Soil and preen waxes influence the expression of carotenoid-based plumage coloration

The signaling function of carotenoid-based plumage is mainly determined by the concentration of pigments in feathers. For this reason, most studies of the proximate control of coloration focus on processes during and preceding moult. In great tits Parus major, past research demonstrates that carotenoid-based plumage coloration honestly indicates male quality and, thus, may be a sexually selected signal. In this study, we investigate how dirt and preen oil influence the coloration of carotenoid-based feathers in the great tit. We collected six feathers from each individual bird; three feathers served as controls while the remaining three feathers were washed with a chloroform/methanol mixture to remove soil and preen waxes. We assessed plumage coloration using digital photography. This cleaning procedure slightly enhanced ornamentation; the experimentally cleaned feathers expressed hues shifted towards shorter wavelengths and expressed brighter overall coloration than control feathers. This is the first experimental study conducted on wild birds demonstrating that, in addition to pigment concentration, the presence of preen waxes and soils on feathers may contribute to variation in coloration.     

Artificial neural network model for identifying taxi gross emitter from remote sensing data of vehicle emission

Vehicle emission has been the major source of air pollution in urban areas in the past two decades. This article proposes an artificial neural network model for identifying the taxi gross emitters based on the remote sensing data. After carrying out the field test in Guangzhou and analyzing various factors from the emission data, the artificial neural network modeling was proved to be an advisable method of identifying the gross emitters. On the basis of the principal component analysis and the selection of algorithm and architecture, the Back-Propagation neural network model with 8-17-1 architecture was established as the optimal approach for this purpose. It gave a percentage of hits of 93%. Our previous research result and the result from aggression analysis were compared, and they provided respectively the percentage of hits of 81.63% and 75%. This comparison demonstrates the potentiality and validity of the proposed method in the identification of taxi gross emitters.     

连续流膜生物反应器中好氧颗粒污泥的形成及机制探讨

为了探讨好氧颗粒污泥在连续流膜生物反应器(MBR)中的形成过程和机制,采用连续流试验的方法,研究了好氧颗粒污泥形成过程中膜反应器内污染物的去除效果和好氧颗粒污泥特性的变化,并对连续流MBR中好氧颗粒污泥的形成机制进行了探讨.结果显示,连续流MBR中好氧颗粒污泥的形成增强了MBR的运行稳定性和抗冲击能力.废水中微生物抑制...     

水生植物对不同富营养化程度水体净化能力研究

为不同富营养化程度水体筛选出净化能力强的植物种类,文章采用模拟人工湿地系统处理人工配制污水的方法,以7d为一个采样周期,比较了5种植物(满江红、槐叶萍、四叶萍、黑藻和慈姑)在轻度、中度和重度富营养水体中TN、TP、NH4+-N去除能力.实验结果表明:5种植物处理能力随着富营养程度提高而增大.在重度富营养条件下,处理能力...     

基于生态系统的水环境压力分区指标体系构建

为了科学合理的完成水环境压力分区,构建水环境压力分区指标体系是其关键和基础.鉴于水环境压力涉及因素的系统性.相互联系性,从生态系统的角度考虑选取水环境压力分区指标十分必要;由于水环境压力涉及方面的相互联系性,其表征指标之间往往存在信息量的重叠,为了避免信息的重复表达,减少不必要的工作量,同时避免冗余指标带来的干扰,需对...     

农药厂搬迁厂址用于房地产开发的选址环境影响评价

传统有机磷、有机氯农药具有高毒性、持久性和环境激素效应,处于痕量和超痕量浓度水平都可能给人类生命健康和生态环境带来严重威胁和风险。由于农药及其副产物的历史残留、累积及跨界迁移和分布,农药厂搬迁厂址用于房地产开发场地环评具有很大困难。结合南方某市一大型农药厂搬迁厂址用于房地产开发项目的案例,探讨了该类场地评价中基础资料的搜集方法和环评中应遵循的理念和原则。     

不同排水体制比较研究的发展与展望

合理地选择排水体制,是城市和工业企业排水系统规划和设计的重要问题.环境保护应是选择排水体制时所考虑的主要问题.排水体制的选择问题一直是学界和业界争论的热点问题之一.对不同排水体制的比较研究,有助于人们了解不同排水体制的优劣,从而选择最合适的排水体制.回顾国内外已有的对不同排水体制的比较研究,可以为以后的研究提供指导和参考.     

铅低累积玉米品种的筛选研究

通过田间实验,研究了在高浓度Pb （2000mg/kg）胁迫下,25个玉米品种生长、产量变化及根、茎叶和籽粒Pb含量的差异。结果表明：在同一污染条件下,25个玉米品种生长对Pb的响应存在显著差异;不同品种根、茎叶和籽粒对Pb吸收、累积及分配能力存在显著差异,分配规律为：根＞茎叶＞籽粒;通过聚类分析获得对Pb耐性较高的品种6个、籽粒Pb低积累的品种6个;综合分析,最终筛选出寻单7号为Pb低累积品种。     

A Contemporary,Sex‐Limited Change in Body Size of an Estuarine Turtle in Response to Commercial Fishing

Abstract: Juvenile growth rate and adult body size are important components of life‐history strategies because of their direct impact on fitness. The diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) is a sexually dimorphic, long‐lived turtle inhabiting brackish waters throughout the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. In parts of its range, terrapins face anthropogenically imposed mortality: juveniles of both sexes inadvertently enter commercial crab traps and drown. For adult females, the carapace eventually grows large enough that they cannot enter traps, whereas males almost never reach that critical size. We compared age structure, carapace dimensions, growth curves, and indices of sexual dimorphism for a Chesapeake Bay population of terrapins (where mortality of turtles is high due to crab traps) with contemporary terrapins from Long Island Sound and museum specimens from Chesapeake Bay (neither group subject to commercial crab traps). We also calculated the allochronic and synchronic rates of evolutionary change (haldanes) for males and females to measure the rate of trait change in a population or between populations, respectively. We found a dramatic shift to a younger male age structure, a decrease in the length of time to terminal female carapace size, a 15% increase in female carapace width, and an increase in sexual dimorphism in Chesapeake Bay. In a new twist, our results implicate a fishery in the selective increase in size of a reptilian bycatch species. These sex‐specific changes in life history and demography have implications for population viability that need to be considered when addressing conservation of this threatened turtle.     

Use of an Action‐Selection Framework for Human‐Carnivore Conflict in the Bangladesh Sundarbans

Abstract: Human–carnivore conflict is manifested in the death of humans, livestock, and carnivores. The resulting negative local attitudes and retribution killings imperil the future of many endangered carnivores. We tailored existing management tools to create a framework to facilitate the selection of actions to alleviate human–carnivore conflict and applied the framework to the human–tiger conflict in the Bangladesh Sundarbans. We identified potential actions that consider previous management efforts, local knowledge, cost‐effectiveness, fieldwork experience of authors and project staff, previous research on tiger ecology by the authors, and recommendations from human–carnivore conflict studies in other countries. Our framework includes creation of a profile to improve understanding of the nature of the conflict and its underlying causality. Identified actions include deterrents, education, direct tiger management, and response teams. We ranked actions by their potential to reduce conflict and the monetary cost of their implementation. We ranked tiger‐response teams and monitoring problem tigers as the two best actions because both had relatively high impact and cost‐effectiveness. We believe this framework could be used under a wide range of human–wildlife conflict situations because it provides a structured approach to selection of mitigating actions.