Patterns of Aquatic Species Imperilment in the Southern Appalachians: An Evaluation of Regional Databases

/ For regional analyses of species imperilment patterns, data on species distributions are available from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and from the state heritage programs. We compared these two different databases as sources of best available information for regional analyses of patterns of aquatic species imperilment for 132 counties in the southern Appalachians and examined patterns produced from the databases. The heritage program database contained information about a greater number of imperiled species because species need not be federally listed as threatened or endangered to be included in this database. In the southern Appalachians, about half of imperiled molluscs and about one-fourth of imperiled fish were listed as threatened or endangered; much smaller proportions of other taxonomic groups were federally listed. Most threatened and endangered species appeared on both lists, but for about 40% of the species inconsistencies exist, notably a lack of recent records in the heritage program dataset. Numbers of species in each county were significantly different between the two datasets for Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia, where the largest number of threatened and endangered species reside. Nevertheless, some counties always appeared as centers of imperilment, and the general spatial patterns of imperilment were similar.     

泥蚶不同组织器官对重金属(Cu、Pb、Cd)的富集规律

通过室内半静态暴毒试验,研究三种重金属(Cu、Pb、Cd)的单一与联合胁迫作用下,泥蚶(Tegillarca granosa)不同组织器官对重金属的富集能力、富集途径,以及两两重金属之间的交互作用。结果发现:单一胁迫条件下,泥蚶各组织器官对Cu的富集能力是鳃>内脏团>肌肉,对Pb和Cd的富集能力是鳃>肌肉>内脏团;肌肉和鳃对Pb的富集速率显著(P<0.05)高于内脏团,即泥蚶对Pb的富集可以通过鳃的呼吸作用和体表的渗透作用两条途径实现。联合胁迫条件下,Cd能够拮抗Cu的富集;一定量的Cu也能够在内脏团中发挥作用,拮抗Pb和Cd的累积;在其他各组织中累积的Cu和Cd则不影响Pb的累积,说明Cd和Cu在泥蚶体内以可溶形式存在,而Pb以不溶形式存在。重金属的富集与金属种类、金属浓度、累积途径、生物体的解毒机制等等多种因素有关。     

多溴联苯醚在市场鲫鱼体内分布和食鱼暴露量

利用气质联用仪(GC-NCI-MS)方法定量分析了台州路桥区河流野生鲫鱼肌肉、菜市场养殖鲫鱼肌肉、肝脏、脑、心脏和卵组织中多溴联苯醚(polybrominated diphenyl ethers,PBDEs)的含量及分布特征,并且评估了当地人通过食鱼的PBDEs暴露量.结果表明,电子垃圾拆解点附近河流鲫鱼肌肉中PBDEs含量显著高于没有明显PBDEs污染源的菜场养殖鲫鱼;PBDEs在养殖鲫鱼组织中分布不均,心脏组织中ΣPBDEs含量最高,均值为18.82 ng·g-1(湿重),卵组织中最低,均值为1.97ng·g-1.菜场养殖鲫鱼各组织中PBDEs同系物分布模式相似,BDE-47是最主要同系物,比例均值大于50%,其次是BDE-183(约20%),再次BDE-99和-153;河鱼肌肉组织中PBDEs同系物与养殖鲫鱼不尽相同,河鱼肌肉组织中主要同系物是BDE-47、-153和-99.这些结果可能暗示了来自上游的简单电子垃圾拆解行为是河流鲫鱼中较高PBDEs含量的一个污染来源.台州居民通过食用河流鲫鱼途径的PBDEs日均暴露量约为29.0 ng,稍微高于其他地区.     

