Quantifying Plant Population Persistence in Human-Dominated Landscapes

Abstract:  We assessed population performance of rare plants across a gradient from rural to urban landscapes and evaluated 2 hypotheses central to strategic conservation planning: (1) population performance declines with increasing human dominance and (2) small populations perform poorly relative to larger ones. Assessing these hypotheses is critical to strategic conservation planning. The current conservation paradigm adheres to the well-established ecology theory that small isolated populations, particularly those in human-dominated landscapes, are the least likely to succeed over the long term. Consequently, conservation planning has strongly favored large, remote targets for protection. This shift in conservation toward ecosystem-based programs and protection of populations within large, remote systems has been at the expense of protection of the rarest of the rare species, the dominant paradigm for conservation driven by the endangered species act. Yet, avoiding conservation of small populations appears to be based more on theoretical understanding and expert opinion than empiricism. We used Natural Heritage data from California in an assessment of population performance of rare plants across a landscape with an urban-rural gradient. Population performance did not decrease in urban settings or for populations that were initially small. Our results are consistent with a pattern of few species extinctions within these landscapes over the past several decades. We conclude that these populations within compromised landscapes can contribute to overall biodiversity conservation. We further argue that conservation planning for biodiversity preservation should allocate relatively more resources to protecting urban-associated plant taxa because they may provide conservation benefit beyond simply protecting isolated populations; they may be useful in building social interest in conservation.     

An overview of the methods used in the characterisation of natural organic matter (NOM) in relation to drinking water treatment

Natural organic matter (NOM) is found in all surface, ground and soil waters. During recent decades, reports worldwide show a continuing increase in the color and NOM of the surface water, which has an adverse affect on drinking water purification. For several practical and hygienic reasons, the presence of NOM is undesirable in drinking water. Various technologies have been proposed for NOM removal with varying degrees of success. The properties and amount of NOM, however, can significantly affect the process efficiency. In order to improve and optimise these processes, the characterisation and quantification of NOM at different purification and treatment processes stages is important. It is also important to be able to understand and predict the reactivity of NOM or its fractions in different steps of the treatment. Methods used in the characterisation of NOM include resin adsorption, size exclusion chromatography (SEC), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy. The amount of NOM in water has been predicted with parameters including UV-Vis, total organic carbon (TOC), and specific UV-absorbance (SUVA). Recently, methods by which NOM structures can be more precisely determined have been developed; pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS), multidimensional NMR techniques, and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS). The present review focuses on the methods used for characterisation and quantification of NOM in relation to drinking water treatment.     

"十三五"国家自然科学基金对能源环境管理领域的资助状况和趋势

能源环境管理是各界关注的热点话题,也是科学研究的重要方向.以国家自然科学基金资助能源环境管理领域的科研项目为基础数据信息,本文重点分析了"十三五"期间国家自然科学基金在该领域资助项目的总体特征、研究主题和热点变化,并结合新时代科学基金资助导向提出了可能的发展趋势.主要结论包括:①能源环境管理领域面上、青年、地区等自由探索类项目的立项绝对数和学科占比均呈上升趋势,并更多向青年学者倾斜,资助强度保持稳定;②碳、能源和环境是自由探索项目中出现频率最高的热词,与之相关的研究主题随着政策等调整具有动态变化特征;③能源环境管理领域重点、重大等引导类项目和优青、杰青、创新研究群体等人才类项目不断实现突破,增速明显,学科占比优势突出;④问题导向与本土情景、理论体系和一般规律、学科交叉融合,以及市场和微观主体作用是研究选题确立与项目申请时可能需要重点关注的方向.     

北京地区林木、植被排放碳氢化合物的定性监测

为了研究大气中碳氢化合物的天然来源,采用封闭式采样和气相色谱法,对北京的主要树种(杨树、柳树、松树、柏树等)以及草地和稻田(在水稻生长旺期)进行了碳氢化合物的排放情况调查。发现北京的杨树、柳树、槐树(落叶乔木)主要排放异戊二烯化合物;松树、柏树(针叶林木)排放萜烯类化合物;草地和稻田排放甲烷等低碳化合物。以上结果与国外工作结论近似。      

大体积水中痕量POPs的联动采集装置及其性能评价

天然水体中的痕量持久性有机污染物(POPs)的定量分析通常需要采集大体积水样.针对大体积水样在过滤和吸附富集过程中滤膜易堵塞且耗时费力的缺点,研制了一种固液分离过滤-吸附富集联动装置.该装置主要由粗过滤器、离心分离屏、倒置微孔过滤器、固相吸附柱、流速控制阀和真空泵组成.与传统的滤膜过滤方式相比,其过滤效率提高了约1.5...     

