The role of root organic acids in the tolerance of Festuca rubra to zinc,lead and cadmium

Abstract

Festuca rubra L. plants are pseudometallophytes colonizing abandoned Pb/Zn mine areas, successfully employed in phytostabilization. To study the contribution of low-molecular weight organic acids to metal tolerance, F. rubra plants were grown for three months in hydroponics with Cd (1.8, 18 and 36 µmol?L^?1), Pb (50, 250 and 500?µmol?L^?1) and Zn (0.3, 3 and 6?mmol?L^?1), separately, and in ternary combination (18?µmol?L^?1 Cd + 250?µmol?L^?1 Pb + 0.3?mmol?L^?1 Zn). The roots retained most of the metals but their distribution from shoot to root was altered when the plants were treated with the ternary combination. The main organic acids in roots were citrate and malate. At the lowest concentrations, the metals caused small reductions in biomass, had no effects on photosynthetic pigments nor on malondialdehyde, but led to increases in root organic acids. At higher concentrations, phytotoxic responses were observed, associated with a decline of citrate and malate in the roots.     

Assessing the risk of soil contamination in the Swiss Jura using indicator geostatistics

The probability that the concentrations of toxic substances in soil or other medium exceed tolerablemaxima at any unsampled place can be estimated by indicator geostatistics. The method is developed and used to estimate and map the risk of contamination by cadmium, copper and lead in the topsoil of a 14.5 km 2 region in the Swiss Jura. It combines both direct measurements of metal concentrations and thecalibration of a geological map, and it shows that the risk of toxicity is least on Argovian rocks. Two approaches are proposed to divide a region into safe' and 'hazardous' zones on the basis of probability maps. The first declares as contaminated all places where the risk of contamination exceeds a given threshold. The second approach first evaluates the financial costs that might result from a wrongdeclaration, after which the site is allocated to a class so as to minimize that cost. The risk of exposure for humans and animals is generally greater for contaminated agricultural land than for forest soil, and so land use is taken into account in both procedures.     

Review of sustainability terms and their definitions

Terminology in the field of sustainable development is becoming increasingly important because the number of terms continues to increase along with the rapid increase in awareness of the importance of sustainability. Various definitions of terms are used by different authors and organizations, for example, green chemistry, cleaner production, pollution prevention, etc. The importance of this topic has stimulated research into the problems of clarifying ambiguity and classifying terms used in the sustainability field. This paper provides results of the literature survey and summarizes the definitions of the terms, focusing on the environmental engineering field. In some cases, it proposes an improved definition. A hierarchical classification of the terms and their relationships has been based on a layer format that is presented graphically.     

长江经济带国家级自然保护区管理状况评价

为切实做好长江经济带生态环境保护工作,基于HJ 913-2017《自然保护区管理评估规范》对长江经济带120处国家级自然保护区的管理状况进行评分.以评估结果为基础,评价了自然保护区管理状况的影响因素,并提出了提升自然保护区管理质量的建议.结果表明:①长江经济带国家级自然保护区的管理状况总体较好,平均得分为81.41分.从分布地区来看,经济较发达的地区,国家级自然保护区的管理状况相对较好;从建立时间看,评估总得分与国家级自然保护区的建立时长呈正相关;从规模看,评估总得分与国家级自然保护区的面积大小呈负相关;从自然保护区类型看,野生植物类型保护区的管理状况要优于野生动物类型.②从管理基础、管理措施、管理保障、管理成效、负面影响5项评估内容来看,管理基础得分相对较高,管理保障得分相对较低.③从全部指标的评分情况来看,保护对象变化和资源调查2项指标的得分相对较高;开发建设活动影响、专业技术能力、机构设置与人员配置、动态监测4项指标的得分相对较低.④Spearman相关分析表明,与评估总得分显著相关的指标为巡护执法、日常管护、专业技术能力、管护设施.研究显示,当前国家级自然保护区的机构设置、专业人才队伍建设、监测体系和开发建设活动影响是制约其管理质量提升的主要因素.      

2016—2019年长江流域水质时空分布特征

为掌握“十三五”以来长江流域的水环境质量时序变化和空间分布特征,基于国家生态环境监测网2016—2019年长江流域615个可比断面监测数据,从流域主要污染特征、主要超标指标浓度时空变化等方面分析了长江流域水质变化情况.结果表明:2016—2019年,长江流域水质总体好转.依据GB 3838—2002《地表水环境质量标准》评价,Ⅰ~Ⅲ类水质断面比例上升7.2百分点,劣Ⅴ类下降2.8百分点.TP、NH₃-N和COD是长江流域的主要超标指标,2019年三者的浓度较2016年分别下降了28.3%、35.0%和8.0%;从流域不同级别河流来看,三者浓度在干流均为最低;从干流来看,三者浓度较高的断面主要分布在长江中游;TP和COD污染主要来自面源,NH₃-N主要来自点源.研究期间,TP对长江流域水环境污染贡献最大,其断面超标率一直排在首位.针对流域水质分布特征,建议继续加强流域内TP防控,重点加强中游污染治理;同时,优化流域产业结构,进一步改善流域水质和生态环境质量.      

