Measurement of real time black carbon for investigating spot loading effects of Aethalometer data

Measurements of real-time continuous PM_2.5 black carbon (BC) concentrations were made using a single-wavelength Aethalometer (@880 nm) in three different environments, i.e., an indoor office, a residential indoor living room and an urban site, to evaluate the difference in temporal behaviors of BC particles and investigate the optical shadowing effect in the Aethalometer BC data. An empirical method was used for correcting the optical saturation effect on the original BC data obtained from the measurements at the three sites. Also, the elemental carbon (EC) concentrations from 24-h filter-based measurements of PM_2.5 particles were determined using a thermal optical transmittance (TOT) method at the same urban site for comparison with the Aethalometer BC results. Transient events of BC were often observed for period of a few hours at all sites, reaching a maximum level of 27.3 μg m^?3 at the urban site. The diurnal cycles of the BC concentrations observed at the two indoor environments were found to be considerably affected by the air exchange rate, occupants' behavior patterns and nearby traffic emissions. The time-series plots of the Aethalometer data showed obvious discontinuities at the filter spot change, and a rise in the apparent BC concentrations after filter tape advances. Also, the relationship between the attenuation and BC concentration was found to be non-linear at all sites. The empirical approach presented here demonstrated a definite improvement in the continuity of the BC data across the time gaps of each tape advance. The compensated BC concentration was 1.10–1.23 times greater than the raw BC data, depending on the observation sites, with the highest difference observed between the raw and compensated BC data at an indoor office near a small traffic road. The 24-h integrated EC concentration was approximately 12% higher than the original 24-h average BC concentration and 6% lower than the loading compensated BC concentration, showing that the loading compensation process accounted for the saturation effect of the filter tape.     

Defining the balance point between conservation and development

In the face of the current global ecological crisis and the threats it poses to human survival and security, the fundamental solution is to resolve the deep contradiction between conservation and economic development. We considered the 3 key and basic questions of why to protect, how much to protect, and where to protect natural areas. Human survival depends on functioning ecosystems and the ecosystem services they provide. In this regard, conserving core biodiversity conservation priority areas (BCPAs) can provide maximum conservation benefit. The goals of protected area (PA) systems globally and nationally must be clearly defined so as to sustain the survival and development of people and to coordinate and balance other objectives with this goal at the center. There is an urgent need to study, calculate, and define the extent of the natural world to ensure the well-being of people. We call this area over which natural areas of land and sea extend across the world or a country nature proportion (N%). Especially, a minimum area that ensures human survival should be protected, and we suggest that this area should cover core BCPAs so that it can achieve the maximum conservation benefit. These recommendations could be applied at global or national levels. The Chinese government proposes “developing a protected-area system composed mainly of national parks,” and it has unified the administration of PAs into a central management authority. At this key time in the reform of the PA system, should this proposal be adopted, conservation will garner the greatest social consensus and support, and planning at the national level for BCPA coverage will be improved. We believe these recommendations are critical for China and other countries and extremely important for the world because they will pave the way toward a balance between nature conservation and human development as the projected human population reaches 10 billion by 2050.     

Long-term declines of European insectivorous bird populations and potential causes

Evidence of declines in insect populations has recently received considerable scientific and societal attention. However, the lack of long-term insect monitoring makes it difficult to assess whether declines are geographically widespread. By contrast, bird populations are well monitored and often used as indicators of environmental change. We compared the population trends of European insectivorous birds with those of other birds to assess whether patterns in bird population trends were consistent with declines of insects. We further examined whether declines were evident for insectivores with different habitats, foraging strata, and other ecological preferences. Bird population trends were estimated for Europe (1990–2015) and Denmark (1990–2016). On average, insectivores declined over the study period (13% across Europe and 28% in Denmark), whereas omnivores had stable populations. Seedeaters also declined (28% across Europe; 34% in Denmark), but this assessment was based on fewer species than for other groups. The effects of insectivory were stronger for farmland species (especially grassland species), for ground feeders, and for cold-adapted species. Insectivory was associated with long-distance migration, which was also linked to population declines. However, many insectivores had stable populations, especially habitat generalists. Our findings suggest that the decline of insectivores is primarily associated with agricultural intensification and loss of grassland habitat. The loss of both seed and insect specialists indicates an overall trend toward bird communities dominated by diet generalists.     

