Evaluating global interest in biodiversity and conservation

The first target of the Convention for Biological Diversity (Aichi target 1) was to increase public awareness of the values of biodiversity and actions needed to conserve it—a key prerequisite for other conservation targets. Monitoring success in achieving this target at a global scale has been difficult; however, increased digitization of human life in recent decades has made it easier to measure people's interests at an unprecedented scale and allows for a more comprehensive evaluation of Aichi target 1 than previously attempted. We used Google search volume data for over a thousand search terms related to different aspects of biodiversity and conservation to evaluate global interest in biodiversity and its conservation. We also investigated the correlation of interest in biodiversity and conservation across countries to variables related to biodiversity, economy, demography, research, education, internet use, and presence of environmental organizations. From 2013 to 2020, global searches for biodiversity components increased, driven mostly by searches for charismatic fauna (59% of searches were for mammal species). Searches for conservation actions, driven mostly by searches for national parks, decreased since 2019, likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Economic inequality was negatively correlated with interest in biodiversity and conservation, whereas purchasing power was indirectly positively correlated with higher levels of education and research. Our results suggest partial success toward achieving Aichi target 1 in that interest in biodiversity increased widely, but not for conservation. We suggest that increased outreach and education efforts aimed at neglected aspects of biodiversity and conservation are still needed. Popular topics in biodiversity and conservation could be leveraged to increase awareness of other topics with attention to local socioeconomic contexts.     

SSCP技术分析不同废水处理系统中微生物群落结构

为研究不同废水处理系统中微生物群落结构以及认识群落结构与系统处理效能的关系,采用单链构象多态性技术(SSCP)分别对稳定运行的脱氮除磷反应器(N),中药废水处理反应器(P),啤酒废水处理反应器(W),糖蜜废水发酵制氢反应器(H)以及硫酸盐还原反应器(S)等5种废水处理系统中的微生物群落结构进行了解析.结果表明,处理同种废水且状态均一的反应器中微生物群落结构相似性最大;微生物种群多样性与废水中的有机质复杂性成正相关,中药废水由于含有较复杂的有机质成分,种群多样性最高,而人工配水的处理系统由于营养成分单一,种群多样性较低;与模式群落中微生物SSCP条带比较显示,某些功能微生物类群在整个系统中相对数量并非占优势,发酵产氢菌Ethanologenbacterium sp.在状态良好的制氢反应器中相对含量仅占5%,而脱硫弧菌Desulfovibrio sp.在硫酸盐还原反应器中的相对比例小于1.5%.SSCP指纹图谱技术能够揭示不同处理系统中微生物群落结构的差别,并对这些工艺中的部分功能微生物进行监测,进而为提高反应器的运行效果提供有益的指导.     

Comparing the Use of Indigenous Knowledge with Classification and Ordination Techniques for Assessing the Species Composition and Structure of Vegetation in a Tropical Forest

dentification of groups that are similar in their floristic composition and structure (habitat types) is essential for conservation and forest managers to allocate high priority areas and to designate areas for reserves, refuges, and other protected areas. In this study, the use of indigenous knowledge for the identification of habitat types in the field was compared against an ecological characterization of habitat types, including their species composition obtained by using classification and ordination techniques for a tropical landscape mosaic in a rural Mayan area of Quintana Roo, Mexico. Plant diversity data calculated from 141 sampled sites chosen randomly on a vegetation class’s thematic map obtained by multispectral satellite image classification were used for this propose. Results indicated high similarity in the categorization of vegetation types between the Mayan classification and those obtained by cluster and detrended correspondence analysis. This suggests that indigenous knowledge has a practical use and can be comparable to that obtained by using science-based methods. Finally, identification and mapping of vegetation classes (habitat types) using satellite image classification allowed us to discriminate significantly different species compositions, in such a way that they can provide a useful mechanism for interpolating diversity values over the entire landscape.     

空难对湿地底栖大型无脊椎动物的影响

探讨了包头"11·21"空难对南海子底栖大型无脊椎动物的种类、数量和空间分布以及水质的重要影响.研究发现:南海子底栖大型无脊椎动物有6种,其中寡毛类有2种、摇蚊幼虫有4种;摇蚊幼虫在数量和生物量上均占绝对优势,是南海子的优势种.南海子底栖大型无脊椎动物的种类多样性指数为1.262 9,Shnnon-Wiener多样性指数为0.614 5.南海子底栖大型无脊椎动物的分布率为92%,事故发生地附近没有底栖大型无脊椎动物出现;底栖大型无脊椎动物的数量和生物量以及种类多样性指数随着与事故发生地距离的增加而增加.空难事故后南海子水体已出现严重富营养化.      

Long-Term Biomonitoring with Lichens: Comparing Data from Different Sampling Procedures

The results of 2 biomonitoring surveys carried out over a span of 7 years (1996–2003) in the Province of Ancona (central Italy) using the diversity of epiphytic lichens are reported. According to a recent standardisation process, in 2003 a different protocol was adopted, raising the problem of data comparability with the previous study. For this reason, a ‘pilot study' was carried out in which the two sampling tactics were both used. The high correlation between biodiversity values proved by the results of this study, let to compare the two lichen diversity data set and to identify the impacts on lichen communities of temporal variations of atmospheric quality in the study area, showing a reduction of stations classified as ‘altered' and an increase in stations classified as ‘semi-altered'. Furthermore, possible reduction of the sampling effort was detected performing a study on the sampling density of the survey area, indicating in a 6 × 6 km grid the best density to adopt in order to save financial resources for the future.     

