Specific features of the growth of Scots pine vegetative organs in the forest-steppe zone of Cisbaikalia

The dependence of the annual increment of vegetative organs on air temperature and humidity and the amount of precipitation per phenophase, as well as the period of their growth in Scots pine, were studied in the forest-steppe zone of Cisbaikalia. The multiple effect of variation in environmental conditions on the annual increment of organs increased when precipitation in September of the previous year was taken into account. These factors proved to have a stronger effect on variation in the annual increment of needles (R ² = 0.59, p = 0.00005) than that in the annual ring width (R ² = 0.38, p = 0.0002).     

Impacts of wastewater sludge amendments in restoring nitrogen cycle in p-nitrophenol contaminated soil

The possible impacts on nitrogen-cycle in a p-nitrophenol (PNP) polluted soil and the e ectiveness of wastewater sludge amendments in restoring nitrification potential and urease activity were evaluated by an incubation study. The results indicated that PNP at 250 mg/kg soil inhibited urease activity, nitrification potential, arginine ammonification rate and heterotrophic bacteria counts to some extents. After exposure to PNP, the nitrification potential of the tested soil was dramatically reduced to zero over a period of 30 days. Based on the findings, nitrification potential was postulated as a simple biochemical indicator for PNP pollution in soils. Nitrogen-cycling processes in soils responded positively to the applications of wastewater sludges. A sludge application rate of 200 tons/ha was su cient for successful biostimulation of these nitrogen processes. The microbial activities in sludge-amended, heavy PNP-polluted soils seemed to recover after 30–45 days, indicating the e ectiveness of sludge as a useful soil amendment.     

Factors affecting the direct mineralization of CO2 with olivine

Olivine, one of the most abundant minerals existing in nature, is explored as a CO2 carbonation agent for direct carbonation of CO2 in flue gas. Olivine based CO2 capture is thermodynamically favorable and can form a stable carbonate for long-term storage. Experimental results have shown that water vapor plays an important role in improving CO2 carbonation rate and capacities. Other operation conditions including reaction temperature, initial CO2 concentration, residence time corresponding to the flow rate of CO2 gas stream, and water vapor concentration also considerably affect the performance of the technology.     

水中汞形态分析研究进展

水环境中的汞毒性很大,不同形态的汞毒性不同,测定汞总量不能揭示汞的毒性,需要进行汞形态分析的研究。文章介绍了近年来水环境中汞形态分析的前处理技术及检测进展。     

Nitrogen mass balance in a constructed wetland treating piggery wastewater effluent

The nitrogen changes and the nitrogen mass balance in a free water surface flow constructed wetland （CW） using the four-year monitoring data from 2008 to 2012 were estimated. The CW was composed of six cells in series that include the first settling basin （Cell 1）, aeration pond （Cell 2）, deep marsh （Cell 3）, shallow marsh （Cell 4）, deep marsh （Cell 5） and final settling basin （Cell 6）. Analysis revealed that the NH4＋-N concentration decreased because of ammonification which was then followed by nitrification. The NO4＋-N and NO4＋-N were also further reduced by means of microbial activities and plant uptake during photosynthesis. The average nitrogen concentration at the influent was 37,819 kg/year and approximately 45% of that amount exited the CW in the effluent. The denitrification amounted to 34% of the net nitrogen input, whereas the accretion of sediment was only 7%. The biomass uptake of plants was able to retain only 1% of total nitrogen load. In order to improve the nutrient removal by plant uptake, plant coverage in four cells （i.e., Cells 1, 3, 4 and 5） could be increased.     

常见卫星传感器在蓝藻水华监测中的应用进展

在全球气候变暖的背景下,湖泊富营养化程度日益加剧导致了全球范围内蓝藻水华暴发频次和暴发范围的逐步增加。利用传统水质监测方法实现蓝藻水华的实时动态监测尚存困难,而遥感技术具有监测范围广、速度快和成本低等优势,于蓝藻水华动态监测中得到了广泛应用。文章在介绍湖泊蓝藻水华遥感监测的原理和方法的基础上,对几种常见卫星传感器在湖泊蓝藻水华监测中的应用现状进行了总结,对比了各种传感器和反演模型的优缺点,最后对目前湖泊蓝藻水华遥感监测研究中存在的不足和发展方向作了分析和展望。     

A new Dasypodini armadillo (Xenarthra: Cingulata) from San Gregorio Formation,Pliocene of Venezuela: affinities and biogeographic interpretations