用GC-三级四极杆MS/MS一次进样筛选鱼和飞灰样品基质中四至八氯代PCDD/Fs的方法

用高分离能力的气相色谱-高分辨质谱(HRGC-HRMS)核实二噁英/呋喃是一项昂贵又费时的分析工作,需要高素质的仪器操作人员,而在认证分析前采用筛选法检查样品是检测不出还是浓度超出HRGC-HRMS方法定量范围,可以大大地减少HRGC-HRMS实验室的工作负荷.最新提供的信息表明约10%筛选过的样品需用HRGC-HRMS认证/核实.有些GC/MS/MS方法需要多次进样以获得有毒和无毒的PCDD/Fs,或用功能变换法[1-4]可以确保检测出所有的有毒的2,3,7,8-氯代PCDD/Fs,但损失某些无毒的PCDD/Fs(2,3,7,8氯代PCDD/Fs除外).     

Simulating the influences of various fire regimes on caribou winter habitat.

Caribou are an integral component of high-latitude ecosystems and represent a major subsistence food source for many northern people. The availability and quality of winter habitat is critical to sustain these caribou populations. Caribou commonly use older spruce woodlands with adequate terrestrial lichen, a preferred winter forage, in the understory. Changes in climate and fire regime pose a significant threat to the long-term sustainability of this important winter habitat. Computer simulations performed with a spatially explicit vegetation succession model (ALFRESCO) indicate that changes in the frequency and extent of fire in interior Alaska may substantially impact the abundance and quality of winter habitat for caribou. We modeled four different fire scenarios and tracked the frequency, extent, and spatial distribution of the simulated fires and associated changes to vegetation composition and distribution. Our results suggest that shorter fire frequencies (i.e., less time between recurring fires) on the winter range of the Nelchina caribou herd in eastern interior Alaska will result in large decreases of available winter habitat, relative to that currently available, in both the short and long term. A 30% shortening of the fire frequency resulted in a 3.5-fold increase in the area burned annually and an associated 41% decrease in the amount of spruce-lichen forest found on the landscape. More importantly, simulations with more frequent fires produced a relatively immature forest age structure, compared to that which currently exists, with few stands older than 100 years. This age structure is at the lower limits of stand age classes preferred by caribou from the Nelchina herd. Projected changes in fire regime due to climate warming and/or additional prescribed burning could substantially alter the winter habitat of caribou in interior Alaska and lead to changes in winter range use and/or population dynamics.     

Studies on the bacteriological qualities of the Buffalo River and three source water dams along its course in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

The Buffalo River and its dams are major surface water sources used for fresh produce irrigation, raw water abstraction and recreation in parts of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. Over a 12-month period (August 2010 to July 2011), we assessed the bacteriological qualities of water from the river and 3 source water dams along its course. Faecal indicator bacteria (FIB), including total coliform (TC), faecal coliform (FC) and enterococci (ENT) counts, were high and ranged as follows: 1.9?×?10²–3.8?×?10⁷, 0–3.0?×?10⁵ and 0–5.3?×?10⁵?cfu/100 ml for TC, FC and ENT, respectively. Significantly (P?<?0.05) higher concentrations of FC and ENT were observed at the sampling sites located at the lower reaches of the river compared to the upper reaches, and at Bridle Drift Dam compared to the other two dams. FIB counts mostly exceeded the recommended maximum values suggested by national and international guidelines for safe fresh produce irrigation, domestic applications, full-contact recreation and livestock watering. These results show that the bacteriological qualities of the Buffalo River and dams were poor, and suggest that sewage was dumped into the Buffalo River during the study period. Urban runoffs and effluents of wastewater treatment plants appear to be important sources of faecal contamination in the river. We conclude that these water bodies represent significant public health hazards. Provision of adequate sanitary infrastructure will help prevent source water contamination, and public health education aimed at improving personal, household and community hygiene is imperative.     

An Evaluation of Emissions and Control Technologies for the Metal Decorating Process

A simple but effective sampling and analytical procedure is described for determining total organics, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane emitted from web offset printing presses. Data are reported on a number of controlled and uncontrolled sources and emission levels are related to process variables such as press speed, ink coverage and dryer type. For controlled sources employing either catalytic or thermal incineration units, conversion efficiencies are reported as a function of temperature. Operational curves are presented for each control system studied indicating the dependency of carbon dioxide, NO_xt and organic output to incineration temperatures.     

Emergy-based fuzzy optimization approach for water reuse in an eco-industrial park

The establishment of an eco-industrial park (EIP) provides opportunity for individual plants to cooperate with each other in order to utilize resources efficiently and thus reduce waste. The goal of an EIP is to “close the loop” through recycling and reuse of material and energy streams. Studies show with current freshwater consumption trends there would be water stress aggravated by global warming in the near future. This paper presents a model to design an EIP water reuse network that considers overall system sustainability as measured with emergy, as well as cost saving desired by individual plants. Case studies from literature are then solved to illustrate the advantage of this method in decision making. The illustrative examples show how the model achieves a compromise among the potentially conflicting fuzzy goals of the various EIP stakeholders.