Cover estimation versus density counting in species-rich pasture under different grazing intensities

Two methods for monitoring of grassland vegetation were compared: visual estimation of plant cover (C) and plant densities counting (D). C and D were performed in monthly intervals for three vegetation growing seasons after imposing different grazing regimes on abandoned grassland in 1998. Species scores obtained from paired redundancy analyses (RDA) of C and D data were compared and Spearman's rank correlations were used to show if the two methods give comparable results. Results of C and D were highly correlated in the first two growing seasons only. In the third season, correlation was substantially lower as the sward structure was more heterogeneous due to creation of differently defoliated patches especially under extensive grazing. Presence of the same plant species with different habit in frequently and in infrequently grazed patches, reduced significance of Spearman's rank correlations. Cover estimation can fully substitute plant density counting in grassland with lower proportion of frequently and infrequently grazed patches only, but caution should be used when comparing different management regimes in long term analyses.     

Comparing the natural variation of oribatid mite communities with their changes associated with anthropogenic disturbance

Several organism communities serve as ecological and environmental indicators to detect changes in human-impacted habitats. However, the composition of indicator communities may vary because of natural variation in addition to the changes associated with human disturbances. This meta-analysis compared the natural variation of oribatid mite assemblages, a good indicator model group in soil ecosystems, with their deviations associated with disturbance using diversity and dissimilarity indices and three human disturbance types. Literature data were collected about oribatid mite assemblages from natural and disturbed habitats. Human disturbances consisted of agriculture, heavy metal pollution and forest management. Biodiversity indices (Shannon and Berger-Parker) and dissimilarity indices (Jaccard and Bray-Curtis) were calculated among natural habitats and between disturbed and control habitats at the species and genus level. We considered oribatid mite assemblages as effective community-level indicators when the methods separated the differences of assemblages between disturbed and control habitats from their varieties among natural habitats. In addition, the study analysed the correlation between these indices and environmental variables of the study sites. Oribatid mite assemblages performed high indication strength with Bray-Curtis index for agricultural disturbances since dissimilarity values between disturbed and control habitats were as high as between different natural habitats and higher than among the same types of natural habitats. Genus-level values showed similar results to the species level. This approach may be useful to test the effectiveness of other indicator groups and methods.     

A synthesis of variability in nearshore Alaskan marine populations

One of the primary goals of any monitoring program is to detect anthropogenic changes; however natural variability can be so high that it prevents detection of human-induced effects. This project synthesized existing data to identify patterns of temporal variation within nearshore marine habitats in the Gulf of Alaska and was motivated by the need for monitoring in this environment vulnerable to oil spills, such as the Exxon Valdez. I collected 786 time series that were greater than 2 years in length from unimpacted (control) sites for 226 species. Temporal variability (CV) varied widely from 1% to 447%, averaged 89%, and was not significantly different among marine populations of birds, mammals, fish, algae and invertebrates. Temporal variability of invertebrates and algae were not significantly different when abundance was measured as biomass, percent cover or density. Both invertebrates and algae showed higher variability in low intertidal habitat compared to high intertidal habitat. For invertebrates, populations on bedrock substrates had greater temporal variability than those on cobble or soft sediment substrates, while there was not a significant difference for algae on either cobble or bedrock substrates. Many of these results are surprising, given differences in movement patterns, survey methods, life histories, and so forth. These results suggest that no single group, measure or habitat will be better or worse for monitoring and detecting change. Understanding variability is a difficult task, but until we tackle it, we will likely not understand or have predictive capabilities in ecological populations and communities.     

