BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS AND BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ESTUARINE/COASTAL POLLUTION1

ABSTRACT: Sustained interest in and concern about the health status of the aquatic environment has resulted in extensive research focused on (1) effects of pollution on survival, growth, and reproduction of resource species at all life stages; (2) diseases of fish and shellfish, as they may be related to pollution and as they may serve as indicators of environmental stress; and (3) contaminant body burdens in fish and shellfish - their effects on the aquatic animals and their potential effects on humans. Effects, lethal and sublethal, of pollutants on life history stages of fish and shellfish have been documented, as have impacts on local stocks in badly degraded habitats, but as yet there has been no adequate quantitative demonstration of effects on entire aquatic species - probably because of the difficulty in sorting out relative effects of the many environmental factors that influence abundance. Sublethal effects, especially those that result in disease, have been examined intensively, and some diseases and disease syndromes have been associated statistically with pollution. Other pollution indicators (biochemical, physiological, genetic, behavioral, and ecological) have also received some attention, as have body burdens of contaminants in aquatic species. Research, especially that conducted during the past decade, has done much to clarify the many pathways and toxic effects of contaminants on aquatic animals, and has also helped to identify mechanisms for survival of fish and shellfish in the presence of environmental changes caused by human activities.     

规划环境影响评价指标体系及评价方法浅析

对规划环境影响评价的内容作出了概述性的介绍，并根据规划环境影响评价的特点，得出规划环境影响评价的指标体系应包括自然环境指标、生态环境指标、资源利用指标、能源利用指标和社会经济指标5大体系。列举了当前适用于规划环境影响评价的技术方法，并对其进行简单的对比分析。     

Condensed atmospheric photooxidation mechanisms for isoprene

Two condensed mechanisms for the atmospheric reactions of isoprene, which differ in the number of species used to represent isoprene's reactive products, have been developed for use in ambient air quality modehng. They are based on a detailed isoprene mechanism that has recently been developed and extensively evaluated against environmental chamber data. The new condensed mechanisms give very close predictions to those of the detailed mechanism for ozone, OH radicals, nitric acid, H₂O₂, formaldehyde, total PANS, and for incremental effects of isoprene on ozone formation in one day simulations. The effects of the condensations become somewhat greater in multi-day simulations, particularly in cases where NO₃ reactions are important at nighttime, but the ozone predictions are still very close. On the other hand, the SAPRC-90, RADM-2, and Carbon Bond IV isoprene mechanisms give quite different predictions of these quantities. It is recommended that the new mechanisms replace those currently used in airshed simulations where isoprene emissions are important.     

Supplementing Land-Use Statistics with Landscape Metrics: Some Methodological Considerations

Landscape monitoring usually relies on land-use statistics whichreflect the share of land-sue/land cover types. In order tounderstand the functioning of landscapes, landscape pattern mustbe considered as well. Indicators which address the spatialconfiguration of landscapes are therefore needed. Thesuitability of landscape metrics, which are computed from thetype, geometry and arrangement of patches, is examined. Two casestudies in a surface mining region show that landscape metricscapture landscape structure but are highly dependent on the datamodel and on the methods of data analysis. For landscape metricsto become part of policy-relevant sets of environmentalindicators, standardised procedures for their computation fromremote sensing images must be developed.     

Great Lakes monitoring results--comparison of probability based and deterministic sampling grids

The Great Lakes may be viewed as a coastal environment, affected by the same meteorological and physical forces as the coastal ocean. The U.S. EPA, Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) has monitored the open waters of the lakes, annually, since 1983. As part of the U.S. EPA Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP), a pilot study was performed in Lake Michigan to compare the existing GLNPO deterministic sampling grid with the EMAP probabilistic grid. Results of chemical analyses of trophic status indicators (total phosphorus and chlorophyll a) as well as nutrients and conventional limnological measurements, from spring and summer surveys in 1992 indicate little difference between the grids in the offshore region of the lake. The few statistically significant differences may be due to station distribution throughout the lake, or simple chance. This might be expected due to the well mixed nature of the open waters of Lake Michigan. The detection of a long-term trend for total phosphorus in Lake Michigan benefits from an annual program: viewing cumulative frequency distributions based on a four year EMAP interval does not convey information on the decrease in phosphorus in the lake. If the EMAP sampling grid were to be used in the Great Lakes, pilots in each of the lakes would be necessary for utilization of the existing long-term record as a basis for trend detection.     

