Upstream Sediment‐Control Dams: Five Decades of Experience in the Rapidly Eroding Dahan River Basin,Taiwan

Sedimentation is emerging as a key issue in sustainable reservoir management. One approach to controlling reservoir sedimentation is to trap sediment in hydraulic structures upstream of the reservoir. In the 1,163‐km² catchment of the Dahan River (Taiwan) over 120 “sabo” dams were built to reduce sediment yield to Shihmen Reservoir. Built in 1963 for water supply, Shihmen has lost over 40% of its 290‐Mm³ storage capacity to sedimentation. Most of these upstream structures were small, but three had capacities >9 Mm³. Field measurements and historical data from the Water Resources Agency show most smaller dams had filled with sediment by 1976. The three largest were full or nearly so by 2007, when one (Barlin Dam) failed, releasing a pulse of 7.5 Mm³, most of its 10.4 Mm³ stored sediment downstream. The Central Range of Taiwan is rapidly eroding (denudation rates 3‐6 mm/yr), so geologically high loads make sediment problems manifest sooner. Even in other environments, however, eventually small dams built upstream of large reservoirs are likely to fill themselves, creating multiple small sediment‐filled reservoirs, some located in sites inaccessible to mechanical removal. Our analysis suggests sabo dams do not offer a long‐term basis for controlling reservoir sedimentation in such a high‐sediment yield environment. Sustainable solutions must somehow pass sediment downstream, as would be accomplished by a sediment bypass around Shihmen Reservoir, as now being studied.     

Managing a forgotten greenhouse gas under existing U.S. law: An interdisciplinary analysis

The United States’ legal strategy for addressing climate change in recent years has relied on authority from existing legislation. This has led to measures on a number of different greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide, methane and hydrofluorocarbons. However, one greenhouse gas has been largely forgotten: nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide is the third most abundantly emitted greenhouse gas in the U.S. and worldwide, as well as the largest remaining threat to the stratospheric ozone layer. In addition, the nitrogen atoms in nitrous oxide are part of the highly fluid nitrogen cycle where nitrogen atoms transform readily among different chemical forms, each with a unique environmental and human health impact – a process known as the nitrogen cascade. While the science of the nitrogen cascade has been explored for over a decade, there has been little work on the legal implications of this phenomenon. And yet the nitrogen cascade expands the legal options available for controlling nitrous oxide. This paper studies these options in a U.S. context and explores the environmental and economic impacts of enacting them. We determine that the Clean Air Act, and in particular its broad authority for controlling ozone depleting substances, is the most promising legal pathway for regulating nitrous oxide across all major sources. Invoking such authority could generate significant climate and stratospheric ozone benefits over 2015–2030, equivalent to taking 12 million cars permanently off the road, and 100 million chlorofluorocarbon-laden refrigerators out of service. The economic benefits could sum to over $700 billion over 2015–2030, with every $1.00 spent on abating emissions leading to $4.10 in societal benefits. The bulk of these benefits would come from reductions in other forms of nitrogen pollution such as ammonia and nitrate, highlighting the important and multiple co-benefits that could be achieved by abating nitrous oxide emissions. With the Paris Climate Agreement calling for limiting global temperature increases to “well below” two degrees Celsius, all mitigation opportunities across all sectors need to be considered. This paper suggests that nitrous oxide warrants more attention from policy-makers in the U.S. and around the world.     

Key Features and Context‐Dependence of Fishery‐Induced Trophic Cascades

Abstract: Trophic cascades triggered by fishing have profound implications for marine ecosystems and the socioeconomic systems that depend on them. With the number of reported cases quickly growing, key features and commonalities have emerged. Fishery‐induced trophic cascades often display differential response times and nonlinear trajectories among trophic levels and can be accompanied by shifts in alternative states. Furthermore, their magnitude appears to be context dependent, varying as a function of species diversity, regional oceanography, local physical disturbance, habitat complexity, and the nature of the fishery itself. To conserve and manage exploited marine ecosystems, there is a pressing need for an improved understanding of the conditions that promote or inhibit the cascading consequences of fishing. Future research should investigate how the trophic effects of fishing interact with other human disturbances, identify strongly interacting species and ecosystem features that confer resilience to exploitation, determine ranges of predator depletion that elicit trophic cascades, pinpoint antecedents that signal ecosystem state shifts, and quantify variation in trophic rates across oceanographic conditions. This information will advance predictive models designed to forecast the trophic effects of fishing and will allow managers to better anticipate and avoid fishery‐induced trophic cascades.     

