Irrigation system and land use effect on surface water quality in river, at lake Dianchi, Yunnan, China

The surface water samples were collected in river Dahe and its tributaries, which flow into severely eutrophic lake Dianchi, Yunnan Province, China, in order to elucidate factors controlling water quality fluctuations. The temporal and spatial distribution of water quality tendency was observed. The water quality of each river is dependent on the hydrology effect such water gate and circulating irrigation system. We must consider the hydrology effect to accurately understand water quality variations of river in this study field. In river without highly circulating irrigation system or water gate effect, the downstream nitrate nitrogen (NO₃-N) concentration increase occurred in area dominated by open field cultivation, whereas the NO₃-N concentration was constant or decreased in area dominated by greenhouse land use. This result suggests that greenhouse covers the soil from precipitation, and nitrate load of greenhouse could be less than that of open field cultivation while the rainfall event. In the upper reaches of river, where is dominated by open field cultivation, there were no sharp increase dissolved molybdate reactive phosphorus and total phosphorus concentration, but P load was accumulated in the lower reaches of river, whose predominant land use is greenhouse. Although the P sources is unclear in this study, greenhouse area may have potential of P loads due to its high P content in greenhouse soil. Considering hydrology effect is necessary to determine what the major factor is influencing the water quality variation, especially in area with highly complicated irrigation system in this studying site.     

Identification of microbial populations contributing to nitrification-associated nitrous oxide emission during cattle manure composting process with forced aeration

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - This study was conducted to clarify the fates of whole nitrogen cycle-associated microorganisms during laboratory-scale composting of cattle manure...     

An unusual archosaurian from the marine Triassic of China

A new Triassic archosaurian from China shows a number of aquatic specializations, of which the most striking is the extreme lateral compression of the long tail. Others that may also reflect aquatic adaptations include platelike scapula and coracoid, elongate neck with extremely long and slender ribs, and reduction of osteoderms. In contrast, its pelvic girdle and hind limb have no aquatic modifications. Anatomic features, taphonomy, and local geological data suggest that it may have lived in a coastal–island environment. This lifestyle, convergent with some Jurassic marine crocodyliforms that lived at least 40 million years later and the saltwater species of extant Crocodylus, contradicts with the prevailing view that Triassic archosaurians were restricted to nonmarine ecosystems. Its mosaic anatomy represents a previously unknown ecomorph within primitive archosaurians.Electronic Supplementary Material  Supplementary material is available for this article at     

Utilization of water chestnut for reclamation of water environment and control of cyanobacterial blooms

Overgrowth of water chestnut (Trapa spp.) is a regional problem throughout Asia and North America because of waterway blockage and water fouling upon decomposition. In the present study, we investigated the potential of water chestnut to control cyanobacterial blooms, via a high content of phenolic compounds. In addition, we assessed the impact of biomass harvesting and crude extract application on nutrient balance. We showed that the floating parts of water chestnut contained high concentrations of total phenolics (89.2 mg g^?1 dry weight) and exhibited strong antioxidant activity (1.31 mmol g^?1 dry weight). Methanol-extracted phenolics inhibited growth of Microcystis aeruginosa; the half maximal effective concentration (EC₅₀) of the extracted phenolics was 5.8 mg L^?1, which was obtained from only 103 mg L^?1 of dry biomass (the floating and submerged parts). However, the crude extracts also added important quantities of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (1.49, 1.05, and 16.3 mg g^?1, respectively; extracted dry biomass weight basis); therefore, in practice, nutrient removal before and/or after the extraction is essential. On the other hand, biomass harvesting enables recovery of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from the water environment (23.1, 2.9, and 18.7 mg g^?1, respectively; dry biomass weight basis). Our findings indicate that water chestnut contains high concentrations of phenolics and exhibits strong antioxidant activity. Utilization of these resources, including nutrients, will contribute to reclamation of the water environment, and also to disposal of wet biomass.     

