Use of historical and contemporary distribution of mammals in China to inform conservation

A systematic understanding of dynamic animal extinction trajectories for different regions in a nation like China is critically important to developing practical conservation strategies. We explored historical and contemporary changes in terrestrial mammalian diversity to determine how diversity in each of the 5 regions in China has changed over time and to examine the conservation potential of these regions. We used records from databases on Pleistocene mammalian fossils and historical distribution records (1175–2020) for Primates (as a case study) to reconstruct evolutionary and historical distribution trajectories of the 11 orders of terrestrial mammals and to predict their prospective survival based on the national conservation strategy applied. The results indicated that since the Pleistocene, 4–5 mammalian orders have been lost in the northeast, 3 in central China, 2 along the coast, and 1 in the northwest. In the southwest, all 11 orders were maintained. Contemporarily, the coast and southwest had the highest and second-highest species densities. The southwest region and southeastern sections of the northwest region were the most historically and contemporarily diverse areas, which suggests that they should be the first priority for protected area (PA) designation. The central and coastal areas should be secondarily prioritized. In these 2 regions, conservation should focus on human coexistence with nature. Less attention should be paid to the PA in the northeast and western northwest because in these areas ecosystems are depauperate and the climate is harsh. Conservation in these areas should focus principally on avoiding further human encroachment on natural areas. Article impact statement: Historical and contemporary patterns of extinction can be a basis for mammalian conservation strategies.     

Using culturomics and social media data to characterize wildlife consumption

Wildlife provides food, medicine, clothing, and other necessities for humans, but overexploitation can disrupt the sustainability of wildlife resources and severely threaten global biodiversity. Understanding the characteristics of consumer behavior is helpful for wildlife managers and policy makers, but the traditional survey methods are laborious and time-consuming. In contrast, culturomics may more efficiently identify the features of wildlife consumption. As a case study of the culturomics approach, we examined tiger bone wine consumption in China based on social media and Baidu search engine data. Tiger bone wine is one of the most purchased tiger products; its consumption is closely related to tiger poaching, which greatly threatens wild tiger survival. We searched a popular social media website for the term “tiger bone wine” and focused on posts that were originally created from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2018. We filtered and classified posts related to the purchase, sale, or consumption of tiger bone wine and extracted information on providers, consumption motivations, year of production, and place of origin of the tiger bone wines based on the texts and photos of these posts. We found 756 posts related to tiger bone wine consumption, 113 of which mentioned providers of tiger bone wine, including friends (53%), elder relatives (37%), peer relatives (7%), and others (3%). Out of the 756 posts, 266 indicated the motivations of tiger bone wine consumption. Tiger bone wines were consumed as a tonic (34%), medicine (23%), game product (30%), and a symbol of wealth (28%). Some posts indicated ≥2 consumption motivations. These findings were consistent with the search queries from Baidu index. Such information could help develop targeted strategies for tiger conservation. The culturomics approach illustrated by our study is a rapid and cost-efficient way to characterize wildlife consumption.     

Effects of Compounded Curing Agents on Properties and Performance of Urea Formaldehyde Resin

The effects of three compounded curing agents on the properties and performance of the urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin were investigated in this study. The compounded curing agents were prepared by mixing ammonium chloride with hexamethylenetetramine, citric acid, and oxalic acid respectively at a ratio of 1:1, named N-H, N–CA, and N–OA, respectively. The curing process, crystallinity, and physical properties were measured, and the three-ply plywood was fabricated to measure its prepress strength, wet shear strength, and formaldehyde emission. Results showed that the compounded curing agents N–CA and N–OA enhanced the initial viscosity, crosslinking density and thermal stability of UF resin. Additionally, the prepress strength of the plywood bonded by UF resin with N–CA and N–OA increased by 82 and 111% respectively compared to the UF resin with NH₄Cl, and the wet shear strength increased by 14 and 16%, the formaldehyde emission decreased by 19 and 42% respectively. However, owing to the short pot-life of these curing agent limited their storage time, the curing agents N–CA and N–OA should be applied to fabricate plywood in winter for obtaining a better bond strength and a lower formaldehyde emission. While the UF resin with N–HT showed a suitable pot-life, so it could be applied to fabricate plywood in summer for long time storage and avoiding procuring problem.     

