接种不同普通活性污泥培养厌氧氨氧化污泥的研究

采用厌氧氨氧化反应器（ASBR）,分别以普通厌氧活性污泥、混合污泥、好氧活性污泥为种泥,通过对氨氮,NO2^--N等指标监测、分析及污泥颜色的观察,研究采用不同普通活性污泥为种泥启动ASBR的可行性及差异。结果表明．ASBR反应器A和B成功启动,C因反应器故障．启动失败。采用厌氧活性污泥为接种污泥（反应器A）,当进水N的容积负荷为kg／（m^3·d）时,氨氮平均去除率为14.4％。P（NO2^--N）：p（NH4^＋-N）变化量为1．24。采用混合污泥为接种污泥（反应器B）．N的容积负荷于前者相同时,氨氮去除率平均29．7％,p（NO2^--N）：p（NH4^＋-N）变化量为1．27。采用混合普通活性污泥作为种泥培养厌氧氨氧化污泥优于单一厌氧普通活性污泥。     

Phylogeny and metabolic scaling in mammals

The scaling of metabolic rates to body size is widely considered to be of great biological and ecological importance, and much attention has been devoted to determining its theoretical and empirical value. Most debate centers on whether the underlying power law describing metabolic rates is 2/3 (as predicted by scaling of surface area/volume relationships) or 3/4 ("Kleiber's law"). Although recent evidence suggests that empirically derived exponents vary among clades with radically different metabolic strategies, such as ectotherms and endotherms, models, such as the metabolic theory of ecology, depend on the assumption that there is at least a predominant, if not universal, metabolic scaling exponent. Most analyses claimed to support the predictions of general models, however, failed to control for phylogeny. We used phylogenetic generalized least-squares models to estimate allometric slopes for both basal metabolic rate (BMR) and field metabolic rate (FMR) in mammals. Metabolic rate scaling conformed to no single theoretical prediction, but varied significantly among phylogenetic lineages. In some lineages we found a 3/4 exponent, in others a 2/3 exponent, and in yet others exponents differed significantly from both theoretical values. Analysis of the phylogenetic signal in the data indicated that the assumptions of neither species-level analysis nor independent contrasts were met. Analyses that assumed no phylogenetic signal in the data (species-level analysis) or a strong phylogenetic signal (independent contrasts), therefore, returned estimates of allometric slopes that were erroneous in 30% and 50% of cases, respectively. Hence, quantitative estimation of the phylogenetic signal is essential for determining scaling exponents. The lack of evidence for a predominant scaling exponent in these analyses suggests that general models of metabolic scaling, and macro-ecological theories that depend on them, have little explanatory power.     

Five approaches to producing actionable science in conservation

The knowledge produced by conservation scientists must be actionable in order to address urgent conservation challenges. To understand the process of creating actionable science, we interviewed 71 conservation scientists who had participated in 1 of 3 fellowship programs focused on training scientists to become agents of change. Using a grounded theory approach, we identified 16 activities that these researchers employed to make their scientific products more actionable. Some activities were more common than others and, arguably, more foundational. We organized these activities into 3 nested categories (motivations, strategies, and tactics). Using a co-occurrence matrix, we found that most activities were positively correlated. These correlations allowed us to identify 5 approaches, framed as profiles, to actionable science: the discloser, focused on open access; the educator, focused on science communication; the networker, focused on user needs and building relationships; the collaborator, focused on boundary spanning; and the pluralist, focused on knowledge coproduction resulting in valuable outcomes for all parties. These profiles build on one another in a hierarchy determined by their complexity and level of engagement, their potential to support actionable science, and their proximity to ideal coproduction with knowledge users. Our results provide clear guidance for conservation scientists to generate actionable science to address the global biodiversity conservation challenge.     

Aligning the logics of inquiry and action to address the biodiversity crisis

Despite an abundance of research reaffirming biodiversity's importance to the health of the planet and society, species continue to go extinct at an alarming rate. Why has continued research on the value of biodiversity not had the intended effect and what can be done about it? We considered biodiversity loss as a public value failure and the result of a misalignment between the logic of inquiry (which guides scientists) and the logic of action (which guides practitioners). We drew lessons from our own research to propose the creation of a national biodiversity strategy designed to link the logic of inquiry with the logic of action and coordinate the production of actionable conservation science and informed conservation action.     

Web‐based automated remediation performance monitoring and visualization of contaminant mass flux and discharge

Environmental monitoring, data processing, and reporting methods are expensive, labor‐ and resource‐intensive, time‐consuming, and often inaccurate. An innovative project management platform was developed for integrating environmental monitoring sensors, telemetry, geographical information systems, models, and geostatistical algorithms for automatically generating contour maps and time‐stamped renderings of sensor attributes and multivariate analyses. More specifically, algorithms converting sensor‐derived head and solute concentration values allow for automated monitoring of mass flux and discharge to evaluate groundwater remediation system performance and contaminant discharges from aquifers to surface‐water receptors. Life‐cycle costs and carbon footprints were reduced due to the elimination of energy and labor expenditures associated with transportation, data collection, laboratory efforts, report generation, and information dissemination. A brief summary of two demonstrations of this sensor‐based water resources management application is presented. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Regional assessment of marine and estuarine sediment toxicity in Southern California, USA

Sediment toxicity was investigated at 222 stations in the Southern California Bight (SCB) during 2008. This represented the first time that assessment methods established by California's new Sediment Quality Objectives program were employed in a survey of this scale. The goal was to determine the extent and magnitude of sediment toxicity in the SCB, how toxicity compared among specific environments, and whether toxicity has changed over the last decade. Two toxicity tests were used: the 10-day amphipod whole sediment survival test with Eohaustorius estuarius and a 48-h embryo development test with the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis exposed at the sediment–water interface. Less than 1 % of the area of the SCB was found to be toxic to the amphipod test. No toxicity was found in offshore stations, but 14 % of embayment areas were toxic to the amphipods. The mussel test identified 13 % of the embayment areas to be toxic. Estuary and marina locations had the greatest areal extent of toxicity for both tests. The two toxicity methods agreed that sediments were not toxic at over half of the stations tested. The mussel test showed a greater magnitude of response than the amphipod. Sediment toxicity was shown to have declined in both extent and magnitude from levels measured in 1998 and 2003.     

