Removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from aqueous solution by raw and modified plant residue materials as biosorbents

Removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs）, e.g., naphthalene, acenaphthene, phenanthrene and pyrene, from aqueous solution by raw and modified plant residues was investigated to develop low cost biosorbents for organic pollutant abatement. Bamboo wood, pine wood, pine needles and pine bark were selected as plant residues, and acid hydrolysis was used as an easily modification method. The raw and modified biosorbents were characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The sorption isotherms of PAHs to raw biosorbents were apparently linear, and were dominated by a partitioning process. In comparison, the isotherms of the hydrolyzed biosorbents displayed nonlinearity, which was controlled by partitioning and the specific interaction mechanism. The sorpfion kinetic curves of PAHs to the raw and modified plant residues fit well with the pseudo second-order kinetics model. The sorption rates were faster for the raw biosorbents than the corresponding hydrolyzed biosorbents, which was attributed to the latter having more condensed domains （i.e., exposed aromatic core）. By the consumption of the amorphous cellulose component under acid hydrolysis, the sorption capability of the hydrolyzed biosorbents was notably enhanced, i.e., 6-18 fold for phenanthrene, 6-8 fold for naphthalene and pyrene and 5-8 fold for acenaphthene. The sorpfion coefficients （Kd） were negatively correlated with the polarity index [（O＋N）/C], and positively correlated with the aromaticity of the biosorbents. For a given biosorbent, a positive linear correlation between logKoc and logKow for different PAHs was observed. Interestingly, the linear plots of logKoc-logKow were parallel for different biosorbents. These observations suggest that the raw and modified plant residues have great potential as biosorbents to remove PAHs from wastewater.     

A restoration-promoting integrated floating bed and its experimental performance in eutrophication remediation

Numerous studies on eutrophication remediation have mainly focused on purifying water first, then restoring submerged macrophytes. A restoration-promoting integrated floating bed （RPIFB） was designed to combine the processes of water purification and macrophyte restoration simultaneously. Two outdoor experiments were conducted to evaluate the ecological functions of the RP1FB. Trial 1 was conducted to compare the eutrophication purification among floating bed, gradual-submerging bed （GSB） and RPIFB technologies. The results illustrated that RPIFB has the best purification capacity. Removal efficiencies of RPIFB for TN, TP,NH4＋-N, NO3-N, CODcr, Chlorophyll-a and turbidity were 74.45%, 98.31%, 74.71%, 88.81%, 71.42%, 90.17% and 85%, respectively. In trial 2, influences of depth of GSB and photic area in RPIFB on biota were investigated. When the depth of GSB decreased and the photic area of RPIFB grew, the height of Potamogeton crispus Linn. increased, but the biomass of Canna indica Linn. was reduced. The mortalities of Misgurnus anguillicaudatus and Bellamya aeruginosa in each group were all less than 7%. All results indicated that when the RPIFB was embedded into the eutrophic water, the regime shift from phytoplankton-dominated to macrophyte-dominated state could be promoted. Thus, the RPIFB is a promising remediation technology for eutrophication and submerged macrophyte restoration.     

Nitrogen mass balance in a constructed wetland treating piggery wastewater effluent

The nitrogen changes and the nitrogen mass balance in a free water surface flow constructed wetland （CW） using the four-year monitoring data from 2008 to 2012 were estimated. The CW was composed of six cells in series that include the first settling basin （Cell 1）, aeration pond （Cell 2）, deep marsh （Cell 3）, shallow marsh （Cell 4）, deep marsh （Cell 5） and final settling basin （Cell 6）. Analysis revealed that the NH4＋-N concentration decreased because of ammonification which was then followed by nitrification. The NO4＋-N and NO4＋-N were also further reduced by means of microbial activities and plant uptake during photosynthesis. The average nitrogen concentration at the influent was 37,819 kg/year and approximately 45% of that amount exited the CW in the effluent. The denitrification amounted to 34% of the net nitrogen input, whereas the accretion of sediment was only 7%. The biomass uptake of plants was able to retain only 1% of total nitrogen load. In order to improve the nutrient removal by plant uptake, plant coverage in four cells （i.e., Cells 1, 3, 4 and 5） could be increased.     

Community structure and elevational diversity patterns of soil Acidobacteria

Acidobacteria is one of the most dominant and abundant phyla in soil,and was believed to have a wide range of metabolic and genetic functions. Relatively little is known about its community structure and elevational diversity patterns. We selected four elevation gradients from 1000 to 2800 m with typical vegetation types of the northern slope of Shennongjia Mountain in central China. The vegetation types were evergreen broadleaved forest,deciduous broadleaved forest,coniferous forest and sub-alpine shrubs. We analyzed the soil acidobacterial community composition,elevational patterns and the relationship between Acidobacteria subdivisions and soil enzyme activities by using the 16 S rRNA meta-sequencing technique and multivariate statistical analysis. The result found that 19 known subdivisions as well as an unclassified phylotype were presented in these forest sites,and Subdivision 6 has the highest number of detectable operational taxonomic units(OTUs). A significant single peak distribution pattern(P 0.05) between the OTU number and the elevation was observed. The Jaccard and Bray–Curtis index analysis showed that the soil Acidobacteria compositional similarity significantly decreased(P 0.01) with the increase in elevation distance. Mantel test analysis showed the most of the soil Acidobacteria subdivisions had the significant relationship(P 0.01) with different soil enzymes. Therefore,soil Acidobacteria may be involved in different ecosystem functions in global elemental cycles. Partial Mantel tests and CCA analysis showed that soil pH,soil temperature and plant diversity may be the key factors in shaping the soil Acidobacterial community structure.     

