Securing water for people, crops, and ecosystems: New mindset and new priorities

A fundamentally new approach to water and human development will be needed during this new century if we are to secure sufficient freshwater to meet the needs of some 9 billion people while at the same time protecting the critical ecosystem services upon which the human economy depends. Signs of unsustainable water use — including falling water tables, shrinking lakes, and the drying up of rivers and streams — are widespread and spreading. In many regions, greater modification and appropriation of freshwater systems for human purposes will yield greater costs than benefits and create the risk of irreversible losses of species and ecosystem services. A new mindset is needed to guide water use and management in this new century, one that views the human water economy as a subset of nature's water economy. Living within nature's limits will require that societies satisfy the basic needs of people and ecosystems before non-essential water demands are met. It will require on the order of a doubling of water productivity. And it will require stronger institutions to encourage equitable sharing of water to alleviate tensions within and between countries.     

Historical pollution trends in coastal environments of India

Seventeen sediment cores were collected from different coastalecosystems of Tamil Nadu, India that include coastal lagoon (Pulicat), polluted rivers in Chennai (Adyar and Cooum), Coral reef (Gulf of Mannar) and a perennial river (Tamiraparani).Radiometric dating has been used to determine the modern sedimentation rates in these ecosystems. The Pulicat Lake and thepolluted rivers (Adyar and Cooum) yield an average sediment accumulation rate of 12.34 and 7.85 mm yr^-1, respectively. Inthe Gulf of Mannar coral reef, the sedimentation rate averages 17.37 mm yr^-1, while the rate in Tamiraparani River is 11.00 mm yr^-1. In the Tamiraparani River basin, the deposition rates were an order of magnitude higher when compared to the erosion rates, which may be due to bank erosion and the intense human activity. In general high rates of sedimentation observed in the coastal ecosystems not only reflect the capacity of the coastal regions as sinks for trace metals but also denoteincreased input of pollutants into the coastal environments in the recent past. The deposition rates of heavy metals – Fe, Mn,Zn, Cu, Cr and Ni in the depth profiles have been computed using sedimentation rates and their distribution is discussed. It can be seen that the mean deposition rates of all the measured elements in the Tamil Nadu coastal ecosystems are high compared with rates determined for the sediments of the deltaic regions ofIndia and the Bay of Bengal.     

长江口及邻近水域春季鱼卵仔鱼分布与环境因子的关系

根据2001~2003年间,每年5月长江口及邻近水域现场调查资料,分析了鱼卵仔鱼分布的年际变化特征及其与环境因子的关系。结果显示:鱼卵仔鱼的数量三年间的年际变化起伏较大,2002年为鱼卵高峰期,2003年为仔鱼峰值期。鱼卵以东经122°15′为界,呈现东少西多的分布格局,仔鱼则以30°45′为界,呈南少北多的分布趋势。盐度相对水温对鱼卵所产生的效应更为明显,水温较盐度则是影响仔鱼的更重要因子。长江径流量变动对鱼卵仔鱼数量和分布产生一定的影响。浮游桡足类与鱼卵仔鱼的摄食关系决定了其丰度变化影响着鱼卵仔鱼的数量变动。     

珠江口地区总悬浮颗粒中金属元素沉降通量

于2002年5月至2004年10月在珠江口大万山海洋环境监测站地面气象观测场上设立一个监测站,共采样了120多个大气气溶胶样品,用无火焰原子吸收分光光度法测定了元素Cu、Pb、Cd的浓度,讨论了这几种元素入海通量的月变化和年平均值。结果表明,三种元素在珠江口地区沉降通量的变化规律是Pb>Cu>Cd。三元素在5月、8月、10月内的沉降通量占全年的比例均少于20%,而且比例的变化规律是10月>5月>8月。     

崎头洋海砂开采对朱家尖沿岸沙滩的影响

采用三角形单元法建立了崎头洋采砂作业区局部平面二维潮流数学模型,潮位、流速、流向和水流运动形态的验证结果与天然海域状况基本一致,在此基础上,对朱家尖东侧沙滩沙子流失现象的成因和机理进行了深入的探讨。研究结果认为:崎头洋采砂工程前后引起的潮流流场变化仅限于工程区本身及其附近区域,对大范围海域的流态没有影响;朱家尖东侧沙滩沙子流失的原因乃是由波浪入射近岸浅水域破碎后掀沙,斜向破波产生沿岸流,潮流和沿岸流共同挟带泥沙输移所致。同时出于保护环境和资源的角度,建议严格控制采砂规模。     

Dynamic phosphorus budget for lake-watershed ecosystems

Lake eutrophication caused by excess phosphorus （P） loading from point sources （PS） and nonpoint sources （NPS） is a persistent and serious ecological problem in China. A phosphorus budget, based on material flow analysis（MFA） and system dynamic （SD）, is proposed and applied for the agriculture-dominated Qionghai Lake watershed located in southwestern China. The MFA-SD approach will not only cover the transporting process of P in the lake-watershed ecosystems, but also can deal with the changes of P budget due to the dynamics of watershed. P inflows include the fertilizer for agricultural croplands, soil losses, domestic sewage discharges, and the atmospheric disposition such as precipitation and dust sinking. Outflows are consisted of hydrologic export, water resources development, fishery and aquatic plants harvesting. The internal P recycling processes are also considered in this paper. From 1988 to 2015, the total P inflows for Lake Qionghai are in a rapid increase from 35.65 to 78.73 t/a, which results in the rising of P concentration in the lake. Among the total P load 2015, agricultural loss and domestic sewage account for 70.60% and 17.27% respectively, directly related to the rapid social-economic development and the swift urbanization. Future management programs designed to reduce P inputs must be put into practices in the coming years to ensure the ecosystem health in the watershed.     

