Status of Aquatic Bioassessment in U.S. EPA Region IX

U.S. EPA Region IX is supporting bioassessment programs in Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada using biocriteria program and Regional Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (R-EMAP) resources. These programs are designed to improve the state, tribal and regional ability to determine the status of water quality. Biocriteria program funds were used to coordinate with Arizona, California and Hawaii which resulted in these states establishing reference conditions and in developing biological indices. U.S. EPA Region IX has initiated R-EMAP projects in California and Nevada. These U.S. EPA Region IX sponsored programs have provided an opportunity to interact with the States and provide them with technical and management support. In Arizona, several projects are being conducted to develop the State's bioassessment program. These include the development of a rotational random monitoring program; a regional reference approach for macroinvertebrate bioassessments; ecoregion approach to testing and adoption of an alternate regional classification system; and development of warm-water and cold-water indices of biological integrity. The indices are projected to be used in the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) 2000 water quality assessment report. In California, an Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) has been developed for the Russian River Watershed using resources from U.S. EPA's Non-point Source (NPS) Program grants. A regional IBI is under development for certain water bodies in the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board. Resources from the U.S. EPA Biocriteria program are being used to support the California Aquatic Bioassessment Workgroup (CABW) in conjunction with the California Department of Fish & Game (CDFG), and to support the Hawaii Department of Health (DoH) Bioassessment Program to refine biological metrics. In Nevada, R-EMAP resources are being used to create a baseline of aquatic information for the Humboldt River watershed. U.S. EPA Region IX is presently working with the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) to establish a Nevada Aquatic Bioassessment Workgroup. Future R-EMAP studies will occur in the Calleguas Creek watershed in Southern California, and in the Muddy and Virgin River watersheds in southern Nevada, and the Walker River watershed in eastern California and west-central Nevada.     

赣江流域浮游植物群落结构与功能类群划分

2009~2010年3次对赣江流域浮游植物群落特征进行淡水生态学调查,鉴定出包括绿藻门、硅藻门、蓝藻门、裸藻门、甲藻门、隐藻门、黄藻门及金藻门在内的浮游植物共8门109属312种(包括变种、变型)。硅藻门和绿藻门无论是在物种数还是在种群密度上均为赣江流域的优势类群。对所鉴定出的种类按功能类群划分,共划分出功能类群32个,以此建立赣江流域浮游植物功能类群特征表(基于生境、耐受性和敏感性)。本研究首次在国内大型河流中开展浮游植物功能类群的划分,划分结果显示赣江流域浮游植物种数和密度占优势的功能类群,多适宜生活在中营养-富营养化水体,这反映出赣江水体环境已经受到了一定程度的人为干扰,水体呈现富营养化趋势。功能类群划分是理解浮游植物群落的重要工具,但是使用该方法必须检查物种的分类是否符合该生物体的个体生态特征     

筑坝蓄水过程对高原湿地拉市海湖滨植被的影响

选择滇西北高原湿地拉市海湿地湖滨作为研究区域,采用传统的野外植被调查和定位观测相结合的方法对该区域植被特征、分布格局及受筑坝蓄水过程的影响进行分析和研究。结果表明：研究区共有维管束植物97种,隶属于34科76属,可划分为2个植被类型,3个植被亚型,10个群落类型;拉市海筑坝蓄水过程对研究区植物群落分布格局和组成结构产生明显的影响,草甸植被、沼泽植被和湖泊水生植被占研究区面积比重分别从2009年的4454%、1869%和3676%变为2011年的3259%、1368%和5359%,草甸植被和沼泽植被的面积不断缩小,湖泊水生植被面积持续扩大,狗牙根〖WTBX〗（Cynodon dactylon）逐渐取代蒿属（Artemisia）〖WTBZ〗植物在草甸植被中的优势地位,而李氏禾群落（Com.Leersia hexandra）成为了研究区湖滨带水生植物的主要成分;研究区植被在筑坝蓄水过程的胁迫下呈草甸植被（杂草群落、狗牙根群落Com.Cynodon dactylon）,沼泽植被（葱状灯心草群落Com.Juncus allioides、菖蒲群落Com.Acorus calamus、刚毛荸荠群落Com.Eleocharis vallcculosa、水蓼群落Com.Polygonum hydropiper）,湖泊水生植被（李氏禾群落Com.Leersia hexandra、两栖蓼群落Com.Polygonum amphibium、满江红群落Com.Azolla imbricata、鸭子草 穗状狐尾藻群落Com.Potamogeton distinctus Myriophyllum spicatum）的演替格局;拉市海植物群落受筑坝蓄水过程影响发生的逆向演替,从理论上延长了湿地的服务年限,但蓄水过程对鱼类的生存和繁殖、越冬水禽的生境及整个湿地生态系统结构和功能的影响是长期的,还有待深入的研究     

