Mathematical approaches to the analysis of the spatial-age structures of tussock herb species

Some up-to-date methods of analysis of the spatial and age structures of populations, including local population density maps and Ripley’s functions, are described using 20 cenopopulations (CPs) of Adonis vernalis L. as an example. Pregenerative plants have been found to be the most contagious, irrespective of climatic and phytocenotic conditions and land use type. The spatial distribution pattern and structure of A. vernalis are mainly determined by generative plants forming a tussock, irrespective of the climate and vegetation type. This is explained by higher competitiveness of generative plants, which results in a reduced vegetation density at small distances from them (25–50 cm). Within wider areas, plant distribution may be random due to uniformity of local conditions in microhabitats. The formation of distinct plant aggregations is accounted for by insufficient water supply and the intensity and type of anthropogenic impact.     

底泥厌氧环境和光照对菹草萌发和幼苗生理的影响

通过向底泥中投加不同量的蔗糖使其发生厌氧反应以模拟不同程度的底泥厌氧环境,研究这种环境和光照强度对菹草石芽萌发和幼苗生理作用的影响。实验结果表明,底泥厌氧环境能显著降低菹草石芽的最终萌发率,且低光照会加剧这种趋势;尽管低光照不一定会提高最终的萌发率,但对提早石芽的萌发是有利的。在01%蔗糖投加处理中,幼苗的叶绿素和可溶性蛋白含量最高(平均为250和1928 mg/g FW),其后随投加量的升高而降低,而游离氨基酸的含量却一直呈上升趋势,最高时达到024 mg/g FW ,但低光照却使它下降;可溶性糖含量基本不受底泥厌氧水平的影响,但随着光照减少而降低。随着厌氧水平的增加（从对照到05%蔗糖投加量）,菹草的超氧物歧化酶(SOD)活性呈现上升趋势,但在10%蔗糖投加处理中活性降至最低;而过氧化物酶(POD)活性一直处于下降趋势。研究结论是：底泥厌氧对菹草石芽萌发影响显著,这种影响可能比低光照的限制作用还要重要。轻度的厌氧环境反而能促进菹草幼苗的生理代谢,但随厌氧水平的升高对碳氮平衡和其它生理活动产生不利影响。此外,底泥厌氧环境对菹草幼苗的抗氧化系统也有明显刺激作用。     

Hydroxyiminodisuccinic acid (HIDS): A novel biodegradable chelating ligand for the increase of iron bioavailability and arsenic phytoextraction

The influence of biodegradable chelating ligands on arsenic and iron uptake by hydroponically grown rice seedlings (Oryza sativa L.) was investigated. Even though the growth solution contained sufficient Fe, the growth of rice seedlings gradually decreased up to 76% with the increase of pH of the solution from 7 to 11. Iron forms insoluble ferric hydroxide complexes at neutral or alkaline pH in oxic condition. Chelating ligands produce soluble ‘Fe–ligand complex’ which assist Fe uptake in plants. The biodegradable chelating ligand hydroxyiminodisuccinic acid (HIDS) was more efficient then those of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid (EDDS), and iminodisuccinic acid (IDS) in the increase of Fe uptake and growth of rice seedling. A total of 79 ± 20, 87 ± 6, 116 ± 15, and 63 ± 18 mg dry biomass of rice seedlings were produced with the addition of 0.5 mM of EDDS, EDTA, HIDS, and IDS in the nutrient solution, respectively. The Fe concentrations in rice tissues were 117 ± 15, 82 ± 8, 167 ± 25, and 118 ± 22 μmol g⁻¹ dry weights when 0.25 mM of EDDS, EDTA, HIDS, and IDS were added to the nutrient solution, respectively. Most of the Fe accumulated in rice tissues was stored in roots after the addition of chelating ligands in the solution. The results indicate that the HIDS would be a potential alternative to environmentally persistent EDTA for the increase of Fe uptake and plant growth. The HIDS also increased As uptake in rice root though its translocation from root to shoot was not augmented. This study reports HIDS for the first time as a promising chelating ligand for the enhancement of Fe bioavailability and As phytoextraction.     

大薸对水体氮磷去除效果的初步研究

通过大薸在模拟富营养化水体中的培养试验,研究其在不同程度富营养化水体中对N、P的去除效果。结果显示：在总氮（TN）、总磷（TP）初始浓度分别为245～941 mg/L和044～153 mg/L的3种富营养化水体中,大薸均可正常生长。经过21 d的生长,大薸鲜重达16433～1934 g,干重达857～1053 g,大薸鲜重的特定生长率为044%～119%/d,大薸干重的特定生长率为046%～14%/d,大薸的分株速率为133%～362%/d。3种富营养化水体中的N、P去除量分别为6920～31860 mg和1560～6600 mg,大薸的N、P吸收量分别为3520～20821 mg和899～4837 mg,且随水体初始N、P浓度的升高而增加。大薸吸收对水体N去除的贡献率为5326%～6524%,对水体P去除的贡献率分别为5958%～7419%。由此可以看出,大薸对氮磷具有较好的去除效果,在富营养化水体中种植大薸可起到改善水质的作用     

