Understanding Interaction Effects of Climate Change and Fire Management on Bird Distributions through Combined Process and Habitat Models

Abstract: Avian conservation efforts must account for changes in vegetation composition and structure associated with climate change. We modeled vegetation change and the probability of occurrence of birds to project changes in winter bird distributions associated with climate change and fire management in the northern Chihuahuan Desert (southwestern U.S.A.). We simulated vegetation change in a process‐based model (Landscape and Fire Simulator) in which anticipated climate change was associated with doubling of current atmospheric carbon dioxide over the next 50 years. We estimated the relative probability of bird occurrence on the basis of statistical models derived from field observations of birds and data on vegetation type, topography, and roads. We selected 3 focal species, Scaled Quail (Callipepla squamata), Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus), and Rock Wren (Salpinctes obsoletus), that had a range of probabilities of occurrence for our study area. Our simulations projected increases in relative probability of bird occurrence in shrubland and decreases in grassland and Yucca spp. and ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) vegetation. Generally, the relative probability of occurrence of all 3 species was highest in shrubland because leaf‐area index values were lower in shrubland. This high probability of occurrence likely is related to the species’ use of open vegetation for foraging. Fire suppression had little effect on projected vegetation composition because as climate changed there was less fuel and burned area. Our results show that if future water limits on plant type are considered, models that incorporate spatial data may suggest how and where different species of birds may respond to vegetation changes.     

Effectiveness of Scat‐Detection Dogs in Determining Species Presence in a Tropical Savanna Landscape

Abstract: Most protected areas are too small to sustain populations of wide‐ranging mammals; thus, identification and conservation of high‐quality habitat for those animals outside parks is often a high priority, particularly for regions where extensive land conversion is occurring. This is the case in the vicinity of Emas National Park, a small protected area in the Brazilian Cerrado. Over the last 40 years the native vegetation surrounding the park has been converted to agriculture, but the region still supports virtually all of the animals native to the area. We determined the effectiveness of scat‐detection dogs in detecting presence of five species of mammals threatened with extinction by habitat loss: maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), puma (Puma concolor), jaguar (Panthera onca), giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), and giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus). The probability of scat detection varied among the five species and among survey quadrats of different size, but was consistent across team, season, and year. The probability of occurrence, determined from the presence of scat, in a randomly selected site within the study area ranged from 0.14 for jaguars, which occur primarily in the forested areas of the park, to 0.91 for maned wolves, the most widely distributed species in our study area. Most occurrences of giant armadillos in the park were in open grasslands, but in the agricultural matrix they tended to occur in riparian woodlands. At least one target species occurred in every survey quadrat, and giant armadillos, jaguars, and maned wolves were more likely to be present in quadrats located inside than outside the park. The effort required for detection of scats was highest for the two felids. We were able to detect the presence for each of five wide‐ranging species inside and outside the park and to assign occurrence probabilities to specific survey sites. Thus, scat dogs provide an effective survey tool for rare species even when accurate detection likelihoods are required. We believe the way we used scat‐detection dogs to determine the presence of species can be applied to the detection of other mammalian species in other ecosystems.     

308 nm光作用下α-Fe2O3表面HNO3的光解

采用紫外可见光谱(UV-Vis)、傅立叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)及离子色谱(IC)技术对HNO3在α-Fe2O3表面暗反应和308nm下光解反应进行了研究.考察了时间、HNO3浓度、相对湿度(RH)等条件对反应的影响.结果表明,随着HNO3浓度、光照时间的增加,HNO3在气相与α-Fe2O3表面光解产物浓度均呈指数增加;HNO3在α-Fe2O3表面光解产生的NO2、NO分别为气相产生的3.27及3.87倍,而无论气相还是表面光解的NO2浓度均约为NO的2倍.随着RH的增加,HNO3光解产生的HONO的浓度随之呈指数增大,其产率从RH 20%时的0.023增加到90%时的0.087.α-Fe2O3的表面效应在HNO3的表面光解反应中起主导作用.     

常规施肥条件下农田不同途径氮素损失的原位研究:以长江中下游地区夏玉米季为例

为了解农田常规施肥条件下的不同途径氮素损失特征,本文通过田间原位试验同步研究了长江中下游地区夏玉米生长季氮肥施用后的农田N2O排放、NH3挥发、氮渗漏和地表径流的变化.结果表明,在复合肥为基肥,尿素为追肥,基追肥氮素水平均为150 kg·hm-2的条件下,整个玉米生长季N2O排放系数为3.3%,NH3挥发损失率为10.2%,氮渗漏和地表径流损失率分别为11.2%和5.1%.此外,基肥施用以氮素渗漏损失为主,而追肥氮素损失以氨挥发和渗漏为主,表明不同途径化肥氮素损失主要受氮肥品种影响,玉米季追肥可改用低氨挥发氮肥品种以减少氮素损失.     

β-In2S3的制备及其太阳光下降解土霉素

利用水热反应法制备β-In2S3纳米颗粒光催化剂,并利用SEM、TEM和XRD等对其进行分析表征;采用土霉素溶液模拟四环素类抗生素废水,探讨In2S3对土霉素的降解效果.结果表明,β-In2S3为立方相纳米颗粒结构,该纳米颗粒由纳米片组成,直径约15~30 nm.以太阳光为辐射光源,In2S3对土霉素具有良好的光催化降解效果,在4 h内对初始浓度为30 mg·L-1的土霉素降解率可达98%以上.降解土霉素后的催化剂在无水乙醇中清洗并烘干,经4次循环利用后,β-In2S3的降解能力仍能达到85%以上,表明β-In2S3光催化剂具有良好的稳定性以及光催化活性.     

