Plant biomass allocation strategies of the dominant species in an alpine meadow of northwestern Sichuan,China北大核心CSCD

Plant biomass partitioning is an important driver of whole-plant net carbon gain, as biomass allocation could directly affect plant's future growth and reproduction. Alpine meadow in the northwestern Sichuan was impressed by the abundant community structure and species diversity. This study on biomass allocation pattern of different functional types and lifeforms might help understand plant life-history strategy of alpine meadow plants. We investigated 72 dominant herbaceous species for their compartments, biomass, and morphological traits during 2012-2014. These plants were sampled from natural grassland, disturbed grassland, and wintergreen grassland; they belonged to three functional types (grass, sedge, and forb) and two lifeforms (annual and perennial). The scaling relationships between functional traits of these plants were analyzed using Model type II regression method to estimate the parameters of the allometric equations. (1) Biomass allocation proportion of components significantly differed among grasses, sedges, and forbs owing to phylogeny: grasses had the highest stem biomass percentage, sedges had higher root biomass percentage, and forbs had higher leaf biomass percentage, but the scaling relationships were not significantly different, and isometric scaling was noted between biomass components for the three functional types. (2) Moreover, plant lifeforms affected the biomass allocation proportion of components, owing to the shorter or longer turnover rate and investment strategy between annual and perennial species. Annuals allocated more biomass to the stem and reproduction organs, but perennials invested more biomass to the leaves and roots. (3) In addition, plants from different grassland types differed in both biomass and morphology traits. Moreover, forbs from natural grassland and wintergreen grassland had higher leaf and reproductive biomass, but those from disturbed grasslands had higher stem biomass. Our results suggest that the functional type and lifeform decide the inherent scaling relationships between components of plants, but anthropogenic disturbance significantly impacted the quantity of component biomass. This study has important theoretical and practical significance to understand the response of alpine plants to climate change and anthropogenic disturbance as well as to help in the scientific management of alpine meadow. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Contributions of Pesticide use to Urban Background Concentrations of Arsenic in Denver,Colorado, U.S.A.

Soil investigations near a former smelter have revealed that historic use of arsenical pesticides has contributed significantly to anthropogenic background concentrations of arsenic on certain residential properties in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. Remedial investigation data, based on samples collected in relatively undisturbed locations, had previously indicated that the "upper limit" of background arsenic concentrations was 28 mg/kg in the site vicinity. This value compares reasonably well with more regional data, which indicate increasing arsenic concentrations moving from rural to urban land use. Soil sampling during cleanup, however, revealed the presence of arsenic concentrations of a few hundred to more than 1000 mg/kg on a large number of residential lawns due to historic applications of a crabgrass killer, which was missed by the earlier investigation samples because of the sampling bias toward undisturbed land. Data from over 20,000 soil samples now show that several different populations comprise urban background levels of arsenic and that these populations may be stratified by land use and have spatial patterns that should be considered during any background study. A variety of forensic techniques, including spatial analysis, arsenic speciation, and calculation of metals ratios were necessary to separate the smelter impacts from pesticide impacts.     

水稻土中铁-氮循环耦合体系影响镉活性机理研究

关于铁-氮循环耦合体系对镉(Cd)活性影响的研究目前尚鲜见报道.本文采用淹水培养试验,研究不同硝酸根(NO_3~-)、铵根(NH_4~+)处理条件下,南方典型Cd污染水稻土中铁氧化还原与氮形态转化耦合关系及其对Cd活性影响的机理.结果表明:随着培养时间延长,不同处理的pH值逐渐向7.0靠拢,Eh值由273~321 mV持续下降至118~132 mV,pe+pH值(e-活度的负对数值与H+活度的负对数值之和)从10.62~11.19持续下降至8.55~8.83,土-水体系处于中度还原条件;化学反硝化(Chemodenitrification)和NO_3~-依赖的厌氧铁氧化过程(Microbial NO_3~--dependent FeIIoxidation,NDFO)生成无定形氢氧化铁(Fe(OH)_3(amorp)),其对Cd~(2+)专性吸附及与Cd~(2+)共沉淀降低了有效态Cd浓度,加之pH值上升增大Cd~(2+)在土壤固相表面的吸附量,导致水稻土中Cd活性下降;NH_4~+被Fe(OH)_3(amorp)厌氧氧化(Anaerobic NH_4~+oxidation coupled to FeIII reduction,Feammox)会消耗H+而提高体系的pH值,在一定程度上会降低Cd活性,但其自身与Cd~(2+)对土壤固相表面吸附位点的竞争,可能会更大程度地减少Cd~(2+)在土壤固相表面的吸附量,而导致Cd活性提高.本研究成果可为丰富和拓展水稻土中Cd的生物地球化学理论,并为南方Cd污染农田修复及治理提供科学依据.     

