Demographic Forecasting in Koala Conservation

Abstract: The koala currently needs conservation intervention. There is clear evidence of decline in many populations, but the existence of other stable or expanding populations offers the possibility of a variety of creative solutions to their conservation problems. The 1998 National Koala Conservation Strategy emphasizes the need to obtain demographic information and to use this information to assess management options for koalas. We need accurate diagnoses of the status of koala populations and forecasts of their demographic future with and without particular management actions. In a qualitative fashion, this process has been undertaken many times on a local and national scale. Quantitative demographic forecasting tools are increasingly available, and koala management could benefit from their application both at the scale of individual populations and more broadly. There is already a considerable body of suitable data on the dispersal, effects of normal and catastrophic environmental variation on reproduction and survival, and on the effects of habitat change. Demographic forecasting, however, is hampered because the full suite of information is rarely available from a single population. In two Queensland populations, retrospective population viability analyses provided forecasts that were in agreement with observed population trends. Work is needed to determine whether data from one population can be applied to other populations. Models can then be developed to make projections at a multipopulation level on the basis of local population dynamics and dispersal. Certain koala populations, because of their long history of study, offer the opportunity to test demographic models retrospectively. These tests will not only aid in fine-tuning the models for koala biology and data but will also assist with the more general process of validating the models.     

Poisoned plusiines: toxicity of milkweed latex and cardenolides to some generalist caterpillars

Summary. Larvae of Trichoplusia ni Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) that ingested latex from Asclepias curassavica L. (Asclepiadaceae) often regurgitated and convulsed with spasms before becoming immobile and unresponsive. Some larvae required over a day to recover sufficiently to feed. Latices from four other plant species in three families were all deterrent, but none caused detectable poisoning. The toxicity of A. curassavica latex was evidently due to cardenolides because pure cardenolides had similar effects when ingested by T. ni. Other species of noctuid caterpillars (Rachiplusia ou Guenée, Anagrapha falcifera Kirby, and Autographa precationis Guenée) sometimes also suffered spasms and temporary immobility when fed A. curassavica latex. A more distantly related noctuid, Spodoptera ornithogalli, was deterred by the latex, but showed no overt physiological responses at the dosage tested. T. ni larvae failed to develop on intact leaves of A. curassavica, on leaves with latex canals deactivated by midrib severance, and on excised leaves. Similarly, larvae reared on excised A. syriaca L. leaves to the final instar died when transferred to A. curassavica leaves with either intact or severed midribs. The final instar larvae sometimes suffered from spasms and immobility even when confined on leaves with depressurized canal systems. Evidently, cardenolides stored outside the latex system suffice to poison larvae. We conclude that cardenolides in A. curassavica have potent physiological effects on some generalist caterpillars and that the presence of these compounds both inside and outside laticifers effectively protects the plant. Received 30 June 1999; accepted 18 October 1999     

An experimental study on recolonization and succession of marine macrobenthos in defaunated sediment

Hypoxia/anoxia in coastal waters is a world wide problem which often results in mass mortality and defaunation of benthos. In this study, field experiments were carried out to examine recolonization and succession of macrobenthic infauna in defaunated sediments, and the time required for recovery from complete defaunation to a stable community. Trays (33 cm length × 25.5 cm width × 11 cm depth) of defaunated sediment were exposed at the subtidal of a pristine site in subtropical Hong Kong. Temporal changes of macrobenthic communities in defaunated sediment were analyzed by univariate and multivariate statistics, and compared with those in undisturbed natural sediment at the same site. Initial colonization of macrobenthos occurred rapidly. A total of 42 species was found, with an average of 258 animals per tray and 24 species per tray recorded in the first month. Abundance showed a small peak (496 animals per tray) after 3 months, reached a sharp peak (1154 animals per tray) after 6 months, and declined thereafter. Species number increased gradually, reached a maximum (68 species per tray) after 9 months, and then decreased. Recolonization was predominantly contributed by larval settlement rather than adult migration. Temporal changes in abundance, species number and diversity of the macrobenthic community in defaunated sediment resemble the spatial changes along a decreasing pollution gradient previously defined by other authors. Results of this experiment suggest that newly available sediment may allow more species to colonize (or coexist) than sediment pre-occupied by an established community. This is probably due to less interspecific competition in the former habitat. No significant difference in abundance or species richness was observed between defaunated and natural sediments after 15 months, suggesting that a stable community had been achieved, although minor variations in species composition were still discernible between defaunated and natural sediments. Received: 24 May 1999 / Accepted: 20 October 1999     

