“Biological Windows”: A Tribute to W. Ross Adey

Summary We often do not realize how fast the time is running. It is now more than a year since the sad news for the death of William Ross Adey came. With kind agreement of Prof. Kostarakis my presentation at the 3rd International Workshop “Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields” was dedicated to the memory of this remarkable scientist, dear colleague and friend. I would like that this paper will be a tribute to the life and scientific achievements of Dr. Ross Adey. It is astonishing that among all his contributions in the field of Bioelectromagnetics, Dr. Adey introduced the term “window”.     

Sustainable pattern analysis of a publicly owned Material Recovery Facility in a fast-growing urban setting under uncertainty

Sustainable development goals are achievable through the installation of Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) in certain solid waste management systems, especially those in rapidly expanding multi-district urban areas. MRFs are a cost-effective alternative when curbside recycling does not demonstrate long-term success. Previous capacity planning uses mixed integer programming optimization for the urban center of the city of San Antonio, Texas to establish that a publicly owned material recovery facility is preferable to a privatized facility. As a companion study, this analysis demonstrates that a MRF alleviates economic, political, and social pressures facing solid waste management under uncertainty. It explores the impact of uncertainty in decision alternatives in an urban environmental system. From this unique angle, waste generation, incidence of recyclables in the waste stream, routing distances, recycling participation, and other planning components are taken as intervals to expand upon previous deterministic integer-programming models. The information incorporated into the optimization objectives includes economic impacts for recycling income and cost components in waste management. The constraint set consists of mass balance, capacity limitation, recycling limitation, scale economy, conditionality, and relevant screening restrictions. Due to the fragmented data set, a grey integer programming modeling approach quantifies the consequences of inexact information as it propagates through the final solutions in the optimization process. The grey algorithm screens optimal shipping patterns and an ideal MRF location and capacity. Two case settings compare MRF selection policies where optimal solutions exemplify the value of grey programming in the context of integrated solid waste management.     

Effects of productivity on biodiversity in forest ecosystems across the United States and China

In the global campaign against biodiversity loss in forest ecosystems, land managers need to know the status of forest biodiversity, but practical guidelines for conserving biodiversity in forest management are lacking. A major obstacle is the incomplete understanding of the relationship between site primary productivity and plant diversity, due to insufficient ecosystem‐wide data, especially for taxonomically and structurally diverse forest ecosystems. We investigated the effects of site productivity (the site's inherent capacity to grow timber) on tree species richness across 19 types of forest ecosystems in North America and China through 3 ground‐sourced forest inventory data sets (U.S. Forest Inventory and Analysis, Cooperative Alaska Forest Inventory, and Chinese Forest Management Planning Inventory). All forest types conformed to a consistent and highly significant (P < 0.001) hump‐shaped unimodal relationship, of which the generalized coefficients of determination averaged 20.5% over all the forest types. That is, tree species richness first increased as productivity increased at a progressively slower rate, and, after reaching a maximum, richness started to decline. Our consistent findings suggest that forests of high productivity would sustain few species because they consist mostly of flat homogeneous areas lacking an environmental gradient along which a diversity of species with different habitats can coexist. The consistency of the productivity–biodiversity relationship among the 3 data sets we examined makes it possible to quantify the expected tree species richness that a forest stand is capable of sustaining, and a comparison between the actual species richness and the sustainable values can be useful in prioritizing conservation efforts.     

Level of environmental threat posed by horticultural trade in Cactaceae

Ornamental horticulture has been identified as an important threat to plant biodiversity and is a major pathway for plant invasions worldwide. In this context, the family Cactaceae is particularly challenging because it is considered the fifth most threatened large taxonomic group in the world; several species are among the most widespread and damaging invasive species; and Cactaceae is one of the most popular horticultural plant groups. Based on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna and the 11 largest online auction sites selling cacti, we documented the international cactus trade. To provide an in‐depth look at the dynamics of the industry, we surveyed the businesses involved in the cactus trade in South Africa (a hotspot of cactus trade and invasions). We purchased seeds of every available species and used DNA barcoding to identify species to the genus level. Although <20% of this trade involved threatened species and <3% involved known invasive species, many species were identified by a common name. However, only 0.02% of the globally traded cacti were collected from wild populations. Despite a large commercial network, all South African imports (of which 15% and 1.5% were of species listed as threatened and invasive, respectively) came from the same source. With DNA barcoding, we identified 24% of the species to genus level. Based on our results, we believe that if trade restrictions are placed on the small proportion of cacti that are invasive and there is no major increase in harvesting of native populations, then the commercial trade in cactus poses a negligible environmental threat. However, there are currently no effective methods for easily identifying which cacti are traded, and both the illicit harvesting of cacti from the wild and the informal trade in invasive taxa pose on‐going conservation challenges.     

Rested,friendly, and engaged: The role of daily positive collegial interactions at work

This diary study examined within‐person effects of positive work and off‐work experiences on daily work engagement. Assessing the gain cycle assumption of conservation of resources theory, we investigated the relationship of nighttime recovery experiences and subsequent resources including elevated sleep quality and morning positive affect; the relationship of morning positive affect with positive collegial interactions and subsequent work engagement; and the relationship of work engagement with nighttime recovery experiences. Sixty‐nine employees completed 3 daily questionnaires over 5 consecutive working days. Multilevel analyses revealed that sleep quality positively predicted morning positive affect, which in turn predicted work engagement directly and also indirectly through having positive interactions with colleagues. Work engagement positively predicted nighttime recovery experiences, whereas nighttime recovery experiences were not related to sleep quality or morning positive affect the next day. Overall, on days after a good night's sleep, individuals feel more positive, bring this positivity to their workplace, reach out to their workplace colleagues, and are in turn more likely to be engaged in their work. Additionally, on days when individuals experience higher levels of positive collegial interactions at work and in turn higher work engagement, they are likely to enjoy better recovery experiences.     

