Establishing environmental background values of selected trace elements and environmental quality assessment of fi negrained sediments in the Jiaozhou Bay catchment,China

With the development of economy,the impact of human activities on ecological environment is increasing,and environmental protection work is important.Trace elements(Co,Ni,Cu,Pb,Zn,Cd,Cr,and Sc)in surface fi ne-grained sediment samples from the Jiaozhou Bay catchment were selected to evaluate their 2015 environmental background values and the environmental quality.Using statistical analysis,the environmental background values(ranges)of Sc,Co,Ni,Cu,Pb,Zn,Cd,and Cr were calculated,being 13.1(10.8-15.4),12.4(8.6-16.2),32.0(22.9-41.2),29.6(13.5-64.9),24.1(13.0-44.6),77.6(38.5-156.5),0.07(0.02-0.20),and 82.5(66.5-104.0)mg/kg,respectively.The enrichment factor,contamination factor,and pollution load index were used to evaluate the pollution status of the Jiaozhou Bay catchment.The environmental background values of most elements are higher than those of the upper continental crust and lower than those of global shale.At present,the pollution in the eastern Jiaozhou Bay is much higher than that in the western part.The results shall be helpful for future management for trace element pollution monitoring in the Jiaozhou Bay catchment.

Reactor Network Synthesis for Waste Reduction Using Instantaneous Value of Environmental Index

Waste reduction is gaining importance as the preferred means of pollution prevention. Reactor network synthesis is one of the key parts of chemical process synthesis. In this study, a geometric approach to reactor network synthesis for waste reduction is presented. The bases of the approach are potential environment impact （PEI） rate-law expression, PEI balance and the instantaneous value of environmental indexes. The instantaneous value can be derived using the PEI balance, PEI rate-law expression and the environmental indexes. The optimal reactor networks with the minimum generation of potential environment impact are geometrically derived by comparing with areas of the corresponding regions. From the case study involving complex reactions, the approach does not involve solving the complicated mathematical problem and can avoid the dimension limitation in the attainable region approach.

Residents'environmental conservation behaviour in the mountain tourism destinations in China:Case studies of Jiuzhaigou and Mount Qingcheng

This study aimed at gaining an understanding of the formation of residents' Environmental Conservation Behaviour(ECB) to promote sustainable tourism development in Chinese mountain areas. In particular, a theoretical framework was constructed by merging residents' mountain attachment and their environmental values,and awareness of environmental consequences based on the Cognition Behaviour Theory. This research sampled 642 residents with convenience sampling method in Jiuzhaigou and Mount Qingcheng, and structural equation modelling analysis was conducted to identify the relationships among the above variables. Results verified that mountain attachment affected people's awareness of environmental consequences, which then affected their ECB.Environmental values and mountain attachment directly and positively influenced ECB. Moreover,awareness of environmental consequences played the most prominent role in predicting ECB among all the predictors in this study. In all, this study derived several significant implications which can not only contribute to environmental management policies in tourism field but also help to improve the levels of the antecedents of residents' ECB and promote sustainable tourism development in Chinese mountain areas.

Study on Atmospheric Environmental Capacity of Shennongjia

Through analysis and evaluation on status quo of atmospheric environment in Shennongjia,atmospheric environment capacity in ClassII functional area of Shennongjia was counted by A value method. The results showed that atmospheric environment capacities of SO2,NO2 and PM10in Shennongjia Forest District were respectively 6 268. 8,17 666. 2 and 2 279. 5 t / a,much larger than emissions of air pollutants in Shennongjia in 2012.

Environmental and Social Impacts of Mini-hydropower Plants--A Case Study from Sri Lanka

This research study was conducted to review the environmental and social impact of mini hydropower plants （run-of-the-river type） by selecting Denawaka Ganga mini hydropower plant, which is located in Ratnapura district, Sri Lanka. Field visits and discussions among the authors, authorities and the residents were carried out. Then, the environmental and social impacts were scientifically analysed using regulation degree （RD） and environmental impact value （EIV） scores. It was found out that the Denawaka Ganga mini hydropower plant has induced some environmental concerns; however, significant positive social impact to the society. This is in addition to the green energy generation. Therefore, it can be concluded herein that the Denawaka Ganga mini hydropower is an asset to the country, Sri Lanka.

