Knowledge gain and behavioral change in citizen-science programs

Citizen-science programs are often touted as useful for advancing conservation literacy, scientific knowledge, and increasing scientific-reasoning skills among the public. Guidelines for collaboration among scientists and the public are lacking and the extent to which these citizen-science initiatives change behavior is relatively unstudied. Over two years, we studied 82 participants in a three-day program that included education about non-native invasive plants and collection of data on the occurrence of those plants. Volunteers were given background knowledge about invasive plant ecology and trained on a specific protocol for collecting invasive plant data. They then collected data and later gathered as a group to analyze data and discuss responsible environmental behavior with respect to invasive plants. We tested whether participants without experience in plant identification and with little knowledge of invasive plants increased their knowledge of invasive species ecology, participation increased knowledge of scientific methods, and participation affected behavior. Knowledge of invasive plants increased on average 24%, but participation was insufficient to increase understanding of how scientific research is conducted. Participants reported increased ability to recognize invasive plants and increased awareness of effects of invasive plants on the environment, but this translated into little change in behavior regarding invasive plants. Potential conflicts between scientific goals, educational goals, and the motivation of participants must be considered during program design.     

陆生植物化感作用的抑藻研究进展

有效控制水华,治理富营养化水体是目前环境领域的研究热点和前沿。所谓化感物质,就是由植物、细菌、病毒和真菌所产生的二次代谢产物。利用水生植物的化感作用或化感物质抑制水体中藻类的爆发被认为是一种高效、低毒、环境亲合性好的方法而备受关注。然而,对于陆生植物应用于抑制藻类生长的研究却较少。文章在对化感作用的概念的演化、各种生物对藻类化感抑制作用、化感物质抑藻机理等方面进行了较系统的论述,总结了近年来国内外学者对于陆生植物化感作用抑藻的研究进展。文章认为相对于水生植物在抑藻方面的局限性,陆生植物的优势体现在对水生生态系统影响明显（化感作用明显）、所含抑藻化感物质种类丰富、不易受水生生态环境影响等方面,并对今后陆生植物抑藻技术的研究方向进行了展望,陆生植物中尤其是菊科植物化感抑藻应用前景广阔。最后指出,陆生植物的化感抑藻作用研究还存在进一步探索和改进化感物质的提取和鉴定方法、抑藻作用机理的研究、应用实际水体时的生态安全性等方面的问题。     

铜尾矿区9种优势植物体内重金属和氮磷含量研究

以杨山冲铜尾矿废弃地人工覆土上生长的9种优势植物为研究对象,探讨不同植物对尾矿基质中重金属和氮磷的吸收特性以及与基质理化性质之间的关联。土壤样品采集时沿基质垂直方向分为4层：A层（覆土层0~5 cm）、B层（覆土层5~20 cm）、C层（尾砂层20~25 cm）、D层（尾砂层25~40 cm）,植物样品采集时草本植物分地上和地下2部分、木本植物分根、茎和叶3部分采集。结果表明：随着9种植物生长,A层和B层基质理化性质得到明显的改善。主要表现在A层中w（总氮）、w（氨氮）、w（硝氮）、w（有效磷）和w（有机质）显著高于C、D层（P〈0.05）,B层中w（有效态Cu）、w（有效态Zn）显著低于A、C、D层（P〈0.05）。9种优势植物对Cu、Pb、Zn的吸收和积累能力具有明显差异性,其中草本植物以根系积累为主,木本植物以叶片积累为主。草本植物对尾矿基质表现出较强的适应性和耐性,其中毛叶荩草（Arthraxon prionodes）根系中Cu、Pb、Zn的富集量均最大,耐性表现最突出,是较为理想的铜尾矿基质的修复物种。另外,本研究还发现,9种植物体内氮磷质量分数也各不相同,其中木本植物叶中氮磷质量分数均大于根、茎。木本植物体内w（总氮）与w（总磷）、w（Cu）、w（Zn）相关性较好,草本植物体内w（Cu）、w（Pb）、w（Zn）之间相关性较好,表明彼此之间存在一定的促进作用。     