全氟辛烷磺酸盐和全氟辛酸在水环境及水生生物体内积累的研究进展

全氟辛烷磺酸盐(PFOS)和全氟辛酸(PFOA)是全氟化合物中2种最典型的化合物,在不同环境介质(水、土壤、沉积物等)及水生生物体内被广泛检出。PFOS和PFOA具有良好的化学、物理性能,被广泛地运用于工业领域,PFOS和PFOA的污染范围已涉及全球。综述了PFOS和PFOA在水环境体系的污染现状及其在水生生物体内积累特征,探讨影响水生生物积累的主要因素,为全氟化合物污染控制提供基础。     

Arm and Leg Girths of Industrial Workers During a Workday

The aim of this study was to characterize changes in the limb perimeters of workers in various widespread occupations in Estonian industry. Investigations were carried out using special measuring instruments designed at Tallinn Technical University. The subjects under investigation consisted of 202 workers: garment workers, tailoring cutters, shoe factory operators, weavers, press operators, fitters, and drivers.

Investigations in the workshops showed that during the initial part of a work-shift perimeters often decreased. By the end of the shift, girths increased markedly (up to 1.6%), depending on the properties of the external load. There are many reasons for this change, with fatigue often playing an important role.

The exact measurement of the girths of human limbs is of great importance for collecting information in the field of ergonomics. It is possible to find effective preventive measures against fatigue and occupational diseases.     

Polychlorinated biphenyls and omega-3 fatty acid exposure from fish consumption, and thyroid cancer among New York anglers

Fish from the Great Lakes contain polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs)which have been shown to disrupt endocrine function and mimic thyroid hormones,but they also contain beneficial omega-3 fatty acids that may offer protection against endocrine cancers.The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Lake Ontario fish consumption and the estimated consumption of PCBs and omega-3 fatty acids on the risk of thyroid cancer in a group of sport fishermen.Anglers from the New York State Angler Cohort Study were followed for cancer incidence from 1991–2008.Twenty-seven cases of incident thyroid cancer and 108 controls were included in the analyses.Total estimated fish consumption,estimated omega-3 fatty acid consumption,and estimated PCB consumption from Lake Ontario fish were examined for an association with the incidence of thyroid cancer,while matching on sex,and controlling for age and smoking status.Results from logistic regression indicate no significant associations between fish consumption,short-term estimated omega-3 fatty acids,or estimated PCB consumption from Great Lakes fish and the development of thyroid cancer,but it was suggested that long-term omega-3 fatty acid from Great Lakes fish may be protective of the development of thyroid cancer.In conclusion,fish consumption,with the possible concomitant PCBs,from the Great Lakes does not appear to increase the risk of thyroid cancer in New York anglers.Further research is needed in order to separate the individual health effects of PCBs from omega-3 fatty acids contained within the fish.     

Estuarine surface water allocation: A case study on the interactive role of science in support of management

The inevitable need for freshwater to support the projected population growth along the ocean coast is an emerging issue of potential consequence to adjacent estuaries. A large and controversial water withdrawal/reservoir project in Virginia's coastal plain was the basis of science–management interactions that quantified the vulnerability of tidal freshwater nekton for a series of water withdrawal scenarios. Through progressive iterations of the regulatory review process, which in Virginia includes academic reviews of all aspects of projects proposed to affect the marine and estuarine environment, we developed a novel approach to modeling entrainment probabilities applicable to situations that lack a locally validated hydrodynamic model. The science/management interplay ultimately resulted in surface water allocation strategies that are balances to society and the affected natural environment. Model results showed that the probability of encounter (contact between an egg or larva and one or more units of the intake array) ranged from 1.71% under the conditions of a high river flow and low withdrawal rate to 99.99% under the conditions of a low river flow and high withdrawal rate. The collective body of scientific information was incorporated into regulatory conditions placed on water withdrawals that are designed to protect at least 95% of early life history stages within the intake array's zone of influence.     

