The Ecological Footprint Intensity of National Economies

At least three perspectives—industrial ecology (IE), ecological modernization theory (EMT), and the “environmental Kuznets curve” (EKC)—emphasize the potential for sustainability via refinements in production systems that dramatically reduce the environmental impacts of economic development. Can improvements in efficiency counterbalance environmental impacts stemming from the scale of production? To address this question we analyze cross‐national variation in the ecological footprint (EF) per unit of gross domestic product (GDP). The EF is a widely recognized indicator of human pressure on the environment. The EF of a nation is the amount of land area that would be required to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb the wastes it generates. The most striking finding of our analyses is that there is limited variation across nations in EF per unit of GDP. This indicates limited plasticity in the levels of EF intensity or eco‐efficiency among nations, particularly among affluent nations. EF intensity is lowest (ecoefficiency is highest) in affluent nations, but the level of efficiency in these nations does not appear to be of sufficient magnitude to compensate for their large productive capacities. These results suggest that modernization and economic development will be insufficient, in themselves, to bring about the ecological sustainability of societies.     

Environmental Impacts of Capital Formation

The investment in capital goods is a well‐known driver of economic activity, associated resource use, and environmental impact. In national accounting, gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) constitutes a substantial share of the total final demand of goods and services, both in terms of monetary turnover and embodied resources. In this article, we study the structure of GFCF and the environmental impacts associated with it on a global scale, and link it to measures of development. We find that the share of GFCF as part of the total carbon footprint (CF) varies more across countries than GFCF as a share of gross domestic product (GDP). Countries in early phases of development generally tend to invest in resource‐intensive assets, primarily infrastructure and machinery, whereas wealthier countries invest in less resource‐intensive assets, such as computers, software, and services. By performing a structural decomposition analysis, we assess the relative importance of investment structure and input‐output multipliers for the difference in carbon intensity of capital assets, and find that the structure of investments plays a larger role for less‐developed countries than for developed countries. We find a relative decoupling of the CF of GFCF from GDP, but we can neither confirm nor rule out the possibility of an absolute decoupling.     

生态足迹方法及研究进展

本文介绍了生态足迹的计算方法,回顾了国内外的研究进展,重点介绍了生态足迹计算中能源足迹算法的研究进展。目前,国外对生态足迹的研究集中在对长时间序列计算分析和计算方法的改进上,提出了改进的生态足迹方法“实际土地需求”法;国内研究还多限于生态足迹实例计算分析。探讨了生态足迹方法的优缺点,同时就生态足迹今后的研究重点提出一些看法和展望。     

In the footsteps of sea stars: deciphering the catalogue of proteins involved in underwater temporary adhesion

Sea stars adhere strongly but temporarily to underwater substrata via the secretion of a blend of proteins, forming an adhesive footprint that they leave on the surface after detachment. Their tube feet enclose a duo-gland adhesive system comprising two types of adhesive cells, contributing different layers of the footprint and de-adhesive cells. In this study, we characterized the catalogue of sea star footprint proteins (Sfps) in the species Asterias rubens to gain insights in their potential function. We identified 16 Sfps and mapped their expression to type 1 and/or type 2 adhesive cells or to de-adhesive cells by double fluorescent in situ hybridization. Based on their cellular expression pattern and their conserved functional domains, we propose that the identified Sfps serve different functions during attachment, with two Sfps coupling to the surface, six providing cohesive strength and the rest forming a binding matrix. Immunolabelling of footprints with antibodies directed against one protein of each category confirmed these roles. A de-adhesive gland cell-specific astacin-like proteinase presumably weakens the bond between the adhesive material and the tube foot surface during detachment. Overall, we provide a model for temporary adhesion in sea stars, including a comprehensive list of the proteins involved.     

市域尺度农村系统氮素流动及污染氮足迹核算——以沈阳市为例

理解农村系统的氮素流动、排放和利用过程对减少农业活动引起的潜在环境污染和促进养分资源的可持续利用具有重要意义.本研究基于集成食物链养分流动模型和氮足迹模型,提出市域尺度农村系统氮核算框架,并从种植、动物养殖和农村人居3个子系统对1998-2018年沈阳市的氮素流、循环利用和污染氮足迹开展量化比较研究.结果 表明:201...     

