An attempt to evaluate the recharge source and extent using hydrogeochemistry and stable isotopes in North Henan Plain,China

A thorough understanding of groundwater recharge source, particularly its rate, is usually a prerequisite for effective water resources management. In this paper, we report the impact of Yellow River water seepage from the North Henan Plain, using both hydrogeochemical and stable isotopic analysis data. Seven Yellow River water samples, 10 groundwater samples from a river-parallel transect, and 36 groundwater samples from four different perpendicular transects to the Yellow River in the western, middle, and eastern plain were collected and analyzed. It inferred that cation exchange of Ca²⁺ and/or Mg²⁺ for Na⁺ occurred in groundwaters because of the dissolution of carbonate rocks. The hydrogeochemical results indicate that western piedmont lateral groundwater and the Yellow River are both important sources of groundwater recharge for the western transect of the North Henan Plain, while the former is a greater recharge source for the middle transect, and the latter is a greater recharge source for the eastern transect. Stable isotope data support Yellow River water incursion into the groundwater. The approximate distance (based on chloride concentration) from the Yellow River to border of the impact zone is17.43–23.40 km in the western plain, 52.46 km in the middle plain, and 49.82 km in the eastern plain.     

Precision,accuracy, and application of diver-towed underwater GPS receivers

Diver-towed global positioning systems (GPS) handhelds have been used for a few years in underwater monitoring studies. We modeled the accuracy of this method using the software KABKURR originally developed by the University of Rostock for fishing and marine engineering. Additionally, three field experiments were conducted to estimate the precision of the method and apply it in the field: (1) an experiment of underwater transects from 5 to 35 m in the Southern Chile fjord region, (2) a transect from 5 to 30 m under extreme climatic conditions in the Antarctic, and (3) an underwater tracking experiment at Lake Ranco, Southern Chile. The coiled cable length in relation to water depth is the main error source besides the signal quality of the GPS under calm weather conditions. The forces used in the model resulted in a displacement of 2.3 m in a depth of 5 m, 3.2 m at a 10-m depth, 4.6 m in a 20-m depth, 5.5 m at a 30-m depth, and 6.8 m in a 40-m depth, when only an additional 0.5 m cable extension was used compared to the water depth. The GPS buoy requires good buoyancy in order to keep its position at the water surface when the diver is trying to minimize any additional cable extension error. The diver has to apply a tensile force for shortening the cable length at the lower cable end. Repeated diving along transect lines from 5 to 35 m resulted only in small deviations independent of water depth indicating the precision of the method for monitoring studies. Routing of given reference points with a Garmin 76CSx handheld placed in an underwater housing resulted in mean deviances less than 6 m at a water depth of 10 m. Thus, we can confirm that diver-towed GPS handhelds give promising results when used for underwater research in shallow water and open a wide field of applicability, but no submeter accuracy is possible due to the different error sources.     

Spatial factors of white-tailed deer herbivory assessment in the central Appalachian Mountains

Because moderate to over-abundant white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) herbivory impacts biodiversity and can alter community function, ecological benchmarks of herbivory impact are needed to assess deer impacts. We evaluated spatial patterns of deer herbivory and their relation to herbivory assessment by evaluating woody vegetation along 20 transects at each of 30 sites spread across a wide range of deer herd densities and vegetative condition throughout the biodiverse Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, USA. Surprisingly, herbivory patterns and the availability of woody forage generally were unchanged among physiographic regions and land use diversity classes. However, some relationships between browsing pattern and vegetation varied with scale. The total quantity of vegetation browsed on a given site and at the transect scale were related positively to the availability of forage, as the proportion of stems browsed decreased as stem density increased. However, this was only true when all stems were considered equally. When stem densities by species were weighted for deer preference, the proportion of stems browsed had no relationship or increased with stem density. Compared to the value from all transects sampled, on average, the mean of ≥?3 transects within a site was within 0.1 of the browsing ratio and stem densities were within 0.5 stems m^?2. Our results suggest that one transect per square kilometer with a minimum of three transects may be sufficient for most browsing intensity survey requirements to assess herbivory impacts in the Appalachian region of Virginia. Still, inclusion of spatial factors to help partition variation of deer herbivory potentially may allow for improved precision and accuracy in the design of field herbivory impact assessment methods and improve their application across various landscape contexts.     

