Improving Environmental Performance Assessment: A Comparative Analysis of Weighting Methods Used to Evaluate Chemical Release Inventories

Managers, management scholars, regulators, nonprofit organizations, and the media are increasingly using emissions inventory data to measure organizations' environmental performance. Whereas some analysts use total mass emitted, others have applied one or more of the growing number of toxicity-weighting databases aimed at predicting the environmental and health impacts of emissions. Little research is available to guide analysts in selecting among these databases. This article compares 13 methods in terms of their sophistication, complexity, and comprehensiveness. Seven of these methods are then evaluated as to their usefulness in weighting emissions data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (U.S. EPA's) toxic release inventory, and three pair-wise comparisons are conducted. We recommend the U.S. EPA's Risk Screening Environmental Indicators for estimating impacts to human health. We recommend the Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical Impacts for estimating impacts to human health and the environment.     

农业生态系统的持续性及其评价指标

持续发展已成为当今全球关注的热点 ,从学术界、企业界、经济界及政府报告中 ,都在讨论与强调持续发展问题 ,持续发展已得到社会各界的共识。农业生态系统具有四大特性[3] 。一是生产力 ;二是稳定性 ;三是持续性 ;四是公平性。作为四大特性之一的持续性 ,越来越受到农业生态学界的重视。但是关于持续性的定义及评价指标 ,到目前为止还没有一个统一的、公认的定义 ,因此 ,有关持续性的定义及评价指标是近来学术界经常探讨的问题 ,发表了不少有关该问题的学术论文。1　持续性的定义由于环境的退化 ,不可再生资源的浪费 ,可再生资源的过度开发…     

The Sustainability Balanced Scorecard as a Framework for Eco-efficiency Analysis

To provide valuable support for successful decision-making, managers need a balanced set of financial and nonfinancial measures that represent different requirements, strategic goals, strategies, resources, and capabilities and the causal relationships between these domains. The balanced scorecard is such a measurement system. As an open system the balanced scorecard facilitates the consideration of sustainability issues. But enhanced balanced scorecards require a new type of data. This is where eco-efficiency analysis comes into play.
This article discusses the relationship between so-called sustainability balanced scorecards and eco-efficiency analysis. Eco-efficiency analysis not only provides a data source for sustainability balanced scorecards; in the perspective of environmental information systems it also serves as a link between the balanced scorecard and corporate environmental accounting systems so that eco-efficiency as a component of an environmental information system becomes an adapter with two interfaces, which are characterized in this article. The main focus is on the principle of cause and effect, its different forms, and the implications for the design of appropriate information system components.     

Integration of Environmental Indicators for the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region

The Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment (MAIA) Project began in 1994 as a partnership between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA's) Region III Office and the Office of Research and Development. This multiyear initiative was envisioned to: (1) improve the quality of environmental science and promote the use of sound science in environmental decision-making; (2) characterize the condition of ecological resources; and (3) report on the progress toward environmental goals through a series of State-of-the-Region reports. These reports are produced using a coordinated, integrated approach that is carried out at four levels of increasing sophistication and complexity. Results indicate that the condition of individual ecological resources can be determined with existing indicators. The results from MAIA are being communicated in a manner that is understood by environmental managers as evidenced by their use in environmental management decision-making. The application of ecological indicators needs to be coupled with an appropriate sampling design to ensure that the measurements made in the environment can be used to address the relevant questions. Multiresource indicators, those that synthesize information on individual ecological resources, are of high priority for research     

A Sustainability Assessment of a Biolubricant

A sustainability matrix has been developed at Shell Global Solutions to show the environmental, social, and economic impacts of a product. The approach aims to be quicker and more cost-effective than a conventional life-cycle assessment by focusing on specific areas of concern through the product life cycle and then comparing products by scaling their impacts relative to one another. It provides a way of making qualitative and quantitative assessment that gives a depth to the assessment beyond data analysis. The tool includes subjective judgment, which tends to reflect current thinking in the company. Once the tool has been fully tested on all product types, the indicators that are central to the process will be assessed by external stakeholders. This article describes the development of the sustainability assessment tool and presents an example that compares the sustainability of a biolubricant (an environ-mentally acceptable hydraulic fluid meeting Swedish Standard SS 15 54 34) with that of a conventional mineral-oil-based product. The tool provides a quick decision-making instrument to help Shell decide which products should be marketed for the business to continue on a sustainable path. The tool also provides a more detailed level of information if a more thorough assessment is necessary.     

Redefinition and Elaboration of River Ecosystem Health: Perspective for River Management

This paper critically reviews developments in the conceptualization and elaboration of the River Ecosystem Health (REH) concept. Analysis of literature shows there is still no consistent meaning of the central concept Ecosystem Health, resulting in models (i.e. elaborations) that have unclear and insufficient conceptual grounds. Furthermore, a diverse terminology is associated with describing REH, resulting in confusion with other concepts. However, if the concept is to have merit and longevity in the field of river research and management, unambiguous definition of the conceptual meaning and operational domain are required. Therefore a redefinition is proposed, based on identified characteristics of health and derived from considering semantic and conceptual definitions. Based on this definition, REH has merit in a broader context of river system health that considers societal functioning next to ecological functioning. Assessment of health needs integration of measures of multiple, complementary attributes and analysis in a synthesized way. An assessment framework is proposed that assesses REH top-down as well as bottom up by combining indicators of system stress responses (i.e. condition) with indicators identifying the causative stress (i.e. stressor). The scope of REH is covered by using indicators of system activity, metabolism (vigour), resilience, structure and interactions between system components (organization). The variety of stress effects that the system may endure are covered by using biotic, chemical as well as physical stressors. Besides having a unique meaning, the REH metaphor has added value to river management by being able to mobilize scientists, practitioners and publics and seeing relationships at the level of values. It places humans at the centre of the river ecosystem, while seeking to ensure the durability of the ecosystem of which they are an integral part. Optimization of the indicator set, development of aggregation and classification methodologies, and implementation of the concept within differing international frames are considered main aims for future research.     

