Why social values cannot be changed for the sake of conservation

The hope for creating widespread change in social values has endured among conservation professionals since early calls by Aldo Leopold for a “land ethic.” However, there has been little serious attention in conservation to the fields of investigation that address values, how they are formed, and how they change. We introduce a social–ecological systems conceptual approach in which values are seen not only as motivational goals people hold but also as ideas that are deeply embedded in society's material culture, collective behaviors, traditions, and institutions. Values define and bind groups, organizations, and societies; serve an adaptive role; and are typically stable across generations. When abrupt value changes occur, they are in response to substantial alterations in the social–ecological context. Such changes build on prior value structures and do not result in complete replacement. Given this understanding of values, we conclude that deliberate efforts to orchestrate value shifts for conservation are unlikely to be effective. Instead, there is an urgent need for research on values with a multilevel and dynamic view that can inform innovative conservation strategies for working within existing value structures. New directions facilitated by a systems approach will enhance understanding of the role values play in shaping conservation challenges and improve management of the human component of conservation.     

常温低基质厌氧氨氧化反应器启动及其稳定性

以上向流生物滤池为反应器,以实验室内氧化沟回流污泥为接种污泥,采用先培育好氧生物膜,后转为厌氧环境培育厌氧氨氧化生物膜的方式,成功实现了常温低基质浓度下厌氧氨氧化反应器的启动。控制反应器进水pH为7.50～7.80,NH4+-N为30～40 mg/L,NO2--N为35～50 mg/L,温度为20～25℃。224 d以后,反应器启动成功。在稳定运行阶段,出水亚硝氮和氨氮的平均浓度分别为1.4 mg/L和4.6 mg/L,平均去除率分别为95.3%和90.1%,去除比例为1～1.8∶1,主要集中在1.4～1.5∶1,亚硝氮和氨氮去除的容积负荷分别为104.2 mg/(L.d)和146.0 mg/(L.d)。     

不同来源高浓度有机废水的集中处理

按照水质情况,将多种来源于不同工业生产过程中的高浓度有机废水划分为高悬浮固体乳化液废水、难生化高浓度有机废水、高悬浮固体不含油有机废水、含铬有机废水和杂质含量较少的乳化液废水5类,分别采用酸化破乳/Fen-ton氧化/混凝/絮凝、Fenton氧化/混凝/絮凝、混凝/絮凝、还原/混凝/絮凝、震动膜过滤技术作为生化预处理技术,并通过小试和中试验证了各技术的效果。实验结果表明,按照上述分类结果,采用不同预处理技术可以得到良好的效果,废水水质明显改善,满足继续生化处理的基本条件。各预处理生产装置处理效果稳定,同时生化系统已经稳定运行120天以上,COD去除率超过90%,出水经过低剂量的Fenton试剂处理后可达到《污水排入城镇下水道水质标准》(CJ343-2012)。     

Modeled Summer Background Concentration of Nutrients and Suspended Sediment in the Mid‐Continent (USA) Great Rivers1

Angradi, Ted R., David W. Bolgrien, Matt A. Starry, and Brian H. Hill, 2012. Modeled Summer Background Concentration of Nutrients and Suspended Sediment in the Mid‐Continent (USA) Great Rivers. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(5): 1054‐1070. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2012.00669.x Abstract: We used regression models to predict summer background concentration of total nitrogen (N), total phosphorus (P), and total suspended solids (TSS), in the mid‐continent great rivers: the Upper Mississippi, the Lower Missouri, and the Ohio. From multiple linear regressions of water quality indicators with land use and other stressor variables, we determined the concentration of the indicators when the predictor variables were all set to zero — the y‐intercept. Except for total P on the Upper Mississippi River, we could predict background concentration using regression models. Predicted background concentration of total N was about the same on the Upper Mississippi and Lower Missouri Rivers (430 μg l^?1), which was lower than percentile‐based values, but was similar to concentrations derived from the response of sestonic chlorophyll a to great river total N concentration. Background concentration of total P on the Lower Missouri (65 μg l^?1) was also lower than published and percentile‐based concentrations. Background TSS concentration was higher on the Lower Missouri (40 mg l^?1) than the other rivers. Background TSS concentration on the Upper Mississippi (16 mg l^?1) was below a threshold (30 mg l^?1) designed to protect aquatic vegetation. Our model‐predicted concentrations for the great rivers are an attempt to estimate background concentrations for water quality indicators independent from thresholds based on percentiles or derived from stressor‐response relationships.     

