Evaluating and Ranking the Vulnerability of Global Marine Ecosystems to Anthropogenic Threats

Abstract:  Marine ecosystems are threatened by a suite of anthropogenic stressors. Mitigating multiple threats is a daunting task, particularly when funding constraints limit the number of threats that can be addressed. Threats are typically assessed and prioritized via expert opinion workshops that often leave no record of the rationale for decisions, making it difficult to update recommendations with new information. We devised a transparent, repeatable, and modifiable method for collecting expert opinion that describes and documents how threats affect marine ecosystems. Experts were asked to assess the functional impact, scale, and frequency of a threat to an ecosystem; the resistance and recovery time of an ecosystem to a threat; and the certainty of these estimates. To quantify impacts of 38 distinct anthropogenic threats on 23 marine ecosystems, we surveyed 135 experts from 19 different countries. Survey results showed that all ecosystems are threatened by at least nine threats and that nine ecosystems are threatened by > 90% of existing threats. The greatest threats (highest impact scores) were increasing sea temperature, demersal destructive fishing, and point-source organic pollution. Rocky reef, coral reef, hard-shelf, mangrove, and offshore epipelagic ecosystems were identified as the most threatened. These general results, however, may be partly influenced by the specific expertise and geography of respondents, and should be interpreted with caution. This approach to threat analysis can identify the greatest threats (globally or locally), most widespread threats, most (or least) sensitive ecosystems, most (or least) threatened ecosystems, and other metrics of conservation value. Additionally, it can be easily modified, updated as new data become available, and scaled to local or regional settings, which would facilitate informed and transparent conservation priority setting.     

植物生物技术在黑麦草遗传改良中的应用

黑麦草是重要的牧草和草坪草,是畜牧业和草坪业重要的产业支柱.由于高度自交不亲和,传统遗传改良困难而复杂.生物技术尤其是转基因技术为其遗传改良带来希望.本文概述了组织培养技术、基因遗传转化技术、分子标记及数量性状基因定位、分子标记辅助育种等技术在黑麦草遗传改良中的应用及获得的成果;评述了遗传改良的重要意义,以及黑麦草遗传改良的主要目标,如品质改良、提高病害抗性、降低毒性生物碱浓度、控制花粉致敏性、抗除草剂品种的培育、提高抗逆性及其作为生物反应器的潜在应用价值等;并分析了功能基因组学的研究及RNA干扰技术在黑麦草研究中可能的应用前景.     

国家级环境区划理论与方法初探

从全国范围环境区划的角度，阐述了环境区划的理论基础──环境地域分异理论和社会－经济－自然复合生态系统理论，探讨了环境区划的原则，提出了国家级环境区划的方法以及环境区划的等级体系标准与指标体系。     

Avian Diversity and Functional Insectivory on North-Central Florida Farmlands

Abstract:  We studied the potential for native birds to control insect pests on farms. We assessed habitat factors correlated with diversity, distribution, and insect-foraging activity of native birds on farms in north-central Florida and then characterized common bird species that consumed insect biomass in crops as "functional insectivores" (birds most likely to contribute to pest control). Analyses of point-count survey data and foraging observations collected over 2 years on paired organic and conventional farm sites indicated that (1) farms supported most (82–96%) land birds known to breed in the region; (2) bird species richness and abundance varied significantly with matrix habitat and field border type (but not with year or farm management type); (3) the highest bird abundances were associated with mixed crop plantings, field borders, and adjacent matrix composed of forest and hedge; and (4) abundances of 10 species identified as functional insectivores were primarily influenced by crop type (mixed crops attracted significantly more insect foragers into fields than monocrops). We documented birds eating pest insects in crops and did not observe substantive crop damage by birds during growing-season observations. We advocate use of the term functional insectivore to emphasize the potential positive role of avian insectivory on farms during the growing season.     

中药青蒿鲨烯合酶的大肠杆菌表达、纯化与功能鉴定

利用PCR方法,将经RACE方法克隆到的中药青蒿鲨烯合酶cDNA(AF302464)开放阅读框的3′末端截短99bp,插入到原核表达载体pET30a( )的NcoⅠ和BamHⅠ酶切位点之间,构建N端和C端均携带有HIS6表达标签的鲨烯合酶重组表达载体pETSSA.将pETSSA转入大肠杆菌BL21(DE3),0.5mmol/LIPTG(isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactoside)28℃诱导重组鲨烯合酶的表达.表达产物经镍琼脂糖柱纯化.纯化蛋白加入酶促反应体系(含FPP和NADPH),GC-MS分析酶促反应体系的正己烷萃取物,结果显示重组鲨烯合酶可以催化FPP向鲨烯的转化.青蒿鲨烯合酶的功能鉴定为进一步利用反义或RNAi技术限制甾类生物合成,从而提高青蒿中的青蒿素含量提供了基础.图5参15     

异龙湖流域生态功能区划分析

为了改善异龙湖的生态环境，延缓其老化和消亡过程，实现其自然资源的持续利用，以生态学与系统工程学原理为基础，分析异龙湖湖泊生态系统的组成与结构，依据其生态功能分区的原则，将异龙湖流域生态系统划分为4个子系统，分别根据各自的生态功能和主要环境问题，制订有效的保护措施。     