Assessing temporal representativeness of water quality monitoring data

The effectiveness of different monitoring methods in detecting temporal changes in water quality depends on the achievable sampling intervals, and how these relate to the extent of temporal variation. However, water quality sampling frequencies are rarely adjusted to the actual variation of the monitoring area. Manual sampling, for example, is often limited by the level of funding and not by the optimal timing to take samples. Restrictions in monitoring methods therefore often determine their ability to estimate the true mean and variance values for a certain time period or season. Consequently, we estimated how different sampling intervals determine the mean and standard deviation in a specific monitoring area by using high frequency data from in situ automated monitoring stations. Raw fluorescence measurements of chlorophyll a for three automated monitoring stations were calibrated by using phycocyanin fluorescence measurements and chlorophyll a analyzed from manual water samples in a laboratory. A moving block bootstrap simulation was then used to estimate the standard errors of the mean and standard deviations for different sample sizes. Our results showed that in a temperate, meso-eutrophic lake, relatively high errors in seasonal statistics can be expected from monthly sampling. Moreover, weekly sampling yielded relatively small accuracy benefits compared to a fortnightly sampling. The presented method for temporal representation analysis can be used as a tool in sampling design by adjusting the sampling interval to suit the actual temporal variation in the monitoring area, in addition to being used for estimating the usefulness of previously collected data.     

The Spatial-Scale Effect of an Atmospheric Environmental Impact Assessment in Regional Strategic Environmental Assessment (R-SEA)

When evaluating the atmospheric environment in regional strategic environment assessment (R-SEA), the variation and choice of the spatial scale have a substantial influence on the conclusions of the assessment. In this study, we used numerical simulation to investigate the spatial-scale effect. Two varying spatial extents and two varying spatial details of pollutant emission data (emission inventories in this case) were provided for numerical modeling, and output distributions of atmospheric pollutants at different air pollution levels were compared. The results show that the resolution and spatial range of data collection do indeed influence the atmospheric prediction and assessment results in R-SEA. The spatial-scale effect is more significant under the air pollution condition than under excellent and good air quality conditions. A comparison of varying spatial extents of emission inventory shows that narrowing the prediction area to a local scale is more conducive to identifying the impact of local pollution sources. A comparison of varying spatial details of emission inventory indicates that a higher resolution is favorable for identifying local high concentrations of pollutants and their locations.     

Statistical models for evaluating suspected artefacts in long-term environmental monitoring data

Long-term water quality monitoring is of high value for environmental management as well as for research. Artificial level shifts in time series due to method improvements, flaws in laboratory practices or changes in laboratory are a common limitation for analysis, which, however, are often ignored. Statistical estimation of such artefacts is complicated by the simultaneous existence of trends, seasonal variation and effects of other influencing factors, such as weather conditions. Here, we investigate the performance of generalised additive mixed models (GAMM) to simultaneously identify one or more artefacts associated with artificial level shifts, longitudinal effects related to temporal trends and seasonal variation, as well as to model the serial correlation structure of the data. In the same model, it is possible to estimate separate residual variances for different periods so as to identify if artefacts not only influence the mean level but also the dispersion of a series. Even with an appropriate statistical methodology, it is difficult to quantify artificial level shifts and make appropriate adjustments to the time series. The underlying temporal structure of the series is especially important. As long as there is no prominent underlying trend in the series, the shift estimates are rather stable and show less variation. If an artificial shift occurs during a slower downward or upward tendency, it is difficult to separate these two effects and shift estimates can be both biased and have large variation. In the case of a change in method or laboratory, we show that conducting the analyses with both methods in parallel strongly improves estimates of artefact effects on the time series, even if certain problems remain. Due to the difficulties of estimating artificial level shifts, posterior adjustment is problematic and can lead to time series that no longer can be used for trend analysis or other analysis based on the longitudinal structure of the series. Before carrying out a change in analytic method or laboratory, it should be considered if this is absolutely necessary. If changes cannot be avoided, the analysis of the two methods considered, or the two laboratories contracted, should be run in parallel for a considerable period of time so as to enable a good assessment of changes introduced to the data series.     

