Geographic sampling of urban soils for contaminant mapping: how many samples and from where

Properly sampling soils and mapping soil contamination in urban environments requires that impacts of spatial autocorrelation be taken into account. As spatial autocorrelation increases in an urban landscape, the amount of duplicate information contained in georeferenced data also increases, whether an entire population or some type of random sample drawn from that population is being analyzed, resulting in conventional power and sample size calculation formulae yielding incorrect sample size numbers vis-à-vis model-based inference. Griffith (in Annals, Association of American Geographers, 95, 740–760, 2005) exploits spatial statistical model specifications to formulate equations for estimating the necessary sample size needed to obtain some predetermined level of precision for an analysis of georeferenced data when implementing a tessellation stratified random sampling design, labeling this approach model-informed, since a model of latent spatial autocorrelation is required. This paper addresses issues of efficiency associated with these model-based results. It summarizes findings from a data collection exercise (soil samples collected from across Syracuse, NY), as well as from a set of resampling and from a set of simulation experiments following experimental design principles spelled out by Overton and Stehman (in Communications in Statistics: Theory and Methods, 22, 2641–2660). Guidelines are suggested concerning appropriate sample size (i.e., how many) and sampling network (i.e., where).

Parameter uncertainties in the modelling of vegetation dynamics—Effects on tree community structure and ecosystem functioning in European forest biomes

Dynamic vegetation models are useful tools for analysing terrestrial ecosystem processes and their interactions with climate through variations in carbon and water exchange. Long-term changes in structure and composition (vegetation dynamics) caused by altered competitive strength between plant functional types (PFTs) are attracting increasing attention as controls on ecosystem functioning and potential feedbacks to climate. Imperfect process knowledge and limited observational data restrict the possibility to parameterise these processes adequately and potentially contribute to uncertainty in model results. This study addresses uncertainty among parameters scaling vegetation dynamic processes in a process-based ecosystem model, LPJ-GUESS, designed for regional-scale studies, with the objective to assess the extent to which this uncertainty propagates to additional uncertainty in the tree community structure (in terms of the tree functional types present and their relative abundance) and thus to ecosystem functioning (carbon storage and fluxes). The results clearly indicate that the uncertainties in parameterisation can lead to a shift in competitive balance, most strikingly among deciduous tree PFTs, with dominance of either shade-tolerant or shade-intolerant PFTs being possible, depending on the choice of plausible parameter values. Despite this uncertainty, our results indicate that the resulting effect on ecosystem functioning is low. Since the vegetation dynamics in LPJ-GUESS are representative for the more complex Earth system models now being applied within ecosystem and climate research, we assume that our findings will be of general relevance. We suggest that, in terms of carbon storage and fluxes, the heavier parameterisation requirement of the processes involved does not widen the overall uncertainty in model predictions.     

Extrapair paternity in the swamp sparrow, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Melospiza georgiana</Emphasis>: male access or female preference?

Over the past two decades, the combination of molecular and field methods has revealed considerable variation in the level of extrapair fertilizations among socially monogamous birds. Models predicting extrapair young range in scale from a single population to multiple Orders, and there is no single, unifying theory for these reproductive tactics. We investigated proximate explanations of extrapair fertilizations in two subspecies of the swamp sparrow, Melospiza georgiana georgiana and Melospiza georgiana nigrescens, across a range of social and environmental conditions. The presence of extrapair young was best predicted by the size of two male plumage badges (one correlated with parental care and one with territorial aggression) relative to the badge size of their immediate neighbors, the interaction of these two measures, mean territory size, and the maximum size of the aggression badge among neighbors. The size of the male’s parental care badge (relative to neighbors) was negatively correlated with the probability of lost paternity. The relative size of the aggression badge was positively correlated with the presence of extrapair young when the parental care badge was small and negatively correlated when the badge was large. Controlling for these crown measures, males with larger territories were less likely to suffer losses in paternity. There was no effect of breeding density, breeding synchrony, their interaction, subspecies, or weather during the fertile period on the presence of extrapair young. These results suggest that female preference for males that provide more parental care (or preference for genes that convey this trait) plays a dominant role in extrapair interactions among swamp sparrows. Models based on female assessments of relative mate quality offer a promising explanation of patterns in extrapair fertilizations among bird species.     

Current Trends in Plant and Animal Population Monitoring

Abstract:  Animal and plant population monitoring programs are critical for identifying species at risk, evaluating the effects of management or harvest, and tracking invasive and pest species. Nevertheless, monitoring activities are highly decentralized, which makes it difficult for researchers or conservation planners to get a good general picture of what real-world monitoring programs actually entail. We used a Web-based survey to collect information on population monitoring programs. The survey focused on basic questions about each program, including motivations for monitoring, types of data being collected, spatiotemporal design of the program, and reasons for choosing that design. We received responses from 311 people involved in monitoring of various species and used these responses to summarize ongoing monitoring efforts. We also used responses to determine whether monitoring strategies have changed over time and whether they differed among monitoring agencies. Most commonly, monitoring entailed collection of count data at multiple sites with the primary goal of detecting trends. But we also found that goals and strategies for monitoring appeared to be diversifying, that area-occupied and presence–absence approaches appeared to be gaining in popularity, and that several other promising approaches (monitoring to reduce parameter uncertainty, risk-based monitoring, and directly linking monitoring data to management decisions) have yet to become widely established. We suggest that improved communication between researchers studying monitoring designs and those who are charged with putting these designs into practice could further improve monitoring programs and better match sampling designs to the objectives of monitoring programs.     

