Distribution of radionuclides in the guano sediments of Xisha Islands, South China Sea and its implication

Several natural and anthropogenic radionuclides (²¹⁰Pb, ²²⁶Ra and ¹³⁷Cs) in guano-phosphatic coral sediments and pure guano particles collected from Ganquan, Guangjin, Jinqing and Jinyin Islands of the Xisha archipelago, South China Sea, were analyzed. The Constant Initial Concentration (CIC) model and the Constant Rate of Supply (CRS) model were applied for age calculation. The average supply rate of ²¹⁰Pb was 126 Bq m⁻² a⁻¹, very close to the flux of northern hemisphere average (125 Bq m⁻² a⁻¹). The activities of anthropogenic radionuclides in the sediments were very low, indicating that human nuclear tests did not notably impact this region. The main source of radionuclides in the sediments was from atmospheric precipitation, and the organic matter derived from plant and produced by nutrient-rich guano could further enhance them.     

洪湖历史时期人类活动的湖泊沉积环境响应

以洪湖北部和南部两个短柱钻孔(HN和HS)研究湖泊沉积,采用137Cs定年,沉积速率为0.155 cm/a。沉积物的总有机碳、总氮、磷以及元素和磁化率等指标分析表明：1840年前洪湖地区人类活动较弱,在湖泊沉积物中基本没有早期的人类活动信号的记录;1840年以后由于人口大量增加,人类活动增强,湖泊的营养水平有所增加,尤其是1950年以来沉积物中营养元素急剧增加;近50年来的湖泊营养程度的加重主要与流域内大量营养物质进入湖泊,以及大面积的围垦造成湖泊面积减小、自我调节能力降低有关。洪湖两孔的对比研究表明,不同区域之间存在着差异,可能与洪湖湖流作用及人类活动的影响差异有关。     

高原浅水湖泊沉积物中磷、氮形态化学研究

以滇池马村湾和海东湾为研究对象,对其沉积物－间隙水－上覆水三界面中的磷、氮形态作研究,其中钙结合态磷占的比例最大,其次是有机/细菌聚合态磷和残渣磷;总氮含量很高,平均值为2.63 mg/g,而亚硝酸盐氮含量很低,其它三种无机氮形态（硝酸盐氮、亚硝酸盐氮和氨氮）之间并不存在恒定的化学计量关系,这主要是无机氮循环还受水体和沉积物中有机氮的影响。调查还表明沉积物中Fe P含量与间隙水中溶解性磷酸盐磷有着较好的线性关系,沉积物中Fe P含量与间隙水Eh呈对数关系。     

Effect of water pH and total dissolved solids on the species diversity of pelagic zooplankton in lakes: A statistical analysis

Statistical analysis of the combined influence of lake surface area (S), water pH, and total dissolved solids (TDS) on the formation of zooplankton communities in lakes has been made on the basis of available data on the number of species (N _sp ) of pelagic zooplankton in 256 lakes of the temperate zone of Europe, Asia, and North America. Graphic analysis and analysis of variance have shown that extremely high or extremely low values of pH and TDS inhibit lake zooplankton. If the value of one of these factors is extremely high, any increase in the other factor is favorable for the inhibited zooplankton, and this second factor determines the value of N _sp .     

促进江湖联系的闸口调度对策及影响区管理机制

我国传统的修堤建闸、抵御洪水的治河理念,阻断了江湖联系,造成湿地的生态萎缩。为改善湿地的生态环境,保护湿地的生物多样性,提出了新的多目标闸口调度机制,替代传统的、以防洪抗旱为目的的调度机制,力求促进江湖联系,增加湿地活力;为保障该机制的运行和实施,提出了闸口调度影响区的管理办法;并以涨渡湖为例进行了讨论。     

Trans-boundary air pollution over remote islands in Japan: observed data and estimates from a numerical model

Observations of air pollutants were conducted in remote Japanese islands (Oki Island and Okinawa Island) in early spring to clarify the extent of trans-boundary air pollution from the Asian continent. A three-dimensional Eulerian model calculation, which included parameters on emission, transport and transformation of sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and ammonia, was performed to compile sulfate isosurface concentrations over the observational sites. Concentrations of non-sea-salt sulfate (nss-SO₄²⁻) of greater than 10 μg m⁻³ were observed at Oki after the northeastward passage of low-pressure systems in the Sea of Japan. At these times, the weather showed a typical winter pattern and air pollutants over China were transported southeastward to Japan with the northwesterly wind. The model calculation reproduced the observed variations of nss-SO₄²⁻ concentration well, except for one case in which the model calculation could not reproduce the extremely low nss-SO₄²⁻ concentration observed on 8 March. In Hedo (Okinawa Island), we observed long-lasting (3 days) medium concentrations of nss-SO₄²⁻ (approximately 5 μg m⁻³). Although the model reproduced these observed medium concentrations well, in general the observed results were reproduced better for Oki than for Hedo. Under the synoptic weather conditions of early spring, high concentrations of nss-sulfate were sometimes transported to these remote Japanese islands from areas of continental Asia with a strong outflow of air pollutants.     

