CLINICALLY APPLIED MEDICAL GEOGRAPHY: ITS ROLE IN TRAVEL MEDICINE

Medical geography frequently contributes to public health, but rarely are medical geographic concepts applied in clinical settings. This article describes the application of medical geographic concepts to an academic travel and tropical medicine clinical service at University Hospital in Seattle, and reviews the role of a medical geographer in this particular clinical setting. Applied concepts of medical geography improve the quality of patient care for overseas travellers and recent immigrants to the United States.     

Organochlorines and dioxin-like compounds in green-lipped mussels Perna viridis from Hong Kong mariculture zones

Concentrations of persistent organic pollutants including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine (OC) pesticides and dioxin-like compounds were measured in green-lipped mussels, Perna viridis, collected from seven mariculture zones in Hong Kong between September and October in 2002 in order to evaluate the status, spatial distribution and potential sources of pollution in these areas. Concentrations ranged from 300 to 4400 ng/g lipid weight for total OCs and 170–1000 ng/g lipid weight for total PCBs (based on 28 congeners). Relatively smaller DDT concentrations in mussels compared with previous studies suggest reduced discharges of DDTs from nearby regions into Hong Kong waters. Detection of a mixture of HCH isomers in the mussels indicated that Hong Kong waters were predominantly contaminated by technical HCHs rather than lindane. Mussel samples from all sampling locations elicited significant dioxin-like activity in the H4IIE-luc bioassay. The greatest magnitude of dioxin-like response (39 pg TEQ/g wet wt.) was detected in mussels from Ma Wan in the western waters of Hong Kong, which is strongly influenced by the Pearl River discharge. Human health risk assessment was undertaken to evaluate potential risks associated with the consumption of the green-lipped mussels. Risk quotient (RQ) for dioxin-like compounds was greater than unity suggesting that adverse health effects may be associated with high mussel consumption.     

Diagnostic monitoring of a changing environment: an alternative UK perspective

Adaptive management of the marine environment requires an understanding of the complex interactions within it. Establishing levels of natural variability within and between marine ecosystems is a necessary prerequisite to this process and requires a monitoring programme which takes account of the issues of time, space and scale. In this paper, we argue that an ecosystem approach to managing the marine environment should take direct account of climate change indicators at a regional level if it is to cope with the unprecedented change expected as a result of human impacts on the earth climate system. We discuss the purpose of environmental monitoring and the importance of maintaining long-term time series. Recommendations are made on the use of these data in conjunction with modern extrapolation and integration tools (e.g. ecosystem models, remote sensing) to provide a diagnostic approach to the management of marine ecosystems, based on adaptive indicators and dynamic baselines.     

Biomonitoring of Atmospheric Heavy Metal Deposition by Mosses in the Vicinity of Industrial Sites

At four industrial regions, heavy metal concentrations and calculated depositions were investigated by sampling and analysing mosses. In each region, a special spatial pattern of heavy metal concentrations was detected, reflecting the industrial processes. Metals most likely originating from the industrial sites showed an exponential decrease of concentrations and depositions with increasing distance from the pollution source. The exponential deposition pattern was in some cases modified by a series of natural factors, like the main direction of winds or orographic conditions. The distance at which deposition dropped to background values was up to 20 km. Beside the fact that the moss-metho is a useful tool for deposition measurement in the vicinity of stationary sources, some improvements for using this method are discussed, highlighting factors such as a proper calculation of deposition from concentrations, or the better knowledge of correlations between heavy metal concentrations in mosses and effects on human health.     

黄河三角洲海岸带陆海相互作用概念模式

根据陆海相互作用的观点,黄河流域、黄河干流、河口三角洲及其邻近海区的生态环境相互联系,组成了一个有机的生态系统链,可称为黄河-渤海生态系统。黄河流域的降水量、土壤植被条件使黄河干流具有水少沙多、水沙异源和水资源缺乏的特征。干流入海水、沙通量变化影响了黄河三角洲地区的侵蚀、堆积和发育过程。黄河物质入海后在河口及邻近海域形成了具有高生产力的生态环境和著名的渔场。据此绘出了黄河-渤海生态环境内各环节相互联系的概念模式图,并提出了黄河流域大面积水土保持和南水北调工程逐步展开等新环境下,本区陆海相互作用的研究方向。     

