Adapting the bioblitz to meet conservation needs

When conservation strategies require new, field‐based information, practitioners must find the best ways to rapidly deliver high‐quality survey data. To address this challenge, several rapid‐assessment approaches have been developed since the early 1990s. These typically involve large areas, take many months to complete, and are not appropriate when conservation‐relevant survey data are urgently needed for a specific locale. In contrast, bioblitzes are designed for quick collection of site‐specific survey data. Although bioblitzes are commonly used to achieve educational or public‐engagement goals, conservation practitioners are increasingly using a modified bioblitz approach to generate conservation‐relevant data while simultaneously enhancing research capacity and building working partnerships focused on conservation concerns. We term these modified events expert bioblitzes. Several expert bioblitzes have taken place on lands of conservation concern in Southern California and have involved collaborative efforts of government agencies, nonprofit organizations, botanic gardens, museums, and universities. The results of expert bioblitzes directly informed on‐the‐ground conservation and decision‐making; increased capacity for rapid deployment of expert bioblitzes in the future; and fostered collaboration and communication among taxonomically and institutionally diverse experts. As research and conservation funding becomes increasingly scarce, expert bioblitzes can play an increasingly important role in biodiversity conservation.     

Time discounting and the decision to protect areas that are near and threatened or remote and cheap to acquire

Should conservation organizations focus on protecting habitats that are at imminent risk of being converted but are expensive or more remote areas that are less immediately threatened but where a large amount of land can be set aside? Variants of this trade‐off commonly arise in spatial planning. I used models of land‐use change near a deforestation frontier to examine this trade‐off. The optimal choice of where to protect was determined by how decisions taken today accounted for ecological benefits and economic costs of conservation actions that would occur sometime in the future. I used an ecological and economic discount rate to weight these benefits and costs. A large economic discount rate favored protecting more remote areas, whereas a large, positive ecological discount rate favored protecting habitat near the current deforestation frontier. The decision over where to protect was also affected by the influence economic factors had on landowners' decisions, the rate of technological change, and ecological heterogeneity of the landscape. How benefits and costs through time are accounted for warrants careful consideration when specifying conservation objectives. It may provide a niche axis along which conservation organizations differentiate themselves when competing for donor funding or other support.     

Allelopathic response of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Vetiveria zizanioides</Emphasis> (L.) Nash on members of the family Enterobacteriaceae and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudomonas</Emphasis> spp.

The biological removal of phosphates was carried as a part of treatment strategy. Vetiveria zizanioides (L.) Nash belonging to the family Poaceae was used for biological removal of biostimulants. Vetiver reportedly has mycorrhizal association; besides having potential for removal of PO₄ ⁻³ also showed allelopathic affect on the microorganisms present in the water. In fact after a period of 96 h old roots of this plant have been found to have killing effects on the E. coli, Enterobacter spp. Pseudomonas spp. belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae. The paper is opening a new face of study.     

Synthesis of Poly(β-hydroxybutyrate) in Simulated Microgravity: An Investigation of Aeration Profiles in Shake Flask and Bioreactor

The microbial strain Azotobacter vinelandii UWD was grown under conditions of simulated microgravity in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Bioreactor. Bacterial growth in simulated microgravity differed significantly from that observed in conventional shake flask experiments: Cells tended to grow in a cluster-like pattern and polymer production started immediately after exposing them to conditions of simulated microgravity, and no lag time was observed. It was imperative to differentiate between the effects derived from microgravity and those imposed by the altered oxygen supply in the bioreactor. Aeration conditions were studied in both reactor types and a gas supply profile was developed for the bioreactor. This supply profile allowed for similar amounts of dissolved oxygen in the bioreactor and the shake flask in the initial stage of the fermentation and, therefore, for an evaluation of the effects of microgravity on biopolyester-producing bacteria. Since the optical density that is conventionally used as a measure for the cell growth could not be used due to the cluster-like growth pattern of the cells, it was determined that bacterial growth behavior in the bioreactor can be monitored through glucose or oxygen consumption.     

Quantification of Polymerisation Processes During The Oxidative Degradation of 14C-Labelled Chlorophenols

In experiments employing the lignocellulose-decaying basidiomycetes Trametes versicolor and Stropharia rugosoannulata degrading uniformly¹⁴C-labelled 2,4-dichlorophenol and pentachlorophenol, acombination of size exclusion chromatography (SEC),fractionation, and -scintillation counting wasapplied to quantify polymerisation products formed duringchlorophenol degradation. Time-dependent mass balances weregenerated by analysis of ¹⁴C in polymerisation products,CO₂, as well as monomer non-polar and polar metabolites.Approximately 30% of the chlorophenols were found to bepolymerised. A major fraction of the polymerised productscorresponded to a molecular weight range from 0.24 – 40 kDa.Only a minor fraction could be attributed to a molecularweight >40 kDa. This method proved to be useful inquantification of polymerisation products and kinetics of thepolymerisation processes, whereas UV/Vis detection ofpolymerisation products separated by SEC led to false positiveresults. The SEC-¹⁴C method could also be applied forother complex processes where polymerisation ordepolymerisation occurs (humification, degradation oflignocellulose, formation of bound residues from xenobioticssuch as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene) and where spectrophotometric determinationsare difficult or impossible.     

用MnSO_4作催化剂测定废水中的COD

介绍了用 Mn SO4代替 Ag2 SO4作催化剂测定废水中 COD的方法。该方法可降低分析成本 ,且使回流时间缩短为 30 m in,方法的变异系数、回收率分别为 0 .6 5 %和 96 .8%～10 0 .8%     

生物膜及其各种组分对4-氯酚化合物的吸附特征

对4-氯酚化合物在生物膜不同组分上的吸附行为的实验中,生物膜不同组分包括生长有生物膜外壳的模拟水体悬浮颗粒物(高岭土)、细菌细胞、胞外多糖、高岭土及有胞外多糖存在时的高岭土.在所设计的这5种吸附体系中,前4种吸附较符合Langmuir和Freundlich等温吸附方式.在室温25℃,pH值为6.1的吸附条件下,细菌细胞和胞外多糖作为生物吸附物质,对4-氯酚的吸附明显地大于高岭土;高岭土外的生物膜外壳影响对4-氯酚的吸附,生长有生物膜外壳的高岭土对4-氯酚的吸附量高于单独高岭土体系.     

新显色试剂的合成及在环境监测中的应用研究

合成了一种新三氮烯类显色剂--6-甲氧基苯并噻唑重氮氨基-2,6-二溴-4-羧基苯(简称MBTDABPCP),并研究了其与镉的显色反应.拟定了在SDS存在的Na₂₄₇-HCl缓冲溶液(pH为8.5)中,测定镉的新方法.可用于废水中微量镉的测定.      

放牧对内蒙古草原温室气体排放的影响

静态箱-气相色谱法用于测定内蒙古典型草原温室气体排放.禁牧草原及放牧草原吸收CH₄、排放N₂O和CO₂各自有其相对固定的季节变化形式,草原和大气交换温室气体通量的季节变化形式主要受年度气候变化所控制,而土壤、植被类型、降雨量等禁牧因素和放牧强度等人为因素仅影响排放强度.与禁牧草原相比,自由放牧降低了羊草草原对CH4的吸收和对N₂O的排放,但大大增加了CO₂的排放量.随着放牧强度的增加,草原温室气体排放强度呈线性迅速增长.