Evaluating unintended consequences of intentional species introductions and eradications for improved conservation management

Increasingly intensive strategies to maintain biodiversity and ecosystem function are being deployed in response to global anthropogenic threats, including intentionally introducing and eradicating species via assisted migration, rewilding, biological control, invasive species eradications, and gene drives. These actions are highly contentious because of their potential for unintended consequences. We conducted a global literature review of these conservation actions to quantify how often unintended outcomes occur and to elucidate their underlying causes. To evaluate conservation outcomes, we developed a community assessment framework for systematically mapping the range of possible interaction types for 111 case studies. Applying this tool, we quantified the number of interaction types considered in each study and documented the nature and strength of intended and unintended outcomes. Intended outcomes were reported in 51% of cases, a combination of intended outcomes and unintended outcomes in 26%, and strictly unintended outcomes in 10%. Hence, unintended outcomes were reported in 36% of all cases evaluated. In evaluating overall conservations outcomes (weighing intended vs. unintended effects), some unintended effects were fairly innocuous relative to the conservation objective, whereas others resulted in serious unintended consequences in recipient communities. Studies that assessed a greater number of community interactions with the target species reported unintended outcomes more often, suggesting that unintended consequences may be underreported due to insufficient vetting. Most reported unintended outcomes arose from direct effects (68%) or simple density-mediated or indirect effects (25%) linked to the target species. Only a few documented cases arose from more complex interaction pathways (7%). Therefore, most unintended outcomes involved simple interactions that could be predicted and mitigated through more formal vetting. Our community assessment framework provides a tool for screening future conservation actions by mapping the recipient community interaction web to identify and mitigate unintended outcomes from intentional species introductions and eradications for conservation.     

A stochastic model for estimating sustainable limits to wildlife mortality in a changing world

Human-caused mortality of wildlife is a pervasive threat to biodiversity. Assessing the population-level impact of fisheries bycatch and other human-caused mortality of wildlife has typically relied upon deterministic methods. However, population declines are often accelerated by stochastic factors that are not accounted for in such conventional methods. Building on the widely applied potential biological removal (PBR) equation, we devised a new population modeling approach for estimating sustainable limits to human-caused mortality and applied it in a case study of bottlenose dolphins affected by capture in an Australian demersal otter trawl fishery. Our approach, termed sustainable anthropogenic mortality in stochastic environments (SAMSE), incorporates environmental and demographic stochasticity, including the dependency of offspring on their mothers. The SAMSE limit is the maximum number of individuals that can be removed without causing negative stochastic population growth. We calculated a PBR of 16.2 dolphins per year based on the best abundance estimate available. In contrast, the SAMSE model indicated that only 2.3–8.0 dolphins could be removed annually without causing a population decline in a stochastic environment. These results suggest that reported bycatch rates are unsustainable in the long term, unless reproductive rates are consistently higher than average. The difference between the deterministic PBR calculation and the SAMSE limits showed that deterministic approaches may underestimate the true impact of human-caused mortality of wildlife. This highlights the importance of integrating stochasticity when evaluating the impact of bycatch or other human-caused mortality on wildlife, such as hunting, lethal control measures, and wind turbine collisions. Although population viability analysis (PVA) has been used to evaluate the impact of human-caused mortality, SAMSE represents a novel PVA framework that incorporates stochasticity for estimating acceptable levels of human-caused mortality. It offers a broadly applicable, stochastic addition to the demographic toolbox to evaluate the impact of human-caused mortality on wildlife.     

生物法处理棉浆黑液的现场实验研究

利用经驯化的以嗜碱菌群为主的好氧活性污泥及常规厌氧、好氧污泥,针对不同浓度的棉浆黑液在现场进行了单独"好氧"及"好氧-厌氧-好氧"全流程工艺实验。结果表明:对棉浆黑液直接进行好氧曝气,可将原水pH值自12.4左右稳定降低至10以下,COD去除率可达40%左右。全流程实验中厌氧效果显著,pH值最低可降至8.2,整个系统抗冲击能力强,运行稳定,COD总去除率保持在63%以上。     

