Ammonia emission factors from broiler litter in barns, in storage, and after land application

We measured NH? emissions from litter in broiler houses, during storage, and after land application and conducted a mass balance of N in poultry houses. Four state-of-the-art tunnel-ventilated broiler houses in northwest Arkansas were equipped with NH? sensors, anemometers, and data loggers to continuously record NH? concentrations and ventilation for 1 yr. Gaseous fluxes of NH?, N?O, CH?, and CO? from litter were measured. Nitrogen (N) inputs and outputs were quantified. Ammonia emissions during storage and after land application were measured. Ammonia emissions during the flock averaged approximately 15.2 kg per day-house (equivalent to 28.3 g NH?per bird marketed). Emissions between flocks equaled 9.09 g NH? per bird. Hence, in-house NH? emissions were 37.5 g NH? per bird, or 14.5 g kg(-1) bird marketed (50-d-old birds). The mass balance study showed N inputs for the year to the four houses totaled 71,340 kg N, with inputs from bedding, chicks, and feed equal to 303, 602, and 70,435 kg, respectively (equivalent to 0.60, 1.19, and 139.56 g N per bird). Nitrogen outputs totaled 70,396 kg N. Annual N output from birds marketed, NH? emissions, litter or cake, mortality, and NO? emissions was 39,485, 15,571, 14,464, 635, and 241 kg N, respectively (equivalent to 78.2, 30.8, 28.7, 1.3, and 0.5 g N per bird). The percent N recovery for the N mass balance study was 98.8%. Ammonia emissions from stacked litter during a 16-d storage period were 172 g Mg(-1) litter, which is equivalent to 0.18 g NH? per bird. Ammonia losses from poultry litter broadcast to pastures were 34 kg N ha (equivalent to 15% of total N applied or 7.91 g NH? per bird). When the litter was incorporated into the pasture using a new knifing technique, NH? losses were virtually zero. The total NH? emission factor for broilers measured in this study, which includes losses in-house, during storage, and after land application, was 45.6 g NH? per bird marketed.     

Genotypic richness and phenotypic dissimilarity enhance population performance

Increases in biodiversity can result from an increase in species richness, as well as from a higher genetic diversity within species. Intraspecific genetic diversity, measured as the number of genotypes, can enhance plant primary productivity and have cascading effects at higher trophic levels, such as an increase in herbivore and predator richness. The positive effects of genotypic mixtures are not only determined by additive effects, but also by interactions among genotypes, such as facilitation or inhibition. However, so far there has been no effort to predict the extent of such effects. In this study, we address the question of whether the magnitude of the effect of genotype number on population performance can be explained by the extent of dissimilarity in key traits among genotypes in a mixture. We examine the relative contribution of genotype number and phenotypic dissimilarity among genotypes to population performance of the soil arthropod, Orchesella cincta. Nearly homogeneous genotypes were created from inbred isofemale lines. Phenotypic dissimilarity among genotypes was assessed in terms of three life-history traits that are associated with population growth rate, i.e., egg size, egg development time, and juvenile growth rate. A microcosm experiment with genotype mixtures consisting of one, two, four, and eight genotypes, showed that genotypic richness strongly increased population size and biomass production and was associated with greater net diversity effects. Most importantly, there was a positive log-linear relationship between phenotypic dissimilarity in a mixture and the net diversity effects for juvenile population size and total biomass. In other words, the degree of phenotypic dissimilarity among genotypes determined the magnitude of the genotypic richness effect, although this relationship leveled off at higher values of phenotypic dissimilarity. Although the exact mechanisms responsible for these effects are currently unknown, similar advantages of trait dissimilarity have been found among species. Hence, to better understand population performance, genotype number and phenotypic dissimilarity should be considered collectively.     

Mercury and selenium concentrations in the crab Callinectes arcuatus from three coastal lagoons of NW Mexico

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Mercury and selenium concentrations and Se:Hg molar ratio in edible muscle and hepatopancreas of the crab Callinectes arcuatus from coastal lagoons of...     