Environmental assessment of agriculture at a regional scale in the Pampas of Argentina

Governments need good information to design policies. However, inthe Argentine Pampas there are neither sufficient knowledge on environmental issues, nor clear perception of environmental alterations across space and time. The general objective of this work was to provide decision makers with a scientifically sound set of indicators aiming at the assessment of current status andfuture trends in the rural environment of this sensitiveregion. As driving criteria to select indicators, weassumed that they had to be sound, simple to calculate,easy to understand, and easily applicable by decision makers. They are related closely to significantecological structures and functions. Twelve basicindicators were identified: (1) land use, (2) fossil energyuse, (3) fossil energy use efficiency, (4) nitrogen (N)balance, (5) phosphorus (P) balance, (6) nitrogencontamination risk, (7) phosphorus contamination risk, (8) pesticide contamination, (9) soil erosion risk, (10) habitatintervention, (11) changes in soil carbon stock, and (12) balance of greenhouse gases. Indicators were geographicallyreferenced using a geographic information system (GIS). Thestrength of this study is not in the absolute value ofenvironmental indicators, but rather in theconceptualization of indicator and the identification ofchanging patterns, gradients and trends in space and time.According to our results, we can not definitely say thatagriculture in the Pampas, as a whole, tends to besustainable or not. While some indicators tend to improve,others keep stable, and the rest worsen. The relative importance among indicators must also be considered. The indicators that showed a negative net change are key to the identification of critical problems that will require special attention in the close future.     

Effect of El Nĩno on demographic,morphological, and chemical parameters in turtle-grass (Thalassia testudinum): an unexpected test of indicators

We examined the response of demographic, morphological, and chemical parameters of turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum), to much-higher-than-normal rainfall associated with an El Niño event in the winter of 1997–1998. Up to 20 inches of added rain fell between December 1997 and March 1998, triggering widespread and persistent phytoplankton blooms along the west coast of Florida. Water-column chlorophyll concentrations estimated from serial SeaWiFS imagery were much higher during the El Niño event than in the previous or following years, although the timing and magnitude of phytoplankton blooms varied among sites. Seagrass samples collected in 1997, 1998, and 1999 provided an excellent opportunity to test the responsiveness of Thalassia to decline and subsequent improvement of water quality and clarity in four estuaries. Using a scoring technique based on temporal responsiveness, spatial consistency, and statistical strength of indicators, we found that several morphological parameters (Thalassia shoot density, blade width, blade number, and shoot-specific leaf area) were responsive and consistent measures of light stress. Some morphological parameters, such as rhizome apex density, responded to declines and subsequent improvement in water clarity, but lacked the statistical discriminating power necessary to be useful indicators. However, rhizome sugar, starch, and the total carbohydrate concentrations also exhibited spatially and temporally consistent variation as well as statistical strength. Because changes in shoot density, as well as water clarity, affect rhizome carbohydrate levels, a composite metric based on Thalassia shoot density and rhizome carbohydrate levels together is probably more useful than either parameter alone as an indicator of seagrass health.     