Persistence of Organic Pesticide HCH in Waters

[Objective]The research aimed to study HCH persistence in Jiaozhou Bay.[Method]Based on the investigation data in Jiaozhou Bay in April,August,September and October of 1989,we analyzed the source,distribution and migration status of HCH in sea area of Jiaozhou Bay.By using structural model of HCH environmental background value in Jiaozhou Bay,basic background value,input amount of terrestrial runoff and environmental background value of HCH in Jiaozhou Bay were calculated.[Result]Basic background value of HCH in water area of Jiaozhou Bay was 0.012 7μg/L,HCH input amount of terrestrial runoff was during 0-0.057 1μg/L,HCH content input by ocean current was 0μg/L.Then,environmental background value of HCH in water area of Jiaozhou Bay was during 0.012 7-0.069 8μg/L.[Conclusion]HCH needed long time migrating from land to sea bottom,and experienced terrestrial migration process,water migration process,settlement process and biological migration cycle process.In these migration processes,HCH was persistent,and always caused threats and harms on organism.

The Value and Significance of Metagenomics of Marine Environments

Microbes have played a fundamental role in the natural his- tory of our planet, and have done so for billions of years. They have adapted to Earth＇s many environments from the mild to the very extreme. Studying their diversity and their way of life is critical for understanding their full impact on the global ecology. Although the field of metagenomics is still young, it has unravelled a wider microbial diversity that had otherwise been completely overlooked by the traditional methods of microbiology. There are three major metagenomic themes： （a） marker metagenomics that surveys microbial community structure by targeting the highly-conserved 16S rRNA gene, （b） functional metagenomics that takes the total environmental DNA, from which it infers the metabolic potential of the microbial community, and （c） identification of novel enzymes.

Catchment environmental change over the 20th Century recorded by sedimentary leaf wax n-alkane δ^(13)C off the Pearl River estuary

The compound-specific stable carbon isotope compositions(δ^(13)C) of leaf wax n-alkanes from two short sediment cores recovered off the Pearl River estuary(PRE) were analyzed to check for their capability of indicating decadal scale catchment environmental change. Sedimentary long-chain n-alkanes exhibited an odd-over-even predominance, with a maximum at n-C_(29) or n-C_(31), indicating their leaf wax origin was from vascular plants. The δ^(13)C values of C_(29) and C_(31) n-alkane in all the sediment samples were in the range of -28.8‰ to -31.2‰, consistent with the C_3 plant-dominated vegetation in the Pearl River catchments. The time series of δ^(13)C records from the two cores were comparable and displayed a decreasing trend from the early 20 th century to the end of the 1970s, followed by a reversal in that change leading to continued increase for ca. 15 years. After being corrected for the effect of atmospheric CO_2 rise and δ^(13)C_(atm) decline, the δ^(13)C_(29) records largely retained their raw changing pattern; the post-1980 increase being more conspicuous. The slightly decreasing trend in corrected δ^(13)C records before around 1980 may have been caused by an increase in precipitation, whereas the subsequent increase of δ^(13)C is likely associated with the observed dry climate and/or intensive anthropogenic deforestation. Our results thus demonstrate that leaf wax n-alkanes buried in the sediments off the PRE may well reflect change in the regional climate and/or human activity in the river catchments over the past century.

Upstream-downstream linkages of hydrological processes in the Himalayan region

Understanding the upstream-downstream linkages in hydrological processes is essential for water resources planning in river basins.Although there are many studies of individual aspects of these processes in the Himalayan region,studies along the length of the basins are limited.This study summarizes the present state of knowledge about linkages in hydrological processes between upstream and downstream areas of river basins in the Himalayan region based on a literature review.The paper studies the linkages between the changes in the physical environment of upstream areas(land use,snow storage,and soil erosion)and of climate change on the downstream water availability,flood and dry season flow,and erosion and sedimentation.It is argued that these linkages are complex due to the extreme altitudinal range associated with the young and fragile geology,extreme seasonal and spatial variation in rainfall,and diversity of anthropogenic processes.Based on the findings,the paper concludes that integrated systems analysis is required to understand the holistic complexity of upstream-downstream linkages of hydrological processes in the river basin context.The integrated land and water resources management(ILWRM)approach can be instrumental in developing adaptive solutions to problems and can also enable stakeholders of upstream and downstream areas with various interests and needs to work together for the better utilization and management of land and water resources.As a part of this,the specific circumstances of the upstream communities,who live in fragile and inaccessible mountain areas with limited resource opportunities,should be taken into account so that incentive mechanisms can be established to encourage and acknowledge their contribution.