城市空气质量监测网络评估方法

通过研究借鉴多个国家/城市的研究实践,提出了城市空气治理监测网络（UAAMNA）评估管理的方法,包括评估思路与流程,评估关键指标,针对不同污染物的评估方法等.以沈阳市及周边6个城市共46个国控监测站点的监测网络为背景,基于2013~2018年日尺度空气质量数据,考虑监测成本,对沈阳市PM_2.5监测网络进行评估,结果表明,沈河区增加1个最高浓度站点,大东区增加1个高人口密度区站点,皇姑区增加1个跨界传输点;在沈阳-铁岭,沈阳-本溪,沈阳-辽阳方向增设跨区域站点.未来建立空气质量监测网络定期评估制度、加强跨区域边界站点布设、实施区分监测点位类型评估、区分污染物类型评估是UAAMN的发展方向.     

CO2泄漏对稻田水基础水质指标的影响研究

碳捕集与封存（CCS）技术是当前抑制大气中CO₂过快增长的有效方法,但在CCS项目实施过程中仍存在CO₂泄漏而影响地表环境及生态的风险.本研究以龙粳31号和龙稻18号为实验对象,模拟研究地质封存CO₂以不同速率泄漏对稻田水环境基础水质指标D_CO2、pH、DO和ORP的影响,探讨稻田水对地质封存CO₂泄漏的响应规律.结果表明：CO₂泄漏对稻田水的D_CO2、pH、DO和ORP长期影响显著,不同CO₂泄漏速率对稻田水质指标的影响差异显著.在各指标平衡后,稻田水各水质指标均呈现明显的日变化规律,其中D_CO2呈早晚高、午间低的先减后增规律,而pH、DO和ORP均呈早晚低、午间高的先增后减规律.根据各指标差异性分析,建议将稻田水D_CO2作为稻田系统CO₂泄漏监测的主要指标,将pH、DO、ORP作为CO₂泄漏监测的辅助指标.     

基于距离-密度关系的典型垃圾处理设施布局指数研究

基于较高空间分辨率的人口分布(LandScan)和人口活动(Weibo)数据,结合全国垃圾处理设施信息,构建了距离-密度关系曲线,并据此提出了垃圾处理设施布局指数。通过距离-密度关系曲线可分析处理设施潜在环境影响暴露水平的分布情况,而布局指数则从空间覆盖的角度定量测定其影响水平的大小,形成了一种可开展跨地区、跨类型设施布局影响对比研究的手段。基于此方法,以北京、上海为例,对两市共计32座垃圾处理设施的影响水平进行分析和比较。     

Past and Present Effectiveness of Protected Areas for Conservation of Naturally and Anthropogenically Rare Plant Species

Abstract:  The Global Strategy of Plant Conservation states that at least 60% of threatened plant species should be within protected areas. This goal has been met in some regions with long traditions of plant protection. We used gap analysis to explore how particular groups of species of conservation interest, representing different types of natural or anthropogenic rarity, have been covered by protected areas on a national scale in Estonia during the last 100 years. Species-accumulation curves indicated that plant species that are naturally rare (restricted global or local distribution, always small populations, or very rare habitat requirements) needed almost twice as many protected areas to reach the 60% target as plant species that are rare owing to lack of suitable management (species depending on grassland management, moderate forest disturbances, extensive traditional agriculture, or species potentially threatened by collecting). Temporal analysis of the establishment of protected areas suggested that grouping plant species according to the predominant cause of rarity accurately reflected the history of conservation decision making. Species found in very rare habitats have previously received special conservation attention; species dependent on traditional extensive agriculture have been largely ignored until recently. Legislative initiative and new nature-protection schemes (e.g., Natura 2000, network of protected areas in the European Union) have had a positive influence on all species groups. Consequently, the species groups needing similar action for their conservation are sensitive indicators of the effectiveness of protected-area networks. Different species groups, however, may not be uniformly conserved within protected areas, and all species groups should fulfill the target of 60% coverage within protected areas.     

Emergy evaluation and economic analysis of three wetland fish farming systems in Nansi Lake area,China

Emergy and economic methods were used to evaluate and compare three fish production models, i.e., cage fish farming system, pond intensive fish rearing system and semi-natural extensive pond fish rearing system, in Nansi Lake area in China in the year 2007. The goal of this study was to understand the benefits and driving forces of selected fish production models from ecological and economic points of view. The study considered input structure, production efficiency, environmental impacts, economic viability and sustainability. Results show that the main difference among the three production systems was the emergy cost for fish feed associated with their feeding system, i.e., feeding on natural biomass such as plankton and grass or on commercial feedstock. As indicated by EYR, ELR and ESI, it can be clearly shown that the intensive production model with commercial feed is not a sustainable pattern. However, the point is that more environmentally sound patterns do not seem able to provide a competitive net profit in the short run. The intensive pond fish farming system had a net profit of 2.57E+03 $/ha, much higher than 1.27E+03 $/ha for cage fish farming system and slightly higher than 2.37E+03 $/ha for semi-natural fish farming system. With regard to the drivers of local farmer’s decisions, the accessibility of land for the required use and investment ability determine the farmer’s choice of the production model and the scale of operation, while other factors seem to have little effect. Theoretically, the development of environmentally sustainable production patterns, namely water and land conservation measures, greener feed as well as low waste systems is urgently needed, to keep production activities within the carrying capacity of ecosystems. Coupled emergy and economic analyses can provide better insight into the environmental and economic benefits of fish production systems and help solve the problems encountered during policy making.