Analysis of the Trend and Seasonal Cycle of Carbon Monoxide Concentrations in an Urban Area (4 pp)

Background, Aim and Scope Air quality is an field of major concern in large cities. This problem has led administrations to introduce plans and regulations to reduce pollutant emissions. The analysis of variations in the concentration of pollutants is useful when evaluating the effectiveness of these plans. However, such an analysis cannot be undertaken using standard statistical techniques, due to the fact that concentrations of atmospheric pollutants often exhibit a lack of normality and are autocorrelated. On the other hand, if long-term trends of any pollutant’s emissions are to be detected, meteorological effects must be removed from the time series analysed, due to their strong masking effects. Materials and Methods The application of statistical methods to analyse temporal variations is illustrated using monthly carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations observed at an urban site. The sampling site is located at a street intersection in central Valencia (Spain) with a high traffic density. Valencia is the third largest city in Spain. It is a typical Mediterranean city in terms of its urban structure and climatology. The sampling site started operation in January 1994 and monitored CO ground level concentrations until February 2002. Its geographic coordinates are W0°22′52″ N39°28′05″ and its altitude is 11 m. Two nonparametric trend tests are applied. One of these is robust against serial correlation with regards to the false rejection rate, when observations have a strong persistence or when the sample size per month is small. A nonparametric analysis of the homogeneity of trends between seasons is also discussed. A multiple linear regression model is used with the transformed data, including the effect of meteorological variables. The method of generalized least squares is applied to estimate the model parameters to take into account the serial dependence of the residuals of this model. This study also assesses temporal changes using the Kolmogorov-Zurbenko (KZ) filter. The KZ filter has been shown to be an effective way to remove the influence of meteorological conditions on O₃ and PM to examine underlying trends. Results The nonparametric tests indicate a decreasing, significant trend in the sampled site. The application of the linear model yields a significant decrease every twelve months of 15.8% for the average monthly CO concentration. The 95% confidence interval for the trend ranges from 13.9% to 17.7%. The seasonal cycle also provides significant results. There are no differences in trends throughout the months. The percentage of CO variance explained by the linear model is 90.3%. The KZ filter separates out long, short-term and seasonal variations in the CO series. The estimated, significant, long-term trend every year results in 10.3% with this method. The 95% confidence interval ranges from 8.8% to 11.9%. This approach explains 89.9% of the CO temporal variations. Discussion The differences between the linear model and KZ filter trend estimations are due to the fact that the KZ filter performs the analysis on the smoothed data rather than the original data. In the KZ filter trend estimation, the effect of meteorological conditions has been removed. The CO short-term componentis attributable to weather and short-term fluctuations in emissions. There is a significant seasonal cycle. This component is a result of changes in the traffic, the yearly meteorological cycle and the interactions between these two factors. There are peaks during the autumn and winter months, which have more traffic density in the sampled site. There is a minimum during the month of August, reflecting the very low level of vehicle emissions which is a direct consequence of the holiday period. Conclusions The significant, decreasing trend implies to a certain extent that the urban environment in the area is improving. This trend results from changes in overall emissions, pollutant transport, climate, policy and economics. It is also due to the effect of introducing reformulated gasoline. The additives enable vehicles to burn fuel with a higher air/fuel ratio, thereby lowering the emission of CO. The KZ filter has been the most effective method to separate the CO series components and to obtain an estimate of the long-term trend due to changes in emissions, removing the effect of meteorological conditions. Recommendations and Perspectives Air quality managers and policy-makers must understand the link between climate and pollutants to select optimal pollutant reduction strategies and avoid exceeding emission directives. This paper analyses eight years of ambient CO data at a site with a high traffic density, and provides results that are useful for decision-making. The assessment of long-term changes in air pollutants to evaluate reduction strategies has to be done while taking into account meteorological variability     

长江流域的昆虫病毒资源及其开发利用

在长江流域已发现约１３０种昆虫病毒，其中多数属杆状病毒科。昆虫病毒作为杀虫剂在本地区广泛应用，防治棉花、森林、茶树、蔬菜和牧草上的害虫，克服了化学农药的一些缺点，取得了良好的生态效益和经济效益。近年来还进行了杆状病毒表达载体的研究，该系统的研制已用于高水平表达具有生物活性的外源基因产物，获得医药产品，或者组建更有效的基因工程病毒杀虫剂。     

Biological productivity of bogs in the middle taiga subzone of Western Siberia

New experimental data on biological productivity of plant communities in oligotrophic and mesotrophic bogs of the middle taiga subzone over the past five years are presented. The relationship between net primary production and the stock of live phytomass is estimated. The stock of necromass in oligotrophic bog ecosystems increases from west to east, while the stock of live phytomass and net primary production decrease.     