We describe Pliodasypus vergelianus gen. et sp. nov., a Dasypodini armadillo from the middle Pliocene of Venezuela (Vergel Member, San Gregorio Formation). Although scarce, the remains are remarkable because of their geochronologic proximity to the main phase of Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI). The cladistic analysis conducted reveals that Pliodasypus groups with Dasypus and both are sister taxa of Propraopus, whereas Anadasypus is at a basal position. With respect to the records of tribe Dasypodini, after its oldest representative (Anadasypus, middle and late Miocene), the chronologically subsequent form is Pl. vergelianus (middle Pliocene), followed by Dasypus bellus in higher northern latitudes (late Pliocene), and then by widespread occurrences in the Pleistocene of North America (D. bellus) and South America (Propraopus, Dasypus punctatus, and Dasypus novemcinctus). Thus, we infer that Dasypus differentiated in the late Pliocene at low latitudes in the northern South America. It leads to two alternative hypotheses of dispersal: (a) some early Dasypus remained cryptically in South America until the Pleistocene, whereas others dispersed to North America between 2.2 and 2.7 Ma, or (b) they dispersed to North America subsequently to the emersion of the Panamanian isthmus and D. bellus differentiated there; later, during the Pleistocene, D. bellus entered South America and experienced speciation. The same process of re-ingression has been proposed to other xenarthrans, breaking with the traditional assumption that the GABI was unidirectional.     

A time-compressed simulated geomagnetic storm influences the nest-exiting flight angles of the stingless bee Tetragonisca angustula

Insects have been used as models for understanding animal orientation. It is well accepted that social insects such as honeybees and ants use different natural cues in their orientation mechanism. A magnetic sensitivity was suggested for the stingless bee Schwarziana quadripunctata, based on the observation of a surprising effect of a geomagnetic storm on the nest-exiting flight angles. Stimulated by this result, in this paper, the effects of a time-compressed simulated geomagnetic storm (TC-SGS) on the nest-exiting flight angles of another stingless bee, Tetragonisca angustula, are presented. Under an applied SGS, either on the horizontal or vertical component of the geomagnetic field, both nest-exiting flight angles, dip and azimuth, are statistically different from those under geomagnetic conditions. The angular dependence of ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) spectra of whole stingless bees shows the presence of organized magnetic nanoparticles in their bodies, which indicates this material as a possible magnetic detector.     

深圳市表层土壤多环芳烃污染及空间分异研究

以深圳为研究区域,选择土壤为研究对象,以多环芳烃(polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,PAHs)为目标物,采集表层土壤样品188个,调查样品中PAHs的赋存状态,以此为基础,分析土壤PAHs污染水平与城市化进程的关系,并初步评估深圳土壤中PAHs的生态风险.结果表明,表层土壤中的28种PAHs(Σ28PAHs)、16种美国环保署优控PAHs(Σ16PAHs)和7种致癌PAHs(Σ7CarPAHs)的含量范围分别为5~7 939 ng·g-1、2~6 745 ng·g-1和未检出~3 786 ng·g-1.8种土地利用类型中Σ16PAHs平均含量由高到低依次为:交通用地、商业用地、工业用地、农业用地、居住用地、城市绿地、果园和林地.来源分析表明,化石燃料的燃烧是建设用地和非建设用地样品Σ16PAHs的主要来源,贡献率分别为75.1%和68.2%.研究还发现高分子量PAHs浓度和城市化水平呈显著正相关关系,深圳市土壤中PAHs生态风险总体处于较低水平.     

Trail laying during tandem-running recruitment in the ant Temnothorax albipennis

Tandem running is a recruitment strategy whereby one ant leads a single naïve nest mate to a resource. While tandem running progresses towards the goal, the leader ant and the follower ant maintain contact mainly by tactile signals. In this paper, we investigated whether they also deposit chemical signals on the ground during tandem running. We filmed tandem-running ants and analysed the position of the gasters of leaders and followers. Our results show that leader ants are more likely to press their gasters down to the substrate compared to follower ants, single ants and transporter ants. Forward tandem-run leaders (those moving towards a new nest site) performed such trail-marking procedures three times more often than reverse tandem leaders (those moving towards an old nest site). That leader ants marked the trails more often during forward tandem runs may suggest that it is more important to maintain the bond with the follower ant on forward tandem runs than on reverse tandem runs. Marked trails on the ground may serve as a safety line that improves both the efficiency of tandem runs and their completion rates.