Nitrogen cycle of a typical Suaeda salsa marsh ecosystem in the Yellow River estuary

The nitrogen (N) biological cycle of the Suaeda salsa marsh ecosystem in the Yellow River estuary was studied during 2008 to 2009. Results showed that soil N had significant seasonal fluctuations and vertical distribution. The N/P ratio (15.73±1.77) of S. salsa was less than 16, indicating that plant growth was limited by both N and P. The N absorption coefficient of S. salsa was very low (0.007), while the N utilization and cycle coefficients were high (0.824 and 0.331, respectively). The N turnover among compartments of S. salsa marsh showed that N uptake from aboveground parts and roots were 2.539 and 0.622 g/m2, respectively. The N translocation from aboveground parts to roots and from roots to soil were 2.042 and 0.076 g/m2, respectively. The N translocation from aboveground living bodies to litter was 0.497 g/m2, the annual N return from litter to soil was far less than 0.368 g/m2, and the net N mineralization in topsoil during the growing season was 0.033 g/m2. N was an important limiting factor in S. salsa marsh, and the ecosystem was classified as unstable and vulnerable. S. salsa was seemingly well adapted to the low-nutrient status and vulnerable habitat, and the nutrient enrichment due to N import from the Yellow River estuary would be a potential threat to the S. salsa marsh. Excessive nutrient loading might favor invasive species and induce severe long-term degradation of the ecosystem if human intervention measures were not taken. The N quantitative relationships determined in our study might provide a scientific basis for the establishment of effective measures.     

福禄吉祥与生物安全

再过十来天就是春节了!受几千年传统文化的影响,中国人过年总爱与吉祥、如意和福禄之类的祝福挂钩。文玩市场应该说是许多人在春节前乃至春节期间十分乐意光顾的地方。但最近有媒体报道说,在北京的文玩市场,一直以来很受顾客青睐的手捻儿葫芦(寓意福禄)几乎全是美国品种。     

保护海洋:你能做些什么?

地球表面的2/3为海洋所覆盖,我们生存所需的氧70%由海洋提供,面对气候变化及其他威胁,我们该如何去保护海洋呢?做下面的测试去找找答案吧。1、珊瑚白化是指:A.专业的潜水员为游客清洗和漂白珊瑚礁。B.珊瑚虫排出藻类致使珊瑚礁变白的过程。C.年深日久珊瑚会掉     

读《生命的未来》

多年前,他在位于落基山脉亚高山地带的露营场采访时,看到路边的标牌上写着:"请把花留给别人欣赏。"后来这块木牌的标志被腐蚀,一片一片地剥落,于是新的标志代替了这些旧的标志,上面写着:"让花儿继续活下去。"——《生命的未来》尽管和梭罗(Henry DavidThoreau,1817-1862)相隔112岁之遥,声名卓著的生物学家爱德华·威尔逊(Edward Osborne Wilson,1929-)博士还是坚持给业已作古的梭罗写了一封永远无法寄达的长信,放在其2002年出版的著作《生命的未来》(The Future of Life)一书的卷首,     

ENN精粹

托特尼斯最具前瞻性的生态解决之道《观察家》2011年2月6日位于英格兰西南部的托特尼斯,为我们提出了可能是世界上最具前瞻性的生态解决之道。它是城镇转型运动的先锋实践者,推行本土化设计和城镇规模的运作模式,种植粮食与提高能源效率双管齐下,气候变化和石油峰值的问题在这里迎刃而解。     

水解酸化-CASS工艺在工业园区污水处理厂的应用

以山东无棣市某工业因区污水处理厂污水处理工程为例,介绍了格栅-曝气沉砂-初沉池-水解酸化-CASS-混凝沉淀-紫外线消毒组合工艺的工程应用,总结并分析了工程设计及运行经验;设计处理流量30 000 m3/d,一期工程10 000 m3/d.进水CODCr,BOD5,SS质量浓度分别小于500,300,300 mg/L;运行结果表明:该组合工艺对CODCr,BOD5,SS的去除率分别达89.73％,91.71％和92.95％以上,出水各项水质指标均达到GB 18918-2002《城镇污水处理厂污染物排放标准》中的一级B排放标准.     

