Testing hypotheses on shape and distribution of ecological response curves

Niche theory with hypotheses on shape and distribution of ecological response curves is used in the studies of resource sharing of competing plant species. Predictions based on theory should be applicable when, e.g., effects of competing species on the ecological tolerances are assessed or species’ diversity along a resource gradient is evaluated. We studied the ecological response curves of competing plant species along a resource gradient in boreal forests. The study was based on nation-wide soil and vegetation data collected from 455 sample plots on boreal forests in Finland. Species response curves along a soil fertility gradient (in terms of C/N ratio) were estimated using generalized additive models. Distribution of species optima and the relationship of niche width and skewness to the location of the optimum were analyzed with new bootstrap tests. The developed tests can account for the effects of truncation observed in the response curves of several species and for the uneven distribution of observations on the gradient.The estimated response curves of the major field layer species of boreal forests were not evenly distributed along soil C/N gradient. The density of optima peaked with relatively high nitrogen availability. Species with optima at low nitrogen availability had relatively broad realized niches. Niche width was negatively correlated with the density of optima. Species optima were packed and niches were narrow at high resource levels. This result suggests that a greater number of more specialized species can occur and interspecific competition decreases niche widths at high resource levels. Species were packed in the gradient where the C/N ratio was lower than 25, i.e., in conditions where nitrification can take place. This indicates that the majority of the vascular plants of boreal forests are favoured by the availability of NO₃⁻. Those few species thriving at high C/N ratios have broader realized niches.     

新型转式垃圾焚烧过程中脱氯脱硫机理的研究

为了探讨有机垃圾焚烧过程钙基添加剂对HCl，SO_x生成特性的影响，分别在自行设计的中空水冷转式垃圾焚烧炉和固定床加热炉中进行了一系列的实验，研究结果表明新型转式焚烧炉具有强化传热传质特性，能提高HCl、SO_x的脱除率，可抑制有害气体的生成；同时也研究了 HCl，SO₂气体同时存在时，钙基添加剂对脱氯脱硫效率的影响规律。     

Comparative effect of thymol or its glucose conjugate,thymol-β-d-glucopyranoside,on Campylobacter in avian gut contents

Campylobacter jejuni is an important human food-borne pathogen that can contaminate meat and poultry during processing. Consequently, strategies are sought to reduce the carriage of C. jejuni in food animals before they arrive at the abattoir. Thymol is a natural product that reduces survivability of Campylobacter in vitro, but its rapid absorption from the proximal alimentary tract limits its bactericidal efficacy in vivo. Thymol-β-d-glucopyranoside is more resistant to absorption than free thymol, but its administration to chickens has not been reported. In the present studies, 1 mM thymol-β-d-glucopyranoside was shown to exhibit near equal anti-Campylobacter activity as 1 mM thymol when incubated anaerobically in avian crop or cecal contents in vitro, resulting in reductions of 1.10–2.32 log₁₀ colony forming units mL^?1 in C. jejuni concentrations after 24 h incubation. In a follow-up live animal study, oral administration of thymol-β-d-glucopyranoside, but not free thymol, significantly lowered (>10-fold) recovery of Campylobacter from the crop of market-aged broilers when compared to placebo-treated controls (n = 6 broilers/treatment). Neither thymol-β-d-glucopyranoside nor thymol affected recovery of Campylobacter from cecal contents of the treated broilers. These results indicate that rapid absorption or passage of free thymol from the crop precluded its anti-Campylobacter activity at this site and throughout the entire gastrointestinal tract. Conversely, lower recovery of Campylobacter from the crop of birds treated with thymol-β-d-glucopyranoside indicates this conjugate was retained and able to be hydrolyzed to biologically active free thymol at this site as intended, yet was not sufficiently protected to allow passage of efficacious amounts of the intact glycoside to the lower gut. Nevertheless, these results warrant further research to see if higher doses or encapsulation of thymol-β-d-glucopyranoside or similar glycosides may yield an efficacious additive to reduce carriage of Campylobacter as well as other pathogens throughout the avian gut.     

利用造纸黑液制备水煤浆添加剂

利用造纸黑液中有效成分，经过适当处理制备水煤浆添加剂，并且对添加剂的性能进行了测试。结果表明，依照该工艺生产的添加剂，性能优良，能够满足工业生产需要。     

含氯化钴添加剂细水雾灭火有效性的实验研究

在标准受限空间中,通过热态灭火实验对比分析了纯水细水雾和含氯化钴添加剂细水雾在不同添加荆浓度、工作压力下对煤油火的抑制效果.实验结果表明:含有氯化钴的细水雾比纯水细水雾具有更好的抑制效果.而细水雾的灭火时间并不是随着氯化钴的浓度变化而呈线性变化的,而是存在着一个最佳灭火浓度.实验表明:浓度为1.75%时的灭火效果最好.系统的工作压力也对细水雾的灭火性能有影响,在较高的工作压力下,细水雾的平均灭火时间较短.     