陶瓷-活性炭球为载体的CWAO催化剂

以陶瓷-活性炭球为载体制备载Ru催化剂,用于催化湿式氧化(CWAO)法处理酚醛树脂废水,考察了陶瓷-活性炭球载体、Ru负载量和陶瓷球宏孔孔径等对催化剂的催化活性和稳定性的影响。实验结果表明,催化剂催化活性的顺序为:Ru/KC-120>Ru/KC-80>Ru/KC-60>KC-120>无催化剂。在200℃,氧气分压为1.5 MPa等条件下,催化湿式氧化酚醛树脂废水,3%Ru/KC-120催化剂表现良好的催化活性与稳定性,在120 min内,COD和苯酚去除率分别达到91%和96%。     

The view from below: ‘lock-in’ and local procurement in the African gold mining sector

Through linkage creation, commodity extraction has the capacity to support local industrial production and capabilities building. Drawing on the experience of supplying inputs into the East African gold mining industry, this paper examines the constraints experienced by local suppliers arising from the purchasing procedures of large mining corporations and specialist construction companies contracted to construct these mines. Lead firms become locked-in to particular ways of working which minimise the opportunities that local suppliers have in providing products and services. After reviewing the situation for local mining suppliers in East Africa, the paper examines ways in which lead firms, the suppliers themselves and others (governments and industry associations) can better support local supplier involvement.     

Elusive Partnerships: Gas extraction and CSR in Bangladesh

This paper examines Chevron's programme of CSR at a gas field in Bangladesh. Whilst apparently building partnerships in the villages that surround the Bibiyana Gas Field, we suggest that the corporation remains detached from the local population via their community development programmes and employment policies. This contradiction is submerged by ideas and practices within global development discourse which celebrate the disconnection and disengagement of donors via the rhetoric of sustainability. Chiming with development praxis and the neo-liberal values which underscore it by stressing self-reliance, entrepreneurship and ‘helping people to help themselves’, the corporation's Community Engagement Programme does little to meet the demands of local people who hoped for employment and long term investment, a form of connection that is discordant to discourses of self-reliance and sustainability.     

Dynamic changes of rhizosphere properties and antioxidant enzyme responses of wheat plants (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in mercury-contaminated soils

A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the dynamic changes in the rhizosphere properties and antioxidant enzyme responses of wheat plants (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in three levels of Hg-contaminated soils. The concentrations of soluble Hg and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the rhizosphere soil solutions of the wheat plants were characterised by the sequence before sowing > trefoil stage > stooling stage, whereas the soil solution pH was found to follow an opposite distribution pattern. The activities of antioxidant enzymes in wheat plants under Hg stress were substantially altered. Greater superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activities were observed in the wheat plants grown in a highly polluted soil than in a slightly polluted soil (with increases of 11–27% at the trefoil stage and 26–70% at the stooling stage); however, increasing concentrations of Hg up to seriously polluted level led to reduced enzyme activities. The present results suggest that wheat plants could positively adapt to environmental Hg stress, with rhizosphere acidification, the enhancement of DOC production and greater antioxidant enzyme activities perhaps being three important mechanisms involved in the metal uptake/tolerance in the rhizospheres of wheat plants grown in Hg-contaminated soils.     

Characterization of cadmium (Cd) distribution and accumulation in Tagetes erecta L. seedlings: Effect of split-root and of remove-xylem/phloem

Tagetes erecta has a high potential for cadmium (Cd) phytoremediation. Through several hydroponic experiments, characteristics of ¹⁰⁸Cd distribution and accumulation were investigated in T. erecta with split -roots or removed xylem/phloem. The results showed that ¹⁰⁸Cd transport from roots to aboveground tissues showed the homolateral transport phenomenon in split-root seedlings. ¹⁰⁸Cd content of leaves on the +¹⁰⁸Cd side and the −¹⁰⁸Cd side was not significantly different, which implied that there was horizontal transport of ¹⁰⁸Cd from the +¹⁰⁸Cd side to the −¹⁰⁸Cd side in cut-root seedlings. Like ¹⁰⁸Cd transport, the transport of ⁷⁰Zn was homolateral. Reduction of water consumption in the removed xylem treatment significantly decreased ¹⁰⁸Cd accumulation; whereas, the removed phloem treatment had no significant effect on water consumption, but did decrease ¹⁰⁸Cd accumulation in leaves of the seedlings. The removal of phloem significantly reduced distal leaf ¹⁰⁸Cd content, which was significantly lower than that in the basal leaves in both the split-root and unsplit-root seedlings. Overall, the results presented in this study revealed that the root to aboveground cadmium translocation via phloem is as an important and common physiological process as xylem determination of the cadmium accumulation in stems and leaves of marigold seedlings.     

Solubility and adsorption behaviors of chlorpyriphos-methyl in the presence of surfactants

In the present work changes in the adsorption of the pesticide chlorpyrifos-methyl (CLP-m) on soil colloids induced by application of surfactants were determined using a batch equilibrium method. The surfactants used were sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), Tween 20, and dihexadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DHAB). The adsorption isotherms of CLP-m in aqueous medium and in surfactant solutions at concentration equal to the critical micelle concentration (CMC) fitted the Freunlich adsorption equation generally with R² values greater than 0.96. While the addition of SDS and DHAB decreased the pesticide adsorption, the addition of Tween 20 increased the pesticide adsorption. The increases or decreases in the adsorption in the experiment revealed that the behavior of CLP-m in soil water-systems mainly depends on the type of surfactant. Moreover water solubility of CLP-m changes by the three surfactants below and above their CMC were studied. While the solubility of CLP-m was enhanced by SDS both below and above the CMC, the solubility of the pesticide was enhanced by DHAB only above the CMC. Tween 20 did not influence the solubility of CLP-m.