A main goal of investigations is to determine could a soilrespiration be an indicator of the soil pollution. In this case a measured levelof the soil oxygen consumption depends of its pollution. It alsomeans that the pollution reduces biological processes in edaphon.Investigated soil samples were taken from polluted andnon-polluted places in the Baix Llobregat near Barcelona (Catalonia, NE Spain). Soil samples were taken from the top ofsoil (0–5 cm) without a litter. Soil analysis were done, determining percentage shares of coarsefragments, coarse sand, fine sand, coarse silt, fine silt, clay,CaCO3, organic matter as well as water pH and conductivityCE (1:5 [mS cm-1]). Also were determined (in mg kg-1)quantities of heavy metals, as Fe, Al, Mn, Zn, Cr, Ni, V, Cu, Cd, Pb.The soil respiration was investigated in temperatures15 and 30 °C and with controlled humidity.The respiration in 30 °C is number of times greater thenin 15 °C both for polluted and non-polluted soils.Particularly high coefficients of correlation between the soilrespiration and soil pollution in polluted soils were obtainedfor Pb: r = 0.75 in 15 °C and r = 0.98 in30 °C; for Ba: 0.90 and 0.57; for V: 0.99 and 0.81. In non-polluted soils highest correlation coefficients are for Pb: r = 0.70 in 15 °C; Fe: 0.60 and 0.72; Al: 0.68 and0.64; Mn: 0.51 and 0.66; Ba: 0.63 and 0.61; Cr: 0.94 and0.70; Ni: 0.64 and 0.65; Cu: 0.69 and 0.48; as well as V: 0.62in 15 °C; and Cd: 0.69 in 15 °C.This way the soil respiration could be a good indicator of the soil pollution. 相似文献
On the area of a former ordnance plant (‘Werk Tanne’, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany), a field experiment for phytoremediation of TNT-contaminated soils has been carried out since May 1999. The concept is based on a stepwise degradation of TNT by white-rot fungi and mycorrhiza within the rhizosphere of site-specific seedlings. An appropiate site with contaminants in the surface-soil was prepared with a large-scale soil grader and subsequently divided into different experimental plots, including an uncontaminated control as well as a contaminated plot without treatment. Planting of the selected trees and shrubs (infected with mycorrhiza during nursery) and inoculation with wood chips (inoculated with white-rot fungi) is followed by a detailed monitoring of the experimental plots (chemical analyses, biotest-battery, ecological field indicators). For the evaluation of the results, multivariate methods are applied. 相似文献
Both body mass and surface area are factors determining the essence of any living organism. This should also hold true for
an extinct organism such as a dinosaur. The present report discusses the use of a new 3D laser scanner method to establish
body masses and surface areas of an Asian elephant (Zoological Museum of Copenhagen, Denmark) and of Plateosaurus engelhardti, a prosauropod from the Upper Triassic, exhibited at the Paleontological Museum in Tübingen (Germany). This method was used
to study the effect that slight changes in body shape had on body mass for P. engelhardti. It was established that body volumes varied between 0.79 m3 (slim version) and 1.14 m3 (robust version), resulting in a presumable body mass of 630 and 912 kg, respectively. The total body surface areas ranged
between 8.8 and 10.2 m2, of which, in both reconstructions of P. engelhardti, ∼33% account for the thorax area alone. The main difference between the two models is in the tail and hind limb reconstruction.