宜宾夜鹭卵中有机氯农药及其代谢物的赋存特征

于2017年在四川省宜宾市采集黑冠夜鹭(Nycticorax nycticorax)卵样30枚(包括9枚无胚卵和21枚胚胎卵),分析了样品中有机氯农药(OCPs)的残留状况.结果表明,宜宾夜鹭卵中检出了8种OCPs残留物,总含量为4.76～97.9 ng·g~(-1)(以湿重计).其中,p,p′-滴滴伊(p,p′-DDE)含量最高((20±18) ng·g~(-1)),其次为六氯苯(HCB,(5.3±3.4) ng·g~(-1))和β-六六六(β-HCH,(1.1±0.8) ng·g~(-1));滴滴涕类(∑DDTs)中的稳定代谢物p,p′-DDE和六六六类(∑HCHs)中的稳定同分异构体β-HCH占比均在99%以上.p,p′-滴滴涕(p,p′-DDT)和p,p′-DDE在无胚卵蛋液中的残留水平比在胚胎卵蛋液中更高一些,而反式九氯则相反,其余OCPs无差别,这说明鹭卵在孵化过程中p,p′-DDT可能易于代谢,而稳定的p,p′-DDE更容易向胚胎传递.宜宾夜鹭卵中p,p′-DDE的最高含量为84 ng·g~(-1),远低于鹭科繁殖效应阈值(1000 ng·g~(-1)).总体上,夜鹭卵中OCPs的赋存状况较好地反映出长江上游地区OCPs污染水平较低,对夜鹭繁殖的影响较小.     

Arsenic in the top predators sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) and dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) off the southeastern Gulf of California

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - Distribution of arsenic (As) in tissues and gonads of the Indo-Pacific sailfish Istiophorus platypterus and the dolphinfish Coryphaena hippurus from the SE...     

Importance of timely metadata curation to the global surveillance of genetic diversity

Genetic diversity within species represents a fundamental yet underappreciated level of biodiversity. Because genetic diversity can indicate species resilience to changing climate, its measurement is relevant to many national and global conservation policy targets. Many studies produce large amounts of genome-scale genetic diversity data for wild populations, but most (87%) do not include the associated spatial and temporal metadata necessary for them to be reused in monitoring programs or for acknowledging the sovereignty of nations or Indigenous peoples. We undertook a distributed datathon to quantify the availability of these missing metadata and to test the hypothesis that their availability decays with time. We also worked to remediate missing metadata by extracting them from associated published papers, online repositories, and direct communication with authors. Starting with 848 candidate genomic data sets (reduced representation and whole genome) from the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration, we determined that 561 contained mostly samples from wild populations. We successfully restored spatiotemporal metadata for 78% of these 561 data sets (n = 440 data sets with data on 45,105 individuals from 762 species in 17 phyla). Examining papers and online repositories was much more fruitful than contacting 351 authors, who replied to our email requests 45% of the time. Overall, 23% of our email queries to authors unearthed useful metadata. The probability of retrieving spatiotemporal metadata declined significantly as age of the data set increased. There was a 13.5% yearly decrease in metadata associated with published papers or online repositories and up to a 22% yearly decrease in metadata that were only available from authors. This rapid decay in metadata availability, mirrored in studies of other types of biological data, should motivate swift updates to data-sharing policies and researcher practices to ensure that the valuable context provided by metadata is not lost to conservation science forever.     

一种新的基于图模型的间歇过程故障监测方法

目前多元统计方法被广泛用于间歇过程故障监测并已经取得了比较好的效果。但是,统计模型的可解释性能比较差,很难直接利用操作人员积累的安全经验。为应对这些不足,提出了一种基于图模型的间歇过程故障监测方法。利用提出的定性建模方法,过程机理及操作人员的安全经验能够方便地表达。利用在线的过程变量数据和正向推理算法推断生产应处于的状态,利用安全知识及时地发现生产异常。当推断的结论与在线测得的结果矛盾或过程变量超过设定的安全限时,给出解释性输出。通过一个间歇反应案例,验证了提出的方法在模型的可解释性和利用安全经验方面的优势。