Urbanization reduces resource use efficiency of phytoplankton community by altering the environment and decreasing biodiversity

Urbanization often exerts multiple effects on aquatic and terrestrial organisms, including changes in biodiversity, species composition and ecosystem functions. However, the impacts of urbanization on river phytoplankton in subtropical urbanizing watersheds remain largely unknown. Here, we explored the effects of urbanization on phytoplankton community structure（i.e., biomass, community composition and diversity） and function（i.e., resource use efficiency） in a subtropical river at watershed sca...     

Methanogenic community structure in simultaneous methanogenesis and denitrification granular sludge

A laboratory scale up-flow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) bioreactor fed with synthetic wastewater was operated with simultaneous methanogenesis and denitrification (SMD) granules for 235 days with a gradient decrease of C/N. Molecular cloning, qRT-PCR and T-RFLP were applied to study the methanogenic community structures in SMD granules and their changes in response to changing influent C/N. The results indicate that when C/N was 20:1, the methane production rate was fastest, and Methanosaetaceae and Methanobacteriaceae were the primary methanogens within the Archaea. The richness and evenness of methanogenic bacteria was best with the highest T-RFLP diversity index of 1.627 in the six granular sludge samples. When C/N was reduced from 20:1 to 5:1, the methanogenic activity of SMD granules decreased gradually, and the relative quantities of methanogens decreased from 36.5% to 10.9%. The abundance of Methanosaetaceae in Archaea increased from 64.5% to 84.2%, while that of Methanobacteriaceae decreased from 18.6% to 11.8%, and the richness and evenness of methanogens decreased along with the T-RFLP diversity index to 1.155, suggesting that the community structure reflected the succession to an unstable condition represented by high nitrate concentrations.

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Types of community-focused organisations for disaster risk reduction in the Longmen Shan Fault area

In the past 10 years, both the Wenchuan earthquake (2008, Magnitude?=?8.0) and the Lushan earthquake (2013, Magnitude?=?7.0) struck in the Longmen Shan Fault area, causing extraordinary human and economic losses. After the Wenchuan earthquake, the Chinese government began promoting the Community for Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (CDPM) project nationwide to enhance community-level disaster-resistance capacities. Due to post-earthquake demand, CDPM construction in the Longmen Shan Fault area involved many diverse organisations, each of which had different organisational leadership models, which greatly influenced the CDPM characteristics and mechanisms. From long-term field research in 23 CDPM organisations in Longmen Shan Fault area, four types of CDPM organisations were found, including eight Government-oriented CDPM, six Resident-oriented CDPM, seven NGO-oriented CDPM and two Enterprise-oriented CDPM, forming a multiple organisation-oriented CDPM (M-CDPM) model. As there was only 85?km between the Wenchuan earthquake and the Lushan earthquake epicentres, many of the hardest-hit regions were the same; therefore, most CDPM organisations examined in this study were established after the Wenchuan earthquake and their effectiveness was tested in the Lushan earthquake. Therefore, research on the M-CDPM gives valuable information and provides a practical perspective for community-level disaster risk reduction.     

Effects of exotic Spartina alterniflora on rhizosphere and endophytic bacterial community structures and diversity in roots of native mangroves北大核心CSCD

Root-associated microbial communities are very important for biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur in wetland ecosystems, and help to enhance the mechanisms of plant invasions. In the estuary of Jiulong River (China), Spartina alternifiora has widely invaded Kandelia obovata-dominated habitats, making it necessary to investigate the influence of rootassociated bacteria. The endophytic and rhizosphere bacterial community structures associated with selected plant species were investigated using the barcoded Illumina paired-end sequencing technique. The diversity indices of bacteria associated with the roots of S. alterniflora were higher than those of the transition stands and K. obovata monoculture. Using principal coordinate analysis with UniFrac metrics, the comparison of diversity showed that all samples could be significantly clustered into three major groups, according to the bacterial communities of origin. Four phyla, namely, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, and Firmicutes, were abundant in the rhizoplane of the two salt marsh plants, whereas Cyanobacteria and Proteobacteria were the more abundant endophytic bacteria. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, and Firmicutes in the rhizosphere bacteria of S. alterniflora accounted for 78.0%, 5.6%, 3.3%, and 1.6%, respectively. Members of the phyla Spirochaetes and Chloroflexi were found among the endophytic bacteria of S. alterniflora and K. obovata, respectively. Using linear discriminate analysis, we found some dominant rhizoplane and endophytic bacteria, including Pseudoalteromonadaceae, Vibrionaceae, Methylophilaceae, and Desulfovibrio, which could potentially affect the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles. Of interest was that endophytic bacteria were more sensitive to plant invasion than rhizosphere bacteria. Thus, the results provide evidence for the isolation of functional bacteria and the effects of root-associated microbial groups on S. alterniflora invasions. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Environmental Communication: Why This Crisis Discipline Should Facilitate Environmental Democracy

