Biotoxicity evaluation of zinc oxide nanoparticles on bacterial performance of activated sludge at COD,nitrogen, and phosphorus reduction

• ZnO-NP disrupted metabolic/catabolic balance of bacteria by affecting DHA activity. • ZnO-NPs toxicity was related to Zn²⁺ ion, interaction with cell and ROS generation. • Exposure to ZnO-NPs resulted in changed bacterial community structure at sludge. • The change in the EPS content was observed during exposure to ZnO-NPs. The unique properties and growing usage of zinc oxide nanoparticles increase their release in municipal wastewater treatment plants. Therefore, these nanoparticles, by interacting with microorganisms, can fail the suitable functioning of biological systems in treatment plants. For this reason, research into the toxicity of ZnO is urgent. In the present study, the toxicity mechanism of ZnO-NPs towards microbial communities central to granular activated sludge (GAS) performance was assessed over 120-day exposure. The results demonstrate that the biotoxicity of ZnO-NPs is dependent upon its dosage, exposure time, and the extent of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Furthermore, GAS performance and the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) content were significantly reduced at 50 mg/L ZnO-NPs. This exposure led to decreases in the activity of ammonia monooxygenase (25.2%) and nitrate reductase (11.9%) activity. The Field emission scanning electron microscopy images confirmed that ZnO-NPs were able to disrupt the cell membrane integrity and lead to cell/bacterial death via intracellular ROS generation which was confirmed by the Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy analysis. After exposure to the NPs, the bacterial community composition shifted to one dominated by Gram-positive bacteria. The results of this study could help to develop environmental standards and regulations for NPs applications and emissions.     

Product identification and toxicity change during oxidation of methotrexate by ferrate and permanganate in water

• Oxidation of methotrexate by high-valent metal-oxo species was first explored. • Fe(VI) presented a higher reactivity to MTX than Mn(VII) at pH 8.0. • Ketonization and cleavage of peptide bond were two initial reaction pathways. • Products of MTX were not genotoxic, neurotoxic, or endocrine-disrupting chemicals. • The less biodegradable products exhibited developmental and acute/chronic toxicity. Accompanying an annual increase in cancer incidence, the global use of anticancer drugs has remarkably increased with their worldwide environmental prevalence and ecological risks. In this study, the oxidation of methotrexate (MTX), a typical anticancer drug with ubiquitous occurrence and multi-endpoint toxicity, by ferrate(VI) (Fe(VI)) and permanganate (Mn(VII))) was investigated in water. Fe(VI) exhibited a higher reactivity with MTX (93.34 M⁻¹ s⁻¹) than Mn(VII) (3.01 M⁻¹ s⁻¹) at pH 8.0. The introduction of Cu(II) and Fe(III) at 1.0 mM improved the removal efficiency of 5.0 μM MTX by 100.0 μM Fe(VI) from 80% to 95% and 100% after 4 min, respectively. Seven oxidized products (OPs) were identified during oxidative treatments, while OP-191 and OP-205 were characterized as specific products for Fe(VI) oxidation. Initial ketonization of the L-glutamic acid moiety and cleavage of the peptide bond of MTX were proposed. Additionally, a multi-endpoint toxicity evaluation indicated no genotoxicity, neurotoxicity, or endocrine-disrupting effects of MTX and its OPs. Particularly, serious developmental toxicity in zebrafish larvae was observed in the treated MTX solutions. Based on the acute and chronic aquatic toxicity prediction, OP-190, OP-192, OP-206, and OP-208 were deemed toxic or very toxic compared to harmful MTX. Furthermore, the reduced biodegradability index from 0.15 (MTX) to −0.5 to −0.2 (OP-192, OP-206, and OP-468) indicated the formation of lower biodegradable OPs. Overall, this study suggests that Fe(VI) and Mn(VII) oxidation are promising treatments for remediating anticancer drug-contaminated water. However, the environmental risks associated with these treatments should be considered in the evaluation of water safety.     

