Exploring the risks and benefits of flexibility in biodiversity offset location in a case study of migratory shorebirds

Biodiversity offsets aim to counterbalance the residual impacts of development on species and ecosystems. Guidance documents explicitly recommend that biodiversity offset actions be located close to the location of impact because of higher potential for similar ecological conditions, but allowing greater spatial flexibility has been proposed. We examined the circumstances under which offsets distant from the impact location could be more likely to achieve no net loss or provide better ecological outcomes than offsets close to the impact area. We applied a graphical model for migratory shorebirds in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway as a case study to explore the problems that arise when incorporating spatial flexibility into offset planning. Spatially flexible offsets may alleviate impacts more effectively than local offsets; however, the risks involved can be substantial. For our case study, there were inadequate data to make robust conclusions about the effectiveness and equivalence of distant habitat-based offsets for migratory shorebirds. Decisions around offset placement should be driven by the potential to achieve equivalent ecological outcomes; however, when considering more distant offsets, there is a need to evaluate the likely increased risks alongside the potential benefits. Although spatially flexible offsets have the potential to provide more cost-effective biodiversity outcomes and more cobenefits, our case study showed the difficulty of demonstrating these benefits in practice and the potential risks that need to be considered to ensure effective offset placement.     

Preparation and Characterization of Collagens from the Skin of Northern Snakehead (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Channa argus)</Emphasis>

Channa argus, a type of snakehead fish native to China, is a popular food fish in certain Asian countries but is a known destructive invasive species in the US. In this study, the two collagens, i.e. acid-soluble collagen (ASC) and pepsin-solubilized collagen (PSC), were obtained from C. argus skin. The yield of ASC was 28.0% and that of PSC was 16.8% on the dry bases. The collagens were identified as the collagen of type I by SDS–PAGE patterns. The Tds were approximately 27.0?°C. Similar ultraviolet spectra of both collagens were observed. Fourier Transform infrared spectra indicated PSC structure had a little change due to the loss of terminal domains by pepsin digestion. The results of XRD proved that the two collagens retained their helical structures. The results suggest that the collagens isolated from C. argus can potentially be alternative sources of vertebrate collagens for use in the food and other industries.     

Determination of 27 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in water: The benefit of isotope dilution

• Isotope dilution method was developed for the determination of 27 PPCPs in water. • The established method was successfully applied to different types of water samples. • The correction effect of corresponding 27 ILSs over 70 d was investigated. • Benefit of isotopic dilution method was illustrated for three examples. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are a unique group of emerging and non-persistent contaminants. In this study, 27 PPCPs in various water samples were extracted by solid phase extraction (SPE), and determined by isotope dilution method using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem triple quadruple mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS). A total of 27 isotopically labeled standards (ILSs) were applied to correct the concentration of PPCPs in spiked ultrapure water, drinking water, river, effluent and influent sewage. The corrected recoveries were 73%–122% with the relative standard deviation (RSD)<16%, except for acetaminophen. The matrix effect for all kinds of water samples was<22% and the method quantitation limits (MQLs) were 0.45–8.6 ng/L. The developed method was successfully applied on environmental water samples. The SPE extracts of spiked ultrapure water, drinking water, river and wastewater effluent were stored for 70 days, and the ILSs-corrected recoveries of 27 PPCPs were obtained to evaluate the correction ability of ILSs in the presence of variety interferences. The recoveries of 27 PPCPs over 70 days were within the scope of 72%–140% with the recovery variation<37% in all cases. The isotope dilution method seems to be of benefit when the extract has to be stored for long time before the instrument analysis.     

Effect of pressure and atmosphere during hydrothermal treatment on the properties of sewage sludge-derived solid fuel

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Efforts to improve the performance of hydrothermal treatment (HT) in producing high-quality solid fuel from sewage sludge were carried out by...     

Contamination characteristics of trace metals in dust from different levels of roads of a heavily air-polluted city in north China

Concentrations of eight trace metals (TMs) in road dust (RD) (particles?<?25 μm) from urban areas of Xinxiang, China, were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The geometric mean concentrations of Zn, Mn, Pb, As, Cu, Cr, Ni and Cd were 489, 350, 114, 101, 60.0, 39.7, 31.6, and 5.1 mg kg^?1, respectively. When compared with TM levels in background soil, the samples generally display elevated TM concentrations, except for Cr and Mn, and for Cd the enrichment value was 69.6. Spatial variations indicated TMs in RD from park path would have similar sources with main roads, collector streets and bypasses. Average daily exposure doses of the studied TMs were about three orders of magnitude higher for hand-to-mouth ingestion than dermal contact, and the exposure doses for children were 9.33 times higher than that for adults. The decreasing trend of calculated hazard indexes (HI) for the eight elements was As?>?Pb?>?Cr?>?Mn?>?Cd?>?Zn?>?Ni?>?Cu for both children and adults.     

