Hunting Increases Dispersal Limitation in the Tree Carapa procera, a Nontimber Forest Product

Abstract:  The sustainability of seed extraction from natural populations has been questioned recently. Increased recruitment failure under intense seed harvesting suggests that seed extraction intensifies source limitation. Nevertheless, areas where more seeds are collected tend to also have more intense hunting of seed-dispersing animals. We studied whether such hunting, by limiting disperser activity, could cause quantitative dispersal limitation, especially for large crops and for crops in years of high seed abundance. In each of four Carapa procera (Meliaceae) populations in French Guiana and Surinam, two with hunting and two without, we compared seed fate for individual trees varying in crop size in years of high and low population-level seed abundance. Carapa seeds are a nontimber forest product and depend on dispersal by scatter-hoarding rodents for survival and seedling establishment. Hunting negatively affected the proportion of seeds dispersed and caused greater numbers of seeds to germinate or be infested by moths below parent trees, where they would likely die. Hunting of seed-dispersing animals disproportionally affected large seed crops, but we found no additional effect of population-level seed abundance on dispersal rates. Consistently lower rates of seed dispersal, especially for large seed crops, may translate to lower levels of seedling recruitment under hunting. Our results therefore suggest that the subsistence hunting that usually accompanies seed collection is at the cost of seed dispersal and may contribute to recruitment failure of these nontimber forest products. Seed extraction from natural populations may affect seedling recruitment less if accompanied by measures adequately incorporating and protecting seed dispersers.     

Occurence and Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Ankara Precipitation

Urban atmospheric environment contains many trace organic pollutants that are related to the incomplete fuel combustion in domestic heating, industrial plants and automobile traffic. Removal of these pollutants from the atmosphere takes place through wet and dry deposition as well as chemical transformations. In this study, concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in wet deposition samples were determined at an urban site of Turkey. Wet and dry deposition samples were collected using Andersen Rain Sampler. The sampler was modified accordingly for the collection of organic pollutants. Collected samples were preconcentrated by using solid phase extraction (SPE) disks and consecutively analyzed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Among the 13 compounds quantified in this study, anthracene, fluoranthene, and pyrene were found more frequently and at elevated concentrations (202, 271 and 260 ng L^-1 mean concentrations, respectively).Concentrations of PAHs were found to be high in winter period.     

火龙果果皮色素的提取及稳定性研究

研究了火龙果果皮色素提取的最佳条件、提取液的稳定性和各种添加剂对提取液稳定性的影响。     

基于决策树的辽宁省北部沙漠化信息提取研究

以沙漠化问题较突出的辽宁省北部地区为例,选取2007年Landsat 5 TM遥感影像作为基本数据源,通过对影像中耕地、林地、草地、水域等常见地物及典型沙漠化土地进行光谱特征分析和波段间的相互运算,将修改型土壤调整植被指数（MSAVI）、归一化差异水体指数（NDWI）和遥感图像缨帽变换后的土壤亮度指数（SBI）、绿度植被指数（GVI）及湿度指数（WVI）等特征变量融入决策树分类模型后进行分层分离,从而实现对沙漠化信息的高精度提取。结果显示,决策树分类法可排除提取地物时的干扰信息,是保证沙漠化土地信息快速自动提取的方法之一。     

Comparison of Soil Extraction Isotherms of Soil Samples Saturated With Nonpolar Liquids

In multiphase systems capillary pressures play a significant role on fluid movement and retention. The facility to predict the effect of different thermal remediation strategies requires the knowledge of the effect of temperature on capillary pressure-saturation relationships in the soils. The objective of recent study was (a) to develop a technique for routinely measuring the pressure-saturation curves of soil samples saturated with a nonpolar liquid at different regulated temperatures (b) to build a database using the measured pressure-saturation curves and the physical, chemical properties of the model soils (c) to establish the dependence of nonaqueous phase liquid retention on the soil properties and the temperature. The retention curves (extraction isotherms) with nonaqueous phase liquid were determined using a modified pressure plate extractor. The wetting phase was a non-aromatic hydrocarbon distillation product. Pressure plates were designed and constructed in the laboratory of our department. The temperature was held constant at 20, 40 and 60 ^∘C. Statistical analysis was performed involving selected soil parameters and the measured nonaqueous phase liquid retention data. The results show that knowing some easily measurable soil parameters (bulk density, particle size distribution, humus and lime content) we can estimate the nonaqueous phase liquid retention of the soils. The measured “extraction isotherms” provide essential information about the temperature-dependency of pressure-saturation curves.     

