In a soil column experiment, we investigated the effect of 5 mmol kg(-1) soil addition of citric acid, ethylenediamine tetraacetate (EDTA), diethylenetriamine-pentaacetate (DTPA) and [S,S]-stereoisomer of ethylenediamine-disuccinate (EDDS) on phytoextraction of Cu from a vineyard soil with 162.6 mg kg(-1) Cu, into the test plant Brassica rapa var. pekinensis. We also examined the use of a horizontal permeable barrier, composed of layers of nutrient enriched sawdust and apatite, for reduction of chelator induced Cu leaching. The addition of all chelators, except citric acid, enhanced Cu mobility and caused leaching of 19.5-23% of initial total Cu from the soil column. However, Cu plant uptake did not increase accordingly; the most effective was the EDDS treatment, in which plant Cu concentration reached 37.8 +/-1.3 mg kg(-1) Cu and increased by 3.3-times over the control treatment. The addition of none of the chelators in the concentration range from 5 to 15 mmol kg(-1) exerted any toxic effect on respiratory soil microorganisms. When EDDS was applied into the columns with horizontal permeable barriers, only 0.53 +/- 0.32% of the initial total Cu was leached. Cu (36.7%) was washed from the 18 cm soil layer above the barrier and accumulated in the barrier. Our results indicate that rather than for a reduction of Cu leaching during rather ineffective chelate induced Cu phytoextraction, horizontal permeable barriers could be more effective in a new remediation technique of controlled in situ soil washing of Cu with biodegradable chelates. 相似文献
Journal of Polymers and the Environment - This study explains the development of eco-friendly polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/oxidized maize starch (OMS)/Betel leaves extract (BLE) blend films by employing... 相似文献
The world is experiencing an energy crisis and environmental issues due to the depletion of fossil fuels and the continuous increase in carbon dioxide concentrations. Microalgal biofuels are produced using sunlight, water, and simple salt minerals. Their high growth rate, photosynthesis, and carbon dioxide sequestration capacity make them one of the most important biorefinery platforms. Furthermore, microalgae's ability to alter their metabolism in response to environmental stresses to produce relatively high levels of high-value compounds makes them a promising alternative to fossil fuels. As a result, microalgae can significantly contribute to long-term solutions to critical global issues such as the energy crisis and climate change. The environmental benefits of algal biofuel have been demonstrated by significant reductions in carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and sulfur oxide emissions. Microalgae-derived biomass has the potential to generate a wide range of commercially important high-value compounds, novel materials, and feedstock for a variety of industries, including cosmetics, food, and feed. This review evaluates the potential of using microalgal biomass to produce a variety of bioenergy carriers, including biodiesel from stored lipids, alcohols from reserved carbohydrate fermentation, and hydrogen, syngas, methane, biochar and bio-oils via anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, and gasification. Furthermore, the potential use of microalgal biomass in carbon sequestration routes as an atmospheric carbon removal approach is being evaluated. The cost of algal biofuel production is primarily determined by culturing (77%), harvesting (12%), and lipid extraction (7.9%). As a result, the choice of microalgal species and cultivation mode (autotrophic, heterotrophic, and mixotrophic) are important factors in controlling biomass and bioenergy production, as well as fuel properties. The simultaneous production of microalgal biomass in agricultural, municipal, or industrial wastewater is a low-cost option that could significantly reduce economic and environmental costs while also providing a valuable remediation service. Microalgae have also been proposed as a viable candidate for carbon dioxide capture from the atmosphere or an industrial point source. Microalgae can sequester 1.3 kg of carbon dioxide to produce 1 kg of biomass. Using potent microalgal strains in efficient design bioreactors for carbon dioxide sequestration is thus a challenge. Microalgae can theoretically use up to 9% of light energy to capture and convert 513 tons of carbon dioxide into 280 tons of dry biomass per hectare per year in open and closed cultures. Using an integrated microalgal bio-refinery to recover high-value-added products could reduce waste and create efficient biomass processing into bioenergy. To design an efficient atmospheric carbon removal system, algal biomass cultivation should be coupled with thermochemical technologies, such as pyrolysis.
Trawling has a significant effect on the structure of marine communities, yet the ubiquity of trawling impacts makes testing
such effects difficult. This study examines trawling impacts on trophodynamics of three fishes among the Gulfs of Castellammare
and Termini Imerese (northern Sicily), the first of which has been subject to a trawling ban since 1990 that initially resulted
in an eightfold increase in total fish biomass. The Gulf of Termini Imerese remains heavily fished and was treated as a control
site. Nitrogen and carbon stable isotope data were used to assess fishing induced changes in trophic levels or source of production
supporting three demersal fish species; Mullus barbatus,Merluccius merluccius and Lophius budegassa following a control-impact approach. The exclusion of trawling resulted in only small alteration of δ15N in two of the three-three species. There were no systematic changes in the δ13C of any species sampled. Thus, a large influence of trawling on the trophodynamics of the studied species at sampled size
was discounted. Although stable isotopes do not have spatial or temporal resolution to identify detailed shifts in diet composition,
their integrative nature highlights that the trophic role these species play is robust to fishing impacts at scales over which
the fishery operates. This is despite a significant increase in the abundance of these species and of total fish biomass within
the protected area.
