Lead in particulate deposits and in leaves of roadside plants, Karachi, Pakistan

Lead concentrations were determined for particulates which were deposited during one year on the leaves of roadside plants in Karachi. The particulates were collected from the leaves at a height of one metre. The lead accumulated by the leaves of different species was also measured. A statistically significant correlation was found between the number of passing petrol driven vehicles and the lead concentration in the deposits at different designated sites. However, no significant correlation was found between the concentration in the deposits and the lead accumulated by the leaves. A lead concentration of 30.00±6.6 ppm was recorded as the highest concentration in the particulate deposits, while maximum lead accumulated by the leaves was noted as 3.12±1.09 ppm.     

Exotic gene expression in transgenic plants as a tool for monitoring environmental pollution

Environmental monitoring can benefit from the application of molecular and biochemical techniques as biomarkers. In principle, molecular biomarkers may have some advantage over more classical, organismal level markers because of their sensitivity, efficiency and reproducibility. Nevertheless, some disadvantages such as the cost, resource requirements and lack of specificity have limited their widespread use. Molecular genetics and recombinant DNA technologies, however, allow to improve simplicity and cost, together with reliability, efficiency and sensitivity, of molecular biomarkers. The stress inducible promoter of the barley gene Hvhspl7, which is induced by a number of environmental stress (including some heavy metals), has been fused to the reporter gene GUS in a plasmid. This plasmid was used for stable transformation of tobacco. Some of the transgenic plants obtained after selection showed enhanced GUS expression after exposure to some heavy metals. Maintenance of the plants for three generations, and the analysis of the response to treatments, suggest that these transgenic plants may be utilised as an affordable biomarker for monitoring heavy metal pollution.     

Quantifying and mapping species threat abatement opportunities to support national target setting

The successful implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity's post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework will rely on effective translation of targets from global to national level and increased engagement across diverse sectors of society. Species conservation targets require policy support measures that can be applied to a diversity of taxonomic groups, that link action targets to outcome goals, and that can be applied to both global and national data sets to account for national context, which the species threat abatement and restoration (STAR) metric does. To test the flexibility of STAR, we applied the metric to vascular plants listed on national red lists of Brazil, Norway, and South Africa. The STAR metric uses data on species’ extinction risk, distributions, and threats, which we obtained from national red lists to quantify the contribution that threat abatement and habitat restoration activities could make to reducing species’ extinction risk. Across all 3 countries, the greatest opportunity for reducing plant species’ extinction risk was from abating threats from agricultural activities, which could reduce species’ extinction risk by 54% in Norway, 36% in South Africa, and 29% in Brazil. Species extinction risk could be reduced by a further 21% in South Africa by abating threats from invasive species and by 21% in Brazil by abating threats from urban expansion. Even with different approaches to red-listing among countries, the STAR metric yielded informative results that identified where the greatest conservation gains could be made for species through threat-abatement and restoration activities. Quantifiably linking local taxonomic coverage and data collection to global processes with STAR would allow national target setting to align with global targets and enable state and nonstate actors to measure and report on their potential contributions to species conservation.     

陕西省城镇污水处理厂进出水中主要离子与重点元素分布特征

污水处理厂出水中主要离子和重点元素的浓度特征及去除效果会影响受纳水体的盐度、碱度等指标,从而影响河湖的生态服务功能,但是这方面的研究长期以来未得到充分关注。在陕西省全境选择51家城镇污水处理厂,测定进水和出水中的钾、钙、钠、镁、氟、氯和硫酸根离子,以及铁、锰、硼、钼、锶等重点元素的浓度。测定结果显示:陕西省城镇污水处理厂进水和出水中的阳离子以钠离子为主,其次是钙、镁离子,钾离子浓度最低;阴离子中,氯离子浓度最大,其次为硫酸根离子。就总离子浓度而言,陕北和关中地区污水处理厂进水的离子浓度普遍高于陕南地区。相关性分析结果显示:在污水处理厂进水中,钠、氟、氯、镁及硫酸根离子相互之间均呈现显著正相关关系;铁、锰在进水中没有表现出明显的相关关系,而在出水中呈现显著的正相关关系。污水处理厂仅能够处理污水中少量的氟、钾和镁离子。铁元素和锰元素在经过污水处理厂的处理后,浓度有所升高。此研究的研究结果可为河湖水化学组成管理决策提供参考。     

富营养化浅水湖泊稳态转换理论与生态恢复探讨

从清水稳态与浊水稳态转换的过程、稳态阈值、稳态恢复力等方面介绍了浅水湖泊的稳态转换理论,总结了浊水稳态与清水稳态恢复力的影响因素,以及清水稳态与浊水稳态相互转换的驱动力,分析了富营养化引起的植物群落演替和稳态转换的过程.根据稳态转换理论和太湖五里湖的生态恢复实践,提出以改善生境条件为稳态转换驱动力进行生态恢复,并阐述了降低营养盐浓度、提高水体透明度、清除某些鱼类、改善基底、调节水位、软围隔消浪等生境改善措施.      

