生态毒理学教学专栏寄语

抗生素的长期滥用,使得环境细菌耐药性不断增强,加速了耐药基因(antibiotics resistance genes,ARGs)在环境中的传播扩散,并给饮用水带来健康风险。在介绍饮用水中抗生素和耐药基因污染现状的基础上,阐述了耐药基因在饮用水中的来源和归趋,对环境中抗生素和耐药基因的人体健康风险做了初步探讨,针对目前饮用水的污染现状,对今后有关饮用水中细菌耐药的研究进行了展望。     

饮用水中细菌耐药及其健康风险研究进展

抗生素的长期滥用,使得环境细菌耐药性不断增强,加速了耐药基因(antibiotics resistance genes,ARGs)在环境中的传播扩散,并给饮用水带来健康风险。在介绍饮用水中抗生素和耐药基因污染现状的基础上,阐述了耐药基因在饮用水中的来源和归趋,对环境中抗生素和耐药基因的人体健康风险做了初步探讨,针对目前饮用水的污染现状,对今后有关饮用水中细菌耐药的研究进行了展望。     

农村固体废弃物中抗生素及耐药基因的赋存及风险管理

全球范围内抗生素抗性的传播扩散严重威胁人类健康。固体废弃物中的生活垃圾、污泥和畜禽粪便是抗生素及耐药基因的重要储库。针对新型环境污染物抗生素和耐药基因,综述了农村固废中抗生素及耐药基因的赋存和传播扩散,阐述了农村固废中抗生素及细菌耐药的生态风险、控制管理和消除方法,并结合目前抗生素及耐药基因的污染状况,对今后研究重点进行了展望。     

畜禽养殖过程抗生素使用与耐药病原菌及其抗性基因赋存的研究进展

兽用抗生素在提高畜禽生产性能、防治疾病方面发挥着重要作用,目前全球超过一半以上抗生素用于畜禽养殖,畜禽养殖源耐药病原菌、抗性基因及其传播风险愈益得到人们的重视。我国是畜禽养殖和抗生素使用大国,但兽用抗生素使用、病原菌耐药水平及其抗性基因类型等数据却较为缺乏,不利于今后畜禽养殖源耐药病原菌及其传播风险的控制。因此,本文通过文献调研,对我国和主要发达国家的兽用抗生素使用情况、畜禽养殖源耐药病原菌及其携带的抗性基因、基因移动元件以及向环境传播的途径进行分析、总结,以期为规范合理用药、降低耐药病原菌及其抗性基因传播风险,建立从畜禽养殖场至公共环境全过程的抗性污染控制链条提供借鉴。     

序言

<正>近几年,人类对抗生素的大量使用甚至是滥用造成抗生素的环境污染问题日益突显,抗生素及抗生素抗性基因作为全球新兴污染物在环境各介质中传播和扩散,即使抗生素在停止使用后,由其引发的抗性基因不会在短期内消除,并在不同细菌之间传播扩散,一旦传播至致病菌,将对人体健康构成很大威胁。由此,由抗生素滥用引起的抗生素污染以及抗性基因的潜在健康风险成为交叉研究领域包括地球化学、环境科学、分析     

“环境中抗生素和耐药基因研究进展”专辑:征稿邀请

<正>近几年,人类对抗生素的大量使用造成抗生素的环境污染问题,抗生素及耐药基因均作为全球新兴污染物在环境各介质中传播和扩散,由此引起的抗生素污染及耐药基因的潜在健康影响是近年来生态毒理学研究的热点。在地球化学、环境科学、分析化学、生物学、流行性病学、医学等领域的科研人员的共同努力下,我国在"     

淡水环境中抗生素抗性基因的来源、归趋和风险

近年来淡水体中抗生素耐药菌及抗生素抗性基因(antibiotic resistance genes,ARGs)的广泛分布和快速传播已成为全球性的环境健康热点问题,国内外学者围绕淡水环境中ARGs的主要来源、多介质分布、转移机制及ARGs与微生物群落的互作机制开展了一系列研究.本文综述了医疗废水、污水处理厂尾水和养殖废水...     

