Aging activity of DDE in dissimilar rice soils in a greenhouse experiment

A green-house study was conducted in late 2005 to investigate the aging behavior of p,p'-DDE in two types of soil, Hydragric Anthrosols (An) and Hydragric Acrisols (Ac), according to the World Reference Base (WRB) [FAO/ISRIC/ISSS. 1998. World reference base for soil resources. World soil resources reports, Rome. p. 87]. Paddy rice and dry rice were grown in submerged paddy soils and non-submerged upland soils, respectively. The concentration of extractable p,p'-DDE in fresh DDE-spiked soils was 746.2ngg(-1). During the first few weeks of the experiment, the extractability of p,p'-DDE became increasingly low as the aging period prolonged. However, certain amount of p,p'-DDE that had been captured by soil minerals and organic matter (OM) could be released and became extractable in the later period. The extractability of p,p'-DDE in submerged soils was significantly lower than that in non-submerged soil, because flooding could increase the binding of pollutants to soil particles. The plantation of both dry rice and paddy rice slowed down the aging process of p,p'-DDE. After one month's growth of rice, p,p'-DDE bound to soil particles was released and became extractable. The OM and silt content of An are higher than that of Ac, resulting in more bound residues and relative lower extractability of p,p'-DDE in An. In addition, the extractability of p,p'-DDE could be reduced by the addition of rice straw to soils.     

Single-source impact analysis using three-dimensional air quality models

Isolating the effects of an individual emissions source on secondary air pollutants such as ozone and some components of particulate matter must incorporate complex nonlinear processes, be sensitive to small emissions perturbations, and account for impacts that may occur hundreds of kilometers away. The ability to evaluate these impacts is becoming increasingly important for efficient air quality management. Here, as part of a recent compliance enforcement action for a violation of the Clean Air Act and as an evaluation of ozone response to single-source emissions plumes, two three-dimensional regional photochemical air quality models are used to assess the impact on ozone from approximately 2000 to 3000 excess t/month of nitrogen oxides emitted from a single power plant in Ohio. Periods in May, July, and August are evaluated. Two sensitivity methods are applied: the "brute-force" (B-F) method and the decoupled direct method (DDM). Using DDM, maximum 1-hr averaged ozone concentrations are found to increase by up to 1.8, 1.3, and 2.2 ppbv during May, July, and August episodes, respectively, and concentration increases greater than 0.5 ppbv occur in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, West Virginia, Virginia, and North and South Carolina. B-F results for the August episode show a maximum 1-hr averaged ozone concentration increase of 2.3 ppbv. Significant localized decreases are also simulated, with a maximum of 3.6 ppbv in Ohio during the August episode and decreases of 0.50 ppbv and greater in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia. Maximum increases are compared with maximum decreases for the August period using second-order DDM and are found, in aggregate, to be greater in magnitude by 42%. When evaluated during hours when ozone concentrations exceed 0.060 ppm, the maximum increases in ozone are higher than decreases by 82%. The spatial extent of ozone increase in both cases is about triple that of reduction.     

Trends in snowpack chemistry and comparison to National Atmospheric Deposition Program results for the Rocky Mountains, US, 1993–2004

Seasonal snowpack chemistry data from the Rocky Mountain region of the US was examined to identify long-term trends in concentration and chemical deposition in snow and in snow-water equivalent. For the period 1993–2004, comparisons of trends were made between 54 Rocky Mountain Snowpack sites and 16 National Atmospheric Deposition Program wetfall sites located nearby in the region. The region was divided into three subregions: Northern, Central, and Southern. A non-parametric correlation method known as the Regional Kendall Test was used. This technique collectively computed the slope, direction, and probability of trend for several sites at once in each of the Northern, Central, and Southern Rockies subregions. Seasonal Kendall tests were used to evaluate trends at individual sites.Significant trends occurred during the period in wetfall and snowpack concentrations and deposition, and in precipitation. For the comparison, trends in concentrations of ammonium, nitrate, and sulfate for the two networks were in fair agreement. In several cases, increases in ammonium and nitrate concentrations, and decreases in sulfate concentrations for both wetfall and snowpack were consistent in the three subregions. However, deposition patterns between wetfall and snowpack more often were opposite, particularly for ammonium and nitrate. Decreases in ammonium and nitrate deposition in wetfall in the central and southern rockies subregions mostly were moderately significant (p<0.11) in constrast to highly significant increases in snowpack (p<0.02). These opposite trends likely are explained by different rates of declining precipitation during the recent drought (1999–2004) and increasing concentration. Furthermore, dry deposition was an important factor in total deposition of nitrogen in the region. Sulfate deposition decreased with moderate to high significance in all three subregions in both wetfall and snowpack. Precipitation trends consistently were downward and significant for wetfall, snowpack, and snow-telemetry data for the central and southern rockies subregions (p<0.03), while no trends were noted for the Northern Rockies subregion.     

