Traditional occupancy–abundance models are inadequate for zero-inflated ecological count data

Traditional occupancy–abundance and abundance–variance–occupancy models do not take into account zero-inflation, which occurs when sampling rare species or in correlated counts arising from repeated measures. In this paper we propose a novel approach extending occupancy–abundance relationships to zero-inflated count data. This approach involves three steps: (1) selecting distributional assumptions and parsimonious models for the count data, (2) estimating abundance, occupancy and variance parameters as functions of site- and/or time-specific covariates, and (3) modelling the occupancy–abundance relationship using the parameters estimated in step 2. Five count datasets were used for comparing standard Poisson and negative binomial distribution (NBD) occupancy–abundance models. Zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) and zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) occupancy–abundance models were introduced for the first time, and these were compared with the Poisson, NBD, He and Gaston's and Wilson and Room's abundance–variance–occupancy models. The percentage of zero counts ranged from 45 to 80% in the datasets analysed. For most of the datasets, the ZINB occupancy–abundance model performed better than the traditional Poisson, NBD and Wilson and Room's model. He and Gaston's model performed better than the ZINB in two out of the five datasets. However, the occupancy predicted by all models increased faster than the observed as density increased resulting in significant mismatch at the highest densities. Limitations of the various models are discussed, and the need for careful choice of count distributions and predictors in estimating abundance and occupancy parameter are indicated.     

外源稀土对土壤中稀土和重金属可交换态的影响

通过土壤旱作和淹水2种培养方式,研究了不同时期添加外源稀土对黄褐土中稀土和重金属Fe、Mn、Zn可交换态含量的影响.研究结果表明,稀土处理显著提高土壤中可交换态含量,其分配系数也随之增大,但绝大部分仍维持在10%以下.淹水条件下交换态稀土的含量比旱作高,但随培养时间的延长逐渐降低.随稀土处理浓度的升高,交换态稀土组成逐渐向外源稀土成分靠近,并在200mg·kg^-1以上达到相对稳定土壤中交换态Fe、Mn、Zn的含量随稀土处理浓度的升高呈线性升高,其中稀土对Mn的作用最强.     

活性白土对餐饮业废油脂脱色工艺的探索

选用活性白土对餐饮业废油脂进行脱色研究,对脱色率的影响因素进行了讨论。摸索出活性白土的最佳脱色条件：活性白土用量5％;初始脱色温度60C;终止脱色温度120C;脱色时间25min。     

Addressing criticality for rare earth elements in petroleum refining: The key supply factors approach

The group of elements known as the rare earth elements (REEs) is comprised of the 15 lanthanides. REEs are used in a number of technologies including catalysts for automobiles and petroleum refining, magnets for wind turbines and defense technologies, and phosphors in lighting and computer and TV screens. REEs are actually quite abundant in the earth′s crust. The elements are deemed “rare” because they are found in low concentrations and are difficult to extract economically. China holds 48% of the global REE reserves, and until 2012, production of REEs was almost exclusive to China. Over the past decade, China has been steadily decreasing its REE export quotas, reducing the supply of REEs available to the rest of the world. REEs are considered critical materials according to the National Science and Technology Council, which defines critical elements as those serving an essential function in the manufacture of a product, the absence of which would cause significant social consequence. Thus, it is extremely important for consumers of REEs to be aware of and understand the risks facing the supply REEs, as awareness is the first and most important step in developing strategies to mitigate risk. This report presents a mechanism for identifying the risks present in a supply–demand scenario and determining the criticality of an individual rare earth element under specific circumstances.     

Distinct community assembly processes underlie significant spatiotemporal dynamics of abundant and rare bacterioplankton in the Yangtze River

• Season and landform influenced spatiotemporal patterns of abundant and rare taxa. • Different stochastic processes dominated abundant and rare subcommunity assembly. • River flow and suspended solids regulated assembly processes of rare taxa. The rare microbial biosphere provides broad ecological services and resilience to various ecosystems. Nevertheless, the biogeographical patterns and assembly processes of rare bacterioplankton communities in large rivers remain uncertain. In this study, we investigated the biogeography and community assembly processes of abundant and rare bacterioplankton taxa in the Yangtze River (China) covering a distance of 4300 km. The results revealed similar spatiotemporal patterns of abundant taxa (AT) and rare taxa (RT) at both taxonomic and phylogenetic levels, and analysis of similarities revealed that RT was significantly influenced by season and landform than AT. Furthermore, RT correlated with more environmental factors than AT, whereas environmental and spatial factors explained a lower proportion of community shifts in RT than in AT. The steeper distance–decay slopes in AT indicated higher spatial turnover rates of abundant subcommunities than rare subcommunities. The null model revealed that both AT and RT were mainly governed by stochastic processes. However, dispersal limitation primarily governed the AT, whereas the undominated process accounted for a higher fraction of stochastic processes in RT. River flow and suspended solids mediated the balance between the stochastic and deterministic processes in RT. The spatiotemporal dynamics and assembly processes of total taxa were more similar as AT than RT. This study provides new insights into both significant spatiotemporal dynamics and inconsistent assembly processes of AT and RT in large rivers.     

