Individual consistency in exploratory behaviour and mating tactics in male guppies

While behavioural plasticity is considered an adaptation to fluctuating social and environmental conditions, many animals also display a high level of individual consistency in their behaviour over time or across contexts (generally termed ‘personality’). However, studies of animal personalities that include sexual behaviour, or functionally distinct but correlated traits, are relatively scarce. In this study, we tested for individual behavioural consistency in courtship and exploratory behaviour in male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in two light environments (high vs. low light intensity). Based on previous work on guppies, we predicted that males would modify their behaviour from sneak mating tactics to courtship displays under low light conditions, but also that the rank orders of courtship effort would remain unchanged (i.e. highly sexually active individuals would display relatively high levels of courtship under both light regimes). We also tested for correlations between courtship and exploratory behaviour, predicting that males that had high display rates would also be more likely to approach a novel object. Although males showed significant consistency in their exploratory and mating behaviour over time (1 week), we found no evidence that these traits constituted a behavioural syndrome. Furthermore, in contrast to previous work, we found no overall effect of the light environment on any of the behaviours measured, although males responded to the treatment on an individual-level basis, as reflected by a significant individual-by-environment interaction. The future challenge is to investigate how individual consistency across different environmental contexts relates to male reproductive success.     

Bechstein’s bats maintain individual social links despite a complete reorganisation of their colony structure

Several social mammals, including elephants and some primates, whales and bats, live in multilevel societies that form temporary subgroups. Despite these fission–fusion dynamics, group members often maintain long-term bonds. However, it is unclear whether such individual links and the resulting stable social subunits continue to exist after a complete reorganisation of a society, e.g. following a population crash. Here, we employed a weighted network analysis on 7,109 individual roosting records collected over 4 years in a wild Bechstein’s bat colony. We show that, in response to a strong population decline, the colony’s two stable social subunits fused into a non-modular social network. Nevertheless, in the first year after the crash, long-term bonds were still detectable, suggesting that the bats remembered previous individual relationships. Our findings are important for understanding the flexibility of animal societies in the face of dramatic changes and for the conservation of social mammals with declining populations.

     

Sulfur-containing amino acid methionine as the precursor of volatile organic sulfur compounds in algea-induced black bloom

After the application of methionine, a progressive and significant increase occurred in five volatile organic sulfur compounds (VOSCs): methanethiol (MeSH), dimethyl sulfide (DMS), dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), dimethyl trisulfide (DMTS) and dimethyl tetrasulfide (DMTeS). Even in the untreated control without a methionine addition, methionine and its catabolites (VOSCs, mainly DMDS) were found in considerable amounts that were high enough to account for the water’s offensive odor. However, blackening only occurred in two methionine-amended treatments. The VOSCs production was observed to precede black color development, and the reaching of a peak value for total VOSCs was often followed by water blackening. The presence of glucose stimulated the degradation of methionine while postponing the occurrence of the black color and inhibiting the production of VOSCs. In addition, DMDS was found to be the most abundant species produced after the addition of methionine alone, and DMTeS appeared to be the most important compound produced after the addition of methionine+glucose. These results suggest that methionine acted as an important precursor of the VOSCs in lakes suffering from algea-induced black bloom. The existence of glucose may change the transformation pathway of methionine into VOSCs to form larger molecular weight compounds, such as DMTS and DMTeS.     

悬浮膜(CFM)分离技术在油田废水处理中的应用

应用微电解等技术对油田废水进行预处理,然后用悬浮膜进行分离,使其中的油、微生物和固体物与水相分离,使其达到回注用水要求。重点对CFM分离设备的结构及原理加以介绍,以期推进过滤技术的进步,提高油田废水的处理水平。     

循环半干法技术净化垃圾焚烧炉尾气

垃圾焚烧已在全国各地兴起,人们一直对其引起的大气污染问题十分关注,其中尾部烟气净化是防治大气污染的最重要环节,分析了富春环保热电股份有限公司的垃圾焚烧炉循环半干法烟气净化工艺、设计指标、运行效果。     

明胶厂剩余高钙污泥作为燃煤固硫剂的应用研究

明胶生产产业在废水处理工艺中产生大量剩余高钙污泥,采用该剩余污泥作为燃煤固硫剂,在高温管式电阻炉内进行燃烧实验,通过测定燃烧前和燃烧后样品中的硫含量确定该剩余污泥的固硫效果。通过单因素研究煤粉粒径、剩余污泥粒径和剩余污泥/煤样%等影响因素对固硫率的影响。在单因素试验的基础上通过正交设计法优选达到较高固硫率的实验条件。实验结果表明:影响固硫率的因素从大到小依次为燃烧温度>剩余污泥/煤样%>煤粉粒径>剩余污泥粒径。以剩余污泥作为固硫剂,固硫率最高的实验条件为:燃烧温度800℃,剩余污泥/煤样为3%,煤粉粒径60⁹0目,剩余污泥粒径9090目,剩余污泥粒径90¹20目。并且,当温度达到1150℃,煤粉粒径90120目。并且,当温度达到1150℃,煤粉粒径90¹20目,剩余污泥粒径为60120目,剩余污泥粒径为60⁹0目,污泥/煤样(质量比)为3%时,固硫率可达62.78%,说明在高温下该剩余污泥保持较高的固硫率。将明胶厂剩余污泥作为固硫剂是较为合适的再利用方法,可有效缓解当前该污泥大量堆积污染环境的状况。     

