Effects of Amazonian flying rivers on frog biodiversity and populations in the Atlantic rainforest

Given the speed at which humans are changing the climate, species with high degrees of endemism may not have time to avoid extinction through adaptation. We investigated through teleconnection analysis the origin of rainfall that determines the phylogenetic diversity of rainforest frogs and the effects of microclimate differences in shaping the morphological traits of isolated populations (which contribute to greater phylogenetic diversity and speciation). We also investigated through teleconnection analysis how deforestation in Amazonia can affect ecosystem services that are fundamental to maintaining the climate of the Atlantic rainforest biodiversity hotspot. Seasonal winds known as flying rivers carry water vapor from Amazonia to the Atlantic Forest, and the breaking of this ecosystem service could lead Atlantic Forest species to population decline and extinction in the short term. Our results suggest that the selection of morphological traits that shape Atlantic Forest frog diversity and their population dynamics are influenced by the Amazonian flying rivers. Our results also suggest that the increases of temperature anomalies in the Atlantic Ocean due to global warming and in the Amazon forest due to deforestation are already breaking this cycle and threaten the biodiversity of the Atlantic Forest hotspot.     

Understanding implications of consumer behavior for wildlife farming and sustainable wildlife trade

Unsustainable wildlife trade affects biodiversity and the livelihoods of communities dependent upon those resources. Wildlife farming has been proposed to promote sustainable trade, but characterizing markets and understanding consumer behavior remain neglected but essential steps in the design and evaluation of such operations. We used sea turtle trade in the Cayman Islands, where turtles have been farm raised for human consumption for almost 50 years, as a case study to explore consumer preferences toward wild‐sourced (illegal) and farmed (legal) products and potential conservation implications. Combining methods innovatively (including indirect questioning and choice experiments), we conducted a nationwide trade assessment through in‐person interviews from September to December 2014. Households were randomly selected using disproportionate stratified sampling, and responses were weighted based on district population size. We approached 597 individuals, of which 37 (6.2%) refused to participate. Although 30% of households had consumed turtle in the previous 12 months, the purchase and consumption of wild products was rare (e.g., 64–742 resident households consumed wild turtle meat [i.e., 0.3–3.5% of households] but represented a large threat to wild turtles in the area due to their reduced populations). Differences among groups of consumers were marked, as identified through choice experiments, and price and source of product played important roles in their decisions. Despite the long‐term practice of farming turtles, 13.5% of consumers showed a strong preference for wild products, which demonstrates the limitations of wildlife farming as a single tool for sustainable wildlife trade. By using a combination of indirect questioning, choice experiments, and sales data to investigate demand for wildlife products, we obtained insights about consumer behavior that can be used to develop conservation‐demand‐focused initiatives. Lack of data from long‐term social–ecological assessments hinders the evaluation of and learning from wildlife farming. This information is key to understanding under which conditions different interventions (e.g., bans, wildlife farming, social marketing) are likely to succeed.     

磁性Fe_3O_4/石墨烯纳米复合材料催化降解水中17β-雌二醇

利用化学沉淀法制备磁性四氧化三铁/石墨烯(Fe3O4/GE)纳米复合材料,并将其与H2O2构成非均相Fenton体系用于催化降解水中微量的17β-雌二醇(E2),研究了初始p H值,初始H2O2浓度,催化剂用量对E2降解的影响。结果表明,Fe3O4/GE纳米复合材料在无需外加光源的条件下能够有效催化降解E2。在p H 7.0,E2初始浓度为1 mg/L,初始H2O2浓度为15 mmol/L,Fe3O4/GE投加量为15 mg/L的条件下,反应8 h后可去除92.9%的E2。Fe3O4/GE具有便捷的磁分离特性和稳定的催化活性,经过7次循环使用后对E2的降解效率仍保持在91.5%左右。     

固定化斜生栅藻净化畜禽废水中氨氮和磷的影响因素

为探讨Cu2+、p H和流速对固定化斜生栅藻去除畜禽废水中NH+4-N、TP效果的影响,在实验室条件下模拟实际污水处理过程,并采用正交实验方案对结果进行分析。结果表明低质量浓度Cu2+(0~0.05 mg/L)改善藻的净化效果,高质量浓度Cu2+(0.50~5.00 mg/L)抑制藻的净化效果;在p H较高的条件下(p H=9),固定化斜生栅藻的净化效果明显提高;流速对结果没有明显影响。通过正交实验,得出固定化斜生栅藻去除畜禽废水中NH+4-N、TP的优化条件如下:Cu2+质量浓度为0.05 mg/L,p H为9,流速为0.3 m/s。此时NH+4-N去除率为96.11%,TP去除率为97.53%。     

气质联用法测固定污染源中三氟甲烷、四氟甲烷、六氟乙烷和六氟化硫

建立了固定污染源排气中三氟甲烷、四氟甲烷、六氟乙烷和六氟化硫的采样和气质联用分析方法,检出限分别为0.06、0.15、0.21、0.71 mg/m3,精密度在3.2%以下,相关系数大于0.999 6,并对浙江省内2家典型企业排放的温室气体进行了监测,实际样品监测结果表明,该方法能够满足废气中4种温室气体的监测要求。     