Effects of Acid Rain on Competitive Releases of Cd, Cu, and Zn from Two Natural Soils and Two Contaminated Soils in Hunan, China

Leaching experiments of rebuilt soil columns with two simulated acid rain solutions (pH 4.6–3.8) were conducted for two natural soils and two artificial contaminated soils from Hunan, south-central China, to study effects of acid rain on competitive releases of soil Cd, Cu, and Zn. Distilled water was used in comparison. The results showed that the total releases were Zn>Cu>Cd for the natural soils and Cd>Zn≫Cu for the contaminated soils, which reflected sensitivity of these metals to acid rain. Leached with different acid rain, about 26–76% of external Cd and 11–68% external Zn were released, but more than 99% of external Cu was adsorbed by the soils, and therefore Cu had a different sorption and desorption pattern from Cd and Zn. Metal releases were obviously correlated with releases of TOC in the leachates, which could be described as an exponential equation. Compared with the natural soils, acid rain not only led to changes in total metal contents, but also in metal fraction distributions in the contaminated soils. More acidified soils had a lower sorption capacity to metals, mostly related to soil properties such as pH, organic matter, soil particles, adsorbed SO₄ ²⁻, exchangeable Al³⁺ and H⁺, and contents of Fe₂O₃ and Al₂O₃.     

土壤中硫的形态分析及其测定方法研究进展

本文对土壤中硫的形态分析与测定方法,从无机硫,有机硫,总硫,以及硫的系统分析方法,硫的检测几个方面进行了综述,对各种方法进行了客观的评价,指出了尚待于解决的问题,并对今后的研究进行了展望。     

城市污泥好氧堆肥过程中重金属的形态变化

污泥中重金属的含量和各重金属的生物有效性是污泥农业利用的重要限制因素.本研究对城市污泥进行了堆肥化处理,并采集不同阶段样品,通过顺序浸提法对样品中不同形态的重金属进行提取,分别利用原子吸收分光光度计测定Zn、Cu、Ni、Pb、Cd含量、分光光度法测定Cr和As含量.研究结果发现,与现有国际及我国污泥农用标准比较,所研究污泥中重金属含量均未超过允许的水平.污泥堆肥中Cu、Ni、Cd、Cr主要以残渣态形式存在,Cu、Ni、Pb、Cd四种重金属元素的可氧化态含量也相对较高,除Cd外,经过堆肥化处理后所有重金属的有效态含量均呈下降趋势,因此,堆肥可以促进污泥中的重金属稳定化,降低土壤的污染风险.     

Concentrations and chemical forms of potentially toxic metals in road-deposited sediments from different zones of Hangzhou, China

The 25 road-deposited sediments were collected from five different land-use zones (industrial, residential, commercial, park, and countryside) in Hangzhou, China. The concentrations of metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in these samples were determined using the ICP-AES after digestion with the mixture of HNO3-HF-HCl (aqua regia), and chemically fractionated using the modified BCR (the European Community Bureau of Reference) sequential extraction procedure. The highest metal concentration level was detected in the sample from industrial zone and commercial zone having heavy traffic. While the lowest metal level was noted in the street dust sample from residential zone, park, and countryside zone. The mobility sequence based on the sum of the BCR sequential extraction stages was: Zn (80.28%), Pb (78.68%), Cd (77.66%) ＞ Cu (73.34%) ＞ Mn (67.92%) ＞ Co (41.66%) ＞ Ni (30.36%) ＞ Cr (21.56%), Fe (20.86%). Correlation analysis and principal component analysis were applied to the data matrix to evaluate the analytical results and to identify the possible pollution sources of metals. Factor analysis showed that these areas were mainly contaminated by three sources, namely lithology, traffic, and industry.     

液液萃取-气相色谱/串联质谱法测定水中五氯酚及其钠盐

采用液液萃取处理水样,用气相色谱-串联质谱法测定样品中五氯酚及其钠盐,通过优化测定条件,使方法在1.00μg/L～500μg/L范围内线性良好.检出限和定量限分别为1.00μg/L和5.00μg/L,空白水样五氯酚钠3个质量浓度水平的加标回收率为89.8％～98.4％,5次平行试验测定结果的RSD为5.5％～10.7％...