Defining the Impact of Non‐Native Species

Non‐native species cause changes in the ecosystems to which they are introduced. These changes, or some of them, are usually termed impacts; they can be manifold and potentially damaging to ecosystems and biodiversity. However, the impacts of most non‐native species are poorly understood, and a synthesis of available information is being hindered because authors often do not clearly define impact. We argue that explicitly defining the impact of non‐native species will promote progress toward a better understanding of the implications of changes to biodiversity and ecosystems caused by non‐native species; help disentangle which aspects of scientific debates about non‐native species are due to disparate definitions and which represent true scientific discord; and improve communication between scientists from different research disciplines and between scientists, managers, and policy makers. For these reasons and based on examples from the literature, we devised seven key questions that fall into 4 categories: directionality, classification and measurement, ecological or socio‐economic changes, and scale. These questions should help in formulating clear and practical definitions of impact to suit specific scientific, stakeholder, or legislative contexts. Definiendo el Impacto de las Especies No‐Nativas     

高铁网络可达性测度及经济潜力分析——以安徽省为例

高速铁路的开通给沿线城市的建设带来了重大影响。基于可达性测度以及修正的经济潜力模型,利用GIS对安徽省高铁可达性以及经济潜力进行深入分析。研究表明:(1)高铁开通后安徽省可达性显著提高,但总体格局保持不变,呈现出以合肥为中心,淮南、芜湖等地为副中心的"多核心"模式。池州、铜陵两城市可达性上升幅度最大,黄山紧随其后,芜湖、滁州变化最小。高铁开通后,滁州可达性排名下降5名,下降幅度最大,合肥、淮南、黄山最为稳定,其他城市均有小幅变化。(2)可达性的提升对城市经济潜力造成了一定影响,总体呈现出以合肥为中心的外围扩展模式。池州、铜陵经济潜力增长最为显著,黄山位列第3,可达性的提升直接影响了池州、铜陵、黄山三市的经济发展。高铁开通后,合肥、芜湖经济潜力排名始终位于前二,传统经济中心地位不变。马鞍山排名上升4名,幅度最大,池州、黄山两市处于末端,经济潜力仍然较为薄弱。(3)高铁开通后,时空收敛效应明显,可达性的提升令城市经济潜力增长显著,但受多方面因素影响,可达性与经济潜力呈现不完全契合关系。     

Environmental assessment of garden waste management in the Municipality of Aarhus, Denmark

An environmental assessment of six scenarios for handling of garden waste in the Municipality of Aarhus (Denmark) was performed from a life cycle perspective by means of the LCA-model EASEWASTE. In the first (baseline) scenario, the current garden waste management system based on windrow composting was assessed, while in the other five scenarios alternative solutions including incineration and home composting of fractions of the garden waste were evaluated. The environmental profile (normalised to Person Equivalent, PE) of the current garden waste management in Aarhus is in the order of −6 to 8 mPE Mg⁻¹ ww for the non-toxic categories and up to 100 mPE Mg⁻¹ ww for the toxic categories. The potential impacts on non-toxic categories are much smaller than what is found for other fractions of municipal solid waste. Incineration (up to 35% of the garden waste) and home composting (up to 18% of the garden waste) seem from an environmental point of view suitable for diverting waste away from the composting facility in order to increase its capacity. In particular the incineration of woody parts of the garden waste improved the environmental profile of the garden waste management significantly.     

季节性城市生活垃圾成分分析及厌氧消化特性研究

城市生活垃圾的成分及特性随着季节和人类在不同季节的生活习惯而变化，针对我国北方城市研究了一年中不同季节的城市生活垃圾成分特点，对影响厌氧发酵过程的相关成分如总有机碳（TOC）、总氮（TN）、蛋白质、脂肪和还原糖等进行了测定分析。通过厌氧消化实验，测得不同季节城市生活垃圾pH值、日产气量、沼气甲烷含量、甲烷累积量、挥发性脂肪酸（VFAs）和氧化还原电位（ORP）等参数的变化规律，分析相应变化的影响因素。结果表明，二、三季度的含水率分别为64．81％和67．50％，高于一、四季度，一季度发酵原料中蛋白质和脂肪含量分别为12．56％和8．86％，明显高于其他3个季度。一季度甲烷累积量最高，达到17616mL，单位发酵原料的产气量为204．8mL／g，也是4个季度中最高的，说明蛋白质、脂肪等有机成分含量对厌氧发酵过程及结果影响比较明显。为进一步的城市生活垃圾厌氧消化制取生物燃气的工艺条件提供依据。     