UV／H2O2／GAC与GAC处理微污染水的研究

文章进行了UV／H2O2／GAC和GAC系统用于微污染水深度处理的试验研究,结果表明：UV／H2O2／GAC对uV篮;和TOC均有良好的去除效果,当H2O2投量3．0mg／L,UV／H2O2反应器停留时间20min时,系统的COD和UV254去除率为44．6％和72．8％。UV／H2O2主要作用在于改善了GAC对有机物的吸附,产生了羟基自由基,从而提高了去除效果。     

Bioaccumulation of mercury in the trophic chain of flatfish from the Baltic Sea

Mercury concentrations in three flatfish species - flounder (Platichtys flesus), plaice (Pleuronectes platessa), and Baltic turbot (Scophthalmus maximus), netted in the southern Baltic Sea were assessed and compared to concentrations of this metal in sediments, sea water, and flatfish food - bivalve Macoma balthica, isopod Saduria entomon, and sprat (Sprattus sprattus). Collected simultaneously with flatfish in 2009 and 2010. Different concentrations of mercury depending on species, tissue or organ, sex, individual length, kind of food, and region were determined. The muscle tissues of turbot had the highest concentrations of the metal. The bioaccumulation (BF) and biomagnification (BMF) factors has been counted showing that the muscle tissues of turbot have maximum affinity for mercury, and thus best reflected the metal contamination of the Baltic Sea environment. The data suggest that the common Baltic turbot (S. maximus) is an important model species, suitable and cost-effective to biomonitor environmental mercury pollution for ecological research.     

Immunoassays as high-throughput tools: Monitoring spatial and temporal variations of carbamazepine, caffeine and cetirizine in surface and wastewaters

Carbamazepine (CBZ), caffeine and cetirizine were monitored by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) in surface and wastewaters from Berlin, Germany. This fast and cost-efficient method enabled to assess the spatial and temporal variation of these anthropogenic markers in a high-throughput screening. CBZ and cetirizine were detected by the same antibody, which selectively discriminates between both compounds depending on the pH value used in the incubation step. To our best knowledge, this is the first dual-analyte immunoassay working with a single antibody.The frequent sampling with 487 samples being processed allowed for the repeated detection of unusually high concentrations of CBZ and caffeine. ELISA results correlate well with the ones obtained by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Caffeine concentrations found in surface waters were elevated by combined sewer overflows after stormwater events. During the hay fever season, the concentrations of the antihistamine drug cetirizine increased in both surface and wastewaters.Caffeine was almost completely removed during wastewater treatment, while CBZ and cetirizine were found to be more persistent. The maximum concentrations of caffeine, CBZ and cetirizine found in influent wastewater by LC-MS/MS were 470, 5.0 and 0.49 μg L⁻¹, while in effluent wastewater the concentrations were 0.22, 4.5 and 0.51 μg L⁻¹, respectively. For surface waters, concentrations up to 3.3, 4.5 and 0.72 μg L⁻¹ were found, respectively.     