湖南省大气污染特征及气象影响分析

为深入探究湖南省大气污染过程变化特征及气象条件对不同首要污染物的影响,利用2015—2021年湖南省14个市州的大气环境监测数据及气象观测数据,分析研究了68次污染过程的持续时长、分布特征等,并根据污染来源分析结果、传输路径分析结果,结合地形特征,进行了污染影响区域划分,对不同首要污染物的气象因子反馈机制进行了细致剖析。结果表明:湖南省大气污染过程以颗粒物污染为主,年变化特征呈现为单峰形,单次污染过程持续时长一般不超过3 d;3条主要的污染物传播路径均是由湘北地区进入长株潭城市群;污染来源以本地积累为主,外来输送与本地污染叠加次之;颗粒物污染主要受边界层稳定程度、逆温情况和近地面空气湿度的影响,臭氧污染则主要受紫外辐射、前体物浓度和扩散条件等的影响。     

Monitoring of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide by long-path pulsed differential optical absorption spectroscopy using two different light paths

Measurements of the local distribution of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) by long-path pulsed differential optical absorption spectroscopy (LP-PDOAS) in Tokyo during August 2008 are presented. Two LP-PDOAS systems simultaneously measured average NO(2) temporal mixing ratios along two different paths from a single observation point. Two flashing aviation obstruction lights, located 7.0 km north and 6.3 km east from the observation point, were used as light sources, allowing spatiotemporal variations of NO(2) in Tokyo to be inferred. The LP-PDOAS data were compared with ground-based data measured using chemiluminescence. Surface wind data indicated that large inhomogeneities were present in the spatial NO(2) distributions under southerly wind conditions, while northerly wind conditions displayed greater homogeneity between the two systems. The higher correlation in the NO(2) mixing ratio between the two LP-PDOAS systems was observed under northerly wind conditions with a correlation factor R(2) = 0.88. We demonstrated that the combined deployment of two LP-PDOAS systems oriented in different directions provides detailed information on the spatial distribution of NO(2).     

M12半自动净化法与手工净化法应用于飞灰中二噁英类检测比较

研究比较了M12半自动净化法与手工净化法应用于二噁英检测的效果。结果显示,采用高分辨气相色谱-高分辨质谱法(HRGC-HRMS)检测飞灰样品中的二噁英,手工净化法的回收率要优于M12半自动净化法的回收率,但M12半自动净化法除2种单体外,其余单体回收率均满足对二噁英的分析要求,且2种净化方法所得二噁英的总毒性当量结果相近,证明手工净化法与HRGC-HRMS联用检测飞灰中二噁英的效果较好,但M12半自动净化法也能够满足HRGC-HRMS检测二噁英的净化要求。应用酶联免疫法检测飞灰样品中二噁英的总毒性量,当样品中二噁英浓度较高时,M12半自动净化法和手工净化法净化测得结果与基准值一致性较好;当样品中二噁英浓度较低时,手工净化法检测结果与基准值差别较大,表明酶联免疫法更适合用M12半自动净化法进行净化。     

Using similarity measures in benthic impact assessments

Eleven similarity measures were used to assess the impacts of clam digging on the infauna of one intertidal mud-flat. When the similarity matrices were clustered using a divisive polythetic algorithm two different conclusions were possible from the dendograms produced. Dendograms generated by 3 coefficients indicated digging had an impact on areas dug more than once, while the 8 others did not. In addition, existing data from an impact analysis of a power plant effluent were re-analyzed using 5 different coefficients. In this case, three of the five coefficients gave results which indicated that the benthic community at the effluent pipe was different from that present at the control. Two coefficients gave the opposite conclusion — the populations were not different.These results indicate that the objectivity of cluster analysis, as it has come to be used in impact studies, is only apparent, not real. Too many subjective choices are made in selecting algorithms and methods of interpretation. Objective criteria need to be developed for the choices made, based on the intrinsic and ecological properties of the quantitative methods. Some criteria that have been developed are discussed, and used to determine which coefficients are best suited for the two data sets analyzed. To reduce the number of subjective choices made an analysis of variance of the similarity matrix is presented as an alternative to clustering.     