传粉蜜蜂介导的细菌耐药性传播及其生态与健康风险

目前,抗菌药物的滥用造成了临床和环境中普遍存在的细菌耐药性问题,而细菌耐药性在环境中不断富集和传播扩散会通过食物网对生态安全及人体健康构成威胁。蜜蜂作为最重要的传粉昆虫,在世界各地广泛分布。然而,蜜蜂近年来频繁暴露于抗生素、杀虫剂和杀螨剂等药物,而野外杀虫剂的大量使用被认为是导致世界各地蜜蜂种群数量下降的关键因素。蜜蜂传花授粉的生物学特性使得蜂群与周围环境之间发生频繁的交流,可能导致蜜蜂传粉过程中蜂群与周围环境的交叉污染并发生细菌耐药性的传递。因此,蜜蜂可能成为生态系统中细菌耐药性传播的潜在“帮凶”。传粉蜜蜂介导下的细菌耐药性传播也将对蜂群健康、食品安全乃至生态系统安全构成威胁。本文综合国内外相关研究进展,系统分析了环境污染物暴露对蜜蜂以及蜜蜂肠道耐药基因组的潜在影响,并详细阐述了传粉蜜蜂介导下的细菌耐药性的传播,总结了蜜蜂主要通过蜜蜂-蜜蜂、蜜蜂-植物以及蜜蜂-环境的途径促进细菌耐药性的传播。最后,探讨了蜜蜂介导的细菌耐药性传播对蜂群健康、生态环境以及人体健康的潜在影响。     

气溶胶中抗生素抗性基因研究进展:以养殖场和医院为例

抗生素在医药和养殖业的大量使用导致耐药菌的出现,加速了抗生素抗性基因(antibiotic resistance genes,ARGs)在不同环境介质中的传播扩散,抗生素耐药性已成为目前全球卫生、食品安全和发展的最大威胁之一。气溶胶作为ARGs的潜在储存库缺乏系统的研究数据,而通过空气传播具有较高抗生素抗性水平的细菌可能是引起重要疾病的主要传播途径。本文针对养殖场和医院2个抗生素大量使用的典型场所,对气溶胶中ARGs的污染现状、样品采集与检测技术进行综述,并探讨了这一环境污染的潜在风险,表明开展气溶胶中ARGs研究的必要性,并为以后需开展的工作提出几点建议。     

抗生素抗性基因在环境中的来源、传播扩散及生态风险

近年来,由于抗生素的滥用首先诱导动物体内产生抗生素抗性基因(antib iotic resistance genes,ARGs),从而加速了抗性基因在环境中细菌间的传播扩散.目前,抗生素抗性基因作为一类新型环境污染物,在不同环境介质中的传播、扩散可能比抗生素本身的环境危害更大.本文针对抗生素抗性基因在地表水、地下水、医疗废水、城市污水处理厂、养殖场、土壤、沉积物以及大气环境中的来源、分布、传播情况以及国内外最新研究动态进行综述.分析了抗生素抗性基因在环境中的潜在传播途径及其可能影响因素,并指出光照,厌氧,高温处理可以有效遏制抗生素抗性基因在环境中的传播和扩散.揭示了抗生素抗性基因可能造成的生态风险,针对我国对该类污染物的研究现状,提出了今后的研究重点.     

Rapid,recurring, structured survey versus bioblitz for generating biodiversity data and analysis with a multispecies abundance model