石臼漾人工湿地冬夏季全程氨氧化微生物的分布、群落结构及其影响因素研究

湿地作为水体与陆地之间的过渡地带,具有独特的生态环境特性,是氮循环反应的关键区域.研究湿地生态系统中的全程氨氧化过程（complete ammonia oxidation,comammox）,解析该区域中comammox细菌的分布与群落结构特征,补充了此前该新型氨氧化微生物在湿地生态系统中分布特征的研究空白,对于完善comammox细菌在各种不同生态系统中分布情况的研究具有重要意义.本研究在石臼漾人工湿地中于冬夏两季分别采集了大沟中心、大沟边缘、小沟中心和小沟边缘的表层沉积物样品,利用PCR、荧光定量PCR和amoA功能基因高通量测序等方法,解析人工湿地中comammox细菌的时空分布与群落结构特征.主要研究结果如下：①所有样品中均检测到了comammox细菌,其丰度为1.77×10⁵~4.07×10⁷ copies·g^-1.冬季,comammox细菌丰度在大沟中高于氨氧化细菌（ammonia oxidizing bacteria,AOB）和氨氧化古菌（ammonia oxidizing archaea,AOA）,在小沟中高于AOB,但低于AOA;夏季,comammox细菌丰度在所有样点中均高于AOB和AOA.②冬夏两季样品中,comammox细菌丰度与底物NH₄⁺-N浓度均呈负相关关系,且夏季样品中呈显著性负相关.③主坐标分析（Principle Coordinate Analysis,PCoA）与多样性分析结果表明,comammox细菌群落结构具有空间异质性,且冬季物种多样性高于夏季.     

Responses of nitrification performance, triclosan resistome and diversity of microbes to continuous triclosan stress in activated sludge system

Triclosan(TCS) is commonly found in wastewater treatment plants,which often affects biological treatment processes.The responses of nitrification,antibiotic resistome and microbial community under different TCS concentrations in activated sludge system were evaluated in this study.The experiment was conducted in a sequencing batch reactor(SBR)for 240 days.Quantitative PCR results demonstrated that the abundance of ammonium oxidizing bacteria could be temporarily inhibited by 1 mg/L TCS and then gradually recovered.And the abundances of nitrite oxidizing bacteria(NOB) under 2.5 and 4 mg/L TCS were three orders of magnitude lower than that of seed sludge,which accounted for partial nitrification.When the addition of TCS was stopped,the abundance of NOB increased.The mass balance experiments of TCS demonstrated that the primary removal pathway of TCS changed from adsorption to biodegradation as TCS was continuously added into the SBR system.Moreover,TCS increased the abundance of mexB,indicating the efflux pump might be the main TCS-resistance mechanism.As a response to TCS,bacteria could secrete more protein(PN) than polysaccharide.Three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix revealed that tryptophan PN-like substances might be the main component in PN to resist TCS.High-throughput sequencing found that the relative abundances of Paracoccus,Pseudoxanthomonas and Thauera increased,which could secrete extracellular polymeric substances(EPS).And Sphingopyxis might be the main TCS-degrading bacteria.Overall,TCS could cause partial nitrification and increase the relative abundances of EPS-secreting bacteria and TCS-degrading bacteria.     

滤纸法测定悬浮物的干扰及其消除

提出了滤纸法测定悬浮物时，水样的酸碱度，取样量的多少对悬浮物测定有直接的影响。通过实验验证，对于偏酸，偏碱的水样用酸碱中和后再过滤即可消除影响，取样量应根据悬浮物的不同而定。     