氨氮浓度对活性炭深度处理工艺选择的影响

在广东省北江水源佛山段水质深度处理实验中,采用活性炭(GAC)和臭氧(O3)-生物活性炭(BAC)深度处理工艺,比较了两者对不同进水浓度下氨氮的去除效果,并对前加氯预处理工艺于氨氮的活性炭深度处理效果的影响进行了分析.结果表明:GAC和O3-BAC工艺对突发性氨氮污染具备耐冲击负荷能力.低氨氮浓度下,GAC和O3-BAC对氨氮的去除率接近(约40%),并随着进水氨氮浓度的增大而增加.两者出水中CHCl3浓度均未超标,但O3-BAC处理后的浓度更低.基于GAC工艺处理成本低于O3-BAC,建议优先采用GAC工艺.高氨氮浓度下,O3-BAC工艺除氨氮效果显著优于GAC,消毒后出水中CHCl3浓度也低于GAC的情况,建议优先采用O3-BAC工艺.若使氨氮去除率达最佳,则合适的氨氮浓度范围是:对O3-BAC工艺:0.57～0.62 mg/L,去除率高于93%.在0.43～0.62 mg/L时,去除率高于70%;对GAC工艺:0.5～0.57 mg/L,去除率介于70%～76.3%.O3-BAC工艺的适用范围宽.在合适浓度的沉淀池出水余氯下,可以在O3-BAC工艺前采用前加氯预处理工艺.     

Real-time wet scavenging of major chemical constituents of aerosols and role of rain intensity in Indian region

Real-time simultaneous studies on chemical characteristics of rainwater and PM₁₀ aerosols were carried out to understand the scavenging of major chemical components in Indian region. The concentrations of Ca²⁺, NH₄⁺, SO₄²⁻ and NO₃⁻ were observed to be lower in the aerosol samples collected during rain as compared to before and after rain events. The most significant reduction was noticed for Ca²⁺ (74%) during rain which showed highest scavenging ratio (SR) and indicated that below-cloud scavenging is an effective removal process for Ca²⁺ in Indian region. Among non-sea salt components, Ca²⁺ had highest SR at Hyderabad indicating typical characteristics of crustal influence as abundance of calcium carbonate in soil dust has been reported in India. However, the levels of these major chemical components gradually got build-up in due course of time. After rain events, the levels of SO₄²⁻ aerosols were noticed to be substantially higher (more than double) within 24 h. In general, scavenging ratios for all components (except Ca²⁺, NH₄⁺ and K⁺) were higher over BOB as compared to Hyderabad. The maximum fall in aerosol levels (BR minus AR) was observed during continuous and low intensity rain events that did not allow building up of aerosol concentrations.     

Simultaneous E. coli inactivation and NOM degradation in river water via photo-Fenton process at natural pH in solar CPC reactor. A new way for enhancing solar disinfection of natural water

Bacteria inactivation and natural organic matter oxidation in river water was simultaneously conducted via photo-Fenton reaction at “natural” pH (6.5) containing 0.6 mg L⁻¹ of Fe³⁺ and 10 mg L⁻¹ of H₂O₂. The experiments were carried out by using a solar compound parabolic collector on river water previously filtered by a slow sand filtration system and voluntarily spiked with Escherichia coli. Fifty five percent of 5.3 mg L⁻¹ of dissolved organic carbon was mineralized whereas total disinfection was observed without re-growth after 24 h in the dark.     

The dynamic development of bacterial community following long-term weathering of bauxite residue

Bauxite residue is the industrial waste generated from alumina production and commonly deposited in impoundments. These sites are bare of vegetation due to the extreme high salinity and alkalinity, as well as lack of nutrients. However, long term weathering processes could improve residue properties to support the plant establishment. Here we investigate the development of bacterial communities and the geochemical drivers in bauxite residue, using Illumina high-throughput sequencing technology. Long term weathering reduced the pH in bauxite residue and increased its nutrients content. The bacterial community also significantly developed during long term weathering processes. Taxonomic analysis revealed that natural weathering processes encouraged the populations of Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria and Planctomycetes, whereas reducing the populations of Firmicutes and Actinobacteria. Redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that total organic carbon (TOC) was the dominant factors affecting microbial structure. The results have demonstrated that natural weathering processes improved the soil development on the abandoned bauxite residue disposal areas, which also increased our understanding of the correlation between microbial variation and residue properties during natural weathering processes in Bauxite residue disposal areas.