水生野生动物自然保护区河流生态系统服务功能价值评价——以长江湖北宜昌中华鲟自然保护区为例

论文根据长江湖北宜昌中华鲟自然保护区的特点,尝试对保护区所在江段河流生态系统服务价值建立了评价体系,主要对该保护区河流生态系统服务价值中的直接使用价值和间接使用价值进行了评估。结果表明:保护区生态功能服务年总价值为59 920×104元,以间接使用价值为主要体现,占总价值的66.4%。间接价值中以珍稀水生野生动物(中华鲟、胭脂鱼)的保护价值最高,为27 290×104元/年,占总价值的45.54%,远远超过了其科研价值(410×104元/年)。表明保护区的建立对珍稀水生野生动物保护及其特有生境的保存、产卵栖息地保留方面具有重要意义,但政府应加强科研投入。     

Advanced molecular-fingerprinting analysis of dissolved organic sulfur by electrospray ionization-Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry using optimal spray solvent

Molecular level characterization of dissolved organic sulfur(DOS) by electrospray ionizationFourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry(ESI-FTICR MS) is necessary for further understanding of the role of DOS in the environment. Here, ESI spray solvent, a key parameter for ion production during ESI process, was investigated for its effect on the molecular characterization of DOS by ESI-FTICR MS. 100% MeOH as spray solvent was found for the first time to remarkably enhance the ioni...     

环境风作用下弧形立面机场航站楼自然排烟效果的数值模拟研究

机场航站楼公共区域多采用自然排烟方式,而环境风和排烟窗控制模式会影响排烟效果,尤其在弧形立面航站楼中影响效果显著。以某弧形立面航站楼为研究对象,选取候机指廊弧形区域的自然排烟窗分3段控制启闭,进而确定6种控制模式,采用FDS火灾动力学模拟软件研究了不同模式下的排烟效果,获得了环境风和发烟量对危险到达时间的影响规律,提出了排烟窗控制模式流程。结果表明:对于弧形立面航站楼而言,排烟窗分段控制模式下的排烟效果优于不分段控制模式,可以有效降低环境风对自然排烟的影响。当环境风速超过10 m/s时,须关闭迎风向排烟窗,避免烟气倒灌。在法向环境风作用的不利条件下,当发烟量在0.05～0.20之间时,危险到达时间的最大值t_max与发烟量x满足一次函数关系式:t_max=-3018x+1030.5。     

The effects of adaptation measures on hurricane induced property losses: Which FEMA investments have the highest returns?

This paper evaluates the relative effectiveness of FEMA expenditures on hurricane induced property losses. We find that spending on FEMA ex-ante mitigation and planning projects leads to greater reductions in property losses than spending on ex-post adaptation programs – specifically, a one percent increase in annual spending on ex-ante risk reduction and warning projects reduces damages by 0.21 percent while a one percent increase in ex-post recovery and clean-up spending reduces damages by 0.12. Although both types of program spending are effective, we find the marginal return from spending on programs that target long-term mitigation and risk management to be almost twice that of spending on ex-post recovery programs. With the predicted increases in the frequency and severity of North Atlantic hurricanes in the future, our findings suggest there are important potential gains that could be realized from the further diversification of FEMA spending across project categories.     

Analysis of crater formation in buried NG pipelines: A survey based on past accidents and evaluation of domino effect

The formation of a crater by the abrupt and catastrophic rupture of a high-pressure pipeline can be highly relevant, especially when the crater uncovers other pipelines, which could undergo a domino effect with a significant increase of the consequences on people or on the environment. However, this scenario has been only partially studied in the literature. To assess the influence of the pipeline parameters on the dimensions of the resulting crater, a statistical analysis of accidental ruptures of buried natural gas pipelines that have involved the formation of a crater was carried out. Mathematical expressions are proposed to describe the proportionality relationships found, which can be very useful to support adequate separation distances in the design and construction of parallel corridors of pipelines after appropriate escalating effects are considered. Finally, detailed event trees were developed to calculate the probability of occurrence of the final outcomes, as well as the identified domino sequences, based on a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data. The study of these accident scenarios, based on actual cases, represents a useful and needed advance in risk analysis of natural gas transportation through pipelines.