Impact of Invasive Cane Toads on Australian Birds

Abstract: The cane toad (Bufo marinus), a large, toxic, American anuran, was introduced to Australia in 1935. Populations of many of Australia's reptiles (snakes, varanid lizards, crocodiles) and carnivorous mammals (dasyurid marsupials) have declined because these predators are killed by the toad's powerful toxins. In contrast to these well‐studied species, little is known about the cane toads impacts on Australian birds. We reviewed published and unpublished data on behavioral interactions between Australian avian predators and cane toads and collated distributional and dietary information to identify avian taxa potentially at risk from cane toad invasion. Cane toads are sympatric with 172 frog‐eating bird species in Australia, and an additional 8 bird species overlap with the predicted future range of the toad. Although many bird species thus are potentially at risk, behavioral observations suggest the risk level is generally low. Despite occasional reports of Australian birds being killed when they ingest cane toads, most birds either ignore toads or survive the predation event. The apparently higher tolerance of Australian birds to toad toxins, compared with Australian reptiles and marsupials, may reflect genetic exchange between Australian birds and Asian populations that encounter other bufonid species regularly and hence have evolved the capacity to recognize or tolerate this toxic prey.     

Accumulation of Biophilic Elements in the Needles of Picea Species in Natural and Urbanized Ecosystems of Siberia and Central Asia in Relation to the Assessment of Environmental Quality

Variation in the content of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, Cu, Zn, Mn, and Fe has been analyzed in the needles of 19 spruce species growing in the natural and urbanized ecosystems of Siberia and Central Asia. The results have shown that similarity in the content of biophilic elements in one-year-old needles of different species is conditioned by biochemical processes, which confirms the status of these species as passive bioindicators of environmental quality. The contents of trace elements in perennial needles, except color variations of chlorophyll, deserve further study as prospective indicators of environmental quality.     

Ecotypes in Graylings (Thymallidae,Salmoniformes)

The ecotypic structure of two grayling species in Eurasia is considered. Based on original and published data, the development of ecological forms in water bodies of different kinds is analyzed. Parallelism in the emergence of highly similar forms in different sites of the ranges is demonstrated. Distinctive features of ecotypes and their internal structure are described. The causes and rate of establishment of forms with a short life cycle are discussed.     

Understanding Trait‐Dependent Community Disassembly: Dung Beetles,Density Functions,and Forest Fragmentation

Abstract: Anthropogenic disturbances such as fragmentation are rapidly altering biodiversity, yet a lack of attention to species traits and abundance patterns has made the results of most studies difficult to generalize. We determined traits of extinction‐prone species and present a novel strategy for classifying species according to their population‐level response to a gradient of disturbance intensity. We examined the effects of forest fragmentation on dung beetle communities in an archipelago of 33 islands recently created by flooding in Venezuela. Species richness, density, and biomass all declined sharply with decreasing island area and increasing island isolation. Species richness was highly nested, indicating that local extinctions occurred nonrandomly. The most sensitive dung beetle species appeared to require at least 85 ha of forest, more than many large vertebrates. Extinction‐prone species were either large‐bodied, forest specialists, or uncommon. These explanatory variables were unrelated, suggesting at least 3 underlying causes of extirpation. Large species showed high wing loading (body mass/wing area) and a distinct flight strategy that may increase their area requirements. Although forest specificity made most species sensitive to fragmentation, a few persistent habitat generalists dispersed across the matrix. Density functions classified species into 4 response groups on the basis of their change in density with decreasing species richness. Sensitive and persistent species both declined with increasing fragmentation intensity, but persistent species occurred on more islands, which may be due to their higher baseline densities. Compensatory species increased in abundance following the initial loss of sensitive species, but rapidly declined with increasing fragmentation. Supertramp species (widespread habitat generalists) may be poor competitors but strong dispersers; their abundance peaked following the decline of the other 3 groups. Nevertheless, even the least sensitive species were extirpated or rare on the smallest and most isolated islands.     