长江干支流输沙量减少趋势及其影响因素浅析

通过对长江干支流各主要水文控制站的多年径流量、输沙量、含沙量、中值粒径等水沙基本特征值的统计分析，表明在过去的近50年时间内，长江干支流的年径流量中心趋势不存在具有显著统计意义的变化，而输沙量、含沙量、中值粒径值均有明显的下降态势。以水库建设和水土保持为主的人类活动是长江干支流泥沙输移量减少趋势的重要影响因素，在20世纪90年代以前长江输沙量的减少主要是水库建设的影响，之后随着“长治”工程的展开则兼具了水库建设和水土保持的影响，未来水土保持工作对长江保水减沙的长期效益将更为显著。     

乌江干流中上游水电梯级开发水温累积效应

以乌江流域洪家渡库尾至乌江渡坝下的水电工程干扰典型段为研究区域，利用建坝前后的水温实测资料，采用建坝前天然水温和建坝后下泄水温比较法，对乌江干流梯级水库水温时空分布特征进行分析。研究结果表明：对天然水温改变最大的电站为洪家渡和乌江渡，前者是受水库水温结构自身影响，后者是梯级联合运行的结果；梯级联合运行使库区水温分层有所减弱，随着时间的推移或上游梯级电站的建成，电站下泄水温年变化过程趋于均化，与天然水温的延迟也越加明显；不同的水库水温结构对水温累积效应的影响也各不相同，稳定分层型水库对水温累积具有正效应，混合型水库具有负效应，过渡型水库处于两者之间，体现了梯级电站的水温累积影响，为研究减缓下泄低温水的对策措施提供依据和参考。     

水源水库污染底泥不同修复方法脱氮效果对比实验研究

总氮超标是大部分水源水库具有的共性水质问题.在外源污染得到有效控制,上游来水氮负荷较低的情况下,底泥內源氮释放对上覆水体水质影响巨大.因此,在泥水界面处对污染底泥进行合理修复以有效抑制底泥氮释放是解决总氮超标问题、控制水源水质的关键.本研究通过模拟实验对比研究了3种不同修复方法,即覆盖填料、投加功能微生物和投加铁粉在界面处的脱氮效果.结果表明,填料覆盖技术具有更明显的脱氮效果,对氨氮的平均抑制率为83%,最高时可达92%,对总氮的平均抑制率达73%,且效果稳定.     

广东南水水库富营养化与浮游植物群落动态

南水水库是广东省第三大水库,属饮用水源一级保护区。于2011年1~12月对该水库的水文、水质和浮游植物进行了每月一次、为期一年的调查,采用营养状态指数(TSI)进行了水质综合评价,分析了浮游植物群落的动态变化规律,选择冗余分析(RDA)研究了影响浮游植物群落结构的环境因素。结果表明:南水水库现为贫营养型,全年浮游植物的种类变化不大,共鉴定出浮游植物6门50属(种),优势种以适应贫营养的种类为主,且浮游植物的丰度、生物量及叶绿素a浓度都较低,其均值分别为8.72×104～2.51×105cells/L、0.031～0.423 mg/L和0.83～2.80 mg/L。浮游植物群落主要以硅藻、甲藻和绿藻种群为主,硅藻种群全年占优势,甲藻和绿藻在不同季节优势度有变化,体现出从硅藻型到硅藻-甲藻型,到硅藻-绿藻型,再到硅藻-甲藻型的变化过程。温度、氮磷比和水体稳定性的季节变化是影响上述浮游植物群落动态的主要因子。     

