Measuring Protected‐Area Isolation and Correlations of Isolation with Land‐Use Intensity and Protection Status

Abstract: Protected areas cover over 12% of the terrestrial surface of Earth, and yet many fail to protect species and ecological processes as originally envisioned. Results of recent studies suggest that a critical reason for this failure is an increasing contrast between the protected lands and the surrounding matrix of often highly altered land cover. We measured the isolation of 114 protected areas distributed worldwide by comparing vegetation‐cover heterogeneity inside protected areas with heterogeneity outside the protected areas. We quantified heterogeneity as the contagion of greenness on the basis of NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) values, for which a higher value of contagion indicates less heterogeneous land cover. We then measured isolation as the difference between mean contagion inside the protected area and mean contagion in 3 buffer areas of increasing distance from the protected‐area border. The isolation of protected areas was significantly positive in 110 of the 114 areas, indicating that vegetation cover was consistently more heterogeneous 10–20 km outside protected areas than inside their borders. Unlike previous researchers, we found that protected areas in which low levels of human activity are allowed were more isolated than areas in which high levels are allowed. Our method is a novel way to assess the isolation of protected areas in different environmental contexts and regions.     

浅谈3000t/d水泥生产线窑尾收尘系统改造

介绍了南阳航天水泥厂3000t/d水泥生产线窑尾收尘系统的改造背景、技术方案、施工方案和工程造价。改造采用了在原窑尾反吹风高温玻纤袋收尘器旁并联一台同类型单排袋式收尘器的方案,以增大窑尾袋收尘器过滤面积和降低过滤风速。该窑尾收尘系统的改造取得了明显的成效。     

我国城镇污水处理厂水质监管问题及对策研究

介绍了目前我国城镇污水处理厂的发展现状以及将其作为污染源纳入监管的背景;从进水水质监管、出水水质监管和对污水处理厂内部运营管理监管的角度,结合对部分地区行政管理部门、污水处理厂的调研,分析了污水处理厂出水水质不达标的主要原因;针对我国的实际情况并借鉴国外经验,从政府部门的监管职能、政企的合作、监管技术和末端污染控制方面,给出了加强污水处理厂运行监管效果的对策。     

非能动安全系统在火电厂脱硫系统中的应用

阐述了非能动安全概念及其在核安全中的应用,进而把非能动安全系统理念引入火电厂脱硫系统中,在保证安全与功能的前提下,对取消旁路烟道改造前后进行对比分析,证实是可行的、合理的。     

一株低温高效植物油降解菌的驯化筛选及固定化研究

为了解决因低温而导致的废水中油脂难以处理的问题,从冬季重庆大学餐厅排污管道的底泥中分离出1株可低温降解植物油的菌株DJ-1。将此菌株多次驯化培养后,在5℃条件下利用其对含20g/L菜籽油复筛培养基的模拟含油废水进行处理。经过3 d处理,可去除废水中70.63%的植物油。经16S rDNA测序分析,该菌株为假单胞菌的一个未定种属(相似度为99%)。使用泥炭和木屑作为固定化载体,按照m(泥炭)∶m(木屑)∶m(菌液)=1∶4∶20的比例将扩培后的DJ-1菌剂制作成细菌固定化菌粉。在5℃条件下利用菌粉对含20 g/L菜籽油复筛培养基的模拟含油废水进行处理,菌粉投加量为0.15 g/L。经过3 d处理,废水中植物油的降解率达到77.34%,5 d后达到85.22%。     

The evaluation of ecology-based tourism potential in coastal villages in accordance with landscape values and user demands: the Bursa-Mudanya-Kumyaka case

Ecology-based tourism, which is integrated with nature, developed in environmentally conscious areas and enriched by different cultures, has become more important in the direction of extending tourism throughout the year. While the landscape values of the area are important functions for tourism activities to be carried out in natural characteristics, the preferences of the users are also important. Ecology-based tourism, which develops in connection with the concepts of intacteness, the protection-use balance and sustainability, and the demands and expectations of tourists, constitute the basis of our study. For this purpose, the study was carried out in Kumyaka, a small coastal neighborhood (village) of the county of Mudanya in the province Bursa, Turkey with important natural, historical and cultural assets. Fieldwork, field analysis, literature search, interviews with tourists coming to the field, interviews with the day trippers and survey work were conducted in the study. While evaluating the ecology-based tourism potential of the area, the demands and expectations of tourists have been taken into account together with the available area data. According to the results of the survey, tourists are mostly interested in having the most scenic value and quietness when choosing the area. The types of tourism that tourists most wanted to experience in the field were 42.38% culture tourism and 32.32% nature tourism. As a result of tourists’ demands and expectations, the tourism activities to be carried out in accordance with the possibilities of the area were examined and ecology based planning proposals and holistic planning approaches were developed.     

