Ecological processes and sustainability

SUMMARY

Ecology has developed from its position as an obscure science to being at the interface of science and public policy. The impact of mankind can be described in ecological terms relating to population size, energy use and non-renewability. Sustainable development needs to be addressed on the basis of knowledge of ecological processes which maintain the environment in a state of change; the processes need to be conserved, not maintained in any particular state. Recent advances in the understanding of ecological processes are reviewed to highlight the potential contribution of this knowledge to the development of a sustainable policy. At the level of the population the significance of considering the extinction risks in the framework of spatio-temporal dynamics is now established indicating opportunities for planning land use more precisely to sustain biodiversity. Whilst the maintenance of habitats is generally the key to the persistence of biodiversity, they must be viewed as ever-changing mosaics within which cycles of succession, best described by Markovian sets of probabilities, are occurring continually. The extent to which these probabilities are distorted will determine whether the ecosystem returns to the same system or moves to a novel one. At the global level, biogeochemical cycles have a certain flexibility in relation to fluxes and stocks, hence pollution must be defined by relating the flow rate of the substance to this flexibility, which often permits the accommodation of anthropogenic perturbations. Non-sustainable processes can be defined in ecological terms, thus providing functional definitions of a sustainable policy and of sustainable development.     

Automated indirect fluoride determination by ICP-OES using discontinuous-flow analysis

An automated method for the indirect determination of fluoride by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry using discontinuous-flow analysis has been developed. A modified flow injection analysis system was used for sample preparation. The method is based on the determination of excess cerium(III) ion after precipitation of CeF₃. Separation of the precipitate is performed online on a syringe membrane filter that is cleaned each analysis cycle by 1 M nitric acid, ensuring a long life-time for the filter. As a result of the short reaction time, a detection limit of 9.5 mg L^?1 was obtained. The precision (RSD) of the proposed method is 1.02% at fluoride concentration of 28 mg L^?1. The applicability of the technique for groundwater monitoring of fluoride-contaminated area is demonstrated.     

气温变化对西南山区流域森林水文效应影响的模拟

为了揭示气温变化对西南山区流域森林水文效应的影响,用生物物理/动态植被模型SSiB4/TRIFFID与流域地形指数水文模型TOPMODEL的耦合模型SSiB4T/TRIFFID模拟了西南山区长江上游梭磨河流域森林水文效应对气温变化的响应,分析了气温变化对植被不同演替阶段的流域总径流和总蒸发以及冠层截流蒸发、植被蒸腾和土壤蒸发的影响。结果表明,（1）梭磨河流域森林（常绿针叶林）蒸腾与草和灌木差异小,森林蒸腾潜热比草和灌木仅高1~4 W.m-2,森林冠层截留蒸发高于草和灌木,但土壤蒸发明显低于草和灌木覆盖,森林覆盖流域总蒸发低于草和灌木覆盖甚至低于裸土蒸发,因此增加了流域总径流量,但森林增加径流的作用随土壤蒸发的减小而减小。（2）气温减小1℃将通过减小森林冠层截留蒸发和蒸腾而使森林增加流域总径流量的作用增加;相反,气温增加将增加森林冠层截留蒸发和蒸腾而使森林增加总径流量的作用减小。（3）当温度增加4℃,由于森林总蒸发较草和灌木明显增加,对于较高的土壤蒸发,森林增加总径流量的作用已不明显;对于较低的土壤蒸发,森林减小了流域总径流量。     

漂浮负载型光催化剂制备及降解草甘膦研究

以漂珠(FP)为载体,采用溶胶-凝胶-浸渍法制备了漂浮负载型CdS/TiO2/FP复合膜光催化剂,通过SEM、XRD对其结构进行了表征.以甘草膦农药的光催化降解为模型反应,使用不同光源研究了CdS/TiO2/FP的光催化性能,探讨了影响催化剂活性的因素及采用太阳光做光源处理草甘膦的可行性.结果表明,经4层镀膜500℃热处理的20%(w/w)CdS/TiO2/FP光催化剂具有良好的光催化性能,最佳降解条件为:催化剂加入量3 g/L,初始pH 7～9,Fe2 浓度为2.0×10-3 mol/L.通气量200 mL/min.在最佳条件下,对135 mg/L草甘膦溶液降解率可以分别达到96.3%(125 W高压汞灯,60 min)和82.4%(太阳光,180 min).     

Ecomanagement of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the Mediterranean Sea: concerns and strategies

Marine biodiversity is generally higher in benthic than in pelagic systems, and in coastal than in open sea systems. Sediments are the most human-impacted domain and therefore represent the target zone for both the study and actions needed for the preservation of biodiversity. Losses of marine diversity, higher (or simply more evident) in coastal areas, are generally the result of conflicting uses of coastal habitats. Large difficulties arise from the analysis and evaluation of the actual biodiversity, especially when different environments are compared, as often studies on biodiversity are dependent upon the distribution of the specialists. On the other hand, losses of marine biodiversity might be underestimated, due to the limited knowledge of the ecosystems' functioning, of the species inhabiting various habitats and of the still limited capacity to assess microbial biodiversity, which represents the largest fraction of the global marine biodiversity. Finally, claimed losses of biodiversity might be just apparent, as the sea floor is a bank of resting stages of various plankton species that are likely to spend even decades in the sediment before reactivating and inducing unattended blooms in the water column. The Mediterranean Sea displays high species diversity, but might reach the highest values in terms of adaptive strategies and functional diversity. Moreover, the Mediterranean Sea represents also a key area for the study of the relative influences of the natural and anthropogenic changes on biodiversity and its consequences on ecosystem functioning. Habitat destruction, over-fishing, contaminants, eutrophication, introduction of alien species, and climate changes are producing increasingly evident changes in community structure and biodiversity of this warm and miniature ocean. We summarized the main effects of different disruptive agents on the marine biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea, with special attention on the biodiversity relevance in ecosystem functioning and possible implications in bio-geochemical cycles. The present overview aims at focusing and synthesizing the most important factors potentially affecting the interactions between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the Mediterranean in order to better define possible strategies of conservation and eco-management.     

