An ecological risk assessment model for a pulsed contaminant emission into a wetland channel flow

As a continuation of the modelling on ecological degradation and hydraulic dispersion of pollutant emission into an idealized two-dimensional free-surface wetland flow (Zeng, L., Chen, G.Q., 2009b. Ecological degradation and hydraulic dispersion of contaminant in wetland. Ecol. Model., doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2009.10.024), an ecological risk assessment model for the typical case of a pulsed contaminant emission into a realistic three-dimensional wetland channel flow is presented in this paper for the fate of cross-sectional mean concentration under environmental dispersion. An environmental dispersion model for the mean concentration is devised as an extension of Taylor’s classical analysis on dispersion in fluid flows. The velocity distribution and the environmental dispersivity in the fully developed steady flow through the wetland is found and illustrated with limiting cases covering various known solutions for the porous media flow between parallel plates, flow in a shallow wetland, sweeping flow in a densely vegetated wetland, and single phase flow in a channel. Obtained by Aris’s method of moments, the environmental dispersivity is shown characterized with multi-scale asymptotic time variations with stem dominated stage, transitional stage, and width-depth-stem dominated stage. Based on the solution for the evolution of contaminant cloud in the wetland channel flow, critical length and duration of the contaminant cloud with concentration beyond given environmental standard level are concretely illustrated for typical pollutant constituents in wastewater emission. Under the same emission intensity and environmental standard, the duration of contaminant cloud in the wetland channel is revealed shorter than that in a free surface wetland, due to the lateral effect.     

Environmental dispersivity in free-water-surface-effect dominated wetland: multi-scale analysis

Distinct from the case with width-dominated shallow wetland flows, the longitudinal evolution of contaminant concentration in the most-typical pattern of wetland as dominated by free-water-surface-effect is characterized by a multi-scale analysis in the present study. An environmental dispersion model for the evolution of the mean concentration is deduced as an extension of Taylor's classical formulation by Mei’s multi-scale analysis. Corresponding environmental dispersivity is found identical to that determined by the method of concentration moments.     

Ecological risk assessment of pesticide residues in Taihu Lake wetland, China

As a major ecosystem type, wetland provides invaluable ecological services. Environmental pollution, especially pesticides pollution should be paid more attention to keep wetlands healthy. Based on the risk quotient method, coupled with a probabilistic risk assessment model, this paper proposed a methodology suitable for ecological risk assessment of pesticide residues for wetland ecosystems. As an important industrializing and ecologically vulnerable area in China, the Taihu Lake wetland was chosen for the case study. The risks of eight pesticides in Taihu Lake wetland were assessed, as single substances and in mixtures. The assessment indicates that risks of the representative species are not significant. In general, the herbicide is found to be more toxic for algae, whereas insecticides pose more risks to zooplankton, insect and fish. For each pesticide in the wetland, the ecological risk it poses is acceptable. But the combined ecological risk posed by mixture can harm more than 10% of species of the wetland ecosystem, mainly dominated by dichlorvos, dimethoate and malathion contributions. These results imply that pesticide residues have been posing pressures on the ecosystem of the Taihu Lake wetland. It is recommended that proper countermeasures should be implemented to reduce the risks.     

Secondary flow within a river bed and contaminant transport

We have developed a numerical method to simulate the transport of non-sorbing contaminants within the sediment layer of a stream and the leaching of these contaminants in the steam. Typical stream bottom surfaces are uneven with triangularly shaped undulation forms. The flow of the water above such triangular surfaces causes external pressure changes that result in a “pumping effect” and a secondary flow within the sediment. The latter causes a significant contaminant advection within the sediment layer. The flow field in the porous sediment layer is obtained by solving numerically Darcy’s equations. The unsteady mass transfer equation is solved by using a finite-difference method with an up-wind scheme. The effects of parameters, such as channel slope, hydraulic head and dispersion, are studied by quantitatively comparing the numerical results of the total mass flow rate from the contaminant source, the concentration front propagation, and the contaminant mass flow rate into the water column. The “pumping effect,” increases the flow in the vertical direction and, thus, enhances the vertical advective mass transport of the contaminant. This bedform-shape induced flow is largely responsible for the mass transfer of contaminants into the water column. The numerical results also show that the mechanical dispersion inside the sediment bed will significantly increase the contaminant mass flow rate from the source.     