Phytoremediation potential of weed plants’ oxidative biomarker and antioxidant responses

The purpose of this study was to assess the oxidative biomarkers responses, antioxidant potential and metal accumulation tendency of weed plants collected from the control and metal-contaminated site. The metal contamination was found to be higher in soil and plant parts collected from contaminated site and the most serious problem seemed to be metal elevations above than the safe limit for Cd, Pb and Ni in the aerial parts of weed plants. There were variations in metal accumulation in different weed plants that was justified by principal component analysis. The enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants were found to be higher in plant parts collected from contaminated site. Based upon metal accumulation tendency, weed plants showed a translocation ratio (>1) that reflect their potential for metal remediation. The values of metal pollution index also showed higher tendency of metal accumulation in weed plants, particularly in Solanum nigrum, Euphorbia hirta, Amaranthus hybridus and Xanthium strumarium, and they can also flourish at contaminated sites with more production of antioxidants. So, it suggests that studied weed species can be classified as phytoremediation plants and can be used as eco-friendly and economically feasible technique for restoring the land contaminated with toxic metals.     

The role of radial oxygen loss and root anatomy on zinc uptake and tolerance in mangrove seedlings

Root anatomy, radial oxygen loss (ROL) and zinc (Zn) uptake and tolerance in mangrove plants were investigated using seedlings of Aegiceras corniculatum, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza and Rhizophora stylosa. The results revealed that B. gymnorrhiza, which possessed the ‘tightest barrier’ in ROL spatial patterns among the three species studied, took up the least Zn and showed the highest Zn tolerance. Furthermore, zinc significantly decreased the ROL of all three plants by inhibition of root permeability, which included an obvious thickening of outer cortex and significant increases of lignification in cell walls. The results of SEM X-ray microanalysis further confirmed that such an inducible, low permeability of roots was likely an adaptive strategy to metal stress by direct prevention of excessive Zn entering into the root. The present study proposes new evidence of structural adaptive strategy on metal tolerance by mangrove seedlings.     

3种草本植物对Pb-Cd污染水体的修复研究

采用水培实验方法,研究3种水生草本植物对Pb-Cd污染水体的生长反应及对重金属离子的修复效果。结果表明,在去除率实验中3种植物对Pb2+-Cd2+的去除率均有提高,对Pb2+的去除率分别为浮萍47.88%,水蕹菜63.89%,凤眼莲77.27%,Cd2+的去除率分别为浮萍48.32%,水蕹菜58.96%,凤眼莲76.87%。植物各器官对Pb2+-Cd2+的富集规律为:Pb2+Cd2+,根茎叶,凤眼莲水蕹菜浮萍。     

有效微生物菌与水生植物联合净化珍珠蚌养殖废水

以无有效微生物(EM)菌与水生植物的珍珠蚌养殖水体(NSE)作为对照组,对EM菌(EM)、苦草+菹草(VP)、水芹菜+水葱(OS)、苦草+菹草+EM菌(VPE)以及水芹菜+水葱+EM菌(OSE)净化珍珠蚌养殖废水的效果进行了对比研究。实验结果表明,EM、VP、OS对珍珠蚌养殖水体N、P均有较好的净化效果,VPE与OSE去N、P效果更佳。净化28 d后5组合中VPE对NH4+-N的去除效果最好,去除率达98.79%;OSE对NO2-N与TN的去除效果最佳,去除率分别达88.09%和91.53%;TP的去除率VPE最高,达91.75%;而COD的去除率以VP最高,达94.97%,效果好于VPE与OSE;EM池水体DO质量浓度第8天达到峰值(9.88±0.61)mg/L,VP、OS、VPE与OSE均在第16天左右达到峰值。实验数据还表明,EM净化水体效果与VP、OS、VPE和OSE均存在显著性差异,对照组NSE对水体的净化效果不明显。     

Occurrence and distribution of pharmaceuticals in wastewater from households, livestock farms, hospitals and pharmaceutical manufactures

Twenty-four pharmaceuticals were measured in wastewater from 12 municipal wastewater treatment plants (M-WWTPs), four livestock WWTPs (L-WWTPs), four hospital WWTPs (H-WWTPs) and four pharmaceutical manufacture WWTPs (P-WWTPs). The total concentration of pharmaceuticals in the influent samples was highest in the L-WWTPs followed by the P-WWTPs, H-WWTPs and M-WWTPs. The effluents had different patterns of pharmaceuticals than their corresponding influents because of the different fate of each compound in the WWTPs. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were the most dominant in the influents from the M-WWTPs and P-WWTPs, while antibiotics were dominantly detected in the L-WWTP. In the H-WWTP influents, NSAIDs, caffeine and carbamazepine were dominant. In the P-WWTPs, the distribution of pharmaceuticals in the effluents varied with sampling sites and periods. The M-WWTP influents had the highest daily loads, while the effluents showed somewhat similar levels in all source types.