模拟退火算法在大气环境质量综合评价中的应用

为了建立一种对多项指标都能普遍使用的大气环境质量综合评价模式,利用模拟退火算法对幂函数加和型指数评价中参数进行优化,并用优化后的综合评价指数公式对大气环境进行综合评价。该公式应用于大量实例的分析评价结果与其他多种评价方法评价结果比较表明:该公式不受污染物种类和数目多少的限制,计算简便,具有可行性、实用性和通用性。     

秦皇岛市空气污染对呼吸系统疾病的影响

通过分析秦皇岛市2011—2012年每日的API值及大气PM10、 SO2、 NO2的日平均浓度变化与同时期的呼吸系统疾病日门诊人数资料,建立了时间序列分析数学模型,分析了秦皇岛市主要大气污染物与呼吸系统疾病发病的关系。发现秦皇岛市大气污染物的浓度与居民呼吸系统疾病之间存在着一定的正相关性,污染物浓度升高,居民呼吸系统疾病的就诊人数随之增加。     

Influences of adding easily degradable organic waste on the minimization and humification of organic matter during straw composting

To find a better composting process with low greenhouse gas emission and high humus production, the effect of adding kitchen waste on reduction and humification of organic matter during straw composting was studied. Three processes were compared, consisting of different ratios of straw and kitchen waste (1:2, 1:1, and 2:1). At four time points over a 62-d incubation, the reduction and humification of compost was evaluated by measuring the total mass, carbon content, and humic material content of the compost. Treatment 1 (straw/kitchen waste ratio of 1:2) reduced the total mass of compost the most. Treatment 2 (straw/kitchen waste ratio of 1:1) reduced the total carbon content the most, reflecting the highest emission of greenhouse gas. Treatment 3 produced the most humic acid material and released the lowest amount of carbon. Hence, from the point of view of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing stable organic matter such as humus and humic acid during composting, treatment #3 was optimal. The three treatments resulted in significant differences in microbial biomass and enzyme activity during composting. The highest amount of active microbial biomass was associated with the largest reduction in compost mass (treatment 1). Higher proportions of straw (treatments 2 and 3), which contains more lignin, were associated with greater β-glycosidase activity, which may generate more humus that can improve soil quality. Dehydrogenase activity seemed to be the most important microbial factor in organic carbon catabolism or humification.     

Assessing the Risk of Ships Striking Large Whales in Marine Spatial Planning

Marine spatial planning provides a comprehensive framework for managing multiple uses of the marine environment and has the potential to minimize environmental impacts and reduce conflicts among users. Spatially explicit assessments of the risks to key marine species from human activities are a requirement of marine spatial planning. We assessed the risk of ships striking humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae), blue (Balaenoptera musculus), and fin (Balaenoptera physalus) whales in alternative shipping routes derived from patterns of shipping traffic off Southern California (U.S.A.). Specifically, we developed whale‐habitat models and assumed ship‐strike risk for the alternative shipping routes was proportional to the number of whales predicted by the models to occur within each route. This definition of risk assumes all ships travel within a single route. We also calculated risk assuming ships travel via multiple routes. We estimated the potential for conflict between shipping and other uses (military training and fishing) due to overlap with the routes. We also estimated the overlap between shipping routes and protected areas. The route with the lowest risk for humpback whales had the highest risk for fin whales and vice versa. Risk to both species may be ameliorated by creating a new route south of the northern Channel Islands and spreading traffic between this new route and the existing route in the Santa Barbara Channel. Creating a longer route may reduce the overlap between shipping and other uses by concentrating shipping traffic. Blue whales are distributed more evenly across our study area than humpback and fin whales; thus, risk could not be ameliorated by concentrating shipping traffic in any of the routes we considered. Reducing ship‐strike risk for blue whales may be necessary because our estimate of the potential number of strikes suggests that they are likely to exceed allowable levels of anthropogenic impacts established under U.S. laws. Evaluación del Riesgo de Colisiones de Barcos y Ballenas en la Planificación Marina Espacial     

Apparent relationships between anthropogenic factors and climate change indicators and POPs deposition in a lacustrine system

Climate change and anthropogenic activities are expected to impact the environmental behaviors and fates of persistent organic pollutants(POPs), however, quantitative studies on these combined factors are scarce. In this study, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane(DDTs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs), and polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs)were used as examples to identify how and when those factors may be related to the deposition of POPs in the sediment of Lake Chaohu, China, using generalized additive models(GAMs). Three historical trends of DDT, PAH, and PCB deposition were delineated in a dated sediment core encompassing ～100 years of historical record: a steady state or gradually increasing stage, a rapidly increasing stage, and a declining stage. The GAM results showed that aquatic total phosphorus(TP) concentrations and regional GDP(anthropogenic factors) were dominant contributors to POP accumulation rates in the lake sediment. The fitted relationships between air temperature and sedimentary DDT and PAH concentrations were linear and negative, while a positive linear relationship was found for PCBs, suggesting that Lake Chaohu may have become a net source for DDTs and PAHs, and a sink for PCBs, under a progressively warming climate.