湿地生态风险评价中生物完整性指数研究进展

湿地是陆地与水域之间的过渡地带,是地球上生产力最高的生态系统。湿地生态风险评价的实际应用将使人们更好地理解物理、化学和生物风险源如何影响湿地,并为湿地管理提供科学支撑,这就要求确定湿地生态健康评价指标的完整性。生物完整性指数以环境生态毒理学数据为依据,是进行生态系统健康风险评价的最有力工具。大中型无脊椎动物作为易选择的分类群,可用于湿地评估的生物完整性指数的建立,土壤动物特别是线虫类群作为湿地土壤和水环境健康评价的指示生物具有广阔前景。通过线虫分子毒理学等研究方法,可优化出生物完整性指数体系,建立扰动背景下的湿地生态风险评价模型,为湿地污染的监测、防控和修复,提供理论依据和实践方法。     

应用物种敏感性分布法对太湖沉积物中多环芳烃的生态风险分析

多环芳烃(PAHs)具有高的疏水性,在水体中优先分布于沉积物.采用物种敏感性分布法(SSDs法),依据水生生物慢性毒性数据计算5%物种危害浓度(HC5);并结合欧盟委员会风险评价技术导则(TGD)进而得到沉积物预测无效应浓度(PNEC-sed),以报道的太湖的沉积物中浓度数据作为预测环境浓度(PECsed);用商值法P...     

Exergetic assessment for ecological economic system: Chinese agriculture

Based on the thermodynamic concept of exergy as a unified measure for environmental resources and economic products, a framework for systems assessment is presented for ecological economies. With a typical systems diagram devised for a general ecological economy with four arm fluxes for free local natural resources, purchased economic investment, environmental impact and economic yield, system indices of the renewability index, exergy yield ratio, exergy investment ratio, environmental resource to yield ratio, system transformity and environmental stress index are defined for a congregated systems ecological assessment with essential implications to sustainability. As a detailed case study to the Chinese agriculture from 1980 to 2000 with cropping, forestry, stockbreeding and fishery sectors, extensive exergy account and systems assessment are carried out with emphasis on annual and structural variations against social political transitions. For the overall agriculture as a congregated ecological stage, the value of the system transformity is found around 10, the typical value for the general ecological hierarchy as well devised by Odum associated with Lindeman's Tenth Law.     

应用物种敏感性分布法分析太湖及天目湖水体的生态风险

采用物种敏感性分布法(SSDs法),应用水生生物急性和慢性毒性数据计算了31种污染物在水中和其中疏水物质在沉积物中的预测无效应浓度(PNECwater和PNECsed),通过收集以往报道的16种污染物在太湖和天目湖的环境浓度,用商值法求得物质的风险商并进行排序.结果发现:蒽、菲、萘、荧蒽、阿特拉津和马拉硫磷在太湖的梅梁湾和五里湖具有很大的生态风险;毒死蜱、三丁基锡氧化物和环己锡虽无环境浓度报道但很有可能具有风险.     

Semi-analytical study on environmental dispersion of settling particles in a width-independent wetland flow

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - Predicting the evolution of environmental dispersion of settling particles in wetland flows has a wide range of applications in ecological engineering. In the...     

Assessing the parameterisation of the settling flux in a depth-integrated model of the fate of decaying and sinking particles, with application to fecal bacteria in the Scheldt Estuary

The fate of reactive tracers is often modelled by depth-averaged equations. When integrating the depth-resolved equations, it appears that the term describing the settling of particles is dependent on the concentration just above the bottom. Because in a depth-averaged framework this quantity is not available, the settling term needs to be parameterised. The most natural choice is to make the settling flux dependent on the average concentration. This approximation is acceptable if the water column is well mixed, but these conditions are not necessarily met in real applications. Therefore, this study aims at assessing and understanding the error made by using a depth-averaged model in a range of realistic conditions. For the definition of these conditions, typical values for the Scheldt Estuary and the Dutch-Belgian coast were taken. The realistic inspiration for the reactive tracer in this study is the fecal bacterium Escherichia coli, whose own dynamics are characterised by settling and gradual decay by mortality. In an attempt to understand the relative importance of several factors like settling, mortality, mixing and stratification on the error made by a depth-averaged approach, a number of simplified test cases were investigated. It follows that, as expected, the error is acceptable if the situation is mixing-dominated. However, the effect of mortality and stratification was less obvious in advance. For instance, it appeared that errors can also be significant if settling and mortality have the same characteristic timescales. Stratification often has the effect to increase the error made by the depth-averaged model.     

