Multidimensional modeling of aerosol monitoring data

The present study deals with the application of N-way factor analysis for modeling and interpretation of a three-dimensional environmental data set acquired from monitoring of particulate matter (PM) collected at four different sampling locations in Lower Austria region (Central Europe). In the study the Tucker3 algorithm for N-way modeling was used. It was statistically validated that the Tucker3 model offered having the dimensionality [222] is appropriate for correct interpretation of the relationships between chemical parameters, sampling locations and sampling period. The Tucker3 model allowed to distinguish three major sources of pollution in the region of interest conditionally named “soil dust”, “combustion” and “street dust” latent factors as responsible for chemical profile of PM and to identify seasonal variability. Additionally, some specificity of the sampling locations was also pointed out.     

Leaf size and surface characteristics of Betula papyrifera exposed to elevated CO2 and O3

Betula papyrifera trees were exposed to elevated concentrations of CO₂ (1.4 × ambient), O₃ (1.2 × ambient) or CO₂ + O₃ at the Aspen Free-air CO₂ Enrichment Experiment. The treatment effects on leaf surface characteristics were studied after nine years of tree exposure. CO₂ and O₃ increased epidermal cell size and reduced epidermal cell density but leaf size was not altered. Stomatal density remained unaffected, but stomatal index increased under elevated CO₂. Cuticular ridges and epicuticular wax crystallites were less evident under CO₂ and CO₂ + O₃. The increase in amorphous deposits, particularly under CO₂ + O_3, was associated with the appearance of elongated plate crystallites in stomatal chambers. Increased proportions of alkyl esters resulted from increased esterification of fatty acids and alcohols under elevated CO₂ + O₃. The combination of elevated CO₂ and O₃ resulted in different responses than expected under exposure to CO₂ or O₃ alone.     

Toxicity and Repellency of Hot Pepper Extracts to Spider Mite,Tetranychus urticae Koch

Increasing concern about persistence and environmental impact of synthetic pesticide residues require development of biodegradable and environmentally safe alternatives. The potential of using fruit extracts of hot pepper as alternatives to synthetic acaricides for controlling the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, is explored in this study. Twenty-four Capsicum accessions (Solanaceae) were screened for their toxicity and repellency to the spider mites. Crude extracts from fruits of C. chinense, C. frutescens, C. baccatum, C. annuum, and C. pubescens were prepared in methanol and tested for their acaricidal properties. Spider mite mortality was greatest (45%) when fruit extract of accession Grif-9169 (C. annuum) was used. Results from diving board bioassays indicated that mites avoided filter paper strips treated with hot pepper extracts from accessions PI-596057 (C. baccatum), PI-195299 (C. annuum), and Grif- 9270 (C. annuum). This investigation suggests that methanolic extracts of these three accessions may have a great potential for repelling spider mites and should be field-tested on a large-scale to assess their value in managing populations of spider mites, which could reduce reliance on synthetic acaricides. An attempt was made to correlate repellency with chemical constituents of fruit extracts of the most repellent accessions to identify chemical sources of repellency. Capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin, the pungent components of pepper fruit, were not correlated with toxicity or repellency, indicating that these are not likely related to the toxicity or repellency of the pepper fruit extracts. Other, unidentified chemicals are likely responsible for toxicity and repellency to the two-spotted spider mite     

Thermal radiation from vapour cloud explosions

The current study estimates the radiation flux emitted from hot extended gas clouds characteristic of vapour cloud explosions along with the corresponding level of irradiance posed on particles suspended in the unburnt part of the cloud ahead of an advancing flame front. The data presented permits an assessment of the plausibility of combustion initiation by such particles due to forward thermal radiation. The thermal radiation will depend on the emissivity of the burned volume, which relates to the concentration of gaseous and particulate combustion products. A sensitivity analysis has been carried out to account for variations in the equivalence ratio, mixture pressure and radiative heat losses. The spatial distribution of irradiance ahead of the flame front has been computed by introducing appropriate geometrical factors to explore the impact of cloud size. Using fuel rich ethylene-air mixtures it has been shown that high flame emissivities can be achieved at path lengths of order 1 m even in the presence of very low soot volume fractions. The emissivity of gas-soot mixtures will hence be mainly determined by the soot concentration and to a lesser extent by the mixture temperature. Our analysis suggests that the role of forward thermal radiation as a contributing factor to flame propagation in large scale vapour cloud explosions can not currently be ruled out.     