Application of the benthic index of biotic integrity to environmental monitoring in Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay benthic index of biotic integrity (B-IBI) was developed to assess benthic community health and environmental quality in Chesapeake Bay. The B-IBI provides Chesapeake Bay monitoring programs with a uniform tool with which to characterize bay-wide benthic community condition and assess the health of the Bay. A probability-based design permits unbiased annual estimates of areal degradation within the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries with quantifiable precision. However, of greatest interest to managers is the identification of problem areas most in need of restoration. Here we apply the B-IBI to benthic data collected in the Bay since 1994 to assess benthic community degradation by Chesapeake Bay Program segment and water depth. We used a new B-IBI classification system that improves the reliability of the estimates of degradation. Estimates were produced for 67 Chesapeake Bay Program segments. Greatest degradation was found in areas that are known to experience hypoxia or show toxic contamination, such as the mesohaline portion of the Potomac River, the Patapsco River, and the Maryland mainstem. Logistic regression models revealed increased probability of degraded benthos with depth for the lower Potomac River, Patapsco River, Nanticoke River, lower York River, and the Maryland mainstem. Our assessment of degradation by segment and water depth provided greater resolution of relative condition than previously available, and helped define the extent of degradation in Chesapeake Bay.     

An Evaluation of Selenium Concentrations in Water, Sediment, Invertebrates, and Fish from the Republican River Basin: 1997–1999

The Republican River Basin of Colorado,Nebraska, and Kansas lies in a valley which contains PierreShale as part of its geological substrata. Selenium is anindigenous constituent in the shale and is readily leached intosurrounding groundwater. The Basin is heavily irrigated throughthe pumping of groundwater, some of which is selenium-contaminated, onto fields in agricultural production. Water,sediment, benthic invertebrates, and/or fish were collected from46 sites in the Basin and were analyzed for selenium to determinethe potential for food-chain bioaccumulation, dietary toxicity,and reproductive effects of selenium in biota. Resultingselenium concentrations were compared to published guidelines orbiological effects thresholds. Water from 38% of the sites (n = 18) contained selenium concentrations exceeding 5 g L^-1, which is reported to be a high hazard for selenium accumulation into the planktonic food chain. An additional 12 sites (26% of the sites) contained selenium in water between 3–5 g L^-1, constituting a moderate hazard. Selenium concentrations in sedimentindicated little to no hazard for selenium accumulation fromsediments into the benthic food chain. Ninety-five percent ofbenthic invertebrates collected exhibited selenium concentrationsexceeding 3 g g^-1, a level reported as potentially lethal to fish and birds that consume them. Seventy-five percent of fish collected in 1997, 90% in 1998, and 64% in 1999 exceeded 4 g g^-1selenium, indicating a high potential for toxicity andreproductive effects. However, examination of weight profilesof various species of collected individual fish suggestedsuccessful recruitment in spite of selenium concentrations thatexceeded published biological effects thresholds for health andreproductive success. This finding suggested that universalapplication of published guidelines for selenium may beinappropriate or at least may need refinement for systems similarto the Republican River Basin. Additional research is needed todetermine the true impact of selenium on fish and wildliferesources in the Basin.     

Assessment of the Heavy Metal Pollution Effects on the Soil Respiration in the Baix Llobregat (Catalonia, NE Spain)

A main goal of investigations is to determine could a soilrespiration be an indicator of the soil pollution. In this case a measured levelof the soil oxygen consumption depends of its pollution. It alsomeans that the pollution reduces biological processes in edaphon.Investigated soil samples were taken from polluted andnon-polluted places in the Baix Llobregat near Barcelona (Catalonia, NE Spain). Soil samples were taken from the top ofsoil (0–5 cm) without a litter. Soil analysis were done, determining percentage shares of coarsefragments, coarse sand, fine sand, coarse silt, fine silt, clay,CaCO₃, organic matter as well as water pH and conductivityCE (1:5 [mS cm^-1]). Also were determined (in mg kg^-1)quantities of heavy metals, as Fe, Al, Mn, Zn, Cr, Ni, V, Cu, Cd, Pb.The soil respiration was investigated in temperatures15 and 30 °C and with controlled humidity.The respiration in 30 °C is number of times greater thenin 15 °C both for polluted and non-polluted soils.Particularly high coefficients of correlation between the soilrespiration and soil pollution in polluted soils were obtainedfor Pb: r = 0.75 in 15 °C and r = 0.98 in30 °C; for Ba: 0.90 and 0.57; for V: 0.99 and 0.81. In non-polluted soils highest correlation coefficients are for Pb: r = 0.70 in 15 °C; Fe: 0.60 and 0.72; Al: 0.68 and0.64; Mn: 0.51 and 0.66; Ba: 0.63 and 0.61; Cr: 0.94 and0.70; Ni: 0.64 and 0.65; Cu: 0.69 and 0.48; as well as V: 0.62in 15 °C; and Cd: 0.69 in 15 °C.This way the soil respiration could be a good indicator of the soil pollution.