Correlates of bushmeat hunting among remote rural households in Gabon, Central Africa

Hunted wild animals (i.e., bushmeat) are a main source of protein for many rural populations in the tropics, and the unsustainable harvest of these animals puts both human food security and ecosystem functioning at risk. To understand the correlates of bushmeat consumption, we surveyed 1219 households in 121 rural villages near three newly established national parks in Gabon. Through the surveys we gathered information on bushmeat consumption, income, and material assests. In addition, we quantified land cover in a 5-km radius around the village center and distance of the village center to the nearest park boundary. Bushmeat was not a source of income for most households, but it was the primary animal protein consumed. Ninety-seven percent of households consumed bushmeat at least once during a survey period of 12 days. Income or wealth, land cover, distance of village to the nearest park boundary, and level of education of the head of the household were among the factors that significantly related to the likelihood of consuming any of the 10 most commonly consumed species of bushmeat. Household size was the predictor most strongly associated with quantities of bushmeat consumed and was negatively related to consumption. Total bushmeat consumption per adult male equivalent increased as household wealth increased and decreased as distance of villages to park boundaries increased. Bushmeat consumption at the household level was not related to unit values (i.e., price estimates for a good that typically does not have a market value; estimates derived from willingness to sell or trade the good for items of known price) of bushmeat or the price of chicken and fish as potential substitutes. The median consumption of bushmeat at the village level, however, was negatively related to village mean unit values of bushmeat across all species. Our results suggest that a lack of alternative protein sources motivated even the wealthiest among surveyed households to consume bushmeat. Providing affordable, alternative protein sources to all households would likely reduce unsustainable levels of bushmeat consumption in rural Gabon.     

Effects of flow regimes altered by dams on survival, population declines, and range-wide losses of California river-breeding frogs

Widespread alteration of natural hydrologic patterns by large dams combined with peak demands for power and water delivery during summer months have resulted in frequent aseasonal flow pulses in rivers of western North America. Native species in these ecosystems have evolved with predictable annual flood-drought cycles; thus, their likelihood of persistence may decrease in response to disruption of the seasonal synchrony between stable low-flow conditions and reproduction. We evaluated whether altered flow regimes affected 2 native frogs in California and Oregon (U.S.A.) at 4 spatial and temporal extents. We examined changes in species distribution over approximately 50 years, current population density in 11 regulated and 16 unregulated rivers, temporal trends in abundance among populations occupying rivers with different hydrologic histories, and within-year patterns of survival relative to seasonal hydrology. The foothill yellow-legged frog (Rana boylii), which breeds only in flowing water, is more likely to be absent downstream of large dams than in free-flowing rivers, and breeding populations are on average 5 times smaller in regulated rivers than in unregulated rivers. Time series data (range = 8 - 19 years) from 5 populations of yellow-legged frogs and 2 populations of California red-legged frogs (R. draytonii) across a gradient of natural to highly artificial timing and magnitude of flooding indicate that variability of flows in spring and summer is strongly correlated with high mortality of early life stages and subsequent decreases in densities of adult females. Flow management that better mimics natural flow timing is likely to promote persistence of these species and others with similar phenology.     

百草枯急性暴露对肝细胞L-O2的毒理研究

百草枯(paraquat,PQ)是目前农业生产上使用较为广泛的除草剂,PQ毒性极大,能造成人和动物多器官损伤。因肝脏是主要的受损器官之一,故以肝细胞L-O2为研究对象,探讨PQ急性暴露对肝细胞产生的毒理影响。结果显示在40!640μmol·L~(-1)暴露浓度下作用24 h,PQ显著抑制肝细胞L-O2的增殖活性(P0.01),半抑制浓度(IC50)为263.2μmol·L~(-1)。将肝细胞L-O2暴露于不同浓度的PQ(60、120、180和250μmol·L~(-1)),作用24 h后,与对照组相比,PQ暴露组的活性氧(ROS)累积和细胞凋亡率都表现出明显的浓度依赖性升高(P0.01; P0.05),细胞周期阻滞在S期。Western blot结果显示,除60μmol·L~(-1)外的其他暴露组中活化的胱天蛋白酶9(caspase-9)表达显著上调,Bax和Bcl-2的比值显著增大,提示细胞凋亡机制可能与内源性线粒体通路的激活有关。此外,碳酸酐酶9(CA9) mRNA表达显著升高,提示PQ暴露下可能引起酸性代谢产物出现,对细胞产生酸毒害,但其内在的机制还需进一步研究。     