Defining the Impact of Non‐Native Species

Non‐native species cause changes in the ecosystems to which they are introduced. These changes, or some of them, are usually termed impacts; they can be manifold and potentially damaging to ecosystems and biodiversity. However, the impacts of most non‐native species are poorly understood, and a synthesis of available information is being hindered because authors often do not clearly define impact. We argue that explicitly defining the impact of non‐native species will promote progress toward a better understanding of the implications of changes to biodiversity and ecosystems caused by non‐native species; help disentangle which aspects of scientific debates about non‐native species are due to disparate definitions and which represent true scientific discord; and improve communication between scientists from different research disciplines and between scientists, managers, and policy makers. For these reasons and based on examples from the literature, we devised seven key questions that fall into 4 categories: directionality, classification and measurement, ecological or socio‐economic changes, and scale. These questions should help in formulating clear and practical definitions of impact to suit specific scientific, stakeholder, or legislative contexts. Definiendo el Impacto de las Especies No‐Nativas     

Drivers of Seabird Population Recovery on New Zealand Islands after Predator Eradication

Eradication of introduced mammalian predators from islands has become increasingly common, with over 800 successful projects around the world. Historically, introduced predators extirpated or reduced the size of many seabird populations, changing the dynamics of entire island ecosystems. Although the primary outcome of many eradication projects is the restoration of affected seabird populations, natural population responses are rarely documented and mechanisms are poorly understood. We used a generic model of seabird colony growth to identify key predictor variables relevant to recovery or recolonization. We used generalized linear mixed models to test the importance of these variables in driving seabird population responses after predator eradication on islands around New Zealand. The most influential variable affecting recolonization of seabirds around New Zealand was the distance to a source population, with few cases of recolonization without a source population ≤25 km away. Colony growth was most affected by metapopulation status; there was little colony growth in species with a declining status. These characteristics may facilitate the prioritization of newly predator‐free islands for active management. Although we found some evidence documenting natural recovery, generally this topic was understudied. Our results suggest that in order to guide management strategies, more effort should be allocated to monitoring wildlife response after eradication. Conductores de la Recuperación de Poblaciones de Aves Marinas en Islas de Nueva Zelanda después de la Erradicación de Depredadores     

Effects of payments for ecosystem services on wildlife habitat recovery

Conflicts between local people's livelihoods and conservation have led to many unsuccessful conservation efforts and have stimulated debates on policies that might simultaneously promote sustainable management of protected areas and improve the living conditions of local people. Many government‐sponsored payments‐for‐ecosystem‐services (PES) schemes have been implemented around the world. However, few empirical assessments of their effectiveness have been conducted, and even fewer assessments have directly measured their effects on ecosystem services. We conducted an empirical and spatially explicit assessment of the conservation effectiveness of one of the world's largest PES programs through the use of a long‐term empirical data set, a satellite‐based habitat model, and spatial autoregressive analyses on direct measures of change in an ecosystem service (i.e., the provision of wildlife species habitat). Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) habitat improved in Wolong Nature Reserve of China after the implementation of the Natural Forest Conservation Program. The improvement was more pronounced in areas monitored by local residents than those monitored by the local government, but only when a higher payment was provided. Our results suggest that the effectiveness of a PES program depends on who receives the payment and on whether the payment provides sufficient incentives. As engagement of local residents has not been incorporated in many conservation strategies elsewhere in China or around the world, our results also suggest that using an incentive‐based strategy as a complement to command‐and‐control, community‐ and norm‐based strategies may help achieve greater conservation effectiveness and provide a potential solution for the park versus people conflict.     

电化学氢化物发生法处理含锑废水及对锑的回收

采用电化学氢化物发生法对模拟含锑废水进行处理,锑与水电解产生的氢形成氢化物从溶液中脱除,而后收集并加热分解锑化氢得到金属锑.实验表明,在酸性条件下对Sb(Ⅲ)去除效果较好,p H=4时去除率为76.1%.Sb(Ⅲ)与电解水产生的氢结合形成锑化氢从溶液中逸出是溶液中锑去除的最主要途径(回收率为66.2%),电沉积和吸附也对锑的去除做出少量贡献.Sb(Ⅴ)须预还原为Sb(Ⅲ)再氢化进行去除.试用了铅、石墨、钨这3种电解阴极材料,铅电极处理效果最佳.     

磷酸盐对亚硝化系统的抑制及恢复

通过接种城镇污水处理厂的污泥,采用连续流反应器启动亚硝化系统并改变进水磷酸盐的浓度,研究了不同磷酸盐浓度对亚硝化系统的影响.结果表明经过14 d的运行,亚硝化系统启动成功,氨氮转化率达到92.2%,亚硝酸盐累积率为73.66%,亚硝酸盐产生速率达到14.42 g·(m~3·d)~(-1).磷酸盐浓度在10~30 mg·L~(-1)时对亚硝化系统的影响并不大;随着磷酸盐浓度持续提高,氨氮转化率在不断降低.当磷酸盐的浓度为80 mg·L~(-1)时,系统的氨氮转化率为13.6%,亚硝酸盐累积率仅18.19%,亚硝酸盐产生速率仅0.54 g·(m~3·d)~(-1),亚硝化反应受到严重抑制.将进水磷酸盐浓度降低到0,经过14 d运行,亚硝化系统获得恢复,且氨氮转化率可以达到80%以上,亚硝酸盐累积率达到86.96%,亚硝酸盐产生速率为15.63g·(m~3·d)~(-1).