Anthropogenic impacts on suspended sediment load in the Upper Yangtze river

Climate change and human disturbance drive catchment erosion and increase riverine sediment load sensitively in small and medium-sized watersheds. This is not always true in large basins, where aggregation and buffering effects have dampen the ability to determine the driving forces of sedimentation. Even though there are significant responses to sedimentation in large river basins, it is difficult to get a precise quantitative assessment of specific drivers. This paper develops a methodology to identify driving forces that change suspended sediment load in the Upper Yangtze river. Annual runoff and sediment load data from 1954 to 2005 at the Yichang gauging station in the Upper Yangtze basin, daily precipitation data from 60 meteorological stations, and survey data on reservoir sediment were collected for the study. Sediment load/rainfall erosivity (S/R), is a new proxy indicator introduced to reflect human activities. Since the mid-1980s, S/R in the Upper Yangtze has dramatically declined from 0.21 to 0.03 (×10¹⁰ t ha h MJ⁻¹ mm⁻¹), indicating that human activity has played a key role in the decline of the suspended sediment load. Before the mid-1980s, a higher average S/R is attributed to large-scale deforestation and land reclamation. A significant sediment decrease occurred from 1959 to 1961 during an extreme drought condition, and an increase in sedimentation in 1998 coincided with an extreme flood event, which was well recorded in the S/R curve. This indicates that the S/R proxy is able to distinguish anthropogenic from climate impacts on suspended sediment load, but is not necessarily indicatory in extreme climate events. In addition, typical drivers of riverine sediment load variation including soil conservation projects, reservoirs construction, and land use/cover change are discussed.     

Land-cover changes in and around a National Park in a mountain landscape in the Pyrenees

The current state of Mediterranean mountain areas has been driven by two main factors: intense traditional human activity and the dynamics of the ecosystem itself. In this study, we examine land-cover changes in a National Park in the Pyrenees mountains (NE Iberian Peninsula), which was designated a protected area 55 years ago. First, we have analyzed spatio-temporal changes in land-cover pattern and forest dynamics from 1957 to 2005. During this period, land-cover dynamics consisted of two main processes: (i) expansion of the forest area and (ii) increasing cover of forests already present in 1957. To analyze the role of the conservation level of the park, we have also compared the results obtained within the park with those of unprotected, peripheral areas. In the two areas with different protection level, dense forests increased throughout the period because of the reduction in forestry activities. The peripheral area showed a higher rate of forest-cover change from 1957 to 2005 compared to the National Park. This higher increase in forest cover in the peripheral area could be related to a higher proportion in the National Park of screes and rocky areas and to the decline and transformation of forest activities in these peripheral, lower elevation areas.     

环氧化合物分子结构与致变活性的关系

由化学物质毒性效应登录(RTECS)1998年光盘系统检索获得86种环氧化合物对鼠沙门氏菌致变活性数据.应用主成分分析法从11种分子描述符中选择出5种对致变活性有明显影响的描述符:碳原子数,苯环数,氢原子数,烷基数和氧原子数.通过样本学习集训练并优化神经网络结构,建模分类预报:对于86个样本,低和高2类活性,正确分类率达到92%.结果表明:3～4个骈接苯环的环氧化物的特殊结构具有很强的致变活性.     

白云鄂博矿开发利用中放射性废渣对环境的污染及防治

包头境内的白云鄂博矿是一座资源丰富的大型矿山，已为我国大型钢铁稀土联合企业开采利用40余年，白云鄂博原矿平均伴生天然，在矿物资源的开发利用中，对环境造成放射性污染。本文从白云鄂博矿资源、资源特殊性，开发利用，放射性废渣及钍核素排放等方面进行论述，并提出防治控制管理措施。     

Investigating the bacterial community and amoebae population in rural domestic wastewater reclamation for irrigation

Reclamation of domestic wastewater for agricultural irrigation is viewed as a sustainable option to create an alternative water source and address water scarcity. Free-living amoebae(FLA), which are amphizoic protozoa, are widely distributed in various environmental sources. The FLA could cause considerable environmental and health risks. However, little information is available on the risk of these protozoa. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility using rural domestic wastewater for agricultural irrigation, and analyzed dynamic changes of the microbial community structure and FLA populations in raw and treated wastewater, as well as the phyllosphere and rhizosphere of lettuce production sites that were irrigated with different water sources. The bacterial community dynamics were analyzed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism(T-RFLP). The bacterial community structures in the influent were similar to that in the effluent, while in some cases relative abundances varied significantly. The populations of Acanthamoeba spp. and Hartmannella vermiformis in the anaerobically treated wastewater were significantly higher than in the raw wastewater. The vegetables could harbor diverse amoebae, and the abundances of Acanthamoeba spp. and H. vermiformis in the rhizosphere were significantly higher than in the phyllosphere. Accordingly, our studies show insight into the distribution and dissemination of amoebae in wastewater treatment and irrigation practices.     

