Search results for "Resource"
showing 10 items of 4058 documents
Detailed internal characterisation of two Finnish landfills by waste sampling
2006
The aim of this study was to characterise the internal structure and composition of landfilled waste at two Finnish landfills to provide information for active and post-landfill operations. The two sites, Ammässuo and Kujala, have been in operation for 17 and 48 years, respectively. Waste was sampled (total 68 samples) and analysed for total solids (TS), volatile solids (VS), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), biological methane potential (BMP) and leaching of organic material (determined as chemical oxygen demand, COD) and ammonium nitrogen (NH(4)-N). The results showed high vertical and horizontal variability, which indicated that both the waste composition and state of degradation varied gre…
Ecological Efficiency of Voluntary Conservation of Boreal-Forest Biodiversity
2008
Current networks of protected areas are biased in many countries toward landscapes of low productivity. Voluntary conservation incentives have been suggested as a socially acceptable way to supplement existing networks with more productive, privately owned areas of high priority for nature conservation. The limited resources committed to nature conservation demand cost-efficiency. Efficiency, however, depends not only on costs incurred to society from alternative ways of maintaining biodiversity but also on ecological values that can be captured. We examined the ecological efficiency of the new market-based voluntary program to preserve forest habitats on private land in southwestern Finlan…
Predicting the risk of extinction from shared ecological characteristics
2005
Understanding the ultimate causes of population declines and extinction is vital in our quest to stop the currently rampant biodiversity loss. Comparison of ecological characteristics between threatened and nonthreatened species may reveal these ultimate causes. Here, we report an analysis of ecological characteristics of 23 threatened and 72 nonthreatened butterfly species. Our analysis reveals that threatened butterflies are characterized by narrow niche breadth, restricted resource distribution, poor dispersal ability, and short flight period. Based on the characteristics, we constructed an ecological extinction risk rank and predicted which of the currently nonthreatened species are at …
Geographic Distribution and Niche Divergence of Two Stinkbugs,Parastrachia japonensisandParastrachia nagaensis
2014
Parastrachiidae is a small stinkbug family containing only one genus and two species, Parastrachia japonensis (Scott) (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomoidea) and Parastrachia nagaensis Distant. The geographic distribution of the genus has been poorly studied. Niche conservatism refers to that idea that closely related species are more ecologically similar than would be expected, whereas niche divergence predicts they occupy distinct niche spaces. The existence of only two species within one genus suggests niche conservatism or differentiation might exist among them. Herein, the distribution of the genus was mapped, potential distributions were predicted using ecological niche modeling, and …
No evidence of systematic pre-emptive loggings after notifying landowners of their lands’ conservation potential
2020
Landowners can intentionally impair biodiversity values occurring on their land to pre-empt biodiversity protection. This often leads to significant negative effects on biodiversity. We studied whether landowners in Finland engaged in pre-emptive loggings after they were notified that their wooded mires are candidate sites for a mire protection program. After the notification, harvesting rates of the candidate wooded mires were significantly lower compared to harvesting rates of similar but non-candidate wooded mires. Annual and monthly harvesting rates indicated that notifying landowners of the conservation potential did not launch systematic pre-emptive logging behavior. Nevertheless, par…
Economic effects of the consolidation of water utilities in Japan
2014
Water utilities are affected by economies of scale. However, in Japan most water utilities are small-scale water services. Therefore, they face enormous difficulties in terms of financial and personnel resources. To take advantage of economies of scale, the consolidation of water utilities has been promoted since 1965 by Japanese water authorities. The measure has been successful to some extent; nevertheless, consolidation has not progressed in recent years as was expected. This paper identifies the main barriers that hinder the consolidation of water utilities in Japan and describes the new promotion plan for the consolidation of water utilities developed by the Japan Water Works Associati…
Argumentation graphs with constraint-based reasoning for collaborative expertise
2018
International audience; Collaborative processes are very important in telemedicine domain since they allow for making right decisions in complex situations with multidisciplinary staff. When modelling these collaborative processes, some inconsistencies can appear. In semantic modelling (conceptual graphs), these inconsistencies are verified using constraints. In this work, collaborative processes are represented using an argumentation system modelled in a conceptual graph formalism where inconsistencies could be particular bad attack relation between arguments. To overcome these inconsistencies, two solutions are proposed. The first one is to weight the arguments evolving in the argumentati…
A statistical-dynamical downscaling for the urban heat island and building energy consumption - Analysis of Its uncertainties.
2020
AbstractHigh-resolution maps of the urban heat island (UHI) and building energy consumption are relevant for urban planning in the context of climate change mitigation and adaptation. A statistical–dynamical downscaling for these parameters is proposed in the present study. It combines a statistical local weather type approach with dynamical simulations using the mesoscale atmospheric model Meso-NH coupled to the urban canopy model Town Energy Balance. The downscaling is subject to uncertainties related to the weather type approach (statistical uncertainty) and to the numerical models (dynamical uncertainty). These uncertainties are quantified for two French cities (Toulouse and Dijon) for …
The Economic Impact of Water Taxes: A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis with an International Data Set
2006
Water is scarce in many countries. One instrument to improve the allocation of a scarce resource is (efficient) pricing or taxation. However, water is implicitly traded on international markets, particularly through food and textiles, so that impacts of water taxes cannot be studied in isolation, but require an analysis of international trade implications. We include water as a production factor in a multi-region, multi-sector computable general equilibrium model (GTAP), to assess a series of water tax policies. We find that water taxes reduce water use, and lead to shifts in production, consumption, and international trade patterns. Countries that do not levy water taxes are nonetheless af…
Partial spatial equilibria with fuzzy constraints
1981
It is implicitly accepted by spatial economic analysis that the economic behaviour of agents located in given spaces (market areas, regions, etc.) is precise, that is to say, their behaviour is such that a possible action (consumption, production) is, or is not, preferable to another. In otherwords, economic agents are assumed to make accurate economic calculations and optimise the objective functions under strict constraints of resource limitation. These objective functions have clearly defined arguments and well-controlled parameters.