秦山岛周边海域大型底栖动物群落健康状况评价

2015年8月,对秦山岛周边的10个站位进行大型底栖动物定量调查。采用生物多样性指数法和丰度生物量比较法对大型底栖动物群落健康状况进行评价。结果显示,共鉴定大型底栖动物7大类31种,其中软体动物、环节动物各10种,节肢动物5种,脊索动物和棘皮动物各2种,纽虫类和腔肠动物各1种;密度优势类群为软体动物,占总密度的35.00%,生物量优势类群为脊索动物,占总生物量的49.35%;优势种分别为红狼牙虾虎鱼(Odontamblyopus rubicundus)、棘刺锚参(Protankyra bidentata)、内卷原盒螺(Eocylichna involuta)和微角齿口螺(Odostomia subangulata)。大型底栖动物密度为站位St.6最大,为115 ind./m²,St.2最小,为20 ind./m²,平均值为70 ind./m²;生物量St.3最大,为197.25 g/m²,St.9最小,为2.56 g/m²,平均值为54.04 g/m²。秦山岛受污染压力、人为活动干扰和生境限制能因素影响,多样性偏低,优势种为耐污的软体动物、脊索动物和棘皮动物,但其主要为K对策种类,大型底栖动物群落受到了轻度干扰,但群落结构仍较为稳定。     

Invasive species impacts on ecosystem structure and function: A comparison of Oneida Lake, New York, USA, before and after zebra mussel invasion

Exotic species invasion is widely considered to affect ecosystem structure and function. Yet, few contemporary approaches can assess the effects of exotic species invasion at such an inclusive level. Our research presents one of the first attempts to examine the effects of an exotic species at the ecosystem level in a quantifiable manner. We used ecological network analysis (ENA) and a social network analysis (SNA) method called cohesion analysis to examine the effect of zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) invasion on the Oneida Lake, New York, USA, food web. We used ENA to quantify ecosystem function through an analysis of food web carbon transfer that explicitly incorporated flow over all food web paths (direct and indirect). The cohesion analysis assessed ecosystem structure through an organization of food web members into subgroups of strongly interacting predators and prey. Our analysis detected effects of zebra mussel invasion throughout the entire Oneida Lake food web, including changes in trophic flow efficiency (i.e., carbon flow among trophic levels) and alterations of food web organization (i.e., paths of carbon flow) and ecosystem activity (i.e., total carbon flow). ENA indicated that zebra mussels altered food web function by shunting carbon from pelagic to benthic pathways, increasing dissipative flow loss, and decreasing ecosystem activity. SNA revealed the strength of zebra mussel perturbation as evidenced by a reorganization of food web subgroup structure, with a decrease in importance of pelagic pathways, a concomitant rise of benthic pathways, and a reorganization of interactions between top predator fish. Together, these analyses allowed for a holistic understanding of the effects of zebra mussel invasion on the Oneida Lake food web.     

垃圾填埋场大气汞的浓度和形态

对贵阳市和武汉市的5座城市生活垃圾填埋场大气中的ρ(气态总汞)进行了测定,并分析了填埋场的大气活性气态汞、颗粒态汞、单甲基汞和二甲基汞的质量浓度分布. 结果表明:5座填埋场ρ(气态总汞)为1.6～473.7 ng/m3,不同采样点的平均值为8.5～155.7 ng/m3,最高值出现在填埋场的工作面及工作面下风向区域;而封闭填埋场或运行填埋场的覆土区的ρ(气态总汞)较低. 天气条件和垃圾处理活动均可影响ρ(气态总汞)水平. 贵阳高雁垃圾填埋场大气ρ(活性气态汞),ρ(颗粒态汞),ρ(单甲基汞)和ρ(二甲基汞)的平均值分别为37.4,255.3,12.4和12.7 pg/m3. 虽然不同形态汞的质量浓度明显高于全球背景值,但其产生的环境风险不大.      

Effectiveness of Vegetation Surrogates for Parasitoid Wasps in Reserve Selection

Abstract:  Selecting suitable nature reserves is a continuing challenge in conservation, particularly for target groups that are time-consuming to survey, species rich, and extinction prone. One such group is the parasitoid Hymenoptera, which have been excluded from conservation planning. If basic characteristics of habitats or vegetation could be used as reliable surrogates of specific target taxa, this would greatly facilitate appropriate reserve selection. We identified a range of potential habitat indicators of the species richness of pimpline parasitoid communities (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Pimplinae, Diacritinae, Poemeniinae) and tested their efficiency at capturing the observed diversity in a group of small woodlands in the agricultural landscape of the Vale of York (United Kingdom). Eight of the 18 vegetation-based reserve-selection strategies were significantly better at parasitoid species inclusion than random selection of areas. The best strategy maximized richness of tree species over the entire reserve network through complementarity. This strategy omitted only 2–3 species more (out of 38 captured in the landscape as a whole) than selections derived from the parasitoid survey data. In general, strategies worked equally well at capturing species richness and rarity. Our results suggest that vegetation data as a surrogate for species richness could prove an informative tool in parasitoid conservation, but further work is needed to test how broadly applicable these indicators may be.     