Decrease of NH4+-N by bacterioplankton accelerated the removal of cyanobacterial blooms in aerated aquatic ecosystem

We used aerated systems to assess the influence of the bacterioplankton community on cyanobacterial blooms in algae/post-bloom of Lake Taihu, China. Bacterioplankton community diversity was evaluated by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis(PCR-DGGE) fingerprinting. Chemical analysis and nitrogen dynamic changes illustrated that NH4+-N was nitrified to NO2-N and NO3-N by bacterioplankton. Finally, NH4+-N was exhausted and NO3-N was denitrified to NO2-N, while the accumulation of NO2-N indicated that bacterioplankton with completely aerobic denitrification ability were lacking in the water samples collected from Lake Taihu. We suggested that adding completely aerobic denitrification bacteria(to denitrify NO2-N to N2)would improve the water quality. PCR-DGGE and sequencing results showed that more than 1/3 of the bacterial species were associated with the removal of nitrogen, and Acidovorax temperans was the dominant one. PCR-DGGE, variation of nitrogen, removal efciencies of chlorophyll-a and canonical correspondence analysis indicated that the bacterioplankton significantly influenced the physiological and biochemical changes of cyanobacteria. Additionally, the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic means revealed there was no obvious harm to the microecosystem from aeration. The present study demonstrated that bacterioplankton can play crucial roles in aerated ecosystems, which could control the impact of cyanobacterial blooms in eutrophicated fresh water systems.     

Effects of physical and chemical characteristics of surface sediments in the formation of shallow lake algae-induced black bloom

Surface sediments are closely related to lake black blooms. The dissolved oxygen （DO） distribution and its penetration depth in surface sediments as well as the migration and transformation of redox sensitive elements such as Fe and S at the sediment-water interface are important factors that could influence the formation of the black bloom. In this study, dredged and undredged sediment cores with different surface properties were used to simulate black blooms in the laboratory. The Micro Profiling System was employed to explore features of the DO and ∑H2S distribution at the sediment-water interface. Physical and chemical characteristics in sediments and pore waters were also analyzed. The results showed that sediment dredging effectively suppressed the black blooms. In the undredged treatment, DO penetration depth was only 50 μm. Fe^2＋ concentrations, ∑H2S concentrations, and ∑H2S production rates were remarkably higher in surface sediments and pore waters compared to control and dredged treatments. Furthermore, depletion of DO and accumulation of Fe^2＋ and ∑H2S in surface sediments and pore waters provided favorable redox environments and necessary material sources for the blooms. The study results proved that physical and chemical characteristics in surface sediments are important factors in the formation of the black bloom, and could provide scientific guidance for emergency treatment and long-term pre-control of black blooms.     

Waste oyster shell as a kind of active filler to treat the combined wastewater at an estuary

Estuaries have been described as one of the most difficult environments on Earth. It is difficult to know how to treat the combined wastewater in tidal rivers at the estuary, where the situation is very different from ordinary fresh water rivers. Waste oyster shell was used as the active filler in this study in a bio-contact oxidation tank to treat the combined wastewater at the Fengtang Tidal River. With a middle-experimental scale of 360 ma/day, the average removal efficiency of COD, BOD, NH3-N, TP and TSS was 80.05%, 85.02%, 86.59%, 50.58% and 85.32%, respectively, in this bio-contact oxidation process. The living microbes in the biofilms on the waste oyster shell in this bio-contact oxidation tank, which were mainly composed of zoogloea, protozoa and micro-metazoa species, revealed that waste oyster shell as the filler was suitable material for combined wastewater degradation. This treatment method using waste oyster shell as active filler was then applied in a mangrove demonstration area for water quality improvement near the experiment area, with a treatment volume of 5 × 10^3 m^3/day. Another project was also successfully applied in a constructed wetland, with a wastewater treatment volume of 1 ×10^3 m^3/day. This technology is therefore feasible and can easily be applied on a larger scale,     

Speciation of organic phosphorus in a sediment profile of Lake Taihu II. Molecular species and their depth attenuation

The understanding of organic phosphorus(P) dynamics in sediments requires information on their species at the molecular level,but such information in sediment profiles is scarce.A sediment profile was selected from a large eutrophic lake,Lake Taihu(China),and organic P species in the sediments were detected using solution phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy(31 P NMR) following extraction of the sediments with a mixture of 0.25 mol/L NaOH and 50 mmol/L EDTA(NaOH-EDTA) solution.The results showed that P in the NaOH-EDTA extracts was mainly composed of orthophosphate,orthophosphate monoesters,phospholipids,DNA,and pyrophosphate.Concentrations of the major organic P compound groups and pyrophosphate showed a decreasing trend with the increase of depth.Their half-life times varied from 3 to 27 years,following the order of orthophosphate monoesters > phospholipids DNA > pyrophosphate.Principal component analysis revealed that the detected organic P species had binding phases similar to those of humic acid-associated organic P(NaOH-NRP HA),a labile organic P pool that tends to transform to recalcitrant organic P pools as the early diagenetic processes proceed.This demonstrated that the depth attenuation of the organic P species could be partly attributed to their increasing immobilization by the sediment solids,while their degradation rates should be significantly lower than what were suggested in previous studies.