Understanding implications of consumer behavior for wildlife farming and sustainable wildlife trade

Unsustainable wildlife trade affects biodiversity and the livelihoods of communities dependent upon those resources. Wildlife farming has been proposed to promote sustainable trade, but characterizing markets and understanding consumer behavior remain neglected but essential steps in the design and evaluation of such operations. We used sea turtle trade in the Cayman Islands, where turtles have been farm raised for human consumption for almost 50 years, as a case study to explore consumer preferences toward wild‐sourced (illegal) and farmed (legal) products and potential conservation implications. Combining methods innovatively (including indirect questioning and choice experiments), we conducted a nationwide trade assessment through in‐person interviews from September to December 2014. Households were randomly selected using disproportionate stratified sampling, and responses were weighted based on district population size. We approached 597 individuals, of which 37 (6.2%) refused to participate. Although 30% of households had consumed turtle in the previous 12 months, the purchase and consumption of wild products was rare (e.g., 64–742 resident households consumed wild turtle meat [i.e., 0.3–3.5% of households] but represented a large threat to wild turtles in the area due to their reduced populations). Differences among groups of consumers were marked, as identified through choice experiments, and price and source of product played important roles in their decisions. Despite the long‐term practice of farming turtles, 13.5% of consumers showed a strong preference for wild products, which demonstrates the limitations of wildlife farming as a single tool for sustainable wildlife trade. By using a combination of indirect questioning, choice experiments, and sales data to investigate demand for wildlife products, we obtained insights about consumer behavior that can be used to develop conservation‐demand‐focused initiatives. Lack of data from long‐term social–ecological assessments hinders the evaluation of and learning from wildlife farming. This information is key to understanding under which conditions different interventions (e.g., bans, wildlife farming, social marketing) are likely to succeed.     

Analysis of the Trend and Seasonal Cycle of Carbon Monoxide Concentrations in an Urban Area (4 pp)

Background, Aim and Scope Air quality is an field of major concern in large cities. This problem has led administrations to introduce plans and regulations to reduce pollutant emissions. The analysis of variations in the concentration of pollutants is useful when evaluating the effectiveness of these plans. However, such an analysis cannot be undertaken using standard statistical techniques, due to the fact that concentrations of atmospheric pollutants often exhibit a lack of normality and are autocorrelated. On the other hand, if long-term trends of any pollutant’s emissions are to be detected, meteorological effects must be removed from the time series analysed, due to their strong masking effects. Materials and Methods The application of statistical methods to analyse temporal variations is illustrated using monthly carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations observed at an urban site. The sampling site is located at a street intersection in central Valencia (Spain) with a high traffic density. Valencia is the third largest city in Spain. It is a typical Mediterranean city in terms of its urban structure and climatology. The sampling site started operation in January 1994 and monitored CO ground level concentrations until February 2002. Its geographic coordinates are W0°22′52″ N39°28′05″ and its altitude is 11 m. Two nonparametric trend tests are applied. One of these is robust against serial correlation with regards to the false rejection rate, when observations have a strong persistence or when the sample size per month is small. A nonparametric analysis of the homogeneity of trends between seasons is also discussed. A multiple linear regression model is used with the transformed data, including the effect of meteorological variables. The method of generalized least squares is applied to estimate the model parameters to take into account the serial dependence of the residuals of this model. This study also assesses temporal changes using the Kolmogorov-Zurbenko (KZ) filter. The KZ filter has been shown to be an effective way to remove the influence of meteorological conditions on O₃ and PM to examine underlying trends. Results The nonparametric tests indicate a decreasing, significant trend in the sampled site. The application of the linear model yields a significant decrease every twelve months of 15.8% for the average monthly CO concentration. The 95% confidence interval for the trend ranges from 13.9% to 17.7%. The seasonal cycle also provides significant results. There are no differences in trends throughout the months. The percentage of CO variance explained by the linear model is 90.3%. The KZ filter separates out long, short-term and seasonal variations in the CO series. The estimated, significant, long-term trend every year results in 10.3% with this method. The 95% confidence interval ranges from 8.8% to 11.9%. This approach explains 89.9% of the CO temporal variations. Discussion The differences between the linear model and KZ filter trend estimations are due to the fact that the KZ filter performs the analysis on the smoothed data rather than the original data. In the KZ filter trend estimation, the effect of meteorological conditions has been removed. The CO short-term componentis attributable to weather and short-term fluctuations in emissions. There is a significant seasonal cycle. This component is a result of changes in the traffic, the yearly meteorological cycle and the interactions between these two factors. There are peaks during the autumn and winter months, which have more traffic density in the sampled site. There is a minimum during the month of August, reflecting the very low level of vehicle emissions which is a direct consequence of the holiday period. Conclusions The significant, decreasing trend implies to a certain extent that the urban environment in the area is improving. This trend results from changes in overall emissions, pollutant transport, climate, policy and economics. It is also due to the effect of introducing reformulated gasoline. The additives enable vehicles to burn fuel with a higher air/fuel ratio, thereby lowering the emission of CO. The KZ filter has been the most effective method to separate the CO series components and to obtain an estimate of the long-term trend due to changes in emissions, removing the effect of meteorological conditions. Recommendations and Perspectives Air quality managers and policy-makers must understand the link between climate and pollutants to select optimal pollutant reduction strategies and avoid exceeding emission directives. This paper analyses eight years of ambient CO data at a site with a high traffic density, and provides results that are useful for decision-making. The assessment of long-term changes in air pollutants to evaluate reduction strategies has to be done while taking into account meteorological variability     

