Legacy and alternative halogenated flame retardants in Lake Geneva fish

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Legacy (i.e., polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD)) and alternative halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) were...     

Heavy metal accumulation in Littoraria scabra along polluted and pristine mangrove areas of Tanzania

The periwinkle Littoraria scabra was collected at polluted and pristine mangrove sites along the Tanzanian coastline, including Msimbazi, Mbweni (i.e. Dar es Salaam) and Kisakasaka, Nyamanzi and Maruhubi (i.e. Zanzibar). Periwinkles were morphologically characterized, sexed and their heavy metal content was determined using ICP-MS. Analysis revealed that L. scabra from polluted areas contained higher soft tissue heavy metal levels, were significantly smaller and weighed less compared to their conspecifics from the unpolluted mangroves. The current morphological observations may be explained in terms of growth and/or mortality rate differences between the polluted and non-polluted sites. Although a variety of stressors may account for these adverse morphological patterns, our data suggest a close relationship with the soft tissue heavy metal content. Compared to soft tissue heavy metal levels that were measured in L. scabra along the same area in 1998, most metals, except for arsenic, chromium and iron have decreased dramatically.     

Nitrogen removal in valley bottom wetlands: assessment in headwater catchments distributed throughout a large basin

Although the reduction of nutrient loading between uplands and streams is sometimes considered evidence of the effect of wetlands acting as buffer zones, the influence of valley bottom wetlands (VBWs) on NO(3)(-) loading has seldom been assessed at the catchment scale. The objective of this study was to quantify the impact of VBWs on NO(3)(-) concentrations in streams in the Brittany region of France. We analyzed the spatial variation in NO(3)-N concentrations in 18 headwater catchments located in a 400-km(2) basin, with varying topographic, climatic, and agricultural intensity conditions. Approximately every 10 d, water was sampled during the high flow season. We investigated the relationships between the mean NO(3)(-) concentration and different characteristics of the catchments: (i) the amount of effective rainfall, i.e., the combined effect of precipitation and actual evapotranspiration on discharge and chemical dilution, (ii) the intensity of farming, i.e., the area used for farming in the catchments and the surplus of the agricultural N budget, and (iii) the relative area of VBWs. Although the first two characteristics were the main factors controlling N concentration variability, a step-by-step regression allowed us to attribute a significant part of the NO(3)(-) concentration decrease to the increase of VBW area in each catchment. For an increase of VBW area from 11 to 16%, the NO(3)-N concentration decreased from 5.3 to 4.2 mg L(-1). Therefore in this basin, VBWs reduced the NO(3)(-) concentrations in streams with sources in agricultural fields by 30%. This work demonstrates the contribution of natural VBWs to NO(3)(-) removal at the catchment scale compared to other sources of variation, which is a current need for integrating water quality criteria into wetland management.     

The Influence of Linear Elements on Plant Species Diversity of Mediterranean Rural Landscapes: Assessment of Different Indices and Statistical Approaches

This paper mainly aims to study the linear element influence on the estimation of vascular plant species diversity in five Mediterranean landscapes modeled as land cover patch mosaics. These landscapes have several core habitats and a different set of linear elements -habitat edges or ecotones, roads or railways, rivers, streams and hedgerows on farm land- whose plant composition were examined. Secondly, it aims to check plant diversity estimation in Mediterranean landscapes using parametric and non-parametric procedures, with two indices: Species richness and Shannon index.Land cover types and landscape linear elements were identified from aerial photographs. Their spatial information was processed using GIS techniques. Field plots were selected using a stratified sampling design according to relieve and tree density of each habitat type. A 50×20 m² multi-scale sampling plot was designed for the core habitats and across the main landscape linear elements. Richness and diversity of plant species were estimated by comparing the observed field data to ICE (Incidence-based Coverage Estimator) and ACE (Abundance-based Coverage Estimator) non-parametric estimators.The species density, percentage of unique species, and alpha diversity per plot were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in linear elements than in core habitats. ICE estimate of number of species was 32% higher than of ACE estimate, which did not differ significantly from the observed values. Accumulated species richness in core habitats together with linear elements, were significantly higher than those recorded only in the core habitats in all the landscapes. Conversely, Shannon diversity index did not show significant differences.     

