玛纳斯河流域生态问题的潜在风险性评估

玛纳斯河流域是中国干旱区最具代表性的山地-绿洲-荒漠生态系统,三大生态系统表现出的区域生态、经济要素的空间状况有所分异,所存在的生态安全问题的表现形式也各不相同。根据流域土地利用和水资源数据库,在生态经济功能分区的基础上,针对流域不同分区存在的生态安全问题,选取相应的17个生态风险评估指标,建立了生态-经济风险性评价模型,对流域各个生态经济功能亚区的生态问题潜在的风险性进行了生态风险评估。结果表明:Ⅰ1,Ⅱ1,Ⅱ2,Ⅱ3,Ⅲ1,Ⅲ2和Ⅲ3亚区的生态问题潜在的风险性在增大,说明生态问题日益突出,而Ⅰ1和Ⅱ4亚区生态问题潜在的风险性指数存在波动;Ⅰ,Ⅱ和Ⅲ三个大区中生态问题潜在的风险性指数最高的分别是Ⅰ1,Ⅱ1和Ⅲ1亚区。评价结果能够较为客观地反映了当地的实际情况,因而对流域可能出现的灾害性的环境问题及由此引起的巨大的经济损失提出了警示。     

城市给水管网优化设计研究

研究了几种典型的城市给水管网优化设计数学模型,并给出了求解方法,指出在给水管网系统的优化设计中进一步完善广义简约(GRG)算法的必要性.     

A meta-analysis of heavy metals pollution in farmland and urban soils in China over the past 20 years

A total of 713 research papers about field monitor experiments of heavy metals in farmland and urban soils in China, published from 2000 to 2019, were obtained. A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the level of China's heavy metal pollution in soils, mainly focusing on eight heavy metals. It was found that the average concentrations of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and arsenic (As) in China were 0.19, 30.74, 85.86, 25.81, 0.074, 67.37, 27.77 and 8.89 mg/kg, respectively. Compared with the background value (0.097 mg/kg), the Cd content showed a twofold (0.19 mg/kg) rise in farmland soils and a threefold (0.29 mg/kg) rise in urban soils. The decreasing order of the mean I_geo was Cd (1.77) > Pb (0.62) > Zn (0.60) > Cu (0.58) > Hg (0.57) > Cr (0.54) > Ni (0.47) > As (0.28). Nearly 33.54% and 44.65% of sites in farmland and urban soils were polluted with Cd. The average concentrations of eight heavy metals were not sensitive change in recent two decades in farmland and urban soils. The average P_n values for urban (2.52) and farmland (2.15) soils showed that heavy metal pollution in urban soils was more serious than that in farmland, and the middle Yangtze River regions, where industrial activity dominates, were the most polluted. The meta-analysis comprehensively evaluated the current pollution situation of soil heavy metal, and provided important basis for soil management and environment prevention in China.     

Building resilience to drought in desertification-prone savannas in Sub-Saharan Africa: The water perspective

Securing sustainable livelihood conditions and reducing the risk of outmigration in savanna ecosystems hosted in the tropical semiarid regions is of fundamental importance for the future of humanity in general. Although precipitation in tropical drylands, or savannas, is generally more significant than one might expect, these regions are subject to considerable rainfall variability which causes frequent periods of water deficiency. This paper addresses the twin problems of “drought and desertification” from a water perspective, focusing on the soil moisture (green water) and plant water uptake deficiencies. It makes a clear distinction between long‐term climate change, meteorological drought, and agricultural droughts and dry spells caused by rainfall variability and land degradation. It then formulates recommendations to better cope with and to build resilience to droughts and dry spells. Coping with desertification requires a new conceptual framework based on green‐blue water resources to identify hydrological opportunities in a sea of constraints. This paper proposes an integrated land/water approach to desertification where ecosystem management supports agricultural development to build social‐ecological resilience to droughts and dry spells. This approach is based on the premise that to combat desertification, focus should shift from reducing trends of land degradation in agricultural systems to water resource management in savannas and to landscape‐wide ecosystem management.     

Assessment of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gmelina arborea</Emphasis> sawdust–cement-bonded rainwater storage tank

The performance of a mixture of a forest bye product and cement for the production of storage structure for harvested rainwater was assessed. Three mix ratios of Cement: Gmelina arborea sawdust 3.0:1.0 (specimen A), 2.5:1.0 (specimen B) and 2.0:1.0 (specimen C) were considered. Engineering properties and dimensional stability of the different mix-ratios were monitored from prototypes cylindrical pots and test billet specimens. Possible change in quality of stored rainwater, with time was monitored in all the three cases. Water quality parameters monitored include pH, hardness, total suspended solids, alkalinity, acidity and total dissolved CO₂. The tensile stress obtained were 110, 104, and 95 N/mm², while the compressive strength were 5,000, 3,000, and 2,000 kN for specimens A, B and C respectively. Accelerated aging test showed that sample A were more resistant to deformation, while specimen C were more susceptible to change in structure over time. Similarly, the values of tensile and compressive strength after accelerated aging test increased in the order of specimen A > B > C. Except in specimen C where significant differences in alkalinity and acidity were observed, there were no significant differences in quality of the water stored in the pots after 2 months of storage. The results indicate the suitability of the Gmelina arborea waste as an alternative in constructing water storage structures in rural communities.     