The State of the Mammal Community of Boreal Forest Ecosystems in the Vicinity of a Nickel-Smelting Plant

The effect of industrial air pollution on natural small mammal populations has been studied in the northern taiga subzone of the boreal forest zone. The results of long-term monitoring have been used to demonstrate the possibility of predicting changes in the main population and community characteristics of the animal species studied as dependent on the degree of anthropogenic impact.     

The aggregation pheromone ofIps duplicatus and its role in competitive interactions withI. typographus (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)

Summary Ips duplicatus withI. typographus co-inhabiting Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) would benefit from a pheromone blend distinct from that of the larger competitorI. typographus. GC-MS analysis showed thatI. duplicatus males feeding in the host produced ipsdienol (Id),cis-verbenol (cV),trans-verbenol (tV), myrtenol (Mt), andE-myrcenol (EM) and traces of 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol (MB).I. duplicatus produced Id in approximately racemic form (48.9-54.5% (+)-(S)-isomer). The amounts of Id and EM released over a 9 day period had a maximum of 250 and 5 ng/h/male, respectively, on day 2. Exposure ofI. duplicatus males to myrcene and -pinene resulted in the production of small amounts of Id, cV, tV, Mt, andtrans-pinocarveol, but not of EM. In laboratory bioassays with walking beetles, the pheromone component Id alone was weakly attractive while EM was inactive, but in binary combination with Id strongly synergized attraction. A combination of EM and Id at a release rate equivalent to 100–200 males was more attractive in the field than 70 unmated males in a spruce log. The addition of myrcene ( a suggested pheromone precursor of Id) to Id did not enhance trap caches, while addition of EM increased catches > 10-fold. Subtracting EM from a blend of Id, EM, cV and MB drastically reduced trap catches while subtraction of cV or MB or both had no significant effect. Addition of EM over a wide concentration range to the synthetic pheromone ofI. typographus did not reduce the attraction of females of this species in the laboratory. A two-species pheromone interaction field test releasingI. typographus pheromone components (MB + cV) at 10–1000 male equivalents (ME) andI. duplicatus pheromone (Id + EM) at 0, 10–1000 ME in all possible combinations showed both positive intraspecific dose-response effects and an interspecific inhibition. Higher release rates of EM appeared to inhibitI. typographus, especially males. In a tree colonization model, the response of the two competing species to their respective pheromones show a good separation during the mass-attack with a small initial cross-attraction. It remains to be shown whether either of the two pheromone systems have in fact evolved in the present sympatry, or if they are an incidental effect of ancestry of these phylogenetically distantIps.     

