Spatiotemporal changes and fragmentation of mangroves and its effects on fish diversity in Ca Mau Province (Vietnam)

Mangroves are important economically and ecologically, however mangrove cover has declined dramatically leading to habitat fragmentation and biodiversity loss. Information on mangrove cover change, fragmentation and impacts on fish diversity is poorly understood. The aims of this study are to detect spatiotemporal changes and mangrove status, examine fragmentation changes and associated effects on fish diversity. Landsat images in1989, 2000, and 2013 were used to classify mangrove cover in Ca Mau Province (Vietnam) and validated against high resolution Pleiades imagery. Fragmentation changes in mangrove cover were examined using series of landscape metrics evaluated against fish diversity indices (Simpson’s index, Jaccard’s coefficient and relative abundance). Results show that mangrove cover has declined 24.6% in the province. Currently, high and moderately dense mangroves distribute in southern half of the region while the low density mangroves occurs in the northern half. Over the 24 year study periods, the number of patches and edge density has increased 58% and 53.9%, respectively, while the mean patch size and mean patch edge has decreased 52.3% and 26.6%. Fish diversity in the more highly fragmented mangrove area was 1.78 times lower than the less fragmented mangrove. The study illustrates the applicability of using Landsat satellite imagery for use in mangrove fragmentation studies as well as the impact of fragmentation.     

Preparation of La-modified magnetic composite for enhanced adsorptive removal of tetracycline

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Composite adsorbents usually outperform single component adsorbents as they could combine the properties and advantages of each component. In this...     

The effects of residual tetracycline on soil enzymatic activities and plant growth

A pot trial was carried out to investigate the adverse effects of tetracycline (TC) on soil microbial communities, microbial activities, and the growth of ryegrass (Lolium perenne L). The results showed that the presence of TC significantly disturbed the structure of microbial communities and inhibited soil microbial activities in terms of urease, acid phosphatase and dehydrogenase (p < 0.05). Plant biomass was adversely influenced by TC, especially the roots with a reduction of 40% when compared with the control. Furthermore, TC decreased the assimilation of phosphorus by the plant although the concentration of phosphorus was increased by 20% due to decreased plant biomass. TC seemed to increase the concentration of dissolved organic carbon (by 20%) in soil. The findings implied that the agricultural use of animal manure or fishpond sediment containing considerable amounts of antibiotics may give rise to ecological risks.     

利用污泥熟肥作为高含水率污泥堆肥调理剂

采用静态强制通风好氧堆肥的方法,以木屑作为对比,考察了利用污泥熟肥作为调理剂对污泥堆肥过程的影响。结果表明,与以木屑作为调理剂的污泥堆体(对照组)相比,以污泥熟肥作为调理剂的污泥堆体(实验组)升温快,高温阶段(>50℃)持续时间长达10 d,满足粪便无害化卫生标准的要求,而对照组仅持续了2 d;实验组腐熟的堆肥含水率从60%降到39%,下降了21%,pH维持在7.5～8.5范围内,微生物活性较强,而对照组含水率仅下降15%,pH始终低于7.5;实验组种子发芽指数(GI)在第14天就回升到80%以上,基本上去除了植物毒性,而对照组GI在第22天才回升到50%。总体而言,污泥熟肥能显著改善堆肥中微生物的微环境,促进有机物的降解,缩短堆肥腐熟时间,是一种优质的调理剂。     

光催化氧化处理低浓度含醇废水实验

室内实验了TiO2紫外光催化氧化处理废水中的低浓度甲醇。通过对TiO2催化剂活性及添加方式、溶液pH、紫外光强与催化剂加量等参数优化,在TiO2加入浓度为300mg/L和120 W紫外灯照射条件下,对6.8L甲醇浓度为2.77%的低浓度含醇废水持续处理70min后,废水中的甲醇去除率可达98.31%。该实验为进一步处理低浓度含醇废水提供了方法依据。     

Influence of root-exudates concentration on pyrene degradation and soil microbial characteristics in pyrene contaminated soil

