Effects of human activities (raking,scraping, off-road vehicles) and natural resource protections on the spatial distribution of beach vegetation and related shoreline features in New Jersey

This study examined the relative impacts of different human activities and natural resource protections on the spatial distribution of beach vegetation and related habitat features (wrack, dune succession) in New Jersey (USA). Field surveys of the 209-km shoreline categorized beach segments according to vegetation cover classes, human activities, protection measures (exclosures, beach management plans, access restrictions) and ownership status (federal, state, etc.). A partition model (classification tree) was used to confirm the relative dominance hierarchy of human actions on the distribution of beach vegetation observed, and quantitative comparisons of dominant activities were conducted using vegetation data collected on 218 transects. The spatial extent of beach vegetation was found to be severely restricted by human activities when unconstrained by resource protections. The greatest reductions were found to result from mechanical raking (?99 %), scraping (?91 %) and all-year recreational ORV use (?86 %), which were dominant on nearly 70 % of the state shoreline. Beaches containing larger areas of vegetation (>5 m) were concentrated in areas with resource protections of various kinds (99 %), and on federal or other public parklands (68 %). Exclosures resulted in the greatest coverage of vegetation (48 % of beach surface) compared to public access restricted areas (41 %), beach management plans (31 %), government-only ORV use (31 %), and off-season recreational ORVs (15 %). Greater protection and recovery of beach vegetation and habitat is needed for species conservation and erosion protection in New Jersey and other coastal environments where these activities occur.     

Orchid conservation in the biodiversity hotspot of southwestern China

Xishuangbanna is on the northern margins of tropical Asia in southwestern China and has the largest area of tropical forest remaining in the country. It is in the Indo‐Burma hotspot and contains 16% of China's vascular flora in <0.2% of the country's total area (19,690 km²). Rapid expansion of monoculture crops in the last 20 years, particularly rubber, threatens this region's exceptional biodiversity. To understand the effects of land‐use change and collection on orchid species diversity and determine protection priorities, we conducted systematic field surveys, observed markets, interviewed orchid collectors, and then determined the conservation status of all orchids. We identified 426 orchid species in 115 genera in Xishuangbanna: 31% of all orchid species that occur in China. Species richness was highest at 1000–1200 m elevation. Three orchid species were assessed as possibly extinct in the wild, 15 as critically endangered, 82 as endangered, 124 as vulnerable, 186 as least concern, and 16 as data deficient. Declines over 20 years in harvested species suggested over‐collection was the major threat, and utility value (i.e., medicinal or ornamental value) was significantly related to endangerment. Expansion of rubber tree plantations was less of a threat to orchids than to other taxa because only 75 orchid species (17.6%) occurred below the 1000‐m‐elevation ceiling for rubber cultivation, and most of these (46) occurred in nature reserves. However, climate change is projected to lift this ceiling to around 1300 m by 2050, and the limited area at higher elevations reduces the potential for upslope range expansion. The Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden is committed to achieving zero plant extinctions in Xishuangbanna, and orchids are a high priority. Appropriate in and ex situ conservation strategies, including new protected areas and seed banking, have been developed for every threatened orchid species and are being implemented.     

Acceleration of the particulate organic matter hydrolysis by start-up stage recovery and its original microbial mechanism

• Carbon availability was partially solved by POM recovery and fermentation. • 12% carbon sources were regenerated by fermentation of the entrapped 35% TCOD. • The unique microbial communities facilitated the efficient hydrolysis of the POM. • Considerable economic benefits in aeration power and ECS dosage were anticipated. To address the availability of carbon sources for denitrification, the accelerated hydrolysis of the most abundant but low-availability fraction of particulate organic matter (POM) was investigated. Mesh sieves with different pore sizes were used as primary pretreatment at the start-up-stage of the biological process to separate some POM from the liquid system. The changes in soluble carbohydrates and proteins were monitored to investigate the hydrolysis performance of the sieved POM, with waste activated sludge (WAS) as the control test. The results showed that an average of 35% POM could be entrapped before filtrate mat development. In addition, benefiting from the high polysaccharides concentration, as well as the high availability due to the relatively loose physical structure, a 23% hydrolysis efficiency of POM was obtained, in contrast to that of WAS (3.4%), with a hydrolysis constant of 0.39 h⁻¹. The prominent performance was also attributed to the unique microbial communities having been domesticated at a lower temperature, especially the cellulose-degrading bacteria Paraclostridium and psychrophile Psychrobacter, making up 6.94% and 2.56%, respectively. Furthermore, the potential benefits and application of improved POM hydrolysis by start-up stage recovery via mesh sieves combined with anaerobic fermentation were evaluated, including selective POM entrapment, alleviation of blockage and wear, and a reduction in aeration energy. By the proposed strategy, carbon availability for biological nutrient removal (BNR) processes is anticipated to be improved more economically than that can be achieved by primary clarifier elimination.     