Sorption of polar and nonpolar aromatic compounds to four surface soils of eastern China

Improved predictions on the fate of organic pollutants in surface environments require a better understanding of the underlying sorption mechanisms that control their uptake by soils. In this study, we monitored sorption of nine aromatic compounds with varying physicochemical properties (hydrophobicity, electron-donor/acceptor ability and polarity), including two polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, two chlorobenzenes, two nitroaromatic compounds, dichlobenil, carbaryl and 2,4-dichlorophenol in aqueous suspension of four surface soils of eastern China. The tested soils were characterized with respect to organic carbon (OC) content, black carbon content, mineralogy, morphology and size fraction to assess the role of the diverse soil characteristics in sorption. The results of this study show that not only the solute hydrophobicity and the OC content of soil are important to the retention of organic pollutants, but also the solute molecular structure and the soil nature.     

50所长江沿岸高校实验废液排放情况调查与分析

目的：了解长江沿岸高校实验室废液排放情况及现状。方法：以问卷调查方式,对长江沿岸高校实验室操作程序、管理制度、废液排放情况进行调查。结果：38％的高校管理制度不完善,68％的高校实验操作不规范,44％的学校环保意识宣传不到位,62％的高校实验废液未处理就直接排放。结论：高校实验室正成为长江生态环境恶化的污染源．我国应制定和完善相关法律,加强实验废液处理,杜绝高校成为长江水质污染新的根源。     

高地应力下深部硐室底鼓破坏围岩稳定性分析∗

为研究西部山区高地应力作用下深部硐室的稳定性问题,根据普氏压力拱理论,综合考虑深部硐室冒顶,片帮以及底鼓破坏,建立了高地应力下深部硐室底鼓破坏模式,基于极限分析上限法和非线性 Hoek?Brown 破坏准则,推导了该破坏模式下深部硐室的围岩压力理论公式,求解了该破坏模式下深部硐室围岩压力上限解,并将本文结果与数值模拟和已有成果进行对比分析。此外,通过该破坏模式研究了各参数对围岩压力和潜在破坏面的影响。结果表明：（1）随着初始地应力场参数中 σ_V和 λ 增大,深部地下硐室围岩压力 q 逐渐增大,硐室围岩潜在破坏面逐渐增大,其中 σ_V表现尤为显著;（2） Hoek?Brown 破坏准则参数中 GSI、σ_ci和 m_i的增大对深部硐室围岩稳定性有明显的提高效应,而 D 增加则会降低硐室围岩的稳定性;（3）随着底部压力相关系数 μ 增加,深部地下硐室顶板和两帮的围岩压力表现为减小的趋势。研究成果可为深部硐室的支护设计提拱有效的理论支撑。     

人工湿地污水处理系统脱氮研究进展

系统地介绍了人工湿地去除污水中氮污染物的机理及国内外研究进展，详细阐述了影响人工湿地污水处理系统脱氮的内、外界因素，对于人工湿地污水处理工艺的推广应用提供科学依据。     

用废腈纶制备高分子增稠剂

以废腈纶为原料，经碱法水解反应和扩链反应制取乳液用高分子增稠剂。水解工艺条件为水解温度95℃，水解时间4h；水解配方为m(PAN)：m(NaOH)：m(H2O)=1：0．6：5；扩链反应温度95℃，扩链反应时间约4h。对不同乳液体系进行的增稠性能评价及应用表明，利用该技术制备出的高分子增稠剂性能优良，应用范围广泛。现已建成一套生产能力为1000t/a的工业装置。     

安徽明光市凹凸棒石粘土资源的开发利用

安徽明光市凹凸棒石粘土资源丰富，在我国稀有非金属矿产资源中占有重要地位。通过调查明光市凹凸棒石粘土资源、的基本状况和开发利用现状特征，分析了资源开发利用中存在的问题，提出了可持续发展的对策建议。