Behaviour of different lichen species as biomonitors of air pollution by PAHs in natural ecosystems

Six different species of lichens (Parmelia sulcata Tayl., Evernia prunastri (L.) Ach., Ramalina farinacea, Pseudevernia furfuracea (L.) Zopf., Usnea sp. and Lobaria pulmonaria (Schreb.) Hoffm.) were collected in two mountain valleys in Central Pyrenees: the Aspe and Aragon valleys. Two multivariate techniques have been applied with different purposes, ANOVA and Discriminant Analysis (DA), to evaluate the data. The PAHs spatial distribution was studied in the three more abundant and widespread species in the area: P. sulcata, E. prunastri (L.) Ach. and R. farinacea in terms of total PAHs, PAHs related to the combustion processes and toxicity. Different behaviour of each lichen species to trap PAHs was found, being P. sulcata the best one to monitor the most persistent PAHs of pyrogenic origin and E. prunastri the most appropriate to provide information about pyrogenic and petrogenic PAHs. Traffic was the most relevant influence in PAHs bioaccumulation in lichen species.     

Comparison of two carbon analysis methods for monitoring diesel particulate levels in mines

Two carbon analysis methods are currently being applied to the occupational monitoring of diesel particulate matter. Both methods are based on thermal techniques for the determination of organic and elemental carbon. In Germany, method ZH 1/120.44 has been published. This method, or a variation of it, is being used for compliance measurements in several European countries, and a Comité Européen de Normalization Working Group was formed recently to address the establishment of a European measurement standard. In the USA, a 'thermal-optical' method has been published as Method 5040 by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. As with ZH 1/120.44, organic and elemental carbon are determined through temperature and atmosphere control, but different instrumentation and analysis conditions are used. Although the two methods are similar in principle, they gave statistically different results in a previous interlaboratory comparison. Because different instruments and operating conditions are used, between-method differences can be expected in some cases. Reasonable agreement is expected when the sample contains no other (i.e., non-diesel) sources of carbonaceous particulate and the organic fraction is essentially removed below about 500 degrees C. Airborne particulate samples from some mines may meet these criteria. Comparison data on samples from mines are important because the methods are being applied in this workplace for occupational monitoring and epidemiological studies. In this paper, results of a recent comparison on samples collected in a Canadian mine are reported. As seen in a previous comparison, there was good agreement between the total carbon results found by the two methods, with ZH 1/120.44 giving about 6% less carbon than Method 5040. Differences in the organic and elemental carbon results were again seen, but they were much smaller than those obtained in the previous comparison. The relatively small differences in the split between organic and elemental carbon are attributed to the different thermal programs used.     

Efficiencies of different microbial parameters as indicator to assess slight metal pollutions in a farm field near a gold mining area

In order to monitor changes in the concentrations of metals in the soil, different microbial indices such as BIOLOG^®, microbial carbon (C_mic), basal respiration, and culturable microbe’s most probable number were used. We compared these methods and wanted to discover which method was the best at measuring slight changes in the amounts of heavy metals. Factor analyses were applied to the BIOLOG^® data and metal concentrations so the combined effects of heavy metals on microbes could be analyzed via statistical data reduction and the distribution patterns of metal concentration could also be revealed. The results showed that the BIOLOG^® method could barely detect subtle characteristic changes in the soil samples, while the C_mic method was more sensitive. Furthermore, different heavy metals did not have the same origin/source, and their effects on microbial indices should be analyzed separately. Significant positive correlations between C_mic and metals were observed and suggested the limitation of using traditional microbial parameters as metal pollution indicators. Among all the soil characteristics in our study, pH seemed to be the most active abiotic factor that affected microorganisms.     