The tail of the slim version has a surface area of 1.98 m2, whereas that of the robust version has a surface area of 2.73 m2. The body volumes calculated for the slim version were as follows: head 0.006 m3, neck 0.016 m3, fore limbs 0.020 m3, hind limbs 0.08 m3, thoracic cavity 0.533 m3, and tail 0.136 m3. For the robust model, the following volumes were established: 0.01 m3 head, neck 0.026 m3, fore limbs 0.025 m3, hind limbs 0.18 m3, thoracic cavity 0.616 m3, and finally, tail 0.28 m3. Based on these body volumes, scaling equations were used to assess the size that the organs of this extinct dinosaur have. 相似文献
Conservation and management of marine biodiversity depends on biomonitoring of marine habitats, but current approaches are resource-intensive and require different approaches for different organisms. Environmental DNA (eDNA) extracted from water samples is an efficient and versatile approach to detecting aquatic animals. In the ocean, eDNA composition reflects local fauna at fine spatial scales, but little is known about the effectiveness of eDNA-based monitoring of marine communities at larger scales. We investigated the potential of eDNA to characterize and distinguish marine communities at large spatial scales by comparing vertebrate species composition among marine habitats in Qatar, the Arabian Gulf (also known as the Persian Gulf), based on eDNA metabarcoding of seawater samples. We conducted species accumulation analyses to estimate how much of the vertebrate diversity we detected. We obtained eDNA sequences from a diverse assemblage of marine vertebrates, spanning 191 taxa in 73 families. These included rare and endangered species and covered 36% of the bony fish genera previously recorded in the Gulf. Sites of similar habitat type were also similar in eDNA composition. The species accumulation analyses showed that the number of sample replicates was insufficient for some sampling sites but suggested that a few hundred eDNA samples could potentially capture >90% of the marine vertebrate diversity in the study area. Our results confirm that seawater samples contain habitat-characteristic molecular signatures and that eDNA monitoring can efficiently cover vertebrate diversity at scales relevant to national and regional conservation and management. 相似文献
We develop a landscape stewardship classification which distinguishes between farmers’ understanding of landscape stewardship, their landscape values, and land management actions. Forty semi-structured interviews were conducted with small-holder (<5 acres), medium-holders (5–100 acres), and large-holders (>100 acres) in South-West Devon, UK. Thematic analysis revealed four types of stewardship understandings: (1) an environmental frame which emphasized the farmers’ role in conserving or restoring wildlife; (2) a primary production frame which emphasized the farmers’ role in taking care of primary production assets; (3) a holistic frame focusing on farmers’ role as a conservationist, primary producer, and manager of a range of landscape values, and; (4) an instrumental frame focusing on the financial benefits associated with compliance with agri-environmental schemes. We compare the landscape values and land management actions that emerged across stewardship types, and discuss the global implications of the landscape stewardship classification for the engagement of farmers in landscape management. 相似文献
Estrogenic and non-estrogenic chemicals typically co-occur in the environment. Interference by non-estrogenic chemicals may confound the assessment of the actual estrogenic activity of complex environmental samples. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether, in which way and how seriously the estrogenic activity of single estrogens and the observed and predicted joint action of estrogenic mixtures is influenced by toxic masking and synergistic modulation caused by non-estrogenic chemical confounders.
Materials and methods
The yeast estrogen screen (YES) was adapted so that toxicity and estrogenicity could be quantified simultaneously in one experimental run. Mercury, two organic solvents (dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and 2,4-dinitroaniline), a surfactant (LAS-12) and the antibiotic cycloheximide were selected as toxic but non-estrogenic test chemicals. The confounding impact of selected concentrations of these toxicants on the estrogenic activity of the hormone 17ß-estradiol was determined by co-incubation experiments. In a second step, the impact of toxic masking and synergistic modulation on the predictability of the joint action of 17ß-estradiol, estrone and estriol mixtures by concentration addition was analysed.
Results
Each of the non-estrogenic chemicals reduced the apparent estrogenicity of both single estrogens and their mixtures if applied at high, toxic concentrations. Besides this common pattern, a highly substance- and concentration-dependent impact of the non-estrogenic toxicants was observable. The activity of 17ß-estradiol was still reduced in the presence of only low or non-toxic concentrations of 2,4-dinitroaniline and cycloheximide, which was not the case for mercury and DMSO. A clear synergistic modulation, i.e. an enhanced estrogenic activity, was induced by the presence of slightly toxic concentrations of LAS-12. The joint estrogenic activity of the mixture of estrogens was affected by toxic masking and synergistic modulation in direct proportion to the single estrogens, which allowed for an adequate adaptation of concentration addition and thus unaffected predictability of the joint estrogenicity in the presence of non-estrogenic confounders.
