Impact of bioenergy crops in a carbon dioxide constrained world: an application of the MiniCAM energy-agriculture and land use model

In the coming century, modern bioenergy crops have the potential to play a crucial role in the global energy mix, especially under policies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions as proposed by many in the international community. Previous studies have not fully addressed many of the dynamic interactions and effects of a policy-induced expansion of bioenergy crop production, particularly on crop yields and human food demand. This study combines an updated agriculture and land use (AgLU) model with a well-developed energy-economic model to provide an analysis of the effects of bioenergy crops on energy, agricultural and land use systems. The results indicate that carbon dioxide mitigation policies can stimulate a large production of bioenergy crops, dependent on the level of the policy. This production of bioenergy crops can lead to several impacts on the agriculture and land use system: decreases in forestland and unmanaged land, decreases in the average yield of food crops, increases in the prices of food crops, and decreases in the level of human demand of calories.

Spatial and temporal variability of agricultural pollutants in an agricultural headwater stream within a multipond system, southeastern China

The spatial and temporal variability of nutrients and suspended solids were investigated for two years in a 1.8 km agricultural headwater stream, located by Chaohu Lake, southeastern China. The stream form was greatly modified by human activities into channelized, pond and estuary shapes. The stream could be divided into 4 channelized reaches(1.3 km), a pond reach(0.15 km) and 3 estuary reaches(0.36 km). It was found that nutrients and TSS concentrations in the stream showed temporal variability, and higher concentrations occurred in months with high precipitation and intensive agricultural activities. And, retention of total nitrogen ( TN ), nitrate ( NO3-N ),ammonium( NH4^ -N) and total suspended solids (TSS) predominantly occurred in the pond reach and estuary reaches with larger width and low current velocity. Pollutants retained in these reaches accounted for more than 50% of those retained in whole stream. The retention mostly happened in the rain-runoff events and it was 7 to 27 times than that in base flow. The results showed that the channelized reach was the most important source for pollutants release under either runoff or base flow, and its release accounted for more than 90% of whole stream release.There was a high spatial variability of nutrients retention in different channelized reaches. The channelized reach directly discharging into the pond did always retain nutrients and TSS under base flow and runoff conditions, whereas the other channelized reaches performed differently in different hydrological conditions. The high spatial and temporal variability of nutrients and TSS in the stream indicated that anthropogenic disturbance of the agricultural headwater stream, such as channelization and excavation, would be expected to decrease the capacity of nutrients retention in the stream.     

Influence of tree species composition,thinning intensity and climate change on carbon sequestration in Mediterranean mountain forests: a case study using the CO2Fix model

Prediction of future forest carbon (C) stocks as influenced by forest management and climate is a crucial issue in the search for strategies to mitigate and adapt to global change. It is hard to quantify the long-term effect of specific forest practices on C stocks due to the high number of processes affected by forest management. This work aims to quantify how forest management impacts C stocks in Mediterranean mountain forests based on 25 combinations of site index, tree species composition and thinning intensity in three different climate scenarios using the CO2Fix v.3.2 model Masera et al. (Ecol Modell 164:177–199, 2003). The study area is an ecotonal zone located in Central Spain, and the tree species are Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica Willd.). Our results show a strong effect of tree species composition and a negligible effect of thinning intensity. Mixed stands have the highest total stand C stocks: 100 % and 15 % more than pure oak and pine stands respectively, and are here suggested as a feasible and effective mitigation option. Climate change induced a net C loss compared to control scenarios, when reduction in tree growth is taken into account. Mixed stands showed the lowest reduction in forest C stocks due to climate change, indicating that mixed stands are also a valid adaptation strategy. Thus converting from pure to mixed forests would enhance C sequestration under both current and future climate conditions.     