Phytoremediation of levonorgestrel in aquatic environment by hydrophytes

Adsorption and degradation of levonorgestrel （LNG） by two hydrophytes, Cyperus alternfolius （CA） and Eichhornia crassipes （EC）, were investigated under light-shielding conditions in the water column. Variations of LNG concentrations in water, plant root epidermis, root, stem and leaf of the plants were analyzed. The results indicated that the removal efficiency of LNG by hydrophytes over the period of 50 days was significantly greater than the blank control （p 〈 0.05）, with the removal rates of 79.80%± 3.10% and 78.86% ± 2.55% for CA and EC, respectively. Compared with bio-adsorption, bio-conversion of LNG was found to be the dominant elimination pathway, evidenced by relatively high conversion rates （77.31% ±2.68% for CA and 77.82% ± 2.95% for EC）, while the adsorption rates were lower （1.77% ± 0.90% for CA and 1.05% ± 0.40% for EC）. The bio-adsorption and conversion of LNG showed no significant differences between the two hydrophytes. Additionally, the mineralization on root epidermis played an important role in the reduction of LNG in water.     

Cd污染土壤的植物修复研究进展

我国农业土壤重金属污染十分严重,在所有的重金属污染中,Cd以其移动性大、毒性高成为最受关注的重金属污染之一。修复Cd污染的土壤,已成为我国农业可持续发展亟待解决的问题。与传统环境修复技术相比,植物修复技术治理成本低廉,土壤破坏力小,安全性高,是目前发展最快的环境友好、经济、高效的治理技术。介绍了Cd污染现状、超积累植物的概念和特征、土壤重金属污染植物修复国内外研究进展,并对其发展趋势进行了分析。     

树木水分胁迫和抗旱性机理研究进展

本文从植物对干旱胁迫的反应和抗旱指标、光合作用和蒸腾作用和水分利用效率等研究途径,以及人工采取的抗旱措施等方面阐述了森林植物的抗旱性机理研究现状,并提出了今后研究的重点方向。     

土壤pH对东南景天修复镉污染土壤的影响研究

东南景天是一种镉和锌的超积累植物,改变土壤p H能否有效提高其吸收镉的效率,需要进一步验证。采用盆栽实验研究不同土壤p H下东南景天吸收和积累Cd的差异以及对Ca Cl2提取有效态镉的影响。结果表明,降低土壤p H值显著提高了土壤镉的有效态含量。弱酸性土壤即p H接近5.5时东南景天生物量及累积镉的量最大,土壤镉去除率也最高,达6.6%。强酸性即当p H接近4时,虽然植物地上与地下镉含量均最高,但生物量最小,植物去除率较其他处理低。研究证实降低土壤p H是提高植物提取效率的有效办法,这为进一步利用东南景天修复镉污染土壤,提高修复效率提供了科学依据。     

高陡岩质边坡植被修复的立地条件研究——以洛阳市宜阳锦屏山为例

以洛阳市宜阳锦屏山采石场高陡岩质边坡为例,通过对锦屏山高陡岩质边坡岩壁裂隙发育情况、裂隙的温湿度和裂隙内土壤肥力等植物立地条件的调查与分析,认为岩壁发育的裂隙可为植物提供充足的水分和根系发育空间,裂隙内留存的土壤肥力高可为植物生长提供养分,裂隙内的温湿度条件适宜植物的正常生长,因此若能对这些岩壁条件合理利用,并加以适当的人工改造,可实现高陡岩质边坡的快速覆绿,对废弃采石场陡壁小生境生态恢复重建具有重要的意义。     

三峡水库消落区土壤、植物汞释放及其在斑马鱼体的富集特征

利用室内模拟试验,探讨了三峡水库消落区淹没后土壤、植物汞释放特征及其在斑马鱼体的富集水平.结果表明,随淹水时间的延长,淹没土壤中总汞(THg)含量下降;水体THg浓度总体明显升高.淹没土壤及水体中甲基汞(MMHg)含量总体明显上升,其中稗草+土壤处理水体中增加尤为明显,淹水21 d后,其浓度是土壤处理的2.52倍.表明消落区土壤、植物是水库水体汞的一个重要来源.供试稗草淹水分解造成水体pH及溶解氧(DO)含量下降、溶解性有机碳(DOC)含量上升,对土壤MMHg含量无明显影响,对水体MMHg影响较大.供试斑马鱼头部、内脏及肌肉中THg含量总体明显上升,与水体中THg浓度具有显著相关性(P<0.01).鱼体头部、内脏及肌肉中均出现不同程度的MMHg富集现象,以头部与肌肉最为明显.淹水21 d后,添加土壤处理的鱼体头部、内脏及肌肉MMHg增加的含量分别是对照的1.75~6.25、3.53~8.38、2.22~3.36倍;稗草+土壤处理的分别是土壤处理的3.57、2.37、1.52倍.可见,淹没土壤是鱼体MMHg增加的重要来源,淹没植物改变原水环境条件影响其向水体释汞过程能提高鱼体中MMHg含量.