DRY AND WET WEATHER FLOW NUTRIENT LOADS FROM A LOS ANGELES WATERSHED1

Effective watershed management requires an accurate assessment of the pollutant loads from the associated point and nonpoint sources. The importance of wet weather flow (WWF) pollutant loads is well known, but in semi‐arid regions where urbanization is significant the pollutant load in dry weather flow (DWF) may also be important. This research compares the relative contributions of potential contaminants discharged in DWF and WWF from the Ballona Creek Watershed in Los Angeles, California. Models to predict DWF and WWF loads of total suspended solids, biochemical oxygen demand, nitrate‐nitrogen, nitrite‐nitrogen, ammonia‐nitrogen, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, and total phosphorus from the Ballona Creek Watershed for six water years dating from 1991 to 1996 were developed. The contaminants studied were selected based on data availability and their potential importance in the degradation of Ballona Creek and Santa Monica Bay beneficial uses. Wet weather flow was found to contribute approximately 75 percent to 90 percent of the total annual flow volume discharged by the Ballona Creek Watershed. Pollutant loads are also predominantly due to WWF, but during the dry season, DWF is a more significant contributor. Wet weather flow accounts for 67 to 98 percent of the annual load of the constituents studied. During the dry season, however, the portion attributable to DWF increases to greater than 40 percent for all constituents except biochemical oxygen demand and total suspended solids. When individual catchments within the watershed are considered, the DWF pollutant load from the largest catchment is similar to the WWF pollutant load in two other major catchments. This research indicates WWF is the most significant source of nonpoint source pollution load on an annual basis, but management of the effects of the nonpoint source pollutant load should consider the seasonal importance of DWF.     

Trait space of rare plants in a fire‐dependent ecosystem

The causes of species rarity are of critical concern because of the high extinction risk associated with rarity. Studies examining individual rare species have limited generality, whereas trait‐based approaches offer a means to identify functional causes of rarity that can be applied to communities with disparate species pools. Differences in functional traits between rare and common species may be indicative of the functional causes of species rarity and may therefore be useful in crafting species conservation strategies. However, there is a conspicuous lack of studies comparing the functional traits of rare species and co‐occurring common species. We measured 18 important functional traits for 19 rare and 134 common understory plant species from North Carolina's Sandhills region and compared their trait distributions to determine whether there are significant functional differences that may explain species rarity. Flowering, fire, and tissue‐chemistry traits differed significantly between rare and common, co‐occurring species. Differences in specific traits suggest that fire suppression has driven rarity in this system and that changes to the timing and severity of prescribed fire may improve conservation success. Our method provides a useful tool to prioritize conservation efforts in other systems based on the likelihood that rare species are functionally capable of persisting.     

福建省重点城市路面尘负荷及化学组成研究

采集并分析了福建省重点城市厦门、漳州、泉州和莆田城区具有代表性的57个地面扬尘和16个土壤样品的26种无机元素、8种水溶性离子和碳成分等组成.不同城市粒径≤100μm的路面尘负荷平均值在6.99 g.m-2与10.11 g.m-2之间,而粒径≤2.5μm的路面尘(PM2.5)负荷平均值在4.0 mg.m-2和12.5 mg.m-2之间.不同城市土壤尘和路面尘PM2.5中浓度最高的元素都是Si、Ca、Al、Fe和K,路面尘中Ca元素明显富集,而主要人为来源的重金属元素如Cu、Pb、Zn、Cr在路面尘PM2.5中的浓度显著高于土壤尘.漳州城区路面尘PM2.5中二次离子NH4+、NO3-和SO24-的含量明显高于其它地区,厦门、漳州和泉州城区路面尘PM2.5中Mg2+和Ca2+之间都存在显著的正相关关系.四城市路面尘中有机碳(OC)的含量均高于济南、石家庄以及北京地面扬尘OC的含量,元素碳(EC)的含量均低于北京地区路面扬尘EC的含量.泉州和莆田两地OC和EC的相关性较好,说明路面尘中OC和EC有相同或相似的来源.质量平衡结果显示泉州和莆田路面尘PM2.5中含量最高的是土壤尘,其次为有机物.按化学组成特征对路面尘PM2.5进行聚类解析,得到受大气沉降影响、受土壤尘影响、受大气沉降和土壤尘共同作用以及受土壤尘和建筑尘共同作用4类样品.     