Modeling and Measurement of Structural Changes at a Landscape Scale in Dryland Areas

We present a technique to quantify and model the intensity of structural changes produced by management of dry grazing lands at a landscape scale. The technique is illustrated with the analysis of digitized black–white (b/w) imagery and an application to the study of changes induced by grazing gradients. Structural changes in patchy vegetation canopies were studied in the Patagonian Monte (Chubut, Argentina) at two resolution scales by means of linear transects in the field (50 m) and others drawn on aerial b/w photographs (2–5 km) of grazed paddocks. Spatial series of plant cover values along transects in the field and on photographs were analyzed with standard techniques of spectral analyses, including auto-correlation spectra and Fourier transforms. In order to test the internal consistency of the techniques used, synthetic plant canopies with patches of varying cover and size were generated by means of a stochastic model of plant growth under different stocking rates or after varying periods of recovery. The behavior of the simulation model is consistent with the observed dynamics of plant canopies in semiarid environments. There is a consistent relation between the number and geometric properties of plant patches (patch number, patch size, patch connectivity) and the signal/noise ratios of the Fourier decomposition describing plant density data. Signal/noise ratios corresponding to plant cover data in paddocks with different grazing treatment are consistent with the assumptions derived from modeled canopies, as well as those estimated from optical density of b/w aerial photographs of paddocks. We tested the hypotheses that patch arrangements as quantified by the signal/noise ratios vary in accordance with grazing gradients in paddocks with a permanent corner-located watering point. The use of digitized b/w images allows inspecting permanent changes over time periods when other types of images were not yet available.     

水环境中秸秆源溶解有机质的组成及光化学活性特征

利用紫外-可见吸收光谱、三维荧光光谱和稳态光化学反应技术,对水环境中水稻和小麦秸秆短期（91d）分解释放的溶解有机质（DOM）的组成、结构和光化学活性进行了研究.结果表明：在水环境中,秸秆分解释放DOM过程可分为物理淋溶、易分解组分分解和难分解组分分解三个阶段,其中易分解组分是该分解过程中秸秆DOM的主要来源;随分解周期增长,秸秆源DOM的芳香性、腐殖化程度及分子量不断增大,而生物可利用性逐渐减小;秸秆源DOM中的类酪氨酸、类腐殖酸和类富里酸在秸秆分解过程中逐渐累积,至分解末期,3种组分在水稻和小麦秸秆DOM中的含量分别增加了4.2%~14.3%和5.9%~12.8%,而类色氨酸和溶解性微生物分泌物相对不稳定,会被逐渐分解;秸秆源DOM的紫外和荧光光谱特征指数SUVA₂₅₄、E2/E3、S_275~295、S_R、BIX和FI均与其光生HO×、¹O₂和三线态DOM间具有良好的相关关系（r > 0.61,P < 0.05）,因此秸秆源DOM的光化学活性由其芳香结构、分子量及生物可利用性共同决定.鉴于此,研究认为,探讨生物可利用组分的光化学活性,及构建光谱特征指数预测DOM光化学活性的数学模型,是今后秸秆源DOM生态环境作用研究的两项重要内容.     

大气中过氧化氢的生成、污染特征及其影响因素

过氧化氢(H₂O₂)是自由基的源和汇,是对流层大气中重要的氧化剂. 采用文献研究法对1990年以来H₂O₂的文献进行搜集整理,对其生成途径、污染特征及其影响因素进行了研究. 结果表明:H₂O₂在大气、云水和颗粒物中均有存在,大气中的H₂O₂主要通过O₃和甲醛光解、VOC同OH·/O₃等反应生成. 大气中φ(H₂O₂)一般在nd～8×10-9内波动,晴天φ(H₂O₂)呈早晚低、午后高的日变化特征;φ(H₂O₂)随φ(O₃)、太阳辐射和气温的增加而升高,随φ(NO_x)、φ(VOCs)和相对湿度的升高而降低;H₂O₂氧化SO₂为SO₄2-是液相化学中最重要的反应,可以导致酸沉降以及二次气溶胶浓度的升高. 在气相光化学反应中,H₂O₂/HNO₃(体积分数比)可以指示O₃生成是VOCs控制还是NO_x控制. 今后需对OH·浓度、NO₂和O₃的光解速率等影响H₂O₂关键因素开展监测研究,此外,还需对我国特殊大气环境下H₂O₂对SO₄2-生成的贡献、不同地区H₂O₂/HNO₃指示O₃生成对NO_x或VOCs敏感性等方面开展更多的研究.