Key Features and Context‐Dependence of Fishery‐Induced Trophic Cascades

Abstract: Trophic cascades triggered by fishing have profound implications for marine ecosystems and the socioeconomic systems that depend on them. With the number of reported cases quickly growing, key features and commonalities have emerged. Fishery‐induced trophic cascades often display differential response times and nonlinear trajectories among trophic levels and can be accompanied by shifts in alternative states. Furthermore, their magnitude appears to be context dependent, varying as a function of species diversity, regional oceanography, local physical disturbance, habitat complexity, and the nature of the fishery itself. To conserve and manage exploited marine ecosystems, there is a pressing need for an improved understanding of the conditions that promote or inhibit the cascading consequences of fishing. Future research should investigate how the trophic effects of fishing interact with other human disturbances, identify strongly interacting species and ecosystem features that confer resilience to exploitation, determine ranges of predator depletion that elicit trophic cascades, pinpoint antecedents that signal ecosystem state shifts, and quantify variation in trophic rates across oceanographic conditions. This information will advance predictive models designed to forecast the trophic effects of fishing and will allow managers to better anticipate and avoid fishery‐induced trophic cascades.     

Sustainable development and the water–energy–food nexus: A perspective on livelihoods

The water–energy–food nexus is being promoted as a conceptual tool for achieving sustainable development. Frameworks for implementing nexus thinking, however, have failed to explicitly or adequately incorporate sustainable livelihoods perspectives. This is counterintuitive given that livelihoods are key to achieving sustainable development. In this paper we present a critical review of nexus approaches and identify potential linkages with sustainable livelihoods theory and practice, to deepen our understanding of the interrelated dynamics between human populations and the natural environment. Building upon this review, we explore the concept of ‘environmental livelihood security’ – which encompasses a balance between natural resource supply and human demand on the environment to promote sustainability – and develop an integrated nexus-livelihoods framework for examining the environmental livelihood security of a system. The outcome is an integrated framework with the capacity to measure and monitor environmental livelihood security of whole systems by accounting for the water, energy and food requisites for livelihoods at multiple spatial scales and institutional levels. We anticipate this holistic approach will not only provide a significant contribution to achieving national and regional sustainable development targets, but will also be effective for promoting equity amongst individuals and communities in local and global development agendas.     

Do mucilage events influence pico- and nanoplankton size and structure in the Adriatic sea?

Temporal changes in abundance and biomass of picophytoplankton, heterotrophic pico-eukaryotes, and nanoplankton assemblages were investigated along a transect crossing the Adriatic Sea, from the Italian to the Croatian coast. This 15-months (June 1999-August 2000) investigation allowed comparing microbial parameters during summer 1999 (year without mucilage) and summer 2000 when a major mucilage event occurred. Pico- and nanoplankton assemblages displayed significant differences between the 2 summer periods. The main differences can be summarized as: (i) presence of cyanobacterial blooms (up to 10⁸ cells l^-1) in summer 2000, absent in summer 1999; (ii) an increasing fraction of heterotrophic pico-eukaryotes (up to 5.0 × 10⁶ cells l^-1) and heterotrophic nanoplankton (size 2-5 µm) during mucilage event; (iii) a reduced abundance of small-sized (2-3 µm) phototrophic nanoplankton in summer 2000. Changes in community structure were signals of changes in trophic condition of the system, which resulted in a competitive advantage for small sized pico- and nanoheterotrophs. Data presented here indicated that mucilage events are associated with changes in microbial community structure and functioning in ambient water and induced the amplification of 3-step microbial food chain. The potential use of the heterotrophic pico-eukaryotes for describing alterations of the trophic pathways during mucilage events is discussed.     

基于PCR-TGGE技术的餐厨垃圾厌氧消化微生物群落结构解析

为了解不同负荷下单相餐厨垃圾厌氧消化反应器内微生物群落结构演替特征,在单相厌氧消化反应器负荷为2.0～8.5kg·m-·3d-1(以VS计)的不同负荷条件下取样,运用16SrDNA的PCR-TGGE技术对反应器内微生物进行动态追踪.同时,运用Dice系统和NMDS软件对PCR-TGGE图谱进行分析.结果表明,负荷为4.0～6.0kg·m-·3d-1时,微生物群落结构变化不大;负荷为6.0～7.0kg·m-·3d-1时,微生物群落结构变化较为明显;负荷分别为7.0～8.0kg·m-·3d-1及8.5kg·m-·3d-1时,微生物群落结构变化最为明显.纵观整个过程,在餐厨垃圾厌氧消化反应器有机负荷在2.0～8.5kg·m-·3d-1下厌氧反应器内的微生物群落结构存在明显的阶段性演替;负荷为7.0kg·m-·3d-1时微生物群落结构的丰富度最好.     