The effect of ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) root-exudates concentration on pyrene degradation and the microbial ecological characteristics in the pyrene contaminated soil was investigated by simulating a gradually reducing concentration of root exudates with the distance away from root surface in the rhizosphere. Results showed that, after the root-exudates were added 15 d, the pyrene residue in contaminated soil responded nonlinearly in the soils with the same pyrene contaminated level as the added root-exudates concentration increased, which decreased first and increased latter with the increase of the added root-exudates concentration. The lowest pyrene concentration appeared when the root exudates concentration of 32.75 mg kg(-1) total organic carbon (TOC) was added. At the same time, changes of microbial biomass carbon (MBC, C(mic)) and microbial quotient (C(mic)/C(org)) were opposite to the trend of pyrene degradation as the added root-exudates concentration increased. Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis revealed that bacteria was the dominating microbial community in pyrene contaminated soil, and the changing trends of pyrene degradation and bacteria number were the same. The changing trend of endoenzyme-dehydrogenase activity was in accordance with that of soil microbe, indicating which could reflect the quantitative characteristic of detoxification to pyrene by soil microbe. The changes in the soils microbial community and corresponding microbial biochemistry characteristics were the ecological mechanism influencing pyrene degradation with increasing concentration of the added root-exudates in the pyrene contaminated soil.     

活性污泥的耐盐驯化培养

以某污水处理厂二沉池好氧污泥为接种污泥,采用逐步提高盐度和稳定盐度2种方法对活性污泥进行耐盐性驯化培养,考察驯化结果表明,前一种方法更有利于耐盐菌的培养。对比不同盐度情况下各项指标的去除效果得出:本实验污泥适宜盐度为1%。使用稳定进水盐度的方法,出水指标及各指标的去除率均低于逐步提高盐度法,且镜检结果表明大量微生物死亡。     

Effect of organic amendments on the mobility of trace elements in phytoremediated techno-soils: role of the humic substances

The efficiency of aided phytostabilization using organic amendments such as ramial chipped wood (RCW) and composted sewage sludge (CSS) was studied on contaminated techno-soils, on nine experimental plots. The objective was to characterize the role of fulvic (FA) and humic acids (HA) on the mobilization of trace elements, specifically As, Cu, Mo, Pb and Zn. Results showed that the addition of CSS increased the total organic carbon and nitrogen content more than with RCW and as a result, the C/N ratio in the CSS soil was higher than in the RCW and non-amended (NE) soil, reflecting the high decomposition of soil organic matter in the CSS soil compared with the other soils. The RCW and CSS amendments increased the hydrogen index (HI) values and the oxygen index (OI) values compared with the NE soil, especially for the soil treated with CSS which contained more aliphatic than aromatic compounds. The addition of CSS to the techno-soil significantly increased the percentage of C _org associated with the HA fractions compared with the RCW and NE soils. The soil amended with CSS showed the highest E ₄/E ₆ ratio and the lowest E ₂/E ₃ ratio of FA. Zn and As were more abundant in the FA fraction than in the HA fraction, whereas Pb, Cu and Mo were more associated to HA than to FA in the treated and untreated soils, which may explain the difference in their mobility and availability.     

Cost comparison between private and public collection of residual household waste: Multiple case studies in the Flemish region of Belgium

The rising pressure in terms of cost efficiency on public services pushes governments to transfer part of those services to the private sector. A trend towards more privatizing can be noticed in the collection of municipal household waste. This paper reports the findings of a research project aiming to compare the cost between the service of private and public collection of residual household waste. Multiple case studies of municipalities about the Flemish region of Belgium were conducted. Data concerning the year 2009 were gathered through in-depth interviews in 2010. In total 12 municipalities were investigated, divided into three mutual comparable pairs with a weekly and three mutual comparable pairs with a fortnightly residual waste collection. The results give a rough indication that in all cases the cost of private service is lower than public service in the collection of household waste. Albeit that there is an interest in establishing whether there are differences in the costs and service levels between public and private waste collection services, there are clear difficulties in establishing comparisons that can be made without having to rely on a large number of assumptions and corrections. However, given the cost difference, it remains the responsibility of the municipalities to decide upon the service they offer their citizens, regardless the cost efficiency: public or private.