Carbon--making the right choice for waste management in developing countries

Due to initiatives such as the clean development mechanism (CDM), reducing greenhouse gas emissions for a developing country can offer an important route to attracting investment in a variety of qualifying project areas, including waste management. To date CDM projects have been largely confined to schemes that control emission from landfill, but projects that avoid landfilling are beginning to be submitted. In considering the waste options which might be suitable for developing countries certain ones, such as energy from waste, have been discounted for a range of reasons related primarily to the lack of technical and other support services required for these more sophisticated process trains. The paper focuses on six options: the base case of open dumping; three options for landfill (passive venting, gas capture with flaring, and gas capture with energy production), composting and anaerobic digestion with electricity production and composting of the digestate. A range of assumptions were necessary for making the comparisons based on the effective carbon emissions, and these assumptions will change from project to project. The highest impact in terms of carbon emissions was from using a sanitary landfill without either gas flaring or electricity production; this was worse than the baseline case using open dumpsites. Landfills with either flaring or energy production from the collected gas both produced similar positive carbon emissions, but these were substantially lower than both open dumping and sanitary landfill without flaring or energy production. Composting or anaerobic digestion with energy production and composting of the digestate were the two best options with composting being neutral in terms of carbon emissions and anaerobic digestion being carbon negative. These generic conclusions were tested for sensitivity by modifying the input waste composition and were found to be robust, suggesting that subject to local study to confirm assumptions made, the opportunity for developing CDM projects to attract investment to improved waste management infrastructure is significant. Kyoto credits in excess of 1 tCO2e/t of waste could be realised.     

Environmental service payments: evaluating biodiversity conservation trade-offs and cost-efficiency in the Osa Conservation Area, Costa Rica

The cost-efficiency of payments for environmental services (PES) to private landowners in the Osa Conservation Area, Costa Rica, is evaluated in terms of the trade-off between biodiversity representation and opportunity costs of conservation to agricultural and forestry land-use. Using available GIS data and an 'off-the-shelf' software application called TARGET, we find that the PES allocation criteria applied by authorities in 2002-2003 were more than twice as cost-efficient as criteria applied during 1999-2001. Results show that a policy relevant assessment of the cost-effectiveness of PES relative to other conservation policies can be carried out at regional level using available studies and GIS data. However, there are a number of data and conceptual limitations to using heuristic optimisation algorithms in the analysis of the cost-efficiency of PES. Site specific data on probabilities of land-use change, and a detailed specification of opportunity costs of farm land, labour and capital are required to use algorithms such as TARGET for ranking individual sites based on cost-efficiency. Despite its conceptual soundness for regional conservation analysis, biodiversity complementarity presents a practical challenge as a criterion for PES eligibility at farm level because it varies depending on the set of areas under PES contracts at any one time.     

A Comparative Assessment of Runoff Nitrogen from Turf,Forest, Meadow,and Mixed Landuse Watersheds

Landscaping paradigms that encourage high‐input, intensively managed and mono‐culture turf/lawn landscapes have raised concerns about water quality. We conducted a watershed‐scale assessment of landscaping practices that included turf, urban, forest, native meadow, and mixed landuse watersheds with a professional golf course and a parking lot. The turf site was moderately managed and had lower fertilizer inputs than those typically used by homeowners and golf courses. Stream water sampling was performed during base flow and storm events. Highest nitrate and total nitrogen concentrations in runoff were observed for the mixed watershed draining the golf course. In contrast, concentrations in base flow from the turf watershed were lower than expected and were comparable to those measured in the surrounding meadow and forest sites. Total nitrogen concentrations from the turf site increased sharply during the first storms following fertilization, suggesting that despite optimal management there exists a risk for nutrient runoff following fertilization. Overall, this study suggests that turf or lawns, when managed properly, pose minimal water quality risk to surface waters. Rate, timing of application, and the type of fertilizer appear to be the key factors affecting water quality. Better education of homeowners and landscaping professionals with regard to these factors may be a cost‐effective strategy to reduce nonpoint source pollution.     

Exploring insideness in urban children’s sense of place

This study, informed by phenomenology and ethnography, explores urban children’s relationship with their urban environment: In what ways do urban children exhibit “insideness” in their sense of place? This study proposes “insideness” as a conceptual construct to understand urban children’s sense of place in its ecological and dynamic nature. Employing qualitative research methods, the study explores place stories of urban children who live in low-income, immigrant neighborhoods in New York City. The study finds that as children cultivate their sense of place, they construct “insideness” in their sense of place including 1) environmental understanding (i.e., contextualized, comprehensive, and critical understanding of a place), 2) environmental competence (i.e., knowing how to navigate and engage in a place), and 3) diverse, strong affective relationships with a place. Using “insideness” as a conceptual tool, this study discusses children’s emplaced understanding and active and dialogical positionality in the development of their sense of place.