泉州市大气PM2.5镧系元素组成特征及来源解析

2014年3月、4月和7月分别采集了泉州市5个采样点共49个PM_(2.5)样品,采用电感耦合等离子体质谱(ICP-MS)测定样品镧系元素(Loid)及其他微量金属元素浓度水平.分析了PM_(2.5)镧系元素组成特征和配分模式,利用La-Ce-V三元图和化学质量平衡(CMB)受体模型解析了泉州市大气PM_(2.5)污染来源.结果表明:(1)泉州市大气PM_(2.5)总镧系元素(Σ Loid)浓度为2.490~5.708 ng·m~(-3)(含量65.682~126.529μg·g~(-1)),轻重镧系元素比值(L/H)为12.086~14.319;(2)PM_(2.5)镧系元素配分模式与福建土壤相似,PM_(2.5)中Ce元素表现为正异常,而Eu元素表现为负异常;(3)城市扬尘、燃煤尘、汽车尾气尘和垃圾焚烧飞灰是泉州市大气PM_(2.5)的主要来源,贡献率分别为18.9%、10.9%、30.6%和30.2%.     

Impact of microbial communities from tropical soils on the mobilization of trace metals during dissolution of cinnabar ore

Biodissolution experiments on cinnabar ore(mercury sulphide and other sulphide minerals,such as pyrite) were performed with microorganisms extracted directly from soil. These experiments were carried out in closed systems under aerobic and anaerobic conditions with 2 different soils sampled in French Guyana. The two main objectives of this study were(1) to quantify the ability of microorganisms to mobilize metals(Fe, Al, Hg) during the dissolution of cinnabar ore, and(2) to identify the links between the type and chemical properties of soils, environmental parameters such as season and the strategies developed by indigenous microorganisms extracted from tropical natural soils to mobilize metals.Results indicate that microbial communities extracted directly from various soils are able to(1) survive in the presence of cinnabar ore, as indicated by consumption of carbon sources and,(2) leach Hg from cinnabar in oxic and anoxic dissolution experiments via the acidification of the medium and the production of low molecular mass organic acids(LMMOAs). The dissolution rate of cinnabar in aerobic conditions with microbial communities ranged from 4.8 × 10~(-4) to 2.6 × 10~(-3) μmol/m~2/day and was independent of the metabolites released by the microorganisms. In addition, these results suggest an indirect action by the microorganisms in the cinnabar dissolution. Additionally, because iron is a key element in the dynamics of Hg, microbes were stimulated by the presence of this metal,and microbes released LMMOAs that leached iron from iron-bearing minerals, such as pyrite and oxy-hydroxide of iron, in the mixed cinnabar ore.     

好氧MBBR处理含吲哚废水的工艺优化试验研究

为了处理制药企业废水中吲哚类有机污染物,采用好氧MBBR(移动床生物膜反应器)工艺对含吲哚废水进行了试验研究,通过考察HRT、曝气量、吲哚冲击负荷等工艺条件对吲哚、COD和NH_4~+-N等去除效果的影响,确定了好氧MBBR反应器的最佳工艺条件。实验结果表明,在HRT在6~18 h变化时,MBBR工艺对吲哚去除率在8 h以上时达到100%,COD去除率在8 h达到89.65%,而NH_4~+-N去除率在12 h达到最高。在曝气量为0.1~0.12 m L/min时,MBBR工艺对COD和NH_4~+-N去除率分别为88.88%~92.95%和65%~66.83%。进水吲哚浓度25~65 mg/L变化时,好氧MBBR对吲哚去除率保持在100%,而对COD和NH_4~+-N去除率也保持在80%和40%以上,表明好氧MBBR工艺在处理难降解有机污染物方面具有显著优势。     