Enhanced biological nutrient removal by the alliance of a heterotrophic nitrifying strain with a nitrogen removing ecosystem

Nitrogen removal from synthetic wastewater was investigated in an airlift bioreactor （ALB）, augmented with a novel heterotrophic nitrifier Pseudonocardia ammonioxydans H9^T under organic carbon to nitrogen ratios （Corg/N） ranging from 0 to 12. Effect of the inoculated strain was also determined on the settling properties and the removal of chemical oxygen demand （COD）. Two laboratory scale reactors were set up to achieve a stable nitrifying state under the same physicochemical conditions of hydraulic retention time （HRT）, temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen （DO）, and operated under the sequencing batch mode. The level of DO was kept at 0.5- 1.5 mg/L by periodic stirring and aeration. Each specific Corg/N ratio was continued for duration of 3 weeks. One of the reactors （BR2） was inoculated with P ammonioxydans H9^T periodically at the start of each Corg/N ratio. Sludge volumetric index （SVI） improved with the increasing Corg/N ratio, but no significant difference was detected between the two reactors. BR2 showed higher levels of nitrogen removal with the increasing heterotrophic conditions, and the ammonia removal reached to the level of 82%-88%, up to10% higher than that in the control reactor （BR1） at Corg/N ratios higher than 6; however, the ammonia removal level in experimental reactor was up to 8% lower than that in control reactor at Corg/N ratios lower than 2. The COD removal efficiency progressively increased with the increasing Corg/N ratios in both of the reactors. The COD removal percentage up to peak values of 88%-94% in BR2, up to 11% higher than that in BR1 at Corg/N ratio higher than 4. The peak values of ammonia and COD removal almost coincided with the highest number （18%-27% to total bacterial number） of the exogenous bacterium in the BR2, detected as colony forming units （CFU）. Furthermore, the removal of ammonia and COD in BR2 was closely related to the number of the inoculated strain with a coefficient index （R2） up to 0.82 and 0.85 for ammonia and     

Scientists' opinions on the global status and management of biological diversity

The large investments needed if loss of biological diversity is to be stemmed will likely lead to increased public and political scrutiny of conservation strategies and the science underlying them. It is therefore crucial to understand the degree of consensus or divergence among scientists on core scientific perceptions and strategies most likely to achieve given objectives. I developed an internet survey designed to elucidate the opinions of conservation scientists. Conservation scientists (n =583) were unanimous (99.5%) in their view that a serious loss of biological diversity is likely, very likely, or virtually certain. Scientists' agreement that serious loss is very likely or virtually certain ranged from 72.8% for Western Europe to 90.9% for Southeast Asia. Tropical coral ecosystems were perceived as the most seriously affected by loss of biological diversity; 88.0% of respondents familiar with that ecosystem type agreed that a serious loss is very likely or virtually certain. With regard to conservation strategies, scientists most often viewed understanding how people and nature interact in certain contexts and the role of biological diversity in maintaining ecosystem function as their priorities. Protection of biological diversity for its cultural and spiritual values and because of its usefulness to humans were low priorities, which suggests that many scientists do not fully support the utilitarian concept of ecosystem services. Many scientists expressed a willingness to consider conservation triage, engage in active conservation interventions, and consider reframing conservation goals and measures of success for conservation of biological diversity in an era of climate change. Although some heterogeneity of opinion is evident, results of the survey show a clear consensus within the scientific community on core issues of the extent and geographic scope of loss of biological diversity and on elements that may contribute to successful conservation strategies in the future.     