Phosphatase activity and culture conditions of the yeast Candida mycoderma sp. and analysis of organic phosphorus hydrolysis ability

Orthophosphate is an essential but limiting macronutrient for plant growth. About 67% cropland in China lacks sufficient phosphorus, especially that with red soil. Extensive soil phosphorus reserves exist in the form of organic phosphorus, which is unavailable for root uptake unless hydrolyzed by secretory acid phosphatases. Thus, many microorganisms with the ability to produce phosphatase have been exploited. In this work, the activity of an extracellular acid phosphatase and yeast biomass from Candida mycoderma was measured under different culture conditions, such as pH, temperature, and carbon source. A maximal phosphatase activity of 8.47 × 10^5±0.11× 10^5 U/g was achieved by C. Mycoderma in 36 hr under the optimal conditions. The extracellular acid phosphatase has high activity over a wide pH tolerance range from 2.5 to S.0 （optimum pH 3.5）. The effects of different phosphorus compounds on the acid phosphatase production were also studied. The presence of phytin, lecithin or calcium phosphate reduced the phosphatase activity and biomass yield significantly. In addition, the pH of the culture medium was reduced significantly by lecithin. The efficiency of the strain in releasing orthophosphate from organic phosphorus was studied in red soil （used in planting trees） and rice soil （originating as red soil）. The available phosphorus content was increased by 230% after inoculating 20 days in rice soil and decreased by 50% after inoculating 10 days in red soil. This work indicates that the yeast strain C. mycoderma has potential application for enhancing phosphorus utilization in plants that grow in rice soil.     

Molecular characterization and developmental expression patterns of thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) and their responsiveness to TR agonist and antagonist in Rana nigromaculata

Considering some advantages of Rana nigromaculata as an experimental species, we propose that this species, like Xenopus laevis, could be used to assay thyroid hormone（TH） signaling disrupting actions. To validate the utilizability of R. nigromaculata, we investigated the responsiveness of R. nigromaculata to a TH receptor（TR） agonist（T3） and antagonist（amiodarone） by analyzing expression, based on characterizing TR cDNA and developmental expression patterns. With high levels of identity with the corresponding genes in X. laevis, both TRα and TRβ in R. nigromaculata exhibited roughly similar developmental expression patterns to those of X. laevis, in spite of some species-specific differences. Both TRα and TRβ expression had greater changes in the liver and intestine than in the tail and brain during metamorphosis. T3 exposure for 2 days induced more dramatic increases of TRβ expression in stage 27 than in stage34 tadpoles but not in stage 42 tadpoles, showing that the responsiveness of R. nigromaculata to TH decreased with development and disappeared at the onset of metamorphic climax.Corresponding to greater changes of TRβ expression in the liver and intestine than in the tail and brain during metamorphosis, the liver and intestine had higher responsiveness to exogenous T3 than the tail and brain. Amiodarone inhibited T3-induced TRβ expression. Our results show that R. nigromaculata can be used as a model species for assaying TH signaling disrupting actions by analyzing TRβ expression, and intestine tissues at stage 27 are ideal test materials due to high responsiveness and easy accessibility.     

罗萨利·巴罗·艾格

<正>罗萨利·巴罗·艾格(Rosalie Barrow Edge,1877年11月3日—1962年11月30日),纽约社会活动家,环境保护主义者,观鸟爱好者,终生致力于鸟类保护事业。罗萨利女士1877年出生于纽约,是家里五个孩子里最小的一个,她的父亲是英国一位富有的商人和会计,也是英国作家查尔斯?狄更斯的表弟。在自然教育经历上,罗萨利没有经过正式的培训,但从师于不少顶级野生动物学专家,在野生动物种保护领域上取得了深厚的知识修养。     

提高污泥碱性发酵挥发酸积累的新方法

为了加大剩余污泥在碱性条件下的水解酸化程度,本研究尝试了两种新的能促进污泥碱性发酵产酸的方式,分别是向批式的污泥碱性发酵系统中投加未灭菌发酵污泥和投加灭菌发酵污泥,结合温度的影响(10℃和35℃)分别考察了这两种方式对污泥水解酸化效果的影响.结果表明,中温有利于水解酶和产酸菌作用的发挥,增大了污泥的水解酸化程度,体系内有明显的挥发酸(VFAs)积累.35℃条件下,两种方式都在很大程度上促进了新鲜污泥的水解酸化程度,经灭菌后的发酵污泥的投加较等量的未灭菌的发酵污泥的投加效果更为显著.前者的水解速率是后者的2倍,发酵末期酸积累量为后者的1.5倍,且前者在较长的发酵时间内VFAs含量维持恒定.分析两种方式能促进污泥水解酸化的原因得到:未灭菌发酵污泥的投加是向系统中引入了一定量的产酸菌,灭菌发酵污泥的投加引入了大量的较易水解的有机底物.水解产物的增加能在更大程度上影响产酸的效果.因此,中温条件下向污泥碱性发酵系统中投加经灭菌处理后的发酵污泥是提高剩余污泥发酵产酸量更为有效的方式.