Discussion
The modified YES proved to be a reliable system for the simultaneous quantification of yeast toxicity and estrogen receptor activation. Experimental results substantiate the available evidence for toxic masking as a relevant phenomenon in estrogenicity assessment of complex environmental samples. Synergistic modulation of estrogenic activity by non-estrogenic confounders might be of lower importance. The concept of concentration addition is discussed as a valuable tool for estrogenicity assessment of complex mixtures, with deviations of the measured joint estrogenicity from predictions indicating the need for refined analyses.
Conclusions
Two major challenges are to be considered simultaneously for a reliable analysis of the estrogenic activity of complex mixtures: the identification of known and suspected estrogenic compounds in the sample as well as the substance- and effect-level-dependent confounding impact of non-estrogenic toxicants.
Recommendations and perspectives
The application of screening assays such as the YES to complex mixtures should be accompanied by measures that safeguard against false negative results which may be caused by non-estrogenic but toxic confounders. Simultaneous assessments of estrogenicity and toxicity are generally advisable. 相似文献
Explorations of future land use change are important to understand potential conflicts between competing land uses, trade-offs associated with particular land change trajectories, and the effectiveness of policies to steer land systems into desirable states. Most model-based explorations and scenario studies focused on conversions in broad land use classes, but disregarded changes in land management or focused on individual sectors only. Using the European Union (EU) as a case study, we developed an approach to identifying typical combinations of land cover and management changes by combining the results of multimodel simulations in the agriculture and forest sectors for four scenarios from 2000 to 2040. We visualized land change trajectories by mapping regional hotspots of change. Land change trajectories differed in extent and spatial pattern across the EU and among scenarios, indicating trajectory-specific option spaces for alternative land system outcomes. In spite of the large variation in the area of change, similar hotspots of land change were observed among the scenarios. All scenarios indicate a stronger polarization of land use in Europe, with a loss of multifunctional landscapes. We analyzed locations subject to change by comparing location characteristics associated with certain land change trajectories. Results indicate differences in the location conditions of different land change trajectories, with diverging impacts on ecosystem service provisioning. Policy and planning for future land use needs to account for the spatial variation of land change trajectories to achieve both overarching and location-specific targets.
In this study, we look at the role which water policy entrepreneurs play in promoting and stimulating climate adaptation measures in international river basins. In a Dutch-German case study in the Rhine delta, we explore the range of strategies that policy entrepreneurs employ in cross-border water management to effectively anchor and embed climate adaptation in the water policy debate.
We focus on climate adaptation on the local and regional scale in the Deltarhine region where increased flooding and prolonged drought periods are expected under the current climate change scenarios with a considerable impact on flood protection, agricultural activities, drinking water and ecosystem development.
We analyse the impact of policy entrepreneurs while coping with the challenging cross-border setting and dealing with structural differences in national systems such as the legal and institutional framework. It is shown that whilst the European water guidelines advocate a river basin approach across borders, the guidelines do not (yet) play a catalyst role regarding climate adaptation, and the presence and activities of policy entrepreneurs contribute in putting climate adaptation on the cross-border policy agenda.
Finally, marked differences in the presence of entrepreneurs in Germany and the Netherlands are observed for which two important complementary explanations are offered relating to contextual elements of power asymmetry and dependency as well as different policy styles and organisational cultures in both countries.
ABSTRACTCitizens’ attitudes toward science are related to their use of science-related information from various sources. Evidence is scarce regarding citizens’ individual media repertoires for staying informed about science as segmentation studies so far have primarily focused on scientific attitudes. In this paper, we explore audience segments regarding their science-related information behavior and whether such segments are comparable or vary between two countries with similar information environments. Based on two surveys in Switzerland and Germany, we identify national audience segments that differ in their science-related information repertoires, and analyze their sociodemographic characteristics and science-related attitudes. In both countries, we find very comparable information user segments ranging from those who inform themselves frequently about science (“Active Seekers”/“Science Consumers”) to those who hardly get in contact with any information about science and research (“Non-Users”). Those segments which get in contact with information about science frequently show generally more positive attitudes. 相似文献
Regional Environmental Change - Traditional farming landscapes in the temperate zone that have persisted for millennia can be exceptionally species-rich and are therefore key conservation targets.... 相似文献