1980年来湖北省钉螺分布区域及其数量的消长分析

目前对钉螺分布及消长的研究主要是短期的、文字描述性的、数字和曲线图表示的,通过这些方式可以呈现出某个地域范围的钉螺消长的总体趋势。但是,若要呈现出以行政村为单位的各个地区钉螺分布及消长的长期变化,仅仅用文字和曲线图是不够的,而是需要用更复杂的方式,才能呈现各个行政村的钉螺消长时空分布情况。地理信息系统(GIS)可以通过地图清晰显示出这些复杂的动态变化。利用湖北省钉螺的螺情村级统计年报数据,以湖北省村级行政区划图为基本空间制图单元,利用ArcGIS软件的逻辑运算和统计功能,分析了各个村级行政区从1980~2009年每间隔5 a的钉螺分布的区域及面积大小,以及钉螺数量的消长情况,并用GIS软件详细制图,获得各个村级行政区的钉螺数量的消长变化情况。根据钉螺消长情况,将所有行政村分为八类,可以识别出钉螺反复出现和难以消灭的地区,并且在地图中清晰地呈现出来。针对各个钉螺消长类型,结合自然地理、人为治理途径等情况进行相关分析,总结出湖北省各地区钉螺消长类型分异的原因,这将有利于制定县市甚至细化到村级单位的钉螺防控计划,也有利于辨识过去30 a来钉螺分布及其数量消长的区域以及灭螺的效果,对今后血吸虫的防治工作有重要指导意义。     

Analysis of bacterial community structures in two sewage treatment plants with different sludge properties and treatment performance by nested PCR-DGGE method

The bacterial community structures in two sewage treatment plants with different processes and performance were investigated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis （DGGE） of nested polymerase chain reaction （nested PCR） amplified 16S rRNA gene fragments with group-specific primers. Samples of raw sewage and treated effluents were amplified using the whole-cell PCR method, and the activated sludge samples were amplified using the extracted genomic DNA before the PCR products were loaded on the same DGGE gel for bacterial community analysis. Ammonia-oxidizing bacterial and actinomycetic community analysis were also carried out to investigate the relationship between specific population structures and system or sludge performance. The two plants demonstrated a similarity in bacterial community structures of raw sewage and activated sludge, but they had different effluent populations. Many dominant bacterial populations of raw sewage did not appear in the activated sludge samples, suggesting that the dominant bacterial populations in raw sewage might not play an important role during wastewater treatment. Although the two plants had different sludge properties in terms of settleability and foam forming ability, they demonstrated similar actinomycetic community structures. For activated sludge with bad settling performance, the treated water presented a similar DGGE pattern with that of activated sludge, indicating the nonselective washout of bacteria from the system. The plant with better ammonium removal efficiency showed higher ammonia-oxidizing bacteria species richness. Analysis of sequencing results showed that the major populations in raw sewage were uncultured bacterium, while in activated sludge the predominant populations were beta proteobacteria.     

Number concentration and size distributions of submicron particles in Jinan urban area： Characteristics in summer and winter

The aerosol number concentration and size distribution were measured with the newly developed Wide-range Particle Spectrometer in summer and winter of 2006 at the urban site of Jinan City.Here reported the characteristics of fine particles of the different observation seasons.Relative high number concentrations for the particles in the diameter range of 10-500 nm were observed in both seasons.It was found that the dominant number distributed in particle diameter smaller than 100 nm and the percentage over the number concentration of all air particles is much higher than what has been measured in other urban sites over the world.The number mean diameter in summer was much smaller than in winter,strongly suggesting the different origin of ultrafine particles in different seasons.That is, particles in ultrafine mode mainly came from nucleation and new particle formation in summer while from traffic emission in winter. The diurnal variation also supported this point.Number concentration in the diameter range of 10-200 nm got their peak values at noontime,well correlated with the mixing ratio of SO_2 and the intensity of solar radiation in summer.While in winter,those in the same diameter range showed the main peaks during the traffic hours happened in the morning and evening.     

