三峡工程蓄水运用期库区干流水质分析

分析了三峡库区蓄水前后（1998～2009年）干流水质的变化及原因。结果表明,同蓄水前相比,蓄水后库区干流水质变好,库区干流断面月度达标率均值由蓄水前的623%变为蓄水后的783%,库区干流超标污染物主要为高锰酸盐指数、总磷、铅等。蓄水后水质时空分布出现新的特点,近坝水体悬浮物、浑样高锰酸盐指数、总磷、铅等可吸附污染物浓度显著降低。蓄水后年内悬浮物及浑样高锰酸盐指数、总磷和铅浓度仍然是丰水期＞平、枯水期,但近坝水体不同水期间浓度差别比蓄水前明显减小。蓄水后,库区干流浑样高锰酸盐指数、总磷、铅浓度整体上表现为从库尾至库首沿程下降,尤以丰水期沿程下降最为突出。浑样高锰酸盐指数、总磷、铅浓度以上变化特征主要缘于库区水位抬高后,流速减小导致的澄清作用,即高锰酸盐指数所代表污染物、磷、铅等随泥沙发生了不同程度的沉降。蓄水前后清样高锰酸盐指数和总磷未发生明显变化,156 m蓄水后至今,清样铅浓度明显低于蓄水前。     

基于能值分析的滨海湿地生态系统服务价值定量化研究进展

在滨海湿地生态系统服务价值评价中,能值方法克服了传统经济学方法的一些不足,对评价沿海地区发展的可持续性具有重要意义,并成为近十年来环境经济学和生态经济学研究的热点问题。综合国内外滨海湿地生态系统服务价值能值评价的研究进展,就滨海湿地生态系统的供给、调节、文化和支持服务价值的能值估算方法进行了分析。在此基础上,指出了目前该方法应用于滨海湿地生态系统服务价值评价主要存在能值转换率的选用不一致、生态系统服务价值的能值估算方法需要完善、能值分析所应用的滨海湿地类型较少、缺少对人类活动引起的生态系统服务能值变化的评价及检验评价结论正确性的标准等不足,并提出了进一步的研究方向。     

湖北“人口-经济-空间”城市化及其层级结构

城市化的内在协调性是城市（区域乃至国家）综合竞争力、国民生计及可持续发展能力的综合体现。基于对城市化概念与内涵的认知--城市化是一个“人口 经济 空间”三维一体的过程,其中人是行为主体,经济是驱动力,空间是载体,构建了城市化综合测度指标,并运用时序全局主成分分析法,对2000年以来湖北省12个地级市的城市化层级结构演变过程及趋势进行了分析。结果表明湖北省城市化具有如下特征：① 城市化总量时序演变上呈现出明显的上升趋势,且存在经济城市化>空间城市化>综合城市化>人口城市化的变化趋势,但也表现出一定程度的粗放增长的内在特征;② 整个城市化过程是一个由人口城市化导向型向经济城市化导向型转变的过程;③ 城市化相关系数的时序演变与人口城市化集聚程度>空间城市化集聚程度>经济城市化集聚程度的演变趋势密切相关,表明综合城市化与人口城市化的地域协调性最高,而与经济的最低;④ 城市化等级体系空间结构及其时序演变具有首位度城市层级结构、城市层级结构动态演变,以及城市化地域协调性不强等特征;最后就城市化的协调发展提出对策和建议。为我国城市化可持续发展研究以及湖北省今后的城市化发展战略提供了理论借鉴和实践指导     

Identification of perfluoroalkyl acid sources in Swiss surface waters with the help of the artificial sweetener acesulfame

Anthropogenic perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), especially the perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are ubiquitously found in surface waters around the globe. Emissions from households, industries and also atmospheric transport/deposition are discussed as the possible sources. In this study, these sources are evaluated using Switzerland as the study area. Forty-four surface water locations in different rivers and an Alpine lake were investigated for 14 PFAAs, four precursors and acesulfame, an artificial sweetener used as a population marker. Concentrations of individual PFAAs were generally low, between 0.02 and 10 ng/L. Correlation analysis showed that some PFAAs concentrations correlated well with population and less with catchment area, indicating that emissions from population, i.e., from consumer products, is the most important source to surface waters in Switzerland. The correlation with the population marker acesulfame confirmed this observation but highlighted also a few elevated PFAA levels, some of which could be attributed to industrial emissions.     

Biomarker responsiveness in different tissues of caged Ruditapes philippinarum and its use within an integrated sediment quality assessment

Biomarkers comprising activities of biotransformation enzymes (ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase -EROD-, dibenzylfluorescein dealkylase -DBF-, glutathione S-transferase -GST), antioxidant enzymes (glutathione reductase -GR- and glutathione peroxidase -GPX), lipid peroxidation -LPO- and DNA strand breaks were analyzed in the clam Ruditapes philippinarum caged at Cádiz Bay, Santander Bay and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (LPGC) Port (Spain). Sediments were characterized. Digestive gland was the most sensitive tissue to sediment contamination. In Cádiz Bay, changes in LPO regarding day 0 were related with metals. In LPGC Port, DBF, EROD, and GST activity responses suggested the presence of undetermined contaminants which might have led to DNA damage. In Santander Bay, PAHs were related with EROD activity, organic and metal contamination was found to be associated with GR and GST activities and DNA damage presented significant (p < 0.05) induction. R. philippinarum was sensitive to sediment contamination at biochemical level. Biomarkers allowed chemical exposure and sediment quality assessment.     