Impact of deltamethrin on the endophytic fungal community of a Chinese cabbage,Brassica chinensis

Endophytic fungi, being closely associated with their host plants, are an important part of the ecosystem and food web. In modern agriculture, pesticides are widely used. The impact of pesticides on the endophytic fungal community of crops remains poorly understood. In this paper, Chinese cabbage Brassica chinensis, a popular leafy vegetable consumed worldwide, was selected for evaluating the potential effects of a pesticide, deltamethrin, on the endophytic fungal community. By culture method, 195 endophytic fungal strains classified into 39 taxa and 186 strains classified into 30 taxa, respectively, were isolated from the pesticide-treated and untreated B. chinensis samples. Sirodesmium spp. were the predominant endophytic fungi from both samples. The colonisation rates of endophytic fungi of the treated and the untreated samples were not significantly different, as determined by one-way analysis of variance (p?>?.05). The Shannon diversity indexes (H′) were close, being 2.216 and 2.152, respectively. However, the endophyte compositions of the treated and the untreated samples were significantly different (p?B. chinensis.     

处理畜禽废水的序批式生物膜反应器中的细菌多样性

采用序批式生物膜反应器(SBBR)处理畜禽废水,在室温(9～18℃)下,采用8 h/周期、交替停曝气的模式运行,控制曝气阶段DO浓度在2 mg/L,可实现明显的亚硝酸盐积累,氨氮及总氮的去除率分别可达(95.1±0.8)%和(87.2±0.6)%。为揭示SBBR中细菌种群构成及其动态变化规律,采用PCR-DGGE技术进行了细菌多样性分析,并构建了系统发育树,结果表明:与接种污泥相比,驯化期生物膜中细菌种群丰富度未发生明显变化,运行期交替曝气、停曝模式有助于提高生物膜中细菌的多样性指数,但受运行模式及氨氮负荷变化影响,运行期氨氧化菌多样性指数略低于驯化期;生物膜内存在一些具有反硝化功能的变形菌和特殊的氨氧化细菌,在本实验条件下未发现厌氧氨氧化菌,说明主要脱氮机理为同时短程硝化反硝化。     

有机碳源条件下厌氧氨氧化SBBR中的微生物多样性

研究有机碳源对SBBR厌氧氨氧化菌群等微生物的影响。采用16S rDNA序列与PCR-DGGE分析技术相结合的方法,对稳定运行的反应器内的活性污泥和生物膜样品,进行细菌多样性图谱分析,同时采用巢式PCR-DGGE技术对浮霉状菌属(Planctomycetes)细菌进行分析。结果表明,在有机碳源反应系统细菌条带数和多样性指数均高于无机系统,与活性污泥相比,生物膜表尤为明显。当进水不含有机碳源时,氨氧化细菌(ammonia oxidizing bacteria,AOB),厌氧氨氧化菌(anaerobic ammonia oxidizing bacteria,ANAMMOX)为优势功能菌;当进水含有机碳源时,系统中存在的AOB以亚硝化单胞菌(Nitrosomonas sp.)为优势菌群,同时存在反硝化菌,如索氏菌(Thauera sp.)以及厌氧氨氧化菌,它们共同作用完成N的去除。此外,与无机碳源系统相比,有机碳源的存在,有利于浮霉状菌的积累,但压缩了ANAMMOX的生存空间。本研究可为厌氧氨氧化工艺处理低C/N比有机废水提供了理论依据。     

Insights into the structural and conformational requirements of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and metabolites as potential estrogens based on molecular docking

PBDEs and their metabolites are of concern due to their increasing concentrations in the environment and their toxic effects. Knowledge about the toxicological mechanisms of PBDEs and metabolites is urgently needed for further screening. The objective of the present study was to explore the structural and conformational requirements of PBDE compounds as human estrogen receptor alpha (hERα) agonists, and further screened out hERα agonists from PBDE compounds. Molecular docking and postdocking analysis were adopted to attain the aim. The obtained results revealed that PBDEs can be primarily screened for their estrogenicity using score values, hydrogen bonds interaction with amino acid residues Glu353 and/or Arg394 might be important for HO-PBDEs’ estrogenicity. For most MeO-PBDEs, hydrophobic interaction might be the key factor affecting their estrogenic activity. The current study suggested that molecular docking and postdocking analysis can serve as an efficient pre-screening technique for identifying potential estrogens.     

南四湖新薛河湖滨带湿地修复效果评价

通过对南水北调东线南四湖新薛河入湖口湖滨带人工湿地修复区的植物群落组成和物种多样性进行调查,采用Shannon-Wiener指数、Simpson指数、均匀度指数和丰富度指数对该地区的植物物种多样性进行分析,以评价退耕还湿措施对湖滨带退化湿地的生态修复效果.结果表明,经过2年的生态修复工作,湖滨带退化湿地中的植物物种数量由修复前的16科25种提高到修复后的24科47种.修复后的湖滨带湿地生态系统具有较高的生物多样性,其物种多样性明显高于未修复地区,其中,修复后的湿地高位台田区Shannon-Wiener指数、Simpson指数、均匀度指数分别为1.619、0.745和0.860,远高于未修复高位台田区的0.060、0.012和0.065.通过退耕还湿措施修复的湖滨带人工湿地系统对于恢复南四湖湿地的物种多样性、实现湖滨带湿地生态系统的自然可持续性具有重要的意义.