Study on phosphorus loadings in ten natural and agricultural watersheds in subtropical region of China

Water eutrophication in subtropical regions of southern China threatens watershed health and is of major concern. However, annual phosphorus (P) loading and its dominant causes are still unclear, especially at the watershed scale. In this study, we investigated dynamic P loadings and associated factors (e.g., land use, livestock production, and runoff depth) in ten watersheds that varied in area from 9 to 5,212 ha in a hilly area of Hunan Province, China. A flowmeter was installed at the outlet of each watershed, and total P (TP) and soluble P (SP) concentrations were monitored periodically from June 2010 to October 2012. The results showed that annual P loadings (APLs) in the ten watersheds ranged from 22.8 to 247.8 kg P/km² and that P loss primarily occurred from April to June of each year during the main rainfall season in the study area. In addition, the average eutrophication (>0.05 mg P/L) ratio for stream waters was 86.7 % during the study period, which was indicative of a potentially serious condition for the local water environments. Annual P loadings were linearly related to livestock density (LD; R?=?0.92, p?<?0.01), whereas the eutrophication ratio of stream water was significantly (p?<?0.05) correlated with LD (R?=?0.61), percentage cropland (R?=?0.71), and percentage forest cover (R?=??0.68). Thus, it is concluded that the control of livestock production has the greatest potential for reducing P loadings in watersheds in this subtropical area. This will be beneficial to the amelioration and protection of local environment.     

膨润土、煤渣在稳定底泥中对上覆水体及底泥pH Eh COD的影响

采用静态模拟试验，选取膨润土、煤渣为帽封材料，研究两者覆盖于河水底泥表层后各体系上覆水体及底泥的pH、氧化还原电位（Eh）、有机含量指标在60 d的变化情况。结果表明：底泥表层覆盖膨润土或煤渣后，上覆水体中的pH约为7.5，Eh在80~110 mV波动，均未造成持久严重的影响；同时由于它们的吸附性能使得上覆水体CODCr在反应周期里有所减少。膨润土存在体系，其底泥pH在反应周期里呈下降趋势，Eh呈上升趋势,底泥有机质去除率在25%左右。而煤渣帽封于底泥上，其底泥pH、Eh在反应周期里均呈上升趋势，底泥有机质去除率约为19%     

鄱阳湖流域水化学环境参数的变化特征

分别于2010年2月和7月，对鄱阳湖湖区和入湖河流的pH、TDS以及主要离子浓度进行了测定，分析了主要离子组成的时空变化特征及其影响机制。结果表明，鄱阳湖流域水体属于弱矿化度软水，Ca2+是湖水和河水的主要阳离子，分别占阳离子总数〖JP〗的5935%、4989%；HCO-3是湖水和河水的主要阴离子，分别占阴离子总数的5337%、5937%，水质类型为Ca-HCO-3型水；主要离子组成和TDS浓度具有明显的季节和沿程变化特征，这与降雨季节性变化以及不同水系的地质背景有关；从河流水系上游至湖区的水化学特征依次为HCO-3型、HCO-3-SO2-4和SO2-4型。从水化学控制机制上看，鄱阳湖丰水期受大气降水作用和地质条件影响显著，而枯水期降雨量大大减少，主要受岩石风化、蒸发沉淀作用和人为输入的影响。除此之外，SO2-4型水的增加与长江干流酸化以及丰水期长江顶托倒灌现象有密切关系     