Variations in surface functional groups, carbon chemical state and graphitization degree during thermal deactivation of diesel soot particles

The thermal deactivation of diesel soot particles exerts a significant influence on the control strategy for the regeneration of diesel particulate filters (DPFs). This work focused on the changes in the surface functional groups, carbon chemical state, and graphitization degree during thermal treatment in an inert gas environment at intermediate temperatures of 600°C, 800°C, and 1000°C and explore the chemical species that were desorbed from the diesel soot surface during thermal treatment using a thermogravimetric analyser coupled with a gas-chromatograph mass spectrometer (TGA-GC/MS). The surface functional groups and carbon chemical state were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The graphitization degree was evaluated by means of Raman spectroscopy (RS). The concentrations of aliphatic C–H, C–OH, C=O, and O–C=O groups are reduced for diesel soot and carbon black when increasing the thermal treatment temperature, while the sp²/sp³ hybridized ratio and graphitization degree enhance. These results provide comprehensive evidence of the decreased reactivity of soot samples. Among oxygenated functional groups, the percentage reduction during thermal treatment is the largest for the O–C=O groups owing to its worst thermodynamic stability. TGA-GC/MS results show that the aliphatic and aromatic chains and oxygenated species would be desorbed from the soot surface during 1000°C thermal treatment of diesel soot.     

Influence of a Large Herbivore Reintroduction on Plant Invasions and Community Composition in a California Grassland

Abstract:  Despite many successful reintroductions of large mammalian herbivores throughout the world, remarkably little attention has focused on how these actions affect native and exotic vegetation at reintroduction sites. One such herbivore is tule elk ( Cervus elaphus nannodes ), which was on the brink of extinction in the mid 1800s, but now has numerous stable populations due to intensive reintroduction efforts. Here, we summarize results from a 5-year exclosure experiment that explored the effects of tule elk on a coastal grassland in northern California. Elk significantly altered the species composition of this community; the response of annual species (dominated heavily by exotic taxa) was dramatically different from perennial species. Elk herbivory increased the abundance and aboveground biomass of native and exotic annuals, whereas it either had no effect on or caused significant decreases in perennials. Elk also decreased the cover of native shrubs, suggesting that these herbivores play an important role in maintaining open grasslands. In addition, elk significantly reduced the abundance and biomass of a highly invasive exotic grass , Holcus lanatus, which is a major problem in mesic perennial grasslands. Our results demonstrate that the successful reintroduction of a charismatic and long-extirpated mammal had extremely complex effects on the plant community, giving rise to both desirable and undesirable outcomes from a management perspective. We suspect that these kinds of opposing effects are not unique to tule elk and that land managers will frequently encounter them when dealing with reintroduced mammals.     

Temporal dimension and water quality control in an emission trading scheme based on water environmental functional zone

Emission trading is one of the most effective alternatives to controlling water pollution. Water environmental functional zone (WEFZ) is used to determine the water quality standard and identify the zone boundary for each river or reach. In this study, a new emission trading scheme was addressed based on WEFZ, accounting for both the temporal dimension and water quality control. A temporal factor of emission trading was proposed based on variations in the environmental capacity within a year by dividing the year into three periods, including high, normal, and low periods of environmental capacity. During each period, emission trading was implemented exclusively. A water quality-control scheme was suggested based on the water quality requirement in the water functional zone, in which the water quality at the downstream boundary of the zone was required to meet the water standard following auto-purification in the stream. Two methods of calculating water quality control are addressed for point-source pollution and non-point-source pollution. The calculated temporal dimension and water quality control were located in Dongxi River of the Daning Watershed in the Three Gorges Watershed. The high period was during June, July, and August, the normal period was during April, May, September, and October, and the low period was during January, February, March, November, and December. The results from the water quality calculation demonstrated that the discharge of point-source and non-point-source pollutions led to an excess of common contaminants at the downstream boundary of WEFZ. The temporal and spatial factors above should be incorporated into the emission trading scheme based on WEFZ.     

近地层臭氧浓度升高对麦田土壤微生物群落功能多样性的影响

利用中国臭氧FACE(Free-air O3concentration enrichment,开放式空气臭氧浓度增高)试验平台,通过测定麦季土壤水溶性有机碳含量、土壤呼吸强度和BIOLOG指标,研究了近地层臭氧浓度升高50%条件下(~70 nmol mol-1),麦田土壤微生物功能多样性的响应.结果发现,臭氧浓度升高下麦田土壤水溶性有机碳含量提高,土壤微呼吸强度增加,平均吸光值显著高于对照(P<0.05).多样性指数结果显示,臭氧浓度升高对麦田土壤微生物丰富度和优势度指数没有显著影响,但是臭氧处理下均一度指数显著高于对照(P<0.05);主成分分析显示,相对于其它碳源,臭氧浓度升高对麦田土壤微生物的糖类物质利用能力的影响最大.研究揭示了1.5倍的近地层臭氧浓度增强了麦田土壤微生物碳源利用能力,特别是非优势微生物.