Acid Orange 7 degradation using methane as the sole carbon source and electron donor

• AO7 degradation was coupled with anaerobic methane oxidation. • Higher concentration of AO7 inhibited the degradation. • The maximum removal rate of AO7 reached 280 mg/(L·d) in HfMBR. • ANME-2d dominated the microbial community in both batch reactor and HfMBR. • ANME-2d alone or synergistic with the partner bacteria played a significant role. Azo dyes are widely applied in the textile industry but are not entirely consumed during the dyeing process and can thus be discharged to the environment in wastewater. However, azo dyes can be degraded using various electron donors, and in this paper, Acid Orange 7 (AO7) degradation performance is investigated using methane (CH₄) as the sole electron donor. Methane has multiple sources and is readily available and inexpensive. Experiments using ¹³C-labeled isotopes showed that AO7 degradation was coupled with anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) and, subsequently, affected by the initial concentrations of AO7. Higher concentrations of AO7 could inhibit the activity of microorganisms, which was confirmed by the long-term performance of AO7 degradation, with maximum removal rates of 8.94 mg/(L·d) in a batch reactor and 280 mg/(L·d) in a hollow fiber membrane bioreactor (HfMBR). High-throughput sequencing using 16S rRNA genes showed that Candidatus Methanoperedens, affiliated to ANME-2d, dominated the microbial community in the batch reactor and HfMBR. Additionally, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria bacteria (Phenylobacterium, Pseudomonas, and Geothermobacter) improved after AO7 degradation. This outcome suggested that ANME-2d alone, or acting synergistically with partner bacteria, played a key role in the process of AO7 degradation coupled with AOM.     

RESOLUTION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT ISSUES IN PERMITTING TILE PLATEAU CREEK PIPELINE1

ABSTRACT: This paper describes how a hydrologic model proved to be a valuable tool to help interested parties understand impacts to four threatened and endangered fish species in the Upper Colorado River. In 1994, the Ute Water Conservancy District initiated permitting and design of the Plateau Creek pipeline replacement. The project was considered a major Federal action and therefore subject to the National Environmental Policy Act. Under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) entered the process to develop a Biological Opinion (BO) and determined that the project could potentially impact the endangered fish in the 15‐mile reach of the Colorado River. The Section 7 consultation was directed by a Core Committee comprised of stakeholders in the Upper Colorado River watershed. Hydrologic modeling became the evaluation tool for comparing flow reductions to USFWS target recovery flows and defining make‐up flow requirements to meet those targets. The Colorado River Recovery Implementation Program was designated to provide the make‐up flows. The USFWS released a final BO in December 1997, approving diversions through 2015. An Environmental Impact Statement for the project was completed and the Record of Decision was issued by the Bureau of Land Management in early 1998.     

Sex pheromone of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ectinus aterrimus</Emphasis> (L<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">inné</Emphasis>, 1761) (Coleoptera: Elateridae)

Summary.   Ectinus aterrimus (L.) is a fairly common European click beetle species which develops mainly in forests. In pheromone gland extracts of female E. aterrimus, examined using gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS), one single compound was present. This was identified as 7-methyloctyl 9-methyldecanoate by comparison with a synthetic sample. Field trapping trials revealed a highly significant attraction of male E. aterrimus towards this ester. The structure of the compound differs remarkably from the pheromones of the closely related Agriotes spp., which exclusively use terpene esters.     