基于LiDAR、SRTM DEM的祁连山黑河流域十一冰川2000-2012年物质平衡估算

以祁连山黑河流域十一冰川为例,利用机载三维激光扫描数据（Light Detection And Ranging, LiDAR）和SRTM DEM数据,在LiDAR点云数据预处理、高程数据配准、校正、误差评估的基础上,建立基于大地测量法的冰川物质平衡计算流程。表明：2000-2012年十一冰川冰面高程变化为-7.47±0.92βm,变化率为-0.62±0.08 m·a^-1,估算十一冰川的年均物质平衡为 -0.53±0.07βm w.e.,累积物质平衡为-6.35±0.78βm w.e.,折合水当量约为（330.4±40.8）×10^4βm³;与其他典型监测冰川物质平衡进行对比和分析,论证了估算结果的可靠性;LiDAR数据具有非常高的精度和空间分辨率,目前关于其在冰川物质平衡研究中的应用很少,论文尝试将其应用于冰川物质平衡变化研究中,具有广阔的发展前景。     

成都市污染边界层高度的演变特征分析

基于2014年1月21日至2月5日成都市人民南路四段逐时PM_(2.5)质量浓度、大气能见度资料以及同期Mie散射激光雷达探测数据,遵循消光系数与细颗粒物质量浓度之间的关系,探讨污染边界层高度的演变特征。结果表明:污染时段内的污染边界层高度偏低,平均为221m;污染边界层高度与地面PM_(2.5)浓度的变化具有明显相关性,但污染边界层高度改变在前,地面PM_(2.5)浓度响应在后;污染边界层高度的日变化表现为单峰单谷型,峰值和谷值分别出现在08:00时和14:00时前后。     

Effects of sludge retention time, carbon and initial biomass concentrations on selection process: From activated sludge to polyhydroxyalkanoate accumulating cultures

Four sequence batch reactors (SBRs) fed by fermented sugar cane wastewater were continuously operated under the aerobic dynamic feeding (ADF) mode with different configurations of sludge retention time (SRT), carbon and initial biomass concentrations to enrich polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) accumulating mixed microbial cultures (MMCs) from municipal activated sludge. The stability of SBRs was investigated besides the enrichment performance. The microbial community structures of the enriched MMCs were analyzed using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP). The optimum operating conditions for the enrichment process were: SRT of 5 days, carbon concentration of 2.52 g COD/L and initial biomass concentration of 3.65 g/L. The best enrichment performance in terms of both operating stability and PHA storage ability of enriched cultures (with the maximum PHA content and PHA storage yield (Y_PHA/S) of 61.26% and 0.68 mg COD/mg COD, respectively) was achieved under this condition. Effects of the SRT, carbon concentration and initial biomass concentration on the PHA accumulating MMCs selection process were discussed respectively. A new model including the segmentation of the enrichment process and the effects of SRT on each phase was proposed.     

Tissue distribution of perfluoroalkyl acids and health status in wild Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) from Loskop Dam, Mpumalanga, South Africa

This study examined concentrations of 15 perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in tissues from male Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) collected at Loskop Dam, Mpumalanga, South Africa in 2014 and 2016. Nine of the 15 PFAAs were detected frequently and were included in statistical analysis and included two of the most commonly known PFAAs, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) (median, 41.6 ng/g) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) (median, 0.0825 ng/g). Of the tissues measured, plasma (2016 and 2014 median, 22.2 ng/g) contained the highest PFAA burden followed by (in descending order): liver (median, 11.6 ng/g), kidney (median, 9.04 ng/g), spleen (median, 5.92 ng/g), adipose (median, 2.54 ng/g), and muscle (median, 1.11 ng/g). Loskop Dam tilapia have been affected by an inflammatory disease of the adipose tissue known as pansteatitis, so this study also aimed to investigate relationships between PFAA tissue concentrations and incidence of pansteatitis or fish health status. Results revealed that healthy tilapia exhibited an overall higher (p-value < 0.05) PFAA burden than pansteatitis-affected tilapia across all tissues. Further analysis showed that organs previously noted in the literature to contain the highest PFAA concentrations, such as kidney, liver, and plasma, were the organs driving the difference in PFAA burden between the two tilapia groups. Care must be taken in the interpretations we draw from not only the results of our study, but also other PFAA measurements made on populations (human and wildlife alike) under differing health status.