Purification function of the natural wetland in the Liaohe Delta

１ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＳｔｒｕｃｔｕｒｅ，ｆｕｎｃｔｉｏｎａｎｄｃｈａｎｇｅａｒｅｔｈｒｅｅｉｍｐｏｒｔａｎｔａｓｐｅｃｔｓｏｆｌａｎｄｓｃａｐｅｅｃｏｌｏｇｙ（Ｆｏｒｍａｎ，１９８６）．Ｌａｎｄｓｃａｐｅｆｕｎｃｔｉｏｎｍｅａｎｓｔｈｅｉｎｔｅ...     

Growth pattern of reed in Caogang Lake, Huanghuaihai Plain

The researches about reed growth were mainly concentrated on seasonal dynamics, investigation of reed resource, and comparison of different ecotypes of reed. By means of fractal geometric theory of non-linear science, the fractal character of growth pattern of reed, for the purpose of quantitatively exploring the mechanism of reed growth was studied. The way to calculate fractal dimension of reed growth is box-dimension (BD) and information dimension (ID). The results shown that the difference between two samplings in May and those among three samplings in June and later were not remarkable for both BD or ID. It was noted that the difference between samplings in and after May is significant. It was demonstrated that the fractal dimension of size distribution of reed ranged from 0.6235 to 0.8761. The distribution pattern could be statistically divided as two significant periods:the size of reed is quite well-distributed at the beginning of reed growth (fractal dimension > 0.8), but is irregular in the middle and later growth season (fractal dimension < 0.7). These results are benefit to reach the goal of rational use of reed resources and to protect the biodiversity in wetland ecosystem.     

Groundwater-soil-crop relationship with respect to arsenic contamination in farming villages of Bangladesh--a preliminary study

To clarify the groundwater-soil-crop relationship with respect to arsenic (As) contamination, As concentration was measured in tubewell (TW) water, surface soil from farmyards and paddy fields, and fresh taro (Colocasia esculenta) leaves from farmyards in the farming villages of Bangladesh. The As concentration in TW water from farmyards was at least four times higher than the Bangladesh drinking water standard, and the concentration in fresh taro leaves was equal to or higher than those reported previously for leafy vegetables in Bangladesh. As concentration of surface soils in both farmyards and paddy fields was positively correlated with that of the TW water. Further, the concentration in surface soil was positively correlated with levels in fresh taro leaves in the farmyard. This study, therefore, clarified the groundwater-soil-crop relationship in farmyards and the relationship between groundwater-soil in paddy fields to assess the extent of As contamination in Bangladeshi villages.     

工业废渣芦苇末的农用资源化技术

对造纸工业产生的机废渣芦苇末用农业载基质的技术的可行性进行了试验研究，结果表明，用芦苇末进行生物发酵处理后，加入适量的常规基质原料，可以作为平菇培养基质和园艺植物无土载培基质，与常规的棉籽壳培养平菇及草岩混合基质载培蔬菜相比，不但产量提高，成本降低，净产值增加，而且生态环境效显著。     

Brood sex ratio is dependent on female mating status in polygynous great reed warblers

Females capable of adjusting the sex ratio of their offspring should be more fit than females lacking such an ability. In polygynous birds where breeding success in males is more strongly influenced by body size and/or attractiveness than in females, females might produce more sons when predicting good conditions or when mating with attractive males. Polygynous great reed warbler, Acrocephalusarundinaceus, males direct most of their feeding effort to the primary (first-hatching) nest and in these nests increase their feeding effort in relation to the brood sex ratio (proportion of sons). Therefore, with the expectation of well-nourished sons, we would predict that females which start breeding first within harems might produce more sons than those which start breeding later, and in anticipation of sons with good genes, that females mated to polygynous males might produce more sons than females mated to monogamous males. I took blood samples from hatchlings and determined the sex using DNA markers. The sex ratio of primary (monogamous and polygynous primary) broods is more male-biased (mean 0.58 males, n = 50) than that of secondary (polygynous secondary and tertiary) broods (mean 0.46, n = 25). Moreover, in the secondary broods with the largest clutch (five eggs), in which offspring are most likely to suffer food shortage, the sex ratio was distinctively female biased (mean 0.33, n = 10). In the primary broods, sex ratio was correlated to harem size. The results suggest that great reed warbler females modify the brood sex ratio to produce both well-nourished sons and sons with good genes, but the former effect is probably stronger than the latter factor. Received: 11 March 1998 / Accepted after revision: 23 May 1998     

Efficiency of removal of cadmium from aqueous solutions by plant leaves and the effects of interaction of combinations of leaves on their removal efficiency

Removal of cadmium from aqueous solutions using 20 species of plant leaves and combinations of these leaves have been studied. Several factors affecting the removal efficiency have been studied. The most efficient types of plant leaves for the removal of cadmium are those of styrax, plum, pomegranate and walnut. The interaction effect of the combined leaf samples on the efficiency of removal of cadmium has been found to be additive in combinations involving styrax plant leaves but seems to be antagonistic in all other combinations. The optimum experimental conditions for removal of cadmium have been found to be at pH 4.1, using high concentrations of naturally dried plant leaves, using ground leaves and to remove cadmium from agitated aqueous solutions. The percentage of metal removed at an initial cadmium concentration of 10mg/l by the most efficient types of leaves have been found to be 85% for styrax leaves, 85% for plum leaves, 80% for pomegranate leaves, 78% for walnut leaves and 77% for meddler leaves. The presence of foreign ions or complexing agents has been found to reduce the efficiency of removal of cadmium by plant leaves. About 80-85% of the cadmium in charged plant leaves has been released under the influence of changing the pH of the solution, addition of competing ions and the addition of EDTA. The results of removal of cadmium by plant leaves have been found to follow the Freundlich adsorption isotherm, first-order reaction with respect to cadmium and to have intra-pore diffusion as the rate-limiting step.     

