Leaching-induced migration and compositional form change of Cu,Zn, and Cd from sludge to loess

Land utilization of sewage sludge has become one of the major issues in environmental mitigation in China. This is particularly important in the Loess Plateau of Northwest China. Sludge enriched with organic matter and nutrients might effectively help to resolve the problems of silty loess soils as evidenced by porosity defect, structural alterations and absence of fertility. After sludge flows into the loess, irrigation water contains heavy metals that leach and migrate into sludge and consequently related human health risks may occur that raise concerns; and this situation needs to be rectified. The characteristics of the vertical migration and composition form change of Cu, Zn, and Cd from composted sludge to loess, and corresponding influencing factors, were investigated by performing a soil column simulation test under the leaching treatment of a one-year irrigation water capacity. Results demonstrated that: (1) composted sludge significantly improved loess fertility, and irrigation leaching transported only a small quantity of organic matter in sludge in the plough layer; (2) although some of the Cu, Zn, and Cd in composted sludge migrated to and concentrated in the middle and upper layers of the soil column during leaching, these metals were mostly retained in the plough layer; and (3) after the leaching treatment of the one-year irrigation water capacity, the compositions of Cu, Zn, and Cd (particularly Cu and Zn) in both plough layer and loess began to stabilize with low concentrations in the exudate. These findings confirmed the applicability of composted sludge in loess regions. This study provided a new insight into the sludge reuse in alkaline soils in arid and semi-arid region.     

Effects of plant density on the photosynthetic and chloroplast characteristics of maize under high-yielding conditions

The Science of Nature - Knowledge on animal personality has provided new insights into evolutionary biology and animal ecology, as behavioural types have been shown to affect fitness. Animal...     

Degradation of pyrene by immobilized microorganisms in saline-alkaline soil

Biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is very difficult in saline-alkaline soil due to the inhibition of microbial growth under saline-alkaline stress. The microorganisms that can most effectively degrade PAHs were screened by introducing microorganisms immobilized on farm byproducts and assessing the validity of the immobilizing technique for PAHs degradation in pyrene-contaminated saline-alkaline soil. Among the microorganisms examined, it was found that Mycobacterium sp. B2 is the best, and can degrade 82.2% and 83.2% of pyrene for free and immobilized cells after 30 days of incubation. The immobilization technique could increase the degradation of pyrene significantly, especially for fungi. The degradation of pyrene by the immobilized microorganisms Mucor sp. F2, fungal consortium MF and co-cultures of MB+MF was increased by 161.7% (P < 0.05), 60.1% (P < 0.05) and 59.6% (P < 0.05) after 30 days, respectively, when compared with free F2, MF and MB+MF. Scanning electron micrographs of the immobilized microstructure proved the positive effects of the immobilized microbial technique on pyrene remediation in saline-alkaline soil, as the interspace of the carrier material structure was relatively large, providing enough space for cell growth. Co-cultures of different bacterial and fungal species showed different abilities to degrade PAHs. The present study suggests that Mycobacterium sp. B2 can be employed for in situ bioremediation of PAHs in saline-alkaline soil, and immobilization of fungi on farm byproducts and nutrients as carriers will enhance fungus PAH-degradation ability in saline-alkaline soil.     

Ultrafine particle emission characteristics of diesel engine by on-board and test bench measurement

This study investigated the emission characteristics of ultrafine particles based on test bench and on-board measurements. The bench test results showed the ultrafine particle number concentration of the diesel engine to be in the range of (0.56-8.35) × 10⁸ cm^-3. The on-board measurement results illustrated that the ultrafine particles were strongly correlated with changes in real-world driving cycles. The particle number concentration was down to 2.0 × 10⁶ cm^-3 and 2.7 × 10⁷ cm^-3 under decelerating and idling operations and as high as 5.0 × 10⁸ cm^-3 under accelerating operation. It was also indicated that the particle number measured by the two methods increased with the growth of engine load at each engine speed in both cases. The particle number presented a "U" shaped distribution with changing speed at high engine load conditions, which implies that the particle number will reach its lowest level at medium engine speeds. The particle sizes of both measurements showed single mode distributions. The peak of particle size was located at about 50-80 nm in the accumulation mode particle range. Nucleation mode particles will significantly increase at low engine load operations like idling and decelerating caused by the high concentration of unburned organic compounds.     