2011年春季沙尘天气影响下上海大气颗粒物及其化学组分的变化特征

于2011年4月28日~5月18日对上海大气中颗粒物的质量浓度及细粒子中的化学组分进行了连续观测,获得了上海受春季沙尘天气影响下大气颗粒物质量浓度和主要化学组分特征.结果表明,沙尘天气中PM10和PM2.5的质量浓度显著高于非沙尘天,最高日均浓度分别达到787.2μg·m-3和139.5μg·m-3,PM2.5/PM10的均值为(32.9±14.6)%(15.6%~85.1%);总水溶性无机离子(TWSⅡ)占PM2.5的质量分数为(27.2±19.2)%(4.8%~80.8%),二次组分SNA(SO2-4、NO-3、NH+4)占TWSⅡ的(76.9±13.9)%(41.9%~94.2%),TWSⅡ和SNA对PM2.5的贡献均小于非沙尘天,而Ca2+的含量比却有明显上升.非沙尘天测得的OC/EC值高于强沙尘天,但低于弱沙尘天.此外分析还得到,沙尘中的高矿尘粒子具有酸性缓冲作用,使得沙尘天颗粒的碱性强于沙尘发生前.非沙尘天SO2-4、NO-3主要以NH4HSO4、(NH4)2SO4和NH4NO3的形式存在,沙尘天还会与其他矿物离子结合.     

油田区土壤石油烃组分残留特性研究

为了揭示石油开采区土壤石油烃组成及残留特性,探讨石油污染物的来源与风化程度,采集了胜利油田孤岛和河口采油区共5口油井周边土壤样品及原油样品,利用气相色谱-质谱联用仪(GC-MS)分析原油及土壤样品中的链烷烃(正烷烃+姥鲛烷+植烷)及多环芳烃(polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,PAHs)共51种石油烃单体的含量.结果表明,与原油相比,油田区土壤总提取物中链烷烃与PAHs所占的比例明显偏低;土壤石油烃的组分构成与原油相比,链烷烃中碳数小于12的正烷烃比例明显降低,而高碳数正烷烃比例增加.选择正十八烷/植烷作为指示土壤风化程度的标志,利用主成分分析(principal component analysis,PCA)法分析其与土壤中各石油烃组分的关系,结果显示碳数大于33的正烷烃与中环芳香烃具有高残留性.利用主成分分析综合分析用于土壤石油烃来源识别的4个指标,结果表明,土壤中的石油烃具有明显的原油"指纹".研究结果为油田土壤污染特性的认识提供了依据与基础.     

河蚬（Corbicula fluminea）扰动对表层沉积物中氨氧化菌群落结构和丰度的影响

为研究不同生物量河蚬(Corbicula fluminea)的生物扰动对表层沉积物中氨氧化菌群落结构和丰度的影响,本研究设计了沉积物-水微宇宙的模拟体系,通过构建克隆文库、实时荧光定量PCR(real-time qPCR)等分子生物学方法比较不同密度河蚬扰动的沉积物中氨氧化古菌(ammonia-oxidizing archaea,AOA)和氨氧化细菌(ammonia-oxidizing bacteria,AOB)群落结构和丰度差异.结果表明,河蚬的生物扰动作用对表层沉积物氮素释放有明显的促进作用.氨氧化菌(AOA和AOB)amoA基因克隆文库中,AOA的amoA基因序列包含了已知的海洋和土壤环境中的两个分支,AOB的amoA基因绝大部分序列都属于变形菌门β亚纲(β-Proteobacteria)中的亚硝化单细胞菌属(Nitrosomonas).3个处理组表层沉积物中细菌amoA基因丰度均高于古菌amoA基因丰度,且河蚬密度越高则细菌amoA的丰度越低.同时,河蚬的添加使得微宇宙体系中氨氧化菌(AOA和AOB)的多样性降低.综上,河蚬的生物扰动对表层沉积物中氨氧化菌群落结构和丰度产生了一定的影响.     