汞矿区周边农田土壤微生物群落结构特征及其环境驱动因子

为探究汞矿区周边农田土壤微生物群落结构特征及其与环境驱动因子关系,以铜仁汞（Hg）矿区周边（碧江区坝黄镇、石阡县花桥镇、江口县凯德镇和碧江区川硐镇,分别用BJ、SQ、JK和TR表示）农田土壤为研究对象,分析了土壤理化性质、Hg污染状况、酶活性以及微生物群落结构特征.采用冗余分析（RDA）和相关性网络分析了土壤微生物群落结构与环境因子互作关系.结果表明,研究区土壤存在一定程度的Hg污染,其中,JK和TR属于轻度污染,SQ和BJ属于偏中度污染;TR存在中等潜在生态风险,BJ和JK存在强潜在生态风险,SQ存在很强潜在生态风险.研究区土壤的主要细菌优势菌群包括：变形菌门（Proteobacteria）、放线菌门（Actinobacteria）、酸杆菌门（Acidobacteria）和绿弯菌门（Chloroflexi）;主要真菌优势菌群包括：子囊菌门（Ascomycota）、担子菌门（Basidiomycota）和被孢霉门（Mortierellomycota）.RDA分析表明,pH、蔗糖酶（SC）和过氧化氢酶（CAT）活性是土壤细菌群落结构组成的主要环境因子,pH、碱解氮（AN）、速效钾（AK）、HCl-Hg、酸性磷酸酶（ACP）和脲酶（URE）活性是土壤真菌群落结构组成的主要环境因子.相关性网络分析表明,pH、AP、HCl-Hg、SC、ACP和CAT是影响土壤Proteobacteria、Acidobacteria、Actinobacteria、Chloroflexi、厚壁菌门（Firmicutes）、棒状杆菌门（Rokubacteria）和浮霉菌门（Planctomycetes）等细菌群落结构的主要环境因子;而AK、pH、TN、AP、AN、ACP、URE和SC活性是影响土壤Ascomycota、Basidiomycota、Mortierellomycota、球囊菌门（Glomeromycota）、壶菌门（Chytridiomycota）、红藻门（Rozellomycota）、梳霉门（Kickxellomycota）和Mucoromycota （毛霉门）等真菌群落结构的主要环境因子.     

洪泽湖西部湖滨水质污染特征分析

根据2010年洪泽湖西部湖滨的常规监测资料,对洪泽湖西部湖滨主要污染物因子的时空分布特征及其水质污染特征进行了初步研究。结果表明,洪泽湖西部湖滨总体水质为Ⅴ类,处于重污染水平,TP、TN是影响洪泽湖西部湖滨水质的主要污染物。氨氮、TN、COD Mn在时空分布上均无显著差异,TP、COD有显著差异,枯水期时空分异性大于平水期、丰水期。各河口Chl-a浓度普遍高于敞水区。虽然湖水中TP、TN的浓度已达到较高的水平,但没有达到全面富营养化的程度。     

总有机碳分析仪测定水中的游离二氧化碳

利用总有机碳分析仪、结合酸化吹气装置对水样中的游离二氧化碳的测定条件进行试验。结果表明水浴温度80℃,流量150 ml/min通氮气30 min为水样释放游离二氧化碳的最佳条件。总有机碳分析测定水中游离二氧化碳含量方法的建立为水质分析提供了新的方法参考。