Chemical pollution: Transfer of chemical elements to the aboverground phytomass of herbaceous plants

Changes in the species composition and a decrease in species diversity and total plant biomass along the gradient of soil pollution with heavy metals have been shown. Data on the concentrations of chemical elements (Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb, Co, Ni, Mn, Cr, and Fe) in the aboveground organs of herbaceous plants and the biomass of each species make it possible to estimate the role of higher producers in the incorporation of chemical elements into biogenic cycles in background zones and under conditions of chemical pollution. Plants of the composite family (Asteraceae) play the main role in accumulation of chemical elements. The results obtained indicate that natural ecosystems have mechanisms limiting excessive accumulation of chemical elements into the aboveground plant biomass.     

高级氧化联合生物活性炭工艺深度净化污水中PPCPs研究进展

污水处理厂传统的二级生化处理对药品及个人护理用品(Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products, PPCPs)等新兴污染物的去除率较低, PPCPs随出水排放会给生态环境带来较大的风险,并会经过生物富集最终危害到人体健康,因此需要通过进一步的深度净化以削减其风险.本文综述了常见PPCPs在污水处理系统的分布特征及生态风险,阐述了高级氧化工艺(Advanced oxidation processes, AOPs)、生物活性炭工艺(Biological activated carbon, BAC)以及高级氧化联合生物活性炭工艺(AOPs-BAC)深度净化PPCPs的净化原理,在此基础上,综述了AOPs-BAC工艺对污水中PPCPs的深度净化效果及主要影响因素,并探讨了AOPs-BAC工艺对污水中PPCPs的风险削减能力,为污水中PPCPs深度净化工艺的研发及PPCPs的生态风险控制提供了参考.     

基于人地耦合系统的国土空间重塑

地理系统主要研究地球表层人与环境相互作用的机理,强调人地关系、自然和人文要素的综合,即人地耦合系统。地理系统在国土空间中的应用主要由地理决策、地理模拟、地理工程所组成,并且相互作用构成了地理治理。国土空间是自然与人类所共同实践的物质载体,人类被自然所塑造的程度并不亚于自身塑造自然的程度,以人地耦合系统为核心的地理系统理论成为国土空间规划与整治修复的理论基础。基于人地耦合系统的国土空间重塑最终以地理治理的形式反映在人类作用于自然环境的各种活动中。经过改革开放40年的发展,中国国土空间已基本形成了较为稳定的格局,形成了经济区、贫困区、小城镇为主的三种形态空间。中国的城镇化发展与发达国家有所不同,是城市化、城镇化、乡村化“三化耦合”并存的状态。必须重视泛第三极、环中国南海、东北亚—北极等以“一带一路”全球空间为基础的战略区域研究。基于人地耦合系统理论与国土空间价值均衡理论,国土空间重塑的基础科学问题是人地耦合系统演化机理与驱动机制。国土空间规划可以划分为三种类型：发展型规划、控制型规划和修复型规划。国土空间的保护与治理包括以土地利用为核心的国土空间全域整治,以生态文明为核心的国土空间系统修复,以社会和谐为核心的国土空间综合治理。人地耦合系统最终的发展目标是形成人类与自然相互作用的命运共同体。     

基于好氧甲烷氧化菌的反硝化效能及微生物群落研究

采用气体循环序批式生物膜反应器（gcSBBR）,构建反硝化型甲烷好氧氧化（AME-D）系统.考察了进水氮负荷的影响,发现氮负荷为0.075kg/（m³·d）时,硝酸盐氮去除率达到98.93%,其反硝化速率为74.25mg/（L·d）,系统的甲烷日平均消耗量为35.91%（初期为50%）;扫描电子显微镜（SEM）分析结果显示,系统中的微生物主要以短杆菌（12~18 μm）为主,并存在少量的丝状菌（长150~200μm）;16S rRNA高通量测序结果显示,该系统中的甲烷氧化菌为Methylocaldum、Methylomonas、Methylococcus和Methylococcaceae_unclassified,反硝化菌为Denitratisoma、Hydrogenophaga、Azoarcus、Thiobacillus和Rhodobacter,其中主要的功能微生物为Methylocaldum、Denitratisoma和Hydrogenophaga,系统对氮的去除是由好氧甲烷氧化菌与反硝化菌协同实现.此外,系统中存在大量以甲醇和甲基胺类物质为生长基质的Methylophilaceae_uncultured（30.4%）.     

低频率干湿交替环境中有机涂层失效过程

目的 研究低频率干湿循环条件下的有机涂层失效过程。方法 应用电化学阻抗谱技术,结合浸泡过程中涂层表面以及基底金属的形貌变化,对比研究全浸环境和低频率干湿交替环境下,浸泡初期、浸泡中期、浸泡末期有机涂层的失效过程及特征。结果 低频率干湿交替环境下,涂层在浸泡初期、中期、末期所经历的时长分别为18、4、46天,较全浸环境来讲,显著缩短了浸泡中期的时长,同时也显著延长了浸泡末期的时长。两种环境下的涂层均发生明显的局部剥离,且基底金属也均有明显的局部腐蚀。结论 低频率干湿交替环境明显延长了涂层的失效过程,且此环境下基底金属出现了明显的局部腐蚀。