The selection, testing and application of terrestrial insects as bioindicators

Although the uses and merits of terrestrial insects as indicators have been extensively discussed, there is a lack of clear definition, goal directedness and hypothesis testing in studies in the field. In an attempt to redress some of these issues and outline an approach for further studies, three categories of terrestrial insect indicators, corresponding to differences in their application, are proposed, i.e. environmental, ecological and biodiversity indicators. The procedures in terrestrial insect bioindicator studies should start with a clear definition of the study objectives and proposed use of the bioindicator, as well as with a consideration of the scale at which the study is to be carried out. Bioindication studies are conducted at a variety of spatial and temporal scales within the context of earth-system processes, but the objectives of the study will largely determine the scale at which it would be optimally conducted. There is a tendency for studies to be conducted below their space-time scaling functions, giving them apparent predictability. The selection of potential indicator taxa or groups is then based on a priori suitability criteria, the identification of predictive relationships between the indicator and environmental variables and, most importantly, the development and testing of hypotheses according to the correlative patterns found. Finally, recommendations for the use of the indicator in monitoring should be made. Although advocating rigorous, long-term protocols to identify indicators may presently be questionable in the face of the urgency with which conservation decisions have to be made, this approach is critical if bioindicators are to be used with any measurable degree of confidence.     

Ecosystem health synthesis: can we get there from here?

This paper provides a synthesis of the presentations made by participants at the International Symposium on Aquatic Ecosystem Health (July 23–26, 1990, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada). A working definition of the ecosystem concept and a framework for defining ecosystem health, are proposed, based on both hard and soft science. Assessment of ecosystem health can be approached either from the bottom up (reductionist approach) or from the top down (holistic approach). The Symposium clearly followed the former approach; present approaches to science and management are also generally reductionist. It is argued that realistic solutions require primarily holistic approaches; such are often claimed but rarely attained. Reductionist approaches are useful for diagnosis and prediction (i.e., warning of potential problems), provided that they are based on appropriate statistical, biological, and societal levels of significance.     

旱地轮作方式与水分生产效率研究

研究结果表明：降水施肥与轮作均可提高旱地水分生产效率,降水作用大于施肥和轮作;一年两熟虽可提高水分生产效率,但产量不稳,只适用于半湿润易旱地区的丰水年,一年一熟和三年四熟稳产性高,适于半干旱和半干旱偏湿地区;在各轮作方式中,均以有大豆参加的为最优,粮油轮作次之,有玉米和绿豆的最差。     

Development and testing of an Index of Stream Condition for waterway management in Australia

1. An Index of Stream Condition (ISC) has been developed to assist broad scale management of waterways by providing an integrated measure of their environmental condition. 2. The ISC provides scores for five components of stream condition: (i) hydrology (based on change in volume and seasonality of flow from natural conditions); (ii) physical form (based on bank stability, bed erosion or aggradation, influence of artificial barriers, and abundance and origin of coarse woody debris); (iii) streamside zone (based on types of plants; spatial extent, width, and intactness of riparian vegetation; regeneration of overstorey species, and condition of wetlands and billabongs); (iv) water quality (based on an assessment of phosphorus, turbidity, electrical conductivity and pH); and (v) aquatic life (based on number of families of macroinvertebrates). 3. The ISC is intended for use by managers at state and regional levels and can be used to report on stream condition, assist with priority setting, judge the long-term effectiveness of rehabilitation programs and assist with adaptive management. The best available scientific information was used by a multidisciplinary group of scientists and managers to create a stream assessment procedure that can be used routinely by people with limited scientific training. 4. ISC development included trials in four catchments in Victoria, Australia. Over 80 stream reaches were assessed and the results were used to refine the ISC to improve the ease of measurement and ensure that outcomes met the expectations of users. The ISC is now available to be used more widely for reporting on stream condition.     

Enterococcus species distribution among human and animal hosts using multiplex PCR

Aims: This study evaluated the use of Enterococcus species differentiation as a tool for microbial source tracking (MST) in recreational waters. Methods and Results: Avian, mammalian and human faecal samples were screened for the occurrence of Enterococcus avium, Enterococcus casseliflavus, Enterococcus durans, Enterococcus gallinarum, Enterococcus faecium, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus hirae and Enterococcus saccharolyticus using multiplex PCR. Host‐specific patterns of Enterococcus species presence were observed only when data for multiple Enterococcus species were considered in aggregate. Conclusions: The results suggest that no single Enterococcus species is a reliable indicator of the host faecal source. However, Enterococcus species composite ‘fingerprints’ may offer auxiliary evidence for bacterial source identification. Significance and Impact of Study: This study presents novel information on the enterococci species assemblages present in avian and mammalian hosts proximate to the nearshore ocean. These data will aid the development of appropriate MST strategies, and the approach used in this study could potentially assist in the identification of faecal pollution sources.