal and socio-economic characteristics of farmers and determine the importance of biodiversity in the study area using Simpson＇s Index. The result showed that 52.50% were male, majority （32.50%） were within the age range of 31 and 40 years old, 44.17% were married, 62.50% had household size of 6-10, and majority （45.83%） had secondary education while 46.67% had up to 20 years farming experience. In conclusion, the authors find that effective factors play an important role in explaining the support for biodiversity conservation, particularly when people do not have specific knowledge about species; while ecological-scientific considerations appear when people are well-informed.

中国联通(600050) “空军司令”欲变身并购先锋

在业绩欠佳的影响下,联通成为近期的空军司令,作者在从电信重组、公司估值区间、2月运营数据及2005年前景预期等几个方面对联通进行解剖,美国四大电信并购案例显示:被收购资产在收购协议签订之前均出现股价大幅推高的走势。且联通面临3G提供时间差的机遇,2006年增长可期,目前资产、用户价值被低估。