Empirical assessment of water management institutions in northern China

We examine the development of irrigation management in northern China using data from village and household panels. During the past decade, reform-oriented institutions, such as water user associations and contracting, have largely replaced the traditional institution of collective management in village-level irrigation systems. A feature unique to China is that water user associations and contractors are provided with monetary incentives to save water. Water user associations have not yet achieved the broad-based participation of farmers that some advocates consider as a primary goal for forming the associations. Many village leaders serve also as the leaders of water user associations, thus possibly reducing opportunities for receiving operational input and policy direction from farmers. However, we observe improved performance of irrigation systems managed by water user associations, relative to collective management, in terms of maintenance expenditures, the timeliness of water deliveries, and the rates of fee collection. Performance has improved also in systems managed by contractors, although not as substantially as in the case of water user associations.     

New approach for olive trees irrigation scheduling using trunk diameter sensors

Trunk diameter fluctuations (TDFs) have been suggested as an irrigation-scheduling tool for several fruit trees, but the works in olive trees has not obtained successful results with any of the indicators (maximum daily shrinkage (MDS) and trunk growth rate (TGR)) that are calculated from the daily TDF curves. No studies of olive trees have ever used reference trees to reduce the influence of the environment, as in work for other fruit trees. In this work, we compare different continuous and discrete water status measurements in a drought cycle. We suggest the calculation of a new and related indicator (DTGR), the difference between the TGR of stressed trees, and the TGR of reference trees. Negative DTGR values always indicate water stress conditions. The current work describes the variations of this new indicator (DTGR) in relation to water stress, and compares DTRG to the midday stem water potential, maximum leaf conductance and to the MDS. The midday stem water potential and the maximum leaf conductance describe the stress cycle clearer than the trunk diameter fluctuation indicators. No significant differences were found in the values of MDS between stressed and reference trees. On the other hand, the DTGR pattern values were near that of the stem water potential, though positive values were recorded in some dates during the water stress cycle. These variations indicate that DTGR is not a cumulative water stress indicators, as is water potential. Therefore, according to our data, water potential is a better indicator than the TDF parameters when no deficit irrigation scheduling is performed in olive trees. DTGR seems to be a good indicator of water stress from a threshold value around −1.4 MPa in olive trees. In addition, higher variability of DTGR than stem water potential may also be reduced with the increase in the number of sensors.     

陇南不同种植区油橄榄果实生长期的经济性状比较

为研究陇南市不同种植地对不同品种油橄榄果实生长的影响,对陇南市武都区种植的莱星、鄂植8号、奇迹、皮削利等4个油橄榄品种,分别在其果实生长的受精和坐果期、种子生长期、果核变硬期、中果皮形成期和果实成熟期比较判断果实表型性状,分析果实生长期间含水率和含油率的变化,以探明不同油橄榄品种的适宜栽培区,为优化陇南地区油橄榄种植资源配置提供支持。结果表明,在陇南市武都区锦屏村和稻畦村种植的不同品种油橄榄果实外观均呈长圆形,且锦屏村种植的莱星油橄榄果实百粒鲜质量和含油率均高于稻畦村,中果皮形成期百粒鲜质量和含油率分别高于稻畦村34.82%和72.53%。稻畦村种植的鄂植8号油橄榄果实百粒鲜质量在果实生长前期低于锦屏村,生长后期则高于锦屏村,中果皮形成期稻畦村油橄榄果实百粒鲜质量高于锦屏村26.00%。锦屏村种植的鄂植8号油橄榄果实含油率均高于稻畦村,果实成熟期含油率高于稻畦村84.48%。锦屏村种植的奇迹油橄榄果实百粒鲜质量和含油率均高于稻畦村,果核变硬期百粒鲜质量高于稻畦村36.00%,果实成熟期的含油率高于稻畦村53.71%。锦屏村种植的皮削利油橄榄果实含油率高于稻畦村,中果皮形成期的含油率高于稻畦村76.13%。由此可知,锦屏村种植的油橄榄莱星、奇迹均优于稻畦村,且果实用途偏向于油用,油橄榄鄂植8号和皮削利作为油果兼用型果实,在锦屏村和稻畦村均可种植。且生长良好。     