Re-evaluation of thyroid hormone signaling antagonism of tetrabromobisphenol A for validating the T3-induced Xenopus metamorphosis assay

We developed the T3-induced Xenopus metamorphosis assay, which is supposed to be able to sensitively detect thyroid hormone(TH) signaling disruption of chemicals. The present study aimed to validate the T3-induced Xenopus metamorphosis assay by re-evaluating the TH signaling antagonism of tetrabromobisphenol A(TBBPA), a known TH signaling disruptor. According to the assay we developed, Xenopus tadpoles at stage 52 were exposed to 10–500 nmol/L TBBPA in the presence of 1 nmol/L T3. After 96 hr of exposure, TBBPA in the range of 10–500 nmol/L was found to significantly inhibit T3-induced morphological changes of Xenopus tadpoles in a concentration-dependent manner in term of body weight and four morphological endpoints including head area(HA), mouth width(MW), unilateral brain width/brain length(ULBW/BL), and hind-limb length/snout-vent length(HLL/SVL).The results show that these endpoints we developed are sensitive for characterizing the antagonistic effects of TBBPA on T3-induced metamorphosis. Following a 24-hr exposure,we found that TBBPA antagonized expression of T3-induced TH-response genes in the tail,which is consistent with previous findings in the intestine. We propose that the tail can be used as an alternative tissue to the intestine for examining molecular endpoints for evaluating TH signaling disruption. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that the T3-induced Xenopus metamorphosis assay we developed is an ideal in vivo assay for detecting TH signaling disruption.     

城市大气中臭氧浓度控制的困难与挑战——以成都市为例

研究城市化、工业化和区域经济一体化进程的不断加快,对城市大气环境的影响是当前大气环境领域研究的热点问题。在此过程中,利用空气质量模型模拟系统研究大气环境污染问题成为大气环境研究中不可缺少的组成部分。在当前空气污染复杂的形势下,针对城市大气环境中臭氧的浓度尚未有效的控制措施。研究主要利用Models-3/CMAQ空气质量模式对成都市臭氧浓度数值通过不同的控制情景进行模拟,揭示城市大气中臭氧浓度控制的困难与挑战,并尝试性提出今后的研究方向,以期为控制城市大气中臭氧浓度提供建议。     

Ambient volatile organic compounds pollution in China

Owing to rapid economic and industrial development, China has been suffering from degraded air quality and visibility. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are important precursors to the formation of ground-level ozone and hence photochemical smog. Some VOCs adversely affect human health. Therefore, VOCs have recently elicited public concern and given new impetus to scientific interest. China is now implementing a series of polices to control VOCs pollution. The key to formulating policy is understanding the ambient VOCs pollution status. This paper mainly analyzes the species, levels, sources, and spatial distributions of VOCs in ambient air. The results show that the concentrations of ambient VOCs in China are much higher than those of developed countries such as the United States and Japan, especial benzene, which exceeds available standards. At the same time, the ozone formation potential (OFP) and secondary organic aerosol formation potential (SOAFP) of various VOCs are calculated. Aromatics and alkenes have much higher OFPs, while aromatics have higher SOAFP. The OFPs of ambient VOCs in the cities of Beijing, Guangzhou and Changchun are very high, and the SOAFP of ambient VOCs in the cities of Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Changchun are higher.     

Effect of MoO3 on vanadium based catalysts for the selective catalytic reduction of NOx with NH3 at low temperature

The selective catalytic reduction(SCR) activities of the MoO_3 doped V/WTi catalysts prepared by the incipient wetness impregnation method at low temperature were investigated.The results showed that the addition of MoO_3 could enhance the NO_ xconversion at low temperature and the best SCR activity was obtained when the dosage of MoO_3 reached5 wt.%. The NH3-TPD and DRIFTS experiments indicated that the addition of MoO_3 changed the type and number of acid sites on the surface of catalysts and reaction activities of acid sites were altered at the same time. The redox capacity and amount of active oxygen species got improved for V3Mo5/WTi catalyst, which could be confirmed by the H_2-TPR and transient response experiments. Water vapor inhibited the NO_xconversion at low temperature. Deposition of ammonium sulfate or bisulfate might be main reason for the loss of catalytic activity in the presence of SO_2 at low temperature. Choosing the suitable NH_3/NO ratio and elevation of reaction temperature both could weaken the influence of SO_2 on the SCR activity of the V3Mo5/WTi catalyst. Thermal treatment of the deactivated catalyst at350°C could get the low temperature activity recovered. The decrease of GHSV improved the de NO_x efficiency at low temperature and we speculated that the rational technological process and operation parameters could contribute to the application of this kind of catalysts in real industrial environment.     

SCREEN3模型在大气环境管理中的应用研究

基于高斯扩散的单源估算模式SCREEN3计算佛山市环境统计企业的SO2排放最大落地浓度距离,发现全市工业企业SO2排放最大落地浓度距离为0.4~13.5 km.其中水泥和火电等高架源的最大落地浓度的距离最远.佛山市及五区纳入环境统计的重点废气排放企业平均的SO2排放最大落地浓度距离为2.9~4.9 km,能直接影响国控监测点位的企业合计37家,其中40%为高明区的企业.该结果证明加强空气质量国控监测点位周边至少5 km内废气排放企业的督查有利于空气质量的改善.