重庆酸雨对陆地生态系统的影响和控制对策——中日酸雨合作研究总结

中日合作研究项目：酸沉降对陆地生态系统的影响及其控制对策的研究,于１９９０至１９９５年期间在中国重庆地区进行。本文是该项目最终研究结果主要方面的报导,包括大气污染和酸雨的状况,酸沉降对池塘、森林和土壤生态系统的影响以及大气污染和酸雨控制对策。该项研究为今后酸沉降生态监测的研究,打下了有力的基础。     

Organochlorine contaminants in different tissues from Platichthys flesus (Pisces,Pleuronectidea)

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) are organic contaminants that tend to accumulate in fish. Estuaries are exposed to high anthropogenic activities, therefore tending to accumulate more contaminants than the adjacent coastal waters. Platichthys flesus, a fish with high economic value, was analysed for PCBs and HCB along its different age groups, in liver, gills, gonads and muscle. Younger fishes were caught in the estuary, whereas older fishes were caught in the adjacent coastal waters and acquired at Figueira da Foz Regional Office of Docapesca-Portos e Lotas, SA. Both contaminants concentrations follow the pattern: liver > gills > muscle. Hepatosomatic index had the lowest values in younger fishes and the highest values in older fishes. Condition factor values remain stable with age. Younger fishes had higher PCBs concentrations than the older fishes. In opposition HCB was only detected in fish from 3+ to 5+ and its concentration tended to increase with age. Overall P. flesus is considered safe for human intake.     

Effect-Directed Analysis of Key Toxicants in European River Basins. A Review (9 pp)

Background, Aim and Scope Extensive monitoring programs on chemical contamination are run in many European river basins. With respect to the implementation of the European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive (WFD), these programs are increasingly accompanied by monitoring the ecological status of the river basins. Assuming an impact of chemical contamination on the ecological status, the assignment of effects in aquatic ecosystems to those stressors that cause the effects is a prerequisite for taking political or technical measures to achieve the goals of the WFD. Thus, one focus of present European research is on toxicant identification in European river basins in order to allow for a reduction of toxic pressure on aquatic ecosystems according to the WFD. Main Features: An overview is presented on studies that were performed to link chemical pollution in European river basins to measurable ecotoxic effects. This includes correlation-based approaches as well as investigations that apply effect-directed analysis (EDA) integrating toxicity testing, fractionation and non-target chemical analysis. Effect-based key toxicants that were identified in European surface waters are compiled and compared to EU priority pollutants. Further needs for research are identified. Results: Studies on the identification of effect-based key toxicants focused on mutagenicity, aryl hydrocarbon receptor-mediated effects, endocrine disruption, green algae, and invertebrates. The identified pollutants include priority pollutants and other well-known environmental pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, furans, and biphenyls, nonylphenol, some pesticides and tributyltin, but also other compounds that were neither considered as environmental pollutants before nor regulated such as substituted phenols, natural or synthetic estrogens and androgens, dinaphthofurans, 2-(2-naphthalenyl)benzothiophene, and N-phenyl-2-naphthylamine. Discussion: Individual studies at specific sites in a European river basin demonstrated the power of combined biological and chemical analytical approaches and, particularly, of effect-directed analysis. However, the available information on effect-based key toxicants is very limited with respect to the entirety of rivers possibly at risk due to chemical contamination and with respect to toxicological endpoints considered at a specific site. A relatively broad basis of information exists only for estrogenicity and aryl hydrocarbon, receptor-mediated effects. Conclusions: The development of tools and strategies for an identification of key toxicants on a broader scale are a challenging task for the next years. Since investigations dealing with toxicant identification are too labor and cost-intensive for monitoring purposes, they have to be focused on the key sites in a river basin. These should include hot spots of contamination, particularly if there is evidence that they might pose a risk for downstream areas, but may also involve accumulation zones in the lower reach of a river in order to get an integrated picture on the contamination of the basin. Perspectives: While EDA is almost exclusively based on measurable effects in in vitro and in vivo biotests to date, an increasing focus in the future should be on the integration of EDA into Ecological Risk Assessment and on the development of tools to confirm EDA-determined key toxicants as stressors in populations, communities and ecosystems. Considering these requirements and applied in a focused way, toxicant identification may significantly help to implement the Water Framework Directive by providing evidence on the main stressors and possible mitigation measures in order to improve the ecological status of a river ecosystem.     

抚河河口富营养化现状评价

2009年4-5月对抚河下游分流处及河口进行浮游生物及水质状况的调研,基于优势种评价法和污水生物系统法并结合化学评价对其富营养化状况进行评价.共检出11大类,230种浮游生物.生物优势种评价法与化学营养状况指标法分析均表明,抚河下游分流处、东支河口和西支河口水体均呈富营养型.污水生物系统评价结果表明,抚河下游分流处水体介于多污染带与β中污带之间;东支河口水体介于多污染带与β中污带中间;西支河口水体处于多污染带.与分流处相比,河口浮游生物密度激增,还增加了金藻、黄藻、甲藻等浮游植物种类,说明河口富营养化程度比分流处严重,其中金溪湖处河口营养化程度最严重.