新冠期间河北省典型钢铁企业大气污染影响

基于国家气象局气象预报数据,建立了基于AERMOD的钢铁企业污染预报模型,模拟了新冠疫情管控期（2020年2~3月）及解封后期（2020年4~10月）河北省某钢铁企业对大气污染的影响,并结合空气质量实测数据进行模型验证.结果显示,不利风向条件下,该钢铁厂大气污染物排放对当地3个国控站点SO₂、NO_x和PM₁₀的平均浓度贡献占比,在疫情管控期分别为20.19%~33.81%,17.49%~23.46%和2.02%~2.69%,在解封后期分别为13.43%~21.01%,11.09%~20.92%和1.20%~2.22%.由于疫情管控期受其他人为源干扰较少,该钢铁厂SO₂、NO_x和PM₁₀的预报值和三个国控站点实际监测值的相关系数,在新冠疫情管控期（在单个站点中,最高分别为0.43、0.48和0.29）高于解封后期（最高分别为0.42、0.39和0.07）.     

Temporal limits to simulating the future spread pattern of invasive species: Buddleja davidii in Europe and New Zealand

The spread of invasive species is a major ecological and economic problem. Dynamic spread modelling is a potentially valuable tool to assist regional and central government authorities to monitor and control invasive species. To date a lack of suitable data has meant that most broad scale dispersal models have not been validated with independent datasets, and so their predictive ability and reliability has remained unscrutinised. A dynamic, stochastic dispersal model of the widely invasive plant Buddleja davidii was calibrated on European spread data and then used to project the temporal progression of B. davidii's distribution in New Zealand, starting from several different historical distributions. To assess the model's performance, we constructed an occupancy map based on the average number of simulation realisations that have a population present. The application of Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves to occupancy maps is introduced, but with specificity substituted by the proportion of available area used in a realisation. A derivative measure, the partial area under these curves when assessed through time (pAUC), is introduced and used to assess overall performance of the spread model. The model was able to attain a high level of model sensitivity, encompassing all of the known locations within the occupancy envelope. However, attempting to simulate the spread of this invasive species beyond a decade had very low model specificity. This is due to several factors, including the exponential process of spread (the further a population spreads the more sites exist from which it can spread stochastically), and the Markovian chain property of the stochastic system whereby differences between realisations compound through time. These features are seen in many reports of spread models, without being explicitly acknowledged. Our measure of pAUC through time allows a model's temporal performance and its specificity to be simultaneously assessed. While the rapid deterioration in model performance limits the utility of this type of modelling for forecasting long-term broad-scale strategic management of biological invasions, it does not necessarily limit its attractiveness for informing smaller scale and shorter term invasion management activities such as surveillance, containment and local eradication.     

以污水流行病学监测广西某市12个污水处理厂服务区域精神活性物质的消耗量

精神活性物质滥用和使用量逐年递增正成为社会稳定、环境健康新的关注点。准确地估算某一地区这类化合物的消耗总量是管理这类物质的关键。本研究对中国广西某市12个污水处理厂(wastewater treatment plants,WWTPs)服务区域中的8种精神活性物质消耗量进行了调查。首先,采用固相萃取-液相色谱-串联质谱法测定了广西某市12个WWTPs进水中8种精神活性物质的浓度,检测到在<方法检测(method detection limit,MDL)至170.9 ng·L^-1范围内的5种精神活性物质。然后,依据污水流行病学(wastewater-based epidemiology,WBE)进行消耗量反算。结果表明,氯胺酮(ketamine,KET)、吗啡(morphine,MOR)、冰毒(methamphetamine,METH)、摇头丸(3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine,MDMA)是主要检出的精神活性物质,平均消耗量分别为682.4、167.8、44.6、11.3 mg·d^-1·1000inh^-1;而可卡因(cocaine,COC)、苯甲酰爱康宁(benzoylecgonine,BE)、甲卡西酮(methcathinone,MC)没有被检出。对WWTPs进水中精神活性物质的残留进行分析,估算这些物质在特定区域的消耗量,为防控风险提供支持。     