Comprehensive assessment of toxic metals in urban and suburban street deposited sediments (SDSs) in the biggest metropolitan area of China

A set of toxic metals, i.e. As, Hg, Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Ni and Cr, in urban and suburban SDSs were investigated comparatively in the biggest metropolitan area of China, Shanghai. Results showed that all of the metals except As were accumulated greatly, much higher than background values. Geo-accumulation index indicated that metal contamination in urban SDSs was generally heavier than that in suburban SDSs. Potential ecological risk index demonstrated that overall risks caused by metals were considerable. Cd contributed 52% to the overall risk. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed that in urban SDSs, Zn, Ni, Cd, Pb, Cu and Cr were related to traffic and industry; coal combustion led to elevated levels of Hg; soil parent materials controlled As contents. In suburban SDSs, Pb, Cu, As and Cd largely originated from traffic pollution; Zn, Ni and Cr were associated with industrial contaminants; Hg was mainly from domestic solid waste.     

浅谈姜堰市溱湖湿地生态保护与对策研究

近年来,姜堰市日益加剧的人类活动和资源开发,影响了溱湖湿地的生态保护。在分析溱湖湿地资源现状的基础上,指出存在的问题,并提出相应的对策建议。     

Mobility of Cd and Cu in formulated sediments coated with iron hydroxides and/or humic acids: a DGT and DGT-PROFS modeling approach

The diffusive gradients technique in thin films (DGT) was used to investigate the kinetic resupply of Cd and Cu to pore water from the solid phase. For the sake of simplification, experiments were performed using formulated sediments that differed in the presence or absence of humic acids (HA) and/or of iron hydroxides (i.e., goethite and ferrihydrite). The effects of the time after the contamination of the solid phase (aging effect) on formulated sediments that were coated with goethite and HA and spiked with Cd were also evaluated. Kinetic DGT results were interpreted using the newly developed, multi-compartmental model DGT-PROFS.Due to Cu humate formation, the addition of HA slightly increased the Cu concentration in the pore water independent of the effect of the iron hydroxide coating on the formulated sediments and slightly decreased that of Cd. The impact of 8-190 d of aging resulted in a significant decrease in the Cd concentration of the pore water over an increasing incubation time.Modeling our results with DGT-PROFS led to the following conclusions concerning the impact of HA and iron hydroxides on Cd and Cu availability. First, in the presence of HA and absence of iron hydroxides, Cd is associated mainly with weak sites, while Cu is bound to strong sites. Similarly, in the presence of both iron hydroxides and HA, Cu appeared to be more heavily associated with the strong sites than did Cd. When the incubation time increased from 8 to 190 d, a proportion of Cd initially adsorbed onto weak sites transferred to the strong sites, suggesting that the adsorption of Cd on sediments is controlled partially by slow kinetic processes.     

Decline of traditional rice farming constrains the recovery of the endangered Asian crested ibis (Nipponia nippon)

Traditional agriculture benefits a rich diversity of plants and animals. The winter-flooded rice fields in the Qinling Mountains, China, are the last refuge for the endangered Asian crested ibis (Nipponia nippon), and intensive efforts have been made to protect this anthropogenic habitat. Analyses of multi-temporal satellite data indicate that winter-flooded rice fields have been continuously reduced across the current range of crested ibis during the past two decades. The rate of loss of these fields in the core-protected areas has unexpectedly increased to a higher level than that in non-protected areas in the past decade. The best fit (R² = 0.87) numerical response model of the crested ibis population shows that a reduction of winter-flooded rice fields decreases population growth and predicts that the population growth will be constrained by the decline of traditional winter-flooded rice fields in the coming decades. Our findings suggest that the decline of traditional rice farming is likely to continue to pose a threat to the long-term survival and recovery of the crested ibis population in China.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0649-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.