Natural attenuation characteristics and comprehensive toxicity changes of C9 aromatics under simulated marine conditions

Microcosmic experiments were performed under a simulated marine environment to investigate the natural attenuation of C9 aromatics using nine components (propylbenzene, isopropylbenzene, 2-ethyltoluene, 3-ethyltoluene, 4-ethyltoluene, 1,2,3-trimethylbenzene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, and indene). This research aims to assess the contribution of biodegradation and abiotic activity to total attenuation of C9 aromatics and ascertain the changes in the comprehensive toxicity of seawater in the natural environment. The process of natural attenuation indicates the agreement with pseudo-first-order kinetics for all nine components in microcosmic experiments. The half-lives of the nine main compounds in C9 aromatics ranged between 0.34 day and 0.44 day under optimal conditions. The experiments showed that the natural attenuation of nine aromatic hydrocarbons mainly occurred via abiotic processes. Seawater samples significantly inhibited the luminescence of P. phosphoreum (the luminescence inhibition ratio reached 100%) at the beginning of the experiment. In addition, the toxicity declined slowly and continued for 25 days. The attenuation kinetics and changes in toxicity could be applied to explore the natural attenuation of C9 aromatics in the marine environment.     

德氏假单胞R-8菌脱硫的“硫饥饿”诱导机理

以专一性脱硫菌德氏假单胞菌(Pseudomonas delafieldii)R-8为出发菌株,构建了含有重组质粒pRT-D的重组菌株R-8-D.在不同硫酸盐浓度条件下,研究了R-8和R-8-D脱硫的"硫饥饿"诱导机理.结果表明,在充足的Na2SO4(＞0.023 mmol L-1)条件下,R-8菌首先利用硫酸盐生长,脱硫酶的合成受阻遏,DBT不被利用,而R-8菌处于"硫饥饿"状态(Na2SO4浓度≤0.023 mmol L-1)时,诱导了脱硫酶的合成,能利用DBT生长;Na2SO4在临界浓度以上时,R-8-D菌阻遏了脱硫基因的报告基因lacZ的表达,低于临界浓度时不抑制lacZ表达.本实验结果从细胞和分子水平上证实了R-8菌脱硫属"硫饥饿"诱导类型,并首次确定了脱硫微生物"硫饥饿"诱导的硫酸盐临界浓度为0.023 mmol L-1,为构建高活性的、不受硫酸盐抑制的脱硫工程菌提供了理论依据和技术支持.图10表1参14     

耐低温菌JH-9降解苯胺的动力学研究

研究耐低温菌JH-9在低温(10 ℃)条件下对不同初始ρ(苯胺)的生物降解情况,并采用反应动力学方程(Monod方程和Haldane方程)拟合其降解过程. 结果表明,菌株JH-9在低温下可降解苯胺,当菌体初始质量浓度一定时,苯胺降解率及平均降解速率主要与初始ρ(苯胺)有关. 初始ρ(苯胺)较低时(<550　mg/L),其在120 h内可完全降解,且平均降解速率随着初始ρ(苯胺)的增加而升高,菌体降解过程中没有出现苯胺毒性抑制作用,遵循Monod方程;当初始ρ(苯胺)较高时(>550　mg/L),苯胺降解率及降解速率均有所下降,由于初始ρ(苯胺)过高对菌体产生了抑制作用,其降解过程以基质抑制型的Haldane方程为主.      

Sex pheromone of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ectinus aterrimus</Emphasis> (L<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">inné</Emphasis>, 1761) (Coleoptera: Elateridae)

Summary.   Ectinus aterrimus (L.) is a fairly common European click beetle species which develops mainly in forests. In pheromone gland extracts of female E. aterrimus, examined using gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS), one single compound was present. This was identified as 7-methyloctyl 9-methyldecanoate by comparison with a synthetic sample. Field trapping trials revealed a highly significant attraction of male E. aterrimus towards this ester. The structure of the compound differs remarkably from the pheromones of the closely related Agriotes spp., which exclusively use terpene esters.     

C9-AA水溶性石油树脂的制备及其阻垢性能

以乙烯生产过程中的副产物C9馏分和丙烯酸为原料,采用自由基溶液聚合,合成具有阻垢性能的C9-AA水溶性石油树脂。考察了引发剂AIBN和溶剂的加入量、C9-AA加入量、Ca^2＋浓度、循环冷却水pH和养护时间对C9-AA水溶性石油树脂阻垢性能的影响,并对其阻垢效果进行了评价。在Ca^2＋质量浓度小于或等于600mg／L、循环冷却水pH小于或等于9．3、C9-AA水溶性石油树脂加入量大于或等于15mg／L的条件下,C9—AA水溶性石油树脂对循环冷却水的阻垢率达到90％以上,其有效作用时间为60h。