餐厨垃圾综合资源化处理技术实例研究

在目前餐厨垃圾处理现状基础上,介绍了一种餐厨垃圾处理工艺,采用机械生物处理技术,包括收运系统、粉碎分选预处理、厌氧发酵生物处理、沼气热电联供、有机堆肥、废水处理、除臭系统多个环节,分离出油脂进行回收,垃圾厌氧发酵产生沼气发电,沼渣进行堆肥,以期实现餐厨垃圾减量化、无害化、资源化,解决"垃圾猪"、"地沟油"问题。     

施用餐厨垃圾调理剂对果园土壤有机碳组分的影响

为研究施用餐厨垃圾调理剂对土壤有机碳组分的影响,以果园土壤为研究对象,从时间、空间维度解析长期施用餐厨垃圾调理剂对土壤有机碳积累、组成及其分布规律的影响,结合CPMI（碳库管理指数）和相关性分析,揭示施用餐厨垃圾调理剂对土壤碳汇的影响机制.结果表明,施用餐厨垃圾调理剂可显著提高土壤中w（TOC）（TOC为总有机碳）,并随施用时间的增加逐渐向深层土壤迁移,改善TOC分布状况.随着施用餐厨垃圾调理剂时间的增加,0~20 cm土壤层中w（NOC）（NOC为非活性有机碳）和30~40 cm土壤层中w（AOC）（AOC为活性有机碳）呈增加趋势,AOC分配比例低于NOC分配比例.随着施用时间的增长,0~30 cm土壤层中w（POC）（POC为颗粒有机碳）显著提高,最大值为42.94 mg/g,MOC（矿质结合态有机碳）分配比例与POC分配比例呈相反变化趋势,有利于提高土壤碳稳定性.各土壤层中CPMI均大于空白对照组,最大值为154.437,表明施用餐厨垃圾调理剂有利于提升土壤肥力.相关性分析表明,w（POC）与pH呈负相关,与含水率、EC（电导率）、w（OM）（OM为有机质）呈正相关,其中与含水率相关性最高（R=0.91）.可见,长期施用餐厨垃圾调理剂对提高果园土壤碳汇、改善土壤肥力具有重要意义,研究结果有助于进一步提升土壤碳汇的新型土壤调理剂的研发与应用.      

基于生态足迹的中国可持续食物消费模式

随着人们饮食需求的不断多样化,可持续食物消费已成为一个全球关注的重要议题。为了探寻可持续的食物消费模式,重点分析了中国食物消费结构演变趋势及特征,运用生态足迹模型量化中国食物消费结构的环境压力动态变化;基于可持续食物消费的内涵,结合中国均衡膳食和环境的可持续性指标,构建食物生态承载级别衡量标准,并据此建立了符合中国食物消费习惯、满足营养摄入需求、环境压力小的可持续食物消费模式。结果显示：中国食物消费生态环境压力不断增大,1978-2013年中国食物消费人均生态足迹增长了154.49%,2008年出现生态赤字,2013年赤字值为0.0705 ghm²;食物生态承载级别持续恶化,2008年生态承载级别由“较高”下降到“中等”;可持续食物消费模式的构建使得人均生态足迹下降了12.92%,表明转变食物消费模式是解决食物消费生态环境压力这一矛盾问题的最有效途径。     

人口与可持续发展

有限的资源不能支撑无限增加的人口，面对高速增长的人口，人们产生了种种不同的认识。本文分析了人口增长与食物供给，人口增长与生态环境和经济发展的矛盾；阐述了最大人口容量及经济最优人口计算需要考虑的因素和基本；提出我国必须坚持严格控制人口增长的政策，这是可持续发展的需要。     

中国有机食品的生产和认证

中国的有机食品开发和认证工作起步于上个世纪末。经过近十年的发展，有机食品的开发行为已基本得到了社会各界的认可，更多的基地、企业、高校、科研单位以及政府部门都参与到这一新兴产业中，有机食品产业蓄势待发。目前，如何正确分析和处理有机食品开发过程中的一些问题以引导和促进该项事业的健康发展，已显得尤为重要。本文在总结近年来工作的基础上，提出了中国有机食品开发工作中存在的一些不足之处，希望能够起到抛砖引玉的作用，使更多的人参与到有机食品认证管理的讨论之中。     

Risk assessment for safety of soils and vegetables around a lead/zinc mine

Concentrations of heavy metals (Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu) were determined in soils and vegetables (chrysanthemum, spinach and four cultivars of Chinese cabbage from the area adjacent to a Pb/Zn mine in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, China, and compared with the Chinese National Standards for Soil Environmental Quality. The accumulation of heavy metals in cabbage cv. Siyuegreen was investigated at different distances from the center of the mine. The vegetable plantation soils were polluted with Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn, especially by Pb and Cd. The levels of Pb and Cd were 20 and 30 times higher than the permitted standards, indicating that this Pb/Zn mining area is unsuitable for agricultural use. Chinese cabbage, chrysanthemum and spinach had different enrichment coefficients. The enrichment coefficient of Cd from soil to roots of chrysanthemum was >80% and from roots to leaves of cabbage cv. Shanghaigreen was >120%. These vegetables were polluted by heavy metals and could not be regarded as safe for human consumption. Environmental accumulation of heavy metals in the vegetable plantation soils was proportional to heavy metal accumulation in vegetables and both were inversely proportional to the distance from the lead/zinc mine.