Substituting missing data in compositional analysis

Multivariate analysis of environmental data sets requires the absence of missing values or their substitution by small values. However, if the data is transformed logarithmically prior to the analysis, this solution cannot be applied because the logarithm of a small value might become an outlier. Several methods for substituting the missing values can be found in the literature although none of them guarantees that no distortion of the structure of the data set is produced. We propose a method for the assessment of these distortions which can be used for deciding whether to retain or not the samples or variables containing missing values and for the investigation of the performance of different substitution techniques. The method analyzes the structure of the distances among samples using Mantel tests. We present an application of the method to PCDD/F data measured in samples of terrestrial moss as part of a biomonitoring study.     

Engineered nanomaterials in rivers--exposure scenarios for Switzerland at high spatial and temporal resolution

Probabilistic material flow analysis and graph theory were combined to calculate predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in Swiss rivers: 543 river sections were used to assess the geographical variability of nano-TiO₂, nano-ZnO and nano-Ag, and flow measurements over a 20-year period at 21 locations served to evaluate temporal variation. A conservative scenario assuming no ENM removal and an optimistic scenario covering complete ENM transformation/deposition were considered. ENM concentrations varied by a factor 5 due to uncertain ENM emissions (15%-85% quantiles of ENM emissions) and up to a factor of 10 due to temporal river flow variations (15%-85% quantiles of flow). The results indicate highly variable local PECs and a location- and time-dependent risk evaluation. Nano-TiO₂ median PECs ranged from 11 to 1′623 ng L⁻¹ (conservative scenario) and from 2 to 1′618 ng L⁻¹ (optimistic scenario). The equivalent values for nano-ZnO and nano-Ag were by factors of 14 and 240 smaller.     

Virtual phosphorus ore requirement of Japanese economy

Phosphorus is indispensable for agricultural production. Hence, the consumption of imported food indirectly implies the import of phosphorus resources. The global consumption of agricultural products depends on a small number of ore-producing countries. For sustainable management of phosphorus resources, the global supply and demand network should be clarified. In this study, we propose the virtual phosphorus ore requirement as a new indicator of the direct and indirect phosphorus requirements for our society. The virtual phosphorus ore requirement indicates the direct and indirect demands for phosphorus ore transformed into agricultural products and fertilizer. In this study, the virtual phosphorus ore requirement was evaluated for the Japanese economy in 2005. Importantly, the results show that our society requires twice as much phosphorus ore as the domestic demand for fertilizer production. The phosphorus contained in “eaten” agricultural products was only 12% of virtual phosphorus ore requirement.     

Tracing the sources of refractory dissolved organic matter in a large artificial lake using multiple analytical tools

Structural and chemical characteristics of refractory dissolved organic matter (RDOM) from seven different sources (algae, leaf litter, reed, compost, field soil, paddy water, treated sewage) were examined using multiple analytical tools, and they were compared with those of RDOM in a large artificial lake (Lake Paldang, Korea). Treated sewage, paddy water, and field soil were distinguished from the other sources investigated by their relatively low specific UV absorbance (SUVA) values and more pronounced fulvic-like versus humic-like fluorescence of the RDOM samples. Microbial derived RDOM from algae and treated sewage showed relatively low apparent molecular weight and a higher fraction of hydrophilic bases relative to the total hydrophilic fraction. For the biopolymer types, the presence of polyhydroxy aromatics with the high abundance of proteins was observed only for vascular plant-based RDOM (i.e., leaf litter and reed). Molecular weight values exhibited positive correlations with the SUVA and the hydrophobic content among the different RDOM, suggesting that hydrophobic and condensed aromatic structures may be the main components of high molecular weight RDOM. Principal component analysis revealed that approximately 77% of the variance in the RDOM characteristics might be explained by the source difference (i.e., terrestrial and microbial derived) and a tendency of further microbial transformation. Combined results demonstrated that the properties of the lake RDOM were largely affected by the upstream sources of field soil, paddy water, and treated sewage, which are characterized by low molecular weight UV-absorbing and non-aromatic structures with relatively high resistance to further degradation.     

Plant communities in relation to flooding and soil contamination in a lowland Rhine River floodplain

Using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), relationships were investigated between plant species composition and flooding characteristics, heavy metal contamination and soil properties in a lowland floodplain of the Rhine River. Floodplain elevation and yearly average flooding duration turned out to be more important for explaining variation in plant species composition than soil heavy metal contamination. Nevertheless, plant species richness and diversity showed a significant decrease with the level of contamination. As single heavy metal concentrations seemed mostly too low for causing phytotoxic effects in plants, this trend is possibly explained by additive effects of multiple contaminants or by the concomitant influences of contamination and non-chemical stressors like flooding. These results suggest that impacts of soil contamination on plants in floodplains could be larger than expected from mere soil concentrations. In general, these findings emphasize the relevance of analyzing effects of toxic substances in concert with the effects of other relevant stressors.