Sensitivity analysis of TOPSIS method in water quality assessment II: sensitivity to the index input data

This is the second part of the study on sensitivity analysis of the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method in water quality assessment. In the present study, the sensitivity of the TOPSIS method to the index input data was investigated. The sensitivity was first theoretically analyzed under two major assumptions. One assumption was that one index or more of the samples were perturbed with the same ratio while other indices kept unchanged. The other one was that all indices of a given sample were changed simultaneously with the same ratio, while the indices of other samples were unchanged. Furthermore, a case study under assumption 2 was also carried out in this paper. When the same indices of different water samples are changed simultaneously with the same variation ratio, the final water quality assessment results will not be influenced at all. When the input data of all indices of a given sample are perturbed with the same variation ratio, the assessment values of all samples will be influenced theoretically. However, the case study shows that only the perturbed sample is sensitive to the variation, and a simple linear equation representing the relation between the closeness coefficient (CC) values of the perturbed sample and variation ratios can be derived under the assumption 2. This linear equation can be used for determining the sample orders under various variation ratios.     

A statistical approach to field measurements of the chemical evolution of cold (<0°C) snow cover

Two statistical methods for the analysis of data on the evolution of the chemical composition of cold snow (<0°C) in the field (Lac Laflamme, Quebec) were compared. The methods used on the data were regression analysis (One sample per sampling date over a long cold period) and ANOVA (replicate samples on a restricted number of sampling dates over shorter periods). The relative power of the tests to determine the detectable amplitude of chemical changes was derived from the theoretical power of the tests under comparable conditions of sampling (number of observations) and from the estimated error variances of the measured data.The results of the study on the evolution of sulfates (SO₄) concentrations in discretely identified snow strate clearly showed that for six of the eight strata, significant losses of SO₄ occurred in snow during cold periods. The relative amplitude of the significant losses varied between 1% per day and 4% per day depending on the initial concentrations in the snow and the prevailing meteorological conditions.The analysis of the data also demonstrated that for the same number of samples, the regression analysis is more efficient in detecting the chemical changes in snow than the alternative ANOVA method. The use of this information to plan sampling programs of cold snow under both field and laboratory conditions is discussed.     

A new method for environmental site assessment of urban solid waste landfills

Regarding various types of pollutant, waste management requires high attention. Environmental site selection study, prior to landfill operation, and subsequently, monitoring and maintaining of the location, are of foremost points in landfill site selection process. By means of these studies, it is possible to control the undesirable impacts caused by landfills. Study ahead aims at examination of effectiveness of a new method called Monavari 95–2 in landfill site assessment. For this purpose, two landfills Rasht and Andisheh, which are, respectively, located on humid and arid areas, were selected as case studies. Then, the results obtained from both sites were compared with each other to find out the weaknesses and strengths of each site. Compared with others similar methods, much more criteria (53 parameters) can be considered within this method, so the results will be more calculable. According to this method, Rasht landfill (site H) is classified as unacceptable landfill site i.e. there is an urgent need for a new suitable site for landfill, while Andishe Landfill (site D) is ranked as acceptable landfill site but needs environmental management program to handle the existing weaknesses.     

基于地基监测的人为源温室气体排放通量反演研究进展

不同尺度下温室气体的空间分布及变化趋势是研究气候变化的基础,也是评估相关减排政策实施效果的重要依据。当前碳排放核算主要基于排放清单,不确定性较大。基于监测数据的碳排放核算能够有效评估和修正排放清单结果,是对当前方法的有效补充。国内温室气体的监测主要针对污染源和环境浓度,对于人为源温室气体排放通量的监测研究较少。该文分析了近年来国内外基于地基监测的人为源温室气体排放通量研究,主要的研究方法可分为2类:柱浓度空间分布结合三维风场数据反演排放通量;结合实测体积分数、大气扩散模型和统计优化模型修正先验排放通量结果,以获取更准确的后验排放通量。通过分析和对比2种方法的优势和局限,讨论不同通量反演方法的适用场景。建议我国未来应构建适用于不同空间尺度的温室气体通量监测反演体系,综合利用多种监测手段,以校核验证排放清单,并为制定温室气体减排策略和评估应对气候变化工作成效提供技术支撑。     

