Monitoring Environmental Impact in the Upper Sonoran Lifestyle: A New Tool for Rapid Ecological Assessment

Characterized by expensive housing, high socioeconomic status, and topographic relief, Upper Sonoran Lifestyle communities are found primarily along the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) in the Phoenix, Arizona metro area. Communities like these sprawl into the wildlands in the United States Southwest, creating a distinct urban fringe. This article, through locational comparison, introduces and evaluates a new field assessment tool for monitoring anthropogenic impact on soil–vegetation interactions along the well-maintained multi-use recreational trails in Upper Sonoran Lifestyle region. Comparing data from randomly selected transects along other multi-use trails with data from a control site revealed three key indicators of anthropogenic disturbances on soil–vegetation interactions: soil disturbance, vegetation disturbance, and vegetation density. Soil and vegetation disturbance displayed an average distance decay exponent factor of −0.60, while vegetation density displayed a reverse decay average of 0.60. Other important indicators of disturbance included vegetation type, biological soil crusts, and soil bulk density. The predictive ability of this new field tool enhances its applicability, offering a powerful rapid ecological assessment method for monitoring long-term anthropogenic impact in the Upper Sonoran Lifestyle, and other sprawling cities along the WUI.     

Combined Effects of Levels of Protection and Environmental Variables at Different Spatial Resolutions on Fish Assemblages in a Marine Protected Area

Abstract: The links between species–environment relations and species’ responses to protection are unclear, but the objectives of marine protected areas (MPAs) are most likely to be achieved when those relations are known and inform MPA design. The components of a species’ habitat vary with the spatial resolution of the area considered. We characterized areas at two resolutions: 250 m² (transect) and approximately 30,000 m² (seascape). We considered three categories of environmental variables: substrate type, bottom complexity, and depth. We sought to determine at which resolution habitat characteristics were a better predictor of abundance and species composition of fishes and whether the relations with environmental variables at either resolution affected species’ responses to protection. Habitat features accounted for a larger proportion of spatial variation in species composition and abundances than differences in protection status. This spatial variation was explained best by habitat characteristics at the seascape level than at the transect level. Species’ responses to protected areas were specific to particular seascape characteristics, primarily depth, and bottom complexity. Our method may be useful for prioritizing marine areas for protection, designing MPAs, and monitoring their effectiveness. It identified areas that provided natural shelter, areas acting as buffer zones, and areas where fish species were most responsive to protection. The identification of such areas is necessary for cost‐effective establishment and monitoring of MPAs.     

Effectiveness of Scat‐Detection Dogs in Determining Species Presence in a Tropical Savanna Landscape

Abstract: Most protected areas are too small to sustain populations of wide‐ranging mammals; thus, identification and conservation of high‐quality habitat for those animals outside parks is often a high priority, particularly for regions where extensive land conversion is occurring. This is the case in the vicinity of Emas National Park, a small protected area in the Brazilian Cerrado. Over the last 40 years the native vegetation surrounding the park has been converted to agriculture, but the region still supports virtually all of the animals native to the area. We determined the effectiveness of scat‐detection dogs in detecting presence of five species of mammals threatened with extinction by habitat loss: maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), puma (Puma concolor), jaguar (Panthera onca), giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), and giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus). The probability of scat detection varied among the five species and among survey quadrats of different size, but was consistent across team, season, and year. The probability of occurrence, determined from the presence of scat, in a randomly selected site within the study area ranged from 0.14 for jaguars, which occur primarily in the forested areas of the park, to 0.91 for maned wolves, the most widely distributed species in our study area. Most occurrences of giant armadillos in the park were in open grasslands, but in the agricultural matrix they tended to occur in riparian woodlands. At least one target species occurred in every survey quadrat, and giant armadillos, jaguars, and maned wolves were more likely to be present in quadrats located inside than outside the park. The effort required for detection of scats was highest for the two felids. We were able to detect the presence for each of five wide‐ranging species inside and outside the park and to assign occurrence probabilities to specific survey sites. Thus, scat dogs provide an effective survey tool for rare species even when accurate detection likelihoods are required. We believe the way we used scat‐detection dogs to determine the presence of species can be applied to the detection of other mammalian species in other ecosystems.     

DOM对被动采样技术的影响与应用

主要研究了不同浓度的天然溶解性有机物(DOM)对单片膜被动采样技术的影响.结果表明,DOM的存在会影响膜吸附有机污染物的能力:当lg KOW为3~5时,DOM对膜吸附有机物的影响较小;当lg KOW5.5时,DOM会显著增强膜的吸附能力.同时,通过低密度聚乙烯膜(LDPE)被动采样技术对太子河流域3个表层沉积物的孔隙水进行多环芳烃类(PAHs)和邻苯二甲酸酯类(PAEs)监测.结果表明,所选取的几种目标污染物在各监测点均有不同程度的检出.最后,利用商值法对太子河流域的PAHs和PAEs进行生态风险评价.结果表明,荧蒽超过水生生态基准值,其生态风险较大.     