A time series study of the copepods Calanus chilensis and Centropages brachiatus was carried out at the coastal upwelling zone of Mejillones (23°S, northern Chile), to analyze their annual life cycles in
association with upwelling variation. These species co-exist in the upwelling zone. Weekly sampling of zooplankton and oceanographic
variables including Chlorophyll-a and phytoplankton composition were obtained during January–December 2002 at a fixed station (ca. 90 m depth). Stages of abundances,
their proportions, changes in body length of adult females, sex ratio and egg production rate (EPR), were used as proxies
to examine copepods’ demography. Upwelling, assessed by weekly Ekman transport and oceanographic conditions, was intermittent
throughout the year with lack of periodicity components. Populations of both copepod species did not correlate with these
non-predictable upwelling events. C. chilensis reproduced year-round and the population showed ca. 15 peaks of adults with an average time interval between peaks of 20 days.
C. brachiatus showed a similar life cycle, also having 15 peaks of adults at about 22 days of time intervals. Cross-correlation functions
and spectral analysis showed that both populations correlated positively through time, but not in phase, evidencing a time
lag for their reproductive cycles. The lag was also evident in their population abundances. Both species differ in their development
rates and this may result in non-in phase life cycles. Our findings suggest that species-dependent attributes, such as development
rates, modulated by adaptations to temperature, might impose constraints in the species life cycles determining the population
cycles. Such attributes must be considered when modeling and understanding population dynamics and secondary production of
copepods. 相似文献
The genus Nyctiphanes (Malacostraca, Euphausiacea) comprises four neritic species that display antitropical geographic distribution in the Pacific
(N. simplex and N. australis) and Atlantic (N. couchii and N. capensis) Oceans. We studied the origin of this distribution applying methods for phylogenetic reconstruction and molecular dating
of nodes using a Bayesian MCMC analysis and the DNA sequence information contained in mtDNA 16S rDNA and cytochrome oxidase
(COI). We tested hypotheses of vicariance by contrasting the time estimates of cladogenesis with the onset of the major barriers
to ocean circulation. It was estimated that Nyctiphanes originated in the Pacific Ocean during the Miocene, with a lower limit of 18 miilion years ago (Mya). An Atlantic–Pacific
cladogenic event (95% HPD 3.2–9.6) took place after the closure of the Tethyan Sea, suggesting that dispersal occurred from
the Indo-Pacific, most likely via southern Africa. Similarly, the antitropical distribution pattern observed in the eastern
Atlantic Ocean likely resulted from recent Pliocene–Pleistocene (95% HPD 1.0–4.97) northward dispersal from the southern hemisphere.
Our results imply that dispersal appears to have had a significant role to play in the evolution of this group.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. 相似文献
There is growing evidence that the sex ratios of wild vertebrate populations are determined by mechanisms that are directly
influenced by environmental characteristics. The Trivers–Willard (TWH) and extrinsic modification (EMH) hypotheses postulate
differing determinants of mammalian offspring sex ratios. TWH states that mothers allocate resources according to their current
condition and sex-specific offspring costs. EMH states that environmental forces that affect maternal condition determine
offspring sex ratios, independently of maternal tactics of sex-biased allocation. We statistically assessed support for each
of these hypotheses using long-term life histories of the allied rock-wallaby, Petrogale assimilis; a continuously breeding, polygynous, weakly dimorphic marsupial. We showed that birth sex ratios were equal and independent
of maternal and environmental conditions. However, secondary sex ratios were male-biased under good environmental conditions
and for high quality mothers or mothers in good condition. Sex differences in offspring survival contributed to these biases:
(1) environmental conditions strongly influenced survival to pouch emergence (in support of EMH) and (2) maternal quality
affected survival to the end of maternal care (in support of TWH). Environmental effects on survival were more important than
maternal factors over the entire period of maternal care and contributed most to male-biased sex ratios at pouch emergence.
In contrast, maternal mass was the best predictor of sex ratios at the end of maternal care—the life history stage where offspring
body mass differed between the sexes. 相似文献
Some authors have proposed that homing pigeons are able to correct the error in orientation following a phase-shift treatment
by using the magnetic compass reference. They reported that clock-shifted pigeons bearing magnets display a greater deflection
compared to magnetically unmanipulated clock-shifted birds. However, this hypothesis tested by recording pigeons’ vanishing
bearings has led to contradictory results. The present study reports pigeons’ tracks recorded with a GPS and shows that clock-shifted
pigeons bearing magnets displayed a greater deviation through the whole route compared to the magnetically unmanipulated shifted
pigeons. Moreover, the analysis of the tracks shows that the birds belonging to both experimental groups stop in coincidence
with their subjective night. When re-starting their journey, the birds corrected the clock-shift induced error in orientation,
but the magnetically manipulated pigeons were less efficient in doing so. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that
homing pigeons released from unfamiliar location re-orient after clock shift by using the magnetic compass. 相似文献
Ocean acidification (OA) and the biological consequences of altered seawater chemistry have emerged as a significant environmental
threat to healthy marine ecosystems. Because a more acidic ocean interferes with fixation of calcium carbonate to form shells
or calcified skeletons, future ocean chemistry may significantly alter the physiology of calcifying marine organisms. These
alterations may manifest themselves directly in the calcification process, or have synergistic effects with other environmental
factors such as elevated temperatures. New tools permit us to explore subtle changes in gene expression patterns in response
to environmental conditions. We raised sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) under conditions simulating future atmospheric CO2 levels of 540 and 970 ppm. When larvae raised under elevated CO2 conditions were subjected to 1-h acute temperature stress, their ability to mount a physiological response (as measured by
expression of the molecular chaperone hsp70) was reduced relative to those raised under ambient CO2 conditions. These results represent the first use of gene expression assays to study the effects of OA on sea urchin development.
They highlight the importance of looking at multiple environmental factors simultaneously as this approach may reveal previously
unsuspected biological impacts of atmospheric changes. 相似文献