Occurrence of selected aliphatic amines in source water of major cities in China

The formation of toxic nitrogenous disinfection byproducts (N-DBPs), such as nitrosamines, halonitromethanes and haloacetonitriles, from reactions between chlorine/chloramine and dissolved organic nitrogen in drinking water has caused great concern with regarding public health. This study revealed the occurrence of 17 aliphatic amines, some of which have been confirmed to be the precursors of N-DBPs, in source water across China. A sensitive method based on benzenesulfonyl chloride derivatization and liquid-liquid extraction followed by GC-MS analysis was established for the simultaneous analysis of the selected amines in aqueous samples. In total, 37 source water samples from the capital cities of 20 provinces were collected for the survey. Among the 17 amines, 14 were detected with an average frequency of detection of 36%. The most relevant amines in terms of frequency and maximum concentrations detected were dimethylamine (100%, 24.82 μg/L), methylamine (78%, 0.92 μg/L), N-methylethylamine (70%, 8.84 μg/L), propylamine (59%, 10.69 μg/L), diethylamine (54%, 3.76 μg/L), N-methylbutylamine (35%, 3.07 μg/L), N-ethylpropylamine (35%, 0.52 μg/L), and piperidine (32%, 2.35 μg/L). This is the first large scale survey of the aliphatic amines occurrence in source water in the world. The wide presence of nitrosamine precursors like dimethylamine, N-methylethylamine and diethylamine, and the precursors of haloacetonitriles and halonitromethanes like methylamine and propylamine suggests that better source water management is required to ensure the safety of drinking water.     

淮北市煤炭开采对生态系统服务胁迫阈值研究

为揭示煤炭资源型城市煤炭开采对生态系统服务胁迫作用的阈值效应,在构建煤炭开采对生态系统服务胁迫阈值模型的基础上,从土地破坏、地下水资源破坏、大气污染3个维度分析估算了淮北市煤炭开采对生态系统服务的胁迫阈值,并探究了1990~2016年该地区煤炭开采对生态系统服务胁迫作用时序变化规律.结果表明：淮北市煤炭开采对生态系统服务的胁迫作用存在显著的阈值效应,其中,土地破坏、地下水资源破坏、大气污染3大胁迫因子的胁迫阈值分别为1803.19hm²、33253.23×10⁴t和888.81×10⁸m³.1990~2016年淮北市煤炭开采对生态系统服务胁迫作用呈现显著的阶段性特征,其中,1990~2009年该地区煤炭开采所造成的土地破坏、地下水资源破坏、大气污染均未超过阈值范围,生态系统服务运行状况良好;但是在2010年之后,由于该地区煤炭开采造成的地下水资源破坏超出阈值范围,从而导致该地区生态系统服务出现恶化趋势,不过2015年以来恶化趋势有所减缓.因此,该地区必须加快绿色矿区建设,加大生态环境治理力度,着力防范煤炭开采对生态系统服务的胁迫作用超出阈值范围,以保障经济增长与生态环境统筹协调可持续发展.     

Water incubation-induced fluctuating release of heavy metals in two smelter-contaminated soils

The soil moisture regime can affect the release of heavy metals in soil. In the previous studies, slightly polluted soils or artificially contaminated soil samples were considered to investigate the effect of soil moisture. We used highly smelter-contaminated and aged soils to study the release of typical heavy metals(Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb) induced by water incubation in batch experiments with characterization via speciation and X-ray diffraction analyses(XRD). The results show that the leachable concentrations of the heavy metals increased slightly in the first 30 days, decreased drastically between 30 and 90 days, and immobilized relatively constant thereafter. The fluctuation was ascribed to the changes of soil Eh and pH, the reductive dissolution of crystalline iron oxides, the formation of new amorphous iron oxides, the absorption of dissolved organic matter and the precipitation of metal sulfide. Speciation analysis indicated that a proportion of the soil heavy metals was transformed from an exchangeable fraction to a less labile fraction after water incubation. And the presence of a lead iron oxide phase and the peak increasing of zinc sulfide were observed via XRD analyses. Finally, water incubation restrained the release of heavy metals after 180 days of incubation, and reduced the leachability of Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb by as much as 1.61%–7.21% for soil A and 0.43%–3.36% for soil B, respectively. The study findings have implications for the formulation of risk control and management strategies for heavy metals in smelter-contaminated soils.     