Trace elements and rare earth elements in wet deposition of Lijiang, Mt. Yulong region, southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau

In order to investigate the compositions and wet deposition fluxes of trace elements and rare earth elements (REEs) in the precipitation of the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, 38 precipitation samples were collected from March to August in 2012 in an urban site of Lijiang city in the Mt. Yulong region. The concentrations of most trace elements and REEs were higher during the non-monsoon season than during the monsoon season, indicating that the lower concentrations of trace elements and REEs observed during monsoon had been influenced by the dilution effect of increased precipitation. The concentrations of trace elements in the precipitation of Lijiang city were slightly higher than those observed in remote sites of the Tibetan Plateau but much lower than those observed in the metropolises of China, indicating that the atmospheric environment of Lijiang city was less influenced by anthropogenic emissions, and, as a consequence, the air quality was still relatively good. However, the results of enrichment factor and principal component analysis revealed that some anthropogenic activities (e.g., the increasing traffic emissions from the rapid development of tourism) were most likely important contributors to trace elements, while the regional/local crustal sources rather than anthropogenic activities were the predominant contributors to the REEs in the wet deposition of Lijiang city. Our study was relevant not only for assessing the current status of the atmospheric environment in the Mt. Yulong region, but also for specific management actions to be implemented for the control of atmospheric inputs and the health of the environment for the future.     

土壤中有效态稀土元素提取剂的选择

 通过0.01mol/LHCl，0.05mol/LHCl，1.0mol/L NH₄Oac（pH7.0），1.0mol/LNH₄NO₃（pH7.0），1.0mol/LHOAc/NH₄Oac（pH4.8），1.0mol/LNH₄Cl（pH7.0）6种提取剂对20种土壤中有效态稀土元素测定结果的比较，以及将测定结果同土壤特性、土壤中稀土元素形态进行相关分析，并通过黑麦草土培试验进行了生物评价，确定了1.0mol/LNH₄NO₃（pH7.0）为提取土壤中有效态稀土元素的最佳提取剂．     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Drosophila melanogaster</Emphasis> virgins are more likely to mate with strangers than familiar flies

Recent evidence shows that females of many species can discriminate against males and/or male phenotypes they have mated with previously. However, these studies have not tested whether actual mating is necessary to induce the avoidance behaviour. A preference for strangers may have evolved because it avoids multiple matings with similar genotypes. Alternatively, there may be selection against mating with familiar individuals directly. By choosing its first mate among unfamiliar individuals (which are less likely close relatives than are those encountered early in life), a virgin might disentangle some of the potential benefits of avoiding genetic incompatibility and inbreeding in the offspring from the costs of remating. In this study, we test whether Drosophila melanogaster flies bias their mate choice towards strangers according to previous, non-copulatory, experience. Based on 173 trials over 12 weeks, virgin females presented with two virgin males were 59% more likely to mate with a novel male than the one which she had been housed with for 8 h the day before. Hence we present the first report showing that a dipteran can distinguish between previously encountered and not previously encountered conspecifics.     

High starter phosphorus fertilization facilitates soil phosphorus turnover by romoting microbial functional interaction in an arable soil

Microbial phosphorus (P) turnover is critical in C utilization efficiency in agroecosystems. It is therefore necessary to understand the P mobilization processes occurring during P fertilization in order to ensure both crop yield and environmental quality. Here, we established a controlled pot experiment containing soil amended with three different levels of starter P fertilizer and collected soil samples after 30, 60, and 90 days of incubation. Quantitative microbial element cycling (QMEC) smart chip technology and 16S rRNA gene sequencing were used to investigate functional gene structures involved in carbon, nitrogen and P cycling and the bacterial community composition of the collected samples. Although P fertilization did not significantly affect the structure of the soil microbial community, some rare microbiota were changed in particular phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria were enriched at the high P fertilization level, suggesting that the rare taxa make an important contribution to P turnover. P fertilization also altered the functional gene structure, and high P concentrations enhanced the functional gene diversity and abundance. Partial redundancy analysis further revealed that changes in rare taxa and functional genes of soil microorganisms drive the alteration of soil P pools. These findings extend our understanding of the microbial mechanisms of P turnover.     

稀土金属离子对梨形四膜虫的24小时生长影响

应用４种方法（细胞直计计数法、中性红试验、重蛋白及核酸含量测定）研究不同浓度稀土金属离子Ｌａ＾２＋、Ｓｍ＾３＋、Ｙ＾３＋、Ｇｄ＾３＋处理２４ｈ后，对梨形四膜虫的生长影响，结果表明，在低浓度时Ｌａ＾３＋、Ｓｍ＾３＋、Ｙ＾３＋，对四膜虫具有刺激生长的作用。随着浓度的升高，４种稀土金属离子均表现出毒性效应；高浓度时，抑制生长艇特别明显。计算Ｌａ＾３＋、Ｓｍ＾３＋、Ｙ＾３＋、Ｇｄ＾３＋的半数抑制浓度（ＩＣ