Spatial and temporal variation of moisture content in the soil profiles of two different agricultural fields of semi-arid region

Modeling spatio-temporal variation of soil moisture with depth in the soil profile plays an important role for semi-arid crop production from an agro-hydrological perspective. This study was performed in Guvenc Catchment. Two soil series that were called Tabyabayir (TaS) and Kervanpinari (KeS) and classified as Leptosol and Vertisol Soil Groups were used in this research. The TeS has a much shallower (0–34 cm) than the KeS (0–134 cm). At every sampling time, a total of geo-referenced 100 soil moisture samples were taken based on horizon depths. The results indicated that soil moisture content changed spatially and temporally with soil texture and profile depth significantly. In addition, land use was to be important factor when soil was shallow. When the soil conditions were towards to dry, higher values for the coefficient of variation (CV) were observed for TaS (58 and 43 % for A and C horizons, respectively); however, the profile CV values were rather stable at the KeS. Spatial variability range of TaS was always higher at both dry and wet soil conditions when compared to that of KeS. Excessive drying of soil prevented to describe any spatial model for surface horizon, additionally resulting in a high nugget variance in the subsurface horizon for the TaS. On the contrary to TaS, distribution maps were formed all horizons for the KeS at any measurement times. These maps, depicting both dry and wet soil conditions through the profile depth, are highly expected to reduce the uncertainty associated with spatially and temporally determining the hydraulic responses of the catchment soils.     

Radon (thoron) daughter measurements with an automated,programmable, radiation monitor

A technical evaluation of an automated, programmable, grab-sampler manufactured by Pylon Electronic Development under the commercial name WL-1000C has been conducted. Six different methods are implemented in the instrument for analyzing radiation data. Any one method can be used on command and easily selected by means of a keyboard. Available radiation data that can be retrieved on command include radon (thoron) daughter concentrations and radon (thoron) Working Levels. Measurements were carried out under laboratory-controlled conditions in a large (26 m³) radon/thoron test facility, designed for calibration purposes, and at an underground uranium mine. Data obtained with the WL-1000C have been compared with conventional grab-sampling (e.g., Kusnetz, Thomas-Tsivoglou and Markov methods) and with other automated radiation instrumentation previously tested at our laboratories. Tests were done under constant radiation conditions and also under rapidly fluctuating conditions in order to determine the response of the instruments and methods in these two cases of practial interest. The Working Level used in these experiments was in the approximate range of 0.01 to 10 WL. Tests were conducted under a variety of environmental conditions. Good agreement with grab-sampling data was found for radon daughters. Some discrepancies with grab-sampling data were found for radon daughter/thoron daughter mixtures. Disagreement in the latter case is to be expected because of -energy overlap between RaA and ThC.     

Morphological characterization of suspended particles under wind-induced disturbance in Taihu Lake, China

Sediments are disturbed by wind frequently, especially in the shallow lakes. The characteristics of resuspended sediment particles in Taihu Lake were studied under different wind velocities. It showed that sediment particles suspended obviously and particle number in overlying water increased directly under high wind-induced disturbance. Suspended solid (SS) concentration was less than 50 mg/l when the wind velocity was below 3.0 m/s, however, it increased to more than 300 mg/l when the wind velocity was 10.0 m/s. Two methods were used to measure the fractal characteristics of particles. One was light scattering and the other was image analysis. The three-dimensional fractal dimensions of suspended particles, measured by light scattering, were between 2.26 and 2.44; correspondingly, the two-dimensional fractal dimensions, calculated by image analysis, were between 1.44 and 1.77. Moreover, the three-dimensional fractal dimensions were directly proportional to two-dimensional fractal dimensions. The characteristic length of particles was calculated by image analysis. The minimum characteristic length was close to 8.5 μm when the wind velocity was 1.5 m/s at 50 cm beneath lake surface, while, the maximum characteristic length was approximate to 24 μm when the wind velocity was 10 m/s at the depth of 150 cm.