Presence–Absence versus Abundance Data for Monitoring Threatened Species

Abstract:  Effective detection of population trend is crucial for managing threatened species. Little theory exists, however, to assist managers in choosing the most cost-effective monitoring techniques for diagnosing trend. We present a framework for determining the optimal monitoring strategy by simulating a manager collecting data on a declining species, the Chestnut-rumped Hylacola ( Hylacola pyrrhopygia parkeri ), to determine whether the species should be listed under the IUCN (World Conservation Union) Red List. We compared the efficiencies of two strategies for detecting trend, abundance, and presence–absence surveys, under financial constraints. One might expect the abundance surveys to be superior under all circumstances because more information is collected at each site. Nevertheless, the presence–absence data can be collected at more sites because the surveyor is not obliged to spend a fixed amount of time at each site. The optimal strategy for monitoring was very dependent on the budget available. Under some circumstances, presence–absence surveys outperformed abundance surveys for diagnosing the IUCN Red List categories cost-effectively. Abundance surveys were best if the species was expected to be recorded more than 16 times/year; otherwise, presence–absence surveys were best. The relationship between the strategies we investigated is likely to be relevant for many comparisons of presence–absence or abundance data. Managers of any cryptic or low-density species who hope to maximize their success of estimating trend should find an application for our results.     

Effect of manganese oxide-modified biochar addition on methane production and heavy metal speciation during the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge

Low organic matter content and high heavy metal levels severely inhibit the anaerobic digestion (AD) of sewage sludge. In this study, the effect of added manganese oxide-modified biochar composite (MBC) on methane production and heavy metal fractionation during sewage sludge AD was examined. The MBC could increase the buffering capacity, enhance the methane production and degradation of intermediate acids, buffer the pH of the culture, and stabilize the sewage sludge AD process. The application of MBC positively impacted methane production and the cumulative methane yield increased up to 121.97%, as compared with the control. The MBC addition can improve metal stabilization in the digestate. An optimum MBC dose of 2.36?g was recommended, which would produce up to 121.1?L/kg volatile solids of methane. After the AD process, even though most of the metals accumulated in the residual solids, they could be transformation from the bio-available fractions to a more stable fraction. The total organic- and sulfide-bound and residual fraction content at a 3?g dose of MBC that is 0.12?g/g dry matter were 51.06% and 35.11% higher than the control, respectively. The results indicated that the application of MBC could improve the performance of AD and promote stabilization of heavy metals in sewage sludge post the AD process.     

安徽铜陵铜尾矿硫形态及硫同位素分布特征

分析讨论了安徽铜陵水木冲S和SP剖面尾矿砂的理化指标、硫形态变化和硫酸根硫同位素组成与分布特征.结果显示：S和SP剖面整体呈酸性,pH值为2.59~6.12和3.50~6.27,由下而上有明显的降低趋势;Eh随剖面由下至上明显升高,范围为66~457和-37~307mV;酸可挥发性硫（AVS）含量为0~62.36和0~3.44mg/g,黄铁矿硫（CRS）含量为0.70~32.30mg/g和0.17~5.39mg/g;AVS与CRS的变化趋势基本一致,随剖面自下而上减少,且AVS先于CRS被氧化.2个剖面元素硫（ES）含量为0~8.83和0~3.62mg/g,随深度变化无明显规律.硫酸根硫（SO₄^2--S）含量为8.44~66.34和8.48~29.87mg/g,自下而上呈降低趋势,且分别在剖面的氢氧化物薄膜层（11.5~16.5cm和18~54cm）出现高值区.2个剖面总硫（TS）含量为9.18~109.69和12.38~37.72mg/g,表层由于淋滤含量较低,底层变化则不大.位于斜坡上的SP剖面TS及各形态硫含量均低于S剖面,表明淋滤对硫含量影响更明显.硫酸根硫同位素δ³⁴S为-3.32‰~13.43‰和-3.08‰~1.80‰,S-9硫酸根δ³⁴S为13.43‰,指示其来自于伴生硬石膏,其余层位δ³⁴S偏负且变幅较小,指示其硫酸根主要来源于硫化物的氧化.     