The authors concur with Cox's claim that environmental communication (EC), like conservation biology, is a crisis discipline. Cox's proposed tenets for EC challenge the scientific norm of objectivity that has guided science for centuries, suggesting that today's environmental crisis requires us to travel a different path. The authors take Cox's essay as provocation to radically challenge magical notions of scientific objectivity. They briefly review Platonic contributions to the myth of scientific objectivity and then advocate a nondualistic perspective toward the relationship between humans and nature. They then suggest how this perspective both expands upon and diverges from Cox's vision of political and ethical engagement among EC scholars.     

Understanding Social Complexity Within the Wildland–Urban Interface: A New Species of Human Habitation?

The lack of knowledge regarding social diversity in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) or an in-depth understanding of the ways people living there interact to address common problems is concerning, perhaps even dangerous, given that community action is necessary for successful wildland fire preparedness and natural resource management activities. In this article, we lay out the knowledge and preliminary case study evidence needed to begin systematically documenting the differing levels and types of adaptive capacity WUI communities have for addressing collective problems such as wildland fire hazard. In order to achieve this end, we draw from two theoretical perspectives encompassing humans' interactions with their environment, including (1) Kenneth Wilkinson's interactional approach to community, (2) and certain elements of place literature. We also present case study research on wildfire protection planning in two drastically different California communities to illustrate how social diversity influences adaptive capacity to deal with hazards such as wildland fire. These perspectives promote an image of the WUI not as a monolithic entity but a complex mosaic of communities with different needs and existing capacities for wildland fire and natural resource management.     

浙江北部海域春季浮游动物的群落结构研究

根据2007年春季在浙江北部海域所采集的浮游动物样品,对该调查海域浮游动物的种类组成、丰度、生物量和生物多样性进行了探讨,采用多元统计软件PRIMER 5分析了该海域浮游动物的群落结构。研究结果表明,调查海域共鉴定各类浮游动物62种、浮游幼虫12种,合计74种。经统计共有2种优势种,分别是中华哲水蚤(Calanus sinicus)和五角水母(Muggiaea atlantica)。浮游动物生物量和丰度的平面分布比较相似,主要分布在调查海域的东部和东南部,并存在着向东南方向呈递增的趋势,而在杭州湾内的值比较小。调查海域浮游动物生物多样性比较低,平均值为1.54。根据对本次调查获得的浮游动物群落结构的聚类分析,主要存在着两个生态类群,群落Ⅰ为沿岸低盐群落,群落Ⅱ为暖温带近海群落。     

社会发展综合实验区生态建设及科技引导途径

本文提出了社会发展综合实验区建设的实质就是协调好人口、资源与环境间的生态关系，为了促进社会—经济—自然复合生态系统的持续发展，探讨了科技引导实验区生态建设的途径。     

The recovery of schools from earthquake effects: Lessons from Mexico City

Much work has been done to prepare schools and institutions for the immediate effects of earthquakes and other disasters. This paper looks at the preparation needed for medium to long term recovery from the physical and psychological effects of earthquakes. Colegio Madrid, a school of 3,000 students that suffered major damage in the September 1985 Mexico City earthquake serves as the focus of this study. The experiences and actions of faculty, staff, students and parents at this school provide lessons for not only schools, but all institutions and communities which may face the prospect of reconstructing themselves following a disaster.     

Informal coal mining in Eastern India: Evidence from the Raniganj Coalbelt

Unauthorized mines are not uncommon in mineral-rich regions of poorer countries, and India is no exception. Whether they constitute merely a law and order problem including safety issues, or there are important social and economic questions involved has yet to be thrashed out. The mining industry, at regional, national and international levels, is ambivalent towards such mining, tending to draw attention away from their informal nature to the size factor.
This article looks into the problem of such informal mining in the light of empirical surveys in eastern Indian collieries. These are called peoples' mines and they serve a significant purpose in local economies. The article's thesis is that peasant communities are trying to claim back a portion of the local resources lost to them through appropriation by mining companies thus re-asserting their traditional rights to local mineral resources. In conclusion, the need for a new moral economy for mining regions is stressed: an economy in which local communities will play a powerful role.