周年磷肥旱季集中底施对玉-稻轮作磷肥效应的影响

春玉米-晚稻水旱轮作是近年来南方稻区种植制度变化下出现的新型两熟制模式。明确两季作物间磷肥的合理分配对玉-稻轮作作物产量与磷素利用效率的影响,对玉-稻轮作养分高效与高产协同实现,及丰富对水旱轮作前后季作物养分利用关系的认识具有理论意义。采用春玉米-水稻周年轮作田间试验,根据晚稻季磷肥前移至玉米季做底肥施用的比例及周年施磷量,设置7个磷肥施用处理,分别为两季作物均不施磷(P_0)、两季作物均按常规方法施磷(P_1)、1/3晚稻季磷肥前移(P_2)、2/3晚稻季磷肥前移(P_3)、全部晚稻季磷肥前移(P_4)、全部晚稻季磷肥前移且周年总施磷量减少15%(P_5)、全部晚稻季磷肥前移且周年总施磷量减少30%(P_6),分析了不同施磷处理作物产量、磷素吸收量及磷素利用效率的变化。与P_1相比,P_3与P_4处理显著提高了晚稻花后干物质的分配比例及晚稻产量,且其周年产量分别提高了4.87%和6.74%;P_5处理晚稻产量与P_1处理差异不显著,但P_6显著降低了晚稻产量。晚稻季磷肥前移施用明显促进了玉米及晚稻对磷素的吸收,显著降低了磷素的表观盈余量。与P_1处理相比,P_2、P_3、P_4处理两季作物周年土壤磷素依存率分别减少了11.63%、26.47%与22.08%。从磷肥利用效率看,P_4处理的磷肥周年累积回收效率、农学利用效率、偏生产力及磷肥产量贡献率均显著高于P_1处理,分别提高了102.46%、194.83%、6.73%与176.16%。与P_1处理相比,P_5处理周年磷肥产量贡献率及农学利用效率差异不显著,但分别提高了其磷肥回收效率与偏生产力32.56%和58.05%。玉米季施用的磷肥对晚稻有明显的后效作用,且比晚稻季施用磷肥具有更高的磷肥利用效率。所以在春玉米免耕复种晚稻时,可将晚稻季的磷肥全部前移至玉米季施用,并可减少15%周年施磷量。     

Catalytic activities and mechanism of formaldehyde oxidation over gold supported on MnO<Subscript>2</Subscript> microsphere catalysts at room temperature

MnO₂ microspheres with various surface structures were prepared using the hydrothermal method, and Au/MnO₂ catalysts were synthesized using the sol-gel method. We obtained three MnO₂ microspheres and Au/MnO₂ samples: coherent solid spheres covered with wire-like nanostructures, solid spheres with nanosheets, and hierarchical hollow microspheres with nanoplatelets and nanorods. We investigated the properties and catalytic activities of formaldehyde oxidation at room temperature. Crystalline structures of MnO₂ are the main factor affecting the catalytic activities of these samples, and γ-MnO₂ shows high catalytic performance. The excellent redox properties are responsible for the catalytic ability of γ-MnO₂. The gold-supported interaction can change the redox properties of catalysts and accelerate surface oxygen species transition, which can account for the catalytic activity enhancement of Au/MnO₂. We also studied intermediate species. The dioxymethylene (DOM) and formate species formed on the catalyst surface were considered intermediates, and were ultimately transformed into hydrocarbonate and carbonate and then decomposed into CO₂. A proposed mechanism of formaldehyde oxidation over Au/MnO₂ catalysts was also obtained.     

The data not collected on community forestry

Conservation and development practitioners increasingly promote community forestry as a way to conserve ecosystem services, consolidate resource rights, and reduce poverty. However, outcomes of community forestry have been mixed; many initiatives failed to achieve intended objectives. There is a rich literature on institutional arrangements of community forestry, but there has been little effort to examine the role of socioeconomic, market, and biophysical factors in shaping both land‐cover change dynamics and individual and collective livelihood outcomes. We systematically reviewed the peer‐reviewed literature on community forestry to examine and quantify existing knowledge gaps in the community‐forestry literature relative to these factors. In examining 697 cases of community forest management (CFM), extracted from 267 peer‐reviewed publications, we found 3 key trends that limit understanding of community forestry. First, we found substantial data gaps linking population dynamics, market forces, and biophysical characteristics to both environmental and livelihood outcomes. Second, most studies focused on environmental outcomes, and the majority of studies that assessed socioeconomic outcomes relied on qualitative data, making comparisons across cases difficult. Finally, there was a heavy bias toward studies on South Asian forests, indicating that the literature on community forestry may not be representative of decentralization policies and CFM globally.     