Nematomorph parasites drive energy flow through a riparian ecosystem

Parasites are ubiquitous in natural systems and ecosystem-level effects should be proportional to the amount of biomass or energy flow altered by the parasites. Here we quantified the extent to which a manipulative parasite altered the flow of energy through a forest-stream ecosystem. In a Japanese headwater stream, camel crickets and grasshoppers (Orthoptera) were 20 times more likely to enter a stream if infected by a nematomorph parasite (Gordionus spp.), corroborating evidence that nematomorphs manipulate their hosts to seek water where the parasites emerge as free-living adults. Endangered Japanese trout (Salvelinus leucomaenis japonicus) readily ate these infected orthopterans, which due to their abundance, accounted for 60% of the annual energy intake of the trout population. Trout grew fastest in the fall, when nematomorphs were driving energy-rich orthopterans into the stream. When infected orthopterans were available, trout did not eat benthic invertebrates in proportion to their abundance, leading to the potential for cascading, indirect effects through the forest-stream ecosystem. These results provide the first quantitative evidence that a manipulative parasite can dramatically alter the flow of energy through and across ecosystems.     

Characteristics of gas-liquid pulsed discharge plasma reactor and dye decoloration efficiency

The pulsed high-voltage discharge is a new advanced oxidation technology for water treatment. Methyl Orange (MO) dye wastewater was chosen as the target object. Some investigations were conducted on MO decoloration including the discharge characteristics of the multi-needle reactor, parameter optimization, and the degradation mechanism. The following results were obtained. The color group of the azo dye MO was effectively decomposed by water surface plasma. The decoloration rate was promoted with the increase of treatment time, peak voltage, and pulse frequency. When the initial conductivity was 1700 μS/cm, the decoloration rate was the highest. The optimum distance between the needle electrodes and the water surface was 1 mm, the distance between the grounding electrode and the water surface was 28 mm, and the number of needle electrodes and spacing between needles were 24 and 7.5 mm, respectively. The decoloration rate of MO was affected by the gas in the reactor and varied in the order oxygen > air> argon > nitrogen, and the energy yield obtained in this investigation was 0.45 g/kWh.     

Bacterial community succession during the enrichment of chemolithoautotrophic arsenite oxidizing bacteria at high arsenic concentrations

To generate cost-effective technologies for the removal of arsenic from water, we developed an enrichment culture of chemolithoautotrophic arsenite oxidizing bacteria (CAOs) that could effectively oxidize widely ranging concentrations of As(III) to As(V). In addition, we attempted to elucidate the enrichment process and characterize the microbial composition of the enrichment culture. A CAOs enrichment culture capable of stably oxidizing As(III) to As(V) was successfully constructed through repeated batch cultivation for more than 700 days, during which time the initial As(III) concentrations were increased in a stepwise manner from 1 to 10-12 mmol/L. As(III) oxidation activity of the enrichment culture gradually improved, and 10-12 mmol/L As(III) was almost completely oxidized within four days. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis showed that the dominant bacteria in the enrichment culture varied drastically during the enrichment process depending on the As(III) concentration. Isolation and characterization of bacteria in the enrichment culture revealed that the presence of multiple CAOs with various As(III) oxidation abilities enabled the culture to adapt to a wide range of As(III) concentrations. The CAOs enrichment culture constructed here may be useful for pretreatment of water from which arsenic is being removed.     

Solid health care waste management status at health care centers in the West Bank – Palestinian Territory

Health care waste is considered a major public health hazard. The objective of this study was to assess health care waste management (HCWM) practices currently employed at health care centers (HCCs) in the West Bank – Palestinian Territory. Survey data on solid health care waste (SHCW) were analyzed for generated quantities, collection, separation, treatment, transportation, and final disposal. Estimated 4720.7 m³ (288.1 tons) of SHCW are generated monthly by the HCCs in the West Bank. This study concluded that: (i) current HCWM practices do not meet HCWM standards recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) or adapted by developed countries, and (ii) immediate attention should be directed towards improvement of HCWM facilities and development of effective legislation. To improve the HCWM in the West Bank, a national policy should be implemented, comprising a comprehensive plan of action and providing environmentally sound and reliable technological measures.