深水型水库热分层诱导水质及真菌种群结构垂向演替

水体真菌种群在调控水库生态系统健康过程中发挥重要作用,为探明热分层诱导深水型水库水体真菌种群结构垂向演替特征,采集金盆水库主库区0.5、10、25、40、60和70 m水深水样,分析水质参数、并运用高通量DNA测序技术诊断水库水体真菌种群结构垂向异质性.结果表明,金盆水库表层水温最高为22.33℃,底层最低为7.21℃(P0.05).水体溶解氧(DO)随水深增加显著降低(P0.05),电导率、总磷(TP)和铁含量随着水深增加显著升高(P0.05),垂向形成稳定的变温层、斜温层和等温层结构.水体真菌种群高通量DNA测序共发现1 247个OTUs,隶属4门14纲39属,主要包括接合菌门(Zygomycota)、担子菌门(Basidiomycota)、子囊菌门(Ascomycota)和壶菌门(Chytridiomycota).等温层水体真菌种群Shannon指数和Chao 1多样性指数最高,分别为3.45和360,显著高于斜温层水体(P0.05).红酵母属(Rhodotorula,27.23%)、链格孢属(Alternaria,24.28%)、分子孢子菌属(Cladosporium,22.98%)、链格孢属(Alternaria,32.00%)、亚隔孢壳属(Didymella,17.47%)和分子孢子菌属(Cladosporium,28.17%)分别是0.5、10、25、40、60、70 m的优势菌属,不同水深均存在大量未知真菌(Unclassified).热图(heat map)结果表明,热分层期间金盆水库水体真菌种群结构垂向分布差异显著、不同水层具有不同的真菌种群结构.主成分分析(PCA)表明水温、DO、TP、电导率是调控水体真菌种群结构垂向异质性的主要水质因子.该研究结果为水源水库热分层期间水质与真菌群落的偶联机制提供科学依据.     

路面径流生态阻控技术研究——以改性麦饭石透水沥青路面为例

为强化透水沥青路面对路面径流中氮、磷的控制效果,采用铁盐联合碱热技术制备了涂层负载改性麦饭石蓄水层集料,并运用场发射扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、能谱分析仪(EDS)和X射线衍射(XRD)等手段对改性后麦饭石集料的表面形态、特征和化学成分进行了表征.同时,通过静态吸附试验对TP的吸附效果及其作用机理进行了对比研究.最后将改性麦饭石作为蓄水层集料应用于透水沥青路面中,通过模拟降雨和周期蓄水试验探究其净化机制.结果表明:相比于天然麦饭石,铁盐联合碱改性麦饭石的表面性状发生了明显变化,最大饱和吸附容量明显提高,对氨氮和磷酸盐的吸附容量分别从1.32 mg·g~(-1)和1.48 mg·g~(-1)提升到12.82 mg·g~(-1)和6.38 mg·g~(-1);降雨全过程中改性蓄水层路面对NH~+_4-N的整体去除效率可提高20%左右,对TP的净化效率至少可提高15%,蓄水阶段较模拟降雨阶段污染物的去除效果显著提高,改性后麦饭石蓄水层24 h后的出水水质均可达III类水标准,强化蓄水层和提高蓄水时间是提高路面径流净化效率的有效措施.因此,本实验中铁盐联合碱热技术制备的改性麦饭石可推荐用于海绵城市生态处理设施透水沥青路面中削减氨氮和总磷的污染负荷.     

乌江梯级筑坝对河流碳酸氢根的影响机制

梯级筑坝显著改变了河流碳的生物地球化学循环。为了了解梯级筑坝对河流HCO_3~-的影响,本文对乌江中上游梯级水库的HCO_3~-浓度、溶解无机碳同位素(δ~(13)CDIC)及相关的环境参数进行了长时间跨度的分析。乌江中上游梯级水库-河流体系HCO_3~-浓度为1 42154～3 38752μmol/L,平均值为2 36321μmol/L;δ~(13)CDIC为-1066‰～-452‰,平均值为-854‰;梯级筑坝导致河流具有下游HCO_3~-浓度升高的变化趋势。河流筑坝发电,易形成峡谷型深水水库。碳同位素证据和相关性分析表明,上层的光合作用和下层的呼吸作用成为控制发电水库碳循环的主要因素。这导致HCO_3~-浓度在水库剖面上呈现出由上层至下层逐渐增高的变化规律,再加上水库底层泄水的发电方式,最终导致梯级筑坝河流下游HCO_3~-浓度逐渐升高。本研究将加深梯级筑坝对河流碳循环影响机理的理解。