A bioblitz inexpensively and quickly generates biodiversity data, but bioblitzes are often conducted with haphazard, unreplicated sampling. Results tend to be taxonomically, geographically, or temporally biased, lack metadata, and consist of lists of observed taxa that do not enable further analyses or correction for imperfect detection. A rapid, recurring, structured survey (RRSS) uses a structured sampling design and temporal and spatial replication to survey randomly selected sites on a conservation property. We participated in a loosely structured bioblitz and a subsequent RRSS at Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve in Springville (St. Clair County), Alabama (USA) to compare observed richness derived from the 2 survey approaches. The RRSS data structure enabled us to fit models that accounted for imperfect detection to estimate abundances, occupancy probabilities, and habitat associations. The loosely structured bioblitz data could not be used in such models. We present a new integrated multispecies abundance model that we applied to avian RRSS data. Our model extension enables estimation for the community, employs data augmentation to estimate the number of undetected species, and incorporates covariates. The RRSS generated a more comprehensive and less biased list of observed taxonomic richness than the loosely structured bioblitz (e.g., 73 vs. 45 bird species and 104 vs. 63 insect families from the RRSS vs. loosely structured bioblitz, respectively). Models fit to the RRSS data identified seasonal patterns in avian community composition and allowed for estimation of habitat–occupancy relationships for insect taxa. The RRSS protocol has potential for broad transferability as a standardized, quick, and inexpensive way to inventory biodiversity and estimate ecological parameters while providing an outreach opportunity.     

Compliance with and ecosystem function of biodiversity offsets in North American and European freshwaters

Land-use change via human development is a major driver of biodiversity loss. To reduce these impacts, billions of dollars are spent on biodiversity offsets. However, studies evaluating offset project effectiveness that examine components such as the overall compliance and function of projects remain rare. We reviewed 577 offsetting projects in freshwater ecosystems that included the metrics project size, type of aquatic system (e.g., wetland and creek), offsetting measure (e.g., enhancement, restoration, and creation), and an assessment of the projects’ compliance and functional success. Project information was obtained from scientific and government databases and gray literature. Despite considerable investment in offsetting projects, crucial problems persisted. Although compliance and function were related to each other, a high level of compliance did not guarantee a high degree of function. However, large projects relative to area had better function than small projects. Function improved when projects targeted productivity or specific ecosystem features and when multiple complementary management targets were in place. Restorative measures were more likely to achieve targets than creating entirely new ecosystems. Altogether the relationships we found highlight specific ecological processes that may help improve offsetting outcomes.     

Representation of the world's biophysical conditions by the global protected area network

Protected areas (PAs) are often implemented without consideration of already existing PAs, which is likely to cause an overrepresentation of certain biophysical conditions. We assessed the representativeness of the current PA network with regard to the world's biophysical conditions to highlight which conditions are underprotected and where these conditions are located. We overlaid terrestrial and marine PAs with information on biophysical conditions (e.g., temperature, precipitation, and elevation) and then quantified the percentage of area covered by the PA network. For 1 variable at a time in the terrestrial realm, high temperature, low precipitation, and medium and very high elevation were underrepresented. For the marine realm, low and medium sea surface temperature (SST), medium and high sea surface salinity (SSS), and the deep sea were underrepresented. Overall, protection was evenly distributed for elevation across the terrestrial realm and SST across the marine realm. For 2 variables at a time, cold and very dry terrestrial environments had mostly low protection, which was also the case for low SST and low and medium SSS across most depths for marine environments. Low protection occurred mostly in the Sahara and the Arabian Peninsula for the terrestrial realm and along the Tropic of Capricorn and toward the poles for the marine realm. Although biodiversity measures are of prime importance for the design of PA networks, highlighting biophysical gaps in current PAs adds a frequently overlooked perspective. These gaps may weaken the potential of PAs to conserve biodiversity. Thus, our results may provide useful insights for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers to establish a more comprehensive global PA network.     

Quantitative composition of the defensive secretion ofBledius species (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Oxytelinae) is adapted to naturally occurring predators

Summary The adaptation of defensive secretions to their target organisms was examined for the abdominal gland secretions ofBledius furcatus, B. spectabilis andB. arenarius. Therefore the target organisms of the secretion of theseBledius species (i.e. their predators) had to be identified. At the collection sites examined these were the earwigLabidura riparia, the antCataglyphis bicolor, the flyLispe candicans, different carabids of the generaPogonus, Dichirotrichus, Dyschirius, Bembidion andCalathus and the wading birdsHaematopus ostralegus andCalidris alba. The secretion of the abdominal glands contains the toxin ptoluquinone dissolved in either-dodecalactone and 1-undecene (B. furcatus andB. spectabilis) or in octanoic acid and octyloctanoate (B. arenarius). The ratio of these solvents is species-specific. Application experiments using some of the natural insect predators (L. riparia, C. bicolor, Pogonus, Di. gustavii, Dyschirius) revealed that these solvent ratios provided a more effective deterrent than other possible ratios. Thus by combining the solvents in certain ratios, the capability of cuticular penetration and therefore the effectiveness of the defensive secretions are adapted to their natural targets.     

