Assessing Spatial Occurrence of Ground Level Ozone around Coal Mining Areas of Chandrapur District, Maharashtra, India

Stratospheric input and photochemical ozone formation in the troposphere are the two main sources determining the ozone levels in the surface layer of the atmosphere. Because of the importance of ozone in controlling the atmospheric chemistry and its decisive role in the heat balance of atmosphere, leading to climate change, the examination of its formation and destruction are of great interest. This study characterized the distribution of Ground level Ozone (GLO) in Chandrapur district is lying between 19°25′N to 20°45′N and 78°50′E to 80°10′E. Continuous ozone analyzer was used to quantify GLO at thirteen locations fixed by Global Positioning System (GPS) during the winter of 2005–2006. The daily GLO at all the locations ranged between 6.4 and 24.8 ppbv with an average and standard deviation of 14.9 ± 6.5 ppbv. The maximum and minimum concentration occurs during 1300–1600 h and 0300–0500 h may be due to high solar radiation facilitating photochemical production of O₃ and downward mixing from the overlying air mass and in situ destruction of ozone by deposition and/or the reaction between O₃ and NO. GIS based spatial distribution of GLO in Chandrapur district is indicates that the central core of the district and southern sites experienced elevated levels of GLO relative to the northern and western areas. The sites near by Chandrapur city are particularly affected by elevated GLO. The average variation of GLO with temperature shows a significant correlation of r = 0.55 indicating a direct relationship between GLO and temperature. Similarly an attempt has been made to compare the GLO monitored data in Chandrapur district with the reported values for other locations in Indian cities. This generated database helps regulatory agencies to identify locations where the natural resources and human health could be at risk.     

Phenogenetic response of silver birch populations and half-sib families to elevated ozone and ultraviolet-B radiation at juvenile age

Phenogenetic response of silver birch populations and half-sib families to separate and combined elevated ozone (O₃) concentrations and ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation dozes was studied at juvenile age in the climatic chambers. Significant population and family effects were found for seedling height, lamina width, and leaf damage. The exposure to UV-B radiation decreased genetic variation at the stage of seed germination. Complex exposure to UV-B and O₃ caused an increase of genetic variation at the stage of intensive seedling growth: seedling height genetic variation in separate treatments increased from 23.7–38.6 to 33.7–65.7%, the increase for lamina width was from 10.2–13.9 to 13.6–31.8%. Different populations and families demonstrated differing response to elevated complex UV-B and O₃ exposure. Changes of genetic intra-population variation were population-specific. Such changes in genetic variation under the impact of stressors can alter adaptation, stability, and competitive ability of regenerating populations in a hardly predictive way.     

Seasonal variation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) emissions in China

A regression model based on the provincial energy consumption data was developed to calculate the monthly proportions of residential energy consumption compared to the total year volume. This model was also validated by comparing with some survey and statistical data. With this model, a PAHs emission inventory with seasonal variation was developed. The seasonal variations of different sources in different regions of China and the spatial distribution of the major sources in different seasons were also achieved. The PAHs emissions were larger in the winter than in the summer, with a difference of about 1.3-folds between the months with the largest and the smallest emissions. Residential solid fuel combustion dominated the pattern of seasonal variation with the winter-time emissions as much as 1.6 times as that in the summer, while the emissions from wild fires and open fire straw burning was mainly concentrated during the spring and summer.     

Spatial distribution and internal metal concentrations of terrestrial arthropods in a moderately contaminated lowland floodplain along the Rhine River

Soil metal concentrations, inundation characteristics and abundances of 14 arthropod taxa were investigated in a moderately contaminated lowland floodplain along the Rhine River and compared to the hinterland. Internal metal concentrations were determined for the orders of Coleoptera (beetles) and Araneida (spiders) and were related to soil concentrations. The floodplain was characterized by larger arthropod abundance than the hinterland, in spite of recurrent inundations and higher soil metal concentrations. Most arthropod taxa showed increasing abundance with decreasing distance to the river channel and increasing average inundation duration. For Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn, significant relations were found between arthropod concentrations and concentrations in soil. Significant relations were few but positive, indicating that increasing soil concentrations result in increasing body burdens in arthropods. For arthropod-eating vertebrates, these results might imply that larger prey availability in the floodplain coincides with higher metal concentrations in prey, possibly leading to increased exposure to metal contamination.     

Effects of subsample size on seasonal and spatial comparisons of stream macroinvertebrate communities

We examined the effect of subsample size on the accuracy of information obtained from aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblage samples. Subsamples containing 100 organisms or 300 organisms were compared on the bases of processing time and the ability to discern ecological differences among samples. Independently of subsample size, assemblages differed between study streams, primarily reflecting an intermittent vs. permanent stream difference, and between seasons at most streams. It required, on average, two additional hours to process the larger subsamples. Larger subsamples gave significantly higher estimates of total richness and Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) richness, but the relative abundances of many assemblage subsets (e.g., EPT organisms and most functional feeding groups) were similar using both subsample sizes. Larger subsamples did not typically enhance the ability to discriminate between samples from different seasons, but did more accurately distinguish among streams when differences were subtle. They also appeared to avoid Type I error in comparisons of compositionally similar reaches within a study stream.     