MnFe2O4磁性纳米棒非均相Fenton催化降解水中四环素的研究

采用水热合成法成功制备出MnFe₂O₄磁性纳米棒（s-MnFe₂O₄）,并考察了商品化的Fe₃O₄、MnFe₂O₄和合成的s-MnFe₂O₄纳米棒这3种磁性纳米颗粒作为非均相Fenton催化剂降解水中四环素抗生素的性能.同时,采用X射线衍射（XRD）、透射电镜（TEM）、N₂吸附-脱附、振动样品磁强计（VSM）及X射线光电子能谱（XPS）等技术对催化剂的理化性质进行了表征.非均相Fenton催化降解四环素的结果表明,s-MnFe₂O₄具有最高的催化活性,反应180 min,四环素的去除率可以达到87.6%,TOC的去除率达到47.5%.自由基捕获试验证实了羟基自由基（·OH）是非均相Fenton氧化过程中的主要活性物种.s-MnFe₂O₄磁性纳米棒的高催化活性归因于其表面拥有较高含量的Mn³⁺和Fe²⁺物种,它们的存在能加速界面电子的转移效率,从而促进·OH的生成.合成的s-MnFe₂O₄催化剂具有良好的稳定性,循环使用6次,四环素的去除率仅从87.6%降低到80.2%,且氧化过程中活性组分的流失很少.     

基于遥感尾气监测的柴油车气态污染物排放因子计算方法研究

采用遥感尾气测试系统实测了柴油车在实际道路工况下的CO、HC和NO排放特征,修正了排放因子的计算方法,并与车载排放测试系统（PEMS）实测结果进行了验证,获得了实测车辆的CO、HC和NO排放因子.测试结果显示,在各种遥感监测的工况下柴油车尾气中均含有较高浓度的氧气,未考虑氧气影响的燃烧方程反演获得的各污染物体积浓度计算值与PEMS实测值的偏差较大,且氧气浓度越大,偏差越大.经过氧气修正的燃烧方程反演计算的尾气浓度与PEMS实测值吻合度大幅提升,适用于实际工况下遥感检测车辆尾气的反演计算.修正算法得到CO、HC和NO的排放因子离散性较小,精确度较高,可以为量化柴油车尾气排放贡献提供科学依据.     

基于AIS轨迹修复的船舶排放空间表征改进方法与应用

基于船舶自动识别系统（Automatic Identification System,AIS）数据表征船舶排放是目前船舶排放空间表征的主流方法,但AIS船舶轨迹点缺失会造成船舶排放量低估和船舶空间分布表征错误,进而影响船舶排放控制区的划分.为改进船舶排放空间表征,本研究以2013年广东省AIS船舶数据为例,采用基于时间和经纬度的三次样条方法对AIS船舶轨迹进行修复,结合动力法计算船舶排放,分析对比AIS轨迹修复前后船舶排放表征的差异,并利用空气质量模型和卫星观测评估AIS轨迹修复对船舶排放表征和广东沿海空气质量模拟的改进效果.结果表明：轨迹修复后广东省海域船舶轨迹点总数由4685773个增至5746664个,船舶NO_x排放量增加了0.6%.对于轨迹点与排放缺失集中的粤东海域,轨迹修复后船舶轨迹点数增加了88%,NO_x排放量在广东省船舶排放量的占比提升至22%,特别是在粤东重点修复海域NO_x排放量增加了2.7倍.原始轨迹在广东省海域较为稀疏,在粤东海域有明显轨迹缺失;轨迹修复后广东省海域船舶轨迹更为密集,粤东海域船舶轨迹得以补充,船舶排放空间分布更连贯.对比模拟结果与卫星观测结果,轨迹修复后粤东重点修复海域船舶模拟浓度与观测浓度的偏差由51%减至6%,总体上船舶排放模拟结果更接近卫星观测结果.     