有机肥和化肥配施技术农户采纳意愿影响因素分析——基于苏、浙、皖三省农户调查

为了研究农户采纳有机肥和化肥配施技术意愿的主要影响因素,以风险规避理论为基础,通过建立二元Logistic回归模型,对苏浙皖3省596个农户样本的调研数据进行了分析。研究结果表明:户主年龄和是否有过特殊经历、农业从业人员占比、农户对过量施肥和有机肥的认知、政府是否对农业施肥技术进行过宣传对农户采纳有机肥和化肥配施技术的意愿具有显著影响。据此,提出了提高农户采纳有机肥和化肥配施技术意愿的政策建议:首先,政府应加大对有机肥和化肥配施技术的宣传和推广力度;其次,政府应协助相关组织解决有机肥当前面临的突出问题;最后,政府应完善相关政策的扶持力度。     

近期长江张家洲南水道强冲刷机理与趋势分析

2016年9月利用多波束测深仪调查了张家洲河段河床微地貌的高分辨率形态与分布特征，结合1998年和2013年水下地形资料，分析了三峡截流以来该河段河槽的冲淤变化与演变趋势。结果表明：（1）张家洲河段整体呈冲刷状态，净冲刷量17.2×10.6 m³。其中，张家洲南水道是强冲刷区，最大冲刷深度约9 m；（2）河槽表层沉积物中值粒径为149.1~226.3 μm，与历史资料相比呈粗化趋势；（3）张家洲河段约82.9％的主航道发育了沙波，约14.0％的主航道发育了冲刷坑与冲刷槽，平床地形仅占3.1％。流域来沙量减少是张家洲河段整体冲刷的主要原因，而河流控制工程稳定了河势，迫使水流归槽，加剧了张家洲南水道的冲刷。随着流域来沙量持续减少，张家洲南水道主航道有可能进一步冲刷     

Biodegradation of Poly(Aspartic Acid-Itaconic Acid) Copolymers by Miscellaneous Microbes from Natural Water

Poly(aspartic acid-itaconic acid) copolymers (PAI) is a new scale inhibitor for water treatment. Thus, it is necessary to investigate its biodegradability. The biodegradability of PAI was investigated through CO₂ evolution tests under different conditions based on determination of carbon dioxide production. The investigation results showed that the degradation rate of PAI on day 10 and day 28 were respectively 38.7 and 79.5%, indicating that PAI was one kind of easily biodegradable scale inhibitors. With the increase in the content of itaconic acid in copolymerization process, the biodegradability of PAI was significantly reduced. In addition, the high biodegradability might be attributed to the existence of C–N bone-structure and more –COO–. Finally, Cu²⁺ could decrease the degradation percentage and the enzyme inhibition effect of Cu²⁺ was not the linear effect, but the “low-dosage effect”.     

EGSB出水回流对EGSB—SBR工艺处理果汁废水的影响

采用EGSB—SBR工艺处理实际果汁废水(COD 2 608~6 500 mg/L,p H 5.0~7.0)。在EGSB反应器成功启动及驯化完成的情况下,连续运行49 d。实验结果表明:第25天起,控制EGSB回流比为3.00∶1,EGSB反应器可在无须添加Na HCO3的条件下稳定运行,从而降低了废水处理成本;第25天起,平均进水COD,BOD5,SS分别为5 968,2 130,1 020 mg/L,平均出水COD,BOD5,SS分别降至131,11,50 mg/L,平均COD,BOD5,SS去除率分别为98%,99%,95%;组合工艺对该实际果汁废水具有良好的处理效果。     

Optimal Absorbent Evaluation for the CO2 Separating Process by Absorption Loading,Desorption Efficiency,Cost, and Environmental Tolerance

The CO₂ absorption capacities of potassium glycinate, potassium sarcosinate (choline, proline), mono-ethanolamine (MEA), and tri-ethanolamine were evaluated to find the optimal absorbent for separating CO₂ from gaseous products by a CO₂ purification process. The absorption loading, desorption efficiency, cost, and environmental tolerance were assessed to select the optimal absorbent. MEA was found to be the optimum absorbent for separating the CO₂ and H₂ mixture in gaseous product. The maximum absorption loading rate was 0.77 mol CO₂ per mol MEA at temperature of 20°C and absorbent concentration of 2.5 mol/L, whereas desorption efficiency was 90% by heating for 3 h at 130°C. MEA was found to be an optimal absorbent for the purification process of CO₂ during gaseous production.     

试论生态文明制度体系的构建

建立健全生态文明制度体系是推进我国生态文明建设的重点。党的十八届三中全会通过的《中共中央关于全面深化改革若干重大问题的决定》指出,生态文明制度体系应当包括决策制度、评价制度、管理制度与考核制度等内容。立足社会主义制度建设的中国特色,针对我国生态文明建设的具体需求,本文将生态文明制度体系解构为四大板块:绿色高效决策制度、生态有价评估制度、生态环境监管制度与生态优先考核制度,并进一步明确了各项制度构建工作的具体内容。生态文明制度体系的构建和不断完善,将为全面建成人与自然和谐的美丽中国提供系统保障。