污水湿地处理工艺优化组合设计

污水湿地处理系统是利用土壤、作物、微生物自然净化功能的生态工程技术。主要有水面湿地和渗滤湿地两种类型,在天津城市污水土地处理与利用系统研究的基础上,将两种工艺的优点进行优化组合,并应用于大港油田等污水湿地处理工程,运行结果表明：将水面湿地和渗滤湿地工艺优化组合设计的示范工程,具有提高水力负荷、减少运行费用、节省工程投资、处理效果稳定等特点,有利于处理工程的长期稳定运行。     

拉萨巴嘎雪湿地土壤重金属分布及生态风险评价

巴嘎雪湿地是西藏拉萨河流域的代表性湿地之一.文章为了解巴嘎雪湿地的重金属分布特征,在2018年10月采集了巴嘎雪湿地的表层土壤样品,对土壤中的Cu、Zn、Cr、Ni、Pb、Cd、As、Hg重金属的含量进行了检测.巴嘎雪湿地表层土壤的重金属污染评价采用的方法主要包括内梅罗综合污染指数法、地积累指数法和潜在生态风险指数法....     

烷基酚类化合物的联合雌激素效应

利用鲫鱼卵黄蛋白原诱导作用的雌激素效应研究烷基酚类化合物的联合雌激素效应,通过对鲫鱼血浆卵黄蛋白原含量的相对变化和化合物暴露浓度的非线性回归分析得出17β-雌二醇(E2)、辛基苯酚(PP)、壬基苯酚(p353-NP)及其等毒性同定比例混合物雌激素效应的剂量-反应关系,应用相加作用数学模型根据单个化合物的剂量反应关系可预测混合物效应,各化合物非线性回归分析结果均以Weibull函数拟合效果最好,决定系数R2分别为0.93,0.94,0.96和0.81,半效应浓度值EC50及其95%置信区间分别为0.092(0.080-0.107),63.89(53.90-71.26),152.61(140.11-168.38),11.11(8.54-14.00)μg·l-1;在各个浓度范围内,得出的混合物效应与通过浓度相加或反应相加模型计算得出的混合物效应有很好的一致性,而简单效应相加法得出的结果误差较大;表明了3种雌激素化合物呈现相加作用方式,在低于单个化合物的有效作用浓度下也会产生显著的混合物效应,效应大小取决于化合物的作用性质、暴露量和质量比例.     

湿地生态系统服务功能评估研究进展

介绍了湿地生态系统服务功能评估发展历程和生态系统服务价值评估的理论基础,对湿地生态服务功能评估的流程、方法、指标体系建立给出了参考范例,并探讨了生态服务价值评估在方法和技术上需要改进的几个方面,主要包括评价方法的统一、生态过程价值的理解、计量参数修正、标准和体系的选择、对生态服务功能状态好坏分级评估。阐述了生态系统服务价值评估还存在某些问题及有待今后发展的理论和方法来改进和完善的途径。     

矿山废弃地生态退化程度评价

矿山废弃地是受采矿影响极度退化的生态系统,生态退化程度评价是对矿山废弃地生态质量现状、环境影响和治理难度的评估过程,可用于指导矿山废弃地生态环境影响评价和生态恢复规划编制等。本文分别尾矿库、露采迹地、排岩场和压占区4种矿山废弃地类型,采用兼顾自然因子和人为干扰强度因子的评价方法,通过对主要生态、环境问题的分析,选择导致生态系统退化的主要因子或易于反映生态系统质量的自然因子和人为干扰强度因子作为生态退化评价指标,评价指标来自于工程设计条件、土壤、植被和地质安全性4个方面;首先采用层次分析法确定各评价指标权重,其中占用面积和地表破坏程度是最最要的指标;在生态退化等级划分基础上确定了各评价指标的域值,并将各指标量化和标准化,计算各生态退化等级的综合得分值变化范围,建立了矿山废弃地生态退化程度综合评价方法体系,将生态退化程度划分为可自然恢复、可治理、难于治理和不能治理4个等级。最后,针对遵化市典型民营铁矿进行了案例适用性分析,并对不同退化等级的废弃地进行了生态防护措施分析。     

Ecological issues and risk assessment in China

As a result of economic development and population explosion, global ecological environments have been severely disturbed and markedly changed. An ecological crisis involving desertification, soil erosion, degradation of land quality, loss of biodiversity and global climate change has been brought about all over the world. In order to manage ecosystems efficiently, it is necessary to assess ecological risk at multiple scales. Ecological risk is the probability that a region and/or site will experience defined ecological or environmental problems. In this paper, the ecological risks of soil erosion, desertification, and acid deposition have been assessed on a national scale according to natural and human factors, such as topography, soil, vegetation and climate. This assessment has provided very useful information for ecological environmental management in China.     