Effects of long-term irrigation with treated wastewater on soil quality,soil-borne pathogens,and living organisms: case study of the vicinity of El Hajeb (Tunisia)

Medium (i.e. 15 years) and long-term (i.e. 20 years) impact of irrigation using secondary-treated municipal wastewater (TWW) was assessed on two agricultural soil samples, denoted by E and G, respectively, in the vicinity of El Hajeb region (Southern Tunisia). Soil pH, electrical conductivity particle size grading, potential risk of salinity, water holding capacity and chemical composition, as well as organic matter content, pathogenic microorganisms and heavy metal concentrations in the TWW-irrigated (E and G) and rainwater-irrigated (T) soils at various depths, were monitored and compared during a 5-year experiment. Our study showed that bacterial abundance is higher in sandy–clayey soil, which has an enhanced ability to retain moisture and nutrients. The high level of bacterial flora in TWW-irrigated soils was significantly (p?<?0.05) correlated (r?=?~0.5) with the high level of OM. Avoidance assays have been used to assess toxic effects generated by hazards in soils. The earthworms gradually avoided the soils from the surface (20 cm) to the depth (60 cm) of the G transect and then the E transect, preferring the T transect. The same behaviour was observed for springtails, but they seem to be less sensitive to the living conditions in transects G and E than the earthworms. The avoidance response test of Eisenia andrei was statistically correlated with soil layers at the sampling sites. However, the avoidance response test of Folsomia candida was positively correlated with silt-clay content (+0.744*) and was negatively correlated with sand content (?0.744*).     

Beach geomorphic factors for the persistence of subsurface oil from the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska

Oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill persists in some of the Prince William Sound (Alaska) beaches and continues to be a potential threat to the fauna. This paper reports a field investigation during the summer of 2008 of groundwater flow and solute transport in a tidal gravel beach in Smith Island, Prince William Sound. The beach contains oil on one side, the left side (facing landward). Field measurements of water table, salinity, and tracer (lithium) concentration were obtained for an approximate duration of 64 h for two transects, the oiled transect and a clean transect (the right transect). It was found that the hydraulic conductivity and the fresh groundwater recharge into the two transects were similar. It was also found that the beach slope of the mid to high tidal zone along the oiled (left) transect was ~7.4% which is considerably smaller than that of the clean (right) transect (~11.8%). This suggests a higher flushing/replenishing of the right transect with nutrients and/or oxygen, which would have enhanced biodegradation of oil on the right transect if that oil was not washed by waves. We also found that the degree of oiling at each location was inversely dependent on the armoring of the beach surface with clasts and boulders. The applied tracer concentration at the left transect was less than 2% of the source or close to the background level at all locations except a seaward well closest to the applied location, indicating that the tracer applied was diluted or washed out from the beach during the application. Thus, in situations where oil biodegradation is limited by the availability of nutrients and/or dissolved oxygen, applying the chemicals on the beach surface would most likely not enhance oil biodegradation as the applied chemicals would be greatly diluted prior to reaching the oil. Thus, deep injection of nutrients and/or dissolved oxygen is probably the only option for enhancing oil biodegradation.     

Evaluation of the best compromise between the urban air quality monitoring resolution by diffusive sampling and resource requirements

The need to collect data representative of overall urban pollution is all-important in order to monitor the population exposure. High spatial resolution monitoring using diffusive samplers allows studying of the urban pollutant distribution, thus enabling deeper investigation of their generation and diffusion mechanisms. Nevertheless, such a monitoring campaign has a certain cost. In this study we point out how to find the best compromise between the number of necessary measurements and the affordable costs for monitoring campaigns. We also describe an innovative method for the proper design of a fixed urban monitoring network by means of preliminary high spatial resolution campaigns using diffusive samplers. Four European capital cities (Dublin, Madrid, Paris and Rome) were monitored six times, each time for seven days. Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes (BTEX) and NO(2) concentrations were measured at 146 sites in Dublin, 293 in Madrid, 339 in Paris and 290 in Rome. Multiscale grids have been drawn which ranged in mesh size from 500 m to 2 km. The statistical processing of data produced a twofold result: the creation of isoconcentration maps with geostatistical procedures, and an algorithm aimed at locating the minimum number of sampling sites where the fixed monitoring stations should be placed. Average urban levels estimated on the basis of these selected sites differ by less than 8% from those calculated on the whole populations of the sampled points. The aim of this work is to investigate how far the resolution of a monitoring campaign of urban pollution by diffusive sampling can be reduced, thus making the monitoring less expensive in terms of human and financial resources, while preserving the same quality of the results that could be achieved with a higher resolution. We found that there is no significant loss of information when the resolution of the monitoring grid for BTEX is lowered to a mesh size of 1.85 km, that is a sampling site each 3.4 km(2), and that the minimum number of sampling sites to be used is N = 0.29 A, where A is the urban surface to be monitored (in km(2)). As the spatial distribution of NO(2) is less sensitive to the distance from the emission source than that of BTEX, this relationship could be retained as a valid lower limit for the mesh grid size also for NO(2) monitoring.     