邻苯二甲酸酯类雌激素活性联合作用模型分析

环境雌激素对生命健康影响受到广泛关注,现行污染物环境标准制订和风险评价只针对单一化合物而非混合物效应,不足以保护生命安全与人类健康。为探讨环境雌激素的混合物效应,选择对雌激素敏感的人乳腺癌MCF-7细胞增殖实验,检测雌二醇(E2)、邻苯二甲酸酯类化合物(DBP和DEHP)的单一及其联合雌激素活性;基于单一化合物的浓度-反应曲线,运用浓度相加(CA)和独立作用(IA)模型对混合物的毒性进行预测,并将模型预测结果与混合物实验数据进行比较分析。结果表明,E2、DBP、DEHP对MCF-7细胞的单一作用数据可通过Weibull方程拟合,由拟合方程得到的半数效应浓度(EC50)及95%置信区间分别为3.450×10-6(2.373×10-6~1.675×10-5)、5.138(1.489~1.082×10)、1.186(4.478×10-1~2.24)μmol·L-1;3种化合物的混合物数据亦可通过Weibull、Logistic和Exp Gro1方程进行有效拟合,混合物效应与化合物单独作用产生的效应具有显著性差异;3种化合物表现非相似联合作用,利用独立作用(IA)模型预测混合物效应较为可靠,外源性环境雌激素与内源性雌激素联合作用产生的混合效应显著。环境雌激素混合物毒性可以通过相加作用模型预测,为环境复合污染的风险评价和管理提供基础数据。     

高强预腐蚀铝合金单轴拉-拉疲劳断口定量分析

目的通过断口定量分析获得7A09铝合金的疲劳裂纹扩展规律,为7A09铝合金结构的寿命评估提供依据。方法使用EXCO溶液对试验件进行预腐蚀,利用疲劳拉伸机进行疲劳加载直至断裂,使用扫描电镜对疲劳断口进行定量化分析。结果疲劳裂纹在试件的腐蚀坑处萌生,从自由界面附近向纵深发展导致试件的断裂。通过断口分析和Paris公式确定了裂纹的萌生寿命和扩展寿命。结论腐蚀之后的试件裂纹萌生寿命占总寿命的比例下降,当裂纹扩展程度较大之后,受腐蚀影响减轻,得出裂纹扩展速率和应力强度因子的关系。     

7B04铝合金海洋性大气腐蚀研究

通过在青岛和海南开展的7B04铝合金户外大气暴露试验,利用失重分析、形貌观察、断面分析和电化学交流阻抗谱等研究了7B04铝合金在海洋性大气环境中的腐蚀动力学规律和腐蚀特征。结果表明,在青岛和海南等海洋性大气环境中,7B04铝合金腐蚀初期以点蚀形式萌生,随后向均匀腐蚀发展;腐蚀过程均经历了腐蚀速率由高到低的过程,且腐蚀失重与时间的关系均可用幂函数显著回归;电化学阻抗谱分析表明当腐蚀产物足够厚时,7B04铝合金海洋性大气腐蚀的电化学过程由侵蚀性离子的扩散步骤来控制。     

趋势分析法评价苯系物标准气体的时间稳定性

根据GB/T 15000.3—2008设计了苯系物标准气体的时间稳定性研究方案,制备了4瓶苯系物标准气体,随着时间的推移进行测定并将结果制图,结果显示量值随时间没有显著的变化趋势。以线性关系为模型,计算线性直线的斜率和斜率的标准偏差,用t检验判断斜率是否显著来评价标准气体的稳定性。计算结果显示,所有斜率均不显著,因此该研究制备的苯系物标准气体能够稳定保存22个月。根据时间稳定性数据计算由不稳定性引起的不确定度,并讨论了这种计算不稳定性引起不确定度的方法对结果有放大的可能性。     