新时代中国乡村振兴：探索与思考——乡村地理青年学者笔谈

乡村振兴是新时期国家重大战略,是一项系统工程。中国地域广阔,资源禀赋和经济发展区域差异显著,乡村振兴路径需要体现乡村发展的综合性、复杂性和区域性。来自乡村地理学领域的16位青年学者,以笔谈方式,对中国乡村振兴的科学路径开展了深入讨论。核心观点如下：（1）乡村振兴需要遵循时空分异规律,重点关注乡村发展的时空传承与现实需求之间的衔接,建立彰显地域特色和具有可操行性的理论和技术体系,分类、有序地推进乡村的人居环境、产业体系、生态环境和治理模式等转型。（2）力求城乡融合和联动,构建城乡复合多中心网络体系,创新采用“乡村群”空间组织模式,以乡村内生力、城镇辐射力与规划约束力共同驱动乡村振兴。（3）在中国“大国小农”的基本国情下,农业承载着食品安全、社会稳定和生态产品等多重功能,需要构建农业“全价值链”的发展路径,促进一二三产业深度融合,助力乡村产业兴旺。（4）在能源富集区,在保障国家能源安全需求前提下,需从根本上解决农村发展不平衡不充分问题;在西南地区,依托山区特色生态、人文资源打造山区现代农业产业体系、重塑乡村旅游新品牌、构筑山水田园乡村家园;在东北地区,乡村振兴应与“东北振兴”战略协同推进,有序分类推进;在长三角地区,应在全面认知乡村工业化到乡村城镇化,再到乡村特色化,到乡村的社会、文化和生态建设的阶段演化特征基础上,寻求差异化的乡村振兴路径;在西北地区,应在生态保护的前提下有效提升乡村“自主脱贫”的能力,实现从“输血”扶贫向“造血”扶贫转变;在京津冀地区,需以城乡基本公共服务均等化为目标,推动城乡融合与乡村振兴;在资源型地区,乡村振兴核心将以一二三产业融合的高效农业体系替代以资源开采为核心的产业体系;在传统农区,优化耕地利用转型同农村劳动力结构变化的耦合格局是实现乡村振兴的关键;在经济发达地区,具有“混杂性”特征的乡村,需激活农村土地资源的资产和资本属性,推进空间有序整合与活化,寻求多主体共同参与和缔造的现代乡村治理模式。     

两台多参数水质仪在线监测比对结果分析及方法评估

本文对两台多参数水质仪在线监测结果与标准方法进行了比对分析及方法评估。结果表明,两台仪器的水温、盐度、DO、pH、浊度等检测结果与标准方法具有较好的相关性。由于比对方法的原理、干扰因素、采样方式等的不同,部分因子比对的结果存在一定差异。但多参数水质仪在线监测优势在于高频率连续监测,采用多参数水质仪开展业务化在线监测工作是可行的,是传统监测方式的必要补充。     

物理和摇蚊幼虫组合扰动对内源磷再生和形态转化的协同作用

为探讨物理和摇蚊幼虫组合扰动对内源磷再生和形态转化的协同作用,选取了苏州某富营养化河道为研究对象.利用室内静态培养试验和Rhizon间隙水采样技术,着重对比了单纯的摇蚊幼虫扰动和组合扰动下,上覆水、间隙水、沉积物中磷形态数量分布的变化规律.结果表明,组合扰动下,上覆水中不同形态磷含量(TP、PP、DTP、DIP)均处于较高水平,明显高于摇蚊幼虫扰动.这可归因于微生物活性的显著增加.与摇蚊幼虫扰动相比,组合扰动下,间隙水中DIP和Fe2+浓度的降低幅度和降低范围明显更大.这主要是由于物理扰动和底栖生物扰动产生的叠加效应,导致溶解氧渗透深度增加.另外,0~2 cm沉积物中,NH4Cl-P含量明显降低,Fe/Al-P明显增加,并且,NH4Cl-P和Fe/Al-P的变化幅度均在组合扰动下最大.这暗示了物理扰动和底栖生物扰动对磷再生和迁移产生的叠加效应.