Patchy distribution fields: sampling distance unit of a zigzag survey and reconstruction adequacy

A mathematical model was used to examine the effects of choosingvarious units of sampling distance of a zigzag survey on the adequacy of reconstructing patchy distribution fields. The modelsimulates fish or plankton patches (or gaps) of different shapesand spatial orientations, and an acoustic survey by zigzag or parallel transects along which a unit of sampling distance is set. Adequacy of the reconstructed fields to those originally generated is evaluated by calculating their correlations (r). A priori information on the autocorrelation radii for the field in the directions of the survey (R_s) and perpendiculardirection (R_p) allows optimisation of the survey design andthe algorithm of data analysis. A field can be reconstructed properly (r² > 0.70) if the distance between transects D < (1.0–1.5)R_s and the unit of sampling distance d < (1.0–1.5)R_p. A posteriori determination of patchorientation allows reconstruction of the best field attainable onthe basis of the survey data. In cases of field movement, if thedimension of patches in the direction of movement exceeds that ofa surveyed area, a survey in the opposite direction gives bestresults; in contrast, if the dimension of moving patches is smaller than that of a surveyed area, it is reasonable to carryout a survey in the same direction. The criterion remains validwhen a survey is carried out by zigzag transects and a unit ofsampling distance is set along them. The results obtained indicate that, for a fixed transect spacing and a given number of sampling points on each full transect, zigzag pattern allowsless adequate reconstruction of an original distribution field (in cases of both immovable and movable fields) than corresponding parallel pattern.     

Evaluating the ecological integrity of Atlantic forest remnants by using rapid ecological assessment

The need for quick identification of priority areas for biodiversity protection makes rapid assessment methods important management tools for defining conservation strategies. An increasingly used rapid assessment method is rapid ecological assessment (REA), a fast and flexible survey directed toward selected indicator species and vegetation forms. The purpose of this study was to propose and test REA based on plant community features of the semideciduous Atlantic forest (SAF). Correlation tests were performed between data collected by REA and plant species diversity, richness, and abundance collected by conventional woody plant inventory methods. The study was conducted in 21 SAF patches in Northern Paraná State, Brazil. The phytosociological inventory was conducted along a single transect and required 2 days to complete (excluding time spent for herbarium identification), whereas REA was conducted along three to four transects per working day. REA results correlated positively with woody plant diversity, proving REA to be an efficient method for defining the conservation status of SAF fragments, but accuracy of evaluations of threats to biological integrity are relatively low. Both the selection of appropriate variables and the skill level of field staff are critical and can strongly influence REA results.     

Modelling-tracer study for risk assessment of a proposed sour gas facility

As an integral part of a risk assessment of a sour gas pipeline proposed for a recreational area in the Rocky Mountain foothills, the dispersion of hydrogen sulphide was assessed using meteorological monitoring, tracer gas concentration measurement and a complex terrain diffusion model. Sulphur hexafluoride was released into the nocturnal drainage winds of two valleys in the eastern slopes of the Alberta Rockies southwest of Calgary. The resulting concentrations were measured at several points on transects at various distances from the source. The NUVAL version of the dispersion model IMPACT (Integrated Model for Plumes and Atmospherics in Complex Terrain) was site tuned using the measured concentrations and concurrent meteorological data. Relative mean absolute errors of 24–50% were obtained. The Gaussian model (PLUMES) with modified stability classes gave relative mean absolute errors of 42–64% in predicting transect maxima. Dilution rates were found to be much larger than would be experienced under similar conditions over flat terrain.     

