基于MODIS植被指数的浑善达克沙地植被物候变化

基于近20a MODIS的2种植被指数数据，利用Logistic曲线曲率极值法和动态阈值法，对浑善达克沙地植被物候进行了提取，分析其时空变化，并利用研究结果数据，分析植被物候对高程和气象因子的响应.结果表明，2000~2019年间研究区的植被物候呈微弱波动趋势，浑善达克沙地植被返青期（SOS）主要集中在110~140d，枯黄期（EOS）主要集中在250~280d，整体呈微弱推迟趋向（0.28d/a），生长季长度（LOS）主要集中在120~170d，整体呈微弱延长趋向（0.23d/a）.在空间分布上，占研究区51.51%的区域植被SOS呈提前趋势；占研究区67.02%的区域植被EOS呈提前趋势，并且占研究区32.98%的区域植被EOS呈推迟趋势.占研究区62.71%的区域植被LOS呈延长趋势.在海拔900~1500m区间，随着海拔升高，SOS显著推迟，EOS不显著提前，LOS显著缩短.前一年11、12月和当年1、2、4月降水量对SOS有提前作用.6、7、8、9月份气温和降水都对EOS推迟有明显的作用.总的来说，浑善达克沙地植被物候与气候因子的相应规律比较复杂，表现出季节性的差别及地形的差异性.     

Euro-trash: searching Europe for a more sustainable approach to waste management

How an economically affordable, environmentally effective and socially acceptable municipal solid waste management system can be developed is currently unclear. Considerable research has been carried out on the practical aspects of municipal waste management (i.e. transport, treatment and disposal) and how citizens feel about source separation, recycling, incineration and landfill but the perspective of the waste manager within the context of long term planning is often ignored. In this study, waste managers from 11 different leading-edge European municipal solid waste programs in nine different countries were interviewed. The economic, social, political, environmental, legal and technical factors of their specific programs were explored and analyzed. The transition of municipal solid waste management to urban resources management was observed and key ‘system drivers’ for more sustainable waste management practices were identified. Programs visited were: Brescia (I), Copenhagen (DK), Hampshire (UK), Helsinki (FI), Lahn-Dill-Kreis (D), Malmö (SE), Pamplona (E), Prato (I), Saarbrücken (D), Vienna (A), and Zürich (CH).     

Dye removal by biosorption using cross-linked chitosan-based hydrogels

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Synthetic dyes are an important class of recalcitrant organic compounds that are often found in the environment as a result of their wide industrial use....     

Photocatalytic degradation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in pure water system

Due to the low water solubility of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, organic solvent is usually added into the oxidation system to enhance the removal efficiency. In this study the photocatalytic degradation of decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE209), a type of polybrominated diphenyl ether used throughout the world, in pure water without the addition of organic solvent was investigated. In the pure water system, BDE209 was not dissolved but dispersed as nano-scale particles with a mean diameter of 166 nm. Most of BDE209 (>98%) were removed within 4 h and the final debromination ratio was greater than 80%. Although the addition of organic solvent (tetrahydrofuran, THF) could lead to a relatively high BDE209 degradation rate, the final debromination ratio (<50%) was much lower than that in pure water system. Major oxidation intermediates of tetrahydrofuran, including tetrahydro-2-furanol and γ-butyrolactone, were detected indicating the engagement of THF in the BDE209 degradation process. The photocatalytic degradation of BDE209 in the pure water system followed first-order kinetics. The BDE209 degradation rate constant increased from 0.0011 to 0.0023 min⁻¹ as the pH increased from 3 to 9.     

How complex do models need to be to predict dispersal of threatened species through matrix habitats?

Persistence of species in fragmented landscapes depends on dispersal among suitable breeding sites, and dispersal is often influenced by the "matrix" habitats that lie between breeding sites. However, measuring effects of different matrix habitats on movement and incorporating those differences into spatially explicit models to predict dispersal is costly in terms of time and financial resources. Hence a key question for conservation managers is: Do more costly, complex movement models yield more accurate dispersal predictions? We compared the abilities of a range of movement models, from simple to complex, to predict the dispersal of an endangered butterfly, the Saint Francis' satyr (Neonympha mitchellii francisci). The value of more complex models differed depending on how value was assessed. Although the most complex model, based on detailed movement behaviors, best predicted observed dispersal rates, it was only slightly better than the simplest model, which was based solely on distance between sites. Consequently, a parsimony approach using information criteria favors the simplest model we examined. However, when we applied the models to a larger landscape that included proposed habitat restoration sites, in which the composition of the matrix was different than the matrix surrounding extant breeding sites, the simplest model failed to identify a potentially important dispersal barrier, open habitat that butterflies rarely enter, which may completely isolate some of the proposed restoration sites from other breeding sites. Finally, we found that, although the gain in predicting dispersal with increasing model complexity was small, so was the increase in financial cost. Furthermore, a greater fit continued to accrue with greater financial cost, and more complex models made substantially different predictions than simple models when applied to a novel landscape in which butterflies are to be reintroduced to bolster their populations. This suggests that more complex models might be justifiable on financial grounds. Our results caution against a pure parsimony approach to deciding how complex movement models need to be to accurately predict dispersal through the matrix, especially if the models are to be applied to novel or modified landscapes.     

Flux by fin: fish-mediated carbon and nutrient flux in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico

Seagrass meadows are among the most productive ecosystems in the marine environment. It has been speculated that much of this production is exported to adjacent ecosystems via the movements of organisms. Our study utilized stable isotopes to track seagrass-derived production into offshore food webs in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. We found that gag grouper (Myctereoperca microlepis) on reefs as far as 90 km from the seagrass beds incorporate a significant portion of seagrass-derived biomass. The muscle tissue of gag grouper, a major fisheries species, was composed on average of 18.5–25% seagrass habitat-derived biomass. The timing of this annual seagrass subsidy appears to be important in fueling gag grouper egg production. The δ³⁴S values of gag grouper gonad tissues varied seasonally and were δ³⁴S depleted during the spawning season indicating that gag utilize the seagrass-derived biomass to support reproduction. If such large scale trophic subsidies are typical of temperate seagrass systems, then loss of seagrass production or habitat would result in a direct loss of offshore fisheries productivity.