Impacts of advanced treatment processes on elimination of antibiotic resistance genes in a municipal wastewater treatment plant

The distributions of ARGs were monitored in a WWTP in Harbin during six months. CASS had the best removal efficacy of ARGs compared to other processes in the WWTP. UV disinfection could effectively control the HGT. AGAC significantly remove ARGs and organics due to its high absorption capacity. Combination of ozone and AGAC significantly improve removal of ARGs and organics. Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) pose a serious threat to public health. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are essential for controlling the release of ARGs into the environment. This study investigated ARG distribution at every step in the treatment process of a municipal WWTP located in Harbin for six consecutive months. Changes in ARG distribution involved in two advanced secondary effluent treatment processes, ozonation and granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption, were analyzed. Biological treatment resulted in the highest ARG removal (0.76–1.94 log reduction), followed by ultraviolet (UV) disinfection (less than 0.5-log reduction). Primary treatment could not significantly remove ARGs. ARG removal efficiency increased with an increase in the ozone dose below 40 mg/L. However, amorphous GAC (AGAC) adsorption with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 1 h showed better removal of ARGs, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) than ozonation at a 60 mg/L dose. UV treatment could efficiently reduce the relative ARG abundance, despite presenting the lowest efficiency for the reduction of absolute ARG abundance compared with GAC and ozone treatments. The combination of ozone and AGAC can significantly improve the removal of ARGs, TOC, TN and TP. These results indicate that a treatment including biological processing, ozonation, and AGAC adsorption is a promising strategy for removing ARGs and refractory organic substances from sewage.     

Municipal wastewater treatment in China: Development history and future perspectives

The history of China’s municipal wastewater management is revisited. The remaining challenges in wastewater sector in China are identified. New concept municipal wastewater treatment plants are highlighted. An integrated plant of energy, water and fertilizer recovery is envisaged. China has the world’s largest and still growing wastewater sector and water market, thus its future development will have profound influence on the world. The high-speed development of China’s wastewater sector over the past 40 years has forged its global leading treatment capacity and innovation ability. However, many problems were left behind, including underdeveloped sewers and sludge disposal facilities, low sustainability of the treatment processes, questionable wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent discharge standards, and lacking global thinking on harmonious development between wastewater management, human society and the nature. Addressing these challenges calls for fundamental changes in target design, policy and technologies. In this mini-review, we revisit the development history of China’s municipal wastewater management and identify the remaining challenges. Also, we highlight the future needs of sustainable development and exploring China’s own wastewater management path, and outlook the future from several aspects including targets of wastewater management, policies and technologies, especially the new concept WWTP. Furthermore, we envisage the establishment of new-generation WWTPs with the vision of turning WWTP from a site of pollutant removal into a plant of energy, water and fertilizer recovery and an integrated part urban ecology in China.     

Characteristic and correlation analysis of influent and energy consumption of wastewater treatment plants in Taihu Basin

Poor biodegradability and insufficient carbon source are discovered from influent. Influent indices presented positively normal distribution or skewed distribution. Average energy consumption of WWTPs in Taihu Basin was as high as 0.458 kWh/m³. Energy consumption increases with the increase in influent volume and COD reduction. The total energy consumption decreases with the NH₃-N reduction. The water quality and energy consumption of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Taihu Basin were evaluated on the basis of the operation data from 204 municipal WWTPs in the basin by using various statistical methods. The influent ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N) and total nitrogen (TN) of WWTPs in Taihu Basin showed normal distribution, whereas chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅), suspended solid (SS), and total phosphorus (TP) showed positively skewed distribution. The influent BOD₅/COD was 0.4%–0.6%, only 39.2% SS/BOD₅ exceeded the standard by 36.3%, the average BOD₅/TN was 3.82, and the probability of influent BOD₅/TP>20 was 82.8%. The average energy consumption of WWTPs in Taihu Basin in 2017 was 0.458 kWh/m³. The specific energy consumption of WWTPs with a daily treatment capacity of more than 5 × 10⁴ m³ in Taihu Basin was stable at 0.33 kWh/m³. A power function relationship was observed between the reduction in COD and NH₃-N and the specific energy consumption of pollutant reduction, and the higher the pollutant reduction is, the lower the specific energy consumption of pollutant reduction presents. In addition, a linear relationship existed between the energy consumption of WWTPs and the specific energy consumption of influent volume and pollutant reduction. Therefore, upgrading and operation with less energy consumption of WWTPs is imperative and the suggestions for Taihu WWTPs based on stringent discharge standard are proposed in detail.     

Cadmium pollution enhanced ozone damage to winter wheat: biochemical and physiological evidences

Combined e ects of ozone (O3) and cadmium (Cd) on growth and physiology of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. JM22) were determined. Wheat plants were grown without or with Cd and exposed to charcoal-filtered air (< 10 ppb O3) or elevated O3 (80 5 ppb, 7 hr/day) for 20 days. Results showed that O3 considerably depressed light saturated net photosynthetic rate (–20%), stomatal conductance (–33%), chlorophyll content (–33%), and total biomass (–29%) without Cd. The corresponding decreases were further enhanced by 45%, 56%, 60% and 59%, respectively with Cd, indicating a synergistic e ect of O3 and Cd on wheat. Ozone significantly increased the activity of superoxide dismutase (46%), catalase (48%) and peroxidase (56%). However, great increases in malondialdehyde (MDA) content (2.55 folds) and intercellular CO2 concentration (1.13 folds) were noted in O3+Cd treatment compared to control. Our findings demonstrated that the increased anti-oxidative activities in wheat plants exposed to O3+Cd might not be enough to overcome the adverse e ects of the combination of both pollutants as evidenced by further increase in MDA content, which is an important indicator of lipid peroxidation. Precise prediction model on O3 damages to crop should be conducted to ensure agricultural production security by considering environmental constraints in an agricultural system in peri-urban regions.