Effects of a catalytic converter on PCDD/F, chlorophenol and PAH emissions in residential wood combustion

Temporal variations in concentrations of perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) and sulfonic acids (PFSAs), including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) structural isomers, were examined in livers of pilot whale (Globicephala melas), ringed seal (Phoca hisida), minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), hooded seal (Cystophora cristata), Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus) and in muscle tissue of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus). The sampling spanned over 20 years (1984-2009) and covered a large geographical area of the North Atlantic and West Greenland. Liver and muscle samples were homogenized, extracted with acetonitrile, cleaned up using hexane and solid phase extraction (SPE), and analyzed by liquid chromatography with negative electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In general, the levels of the long-chained PFCAs (C9-C12) increased whereas the levels of PFOS remained steady over the studied period. The PFOS isomer pattern in pilot whale liver was relatively constant over the sampling years. However, in ringed seals there seemed to be a decrease in linear PFOS (L-PFOS) with time, going from 91% in 1984 to 83% in 2006.     

Is there a material Kuznets curve for aluminium? evidence from rich countries

The paper tests the material Kuznets Curve (MKC) hypothesis with regard to aluminium consumption for 20 high-income countries over the period 1970 to 2009. The test is based on the suggestion of Narayan and Narayan (2010). Various unit root and cointegration tests are applied. The aluminium and GDP series are found to be integrated of order one and cointegrated. Additionally, the Blundell–Bond system generalized methods-of-moments (GMM) is employed to conduct a panel causality test in a vector error-correction mechanism (VECM) setting. Unidirectional causality running from real per capita GDP to the aluminium intensity is uncovered in both the short-run and long-run. While controlling for structural shocks, the MKC hypothesis is found to hold at individual levels for Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Japan, and United Kingdom as well as for the whole panel. A 1% increase in GDP generates an increase of 0.87% in metal intensity in the short-run and a fall of 0.82% in the long-run for the panel.     

毛木耳产漆酶发酵条件的研究

以毛木耳为产酶菌,以CMC为唯一碳源,探讨了不同培养条件对毛木耳产漆酶的影响。结果表明,在最适温度为27℃、pH值为6．0、接种量为10％、装液量为90mL／250mL、摇床转速为180rpm、培养天数为6d时,产酶活力最大。以各个因子的最佳梯度做优化培养,发酵液中的漆酶活力高达70．76IU／mL。     

Identification of key parameters controlling dissolved oxygen migration and attenuation in fractured crystalline rocks

In the crystalline rocks of the Canadian Shield, geochemical conditions are currently reducing at depths of 500-1000 m. However, during future glacial periods, altered hydrologic conditions could potentially result in enhanced recharge of glacial melt water containing a relatively high concentration of dissolved oxygen (O2). It is therefore of interest to investigate the physical and geochemical processes, including naturally-occurring redox reactions, that may control O2 ingress. In this study, the reactive transport code MIN3P is used in combination with 2k factorial analyses to identify the most important parameters controlling oxygen migration and attenuation in fractured crystalline rocks. Scenarios considered are based on simplified conceptual models that include a single vertical fracture, or a fracture zone, contained within a rock matrix that extends from the ground surface to a depth of 500 m. Consistent with field observations, Fe(II)-bearing minerals are present in the fractures (i.e. chlorite) and the rock matrix (biotite and small quantities of pyrite). For the parameter ranges investigated, results indicate that for the single fracture case, the most influential factors controlling dissolved O2 ingress are flow velocity in the fracture, fracture aperture, and the biotite reaction rate in the rock matrix. The most important parameters for the fracture zone simulations are flow velocity in the individual fractures, pO2 in the recharge water, biotite reaction rate, and to a lesser degree the abundance and reactivity of chlorite in the fracture zone, and the fracture zone width. These parameters should therefore receive increased consideration during site characterization, and in the formulation of site-specific models intended to predict O2 behavior in crystalline rocks.     