污泥龄对LSP & PNR污泥减量新工艺运行效能的影响

通过研究分析污泥龄（SRT）对富磷污水除磷的LSP&PNR污泥减量新工艺运行效果的影响,结果发现,延长污泥龄有利于提高系统的厌氧释磷能力,但不影响其总的除磷率,同时磷的回收比例增大,当SRT=50 d时,磷回收率取得最大值70.4％;LSP&PNR系统污泥龄增加,还有利于污泥产率的降低。试验还发现,排富磷污水除磷的长污泥龄LSP&PNR系统的除磷效率与污泥产率之间不存在制约关系,即系统可以同时获得优异的污泥减量与生物除磷效果,当SRT=50 d时,每降解1 kg COD仅产生0.143 kg污泥,而除磷率达最高值928％;LSP&PNR系统中SRT、DO与SVI之间存在一定的相关性,在供氧充足（DO＝0.8～1.5 mg/L）条件下,SRT增加,SVI越高,但对于SRT为50 d的LSP&PNR系统,稳定运行时没有污泥膨胀之虞。     

Fenton法氧化处理水中土霉素的研究

为了评价Fenton法预处理抗生素生产废水中残留的高浓度土霉素的可行性,对Fenton试剂(Fe2 -H2O2)法催化氧化降解水溶液中的土霉素进行了研究.探讨了H2O2与Fe2 投加比例、投加量以及起始pH值对降解效果的影响,同时考察了土霉素废水中大量共存的草酸根离子对氧化过程的影响.结果表明,当H2O2与Fe2 按照5:1的比例投加时降解效率最高,最佳初始pH值在3.0-4.0之间.在最佳投加比例下,H2O2投加量为0.9 mmol/L,100 mg/L的土霉素可在10 min内得到完全降解.最佳反应条件下经过处理后土霉素水溶液TOC的去除率达40%左右,可生化性(BOD5/COD)也得到明显的改善.水中共存的草酸根离子对氧化效率具有明显的影响,但通过增加亚铁离子的量可以消除草酸的影响.     

Serial Correlation and Inter-annual Variability in Relation to the Statistical Power of Monitoring Schemes to Detect Trends in Fish Populations

We studied the effects of inter-annual variability and serial correlation on the statistical power of monitoring schemes to detect trends in biomass of bream (Abramis brama) in Lake Veluwemeer (The Netherlands). In order to distinguish between 'true' system variability and sampling variability we simulated the development of the bream population, using estimates for population structure and growth, and compared the resulting inter-annual variabilities and serial correlations with those from field data. In all cases the inter-annual variability in the field data was larger than in simulated data (e.g. for total biomass of all assessed bream sigma = 0.45 in field data, and sigma = 0.03-0.14 in simulated data) indicating that sampling variability decreased statistical power for detecting trends. Moreover, sampling variability obscured the inter-annual dependency (and thus the serial correlation) of biomass, which was expected because in this long-lived population biomass changes are buffered by the many year classes present. We did find the expected serial correlation in our simulation results and concluded that good survey data of long-lived fish populations should show low sampling variability and considerable inter-annual serial correlation. Since serial correlation decreases the power for detecting trends, this means that even when sampling variability would be greatly reduced, the number of sampling years to detect a change of 15%.year(-1) in bream populations (corresponding to a halving or doubling in a six-year period) would in most cases be more than six. This would imply that the six-year reporting periods that are required by the Water Framework Directive of the European Union are too short for the existing fish monitoring schemes.     