轻质陶粒滤料生态滤床的挂膜与启动研究

以自行设计的反应器作为生态滤床的基础,采用活性污泥作为接种污泥,采用轻质陶粒作为生态滤床的滤料,对其进行挂膜.在整个挂膜过程中,温度控制在中温条件下,进水pH值控制在7左右,水力停留时间为24 h,进水方式为连续进水,并根据需要对曝气量进行调节.在挂膜过程中对进、出水的COD、NH_3-N、TP、Cl~-和pH进行检测,并刮取少量轻质陶粒上的生物膜制成镜检切片后用多媒体显微镜对生物膜的形态进行观察.研究结果表明,在中温条件下采用活性污泥作为接种污泥,以轻质陶粒为滤料的生态滤床在15 d内挂膜成功;且随着进水污染负荷的提高,其去除率也逐渐提高,其中COD的去除率最后稳定在95%左右,NH3-N的去除率稳定在85%左右,TP的去除率在挂膜后期达到了80%以上;Cl~-作为微生物所需的微量元素在微生物生长高峰期为50%,稳定期保持在20%左右;进水pH保持在7左右,出水pH略高于进水,在8左右;从第13 d和第15 d的切片可观察到轮虫这种象征生物膜成熟的微生物的出现,此外还有大量的丝状菌和菌胶团.     

不同温度下MESBR工艺和传统的SBR工艺对比试验研究

在不同温度下,研究了流化填料分格式SBR工艺(简称MESBR工艺)与传统的SBR工艺的COD去除率,有机物降解速率,脱氮效果和污泥沉降性能。结果表明:MESBR系统温度下降到5℃时,COD的去除率基本稳定在90%以上,比传统SBR系统高出15%左右;MESBR系统与传统SBR系统的温度系数θ分别为1.021和1.045。温度由20℃下降至5℃时,传统SBR系统的TN和NH3-N去除率分别降低26.5%和20%,而MESBR系统分别降低18.6%和11%。传统SBR系统SVI值随温度变化较大,当温度下降到5℃时SVI值达到234.8 mL/g,而MESBR系统的SVI值没有明显的变化,基本维持在120~130 mL/g。     

节能型焦化污水生物脱氮新工艺的生产性试验研究

采用节能型生物脱氮新工艺对黑龙江某焦化厂的污水处理站进行生产性试验研究,结果表明:处理后出水达到GB8978-1996《污水综合排放标准》一级,并可回用于熄焦。该工艺适合推广应用于焦化污水、垃圾渗滤液、养殖、化肥等高含氮有机污水的处理。     

一体化膜生物反应器处理低C/N污水试验研究

研究一体化连续流间歇曝气膜生物反应器(IMBR)处理低C/N城市污水的工艺效能。试验结果表明:反应器在曝气2 h、搅拌2 h的运行模式下,对COD、NH4+-N、TN和SS的平均去除率分别达到了87%,83.4%,75.4%和97.81%,各出水质量浓度平均值分别为17.5,4.59,7.63和2 mg/L,出水水质达到了GB/T18920-2002《城市污水再生利用城市杂用水水质》标准。     

纺织印染厂废水的深度处理中试及工程应用

采用曝气生物滤池(BAF)-臭氧-曝气生物滤池工艺对广东某大型纺织印染厂的常规水解酸化-接触生物氧化处理出水进行深度处理回用中试,在中试研究成功的基础上,设计了每小时处理5 t的工业化试验装置。试验运行结果表明:进水COD为100~150 mg/L,色度约80倍,浊度约10 NTU,在前BAF水力停留时间3 h,中间化学氧化池中臭氧投加量40 mg/L,后BAF水力停留时间2 h的情况下,经组合工艺处理后出水COD约30 mg/L,色度2倍,浊度<1 NTU,该工艺处理后的出水,可直接回用于对电解质浓度要求不高的生产工艺中,也可作为反渗透或纳滤膜的预处理工序。     

Gasification of dried sewage sludge: status of the demonstration and the pilot plant

The disposal of sewage sludge from municipal waste water treatment plants is suffering from raising costs.The gasification is an alternative way of treatment, which can reduce the amount of solid residues that must be disposed from a water treatment plant. The produced gas can be used very flexible to produce electrical energy, to burn it very cleanly or to use it for upgrading.The gasification in the fluidised bed and the gas cleaning with the granular bed filter has shown successful operation. A demonstration plant in Balingen was set up in 2002 and rebuilt to a larger throughput in 2010. As a next step a demonstration plant was built in Mannheim and is now at the end of the commissioning phase. Nowadays the product gas is blended with biogas from sludge fermentation and utilized in a gas engine or combustion chamber to produce heat. In the future the process control for a maximized efficiency and the removal of organic and inorganic impurities in the gas will be further improved.     

生物预处理微污染水

金坛市主要水源钱资荡水 ,劣于二级饮用水水源水质 ,系微污染水源。常规水处理工艺已很难满足饮用水水质要求 ,拟采用生物预处理。比较了两种生物预处理池对藻类、氨氮、亚硝酸盐氮、色度、浊度等指标的去除效果 ,提出了生物预处理适宜的运行工况参数 ,为工程设计提供依据。