Risk factors for elevated Enterococcus concentrations in a rural tropical island watershed

Associations were examined between riparian canopy cover, presence of cattle near streams, and month of year with the concentration of Enterococcus (Most Probable Number (MPN)/100 ml) in surface water at Waipā watershed on the North Side of the Hawaiian island Kaua'i. Each one percent decrease in riparian canopy cover was associated with a 3.6 MPN/100 ml increase of waterborne Enterococcus. Presence of cattle near monitoring sites was associated with an increase of 99.3 MPN/100 ml of Enterococcus in individual grab samples. Lastly, summer samples (July) were substantially higher in concentration of Enterococcus than winter collected samples (February) in Enterococcus in sampled streams. These results suggest that reducing canopy cover and introduction of cattle into riparian zones may contribute to increases of Enterococcus concentrations in stream water.     

典型草原不同围封年限植被-土壤系统碳氮贮量的变化

以内蒙古太仆寺旗典型草原为研究对象,研究不同围封年限下的天然草地植物和土壤有机碳、全氮贮量的变化。结果表明：与自由放牧草地相比,重度退化草地采取生长季围封恢复措施后,群落植物和土壤环境在围封8、11、14、21、25年后均得到了明显的改善,地上植物和地下根系生物量及其碳氮贮量、土壤碳氮贮量明显增加,土壤容重降低。自由放牧地和围封8、11、14、21年植物-土壤系统碳贮量分别为7 357.93、7 988.27、8 413.18、12 878.82、8 934.66 g.m-2,氮贮量分别为427.78、494.28、575.49、707.35、615.09 g.m-2。草地围封至14年植物和土壤各项理化性质达到最大值,使得植物-土壤系统的碳氮贮量分别是自由放牧地的1.75和1.65倍,说明植被与土壤间达到了良性循环的状态,退化草地正向演替。随着围封年限的继续增加,其各项指标出现下降趋势。由此可知,季节性围封措施在一定时间内可使退化草地的土壤-植物系统的碳氮贮量增加,草地在一定程度上得到恢复,但适宜的恢复时间和合理利用问题有待进一步讨论。     

Opportunities and constraints for organizations to help sustain tropical forest resources

A large number of organizations make decisions that directly or indirectly affect tropical forests. The principal constraints that affect these organizations are (1) insufficient funds; (2) insufficient knowledge about the resources and appropriate technologies; (3) institutional, cultural, and political factors; (4) inadequate communication; and (5) contradictory efforts. Opportunities for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of these organizations include (1) increasing cooperation among US government agencies; (2) redirecting international organizations; (3) increasing coordination among organizations; (4) boosting support of nongovernmental organizations and universities; (5) encouraging responsible involvement by private corporations; (6) strengthening existing organizations; and (7) creating new organizations.This article is drawn from US Congress, Office of Technology Assessment (1984), Technologies to Sustain Tropical Forest Resources, chap. 5. Other articles drawn from the OTA report are Hyman (1984a and b) and Hyman and Ross-Sheriff (1984). A larger number of organizations with activities related to tropical forestry are briefly described in the background paper (US Congress, Office of Technology Assessment 1983).     

An empirical approach to assessing generic adaptive capacity to tropical cyclone risk in coastal districts of India

Differences in impacts of climate hazards across exposed units are determined by many factors including the severity of the hazard itself, the population that is exposed to the hazard and the coping capacity of the exposed units to the hazard. Coping capacity or adaptive capacity results from a combination of development status (generic capacity) and interventions pertinent to the hazard (specific capacity). This paper explores the extent to which the generic adaptive capacity may explain the variation in tropical cyclone impacts. Therefore this paper offers an empirical approach by which adaptive capacity may be measured and validated against actual outcomes. Results not only validate the role of generic adaptive capacity in explaining variations in impact but also reveal that general development indicators are not very important as far as predicting outcomes is concerned. Those indicators of development that can be linked to the impact process are significant in explaining and predicting impact. This can help identify those aspects of generic adaptive capacity which are important from the perspective of policy action for enhancing adaptive capacity to a particular climate hazard.

Soil hydraulic response to land-use change associated with the recent soybean expansion at the Amazon agricultural frontier

Clearing for large-scale soy production and the displacement of cattle-breeding by soybeans are major features of land-use change in the lowland Amazon that can alter hydrologic properties of soils and the runoff generation over large areas. We measured infiltrability and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) under natural forest, pasture, and soybeans on Oxisols in a region of rapid soybean expansion in Mato Grosso, Brazil. The forest-pasture conversion reduced infiltrability from 1258 to 100 mm/h and Ksat at all depths. The pasture-soy conversion increased infiltrability from 100 to 469 mm/h (attributed to shallow disking), did not affect Ksat at 12.5 cm, but decreased Ksat at 30 cm from 122 to 80 mm/h, suggesting that soybean cultivation enhances subsoil compaction. Permeability decreased markedly with depth under forest, did not change under pasture, and averaged out at one fourth the forest value under soybeans with a similar pattern of anisotropy. Comparisons of permeability with rainfall intensities indicated that land-use change did not alter the predominantly vertical water movement within the soil. We conclude that this landscape is well buffered against land-use changes regarding near-surface hydrology, even though short-lived ponding and perched water tables may occur locally during high-intensity rainfall on pastures and under soybeans.     