Identifying Biotic Integrity and Water Chemistry Relations in Nonwadeable Rivers of Wisconsin: Toward the Development of Nutrient Criteria

We sampled 41 sites on 34 nonwadeable rivers that represent the types of rivers in Wisconsin, and the kinds and intensities of nutrient and other anthropogenic stressors upon each river type. Sites covered much of United States Environmental Protection Agency national nutrient ecoregions VII—Mostly Glaciated Dairy Region, and VIII—Nutrient Poor, Largely Glaciated upper Midwest. Fish, macroinvertebrates, and three categories of environmental variables including nutrients, other water chemistry, and watershed features were collected using standard protocols. We summarized fish assemblages by index of biotic integrity (IBI) and its 10 component measures, and macroinvertebrates by 2 organic pollution tolerance and 12 proportional richness measures. All biotic and environmental variables represented a wide range of conditions, with biotic measures ranging from poor to excellent status, despite nutrient concentrations being consistently higher than reference concentrations reported for the regions. Regression tree analyses of nutrients on a suite of biotic measures identified breakpoints in total phosphorus (~0.06 mg/l) and total nitrogen (~0.64 mg/l) concentrations at which biotic assemblages were consistently impaired. Redundancy analyses (RDA) were used to identify the most important variables within each of the three environmental variable categories, which were then used to determine the relative influence of each variable category on the biota. Nutrient measures, suspended chlorophyll a, water clarity, and watershed land cover type (forest or row-crop agriculture) were the most important variables and they explained significant amounts of variation within the macroinvertebrate (R ² = 60.6%) and fish (R ² = 43.6%) assemblages. The environmental variables selected in the macroinvertebrate model were correlated to such an extent that partial RDA analyses could not attribute variation explained to individual environmental categories, assigning 89% of the explained variation to interactions among the categories. In contrast, partial RDA attributed much of the explained variation to the nutrient (25%) and other water chemistry (38%) categories for the fish model. Our analyses suggest that it would be beneficial to develop criteria based upon a suite of biotic and nutrient variables simultaneously to deem waters as not meeting their designated uses.     

Can Warmwater Streams Be Rehabilitated Using Watershed-Scale Standard Erosion Control Measures Alone?

Degradation of warmwater streams in agricultural landscapes is a pervasive problem, and reports of restoration effectiveness based on monitoring data are rare. Described is the outcome of rehabilitation of two deeply incised, unstable sand-and-gravel-bed streams. Channel networks of both watersheds were treated using standard erosion control measures, and aquatic habitats within 1-km-long reaches of each stream were further treated by addition of instream structures and planting woody vegetation on banks (“habitat rehabilitation”). Fish and their habitats were sampled semiannually during 1–2 years before rehabilitation, 3–4 years after rehabilitation, and 10–11 years after rehabilitation. Reaches with only erosion control measures located upstream from the habitat measure reaches and in similar streams in adjacent watersheds were sampled concurrently. Sediment concentrations declined steeply throughout both watersheds, with means ≥40% lower during the post-rehabilitation period than before. Physical effects of habitat rehabilitation were persistent through time, with pool habitat availability much higher in rehabilitated reaches than elsewhere. Fish community structure responded with major shifts in relative species abundance: as pool habitats increased after rehabilitation, small-bodied generalists and opportunists declined as certain piscivores and larger-bodied species such as centrarchids and catostomids increased. Reaches without habitat rehabilitation were significantly shallower, and fish populations there were similar to the rehabilitated reaches prior to treatment. These findings are applicable to incised, warmwater streams draining agricultural watersheds similar to those we studied. Rehabilitation of warmwater stream ecosystems is possible with current knowledge, but a major shift in stream corridor management strategies will be needed to reverse ongoing degradation trends. Apparently, conventional channel erosion controls without instream habitat measures are ineffective tools for ecosystem restoration in incised, warmwater streams of the Southeastern U.S., even if applied at the watershed scale and accompanied by significant reductions in suspended sediment concentration.     

气相色谱法测定鱼组织中的久效磷

采用气相色谱法氮磷检测器测定鱼肉和内脏中的久效磷含量。鱼肉或内脏匀浆后，用正己烷洗涤，二氯甲烷提了，以内标法定量分析，方法简单，灵敏，准确。当取鱼组织0．5g时，方法检测限为0．002mg/kg，加标回收率为72．6％－83．3％，相对标准差在3．3％－7．0％之间。