Scaling range sizes to threats for robust predictions of risks to biodiversity

Assessments of risk to biodiversity often rely on spatial distributions of species and ecosystems. Range‐size metrics used extensively in these assessments, such as area of occupancy (AOO), are sensitive to measurement scale, prompting proposals to measure them at finer scales or at different scales based on the shape of the distribution or ecological characteristics of the biota. Despite its dominant role in red‐list assessments for decades, appropriate spatial scales of AOO for predicting risks of species’ extinction or ecosystem collapse remain untested and contentious. There are no quantitative evaluations of the scale‐sensitivity of AOO as a predictor of risks, the relationship between optimal AOO scale and threat scale, or the effect of grid uncertainty. We used stochastic simulation models to explore risks to ecosystems and species with clustered, dispersed, and linear distribution patterns subject to regimes of threat events with different frequency and spatial extent. Area of occupancy was an accurate predictor of risk (0.81<|r|<0.98) and performed optimally when measured with grid cells 0.1–1.0 times the largest plausible area threatened by an event. Contrary to previous assertions, estimates of AOO at these relatively coarse scales were better predictors of risk than finer‐scale estimates of AOO (e.g., when measurement cells are <1% of the area of the largest threat). The optimal scale depended on the spatial scales of threats more than the shape or size of biotic distributions. Although we found appreciable potential for grid‐measurement errors, current IUCN guidelines for estimating AOO neutralize geometric uncertainty and incorporate effective scaling procedures for assessing risks posed by landscape‐scale threats to species and ecosystems.     

Perceived barriers to and drivers of community participation in protected‐area governance

Protected areas (PAs) are a frequently used conservation strategy, yet their socioeconomic impacts on local communities remain contentious. A shift toward increased participation by local communities in PA governance seeks to deliver benefits for human well‐being and biodiversity. Although participation is considered critical to the success of PAs, few researchers have investigated individuals’ decisions to participate and what this means for how local people experience the costs and benefits of conservation. We explored who participates in PA governance associations and why; the perceived benefits and costs to participation; and how costs and benefits are distributed within and between communities. Methods included 3 focus groups, 37 interviews, and 217 questionnaire surveys conducted in 3 communities and other stakeholders (e.g., employees of a nongovernmental organization and government officials) in PA governance in Madagascar. Our study design was grounded in the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the most commonly applied behavior model in social psychology. Participation in PA governance was limited by miscommunication and lack of knowledge about who could get involved and how. Respondents perceived limited benefits and high costs and uneven distribution of these within and between communities. Men, poorer households, and people in remote villages reported the highest costs. Our findings illustrate challenges related to comanagement of PAs: understanding the heterogeneous nature of communities; ensuring all households are represented in governance participation; understanding differences in the meaning of forest protection; and targeting interventions to reach households most in need to avoid elite capture.     

Effects of age and sex ratios on offspring recruitment rates in translocated black rhinoceros

Success of animal translocations depends on improving postrelease demographic rates toward establishment and subsequent growth of released populations. Short‐term metrics for evaluating translocation success and its drivers, like postrelease survival and fecundity, are unlikely to represent longer‐term outcomes. We used information theory to investigate 25 years of data on black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) translocations. We used the offspring recruitment rate (ORR) of translocated females—a metric integrating survival, fecundity, and offspring recruitment at sexual maturity—to detect determinants of success. Our unambiguously best model (AICω = 0.986) predicted that ORR increases with female age at release as a function of lower postrelease adult rhinoceros sex ratio (males:females). Delay of first postrelease reproduction and failure of some females to recruit any calves to sexual maturity most influenced the pattern of ORRs, and the leading causes of recruitment failure were postrelease female death (23% of all females) and failure to calve (24% of surviving females). We recommend translocating older females (≥6 years old) because they do not exhibit the reproductive delay and low ORRs of juveniles (<4 years old) or the higher rates of recruitment failure of juveniles and young adults (4–5.9 years old). Where translocation of juveniles is necessary, they should be released into female‐biased populations, where they have higher ORRs. Our study offers the unique advantage of a long‐term analysis across a large number of replicate populations—a science‐by‐management experiment as a proxy for a manipulative experiment, and a rare opportunity, particularly for a large, critically endangered taxon such as the black rhinoceros. Our findings differ from previous recommendations, reinforce the importance of long‐term data sets and comprehensive metrics of translocation success, and suggest attention be shifted from ecological to social constraints on population growth and species recovery, particularly when translocating species with polygynous breeding systems.