Spatial properties of nutrient concentrations in the Baltic Sea

Using existing monitoring data, the present study attempts to characterize spatial patterns of surface water nutrients in the Baltic Sea. The analysis was made for two different spatial scales, differences between and within sub-basins.Non-parametric methods were chosen to reduce problems with the distributional properties of the data. By dividing the data into four seasons care was taken as to seasonality. To avoid bias due to different laboratory analysis, only data from Nordic countries were used, whose results did not apparently depart from each other. Bias due to different sampling frequency was another problem. This was reduced by using only the last observation in each season for every station and year.The results suggested differences in the nutrient concentrations between basins. The two northernmost basins (Bothnian Bay and Bothnian Sea) had lower phosphate concentrations and higher silicate concentrations compared to the rest of the Sea. Bothnian Bay and the Gulf of Finland had higher nitrate concentrations.The concentration structure within basins was studied using transects in both latitudinal and longitudinal direction. A gradient for phosphate and nitrate was found in the Gulf of Finland, with lower concentrations at the mouth. The Bothnian Sea showed lower concentrations in the middle of the basin compared to the coasts. The highest concentrations of phosphate were found close to the Finnish coast and for silicate the highest concentrations were located near the Swedish coast. It was not possible to study variation in the west-east direction within the Baltic proper, due to data shortage. For the transects in the north-south direction no differences were detected for nitrate and silicate. Phosphate gave one significant result during autumn for the transect in the eastern part of the Baltic proper.This study revealed several problems associated with the data available. Uneven sampling in space and time put severe constraints on the study. A better design of the monitoring program is suggested, where spatial properties are considered explicitly. Revision of the program in this direction is needed for reasonable calculation of total amounts and concentrations representative for a basin.     

Groundwater Monitoring Strategies for Variable Versus Constant Contaminant Loading Functions

Contaminant plumes were derived for constant and variable loading functions at locations within a landfill. Annually, the alternative loading functions injected the same volume of contaminated water. Mass transport modeling was used to evaluate the detection efficiencies of 25 monitoring transects, spaced evenly between the landfill and a downgradient compliance boundary. Respectively, the most efficient transects (requiring the fewest monitoring wells) for constant and variable loading were located at 60–64 and 40 percent of the distance to the compliance boundary. The mean detection efficiency was 29 percent higher for variable loading, but the variation in detection efficiency was similar for constant and variable loading. At the most efficient transects, the minimum number of detection wells was 20 percent lower for variable loading. Given the influence of source loading on monitoring efficiency, alternative loading functions should be considered when designing detection monitoring networks in aquifers.     

Characterizing Coral Condition Using Estimates of Three-dimensional Colony Surface Area

Coral reefs provide shoreline protection, biological diversity, fishery harvests, and tourism, all values that stem from the physically-complex coral infrastructure. Stony corals (scleractinians) construct and maintain the reef through deposition of calcium carbonate. Therefore, assessment of coral reefs requires at least some measurement endpoints that reflect the biological and physical condition of stony corals. Most monitoring programs portray coral quantity as live coral cover, which is the two-dimensional proportion of coral surface to sea floor viewed from above (planar view). The absence of the third dimension, however, limits our ability to characterize coral reef value, physiology, health and sustainability. A three-dimensional (3D) approach more realistically characterizes coral structure available as community habitat and, when combined with estimates of live coral tissue, quantifies the amount of living coral available for photosynthesis, growth and reproduction. A rapid coral survey procedure that coupled 3D coral quantification with more traditional survey measurements was developed and tested in the field. The survey procedure relied on only three underwater observations – species identification, colony size, and proportion of live tissue – made on each colony in the transect. These observations generated a variety of metrics, including several based on 3D colony surface area, that are relevant to reef management.     

Coral lipids and environmental stress

Environmental monitoring of coral reefs is presently limited by difficulties in recognising coral stress, other than by monitoring coral mortality over time. A recent report described an experiment demonstrating that a measured lipid index declined in shaded corals. The technique described might have application in monitoring coral health, with a decline in coral lipid index as an indicator of coral stress. The application of the technique as a practical monitoring tool was tested for two coral species from the Great Barrier Reef. Consistent with the previous results, lipid index for Pocillopora damicornis initially declined over a period of three weeks in corals maintained in filtered seawater in the dark, indicating possible utilization of lipid stored as energy reserves. However, lipid index subsequently rose to near normal levels. In contrast, lipid index of Acropora formosa increased after four weeks in the dark in filtered seawater. The results showed considerable variability in lipid content between samples from the same colony. Results were also found to be dependent on fixation times and sample weight, introducing potential error into the practical application of the technique. The method as described would be unsuitable for monitoring environmental stress in corals, but the search for a practical method to monitor coral health should continue, given its importance in coral reef management.     

优化布点的TOPSIS法研究

针对多目标系统的优化布点问题,尝试提出用改进的TOPSIS法研究水质环境监测点位的优化,并建立改进的TOPSIS法优化模型.实例分析表明,该方法充分利用了优化矩阵的信息,优选结果符合客观实际,可用于环境监测点位的优化布点.     

