Postfire Logging in Riparian Areas

Abstract:  We reviewed the behavior of wildfire in riparian zones, primarily in the western United States, and the potential ecological consequences of postfire logging. Fire behavior in riparian zones is complex, but many aquatic and riparian organisms exhibit a suite of adaptations that allow relatively rapid recovery after fire. Unless constrained by other factors, fish tend to rebound relatively quickly, usually within a decade after a wildfire. Additionally, fire and subsequent erosion events contribute wood and coarse sediment that can create and maintain productive aquatic habitats over time. The potential effects of postfire logging in riparian areas depend on the landscape context and disturbance history of a site; however, available evidence suggests two key management implications: (1) fire in riparian areas creates conditions that may not require intervention to sustain the long-term productivity of the aquatic network and (2) protection of burned riparian areas gives priority to what is left rather than what is removed. Research is needed to determine how postfire logging in riparian areas has affected the spread of invasive species and the vulnerability of upland forests to insect and disease outbreaks and how postfire logging will affect the frequency and behavior of future fires. The effectiveness of using postfire logging to restore desired riparian structure and function is therefore unproven, but such projects are gaining interest with the departure of forest conditions from those that existed prior to timber harvest, fire suppression, and climate change. In the absence of reliable information about the potential consequence of postfire timber harvest, we conclude that providing postfire riparian zones with the same environmental protections they received before they burned is justified ecologically. Without a commitment to monitor management experiments, the effects of postfire riparian logging will remain unknown and highly contentious.     

A reactor system combining reductive dechlorination with cometabolic oxidation for complete degradation of tetrachloroentylene

A laboratory sequential anaerobic-aerobic bioreactor system, which consisted of an anaerobic fixed film reactor and two aerobic chemostats, was set up to degrade tetrachloroethylene (PCE) without accumulating highly toxic degradation intermediates. A soil enrichment culture, which could reductively dechlorinate 900/zM ( ca. 150 mg/L) of PCE stoichiometrically into cis-l, 2-dichloroethylene ( cis-DCE), was attached to ceramic media in the anaerobic fixed film reactor. A phenol degrading strain, Alcaligenes sp. 115, which can efficiently degrade cis-DCE by co-metabolic oxidation, was used as inocuhim for the aerobic chemostats consisted of a transformation reactor and a growth reactor.The anaerobic fixed film bioreactor showed more than 99 % of PCE transformation into cis-DCE in the range of influent PCE concentration from 5μM to 35μM at hydraulic retention time of 48h. On the other hand, efficient degradation of the resultant cis-DCE by strain R5 in the following aerobic system could not be achieved due to oxygen limitation. However, 54% of the maximum cis-DCE degradation was obtained when 10μmol of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2 ) was supplemented to the transformation reactor as an additional oxygen source. Further studies are needed to achieve more efficient co-metabolic degradation of cis-DCE in the aerobic reactor.     

MOVEMENT BEHAVIOUR OF MEDAKA (Oryzias latipes) IN RESPONSE TO SUBLETHAL TREATMENTS OF DIAZINON AND CHOLINESTERASE ACTIVITY IN SEMI-NATURAL CONDITIONS

Behavioural changes of medaka (Oryzias latipes) treated with an anticholinesterase insecticide, diazinon (0.1 mg L^{- 1}), were continuously observed for 4 days in semi-natural conditions. Although variations occurred in individual specimens, the movement tracks appeared differently with typical short-range movement with irregular turns and shaking after the treatments. Eight movement patterns frequently observed before and after the treatments were selected, and the variables characterising the movement patterns were compared quantitatively. The variables were clearly differentiated when the movement patterns were correspondingly matched before and after the treatments (e.g., vertical movements, horizontal movements, etc). Meander and stop duration were highly different among the selected movement patterns. Additionally, different degree of toxic response behaviours could also be detected by quantitative characterisation of the variables. Response behaviour was confirmed with toxicological experiments that show the decrease in the acetylcholine esterase activity in the head and body of specimens. Quantitative investigations on the variables of the movement tracks suggested the usefulness of response behaviour as a monitoring tool for environmental assessment.     

裂解温度对新疆棉秆生物炭物理化学性质的影响

生物质的裂解温度影响其所生产的生物炭炭的物理和化学性质,进而影响其田间应用效果。棉花秸秆是干旱区特别是新疆地区的主要农业生物质资源,其生物炭利用途径有望克服现有秸秆利用途径的不足,但对棉秆生物炭理化性质及其变化的认识还很缺乏。本文在不同的裂解温度下对新疆棉秆生物炭物理和化学性质进行研究,发现随着裂解温度的升高,生物炭的产率、阳离子交换量、O/C和H/C值降低,p H、电导和持水性能提高,Na+、K+趋势不明显,Cl-和SO2-4等盐碱化离子以及Ca~(2+)、Mg~(2+)营养元素含量随温度的升高降低;C、N、S、C/N和灰分等均提高,NH+4-N在550℃碳化条件下含量最高。因此在田间应用中,应针对土壤特点和解决的问题,调控碳化温度,从而达到趋利避害的目的。     