河北省小麦白粉病发生气象等级动态预警

根据河北省4县2001—2010年小麦白粉病病情和逐日气象资料,采用因子膨化、秩相关分析、通径分析、Bayes准则、模糊数学(Fuzzy)和广义回归神经网络(GRNN)等方法,筛选影响小麦白粉病发生的关键期和关键因子,建立了小麦白粉病发生气象等级指标模型、基于Bayes准则的Fuzzy模型和基于Fuzzy模型的GRNN模型。结果表明:影响河北4县小麦白粉病发生气象等级的关键因子是前三候至当候的平均温度、前三候至当候的降水量、前三候至当候的降雨系数和前一候的小麦白粉病实际发生等级;3种预警模型具有层层递进的关系,预报准确率基于Fuzzy模型的GRNN模型基于Bayes准则的Fuzzy模型指标模型,并均超过了85%,可以用于对候尺度小麦白粉病发生等级进行中短期预报。     

基于雷达图分析的耕层构造效应综合评价

改善耕层构造是解决旱作农田耕层存在"浅"、"实"、"少"问题的重要技术措施之一,对北方旱作农田合理耕层构建和土壤健康发展具有重要意义。为了探明旱作农田耕层构造的综合效应,在国家农业环境阜新科学观测实验站长期定位试验,设置了上虚下实耕层(up loose and down compaction plough layer,ULDC)、虚实并存耕层(furrow loose and ridge compaction plough layer,FLRC)、全虚耕层(all loose plough layer,AL)、全实耕层(all compaction plough layer,AC) 4种耕层构造,利用2015—2016年2年的产量、水分利用效率、群体生物产量、叶面积指数、光合速率、土壤容重、土壤三相结构距离、根重密度、根表面积密度9个指标,进行基于雷达图分析的耕层构造效应综合评价。根据向量综合评价函数,虚实并存耕层构造、全虚耕层构造、全实耕层构造、上虚下实耕层构造的综合评价值分别为0.8222、0.7174、0.6903、0.6455,验证了虚实并存耕层构造在辽西地区的优越性。综合分析...     

Human-related processes drive the richness of exotic birds in Europe

Both human-related and natural factors can affect the establishment and distribution of exotic species. Understanding the relative role of the different factors has important scientific and applied implications. Here, we examined the relative effect of human-related and natural factors in determining the richness of exotic bird species established across Europe. Using hierarchical partitioning, which controls for covariation among factors, we show that the most important factor is the human-related community-level propagule pressure (the number of exotic species introduced), which is often not included in invasion studies due to the lack of information for this early stage in the invasion process. Another, though less important, factor was the human footprint (an index that includes human population size, land use and infrastructure). Biotic and abiotic factors of the environment were of minor importance in shaping the number of established birds when tested at a European extent using 50 x 50 km2 grid squares. We provide, to our knowledge, the first map of the distribution of exotic bird richness in Europe. The richest hotspot of established exotic birds is located in southeastern England, followed by areas in Belgium and The Netherlands. Community-level propagule pressure remains the major factor shaping the distribution of exotic birds also when tested for the UK separately. Thus, studies examining the patterns of establishment should aim at collecting the crucial and hard-to-find information on community-level propagule pressure or develop reliable surrogates for estimating this factor. Allowing future introductions of exotic birds into Europe should be reconsidered carefully, as the number of introduced species is basically the main factor that determines the number established.     

表达生态承载力的生态足迹模型演变

生态足迹是一种表达区域生态承载力的重要指标．其基本模型具有方法简单、综合、可比、结果表达生动等优点,但在预测性、结构性、用户适用性等方面均存在一定的缺陷．为了克服这些缺陷,人们从不同方面对模型进行了补充与完善,推动了生态足迹研究由最初的单一时间尺度静态模型向多样化发展与演变．截止目前,主要生态足迹模型包括：时间序列足迹模型、投入产出法足迹模型、综合评价法足迹模型、土地干扰度足迹模型、生命周期法足迹模型（或组分法足迹模型）．这些模型不同程度地改进了生态足迹作为生态承载力表达指标的性能,但生态足迹核算的准确性和完整性仍有待进一步完善．