单宁为模板制备纳米二氧化钛 及其对钍的吸附性能

以杨梅单宁(BT)为模板,水热法合成纳米二氧化钛(BT-NTO)。采用XRD、FTIR、SEM和TEM技术对BT-NTO的结构及形貌进行了表征。将BT-NTO用于吸附溶液中的Th~(4+),在溶液pH为3.5、温度为25℃、Th~(4+)初始浓度为0.5 mmol/L的条件下,BT-NTO对Th~(4+)的吸附量为0.905 8 mmol/g;吸附过程符合准二级动力学方程和Langmuir等温吸附方程;溶液中共存的Zn~(2+)、Ni~(2+)、Co~(2+)、Sr~(2+)、Yb~(3+)、Nd~(3+)、Sm~(3+)、Gd~(3+)、La~(3+)、Cl-、ClO4-离子对Th~(4+)吸附量影响较小;BT-NTO的重复使用性能较好。     

g-C_3N_4/C@Bi_2MoO_6复合光催化剂的制备及其光催化活性

通过水热合成法和液相沉积法制备g-C_3N_4/C@Bi_2MoO_6复合光催化剂,并采用X射线衍射、扫描电子显微镜、氮气吸脱附、紫外-可见漫反射等技术对其进行表征。研究了可见光下g-C_3N_4/C@Bi_2MoO_6催化降解罗丹明B(Rh B)的影响因素,并对其光催化反应机理进行初步探讨。实验结果表明:g-C_3N_4掺杂量为60%(w)时g-C_3N_4/C@Bi_2MoO_6的光催化活性最高;在60%g-C_3N_4/C@Bi_2MoO_6的投加量为1.00 g/L、初始Rh B质量浓度为2.50 mg/L、可见光照射150 min的条件下,Rh B的降解率达到97.90%;在g-C_3N_4/C@Bi_2MoO_6光催化降解体系中,h~+和·O_2~-是主要活性物种。     

层状氧化物NaCo_2O_4热催化H_2O_2降解亚甲基蓝

采用固相烧结法制备了NaCo_2O_4催化剂,构建了NaCo_2O_4-H_2O_2热催化体系降解亚甲基蓝(MB)。XRD和SEM表征结果显示,合成的NaCo_2O_4催化剂具有良好的稳定性。NaCo_2O_4对H_2O_2具有良好的热催化性能,反应温度越高,反应速率常数k越大,该催化反应符合一级动力学方程。NaCo_2O_4-H_2O_2体系对MB具有较好的降解效果,在反应温度为50℃、NaCo_2O_4加入量为50 mg、MB溶液加入量为100 mL、MB初始质量浓度为30 mg/L、H_2O_2加入量为1.00 mL的最优条件下,反应340 min时,MB降解率达87.00%;催化剂重复使用三次,MB降解率仍可达85%以上;经捕获剂效果对比实验发现,催化反应体系中存在h~+、·OH等催化活性物种。     

Progress and challenges in consolidating the management of Amazonian protected areas and indigenous territories

Effective management refers to the ability of a protected area or indigenous territory to meet its objectives, particularly as they relate to the protection of biodiversity and forest cover. Effective management is achieved through a process of consolidation, which among other things requires legally protecting sites, integrating sites into land‐use planning, developing and implementing management and resource‐use plans, and securing long‐term funding to pay for recurrent costs. Effectively managing all protected areas and indigenous territories in the Amazon may be needed to avoid a deforestation tipping point beyond which regional climatic feedbacks and global climate change interact to catalyze irreversible drying and savannization of large areas. At present, protected areas and indigenous territories cover 45.5% (3.55 million km²) of the Amazon, most of the 60–70% forest cover required to maintain hydrologic and climatic function. Three independent evaluations of a long‐term large‐scale philanthropic initiative in the Amazon yielded insights into the challenges and advances toward achieving effective management of protected areas and indigenous territories. Over the life of the initiative, management of sites has improved considerably, particularly with respect to management planning and capacity building, but few sites are effectively managed and many lack sufficient long‐term financing, adequate governance, support of nongovernmental organizations, and the means to withstand economic pressures. The time and money required to complete consolidation is still poorly understood, but it is clear that philanthropic funding is critical so long as essential funding needs are not met by governments and other sources, which could be on the order of decades. Despite challenges, it is encouraging that legal protection has expanded greatly and management of sites is improving steadily. Management of protected areas in other developing countries could be informed by improvements that have occurred in Amazonian countries.     

Mitigating Impact of Devils Lake Flooding on the Sheyenne River Sulfate Concentration

Devils Lake is a terminal lake located in northeast North Dakota. Because of its glacial origin and accumulated salts from evaporation, the lake has a high concentration of sulfate compared to the surrounding water bodies. From 1993 to 2011, Devils Lake water levels rose by ~10 m, which flooded surrounding communities and increased the chance of an overspill to the Sheyenne River. To control the flooding, the State of North Dakota constructed two outlets to pump the lake water to the river. However, the pumped water has raised concerns about of water quality degradation and potential flooding risk of the Sheyenne River. To investigate these perceived impacts, a Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was developed for the Sheyenne River and it was linked to a coupled SWAT and CE‐QUAL‐W2 model that was developed for Devils Lake in a previous study. While the current outlet schedule has attempted to maintain the total river discharge within the confines of a two‐year flood (36 m³/s), our simulation from 2012 to 2018 revealed that the diversion increased the Sheyenne River sulfate concentration from an average of 125 to >750 mg/L. Furthermore, a conceptual optimization model was developed with a goal of better preserving the water quality of the Sheyenne River while effectively mitigating the flooding of Devils Lake. The optimal solution provides a “win–win” outlet management that maintains the efficiency of the outlets while reducing the Sheyenne River sulfate concentration to ≤600 mg/L.