Effects of T-2 toxin on histopathology,fatty acid and water distribution of shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) muscle

T-2 toxin (T-2), one of the naturally occurring mycotoxins, often accumulates in aquatic animals from contaminated feed. Shrimp (n?=?30 per group) were fed with different concentrations (0, 0.5, 1.5, 4.5 and 13.5?mg kg^?1) of T-2 for 20?days. Changes in histopathology, fatty acid and water distribution of shrimp muscle were analyzed. Histopathology of shrimp muscle showed dose-dependent marked degenerative and necrotic changes on exposure to dietary T-2. The T-2 significantly (P?<?0.05) affected the muscle fatty acid composition. ∑SFA, ∑MUFA and ∑PUFA initially decreased and then increased slowly in the high-dosed groups. C16:0, C18:1n-9 and C18:2n-6 were the main saturated fatty acid (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), respectively. Also, T-2 significantly affected water distribution in shrimp muscle. High doses of T-2 reduced free water content, resulting in a reduction in the water holding capacity and hence changes to the shrimp muscle quality. Collectively, these results illustrated that T-2 significantly affects the fatty acid and water distribution, and also muscle histopathology, all of which would result in a reduction in the quality and nutritional value of shrimp.     

Study of the adsorption of endocrine disruptor compounds on typical filter materials using a quartz crystal microbalance

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Drinking water containing environmental endocrine disruptor compounds (EDCs) endangers human health, and researching the purification process of...     

生态认知对长江流域渔民退捕意愿的影响研究基于鄱阳湖区的调研数据

流域禁捕是贯彻落实长江经济带发展战略和"共抓大保护、不搞大开发"的重要举措.渔民作为禁捕政策的最终执行者和落实者,其参与的积极性和主动性是政策顺利实施和推进的重要保障.基于计划行为理论,利用鄱阳湖区实地调查数据和结构方程模型,探讨了生态认知对渔民退捕意愿的影响及作用机理.研究发现:(1)生态认知对渔民退捕意愿有显著正向影响,即渔民生态认知水平越高,其参与禁捕政策的意愿越强;(2)生态认知的主观规范、行为态度、感知行为控制3个维度均对渔民退捕意愿具有显著正向影响,且3个维度两两之间也存在显著正向影响.其中,主观规范对渔民退捕意愿的影响最为显著;(3)主观规范中指令性规范对渔民参与禁捕的带动作用大于示范性规范;行为态度受渔民对政府禁捕政策的心理预期、生态修复保护与经济发展的重要性对比认知的影响较大;感知行为控制主要受到禁捕政策对家庭生产生活的影响程度及渔民参与禁捕政策能力的影响.为此,应建立有效的监督管理体系,提高指令性规范对渔民退捕的带动和引导作用,提高渔民对长江流域生态保护重要性的认知,营造浓厚的流域生态保护及积极参与禁捕的社会氛围,同时,制定适宜的转产转业政策,且将相关政策、补偿等严格落实到每位参与退捕的渔民,增强渔民对政府的信任程度,进而提高渔民退捕意愿.     

喀斯特地区非物质文化遗产空间格局及影响因素——以贵州省为例

厘清喀斯特地区非遗分布的空间格局有利于盘点资源现状,客观了解区域文化产生过程,以提高非遗的管理、保护与开发水平.基于地理学空间视角,利用GIS空间分析方法,探讨贵州9个地州市1023项非物质文化遗产类型结构、空间格局及影响因素,研究发现:(1)贵州省非物质文化遗产项目类型结构层次分明,民俗类数量最多,曲艺、传统医药与传统美术类相对稀缺;(2)贵州省非物质文化遗产空间分布不均衡,以贵阳市和黔东南州为双核心,中部和东部集聚明显,西部地区分布较少;(3)贵州省近90％的非物质文化遗产集中分布在海拔1400 m以下的喀斯特低山、中低山区域,曲艺类占比最高,传统体育、游艺与杂技和传统技艺两类分布与主要河流流域拟合较好,民间文学类与明清时期主要交通干线空间分布关联较高;(4)地形地貌、水系、文化、交通、经济等自然和人文因素对喀斯特地区非物质文化遗产空间格局产生重要影响.