Preparation of solar-enhanced AlZnO@carbon nano-substrates for remediation of textile wastewaters

Photoactive aluminum doped ZnO(AlZnO) was synthesized by sol-gel method.After that,AlZnO photocatalyst was deposited on five carbon-based materials(CBMs) using ultrasonic route followed by solid-state mixing using ball mill.The CBMs used were poly aniline(PANI),carbon nitride(CN),carbon nanotubes(CNT),graphene(G),and carbon nanofibers(CNF).The crystal phases,elemental compositions,morphological,and optical properties of the AlZnO@CBMs composites were investigated.Experimental results revealed that two of AlZnO@CBMs composites exhibited superior bleaching efficiency(100% removal) and photocatalytic stability(three cycles) for 50 μmol/L Methylene Blue(MB) contaminated water after 60 min irradiation in visible light at pH 6.5,0.7% H_2O_2,and 5 g/L inorganic salts.Under optimum conditions,AlZnO@CBMs nanocomposites were employed for the treatment of mixed dyestuffs composed of MB,Methyl Orange(MO),Astrazone Blue FRR(BB 69),and Rhodamine B(RhB) dyes under dark,ultraviolet,visible,and direct sunlight.For mixed dyestuffs,the AlZnO@G achieved the highest dye sorption capacity(60.91 μmol dye stuffs/g) with kinetic rate 8.22 × 10~(-3) min~(-1) in 90 min via multi-layer physisorption(Freundlich isotherm) on graphene sheet.In additions,AlZnO@CN offered the highest photo-kinetic rate(K_(photo)) of～54.1 × 10~(-3) min~(-1)(93.8% after 60 min) under direct sunlight.Furthermore,the selective radical trapping experiment confirmed that the holes and oxidative superoxide radicals are crucial on dyes photodegradation pathway.Owing to their superior performance,AlZnO@G and AlZnO@CN nanocomposites can offer an effective in-situ solar-assisted adsorption/photocatalytic remediation of textile wastewater effluents.     

乡村振兴视域下农村土地利用利益相关者分析

乡村振兴的实施使得农村土地利用与管理面临更多的挑战。应用利益相关者分析、博弈均衡分析和实证案例分析,探讨乡村振兴视域下土地利用各利益相关者的关系演变。研究结果显示：（1）1949年至今,农村地区土地利用利益相关者主体数量增加,博弈关系呈现复杂化、多样化和多向化;（2）乡村振兴时期主要有六种博弈关系,并探讨了案例村实施下山脱贫、发展乡村旅游、新型经营主体进驻、城市居民促进农村发展四种博弈决策过程;（3）乡村振兴视域下,农村地区发展应关注基础设施配套、土地利用效率与生态环境协调、农户生计可持续性等问题。乡村振兴中应注重实现土地利用各利益相关者的最优均衡,降低各方风险,保护生态环境并寻求多方利益平衡。     

水中Mg~(2+)的测试管快速测定

研制了一种测定水中Mg2 + 的测试管 ,测定范围为 0 .5mg/L～ 2 .0mg/L。该测试管适用于现场应急监测 ,具有快速、简便、抗干扰能力强和价格低廉等特点     

海河下游水体中DO与NH_3-N、COD_(Mn)相关关系探讨

本文应用近年来海河下游监测数据对ＤＯ与ＮＨ３Ｎ和ＣＯＤＭｎ进行一元线性回归，得到两回归方程：ＮＨ３Ｎ＝－１２８ＤＯ＋１０５４；ＣＯＤＭｎ＝－１１３ＤＯ＋１６９２。并经相关系数和回归系数显著性检验，表明在９９９％的置信水平下ＤＯ与ＮＨ３Ｎ和ＣＯＤＭｎ线性相关均极其显著     

Assessing the influence of altitude and temperature on biological monitoring of freshwater quality: A preliminary investigation

The effect of altitude and water temperature on biomonitoring of freshwater quality was examined along an unpolluted area (36 km in length) of the upper Río Tajo (central Spain). The macrobenthic and fish communities were studied, and the Biological Monitoring Water Quality (BMWQ) method was applied. As expected, values of altitude and temperature respectively decreased and increased with increasing distance from the river source; these two physical parameters exhibited a negative and significant (P<0.05) correlation coefficient between them. However, despite evident changes in the functional structure of both aquatic communities along the study area, BMWQ scores were similar at all sampling sites. Pearson correlation coefficients between physical and biological parameters were not significant (P>0.05). The BMWQ index only exhibited significant (positive) correlation coefficients with macrobenthic and fish biomasses, indicating that freshwater quality could affect the biological production of fluvial ecosystems. It is concluded that biomonitoring of freshwater quality may be independent of the influence of altitude and water temperature at local spatial scales. Nonetheless, further investigations would be needed to clearly differentiate between the effects of anthropogenic and natural causes on biological monitoring at larger spatial scales.     

Application of a systemic approach to the study of pollution of the Tinto and Odiel rivers (Spain)

The province of Huelva in the SW of Spain presents high environmental contrasts: together with the great abundance of natural spaces, it shows the impacts of historical natural resources exploitation processes. In the Ria of Huelva, the effluents of the chemical industries must be added to the contaminating inputs of the Tinto and Odiel rivers, coming from the acid drainage of the mines located in the Iberian Pyrite Belt. This forced the Environmental Agency (AMA) to elaborate in 1987 an Effluent Remediation Plan in order to negate unacceptable environmental impacts. The application of a grey box systemic analysis to the AMD pollution, undergone by the Tinto and Odiel rivers has allowed to set a conclusive explanation of the sampling results observed for a period of 11 years, thus making available an overall view of the polluting process and, above all, an explanation of its partial aspects.