Estimates of black carbon and size-resolved particle number emission factors from residential wood burning based on ambient monitoring and model simulations

In this paper we derive typical emission factors for coarse particulate matter (PM(10)), oxides of nitrogen (NO(x)), black carbon (BC), and number particle size distributions based on a combination of measurements and air quality dispersion modeling. The advantage of this approach is that the emission factors represent integrated emissions from several vehicle types and different types of wood stoves. Normally it is very difficult to estimate the total emissions in cities on the basis of laboratory measurements on single vehicles or stoves because of the large variability in conditions. The measurements were made in Temuco, Chile, between April 18 and June 15, 2005 at two sites. The first one was located in a residential area relatively far from major roads. The second site was located in a busy street in downtown Temuco where wood consumption is low. The measurements support the assumption that the monitoring sites represent the impact of different emission sources, namely traffic and residential wood combustion (RWC). Fitting model results to the available measurements, emission factors were obtained for PM(10) (RWC = 2160 +/- 100 mg/kg; traffic = 610 +/- 51 mg/veh-km), NO(x) (RWC = 800 +/- 100 mg/kg; traffic = 4400 +/- 100 mg/veh-km), BC (RWC = 74 +/- 6 mg/kg; traffic = 60 +/- 3 mg/veh-km) and particle number (N) with size distribution between 25 and 600 nm (N(25-600)) (RWC = 8.9 +/- 1 x 10(14) pt/kg; traffic = 6.7 +/- 0.5 x 10(14) pt/veh-km). The obtained emission factors are comparable to results reported in the literature. The size distribution of the N emission factors for traffic was shown to be different than for RWC. The main difference is that although traffic emissions show a bimodal size distribution with a main mode below 30 nm and a secondary one around 100 nm, RWC emissions show the main mode slightly below 100 nm and a smaller nucleation mode below 50 nm.     

我国四个大气背景点颗粒物浓度及其元素分布特征

选择全国由南至北的4个大气背景站(广东南岭、湖北神农架、山西庞泉沟和吉林长白山),于2013年分4个季度同步采集环境空气颗粒物PM10和PM2.5样品,采用微波消解电感耦合等离子体质谱法测定滤膜样品中60余种元素.结果表明,4个背景点PM2.5日均质量浓度平均值为17μg·m-3,PM10为29μg·m-3,低于《环境空气质量标准》(GB 3095—2012)规定的一级浓度限值.第一季度的PM10和PM2.5最高,除长白山第三季度高于第四季度之外,其他3个点位均呈现第二季度第四季度第三季度的趋势.PM2.5和PM10二者呈线性正相关,4个季度的PM2.5/PM10比值均小于0.5,第二、第三季度较高,而第一、第四季度较低.PM10和PM2.5中元素随季节变化不大,PM2.5含量在同一水平上低于PM10.Na、Mg、Al、S、K、Ca、Fe、Zn质量浓度在0.1—10μg·m-3之间,P、Ti、Mn、Ni、Cu、Ba、Pb质量浓度在10—100 ng·m-3之间,Cd、Co、Ge、Ga、Zr、Sr、V等质量浓度在0.01—10 ng·m-3之间.K、Al、Ca含量大于10%,S、Mg、Na、Fe、Zn、Pb、Mn含量大于1%,Cu、P、Ba、Ti量介于0.5%—1%,其他痕量元素含量所占比例小于0.5%.     

Indoor air pollution due to organic gases and vapours of solvents in building materials

The emission of organic gases and vapours of solvent type from 42 commonly used building materials was measured under standard atmospheric conditions. An average of 22 compounds was found in the air around each building material, and the total concentration of gases and vapours was from 0.01 to 1410 mg/m³. The average arithmetic emission rate was 9.5 mg/m² h, and 52 different compounds were identified. A mathematical model was established for the indoor air concentrations of pollutants originating from building materials. The model was tested on three model rooms constructed from the materials investigated. The calculated total air concentrations of gases and vapours in the three rooms ranged from 1.6 to 23.6 mg/m³, and the number of compounds in the air from 23 to 32. These concentrations and number of compounds did not differ from those found in actual rooms similar in size and construction to the model rooms. The risks of health effects due to the compounds identified from the building materials were investigated, and criteria for future air quality standards are discussed. It is concluded that the possibility of negative health effects cannot be neglected, especially not for the more sensitive minority of the general population.     