Decadal changes in a NW Mediterranean Sea food web in relation to fishing exploitation

We analysed changes in the ecological roles of species, trophic structure and ecosystem functioning using four standardized mass-balance models of the South Catalan Sea (North-western Mediterranean). Models represented the ecosystem during the late 1970s, mid 1990s, early 2000s, and a simulated no-fishing scenario. The underlying hypothesis was that ecosystem models should quantitatively capture the increasing exploitation in the ecosystem from the 1970s to 2000s, as well as differences between the exploited and non-exploited scenarios. Biomass showed a general decrease, while there was an increase in biomass at lower trophic levels (TL) from the 1970s to 2000s. The efficiency of energy transfer (TE) from lower to higher TLs significantly increased with time. The ecosystem during the 1990s showed higher biomass and flows than during the 1970s and 2000s due to an increase in small pelagic fish biomass (especially sardines). Exploited food webs also showed similarities in terms of general structure and functioning due to high intensity of fishing already in the 1970s. This intensity was highlighted with low trophic levels in the catch, high consumption of production by fisheries, medium to high primary production required to sustain the catches and high losses in secondary production due to fishing. Significant differences on ecosystem structure and functioning were highlighted between the exploited and no-fishing scenarios. Biomass of higher TLs increased under the no-fishing scenario and the mean trophic level of the community and the fish/invertebrate biomass ratios were substantially lower in exploited food webs. The efficiency of energy transfer (TE) from lower to higher TLs was lower under the no-fishing scenario, and it showed a continuous decrease with increasing TL. Marine mammals, large hake, anglerfish and large pelagic fish were identified as keystone species of the ecosystem when there was no fishing, while their ecological importance notably decreased under the exploited periods. On the contrary, the importance of small-sized organisms such as benthic invertebrates and small pelagic fish was higher in exploited food webs.     

内蒙古西部入黄河沙漠颗粒物磷形态研究

用改进的Ruttenberg分析方法对不同粒径黄河上游主要入河沙漠颗粒物磷的形态分布特征进行了研究.乌兰布和沙漠和库布齐沙漠颗粒物中磷以自生钙磷为主,其次是碎屑磷.黑风口沙样中总磷含量较高,磷也以自生钙磷为主,其次是有机磷.计算了沙漠颗粒物中生物可利用磷的含量.乌兰布和沙漠每年向黄河输送约1.1万吨总磷,其中可交换磷为492t.库布齐沙漠每年向黄河输送约9200t总磷,其中可交换磷约为688L     

Specific Features of the Dynamics of Murine Rodent Communities under the Effects of Urbanization: 1. Dynamics of Species Composition and Abundance

The long-term population dynamics of rodent communities in park forests of Yekaterinburg was studied. The results showed that deep population depressions occurring in natural communities are not characteristic of the urban communities. In the urban environment, the density of rodents is always maintained at a relatively high level due to the appearance of species that are atypical for the natural communities. This fact deserves attention in view of the increasing risk of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in the region, as a high rodent abundance may provide for the maintenance of a stable TBE focus in the city.     

香港汀角红树植物、沉积物及双壳类动物重金属含量

汀角有香港面积最大的硬底质红树林,作者调查了该红树林区沉积物、红树植物以及双壳类动物体内重金属(Cu、Pb、Zn和Ni)的含量.总体看,沉积物中重金属含量与其他地点相比较低,红树植物根际沉积物中重金属含量高于光滩.红树植物组织内重金属含量较低,体内Pb、Zn的含量均低于根际沉积物,但对Cu、Ni有一定的富集,Cu可在根部和叶内富集,而Ni只在根部富集,并束缚于此.双壳类动物对4种重金属的吸收存在较大差异,Zn、Cu的富集明显高于Pb和Ni的富集程度.5种动物中又以岩蠔最高,体内的Zn、Cu分别达到3913, 378mg/g.从重金属含量看,作为食用动物有一定的风险.