Measurement of Atmospheric Deposition Under Forest Canopies: Some Recommendations for Equipment and Sampling Design

Quantification of the forest water flux provides valuable information for the understanding of forest ecosystem functioning. As such, throughfall (and stemflow to a lesser extent) has been frequently measured. Although throughfall collection may seem relatively simple, the requirements to obtain reliable estimates are often underestimated. This review addresses the criteria to take into account when working out the sampling procedure, from the selection of equipment to implementation in the field. Sound sampling of the forest water flux is difficult due to its high spatial and temporal variation. The high costs entailed by the ideal sampling design often prohibit its implementation. Different procedures are available, some of which are compromises between the aim of the study (monitoring or experimental study, short or long term objectives, absolute or relative estimates, quality of the assessment to be achieved) and the available means.     

直颈双口卧式便携水样采集器

设计了一种具有结构简便、操作方便、易于清洗和采样杆可续接的直颈双口卧式便携水样采集器。该采样器不仅适合采集水层很浅水体的水样。也能用于采集江河、湖库水体的水样。     

混合堆肥过程中容重的层次效应及动态变化

城市污泥、猪粪混合堆肥表明:升温期和高温期堆体容重分别为0.82g·cm^-3和0.66g·cm^-3,堆体内的氧气仍能满足微生物生长所需;降温期容重为0.58g·cm^-3,通气较充分;腐熟期容重为0.54g·cm^-3,通风充分.升温期和高温期仓门附近堆料的容重具有层次效应,降温期大部分堆料的容重具有层次效应,腐熟期堆体容重的层次效应减弱.升温期堆体中轴线附近、高温期仓内壁附近、降温期整个堆体、腐熟期仓门和中轴线附近,堆体深度对容重具有显著影响.升温期和腐熟期,仓门对容重产生显著影响.各堆肥期堆体的容重随深度的增加而呈增大的趋势,容重与堆肥时间满足二级动力学方程.     

北京地表水中三氟乙酸的测定

三氟乙酸是HFC-134a等氯氟烃替代品的降解产物,对植物和土壤微生物群落的生长有一定抑制作用。笔者建立了测定TFA质量浓度的实验方法:将样品中的三氟乙酸与硫酸二甲酯在浓硫酸介质中衍生为三氟乙酸甲酯(MTFA),利用MTFA的易挥发性,以顶空进样和气相色谱-质谱联用的方法检测样品中MTFA的质量浓度,进而得到环境水样中TFA的质量浓度。并应用该方法测定了北京部分地表水体中三氟乙酸的质量浓度。测定结果:北京青年湖水样和北海水样中的ρ(三氟乙酸)分别为78和93ng L,而北京大学自来水水样中ρ(三氟乙酸)低于方法检测限10ng L。      

地表水采测分离现场监测质量监督与量化评估

分析了地表水采测分离现场监测引入社会化服务后面临的质量监管难点,从建立监测人员能力考核和资质管理制度、制定质量监督和评估机制、完善现场采样监测质控要素和原始记录清单等3个方面讨论了采测分离模式现场监测的质控管理措施。在此基础上,制定了涵盖技术人员资质能力、机构监测能力、质控样品合格率、交接样品合格率和现场质量抽查结果等5个要素的量化评估方案,并明确了各要素包含的评价指数及权重。     

Investigation of three system shut-down strategies alongside optimization suggestion for proton exchange membrane fuel cells via in-situ measurements

ABSTRACT

Carbon corrosion caused by H₂/O₂ interface during the shut-down process is one of the factors that exacerbate the overall degradation of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) in automotive applications. Numerous studies have shown that system strategies are beneficial for reducing the duration of H₂/O₂ interface and alleviating performance degradation. In this paper, three different shut-down strategies are investigated and compared based on the internal behaviors acquired by in-situ measurements. For the three shut-down strategies, reverse current and high potential are mainly observed in a lower constant current and constant power strategy. Comparatively speaking, the internal uniformity of the cell under constant current and power load is better than that with constant voltage strategy when the shut-down time is about the same. The results suggest that adopting a higher constant power load followed by a larger voltage load during the shut-down process can effectively shorten the shut-down time and relieve carbon corrosion. These results add significant new insights into the shut-down process and will be of practical importance in directing design of combined shut-down strategy that can withstand carbon corrosion.