Accumulation of lead and cadmium by four tropical forage weeds found in the premises of an automobile battery manufacturing company in Nigeria

The potentials of tropical weeds namely, Nephrolepis biserrata, Panicum maximum, Eleusine indica, and Chromolaena odorata to accumulate lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) from soil within the premises of an automobile battery manufacturing company in Ota, south-western Nigeria, were explored. The weed samples were collected in both wet and dry seasons. Standard analytical methods were employed to collect, digest, and analyze the weeds. Lead levels in the weeds for both seasons ranged from 1990–4870, 1090–1730, 4800–7890, and 400–1210 µg g^?1 dry weight (DW) for Nephrolepis biserata, Panicum maximum, Eleusine indica, and Chromolaena odorata, respectively, while the cadmium level in the weeds for both seasons ranged from 3.92–6.78 µg g^?1 DW for N. biserata, 1.99–6.85 µg g^?1 DW for P. maximum, 2.90–7.40 µg g^?1 DW for E. indica, and 2.90–5.09 µg g^?1 DW for C. odorata. There was no significant difference in the accumulation of both Pb and Cd for the two seasons. All the weeds showed Pb levels higher than the phytotoxic range. On the contrary, 99% of the weeds showed Cd concentration within the phytotoxic range. The weeds demonstrate good phytoremediation potentials of contaminated soil.     

Lead levels in Chromolaena odorata (Compositae) along rural and urban roads in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＣｈｒｏｍｏｌａｅｎａｏｄｏｒａｔａ（Ｅｕｐａｔｏｒｉｕｍｏｄｏｒａｔｕｍ），ｃｏｍｍｏｎｌｙｃａｌｌｅｄ“ｓｉａｍｗｅｅｄ”ｗａｓｉｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｅｄｉｎｔｏＮｉｇｅｒｉａａｂｏｕｔ３０ｙｅａｒｓａｇｏ．Ｉｔｉｓａｓｔｒｏｎｇｌｙｓｃｅｎｔｅｄ，ｄｉｆｆｕｓｅ，ａｎｄｒａｐｉｄｌｙｇｒｏｗｉｎｇｈｅｒｂｔｈａｔｃａｎａｔｔａｉｎａｈｅｉｇｈｔｏｆ３－０ｍｅｔｅｒｓｏｒｍｏｒｅ．Ｉｔｉｓｌｏｃａｌｌｙｃａｌｌｅｄ“ｏｗｏｔｏｗｏ”ｂｅｃａｕｓｅａｔｉｔｓｄｅｂｕｔｉｔｗａ…     

不同替代修复年限对飞机草种群和本土植物群落结构的影响

为研究替代修复对飞机草的治理效果以及对本地植物群落结构的修复效应,选择修复3、5、10 a和未修复（CK）的飞机草入侵生境为研究对象,调查飞机草密度、盖度、生物量、基径和本土植物群落的物种多样性、盖度等指标,采用“空间代替时间”的方法,分析不同修复年限飞机草种群特征和本地植物群落结构的变化.结果表明:①随着修复年限的增加,飞机草密度、盖度、基径、生物量等指标均呈显著降低趋势;修复10 a后,飞机草的盖度、密度、生物量、基径相比对照分别降低了97.3%、96.5%、98.6%、85.7%,飞机草入侵得到明显控制.②在植被替代修复过程中,飞机草入侵生境的群落结构得到明显改善,草本层物种多样性呈先升后降再升的趋势,草本层盖度在修复3 a后显著升高随后又显著降低,灌木层和乔木层物种多样性和盖度均呈显著增加趋势.研究显示,替代修复能有效治理飞机草入侵,促进植物群落的正向演替,提高本地植物群落结构的稳定性,增强生态系统对外来物种入侵的抵抗力.      

Assessing self-organization of plant communities—A thermodynamic approach

Thermodynamics is a powerful tool for the study of system development and has the potential to be applied to studies of ecological complexity. Here, we develop a set of thermodynamic indicators including energy capture and energy dissipation to quantify plant community self-organization. The study ecosystems included a tropical seasonal rainforest, an artificial tropical rainforest, a rubber plantation, and two Chromolaena odorata (L.) R.M. King & H. Robinson communities aged 13 years and 1 year. The communities represent a complexity transect from primary vegetation, to transitional community, economic plantation, and fallows and are typical for Xishuangbanna, southwestern China. The indicators of ecosystem self-organization are sensitive to plant community type and seasonality, and demonstrate that the tropical seasonal rainforest is highly self-organized and plays an important role in local environmental stability via the land surface thermal regulation. The rubber plantation is at a very low level of self-organization as quantified by the thermodynamic indicators, especially during the dry season. The expansion of the area of rubber plantation and shrinkage of tropical seasonal rainforest would likely induce local surface warming and a larger daily temperature range.     

飞机草提取物对小菜蛾产卵驱避活性的研究

以干扰作用控制指数作为评价指标,测定了飞机草提取物和乙醇提取物的不同萃取物对小菜蛾产卵驱避作用活性。结果表明,飞机草乙醇提取物及其氯仿萃取物对小菜蛾具有较强的驱避作用,驱避效果达80％以上,对小菜蛾起驱避作用的活性成分主要存在于氯仿萃取物中。     

飞机草的繁殖能力与种子的萌发特性

飞机草（Chromolaena odorata）是一种入侵性极强的外来杂草,现正在我国南部地区迅速传播,其繁殖特性与种子萌发对环境条件的适应能力是成功入侵扩散的前提。采用野外调查与室内试验相结合的方法,研究了飞机草的繁殖能力与种子的萌发特性。结果表明,飞机草能够进行无性繁殖,但其有性生殖能力更强,成熟植株的种子生产量高,种子质量轻,并且具有冠毛等附属结构。环境因子能够影响飞机草种子的萌发,其萌发的最适温度约为28℃,萌发过程中不需要特别的养分供应,并且能够忍耐一定程度的干旱胁迫。酸性环境能够促进飞机草种子的萌发,但当pH降至2.0时,其发芽率显著降低。掩埋处理能够抑制飞机草种子的萌发,当埋藏深度达3.0 cm时,所有的种子均不能正常萌发与出苗。     

土壤水分变化对外来入侵植物飞机草生长的影响

以外来入侵植物飞机草为研究对象,设计3个水分梯度(15mm,10mm,5.83mm),研究飞机草的叶绿素含量、生物量、光合生理特征等指标对土壤含水量变化的响应。结果表明,随着土壤水分含量的降低,飞机草的单位叶面积干质量、叶绿素含量、净光合速率、气孔导度、蒸腾速率、胞间CO2摩尔分数、光饱和点等都呈下降趋势。同时,根冠比和水分利用率随着水分胁迫的加重而有所提高,表明飞机草对土壤水分胁迫有一定的适应能力,但总体而言,土壤水分胁迫不利于飞机草的生长,限制了其向降雨量较少的地区入侵。