安徽铜陵铜尾矿硫形态及硫同位素分布特征

分析讨论了安徽铜陵水木冲S和SP剖面尾矿砂的理化指标、硫形态变化和硫酸根硫同位素组成与分布特征.结果显示：S和SP剖面整体呈酸性,pH值为2.59~6.12和3.50~6.27,由下而上有明显的降低趋势;Eh随剖面由下至上明显升高,范围为66~457和-37~307mV;酸可挥发性硫（AVS）含量为0~62.36和0~3.44mg/g,黄铁矿硫（CRS）含量为0.70~32.30mg/g和0.17~5.39mg/g;AVS与CRS的变化趋势基本一致,随剖面自下而上减少,且AVS先于CRS被氧化.2个剖面元素硫（ES）含量为0~8.83和0~3.62mg/g,随深度变化无明显规律.硫酸根硫（SO₄^2--S）含量为8.44~66.34和8.48~29.87mg/g,自下而上呈降低趋势,且分别在剖面的氢氧化物薄膜层（11.5~16.5cm和18~54cm）出现高值区.2个剖面总硫（TS）含量为9.18~109.69和12.38~37.72mg/g,表层由于淋滤含量较低,底层变化则不大.位于斜坡上的SP剖面TS及各形态硫含量均低于S剖面,表明淋滤对硫含量影响更明显.硫酸根硫同位素δ³⁴S为-3.32‰~13.43‰和-3.08‰~1.80‰,S-9硫酸根δ³⁴S为13.43‰,指示其来自于伴生硬石膏,其余层位δ³⁴S偏负且变幅较小,指示其硫酸根主要来源于硫化物的氧化.     

Fluxes of CH4 and N2O from soil under a tropical seasonal rain forest in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China

CH4 and N2O fluxes from soil under a tropical seasonal rain forest in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China were measured for one year using closed static chamber technique and gas chromatography method. Three treatments were set in the studied field: (A) litter-free,(B) with litter, and (C) with litter and seedling. The results showed that the soil in our study was a sink of atmospheric CH4 and source of atmospheric N2O. The observed mean CH4 fluxes from treatments A, B, and C were -50.0±4.0, -35.9±2.8,-31.6±2.8 μgC/(m2·h),respectively,and calculated annual fluxes in2003 were -4.1,-3.1,and -2.9kgC/hm2,respectively.The observed mean N2O fluxes from treatments A,B,and C were 30.9±3.1,28.2±3.5,50.2±3.7μgN/(m2·h),respectively,and calculated annual fluxes in 2003 were 2.8, 2.6, and 3.7 kgN/hm2, respectively. Seasonal variations in CH4 and N2O fluxes were significant among all the three treatments. The presence of litter decreased CH4 uptake during wet season (P ＜ 0.05), but not during dry season. There was a similar increase in seedlings-mediated N2O emissions during wet and dry seasons, indicating that seedlings increased N2O emission in both seasons. A strong positive relationship existed between CH4 fluxes and soil moisture for all the three treatments, and weak relationship between CH4 fluxes and soil temperature for treatment B and treatment C. The N2O fluxes correlated with soil temperature for all the three treatments.     

Mixing regime shapes the community assembly process, microbial interaction and proliferation of cyanobacterial species Planktothrix in a stratified lake

Lake mixing influences aquatic chemical properties and microbial community composition,and thus, we hypothesized that it would alter microbial community assembly and interaction. To clarify this issue, we explored the community assembly processes and cooccurrence networks in four seasons at two depths(epilimnion and hypolimnion) in a mesotrophic and stratified lake(Chenghai Lake), which formed stratification in the summer and turnover in the winter. During the stratification period, the epilimni...     

Variation in levels of reactive oxygen species is explained by maternal identity, sex and body-size-corrected clutch size in a lizard

Many organisms show differences between males and females in growth rate and crucial life history parameters, such as longevity. Considering this, we may expect levels of toxic metabolic by-products of the respiratory chain, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), to vary with age and sex. Here, we analyse ROS levels in female Australian painted dragon lizards (Ctenophorus pictus) and their offspring using fluorescent probes and flow cytometry. Basal level of four ROS species (singlet oxygen, peroxynitrite, superoxide and H₂O₂) measured with a combined marker, and superoxide measured specifically, varied significantly among families but not between the sexes. When blood cells from offspring were chemically encouraged to accelerate the electron transport chain by mitochondrial uncoupling, net superoxide levels were three times higher in daughters than sons (resulting in levels outside of the normal ROS range) and varied among mothers depending on offspring sex (significant interaction between maternal identity and offspring sex). In offspring, there were depressive effects on ROS of size-controlled relative clutch size, which relies directly on circulating levels of vitellogenin, a confirmed antioxidant in some species. Thus, levels of reactive oxygen species varies among females, offspring and in relation to reproductive investment in a manner that makes its regulatory processes likely targets of selection.