Long-term evaluation of coal fly ash and mine tailings co-placement: A site-specific study

This study presents the results of a laboratory investigation conducted to evaluate the efficiency of coal fly ash to control the formation of acid mine drainage (AMD) from mine waste. Site-specific materials, coal fly ash from Atikokan Thermal Generating Station and mine tailings from Musselwhite mine, were mixed at different proportions for the investigation of the drainage chemistry and the optimal mix using static testing (acid–base accounting) and kinetic (column) testing. The acid–base accounting (ABA) results indicated that the fly ash possessed strong alkaline (neutralization) potential (NP) and could be used in the management of reactive mine tailings, thus ensuring prevention of AMD in the long-term. Column tests conducted in the laboratory to further investigate long-term performance of fly ash in the neutralization and prevention of acid mine drainage from tailings similarly showed that mixing fly ash with mine tailings reduces dissolution of many heavy metals from tailings by providing alkalinity to the system. It was found that a fly ash to tailings mass ratio equal to or greater than 15% can effectively prevent AMD generation from Musselwhite mine tailings in the co-placement approach.     

Community participatory landscape classification and biodiversity assessment and monitoring of grazing lands in northern Kenya

In this study, we asked the Ariaal herders of northern Kenya to answer "why, what and how" they classified landscape, and assessed and monitored the biodiversity of 10 km(2) of grazing land. To answer the "why question" the herders classified grazing resources into 39 landscape patches grouped into six landscape types and classified soil as 'warm', 'intermediate' or 'cold' for the purpose of land use. For the "what question" the herders used soil conditions and vegetation characteristics to assess biodiversity. Plant species were described as 'increasers', 'decreasers' or 'stable'. The decreaser species were mostly grasses and forbs preferred for cattle and sheep grazing and the increasers were mostly woody species preferred by goats. The herders evaluated biodiversity in terms of key forage species and used absence or presence of the preferred species from individual landscapes for monitoring change in biodiversity. For the "how question" the herders used anthropogenic indicators concerned with livestock management for assessing landscape potential and suitability for grazing. The anthropogenic indicators were related to soils and biodiversity. The herders used plant species grazing preferences to determine the links between livestock production and biodiversity. By addressing these three questions, the study shows the value of incorporating the indigenous knowledge of herders into classification of landscape and assessment and monitoring of biodiversity in the grazing lands. We conclude that herder knowledge of biodiversity is related to the use as opposed to exclusive conservation practices. This type of knowledge is extremely valuable to conservation agencies for establishing a baseline for monitoring changes in biodiversity in the future.     

Mitigation of eutrophication caused by wastewater discharge: A simulation-based approach

Mitigation of eutrophication, intensified by excessive nutrient load discharge in wastewaters regulated by restrictive legal requirements, remains one of today’s most important global problems. Despite implementation of the Water Framework Directive, the Urban Wastewater Directive and the HELCOM recommendations, the actual condition of surface water is still not satisfactory. In response to the above, the study presents an alternative approach for surface water protection against eutrophication based on the selection of appropriate nutrient removal technologies. An activated sludge model simulation was used to enable the identification of environmentally justified nutrient removal systems with lowest eutrophication potential of treated wastewater conditioned by bioavailable nutrient forms content. Based on the outcome of the study, the 3-stage Bardenpho system was identified as the most efficient for bioavailable phosphorus removal, while the Johannesburg system proved to have the highest efficiency for bioavailable nitrogen removal. The proposed eutrophication mitigation approach underlines the need for a reconsideration of current legal regulations which ignore nutrient bioavailability and key eutrophication limiting factors.     