Short-term effects of gaseous pollutants on cause-specific mortality in Wuhan, China

In Asia, limited studies have been published on the association between daily mortality and gaseous pollutants of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), and sulfur dioxide (SO2). Our previous studies in Wuhan, China, demonstrated long-term air pollution effects. However, no study has been conducted to determine mortality effects of air pollution in this region. This study was to determine the acute mortality effects of the gaseous pollutants in Wuhan, a city with 7.5 million permanent residents during the period from 2000 to 2004. There are approximately 4.5 million residents in Wuhan who live in the city's core area of 201 km2, where air pollution levels are highest, and pollution ranges are wider than the majority of the cities in the published literature. We used the generalized additive model to analyze pollution, mortality, and covariate data. We found consistent NO2 effects on mortality with the strongest effects on the same day. Every 10-microg/m3 increase in NO2 daily concentration on the same day was associated with an increase in nonaccidental (1.43%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.87-1.99%), cardiovascular (1.65%; 95% CI: 0.87-2.45%), stroke (1.49%; 95% CI: 0.56-2.43%), cardiac (1.77%; 95% CI: 0.44-3.12%), respiratory (2.23%; 95% CI: 0.52-3.96%), and cardiopulmonary mortality (1.60%; 95% CI: 0.85-2.35%). These effects were stronger among the elderly than among the young. Formal examination of exposure-response curves suggests no-threshold linear relationships between daily mortality and NO2, where the NO2 concentrations ranged from 19.2 to 127.4 microg/m3. SO2 and O3 were not associated with daily mortality. The exposure-response relationships demonstrated heterogeneity, with some curves showing nonlinear relationships for SO2 and O3. We conclude that there is consistent evidence of acute effects of NO2 on mortality and suggest that a no-threshold linear relationship exists between NO2 and mortality.     

Reproductive success of monogamous and polygynous pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca)

One of the most interesting aspects of the mating system of pied flycatchers is the regular occurrence of polygyny. Here we present data on the reproductive success of polygynously paired pied flycatcher males compared to monogamous males based on paternity analyses through DNA fingerprinting. Males paired with two females suffered a higher loss in reproductive output per female compared to monogamous males due to (1) a greater proportion of unhatched eggs in their broods, (2) greater nestling mortality and (3) a greater probability of being cuckolded. Nevertheless, the number of fledglings was significantly greater for polygynous males. Based on the number of nestlings that returned for subsequent breeding seasons, however, the reproductive success of monogamous and polygynous males did not differ significantly. These data raise the question as to why males attempt polygyny. Received: 16 August 1999 / Received in revised form: 15 March 2000 / Accepted: 18 March 2000     

Training Captive-Bred or Translocated Animals to Avoid Predators

Abstract: Animal reintroductions and translocations are potentially important interventions to save species from extinction, but most are unsuccessful. Mortality due to predation is a principal cause of failure. Animals that have been isolated from predators, either throughout their lifetime or over evolutionary time, may no longer express appropriate antipredator behavior. For this reason, conservation biologists are beginning to include antipredator training in pre-release preparation procedures. We describe the evolutionary and ontogenetic circumstances under which antipredator behavior may degenerate or be lost, and we use principles from learning theory to predict which elements can be enhanced or recovered by training. The empirical literature demonstrates that training can improve antipredator skills, but the effectiveness of such interventions is influenced by a number of constraints. We predict that it will be easier to teach animals to cope with predators if they have experienced ontogenetic isolation than if they have undergone evolutionary isolation. Similarly, animals should learn more easily if they have been evolutionarily isolated from some rather than all predators. Training to a novel predator may be more successful if a species has effective responses to similar predators. In contrast, it may be difficult to teach proper avoidance behavior, or to introduce specialized predator-specific responses, if appropriate motor patterns are not already present. We conclude that pre-release training has the potential to enhance the expression of preexisting antipredator behavior. Potential training techniques involve classical conditioning procedures in which animals learn that model predators are predictors of aversive events. However, wildlife managers should be aware that problems, such as the emergence of inappropriate responses, may arise during such training.