A strategy for aromatic hydrocarbon bioremediation under anaerobic conditions and the impacts of ethanol: a microcosm study

Increased use of ethanol-blended gasoline (gasohol) and its potential release into the subsurface have spurred interest in studying the biodegradation of and interactions between ethanol and gasoline components such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene isomers (BTEX) in groundwater plumes. The preferred substrate status and the high biological oxygen demand (BOD) posed by ethanol and its biodegradation products suggests that anaerobic electron acceptors (EAs) will be required to support in situ bioremediation of BTEX. To develop a strategy for aromatic hydrocarbon bioremediation and to understand the impacts of ethanol on BTEX biodegradation under strictly anaerobic conditions, a microcosm experiment was conducted using pristine aquifer sand and groundwater obtained from Canadian Forces Base Borden, Canada. The initial electron accepter pool included nitrate, sulfate and/or ferric iron. The microcosms typically contained 400 g of sediment, 600 approximately 800 ml of groundwater, and with differing EAs added, and were run under anaerobic conditions. Ethanol was added to some at concentrations of 500 and 5000 mg/L. Trends for biodegradation of aromatic hydrocarbons for the Borden aquifer material were first developed in the absence of ethanol, The results showed that indigenous microorganisms could degrade all aromatic hydrocarbons (BTEX and trimethylbenzene isomers-TMB) under nitrate- and ferric iron-combined conditions, but not under sulfate-reducing conditions. Toluene, ethylbenzene and m/p-xylene were biodegraded under denitrifying conditions. However, the persistence of benzene indicated that enhancing denitrification alone was insufficient. Both benzene and o-xylene biodegraded significantly under iron-reducing conditions, but only after denitrification had removed other aromatics. For the trimethylbenzene isomers, 1,3,5-TMB biodegradation was found under denitrifying and then iron-reducing conditions. Biodegradation of 1,2,3-TMB or 1,2,4-TMB was slower under iron-reducing conditions. This study suggests that addition of excess ferric iron combined with limited nitrate has promise for in situ bioremediation of BTEX and TMB in the Borden aquifer and possibly for other sites contaminated by hydrocarbons. This study is the first to report 1,2,3-TMB biodegradation under strictly anaerobic condition. With the addition of 500 mg/L ethanol but without EA addition, ethanol and its main intermediate, acetate, were quickly biodegraded within 41 d with methane as a major product. Ethanol initially present at 5000 mg/L without EA addition declined slowly with the persistence of unidentified volatile fatty acids, likely propionate and butyrate, but less methane. In contrast, all ethanol disappeared with repeated additions of either nitrate or ferric iron, but acetate and unidentified intermediates persisted under iron-enhanced conditions. With the addition of 500 mg/L ethanol and nitrate, only minor toluene biodegradation was observed under denitrifying conditions and only after ethanol and acetate were utilized. The higher ethanol concentration (5000 mg/L) essentially shut down BTEX biodegradation likely due to high EA demand provided by ethanol and its intermediates. The negative findings for anaerobic BTEX biodegradation in the presence of ethanol and/or its biodegradation products are in contrast to recent research reported by Da Silva et al. [Da Silva, M.L.B., Ruiz-Aguilar, G.M.L., Alvarez, P.J.J., 2005. Enhanced anaerobic biodegradation of BTEX-ethanol mixtures in aquifer columns amended with sulfate, chelated ferric iron or nitrate. Biodegradation. 16, 105-114]. Our results suggest that the apparent conservation of high residual labile carbon as biodegradation products such as acetate makes natural attenuation of aromatics less effective, and makes subsequent addition of EAs to promote in situ BTEX biodegradation problematic.     

乌鲁木齐市气象条件与TSP浓度的关系

阐述了气象条件对ＴＳＰ浓度变化的影响,ＴＳＰ的扩散速度、扩散能力、浓度变化、历时长短在很大程度上取决于气象条件。