北京9个树种叶片滞尘量及叶面微形态解释

不同树种叶片对PM(颗粒物)的滞留能力存在较大差别,并与其表面特性密切相关. 在北京市选择空气相对清洁的植物园和污染严重的国贸桥2个地点,测定了9个常见绿化树种——白蜡、大叶黄杨、垂柳、国槐、毛白杨、玉兰、紫叶李、元宝枫和银杏的单位叶面积滞尘量及其粒径组成,并观测了各树种叶面微形态结构. 结果表明,国贸桥和北京植物园9个树种PM、PM>10、PM_2.5~10和PM_2.5平均滞留量之比分别为1.64、1.60、1.89和2.50,该比值随PM粒径减小呈增大的趋势. 环境污染会改变树木叶片表面结构与性质,从而改变其滞尘能力. 叶面沟槽深且间距大、润湿性好、气孔密度(>189 N/mm2)(以单位面积气孔数计)较大有利于滞尘;气孔密度(>217 N/mm2)更大的叶片有利于滞留PM_2.5~10. 此外,叶面绒毛数量直接影响PM_2.5滞留量,在不同污染程度下均表现为有绒毛树叶的PM_2.5滞留能力更强.      

Optimization of methyl orange removal from aqueous solution by response surface methodology using spent tea leaves as adsorbent

The effective disposal of redundant tea waste is crucial to environmental protection and comprehensive utilization of trash resources. In this work, the removal of methyl orange （MO） from aqueous solution using spent tea leaves as the sorbent was investigated in a batch experiment. First, the effects of various parameters such as temperature, adsorption time, dose of spent tea leaves, and initial concentration of MO were investigated. Then, the response surface methodology （RSM）, based on Box- Behnken design, was employed to obtain the optimum adsorption conditions. The optimal conditions could be obtained at an initial concentration of MO of 9.75 mg·L-1, temperature of 35.3℃, contact time of 63.8 min, and an adsorbent dosage 3.90 g· L-1. Under the optimized condi- tions, the maximal removal of MO was 58.2%. The results indicate that spent tea leaves could be used as an effective and economical adsorbent in the removal of MO from aqueous solution.     

14C-Ethion residues in soybean seeds: metabolic pathway,effect of processing,bioavailability, toxicity and protective action of artichoke leaf powder towards rats

The metabolic fate of ethion labeled with ¹⁴C-at the ethyl ester groups in soybean seeds following topical application to leaves was studied. Chromatographic analysis of soybean oil revealed the presence of the parent compound together with four metabolites which were identified as ethion monooxon, ethion dioxon, O-ethyl phosphorothioate and O,O-diethyl phosphorothioate. The effect of processing on ethion residues in soybean oil was investigated. The refined oil contained small amounts of the ¹⁴C-residues originally present (37.5%). Upon feeding rats with the cake containing ethion bound residues, a substantial amount of ¹⁴C-residues was eliminated in the urine (73%), and about 6% excreted with the feces. About 5% of the radioactive residues were distributed among various organs. Mature male Wistar rats were fed on soybean seeds containing ethion residues (1.93 ppm), and on artichoke leaves powder (1% W/W) for four weeks. At the end of the experimental period, the ethion-treated group had a significantly higher alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, urea, creatinine, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) levels. The ethion-treated rats also had a lower total serum protein and albumin levels, as well as acetyl cholinesterase (AChE), catalase (CAT), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity as compared with controls. Moreover, concomitant treatment with artichoke leaf powder improved, at least partially, all the biochemical parameters that were altered by ethion.     

Extraction,isolation, and identification of various environment friendly components from cock's comb (Celosia argentea) leaves for allelopathic potential

In this study, the aqueous extract of leaves of the plant cock's comb (Celosia argentea) was fractioned into five batches using n-hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol, respectively. High performance liquid chromatography analysis of the methanol re-dissolved residues of 3 polar fractions, including dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol separately which exhibited altogether 12 compounds identified as 4-hydroxycinnamic acid (p-coumaric acid), 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, protocatechuic acid, caffeic acid, m-coumaric acid, gallic acid, 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde, m-hydroxybenzaldehyde, 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, pyrogallol, 3,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid, and genetic acid was categorized by retention time using known compounds. Similarly, the mass confirmation of most of the identified compounds was achieved by injecting 20 µl of composite sample of these three polar fractions into liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. Similarly, the physiochemical analysis of C. argentea aqueous extract showed the presence of various constituents such as phenols, flavonoids, tannins, and glycosides. All four organic fractions were examined for phytotoxicity against Lepidium sativum. Analysis of variance showed significant differences among these fractions against germination and growth of L. sativum. Further allelopathic effects appeared to be concentration dependent. Thus, C. argentea may prove effective as a substitute of herbicides to control the weeds like L. sativum from attacking crops and to protect the environment from the health hazard effects of herbicides.