长期暴露下纳米TiO2对厌氧颗粒污泥体系稳定性的影响

以厌氧颗粒污泥为研究对象,通过静态试验和连续流厌氧反应器,重点研究了长期暴露下纳米TiO_2在对厌氧产甲烷体系的影响及其在颗粒污泥中的归趋.结果表明,短期急性暴露于150 mg·g-1(以VSS计)的纳米TiO_2尽管会暂时减缓产甲烷速率,但产酸阶段及产甲烷阶段代谢产物总量不会明显受到影响,纳米TiO_2对厌氧颗粒污泥具有较低的急性毒性.反应器运行结果表明,纳米TiO_2的长期暴露可导致挥发性脂肪酸(VFAs)积累及生物气产量降低,产酸菌比产甲烷菌对纳米TiO_2的累积效应更加敏感,纳米TiO_2抑制机制可归因于"物理遮蔽"作用.出水中TiO_2的平均含量只有0.632 mg·L~(-1),绝大多数纳米TiO_2都被截留在了反应器中.FISH检测表明,厌氧颗粒污泥微生物的菌群结构有所变化,纳米TiO_2在反应器内的积累使得甲烷八叠球菌的丰度大幅增加了115.6%,其优势地位明显增强.长短期暴露试验的结果对比也说明,用短期暴露试验来说明纳米颗粒对厌氧体系的长期累积效应具有一定局限性,纳米TiO_2对厌氧颗粒污泥中微生物的负面影响需要较长时间的积累才会显现.本研究结果可为厌氧污水处理体系中纳米颗粒的潜在生态风险评价提供理论支持和参考依据.     

宁波三江口水域原核生物群落结构分析

首次应用16S rRNA基因-Illumina Miseq高通量测序技术对甬江流域宁波三江口区域的表层水体原核生物群落进行了分析,共获得215 504条高质量序列.多样性指数分析表明,该流域的水体原核生物群落具有较高的遗传多样性和丰富度.菌群分类分析发现,β-变形菌纲(β-Proteobacterium)、放线菌门(Actinobacteria)和拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes)是主要的优势菌群,其相对丰度占总群落的78.88%.对比不同站位的原核生物群落,发现水文环境可能是影响三江口水域原核生物群落组成和结构的重要因素之一.与以往报道对比分析表明,甬江流域分布有多种污水和粪便污染指示菌,其中余姚江污染指示菌的丰度最高,说明其受污染的风险可能较高.病原菌BLASTN分析表明,在种和亚种水平上,分别检出76和18种潜在病原菌,占序列总量的2.19%和0.40%.本研究为系统认识甬江流域原核生物群落结构及生态功能提供了重要基础数据.     

重庆市夏秋季VOCs对臭氧和二次有机气溶胶生成潜势的估算

为估算重庆市夏秋季VOCs（挥发性有机物）对O₃和SOA（二次有机气溶胶）的生成潜势,利用在线GC-MS/FID在2015年8月22日-9月23日对重庆市区点和郊区点VOCs开展了为期一个月的实时观测,获得市区点和郊区点$ \varphi $（TVOCs）（总挥发性有机物）分别为41.35×10-9和22.72×10-9,其中市区点以烷烃（35.2%）和烯炔烃（25.2%）为主,郊区点以含氧挥发性有机物（oxygenated volatile organic compounds,OVOCs）（30.6%）和烷烃（26.0%）为主.结合最大增量反应活性量化市区点和郊区点VOCs的OFPs（臭氧生成潜势）分别为149.11×10-9和71.09×10-9,市区点OFPs最大的是乙烯、丙烯、甲苯、C8和C9的芳香烃等,郊区点OFPs最大的VOCs是丙烯醛、异戊二烯和甲基乙烯基酮.结合气溶胶生成系数量化郊区点和市区点VOCs对SOA的生成贡献分别为0.36和1.26 μg/m3,相比国内其余城市VOCs的SOAP（二次有机气溶胶生成潜势）较小,主要以甲基环己烷、正壬烷、正葵烷和十一烷等高碳烷烃,以及甲苯、苯、二甲苯和乙苯等芳香烃的SOAP为主.研究显示,控制烯炔烃和芳香烃的浓度有助于控制重庆市O₃的生成,控制高碳烷烃和芳香烃则有助于控制重庆市SOA的生成.