生活垃圾焚烧废气中二噁英监测采样研究

对当前国内生活垃圾焚烧废气中二噁英监测相关标准和技术规范的解读和实践操作后,认识到生活垃圾焚烧废气中二噁英监测采样的现状及不足.针对不同类型烟道,不同采样时间和不同采样时间间隔分别进行了研究.实验结果表明,同一稳定气流的排放源中,水平烟道和垂直烟道测试二噁英毒性当量排放浓度水平相当;满足监测采样量要求下,不同采样时间和采样时间间隔对二噁英监测结果并无显著差异,对此给出几点相应采样建议.     

利用PUF被动采样技术监测珠江三角洲地区大气中多氯联苯分布

研究了珠江三角洲地区大气中多氯联苯的含量与分布.利用大气被动采样装置,共设立了包括香港在内的珠江三角洲21个大气被动采样点,样品采样时间为2005-08-15～2005-10-14.结果表明,珠三角内地的佛山(2000pg·m-3)是PCBs的高污染地区,内地采样点PCBs含量范围260～2000pg·m-3,平均值670pg·m-3.香港PCBs含量范围170～470pg·m-3,平均值300pg·m-3.香港每个采样点的PCBs含量都接近平均值,含量比较低.珠三角大气中PCBs含量与世界其它地区相比属中度污染区域.结果也表明,PUF大气被动采样器可很好地运用于区域大气PCBs污染分布与特征的对比研究.     

Impacts of converting from leaded to unleaded gasoline on ambient lead concentrations in Jakarta metropolitan area

Total suspended particulate mater （TSP） concentrations were monitored for one year from July 2000 and for one year from April 2003 in Jakarta City. Thirteen elemental TSP components, aluminum （Al）, sodium （Na）, iron （Fe）, lead （Pb）, potassium （K）, zinc （Zn）, titanium （Ti）, manganese （Mn）, bromine （Br）, copper （Cu）, chromium （Cr）, nickel （Ni）, and vanadium （V） were analyzed by a sequential X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Al, Na, Fe, K, and Pb were major components at most of the sampling locations in 2000. However, only Pb in 2003 dramatically decreased to one tenth. The phase-out of leaded gasoline began on July 1, 2001 in Jakarta City and lead content in gasoline decreased to one tenth, too. The decrease in Pb concentration was a result of the phase-out of leaded gasoline, as lead emissions mainly are exhaust gas from vehicles.     

Assessing field vulnerability to phosphorus loss in Beijing agricultural area using Revised Field Phosphorus Ranking Scheme

Guanting Reservoir,one of the drinking water supply sources of Beijing,suffers from water eutrophication.It is mainly supplied by Guishui River.Thus,to investigate the reasons of phosphorus(P)loss and improve the P management strategies in Guishui River watershed are important for the safety of drinking water in this region.In this study,a Revised Field P Ranking Scheme(PRS)was developed to reflect the field vulnerability of P loss at the field scale based on the Field PRS.In this new scheme,six factors are included, and each one was assigned a relative weight and a determination method.The affecting factors were classified into transport factors and source factors,and,the standards of environmental quality on surface water and soil erosion classification and degradation of the China were used in this scheme.By the new scheme,thirty-four fields in the Guishui River were categorized as"low","medium"or"high"potential for P loss into the runoff.The results showed that the P loss risks of orchard and vegetable fields were higher than that of corn and soybean fields.The source factors were the main factors to affect P loss from the study area.In the study area,controlling P input and improving P usage efficiency are critical to decrease P loss.Based on the results,it was suggested that more attention should be paid on the fields of vegetable and orchard since they have extremely high usage rate of P and high soil test of E Compared with P surplus by field measurements,the Revised Field PRS was more suitable for reflecting the characteristics of fields,and had higher potential capacity to identify critical source areas of P loss than PRS.     

临安区域大气本底站CO_2浓度特征及其碳源汇变化研究

通过分析2006年8月～2009年7月临安区域大气本底站Flask瓶采样获得的CO2浓度特征,结合碳追踪模式的模拟结果,研究了长三角地区碳源汇变化对CO2浓度的影响.结果表明,临安区域大气本底站的CO2浓度分布在368.3×10-6～414.8×10-6之间,具有较明显的季节波动变化特征,冬季高、夏季低,浓度年较差接近...     

“十二五”地表水国家环境监测网络吉林省水环境国控监测点位布设的构想

根据国家环境质量监测网络,对“十二五”地表水环境质量监测断面调整工作要求,吉林省在辖区内所有水环境质量监测断面及采样点基础上,完成了松花江流域和辽河流域国控监测断面的优化调整工作。在此过程中,如何从国家尺度上,既能充分反映吉林省水环境质量状况,又能满足国家对地表水环境管理需求进行了深入思考。本文以吉林省为例,在确定国控监测断面及采样点的布设中．提出了自己的构想和建议。