Effect of preparation methods on the performance of CuFe-SSZ-13 catalysts for selective catalytic reduction of NOx with NH3

CuFe-SSZ-13 catalyst showed excellent performance in the selective catalytic reduction of NO_x with NH₃ (NH₃-SCR) for diesel engine exhaust purification. To investigate the effect of preparation methods on NH₃-SCR performance, Fe was loaded into one-pot synthesized Cu-SSZ-13 catalysts through solid-state ion-exchange (SSIE), homogeneous deposition precipitation (HDP) and liquid ion-exchange (IE), respectively. Three CuFe-SSZ-13 catalysts showed similar SO₂ resistance, which was better than that of Cu-SSZ-13. The improvement was attributed to the protection of Fe species. Hydrothermal stability of three CuFe-SSZ-13 catalysts was significantly different, which was attributed to the state of active species caused by different preparation methods. Compared with the other two catalysts, more active species existed inside the zeolite pores of CuFe-SSZ-13_SSIE. During hydrothermal aging, the aggregation of these active species in the pores caused the collapse of catalyst structure, ultimately leading to the deactivation of CuFe-SSZ-13_SSIE. In contrast, Fe species was dispersed better on the surface over CuFe-SSZ-13_IE, enhancing the hydrothermal stability of catalysts. Consequently, Fe loading effectively improved the resistance of SO₂ and H₂O over Cu-SSZ-13. For CuFe-SSZ-13, large amounts of active species located inside the zeolite pores are not beneficial for the hydrothermal stability.     

EK∕PRB修复砷污染土壤影响因素及机理

为明确EK/PRB（电动联合渗透反应格栅）修复As污染土壤过程中各因素的影响机理、提高As的去除效率,以As污染高岭土为研究对象,考察PRB加入、PRB位置、pH调控及腐殖酸强化影响下,EK/PRB系统中电流密度、土壤pH分布和土壤中As残余量、电渗透系数及电渗流的变化规律;探讨EK/PRB修复后土壤中As形态的迁移转化规律.结果表明:①单独EK修复对土壤中As的去除效率较低,加入PRB后去除率为由42%增至57%,并且EK/PRB修复可以将土壤中的As由不容易去除的可还原态转变成较容易去除的酸溶态.②采用盐酸调节阴极pH,可以将土壤中As的去除率由57%增至63%,但同时能耗也明显升高,由5.22 kW·h/g升至39.38 kW·h/g.③添加腐殖酸会促进土壤中As的迁移、提高As的去除效率,但也会增加土壤中难处理的可氧化态和残渣态As的占比.研究显示,EK/PRB除As过程中以PRB的去除作用为主,阴极pH调控及腐殖酸强化均可以提高土壤中As的去除率.      

广西龙江鱼类镉含量分布特征及生物积累特性分析

突发镉污染事件能引起江河水体恶化,破坏水生态环境和威胁人类健康.本研究为证实突发镉污染事件引起生态环境风险,以不同类型鱼类以及鱼类不同组织器官为研究对象,分别前后6次对龙江进行采样调查,并对各鱼类根据水层和食性进行分类及分析.调查结果表明,前3次调查鱼类肌肉镉含量显著高于后3次调查鱼类肌肉镉含量;草食性,肉食性和杂食性鱼类不同组织器官镉的含量大小均可排序为:肾肝肠鳃卵鳞≈肌肉,且3种类型肾的镉含量均显著高于其他任何组织器官(P0.05);鱼类同一组织器官镉的含量根据不同水层鱼类依次为:底层鱼类中下层鱼类中上层鱼类.不同食性鱼类肌肉中镉平均富集系数BAF从大到小依次为杂食性,肉食性和草食性,分别为8.32、6.33和5.15;不同生活水层鱼类肌肉中镉平均富集系数大小排序为:底层鱼类(8.18)中下层鱼类(7.70)中上层鱼类(4.99).