Multipurpose agroforestry as a climate change resiliency option for farmers: an example of local adaptation in Vietnam

Increasing frequency, intensity and duration of severe weather events are posing major challenges to global food security and livelihoods of rural people. Agriculture has evolved through adaptation to local circumstances for thousands of years. Local experience in responding to severe weather conditions, accumulated over generations and centuries, is valuable for developing adaptation options to current climate change. This study aimed to: (i) identify tree species that reduce vulnerability of cropping systems under climate variability; and (ii) develop a method for rapidly assessing vulnerability and exploring strategies of smallholder farmers in rural areas exposed to climate variability. Participatory Rural Appraisal methods in combination with Geographical Information Systems tools and statistical analysis of meteorological data were used to evaluate local vulnerability to climate change and to investigate local adaptation measures in two selected villages in Vietnam, one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. The low predictability of severe weather events makes food crops, especially grain production, insecure. This study shows that while rice and rain-fed crops suffered over 40 % yield losses in years of extreme drought or flood, tree-based systems and cattle were less affected. 13 tree species performed well under the harsh local climate conditions in home and forest gardens to provide income, food, feed and other environmental benefits. Thus, this research suggests that maintenance and enhancement of locally evolved agroforestry systems, with high resilience and multiple benefits, can contribute to climate change adaptation.     

Identification of anthropogenic radionuclides in the Song Hong (Red) and Song Da (Black) river basins of Vietnam

The concentration and distribution of U were measured in zircon samples separated from the streambed sediments collected at different sites along the rivers of northern Vietnam using semiconductor alpha spectrometry and alpha- and fission-track autoradiography. Based on the absolute U content and distribution, we distinguished two groups of zircon grains of different origin. Group 1 zircons have relatively low and uniform U contents ranging from 280 to 440 μg/g. Group 2 zircons are characterized by heterogeneous U distribution and U contents ranging from 490 to 2040μg/g. The determination of absolute alpha activity values and alpha spectrometric characteristics for a number of group 2 zircon grains indicated the presence of relatively short-lived alpha-emitters. These radionuclides are probably ²¹⁰Po, ²³²U, ²³⁶Pu, ²⁴¹Am, and ²⁴³Am, and all of them can originate exclusively from anthropogenic sources. A comparison of the observed alpha activity values for group 2 zircons with those of group 1 zircons and zircons separated from the suspended colloids in river water samples provided conclusive evidence for traces of anthropogenic radioactive contamination in the Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Tuyen Quang, Thac Ba, Viet Tri, and Hanoi streams flowing in the Song Hong (Red) and Song Da (Black) river basins of northern Vietnam and sourced in the southern regions of the neighboring state.     

Microbiota of Salt Lakes as Food for the Brine Shrimp Artemia

正The brine shrimp Artemia is often abundantly found in hypersaline environments.The larvae(‘nauplii’)hatching from its dormant embryos(‘cysts’)are a crucial live food item for the larval stages of fish and shrimp in aquaculture     

A new SPH-based approach to simulation of granular flows using viscous damping and stress regularisation

The smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method was recently extended to simulate granular materials by the authors and demonstrated to be a powerful continuum numerical method to deal with the post-flow behaviour of granular materials. However, most existing SPH simulations of granular flows suffer from significant stress oscillation during the post-failure process, despite the use of an artificial viscosity to damp out stress fluctuation. In this paper, a new SPH approach combining viscous damping with stress/strain regularisation is proposed for simulations of granular flows. It is shown that the proposed SPH algorithm can improve the overall accuracy of the SPH performance by accurately predicting the smooth stress distribution during the post-failure process. It can also effectively remove the stress oscillation issue in the standard SPH model without having to use the standard SPH artificial viscosity that requires unphysical parameters. The predictions by the proposed SPH approach show very good agreement with experimental and numerical results reported in the literature. This suggests that the proposed method could be considered as a promising continuum alternative for simulations of granular flows.     

Modelling the Mont Terri HE-D experiment for the Thermal–Hydraulic–Mechanical response of a bedded argillaceous formation to heating

Coupled thermal–hydrological–mechanical (THM) processes in the near field of deep geological repositories can influence several safety features of the engineered and geological barriers. Among those features are: the possibility of damage in the host rock, the time for re-saturation of the bentonite, and the perturbations in the hydraulic regime in both the rock and engineered seals. Within the international cooperative code-validation project DECOVALEX-2015, eight research teams developed models to simulate an in situ heater experiment, called HE-D, in Opalinus Clay at the Mont Terri Underground Research Laboratory in Switzerland. The models were developed from the theory of poroelasticity in order to simulate the coupled THM processes that prevailed during the experiment and thereby to characterize the in situ THM properties of Opalinus Clay. The modelling results for the evolution of temperature, pore water pressure, and deformation at different points are consistent among the research teams and compare favourably with the experimental data in terms of trends and absolute values. The models were able to reproduce the main physical processes of the experiment. In particular, most teams simulated temperature and thermally induced pore water pressure well, including spatial variations caused by inherent anisotropy due to bedding.     

Climate change and groundwater resources in Mekong Delta,Vietnam

Groundwater resources have considerable influences on the human population and socioeconomic development of Vietnam and the Mekong River Delta (MRD). This paper presents an overview of the relationship between climate change and groundwater in the MRD, including the challenges, strategies and technical measures. Our results showed that groundwater levels are related to other climate and hydrological variables (i.e., rainfall, river levels, etc.); therefore, the impacts of climate change on the groundwater resources of the Mekong delta are significant, especially on groundwater recharge. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that groundwater development in the future should focus on reducing groundwater harvesting, enhancing groundwater quantity by establishing artificial works and exploiting surface water. This study suggests that the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model is an effective tool for forecasting groundwater levels in periods of 1 month and 3 months for aquifers in the natural and tidal regime areas of the delta.     

情理整合视角下旅游者环境责任行为与 意愿悖离研究——基于Logistic-ISM模型

基于对岳麓山景区447位旅游者的实地调研,运用拓展的计划行为理论并结合Logistic回归模型,分析影响两者发生悖离的因素,并进一步利用ISM解释结构模型分析各因素之间的逻辑关系.从Logistic回归结果看,旅游者的行为态度、感知行为控制等相关理性认知越好,发生悖离的可能性越低;旅游者积极环境情感和消极环境情感对悖离...     

支持向量机方法在山东山洪地质灾害预报中的应用试验

用支持向量机(SVM)方法根据T213数值资料和济南、淄博、泰安、莱芜4站的降水实况资料对山东山洪灾害多发的鲁中山区进行了降水分类预报试验。结果表明:多项式核和径向基核函数建立的模型较好地提炼了降水信息,都具有很高的预报技巧,客观性和实用性强,有很强的推广能力;用径向基核函数建的非线性降水分类模型优于用多项式核函数建立的线性降水分类预报,特别是资料减少时,非线性降水分类预报明显优于线性降水分类预报;低层大气湿度可能对线性降水分类有重要影响;建模时用的资料数据格式与实际业务中获得的数据格式应尽量保持一致。     

The roles of the reversibility and irreversibility of capillary bonds on the impact dynamics of agglomerates

Acta Geotechnica - Wet agglomerates such as iron-ores, tablets, and aggregates are omnipresent in multi–field industries. However, our understanding of the impact dynamics of these materials...