Flower Constancy, Insect Psychology, and Plant Evolution

 Individuals of some species of pollinating insects tend to restrict their visits to only a few of the available plant species, in the process bypassing valuable food sources. The question of why this flower constancy exists is a rich and important one with implications for the organization of natural communities of plants, floral evolution, and our understanding of the learning processes involved in finding food. Some scientists have assumed that flower constancy is adaptive per se. Others argued that constancy occurs because memory capacity for floral features in insects is limited, but attempts to identify the limitations often remained rather simplistic. We elucidate now different sensory and motor memories from natural foraging tasks are stored and retrieved, using concepts from modern learning science and visual search, and conclude that flower constancy is likely to have multiple causes. Possible constraints favoring constancy are interference sensitivity of short-term memory, and temporal limitations on retrieving information from long-term memory as rapidly as from short-term memory, but further empirical evidence is needed to substantiate these possibilities. In addition, retrieving memories may be slower and more prone to errors when there are several options than when an insect copes with only a single task. In addition to memory limitations, we also point out alternative explanations for flower constancy. We then consider the way in which floral parameters, such as interplant distances, nectar rewards, flower morphology, and floral color (as seen through bees' eyes) affect constancy. Finally, we discuss the implications of pollinator constancy for plant evolution. To date there is no evidence that flowers have diverged to favor constancy, although the appropriate tests may not have yet been conducted. However, there is good evidence against the notion that pollinator constancy is involved in speciation or maintenance of plant species integrity.     

Fine colour discrimination requires differential conditioning in bumblebees

Accurate recognition requires that visual systems must be able to discriminate between target and distractor stimuli. Flowers are learned and recognised by bees using visual cues including colour and shape. We investigated whether bees were able to learn to discriminate between colours differently depending upon absolute or differential conditioning. For absolute conditioning bees were rewarded with sucrose solution for visits to target flowers. When distractor stimuli were subsequently presented, a high level of discrimination was observed if there was a perceptually large colour distance separating distractors and targets, but for a perceptually small colour distance the bees generalised and did not discriminate between stimuli. When provided with differential conditioning where both target and distractors were present, the bees learnt to discriminate stimuli separated by a perceptually small colour distance. This shows that for bees to learn fine colour discrimination tasks it is important to use differential conditioning. The findings are discussed within the context of the necessity for plants to produce distinctive flower colours.     

瑞典森林中不同地区的林下植被情况与氮沉积的关系

在557块针叶林分中进行调查,以图了解欧洲越桔(Vacciniummyrtillus)、越桔(V.vitis-idaea)和曲芒发草(Deschampsiaflexuosa)与氮沉积率的相互联系.欧洲越桔在高氮地区比在低氮地区发生频度、丰富度都较少并且易感染叶部病原(Valdensiaheterodoxa),越桔的发生与氮沉积的增加呈明显的负相关,曲芒发草却没有这种趋势.在高氮沉积地区,欧洲越桔在优势种为欧洲赤松的林分中比在挪威云杉为优势种的林分中更为最普遍.在氮沉积较低水平的地区不是这种情形.调查的情况与增施氮素实验的结果一致,氮沉积对植被显示了巨大的效应.数据表明即使是较低的氮沉积也可能减少针叶林分林下植被最优势种的丰富度.     

减少农田硝酸盐淋溶的可能性

农业土壤对自然水体中的硝酸盐含量有影响.从土壤中排出的高浓度的硝酸盐溶液关系到饮用水中硝酸盐的高浓度,同时,过量的硝酸盐还会改变河流、湖自的生态平衡.本文对通过改善农业措施减少硝酸盐淋溶这个重大环境问题进行了讨论.对农业土地硝酸盐淋溶的原因做了简略的解释,对于减少硝酸盐淋溶的现有措施做了描述、分析和评价.减少养分淋溶不是实施有机农业或传统农业所能解决的问题,而是应该通过引进和使用适当的对策来加以解决.为此,本文提出了最大限度地降低农业土壤养分淋溶的下述指导性原则,在某种程度上实施这些指导性原则需要一种新的观念:①在分析一个小流域内的养分淋溶时,应考虑到农田的环境指数和空间变异性对其的影响;②通过减少氮肥使用量和降低动物饲养密度,将土壤中的氮肥施用量降低到某一合理的水平,这一水平应稍低于土地预期最适产量的氮需求量;③依据不同地区耕作系统、土壤和气候对硝酸盐淋溶的敏感性,采取相应的对策来控制硝酸盐的淋溶,如作物间作、土地少耕或免耕、调节生物过程等.     

"21世纪的食物":寻找增进食物链可持续性的措施和工具的研究计划

"21世纪的食物",是一项包括整个农业食物链的跨学科研究计划,于1997～2004年在瑞典实施.该研究所面临的挑战是为整个食物链中存在的不可持续的活动提出环境分析工具和解决方案.这需要科学家和食物链利益相关人紧密合作.本文提出了一整套以可持续食物生产为特征的目标方案.综合和系统分析是用来分析拟定变化的可持续性的主要工具.在本文中我们对"21世纪的食物"的概念进行概述,同时着重说明一些结论.例如,我们发现:就环境影响和产品质量而言,总体上来说,有机农业及其产品并不比常规的产品和方法优越.项目所采用的一些管理经验非常独特,这也是项目成功完成的重要原因,所以本文中我们对此也进行了总结.