改良剂对污染土壤上蔬菜生长及吸收重金属的影响

通过盆栽试验研究了石灰、钙镁磷肥、海泡石3种改良剂对重金属As、Cd、Pb和Zn复合污染土壤上蔬菜生长及其吸收重金属的影响,并表征了土壤有效态重金属含量、pH及脲酶活性等指标变化。研究结果表明,施加石灰和钙镁磷肥可以促进蔬菜生长,其中,石灰处理下小白菜生物量较对照提高了99.0%;石灰和钙镁磷肥处理下,西红柿茎叶生物量分别比对照提高了80.7%和82.3%。施用改良剂提高了土壤pH和脲酶活性,土壤有效态重金属含量不同程度降低,特别是海泡石的后期修复效果明显。与对照相比,石灰和钙镁磷肥处理显著降低小白菜叶中As含量,明显抑制西红柿茎叶对As、Cd和Pb的吸收(p<0.05);施加石灰明显降低小白菜叶中Cd和Pb含量(p<0.05)。然而,海泡石对抑制蔬菜吸收重金属的效果不明显。石灰和钙镁磷肥能有效抑制重金属从蔬菜根部向地上部转运,可作为重金属污染土壤上种植农作物优先考虑施用的改良剂。     

东莞市蔬菜基地蔬菜中喹诺酮类抗生素污染特征及健康风险

利用超高效液相色谱-串联质谱(UPLC-MS/MS)技术分析了东莞市蔬菜基地蔬菜中4种喹诺酮类抗生素的污染特征,并对其健康风险进行评价.结果表明,东莞市蔬菜中普遍检出喹诺酮类抗生素,以诺氟沙星和环丙沙星为主,其次是恩诺沙星,检出率均在80%以上,最高含量均大于100μg/kg(干重),平均含量近20μg/kg;不同基地和不同类型的蔬菜中喹诺酮类抗生素的含量与组成特征差异较大,总含量为叶菜类(49.87μg/kg)>根茎类(44.81μg/kg)>瓜果类(11.21μg/kg);通过食用东莞市蔬菜摄入喹诺酮类抗生素的量低于日允许摄入量,健康风险较小.     

The measurement of nitrate and nitrite content in carrots and onions sampled from central cities of Mazandaran State of Iran

Vegetables are the major source of nitrates and nitrites in human diet. Because of the potential of health hazards resulting from high intake of nitrates and nitrites, the assessment of these components in vegetables was undertaken in this study. The concentration of nitrates and nitrites in carrots and onions sampled from three central cities of Mazandaran state (Iran) was determined in 12 samples of each vegetable collected from farmlands of four geographical regions in each city using the ISO Method (NO. 6635). The average content of nitrates and nitrites in all of the samples was less than standard threshold limits. Babol-sampled carrot had significantly higher nitrate content than two other cities. On the other hand, onions which were sampled from Sari showed significantly higher content of nitrate than two other cities. Based upon the maximum levels that were specified by European Commission Regulation, data showed that the investigated vegetables were safe for consumption.     

工业区土壤和农产品镉污染状况及暴露评估

以某铅锌冶炼厂周边为研究区域,网格法采集30个表层(0～10 cm)土壤样品,对应采集46个粮食样品和69个蔬菜样品,用ICP-MS测定镉质量比。运用普通克里格法(Ordinary Krigging)预测研究区域内土壤镉质量比的空间分布,结合单因子污染指数评价土壤的镉污染级别。通过分析粮食和蔬菜的镉质量比,评估其食用安全性以及受调查居民镉的膳食暴露风险。结果表明:1)距离铅锌冶炼厂1 000m范围,或东南侧(下风向)3 000 m内土壤中镉质量比大于0.65mg.kg-1;2)研究区域土壤中镉单因子污染指数超过了警戒线(P≥1.0),个别区域受到严重污染(P=4.7);3)土壤与小麦籽粒镉质量比存在极显著正相关关系(r=0.889,p<0.01),粮食样品镉质量比超过限量标准(GB 2762—2005)的占52.2%,蔬菜样品为8.7%;4)仅以粮食和蔬菜摄入估计的THQ=0.79,对于普通人群来说,小麦、蔬菜和大豆摄入对每日镉摄入量的贡献率分别为85.1%、12.9%和2.0%。研究区域土壤2/3以上面积受到镉污染,土壤可能是小麦籽粒镉的来源之一。当地受调查人群若长期食用该地区种植的农产品,镉的膳食暴露风险在可接受的范围内,其中,小麦对镉摄入贡献最大。     

镍对蔬菜毒害临界值的研究

采用水培＋土培的方法研究了镍对蔬菜的毒害临界值。先采用水培法从18种福建常见蔬菜中筛选出对镍毒害的高敏感蔬菜,再通过土培试验确定土壤镍对高敏感蔬菜的毒害临界值。结果表明,在水培条件下镍对蔬菜生长存在低浓度的刺激效应和高浓度的抑制效应。综合表观症状和蔬菜地上部生物量降低20％的效应浓度值（EC20）确定清江白（Brassica chinensis L．）和蕹菜（Lpomoea aquatica Forsk．）为镍毒害的高敏感蔬菜。以蕹菜为指示作物的土培试验表明,随着镍添加量的增加,蕹菜地上部生物量显著下降。以土培条件下蕹菜地上部生物量降低10％为依据,确定土壤有效镍毒害临界值为2．21mg·kg^-1（DTPA提取）;根据野外采集的菜园土壤DTPA提取镍和全镍的回归关系,求得土壤全镍毒害临界值为43．67mg·kg^-1。