Democracy versus development: New urban debates

The politics of development includes subtexts of choice, as underpinned by community consensus (or lack of it), against the larger backdrop of a liberal democracy, with its intricate power structures that influence the choice of concepts and often lead to complicity rather than consent. A dilemma exists between the understanding of field-level practitioners and that of academics, whose understandings of progress differ. Progress can (and often does) imply long-term change across generations whereas development is often more a matter of crisis management and delivering tangible results to end-users. This makes it a bone of contention across political systems, irrespective of local or global dynamics. Development can emerge as a tool to be wielded for power and further political mileage at the expense of progress. Progress cannot be studied as a counterpoint to development as the sense of history is often missing in development interventions. Development tends to be piecemeal as its very logic often stems from the rationale of power. This is not to suggest, however, that development is only about politics; it is definitely more than the politics of everyday life and involves all of civil society that requires its critical and immediate attention. In this sense, it has become a priority for politicians with an underlying agenda designed to out-manouevre dissent and all statements of protest.     

A palaeo-hydrogeological model for arsenic contamination in southern and south-east Asia

An argument is presented in which areas of natural arsenic contamination of modern groundwaters throughout Asia have a common origin. Arsenic originally accumulated in oceanic ferro-manganoan sediments of the eastern Palaeo-Tethys. This was further concentrated through oceanic crustal extinction in what later became the south-east Chinese accreted mineralised terrain. Proto-Himalayan uplift of this area created the palaeo-drainage systems of the Ganges – Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Mekong, and Red Rivers, with consequent headwater erosion of arsenic-rich sediments. Their downstream deposition as immature and easily redistributed Neogene sandstones, silts, and iron-rich clays has created secondary and tertiary reservoirs of adsorbed and authigenic arsenic, from which the current arsenic-rich groundwaters have evolved. Considering river basins within the above palaeo-hydrogeological framework provides a basis for assessing the risk of arsenic in groundwater basins of south and south-eastern Asia.     

A framework to measure the wildness of managed large vertebrate populations

As landscapes continue to fall under human influence through habitat loss and fragmentation, fencing is increasingly being used to mitigate anthropogenic threats and enhance the commercial value of wildlife. Subsequent intensification of management potentially erodes wildness by disembodying populations from landscape-level processes, thereby disconnecting species from natural selection. Tools are needed to measure the degree to which populations of large vertebrate species in formally protected and privately owned wildlife areas are self-sustaining and free to adapt. We devised a framework to measure such wildness based on 6 attributes relating to the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of vertebrates (space, disease and parasite resistance, exposure to predation, exposure to limitations and fluctuations of food and water supply, and reproduction). For each attribute, we set empirical, species-specific thresholds between 5 wildness states based on quantifiable management interventions. We analysed data from 205 private wildlife properties with management objectives spanning ecotourism to consumptive utilization to test the framework on 6 herbivore species representing a range of conservation statuses and commercial values. Wildness scores among species differed significantly, and the proportion of populations identified as wild ranged from 12% to 84%, which indicates the tool detected site-scale differences both among populations of different species and populations of the same species under different management regimes. By quantifying wildness, this framework provides practitioners with standardized measurement units that link biodiversity with the sustainable use of wildlife. Applications include informing species management plans at local scales; standardizing the inclusion of managed populations in red-list assessments; and providing a platform for certification and regulation of wildlife-based economies. Applying this framework may help embed wildness as a normative value in policy and mitigate the shifting baseline of what it means to truly conserve a species.     