Effect of spatial variability of storm on the optimal placement of best management practices (BMPs)

It is significant to design best management practices (BMPs) and determine the proper BMPs placement for the purpose that can not only satisfy the water quantity and water quality standard, but also lower the total cost of BMPs. The spatial rainfall variability can have much effect on its relative runoff and non-point source pollution (NPSP). Meantime, the optimal design and placement of BMPs would be different as well. The objective of this study was to discuss the relationship between the spatial variability of rainfall and the optimal BMPs placements. Three synthetic rainfall storms with varied spatial distributions, including uniform rainfall, downstream rainfall and upstream rainfall, were designed. WinVAST model was applied to predict runoff and NPSP. Additionally, detention pond and swale were selected for being structural BMPs. Scatter search was applied to find the optimal BMPs placement. The results show that mostly the total cost of BMPs is higher in downstream rainfall than in upstream rainfall or uniform rainfall. Moreover, the cost of detention pond is much higher than swale. Thus, even though detention pond has larger efficiency for lowering peak flow and pollutant exports, it is not always the determined set in each subbasin.     

中国茸鹿品种(品系)的随机扩增多态DNA(RAPD)研究

采用随机扩增多态ＤＮＡ技术研究了５个茸鹿品种（品系）７５个个体的遗传变异关系。在所使用的４１个引物中,有４０个引物扩增出多态谱带,共检测到３９５条扩增片段,其中２５９条（６５．６％）出现变异,用Ｓｈａｋｎｎｏｎ指数计算了５个品种（品系）的遗传变异及其遗传变异在群体内和群体间的分布。利用Ｎｅｉ氏片段共享度计算了７５个个体间的遗传距离,用ＵＰＧＭＡ聚类法构建了７５个个体的系统发育树状图,反映５个茸鹿品     

Adaptation to osmotic stress provides protection against ammonium nitrate in Pelophylax perezi embryos

The negative effects of pollution on amphibians are especially high when animals are additionally stressed by other environmental factors such as water salinity. However, the stress provoked by salinity may vary among populations because of adaptation processes. We tested the combined effect of a common fertilizer, ammonium nitrate (0-90.3 mg N-NO₃NH₄/L), and water salinity (0-2‰) on embryos of two Pelophylax perezi populations from ponds with different salinity concentrations. Embryos exposed to the fertilizer were up to 17% smaller than controls. Survival rates of embryos exposed to a single stressor were always below 10%. The exposure to both stressors concurrently increased mortality rate (>95%) of embryos from freshwater. Since the fertilizer was lethal only when individuals were stressed by the salinity, it did not cause lethal effects on embryos naturally adapted to saline environments. Our results underscore the importance of testing multiple stressors when analyzing amphibian sensitivity to environmental pollution.     

三峡库区近50年来的气温变化趋势

利用三峡库区及周边32个气象站点1960～2006年的气温资料,运用线性趋势分析、累积距平分析和t检验等统计学方法研究了三峡库区近50a来的气温变化趋势。研究结果表明:(1)近50a来三峡库区气温变化总体上呈显著上升趋势,增温率为0.13℃/10a;其中1960’s～1980’s末存在一个缓慢降温过程,1980’s末后快速增温。(2)三峡库区各季节平均气温变化过程与年气温变化过程相似,总体上也呈上升趋势,春、夏、秋、冬四季平均气温增温率分别为0.10、0.005、0.19和0.21℃/10a,其中冬季气温上升对库区年平均气温上升的贡献率最大。(3)年均气温跃变出现在1996年,春、夏、秋、冬四季气温跃变点分别出现在1996、1993、1997、1996年,季节气温的跃变与年均气温跃变具有较好的同步性。(4)三峡库区偏暖和显著偏暖年份都发生在1996年以后,其中1998和2006年为异常偏暖年份;偏冷年份基本出现在1990’s以前,尤其集中在1980’s,但无显著偏冷和异常偏冷年份。     

3S技术在太湖富营养化和蓝藻水华分布规律中的应用研究

应用3S技术,采用营养状态指数法、蓝藻水华分级评价方法以及蓝藻水华发生频率分析方法,对2010—2013年太湖富营养化状况和太湖蓝藻水华时空分布规律进行分析和研究,以期为太湖富营养化控制和蓝藻水华预警、监控工作提供技术支持,同时为太湖水环境治理提供科学依据。实践证明,3S技术能快速、全面、直观地反映太湖富营养化状况和蓝藻水华时空分布规律。结果表明:(1)2010—2013年太湖处于轻度富营养状态,太湖富营养化呈现西北高、东南低的分布规律;(2)2010—2013年,全太湖小型蓝藻水华发生次数最多,蓝藻水华级别越高,发生次数越少;(3)年际变化上,蓝藻水华发生次数总体趋于平稳,蓝藻水华发生呈现"小型多发、中大型少发、重大型偶发"趋势,蓝藻水华发生规模呈显著缩小趋势;(4)月际变化上,8月和9月是太湖蓝藻水华的高发月份,9月蓝藻水华发生规模最大;(5)空间变化上,太湖西部沿岸是太湖蓝藻水华首次爆发最频繁的水域,太湖西部沿岸区尤其宜兴沿岸是蓝藻水华爆发频率最高的水域。