湿地植物对污水中氮、磷去除效果的试验研究

采用室内试验和现场试验考察了黄花鸢尾、水葱和梭鱼草3种挺水植物对类污水处理厂二级出水中氮、磷的吸收速率、吸收容量和吸收贡献。结果表明:短期内,各种湿地植物污水中氮、磷的吸收速率比较稳定,但在整个生长周期内,各种植物对氮、磷的吸收速率却有较大变化,4月份,水葱对氮、磷的吸收速率最大,8月份,梭鱼草对氮、磷的吸收速率最大。在整个生长期内,黄花鸢尾对氮、磷的吸收容量一直保持最大,在10月下旬分别达到21.5和4.16 g/m2,因此其对二级出水中氮、磷去除的吸收贡献也最大,分别为30%和73%。这表明湿地植物的选择不仅要考查其对污染物的吸收速率,更要关注其对污染物的吸收容量,并且湿地植物的吸收作用对类二级出水中氮、磷的去除具有更加重要的意义。     

Integrated measures for preservation, restoration and improvement of the environmental conditions of the Lagoon Olho d'Água basin

The Lagoon Olho d'Água in Pernambuco State, Northeast Brazil has received increasing environmental concern due to significant stress from pollution in the catchment. The existing environmental problems are the result of great pressure from a broad range of human activities, especially in the last 10 years. Serious pollution exists mainly from some industrial and urban activities, which increased intensively after the eighties. There is a strong social and economical pressure for housing and construction near the lagoon, due to the available land nearby beaches and estuarine zone, and recently by growing tourism activities. Uncontrolled land use by low-income communities and the pressure for construction by developers have led to landfilling and to deterioration of water quality in the lagoon catchment. Improvement of the environmental conditions in the catchment needs integrated measures. Guidelines and some specific actions involving several institutions have been established and refer to sanitation and urban infrastructure as the main priorities. A main target is the construction of low-cost sewage system with smaller and decentralised treatment plants.     

Comparative Assessment of the State of Populations of the Ural Endemic Lagotis uralensisSchischk. in the Gradient of Altitudinal Zonality

The endemic species Lagotis uralensisis characterized with regard to the stages of ontogeny, population structure and dynamics, and the ways of species adaptation to growing in the form of small isolated populations in high mountains.     

Integrating Nonindigenous Aquatic Plant Control with Protection of Snail Kite Nests in Florida

The endangered snail kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis) feeds primarily on the freshwater apple snail (Pomacea paludosa) in Florida. The nonindigenous, floating water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) impede kites from finding snails. Effective control of these aquatic plants in the littoral zone of central and south Florida lakes benefits kites by maintaining open foraging habitat. However, incidental herbicide spraying of nesting substrates result in nest collapse when kites breed in nonwoody, emergent plants [cattail (Typha spp.) and giant bulrush (Scirpus validus)] in the outer littoral zone during lower lake levels. Many endangered species recovery plans and their implementation have experienced problems due to inaction and/or noncooperation by various governmental agencies and their personnel. Herein, we describe the development and implementation of a buffer zone strategy to prevent secondary impacts from an aquatic plant control program to snail kites nesting on lakes in central and south Florida. A strategy was jointly developed by personnel of five state and federal agencies to control herbicide application near kite nesting areas during the normal breeding season. Although requiring various modifications during its implementation, this cooperative effort successfully integrated aquatic plant control objectives with snail kite conservation on Lake Okeechobee during 1988. The program was expanded the following year to lakes Kissimmee and Tohopekaliga. Since the implementation of the snail kite impact preclusion program, no nest loss was attributed to incidental herbicide applications on lakes Okeechobee, Kissimmee, and Tohopekaliga.