Use of historical and contemporary distribution of mammals in China to inform conservation

A systematic understanding of dynamic animal extinction trajectories for different regions in a nation like China is critically important to developing practical conservation strategies. We explored historical and contemporary changes in terrestrial mammalian diversity to determine how diversity in each of the 5 regions in China has changed over time and to examine the conservation potential of these regions. We used records from databases on Pleistocene mammalian fossils and historical distribution records (1175–2020) for Primates (as a case study) to reconstruct evolutionary and historical distribution trajectories of the 11 orders of terrestrial mammals and to predict their prospective survival based on the national conservation strategy applied. The results indicated that since the Pleistocene, 4–5 mammalian orders have been lost in the northeast, 3 in central China, 2 along the coast, and 1 in the northwest. In the southwest, all 11 orders were maintained. Contemporarily, the coast and southwest had the highest and second-highest species densities. The southwest region and southeastern sections of the northwest region were the most historically and contemporarily diverse areas, which suggests that they should be the first priority for protected area (PA) designation. The central and coastal areas should be secondarily prioritized. In these 2 regions, conservation should focus on human coexistence with nature. Less attention should be paid to the PA in the northeast and western northwest because in these areas ecosystems are depauperate and the climate is harsh. Conservation in these areas should focus principally on avoiding further human encroachment on natural areas. Article impact statement: Historical and contemporary patterns of extinction can be a basis for mammalian conservation strategies.     

Impact of land use on shallow groundwater quality characteristics associated with human health risks in a typical agricultural area in Central China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Groundwater pollution seriously threatens water resource safety due to high-intensity land use throughout the world. However, the relationship between...     

Effect of Environmental Regulation on High-quality Economic Development in China—An Empirical Analysis Based on Dynamic Spatial Durbin Model

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In 2017, the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China put forward the concept of high-quality economic development, indicating that the...     

Facile in situ synthesis of silver nanocomposites based on cellulosic paper for photocatalytic applications

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this work, various photocatalysts were synthesized with an impregnation-precipitation process to in situ decorate Ag-based nanoparticles (NPs,...     

Morphology and composition of particles emitted from conventional and alternative fuel vehicles

Size, morphology, and composition of airborne particles strongly affect human health and visibility, precipitation, and the kinetic characteristics of particles. In this study, the morphology and chemical composition of particles emitted from conventional (diesel and gasoline) and alternative (CNG and methanol) fuel vehicles were characterized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX). The SEM images revealed that the size of primary particles (without agglomeration) was approximately 10 nm in the exhaust from all the tested vehicles. The particles emitted from gasoline vehicle (GV), CNG vehicle (CNGV), and methanol vehicle (MV) had the same median diameter, 62 nm, which was smaller than those from heavy diesel vehicle (HDV) and light diesel vehicle (LDV). Soot was observed in the HDV, LDV, and GV samples but not in the CNGV and MV. The fractal dimension, which was used to quantify the degree of irregularity of soot, was 1.752 ± 0.014, 1.789 ± 0.076, and 1.769 ± 0.006 in the exhaust from HDV, LDV, and GV samples, respectively. The particles discharged by all tested vehicles contained the elements C, O, Fe, and Na. The main element in the samples of HDV, LDV, and GV was C, while O was the main element in the samples of alternative fuel vehicles. The profiles of minor elements were more complex in the emissions of alternative fuel vehicles than those in the emissions of conventional fuel vehicles. The results improved our understanding of the morphology and elemental composition of particles emitted from vehicles powered by diesel, gasoline, CNG, and methanol.

     

Metal distribution characteristic of MSWI bottom ash in view of metal recovery

Bottom ash is the major by-product of municipal solid waste incineration(MSWI), and is often reused as an engineering material, such as road-base aggregate. However, some metals(especially aluminum) in bottom ash can react with water and generate gas that could cause expansion and failure of products containing the ash; these metals must be removed before the ash is utilized. The size distribution and the chemical speciation of metals in the bottom ash from two Chinese MSWI plants were examined in this study, and the recovery potential of metals from the ash was evaluated. The metal concentrations in these bottom ashes were lower than that generated in other developed countries. Specifically, the contents of Al,Fe, Cu and Zn were 18.9–29.2, 25.5–32.3, 0.7–1.0 and 1.6–2.5 g/kg, respectively. Moreover,44.9–57.0 wt.% of Al and 55.6–75.4 wt.% of Fe were distributed in bottom ash particles smaller than 5 mm. Similarly, 46.6–79.7 wt.% of Cu and 42.9–74.2 wt.% of Zn were concentrated in particles smaller than 3 mm. The Fe in the bottom ash mainly existed as hematite, and its chemical speciation was considered to limit the recovery efficiency of magnetic separation.     

基于环境因子和邻近信息的土壤属性空间分布预测

为探索乡镇尺度上土壤属性空间分布预测的最佳方法,以江西省万年县齐埠镇为例,借助四方位搜索法、地统计学和遥感影像分析技术提取环境因子（地形因子和植被覆盖指数）和邻近信息[w（有机质）与w（速效钾）],构建OK法（普通克里金法）、RK1法（仅基于环境因子的回归克里金法）以及RK2法（基于环境因子和邻近信息的回归克里金法）对齐埠镇耕地表层（0~20 cm）土壤w（有机质）、w（速效钾）空间分布进行预测.结果表明:齐埠镇土壤w（有机质）平均值为35.03 g/kg,w（速效钾）平均值为96.73 mg/kg,均为中等空间变异性.对62个样点进行建模,16个测试样点进行独立验证的误差分析表明,RK2法对土壤w（有机质）、w（速效钾）预测结果的均方根误差、平均绝对误差和平均相对误差较OK法分别降低了18.05%、18.01%、21.77%和7.25%、9.49%、9.84%;较RK1法分别降低了22.48%、20.91%、22.02%和9.27%、12.61%、13.52%.研究显示,RK2法明显提高了土壤w（有机质）、w（速效钾）空间分布模拟精度,并且存在改进和提高的空间.      

不同主体功能定位的县域空间功能区划研究

文章通过判别分析法,尝试构建一套针对不同主体功能定位县通用的指标体系,以反映社会经济发展状况、生态环境保护重要性、国土空间开发支撑条件。通过在广西10个不同主体功能定位县的实践应用,将县域空间划分为城镇空间、农业空间和生态空间,重点开发区、农产品主产区、重点生态功能区的城镇空间分别小于30%、20%和10%,农产品主产区的农业空间和重点生态功能区的生态空间均大于50%。研究成果为全省范围推广县域空间功能区划提供了科学依据。     

危险废物焚烧厂环境污染控制与风险管理水平评价指标体系研究与应用

采用德尔菲法、层次分析法和五分制综合评分法,构建了危险废物焚烧厂环境污染控制与风险管理水平评价指标体系。从选址、技术和管理的角度,制定了31个评价指标,并归纳为8个准则层指标群,通过计算权重和对评价指标的赋分,实现对危险废物焚烧厂环境污染控制与风险管理水平的量化评价。应用结果表明:华南某市两家危险废物焚烧厂的环境污染控制与风险管理水平分值分别为3.34和4.38,分别处于良好和先进的水平。