美国科罗拉多州河道内流量保护计划及借鉴

人类大量用水减少河道内流量导致河流断流、水质恶化和生物多样性下降等生态环境问题,如何合理利用河流水资源,在社会经济发展和河流保护之间取得平衡是当前全球面临的重大课题。西方发达国家普遍重视环境保护,在保护河道内流量方面也积累了较为丰富的立法和实践经验。美国科罗拉多州将保护河道内流量纳入该州产权体系,以政府持有河道内流量水权的方式进行保护,在协调人类活动与生态环境保护方面取得了良好的效果。文章简要介绍了科罗拉多州河道内流量保护计划的主要内容及取得的成绩,深入分析了该计划的特点,以期对我国河道内流量保护提供借鉴和参考。     

Supporting decision-makers in estimating irrigation demand for urban street trees

Greening cities is of considerable significance to creating sustainable cities. Cost-benefit analyses have shown that urban green is not only ecologically and socially desirable but also economically advantageous. However, maintaining this urban green is becoming challenging due to changing climatic conditions. With frequent heat-waves, droughts and increasing water scarcity in many regions, it is crucial to establish systematic approaches to economise the available water used for irrigation. Currently, cities rely on rough approximations to assess irrigation demand. To address this gap, a linear time series model was developed based on soil water balance and Water Use Classifications of Landscape Species approach. The model uses publicly available data regarding trees, soil, and current and forecasted weather to estimate the irrigation demand of urban street trees on a weekly time scale. The developed model is applied in a case study of a metropolis in a moderate continental climate. The results show more distributed irrigation demand than the currently implemented soil moisture based model of the case study city. Accordingly, the model can support the decision-makers to not only assess the irrigation demand of existing trees but also help in water budgeting of new plantation under varying climatic conditions.     

茜坑水库轮虫群落结构组成和动态

茜坑水库是位于深圳市宝安区观澜镇的一座供水水库,入库水主要由于自东深引水工程调入。抽水入库和持续供水在降低了水体的水力滞留时间的同时,增加了垂直混合,改变了原有的生态过程。为了解这一抽水型水库中轮虫群落结构的变化及主要影响因子,于2012年3-12月对茜坑水库敞水区轮虫进行了逐月采样,同时测定水体的理化因子集。10次采样共观测到轮虫30种,其中臂尾轮科9种,异尾轮科4种,这些种类主要是热带、亚热带地区的常见种和优势种类。前节晶囊轮虫、截头皱甲轮虫、圆筒异尾轮虫、角突臂尾轮虫、红多肢轮虫、Keratella tecta、刺盖异尾轮虫、螺形龟甲轮虫、跃进三肢轮虫、奇异六腕轮虫、长刺异尾轮虫、长肢多肢轮虫、广布多肢轮虫、对棘异尾轮虫、剪形臂尾轮虫和热带龟甲轮虫等为优势种。全年的平均丰度和生物量分别为257.5 ind./L和80.7 μg/L,轮虫生物量在后生浮游动物总生物量中所占比例为11%;丰水期轮虫的丰度和生物量较高,进水口和库中的轮虫群落结构在组成和动态上没有显著差异。水力滞留时间是影响轮虫群落组成和动态的主要非生物因子,枝角类的竞争压力是影响群落结构的主要生物因子。     