种群水平生态风险评价方法概述及其在环境管理中的应用

生态风险评价的目的是保护生态系统功能的完整性、稳定性和持久性,为环境风险管理提供理论依据。然而,目前常见的用于保护生物的化学污染物浓度阈值大多是以个体水平的毒性试验结果为基础,忽略了物种在时间和空间相互作用等因素,不能够完全保护生态环境安全和生态系统功能的延续性。本文从生态风险评价的概念、目的和意义引出种群水平生态风险评价在环境管理应用的重要性,综述了种群水平生态风险评价的科学问题(如密度依赖、遗传变异和空间结构等),归纳了种群水平风险评价主要模型方法及其应用(如Euler-Lotka方程、预测矩阵、个体模型、空间模型和动态能量预算模型等),列举了各国现有法律法规中关于种群水平生态风险评价的规定,以期为种群水平生态风险评价方法研究及在环境管理中的应用提供有益借鉴。     

Environmental impact assessment for aquatic ecosystems of industrial effluents†

A system of environmental impact assessment of industrial effluents is presented and discussed. Environmental assessment consists of three phases, hazard assessment, risk determination, and societary evaluation. It is regarded an integrated study of natural sciences, i.e. ecochemicology (chemical fate), ecotoxicology (toxical effects), and ecoepidemiology (biological damages); and social sciences, e.g. geography, sociology, and economy. And the outcome should be the basis of political decision making. Hazard assessment may be divided into a subphase of hazard identification from a base set of scientific information on the industrial effluent, and a second subphase of hazard analysis at a more elevated level of scientific information akin to the procedures suggested elsewhere for single chemicals. Methods of hazard assessment are laboratory experiments, e.g. chemical analysis, degradation and bioaccumulation studies, acute and chronic toxicity assessments, physical modelling, etc. Risk determination may then be conducted by extrapolation of the obtained results from laboratory to field, i.e. by risk estimation to the receiving waters, using methods of hydraulic modelling, biological surveillance, etc. Risk‐benefit evaluation is conducted in the society evaluation phase by balancing environmental consequences against the society value of the production. The outcome is determined by the interaction between hazard‐makers (industry), risk‐takers (administrators), guardians (regulators), and assessors (scientists) in risk management, the crank of environmental assessment.     

Evaluating the environmental impacts of an urban wetland park based on emergy accounting and life cycle assessment: A case study in Beijing

In this paper, emergy accounting (EA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) methods are employed to investigate a typical urban wetland park, the Green Lake Urban Wetland Park (GLUWP) of Beijing, in terms of its environmental and capital inputs, ecosystem services and organic matter yields, environmental support, and sustainability. The LCA method is also used to obtain a quantitative estimation of the environmental impact of discharges during the entire life cycle of the GLUWP. Various emergy-based indices, such as emergy yield ratio (EYR), environmental load ratio (ELR), emergy sustainability index (ESI), net economic benefit (Np), and environmental impacts of process-based LCA, including global warming potential (GWP), eutrophication (EU), nonrenewable resource depletion (RU), energy consumption (EN), acidification potential (AP), photochemical oxidant creation potential (POCP), particulate matter (PM) and wastes (W), are calculated. The results show that the GLUWP has higher proportions of renewable resource input, less pressure on the environment, more environmental support and better ecological and economic benefits, which can be considered as an environment-friendly and long-term sustainable ecological practice, compared with another constructed wetland in Beijing. Meanwhile, the dominant environmental impact is induced by POCP with the construction phase contributing the most on the entire life cycle. It is expected that increasing green area, extensively using environment-friendly materials, optimizing construction techniques and reducing power consumption can promote the sustainability of the GLUWP.     

潜流人工湿地中有机污染物降解机理研究综述

人工湿地是一种完整的生态系统,它是利用系统中发生的物理、化学和生物等多重协同作用实现对污水的净化功能.开展潜流人工湿地中废水处理的机理、湿地内部有机污染物的迁移转化、湿地工艺设计及其水力学、动力学参数的研究,对环境废水中有机污染物的去除及生态安全具有重要意义.文章主要从化学、生物、设计参数等方面论述了人工湿地废水处理中有机污染物的降解及其机理研究进展.化学因素主要包括溶解性有机质(DOM)对有机污染物的迁移转化、氧化还原环境(Redox)及废水中电子受体的存在对有机质的分解状况、不同溶解氧(DO)水平为厌氧、好氧细菌对有机物的生物降解及湿地内反应动力学模型建立等因素对废水中有机污染物降解的作用及影响;生物因素主要涉及植物和微生物的作用,湿地中的生物降解是有机污染物的主要去除方式;在工艺参数方面,主要就水流特性、孔隙度、停留时间(HRT)、水力负荷(HLR)和水位等因素对湿地中有机污染物去除的影响进行了探讨.