城市社区防灾减灾工作机制研究

在组织论指导下,提出在区民防办下设街道防减灾办公室,负责社区防减灾的领导工作。根据灾害管理过程,设置下属机构包括:社区灾害预防组、应急救援组和灾后恢复组。明确各相关方在具体工作中的角色和责任,完善社区防减灾机制。按自愿原则组建志愿者队伍,建立良好的培养和激励机制,确保服务人员的长期化。扩大基层防减灾宣传教育的广度,特别是基层领导干部和青少年的宣教。将宣教和防灾演练结合,使得防灾演练制度化。同时,需要重视在现有"120"急救网络上,建立院前急救体系,配备相应的物资和人员。     

Performance and Environmental Impact of Biodegradable Films in Agriculture: A Field Study on Protected Cultivation

The performance, the degradability in soil and the environmental impact of biodegradable starch-based soil mulching and low tunnel films were assessed by means of field and laboratory tests. The lifetime of the biodegradable mulches was 9 months and of the biodegradable low-tunnel films 6 months. The radiometric properties of the biodegradable films influenced positively the microclimate: air temperature under the biodegradable low tunnel films was 2 °C higher than under the low density polyethylene films, resulting in an up to 20% higher yield of strawberries. At the end of the cultivation period, the biodegradable mulches were broken up and buried in the field soil together with the plant residues. One year after burial, less than 4% of the initial weight of the biodegradable film was found in the soil. According to ecotoxicity tests, the kinetic luminescent bacteria test with Vibrio fischeri and the Enchytraeus albidus ISO/CD 16387 reproduction potential, there was no evidence of ecotoxicity in the soil during the biodegradation process. Furthermore, there was no change in the diversity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in the soil determined on the basis of the appearance of amoA gene diversity in denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis.     

A Systematic Review of Wild Burro Grazing Effects on Mojave Desert Vegetation,USA

Wild burros (Equus asinus), protected by the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act on some federal lands but exotic animals many ecologists and resource mangers view as damaging to native ecosystems, represent one of the most contentious environmental management problems in American Southwest arid lands. This review synthesizes the scattered literature about burro effects on plant communities of the Mojave Desert, a center of burro management contentions. I classified 24 documents meeting selection criteria for this review into five categories of research: (i) diet analyses directly determining which plant species burros consume, (ii) utilization studies of individual species, (iii) control-impact comparisons, (iv) exclosure studies, and (v) forage analyses examining chemical characteristics of forage plants. Ten diet studies recorded 175 total species that burros consumed. However, these studies and two exclosure studies suggested that burros preferentially eat graminoid and forb groups over shrubs. One study in Death Valley National Park, for example, found that Achnatherum hymenoides (Indian ricegrass) was 11 times more abundant in burro diets than expected based on its availability. Utilization studies revealed that burros also exhibit preferences within the shrub group. Eighty-three percent of reviewed documents were produced in a 12-year period, from 1972 to 1983, with the most recent document produced in 1988. Because burros remain abundant on many federal lands and grazing may interact with other management concerns (e.g., desert wildfires fueled by exotic grasses), rejuvenating grazing research to better understand both past and present burro effects could help guide revegetation and grazing management scenarios.     

The Impacts of Human Visitation on Mussel Bed Communities Along the California Coast: Are Regulatory Marine Reserves Effective in Protecting These Communities?

Rocky intertidal habitats frequently are used by humans for recreational, educational, and subsistence-harvesting purposes, with intertidal populations damaged by visitation activities such as extraction, trampling, and handling. California Marine Managed Areas, particularly regulatory marine reserves (MRs), were established to provide legal protection and enhancement of coastal resources and include prohibitions on harvesting intertidal populations. However, the effectiveness of MRs is unclear as enforcement of no-take laws is weak and no regulations protect intertidal species from other detrimental visitor impacts such as trampling. The goal of this study was two-fold: (1) to determine impacts from human visitation on California mussel populations (Mytilus californianus) and mussel bed community diversity; and (2) to investigate the effectiveness of regulatory MRs in reducing visitor impacts on these populations. Surveys of mussel populations and bed-associated diversity were compared: (1) at sites subjected to either high or low levels of human use, and (2) at sites either unprotected or with regulatory protection banning collecting. At sites subjected to higher levels of human visitation, mussel populations were significantly lower than low-use sites. Comparisons of mussel populations inside and outside of regulatory MRs revealed no consistent pattern suggesting that California no-take regulatory reserves may have limited effectiveness in protecting mussel communities. In areas where many people visit intertidal habitats for purposes other than collecting, many organisms will be affected by trampling, turning of rocks, and handling. In these cases, effective protection of rocky intertidal communities requires an approach that goes beyond the singular focus on collecting to reduce the full suite of impacts.