核壳结构KNbO3@Co(OH)2的制备及其活化过一硫酸盐降解帕珠沙星的研究

制备了以KNbO₃为载体材料的Co（OH）₂复合材料并对其进行了详细的表征,分析了材料的组成成分、组成形态进而确定了其为核壳结构形貌的KNbO₃@Co（OH）₂.利用合成的样品作为催化剂活化过一硫酸盐（peroxymonosulfate,PMS）来降解帕珠沙星（pazufloxacin,PZF）,结果表明制备的催化剂对PZF的去除效率显著增加.讨论了不同初始PMS剂量对降解效率的影响,发现随着PMS增加可活化生成更多的硫酸根自由基（sulfate radicals,SO₄^·-）和羟基自由基（hydroxyl radicals,HO^·）来降解PZF,但继续增大PMS用量降解效率未见明显提升.酸性和中性pH值条件下利于反应活化PMS降解PZF,而碱性体系减缓反应,甚至强碱体系更易形成Co（OH）₂沉淀不利于反应体系中活性组分CoOH⁺的形成,大大抑制了催化性能.此外,在体系中加入淬灭剂叔丁醇（tert-Butanol,TBA）或者乙醇（ethanol,ETOH）进行自由基的淬灭实验,结果表明SO₄^·-自由基为体系降解PZF过程中主要贡献的自由基,而HO^·自由基的贡献较少.催化剂具有较好的稳定性5次循环之后仍能在10 min之内完全去除PZF.本研究提出了新的思路为制备其他载体的Co（OH）₂核壳结构提供参考依据,同时将该催化剂结合高级氧化技术应用到水体新兴有机污染物净化领域具有很好的应用前景.     

船舶排放及不确定性对中国空气质量的影响

船舶排放是我国沿海地区重要的人为排放源,但现有的船舶排放评估研究大多只关注区域尺度的影响分析,而且忽视了排放清单的不确定性,这在一定程度上削弱了评估结果的可靠性.为此,本文利用WRF-SMOKE-CAMQ空气质量模型,定量评估了船舶排放及其不确定性对我国七大沿海港口城市夏季空气质量的影响,结果表明：船舶排放对我国主要沿海港口城市的SO₂、NO_x和PM_2.5浓度贡献范围分别为16.5%~62.5%、21.9%~72.9%和5.9%~26.0%,尤其对宁波、青岛和深圳等港口城市空气质量的影响显著,主要是由于港口较高的船舶排放以及气象传输两方面原因造成的;如果考虑船舶排放清单的总量不确定性,船舶排放对沿海港口城市夏季SO₂、NO_x和PM_2.5的影响分别呈现1.0~3.1,2.1~5.5,0.3~0.9μg/m³的波动;考虑船舶排放清单的时空分配不确定性,船舶排放对沿海港口城市夏季SO₂、NO_x和PM_2.5的影响分别呈现1.9~15.7,5.1~29.3,0.6~2.5μg/m³的波动.可见,船舶排放清单的不确定性对沿海城市船舶排放贡献影响量化有明显的影响.所以在评估船舶排放对港口城市空气质量的影响时,要考虑船舶排放清单的不确定性,尤其是时空分配的不确定性.而合理的时空分配能够提高船舶排放清单的质量和对沿海空气质量模拟的准确性.     

Plasmonic silver/silver oxide nanoparticles anchored bismuth vanadate as a novel visible-light ternary photocatalyst for degrading pharmaceutical micropollutants

The degradation of pharmaceutical micropollutants is an intensifying environmental problem and synthesis of efficient photocatalysts for this purpose is one of the foremost challenges worldwide. Therefore, this study was conducted to develop novel plasmonic Ag/Ag₂O/BiVO₄ nanocomposite photocatalysts by simple precipitation and thermal decomposition methods, which could exhibit higher photocatalytic activity for mineralized pharmaceutical micropollutants. Among the different treatments, the best performance was observed for the Ag/Ag₂O/BiVO₄ nanocomposites (5 wt.%; 10 min's visible light irradiation) which exhibited 6.57 times higher photodegradation rate than the pure BiVO₄. Further, the effects of different influencing factors on the photodegradation system of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) were investigated and the feasibility for its practical application was explored through the specific light sources, water source and cycle experiments. The mechanistic study demonstrated that the photogenerated holes (h⁺), superoxide radicals (?O₂^?) and hydroxyl radicals (?OH) participated in TC-HCl removal process, which is different from the pure BiVO₄ reaction system. Hence, the present work can provide a new approach for the formation of novel plasmonic photocatalysts with high photoactivity and can act as effective practical application for environmental remediation.