Macroinvertebrate Responses to Constructed Riffles in the Cache River,Illinois, USA

Stream restoration practices are becoming increasingly common, but biological assessments of these improvements are still limited. Rock weirs, a type of constructed riffle, were implemented in the upper Cache River in southern Illinois, USA, in 2001 and 2003–2004 to control channel incision and protect high quality riparian wetlands as part of an extensive watershed-level restoration. Construction of the rock weirs provided an opportunity to examine biological responses to a common in-stream restoration technique. We compared macroinvertebrate assemblages on previously constructed rock weirs and newly constructed weirs to those on snags and scoured clay streambed, the two dominant substrates in the unrestored reaches of the river. We quantitatively sampled macroinvertebrates on these substrates on seven occasions during 2003 and 2004. Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) biomass and aquatic insect biomass were significantly higher on rock weirs than the streambed for most sample periods. Snags supported intermediate EPT and aquatic insect biomass compared to rock weirs and the streambed. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordinations for 2003 and 2004 revealed distinct assemblage groups for rock weirs, snags, and the streambed. Analysis of similarity supported visual interpretation of NMDS plots. All pair-wise substrate comparisons differed significantly, except recently constructed weirs versus older weirs. Results indicate positive responses by macroinvertebrate assemblages to in-stream restoration in the Cache River. Moreover, these responses were not evident with more common measures of total density, biomass, and diversity.     

Volunteer Macroinvertebrate Monitoring: Tensions Among Group Goals,Data Quality,and Outcomes

Volunteer monitoring of natural resources is promoted for its ability to increase public awareness, to provide valuable knowledge, and to encourage policy change that promotes ecosystem health. We used the case of volunteer macroinvertebrate monitoring (VMM) in streams to investigate whether the quality of data collected is correlated with data use and organizers' perception of whether they have achieved these outcomes. We examined the relation between site and group characteristics, data quality, data use, and perceived outcomes (education, social capital, and policy change). We found that group size and the degree to which citizen groups perform tasks on their own (rather than aided by professionals) positively correlated with the quality of data collected. Group size and number of years monitoring positively influenced whether a group used their data. While one might expect that groups committed to collecting good-quality data would be more likely to use it, there was no relation between data quality and data use, and no relation between data quality and perceived outcomes. More data use was, however, correlated with a group's feeling of connection to a network of engaged citizens and professionals. While VMM may hold promise for bringing citizens and scientists together to work on joint conservation agendas, our data illustrate that data quality does not correlate with a volunteer group's desire to use their data to promote regulatory change. Therefore, we encourage scientists and citizens alike to recognize this potential disconnect and strive to be explicit about the role of data in conservation efforts.     

Blowing Smoke in Yellowstone: Air Quality Impacts of Oversnow Motorized Recreation in the Park

Snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park has been shown to impact air quality, with implications for the safety and welfare of Park staff and other Park resource values. Localized impacts have been documented at several high-use sites in the Park, but the broader spatial variability of snowmobile emissions and air quality was not understood. Measurements of 87 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were made for ambient air sampled across the Park and West Yellowstone, Montana, during 2 days of the 2002–2003 winter use season, 1 year before the implementation of a new snowmobile policy. The data were compared with similar data from pristine West Coast sites at similar latitudes. Backward trajectories of local air masses, alkyl nitrate-parent alkane ratios, and atmospheric soundings were used to identify the VOC sources and assess their impact. Different oversnow vehicle types used in the Park were sampled to determine their relative influence on air mass pollutant composition. VOCs were of local origin and demonstrated strong spatiotemporal variability that is primarily influenced by levels of snowmobile traffic on given road segments at different times of day. High levels of snowmobile traffic in and around West Yellowstone produced consistently high levels of benzene, toluene, and carbon monoxide.     

土壤锑污染对桑树的影响初探

运用盆栽实验和实验分析方法,研究了土壤锑(Sb)污染对桑叶品质的影响,揭示了桑树对土壤锑的耐性机制。在土壤中分别添加三价锑15mg/kg、40mg/kg、80mg/kg、120mg/kg、160mg/kg和300mg/kg,以植物生长指标及生理指标为测试指标,实验周期60d。实验结果表明,低浓度Sb处理(<40mg/kg)对桑树生长有促进作用;随着土壤Sb浓度增高(40—300mg/kg),它对桑树产生抑制效应。但当土壤锑浓度不超过160mg/kg时,桑树对土壤锑污染有一定的耐性,其耐性指数>0.8。土壤锑污染对桑叶叶绿素含量、淀粉含量和可溶性糖含量影响不显著,桑叶中的锑含量随土壤锑含量的增加而增多。     

Estimating Forest Ecosystem Evapotranspiration at Multiple Temporal Scales With a Dimension Analysis Approach1

Abstract:  It is critical that evapotranspiration (ET) be quantified accurately so that scientists can evaluate the effects of land management and global change on water availability, streamflow, nutrient and sediment loading, and ecosystem productivity in watersheds. The objective of this study was to derive a new semi‐empirical ET modeled using a dimension analysis method that could be used to estimate forest ET effectively at multiple temporal scales. The model developed describes ET as a function of water availability for evaporation and transpiration, potential ET demand, air humidity, and land surface characteristics. The model was tested with long‐term hydrometeorological data from five research sites with distinct forest hydrology in the United States and China. Averaged simulation error for daily ET was within 0.5 mm/day. The annual ET at each of the five study sites were within 7% of measured values. Results suggest that the model can accurately capture the temporal dynamics of ET in forest ecosystems at daily, monthly, and annual scales. The model is climate‐driven and is sensitive to topography and vegetation characteristics and thus has potential to be used to examine the compounding hydrologic responses to land cover and climate changes at multiple temporal scales.