Hexabromocyclododecanes in soils and plants from a plastic waste treatment area in North China: occurrence,diastereomer- and enantiomer-specific profiles,and metabolization

Plastic waste is a source of organic contaminants such as hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs). HBCDs have been found to cause developmental and reproductive toxicity; it is important to investigate the occurrence and metabolization of HBCDs in the soil environments with plastic waste contamination. This work analyzed HBCDs and their metabolites in soil and plant samples collected from Xinle and Dingzhou—the major plastic waste recycling centers in North China. Results showed that total HBCD concentrations in soils followed the order: plastic waste treatment site (11.0–624 ng/g) > roadside (2.96–85.4 ng/g) ≥ farmland (8.69–55.5 ng/g). HBCDs were detected in all the plant samples with total concentrations ranging from 3.47 to 23.4 ng/g. γ-HBCD was the dominant congener in soils, while α-HBCD was preferentially accumulated in plants. Compositions of HBCD isomers in soils and plants were significantly different (P < 0.05) among sampling sites and among plant species. HBCDs in farmland soil and all plant samples exhibited high enantio-selectivity based on the enantiomeric fractions (EFs). Furthermore, metabolites of pentabromocyclododecenes (PBCDEs) were frequently identified in soils, and mono-OH-HBCDs were the most common ones in plants. This study for the first time provides evidences of HBCD contamination in the soil-plant system caused by plastic waste, their stereo-selectivity, and metabolization behavior, improving our understanding of the environmental behavior and fate of HBCDs.     

An occupational exposure assessment of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofurans in firefighters

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) are unintentional byproducts of combustion and industrial processes. Firefighters face the risk of occupational exposure to PCDD/Fs. Congener-specific analyses of 17 PCDD/Fs were performed on 20 serum samples collected from firefighters and fire scene investigators, and four soot samples that had deposited on the surfaces of the fire helmets and were collected after the firefighters had fought fires. The PCDD/F concentrations on the helmets that were contaminated by being worn at the fire scenes were 63-285 times higher than those on a clean helmet. The median serum PCDD/F concentration of the 16 firefighters (12 pg WHO₂₀₀₅-TEQ g⁻¹ lipid) was not different from those of the males from the general Taiwanese population (9.4 pg WHO₂₀₀₅-TEQ g⁻¹ lipid). However, the median PCDD/F level in the four fire scene investigators (15 pg WHO₂₀₀₅-TEQ g⁻¹ lipid) was higher than those in the male from the general Taiwanese population (Mann-Whitney U test, p < 0.01). Furthermore, the serum samples from the firefighters and fire scene investigators, and the soot samples from the fire scenes presented similarly distinctive PCDD/F profiles that had elevated proportions for 10 PCDF congeners. Limited data indicated that the fire scene investigators were occupationally exposed to PCDD/Fs at the fire scenes. We suggested that the firefighters were not occupationally exposed to PCDD/Fs at the fire scenes due to appropriate protection. However, the fire scene investigators may have had more occupational exposure to PCDD/Fs due to poor protection, and further research must be performed to confirm this.     

Modifications of black carbons and their influence on pyrene sorption

Sorption of pyrene on black carbons (BCs) obtained by heating sawdust at two temperatures (400 and 700 °C, denoted as 400BC and 700BC, respectively), as well as on modified BCs (via oxidation, oximation, and hydrolysis) was studied to investigate the role of BC structural characteristics in sorption of hydrophobic organic compounds. Pyrene was bound strongly by 700BC and 400BC, with organic carbon normalized distribution coefficients (K_oc) of 10^5.04-10^5.86 and 10^4.65-10^5.16, respectively, at equilibrium pyrene concentrations of 10-100 μg L⁻¹. Both chemical composition and pore distribution of the two BCs changed after modifications, which led to changes in their sorption characteristics for pyrene. After modifications, the linearity of pyrene sorption isotherm increased for 700BC but decreased for 400BC. For 700BC, both oxidation and oximation reduced pyrene sorption, with K_oc decreasing by 69.1-73.7% and 18.7-33.9%, respectively, whereas hydrolysis did not exert a significant influence. For 400BC, oxidation and hydrolysis reduced K_oc by 2.28-25.9% and 29.2-33.9%, respectively, while oximation increased K_oc. In most cases, the change in sorption capacity could be explained by the changes in C content and type, polarity, surface area, and micropore volume of the BCs; however, the role of conformation (the accessibility to sorption sites) could not be ignored.     

Impacts of land use change on ecosystem service value in Lijiang River Basin,China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - It is of great significance for the coordinated development of the environment and the economy to study the impact of the human driving factors of...