The age as a diagnostic of the dynamics of marine ecosystem models

The constituent-oriented age theory (CAT) worked out by Delhez et al. (1999) is a flexible tool that can be applied to diagnose complex models. It is shown here how this can be used to quantify the pace at which an ecosystem model works. At the cost of the introduction of one additional evolution equation for each compartment of the ecosystem model, the mean age of the biological material forming these compartments can be computed. The information obtained in this way complements the information provided by the concentration data; while the latter measures the standing stocks, the former provides an integrated assessment of the interaction rates and matter fluxes. The benefits of the method are demonstrated with a simple Lotka–Volterra system and a one-dimensional vertical model of the nitrogen cycle in the Ligurian Sea. The theory can be used to study the biological compartments individually or the ecosystem as a whole. In particular, the age is a valuable tool to quantify the overall cycling rate of nitrogen in the food web.Responsible Editor: Phil Dyke     

闽江河口湿地自然保护区生态系统服务价值评价

研究运用生态经济学和资源环境经济学等有关理论和研究方法,利用前人已有调查资料,对闽江河口湿地自然保护区生态系统服务价值做了较全面的评价,拟为保护湿地和公共决策提供科学依据。闽江河口湿地自然保护区生态系统服务价值为4966.1万元/a。按照价值量大小排序为:调节气候价值>文化载体价值>保护生物多样性价值>提供产品价值。     

基于PSR模型的九段沙湿地生态系统健康评价

以长江口九段沙湿地为例,运用湿地生态系统健康理论和压力-状态-响应(PSR)模型对湿地生态系统的健康进行了诊断评价。首先从湿地面临的压力、生态系统现状以及相应的管理对策等3个层面选取了30个评价指标,构建了九段沙湿地生态系统健康的评价体系。然后通过定量与定性相结合将指标分为5个等级,最后运用综合指数法对九段沙湿地生态系统健康综合指数进行计算。结果表明,九段沙湿地健康综合评价指数为0.77,处于健康状态。同时,九段沙湿地目前所面临压力的评价值为0.707,尚处于能够承受的范围,其主要压力来自于渔业资源无序过度捕捞、外来物种入侵、环境污染、长江来沙量锐减等方面。     

Monitoring directions and rates of change in trees outside forests through multitemporal analysis of map sequences

This study explores the potential of historical maps to detect, measure and monitor changes of trees outside forests. The main goal is to assess local-level changes of scattered trees and orchards and their land-use determinants in two areas in Southern Germany between 1901/1905 and 2009. Firstly, overall landscape changes are recorded. Secondly, the spatial-temporal trajectories of scattered trees and their land-use determinants are identified. Thirdly, changes in quantity and fragmentation patterns of traditional orchards are analyzed in their relationship to overall land-cover change. The results confirm major losses in scattered trees, mainly due to urbanization, agricultural intensification, and land abandonment. They further reveal that, while orchards have persisted in total area, they have undergone critical changes toward a simplified landscape structure and loss of the traditional land-use mosaic, which is a characterizing feature of high nature value landscapes. Multi-temporal assessment showed that most trends have been continuous and did not change directions over time, but rather accelerated during periods of rapid change (most dramatically in the 1950-1990 period). The case of orchards and scattered trees illustrates a major problem of cultural landscapes in Europe: Semi-natural landscape features of high nature value are threatened by both intensification and abandonment of land uses. This makes their conservation a potentially costly enterprise, as both opportunity costs for lost alternative land uses and for conservation management costs arise.     

河流健康评价的主评指标筛选

河流健康是近年来探讨水资源问题的一个热点,其评价指标体系正成为河流管理的目标。为了筛选出一些基本的、易于量化的主要评价指标来揭示河流健康基本状况和变化趋势,通过对1972～2010年约150篇相关文献、45个河流健康评价指标体系902项指标的整理和归纳,应用统计、层次和相关性分析法,确定各指标的被采用率,并同时综合考虑指标的重要性、普遍性、可量化性和易获得性,筛选出揭示河流生境物理、水环境、生物和水资源利用4类特征的主要指标。结果表明,有以下8个指标可作为河流健康的主评指标:河岸植被覆盖率、河流连通性、湿地保留率、径流量变化率、水质达标率、鱼类生物完整性指数、水资源利用率和流域天然植被覆盖率。