四种改良剂对酸性黄壤土壤酸度和肥力的影响

针对贵州黄壤酸和瘠的特点,采用正交实验设计方法对牛粪、生物炭、磷矿粉和钾长石粉四种改良剂对黄壤酸度和氮磷钾含量的改良效果进行了探索,分析了它们对黄壤氮磷钾含量的影响。结果显示,四种改良剂不仅能有效调节黄壤酸度,将酸性黄壤改变为中性或弱碱性土壤,而且能够有效改善黄壤氮磷钾养分含量。生物炭、牛粪、磷矿粉和钾长石粉混合施用能提高土壤肥力,与原始黄壤相比,混合后土壤的有效氮提升近10倍,有效磷提高达百倍,速效钾提高9倍。通过回归分析,给出了氮磷钾养分含量与改良剂之间的关系式。     

气溶胶有机碳元素碳基本特征研究的前沿动向

综述国外气溶胶有机碳(OC)和元素碳(EC)的五大特征(粒径分布、物质组成、时空分布、室内室外关系、排放源分析的)研究的进展;概述了国内OC、EC相关研究情况,展示了国内外OC、EC基本特征研究的发展重点和趋势。     

Using Genetic Profiles of African Forest Elephants to Infer Population Structure,Movements, and Habitat Use in a Conservation and Development Landscape in Gabon

Conservation of wide‐ranging species, such as the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), depends on fully protected areas and multiple‐use areas (MUA) that provide habitat connectivity. In the Gamba Complex of Protected Areas in Gabon, which includes 2 national parks separated by a MUA containing energy and forestry concessions, we studied forest elephants to evaluate the importance of the MUA to wide‐ranging species. We extracted DNA from elephant dung samples and used genetic information to identify over 500 individuals in the MUA and the parks. We then examined patterns of nuclear microsatellites and mitochondrial control‐region sequences to infer population structure, movement patterns, and habitat use by age and sex. Population structure was weak but significant, and differentiation was more pronounced during the wet season. Within the MUA, males were more strongly associated with open habitats, such as wetlands and savannas, than females during the dry season. Many of the movements detected within and between seasons involved the wetlands and bordering lagoons. Our results suggest that the MUA provides year‐round habitat for some elephants and additional habitat for others whose primary range is in the parks. With the continuing loss of roadless wilderness areas in Central Africa, well‐managed MUAs will likely be important to the conservation of wide‐ranging species. Utilización de Perfiles Genéticos de Elefantes Africanos para Inferir su Estructura Poblacional, Movimientos y Uso del Hábitat en un Paisaje con Conservación y Desarrollo en Gabón Resumenfgs     

Achieving Open Access to Conservation Science

Conservation science is a crisis discipline in which the results of scientific enquiry must be made available quickly to those implementing management. We assessed the extent to which scientific research published since the year 2000 in 20 conservation science journals is publicly available. Of the 19,207 papers published, 1,667 (8.68%) are freely downloadable from an official repository. Moreover, only 938 papers (4.88%) meet the standard definition of open access in which material can be freely reused providing attribution to the authors is given. This compares poorly with a comparable set of 20 evolutionary biology journals, where 31.93% of papers are freely downloadable and 7.49% are open access. Seventeen of the 20 conservation journals offer an open access option, but fewer than 5% of the papers are available through open access. The cost of accessing the full body of conservation science runs into tens of thousands of dollars per year for institutional subscribers, and many conservation practitioners cannot access pay‐per‐view science through their workplace. However, important initiatives such as Research4Life are making science available to organizations in developing countries. We urge authors of conservation science to pay for open access on a per‐article basis or to choose publication in open access journals, taking care to ensure the license allows reuse for any purpose providing attribution is given. Currently, it would cost $51 million to make all conservation science published since 2000 freely available by paying the open access fees currently levied to authors. Publishers of conservation journals might consider more cost effective models for open access and conservation‐oriented organizations running journals could consider a broader range of options for open access to nonmembers such as sponsorship of open access via membership fees. Obtención de Acceso Abierto a la Ciencia de la Conservación     

生物炭添加对两种类型土壤DOC淋失影响

生物炭能增加土壤碳库贮量,对全球碳的生物地球化学循环和缓解全球气候变化起到不可忽视的作用。可溶性有机碳(DOC)是土壤碳库中十分重要的组分,研究生物炭对DOC淋失影响对深入了解生物炭对土壤有机碳循环具有重要意义。本文以新疆和河南两种土壤为对象,通过室内土柱淋滤试验研究生物炭添加对不同类型土壤中溶解性有机碳(DOC)淋失影响以及添加不同生物炭对同种土壤淋滤液中DOC淋失影响特征。结果表明,新疆和河南土壤淋滤液DOC浓度和淋失量随着生物炭添加比例增加(1%,5%,10%)而减少。与玉米秸秆和锯末混合物为原料制成生物炭相比,玉米秸秆生物炭能显著降低新疆土壤淋滤液中DOC浓度。