Understanding how the aboveground net primary production (ANPP) of arid and semiarid ecosystems of the world responds to variations in precipitation is crucial for assessing the impacts of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems. Rain-use efficiency (RUE) is an important measure for acquiring this understanding. However, little is known about the response pattern of RUE for the largest contiguous natural grassland region of the world, the Eurasian Steppe. Here we investigated the spatial and temporal patterns of ANPP and RUE and their key driving factors based on a long-term data set from 21 natural arid and semiarid ecosystem sites across the Inner Mongolia steppe region in northern China. Our results showed that, with increasing mean annual precipitation (MAP), (1) ANPP increased while the interannual variability of ANPP declined, (2) plant species richness increased and the relative abundance of key functional groups shifted predictably, and (3) RUE increased in space across different ecosystems but decreased with increasing annual precipitation within a given ecosystem. These results clearly indicate that the patterns of both ANPP and RUE are scale dependent, and the seemingly conflicting patterns of RUE in space vs. time suggest distinctive underlying mechanisms, involving interactions among precipitation, soil N, and biotic factors. Also, while our results supported the existence of a common maximum RUE, they also indicated that its value could be substantially increased by altering resource availability, such as adding nitrogen. Our findings have important implications for understanding and predicting ecological impacts of global climate change and for management practices in arid and semiarid ecosystems in the Inner Mongolia steppe region and beyond. 相似文献
The Japanese eel has dramatically declined in Asia since the 1970s. Over the past two decades, glass eel productivity in Taiwan has decreased, but is highly variable among each year catch, though the cause for this is unknown. The impact of both population decline and instability on genetic diversity, however, is unknown. In this study, we investigated changes in allele frequencies of Japanese eel recruitment events over the past 20 years using six polymorphic microsatellite DNA loci. Specimens of glass eels were collected yearly from a single location in northern Taiwan from 1986 to 2007. Overall genetic differentiation among all samples was very low but significant (FST = 0.002, P = 0.002), and only 2 out of 120 pairwise tests were significant. The relationship between genetic and temporal distance showed a slight but insignificant correlation (R2 = 0.03, P = 0.0504). There were no overall significant differences in allelic richness (P = 0.35) or genetic heterozygosity (P = 0.73) among annual recruitment events. No apparent loss of genetic diversity and occurrence of a genetic bottleneck for eel populations were observed. Estimates of the effective population size (Ne) generally exceeded 500, although confidence intervals were very wide. While El Niño /Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events had little impact on genetic diversity, they may account for the annual fluctuation in glass eel catch. These results indicate long-term stability of genetic diversity in the Japanese eel with little evidence for sweepstakes recruitment. 相似文献
In this research, a risk assessment was undertaken in order to develop the remediation and management strategy of a contaminated
gunnery site, where a nearby flood controlling reservoir is under construction. Six chemicals, including explosives and heavy
metals, posing potential risk to environmental and human health, were targeted in this study. A site-specific conceptual site
model was constructed, based on effective, reasonable exposure pathways, to avoid any overestimation of the risk. Also, conservative
default values were adapted to prevent underestimation of the risk when site-specific values were not available. The risks
posed by the six contaminants were calculated using the API’s Decision Support System for Exposure and Risk Assessment, with
several assumptions. In the crater-formed-area (Ac), the non-carcinogenic risks (i.e., HI values) of tri-nitro-toluene (TNT)
and Cd were slightly larger than 1, but for RDX (Royal Demolition Explosives) was over 50. The total non-carcinogenic risk
of the whole gunnery range was calculated to be 62.5, which was a significantly high value. The carcinogenicity of Cd was
estimated to be about 10−3, while that for Pb was about 5 × 10−4, which greatly exceeded the generally acceptable carcinogenic risk level of 10−4–10−6. It was concluded from the risk assessment that there is an immediate need for remediation of both carcinogens and non-carcinogens
before construction of the reservoir. However, for a more accurate risk assessment, further specific estimations of the changes
in environmental conditions due to the construction of the reservoir will be required; and more over, the effects of the pollutants
to the ecosystem will also need to be evaluated. 相似文献
We demonstrated a method to form magnetic antimicrobial POHABA (poly-N,N′-[(4,5-dihydroxy-1,2-phenylene)bis(methylene)]bisacrylamide)-based core-shell nanostructure by free-radical polymerization of OHABA on the Fe3O4 core surface. The magnetic antimicrobial agent Fe3O4@POHABA can be used in domestic water treatment against bacterial pathogens. The thickness of POHABA shell could be controlled from 10.4 ± 1.2 to 56.3 ± 11.7 nm by the dosage of OHABA. The results of antimicrobial-activity test indicated that POHABA-based core-shell nanostructure had broad-spectrum inhibitory against Gram-negative, Gram-positive bacteria and fungi. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of Fe3O4@POHABA nanostructure against Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis were both 0.4 mg/mL. Fe3O4@POHABA nanostructures responded to a permanent magnet and were easily recycled. Fe3O4@POHABA nanoparticles retained 100% antimicrobial efficiency for both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria throughout eight recycle procedures.