夏季珠江三角洲地区PM2.5化学组分特征及其对大气能见度的影响

于2010年夏季在珠三角主要城市广州、佛山、东莞、深圳、珠海以及广州郊区从化同步采集PM2.5样品,利用热光反射碳分析仪和离子色谱分别分析样品中有机碳/元素碳和水溶性离子浓度,并同步收集能见度和气象数据.在此基础上对珠三角主要城市大气PM2.5中主要化学成分的浓度水平和空间分布特征进行分析,并利用IMPROVE方程重建大气消光系数,探讨PM2.5的主要化学组分对大气能见度的影响.结果发现,观测期间珠三角地区PM2.5中的主要化学成分空间分布特征明显,广州、佛山和东莞浓度较高,珠海和深圳浓度较低.(NH4)2SO4、有机物(OM)、EC和NH4NO3对夏季珠三角大气消光系数贡献率分别为39%、31%、12%和13%.     

Gemini1231双季铵盐选择性抑制赤潮生物生长的实验

以甲藻门的东海原甲藻、塔玛亚历山大藻、裸甲藻,黄藻门的赤潮异弯藻,硅藻门的中肋骨条藻等典型赤潮生物以及绿藻门的青岛大扁藻和亚心形扁藻2种非赤潮生物为研究对象,探讨了Gemini1231双季铵盐类表面活性剂的抑藻活性.结果表明,该表面活性剂在较低浓度下(0.2～0.5 mg·L^-1时),对东海原甲藻、塔玛亚历山大藻和赤潮异湾藻等赤潮生物的生长表现出了明显的抑制作用.当该双季铵盐的浓度增至0.5 mg·L^-1以上时,对中肋骨条藻的生长也表现出了一定的抑制作用.而在相同浓度范围内,对裸甲藻和所选用的2种非赤潮生物生长的影响不明显,表现出了抑藻作用的选择性.对各海洋微藻的脂肪酸组成分析表明,该表面活性剂的选择性抑藻作用与不同海洋微藻生物膜的脂肪酸组成,尤其是其多不饱和脂肪酸的含量明显相关.     

Use of Community‐Composition Data to Predict the Fecundity and Abundance of Species

Abstract: Species distribution models are critical tools for the prediction of invasive species spread and conservation of biodiversity. The majority of species distribution models have been built with environmental data. Community ecology theory suggests that species co‐occurrence data could also be used to predict current and potential distributions of species. Species assemblages are the products of biotic and environmental constraints on the distribution of individual species and as a result may contain valuable information for niche modeling. We compared the predictive ability of distribution models of annual grassland plants derived from either environmental or community‐composition data. Composition‐based models were built with the presence or absence of species at a site as predictors of site quality, whereas environment‐based models were built with soil chemistry, moisture content, above‐ground biomass, and solar radiation as predictors. The reproductive output of experimentally seeded individuals of 4 species and the abundance of 100 species were used to evaluate the resulting models. Community‐composition data were the best predictors of both the site‐specific reproductive output of sown individuals and the site‐specific abundance of existing populations. Successful community‐based models were robust to omission of data on the occurrence of rare species, which suggests that even very basic survey data on the occurrence of common species may be adequate for generating such models. Our results highlight the need for increased public availability of ecological survey data to facilitate community‐based modeling at scales relevant to conservation.