Are current Chinese national ambient air quality standards on 24-hour averages for particulate matter sufficient to protect public health?

With rapid economic development and urbanization in recent decades, China has experienced the worsening of ambient air quality. For better air quality management to protect human health, Chinese government revised national ambient air quality standards(NAAQS) for particulate matter(PM) in 2012(GB3095-2012). To assess the effectiveness of current NAAQS for PM on public health in Chinese population, we conducted a metaanalysis on published studies examining the mortality risk of short-term exposure to PM with aerodynamic diameters less than 10 and 2.5 μm(PM_(10) and PM_(2.5)) in China. The reported24-hour concentrations of PM_(10) and PM_(2.5) in studies ranged from 43.5 to 150.1 μg/m~3 and 37.5 to 176.7 μg/m~3. In the pooled excess, mortality risk estimates of short-term exposure to PM.In specific, per 10 μg/m~3 increase in PM_(10), we observed increases of 0.40%(95%CI: 0.33%,0.47%), 0.57%(95%CI: 0.44%, 0.70%) and 0.49%(95%CI: 0.40%, 0.58%) in total, respiratory and cardiovascular mortality, per 10 μg/m~3 increase in PM_(2.5), we observed increases of 0.51%(95%CI: 0.38%, 0.63%), 0.62%(95%CI: 0.52%, 0.73%) and 0.75%(95%CI: 0.54%, 0.95%) in total,respiratory and cardiovascular mortality. Finally, we derived 125 μg/m~3 for PM_(10) and 62.5 μg/m~3 for PM_(2.5) as 24-hour recommendation values based on the pooled estimates. Our results indicated that current Chinese NAAQS for PM could be sufficient in mitigating the excess mortality risk from short-term exposure to ambient PM. However, future research on longterm exposure cohort studies in Chinese population is also essential in revising annual averages for PM in Chinese NAAQS.     

Nutritional benefits of filial cannibalism in three-spined sticklebacks (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Gasterosteus aculeatus</Emphasis>)

Although filial cannibalism (eating one’s own offspring) occurs in numerous species, including several teleost fishes, its adaptive value is still not well understood. One often-discussed explanation is that individuals enhance their mass and body condition by consuming part of their eggs. However, evidence for this assumption is scarce thus far. In this study, male three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus), a species with paternal care, were allowed to care for a batch of eggs or for an empty nest under food-deprived conditions. All brood-caring males cannibalised at least part of their eggs and thus preserved their initial mass and body condition. Furthermore, mass as well as body condition was significant positively correlated with the number of cannibalised eggs. In contrast, empty-nest males that had no possibility to cannibalise eggs significantly lost mass and body condition. This is, to our knowledge, the first experimentally documented evidence that mass as well as body condition were preserved by filial cannibalism.     

外循环厌氧反应器的工艺特征与运行性能研究

将UASB反应器多点进水装置进行改造,设计独特的变速旋流配水装置,具有配水均匀,混合效果好,不会产生短流的特点。研究结果表明,旋流配水装置容积利用率高,外循环能耗小,布水均匀性良好;中温条件下外循环反应器处理模拟啤酒配水,进水COD浓度为2000mg／L～3000mg／L,容积负荷可以达到22．7kgCOD／m^3·d,COD去除率最高可达92．46％。     

乡镇环境规划指标体系研究——以扬州市瓜洲镇为例

从经济发展、生态环境、社会进步三方面构建乡镇环境规划指标体系,并引入“可持续发展度”、“因子贡献度”、“指标偏离度”、“制约度”,对瓜洲镇的现状进行了综合评价,对限制瓜洲镇可持续发展的因素进行识别。研究结果表明：规划基准年（2006年）瓜洲镇的可持续发展度为0.759,处于较强可持续发展阶段;影响瓜洲镇可持续发展的制约因素主要集中于环境质量及污染物治理方面（占36.75%）,其次为经济结构方面（占25.65%）,接着为发展支持（占24.21%）、生态环境与资源利用（占9.42%）、生活质量（占2.62%）、经济效益（占1.34%）。