恶臭监测嗅觉测试方法的比较分析

通过恶臭污染监测技术的比较分析,阐明了各类恶臭监测技术的特点和发展方向,指出嗅觉测试法在目前技术水平下的重要作用和地位,依据古典心理物理学中最小可觉差法及平均差误法对欧洲EN13725标准方法和中国三点比较式臭袋法进行了比较分析,得到2种实验方法的特点。古典物理学是科学心理学一百多年的发展历程中已经形成的经典研究技术,主要用于外界刺激对人的感觉器官作用的测试技术。其中最小可觉差法是采用已知"标准刺激"对未知的"比较刺激"进行比较的感受阈值测定方法。平均差误法则是将"标准刺激"阈值视为零,并将接近零的平均实验结果作为感觉阈值的测定方法。在欧洲嗅辨实验所用的"标准刺激"为标准臭气样,而中国嗅辨实验暂时没有标准臭气样品,仍依据嗅觉阈值为零的概念进行恶臭样品实验。通过多年对嗅辨员的考核经验,总结了人的嗅阈值的分布特征,进而提出标准臭气样品的制备研究方法,提出培训嗅辨师以增强对环境恶臭污染识别能力的观点,借以深入理解恶臭嗅觉测定技术方法。     

Development and application of a video-mosaic survey technology to document the status of coral reef communities

The recent decline in the condition of coral reef communities worldwide has fueled the need to develop innovative assessment tools to document coral abundance and distribution rapidly and effectively. While most monitoring programs rely primarily on data collected in situ by trained divers, digital photographs and video are used increasingly to extract ecological indicators, provide a permanent visual record of reef condition, and reduce the time that divers spend underwater. In this study, we describe the development and application of a video-based reef survey methodology based on an algorithm for image registration and the estimation of image motion and camera trajectory. This technology was used to construct two-dimensional, spatially accurate, high-resolution mosaics of the reef benthos at a scale of up to 400 m². The mosaics were analyzed to estimate the size and percent cover of reef organisms and these ecological indicators of reef condition were compared to similar measurements collected by divers to evaluate the potential of the mosaics as monitoring tools. The ecological indicators collected by trained divers compared favorably with those measured directly from the video mosaics. Five out of the eight categories chosen (hard corals, octocorals, Palythoa, algal turf, and sand) showed no significant differences in percent cover based on survey method. Moreover, no significant differences based on survey method were found in the size of coral colonies. Lastly, the capability to extract the same reef location from mosaics collected at different times proved to be an important tool for documenting change in coral abundance as the removal of even small colonies (<10 cm in diameter) was easily documented. The two-dimensional video mosaics constructed in this study can provide repeatable, accurate measurements on the reef-plot scale that can complement measurements on the colony-scale made by divers and surveys conducted at regional scales using remote sensing tools.     

相似分析在空气连续监测缺测资料插补处理中的应用

空气连续自动监测中缺测资料的插补处理是环境监测与科研的一项基础性的技术工作,文章应用数理统计中的相似分析原理进行探讨,取得了较理想的结果.该方法对解决和处理因采样时间不足而造成的污染物浓度日均值缺失问题是十分有效的,对目前我国开展的城市空气质量日报工作有一定的实际意义.     

应用逼近于理想解的排序法优选环境监测点位的研究

尝试应用逼近于理想解的排序法进行环境监测点位的研究,证明此法具有简便、易行、实用性和科学性较强的特点.     

Assessing the Effects of Non-Point Source Pollution on American Samoa’s Coral Reef Communities

Surveys were completed on Tutuila Island, American Samoa, to characterize reef development and assess the impacts of non-point source pollution on adjacent coral reefs at six sites. Multivariate analyses of benthic and coral community data found similar modern reef development at three locations; Aoa, Alofau, and Leone. These sites are situated in isolated bays with gentle sloping foundations. Aoa reefs had the highest estimates of crustose coralline algae cover and coral species richness, while Leone and Alofau showed high abundances of macroalgae and Porites corals. Aoa has the largest reef flat between watershed discharge and the reef slope, and the lowest human population density. Masefau and Fagaalu have a different geomorphology consisting of cemented staghorn coral fragments and steep slopes, however, benthic and coral communities were not similar. Benthic data suggest Fagaalu is heavily impacted compared with all other sites. Reef communities were assessed as bio-criteria indicators for waterbody health, using the EPA aquatic life use support designations of (1) fully supportive, (2) partially supportive, and (3) non-supportive for aquatic life. All sites resulted in a partially supportive ranking except Fagaalu, which was non-supportive. The results of this rapid assessment based upon relative benthic community measures are less desirable than long-term dataset analyses from monitoring programs, however it fills an important role for regulatory agencies required to report annual waterbody assessments. Future monitoring sites should be established to increase the number of replicates within each geological and physical setting to allow for meaningful comparisons along a gradient of hypothesized pollution levels.