Sexual Predators,Energy Development,and Conservation in Greater Yellowstone

Abstract: In the United States, as elsewhere, a growing debate pits national energy policy and homeland security against biological conservation. In rural communities the extraction of fossil fuels is often encouraged because of the employment opportunities it offers, although the concomitant itinerant workforce is often associated with increased wildlife poaching. We explored possible positive and negative factors associated with energy extraction in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), an area known for its national parks, intact biological diversity, and some of the New World's longest terrestrial migrations. Specifically, we asked whether counties with different economies—recreation (ski), agrarian (ranching or farming), and energy extractive (petroleum)—differed in healthcare (gauged by the abundance of hospital beds) and in the frequency of sexual predators. The absolute and relative frequency of registered sex offenders grew approximately two to three times faster in areas reliant on energy extraction. Healthcare among counties did not differ. The strong conflation of community dishevel, as reflected by in‐migrant sexual predators, and ecological decay in Greater Yellowstone is consistent with patterns seen in similar systems from Ecuador to northern Canada, where social and environmental disarray exist around energy boomtowns. In our case, that groups (albeit with different aims) mobilized campaigns to help maintain the quality of rural livelihoods by protecting open space is a positive sign that conservation can matter, especially in the face of rampant and poorly executed energy extraction projects. Our findings further suggest that the public and industry need stronger regulatory action to instill greater vigilance when and where social factors and land conversion impact biological systems.     

Threats to intact tropical peatlands and opportunities for their conservation

Large, intact areas of tropical peatland are highly threatened at a global scale by the expansion of commercial agriculture and other forms of economic development. Conserving peatlands on a landscape scale, with their hydrology intact, is of international conservation importance to preserve their distinctive biodiversity and ecosystem services and maintain their resilience to future environmental change. We explored threats to and opportunities for conserving remaining intact tropical peatlands; thus, we excluded peatlands of Indonesia and Malaysia, where extensive deforestation, drainage, and conversion to plantations means conservation in this region can protect only small fragments of the original ecosystem. We focused on a case study, the Pastaza‐Marañón Foreland Basin (PMFB) in Peru, which is among the largest known intact tropical peatland landscapes in the world and is representative of peatland vulnerability. Maintenance of the hydrological conditions critical for carbon storage and ecosystem function of peatlands is, in the PMFB, primarily threatened by expansion of commercial agriculture linked to new transport infrastructure that is facilitating access to remote areas. There remain opportunities in the PMFB and elsewhere to develop alternative, more sustainable land‐use practices. Although some of the peatlands in the PMFB fall within existing legally protected areas, this protection does not include the most carbon‐dense (domed pole forest) areas. New carbon‐based conservation instruments (e.g., REDD+, Green Climate Fund), developing markets for sustainable peatland products, transferring land title to local communities, and expanding protected areas offer pathways to increased protection for intact tropical peatlands in Amazonia and elsewhere, such as those in New Guinea and Central Africa which remain, for the moment, broadly beyond the frontier of commercial development.     

Comparison of the insecticidal effects of water extracted and intact aromatic plants onAcanthoscelides obtectus,a bruchid beetle pest of kidney beans

Summary Acanthoscelides obtectus (Say) is one of the most damaging pests of kidney beans,Phaseolus vulgaris L. worldwide. However, aromatic plants from the families Lamiaceae, Lauraceae, Myrtaceae and Poaceae can protect kidney beans by direct or delayed insecticidal effect, through increased adult mortality and inhibition of beetle reproduction (both oviposition and adult emergence). The efficiency of hydrodistillated and intact plants fromThymus vulgaris andT. serpyllum, Mentha piperata, Rosmarinus officinalis, Satureia hortensis, Eucalyptus globulus, Laurus nobilis, Origanum vulgare, andCymbopogon nardus was compared. For both extracts,Origanum vulgare had the best effect. The insecticidal effect was induced by more than the essential oils because no significant difference was noticed between distilled and intact plants extract. Inhibition of reproduction was particularly important. These results suggest that lipidic as well as non lipidic, allelochemicals, such as phenolics, or non-protein amino-acids, or flavonoids may be involved in the toxicity of aromatic plants to this beetle.