Coldwater RAS in an Arctic charr farm in Northern Norway

Use of coldwater recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) are still very rare in Norway, and only two farms are producing Arctic charr. This project took place in one of these commercial Arctic charr farms; Villmarksfisk AS in Bardu, Northern Norway.The farm gets its make-up water from ground water that holds 5 °C year around. Temperature in the rearing water varies between 7.5 °C (“low”) to 12 °C (“high”) through the year. The biological filter in the RAS seems to work stable at both “low” and “high” temperatures, including after incidents when feeding has been stopped for a day and started on top again the day after. Such an extreme change in loading was measured as a 70% increase in TAN concentration, with only minor changes in nitrite levels recorded. The biofilter also kept the nitrite stable and low in spite of diurnal variation in TAN excretion at normal feeding regimes (every day in three periods at day-time).The farming concept is to stock the farm with wild caught juvenile fish for on-growing to market size fish (0.75–1.00 kg). A drop in growth rate during early autumn has been a main concern for the farm. This may reflect a seasonal shift in growth potential, sometimes referred to as “autumn depression”. Interestingly, there is little sign of seasonal changes in the growth of hatchery-produced fish tested in the farm. Sampling of water quality through the seasons in tanks holding fish undergoing such growth depressions indicate that TAN excretion is much higher per kg feed used in the wintertime than in the springtime. This observation corresponds with the lack of weight gain during wintertime despite that the fish is feeding. Thus, feed conversion calculations indicate that feed utilization also varies with season reaching its nadir during this period.Both challenges concerning RAS in cold water and strongly reduced growth in autumn and winter time, have been investigated from 2005 to 2007 in a project financed by the Norwegian research council and the partners in the agricultural framework agreement.     

Important influent-water quality parameters at freshwater production sites in two salmon producing countries

Further growth in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) aquaculture production is expected, and as a response to limited freshwater resources, recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) are increasingly applied in smolt production. Knowledge of the general composition and quality of inlet-water is important for designing water-treatment to obtain optimal water quality in both flow-through and RAS systems. Based on water quality surveys in Norway (96 water sources, 1999–2006) and Chile (120 water sources, 2006–2008) inlet-water quality was evaluated. Norwegian smolt production is characterized by almost exclusively utilizing surface waters as inlet-water sources, with lake inlets constituting 88% and river inlets 12%. This results in large seasonal variations in both temperature, and inlet-water quality. In Chile, production is based on inlet-water from groundwater wells (32%), natural springs (40%) and rivers (28%). Norwegian inlet-water quality shows significantly lower pH and buffering capacity. The content of total organic carbon and total nitrogen is generally higher in Norway, while the levels the main metals of concern, aluminium (Al) and iron (Fe), show large between-site variability in both countries. In low pH waters in Norway, the concentration of inorganic (labile) aluminium exceeds recommended level (10 μg/L) in 15% of the samples. The Norwegian database documents highly variable production intensity in smolt production. The measured levels of carbon dioxide (CO₂, 11.6 ± 6.2 mg/L) and total ammonia nitrogen (TAN, 499 ± 485 μg N/L) (mean ± SD), exceed current legislative recommendations in 30% and 10.5% of the cases, respectively. RAS technology has the potential to improve a variable water quality if it proves reliable for the time intervals and production volumes needed. Thus, if necessary adjustments in water treatment to the local water quality are implemented, RAS production may well constitute a substantial part of smolt production in the future.     

干旱胁迫与复水条件下高梁、玉米苗期渗透调节及抗氧化比较研究

盆栽试验结果表明，高梁和玉米2种作物均存在渗透调节和抗氧化耐旱途径。高梁耐旱性较强，干旱条件下叶片相对含水量较高，水势亦较大。高梁以可溶性糖和蛋白质为主要渗透调节物质，以过氧化氢酶（CAT）为主要抗氧化酶。玉米以K^＋和脯氨酸为主要渗透调节物质，以超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）和过氧化物酶（POD）为主要抗氧化酶。     

Study on the Rainwater Accumulation and Utilization Technology Using in Hilly Area Taihang Moutains

太行山低山区干旱缺水严重,大大制约了山区经济发展。雨水集蓄利用技术是发展山区旱作林果业和旱作农业的重要技术手段。笔者在分析雨水集蓄利用理论和技术的基础上,对雨水汇集、蓄存和高效利用技术进行系统总结。并对其存在问题进行分析,提出相应的对策。