Ecological Variation in the Morphological Structure of the Crown in Siberian Stone Pine at the Timberline

The structure of the crown and branching; the growth, development, and ontogeny of branches; and organogenesis and growth of female shoots in the model Siberian stone pine trees were studied in four types of habitats at the timberline in the central Altai Mountains (1700–2170 m a.s.l.). The results provided evidence that the ecological forms of trees appear due to changes in the pattern of branching as well as to the decreased rate of vegetative (primarily apical) growth. The diameter of the shoot pith is one of the most variable characters reflecting the deterioration of environmental conditions at higher elevations.     

Survey of mercury,cadmium and lead content of household batteries

The objective of this work was to provide updated information on the development of the potential impact of heavy metal containing batteries on municipal waste and battery recycling processes following transposition of the new EU Batteries Directive 2006/66/EC. A representative sample of 146 different types of commercially available dry and button cells as well as lithium-ion accumulators for mobile phones were analysed for their mercury (Hg)-, cadmium (Cd)- and lead (Pb)-contents. The methods used for preparing the cells and analysing the heavy metals Hg, Cd, and Pb were either developed during a former study or newly developed. Several batteries contained higher mass fractions of mercury or cadmium than the EU limits. Only half of the batteries with mercury and/or lead fractions above the marking thresholds were labelled. Alkaline–manganese mono-cells and Li-ion accumulators, on average, contained the lowest heavy metal concentrations, while zinc–carbon batteries, on average, contained the highest levels.     

Non-biodegradable landfill leachate treatment by combined process of agitation,coagulation, SBR and filtration

This study describes the complete treatment of non-biodegradable landfill leachate by combined treatment processes. The processes consist of agitation as a novel stripping method used to overcome the ammonia toxicity regarding aerobic microorganisms. The NH₃-N removal ratio was 93.9% obtained at pH 11.5 and a gradient velocity (G) 150 s^?1 within a five-hour agitation time. By poly ferric sulphate (PFS) coagulation followed the agitation process; chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD₅) were removed at 70.6% and 49.4%, respectively at an optimum dose of 1200 mg L^?1 at pH 5.0. The biodegradable ratio BOD₅/COD was improved from 0.18 to 0.31 during pretreatment step by agitation and PFS coagulation. Thereafter, the effluent was diluted with sewage at a different ratio before it was subjected to sequencing batch reactor (SBR) treatment. Up to 93.3% BOD₅, 95.5% COD and 98.1% NH₃-N removal were achieved by SBR operated under anoxic–aerobic–anoxic conditions. The filtration process was carried out using sand and carbon as a dual filter media as polishing process. The final effluent concentration of COD, BOD₅, suspended solid (SS), NH₃-N and total organic carbon (TOC) were 72.4 mg L^?1, 22.8 mg L^?1, 24.2 mg L^?1, 18.4 mg L^?1 and 50.8 mg L^?1 respectively, which met the discharge standard. The results indicated that a combined process of agitation-coagulation-SBR and filtration effectively eliminated pollutant loading from landfill leachate.     

Combining culturomic sources to uncover trends in popularity and seasonal interest in plants

Culturomic tools enable the exploration of trends in human–nature interactions, although they entail inherent biases and necessitate careful validation. Furthermore, people may engage with nature across different culturomic data sets differently. We evaluated people's digital interest and engagement with plant species based on Wikipedia and Google data and explored the conservation implications of these temporal interest patterns. As a case study, we explored the digital footprints of the most popular plant species in Israel. We analyzed 4 years of daily page views from Hebrew Wikipedia and 10 years of daily Google search volume in Israel. We modeled popularity of plant species in these 2 data sets based on a suite of plant attributes. We further explored the seasonal trends of people's interest in each species. We found differences in how people interacted digitally with plants in Wikipedia and Google. Overall, in Google, searches for species that have utility to humans were more common, whereas in Wikipedia, plants that serve as cultural emblems received more attention. Furthermore, in Google, popular species attracted more attention over time, opposite to the trend in Wikipedia. In Google, interest in species with short bloom duration exhibited more pronounced seasonal patterns, whereas in Wikipedia, seasonality of interest increased as bloom duration increased. Together, our results suggest that people's digital interactions with nature may be inherently different depending on the sources explored, which may affect use of this information for conservation. Although culturomics holds much promise, better understanding of its underpinnings is important when translating insights into conservation actions.     

管理措施对黄土高原油松人工林土壤水溶性碳氮及其三维荧光特征的影响

为研究不同管理措施(凋落物去除、油松幼林、灌木和草地)下土壤水溶性碳、氮含量的变化以及土壤溶解性有机质(SDOM)的组分,选取黄土高原油松人工林为研究对象,以未皆伐油松人工林作为对照,对土壤水溶性碳、氮以及SDOM荧光组分等相关重要特征量进行研究分析.结果表明,灌木和油松幼林的土壤水溶性有机碳含量显著高于其他管理措施,并且土壤水溶性有机碳含量随土层深度的增加而降低,土壤水溶性有机碳/土壤有机碳(WSOC/SOC)值随深度增加呈上升趋势;土壤水溶性氮含量的变化和水溶性碳的变化趋势一致,油松幼林土壤水溶性氮组分含量高于其他管理措施,总体上随深度的增加而降低.不同管理措施对SDOM组分影响显著,基于三维荧光光谱技术结合平行因子(EEM-PARAFAC)分析可知SDOM有4种组分,主要分为类腐殖质、类蛋白和可溶性微生物代谢产物三大类,其中SDOM的主要成分为富里酸类腐殖质,油松幼林土壤中富里酸含量最高.本研究表明,管理措施对土壤水溶性碳氮含量变化和SDOM组分具有一定的影响,特别是油松幼林和灌木影响较大.两种管理措施提高了土壤水溶性有机碳以及水溶性氮组分的含量,增强其在土壤中的迁移转化能力,同时改变土壤有机物的结构组成,加深腐殖化程度,进一步改善土壤质量.     

CeCl3和CeO2对松木屑的催化热解作用研究

以松木屑为研究对象,分别负载CeCl₃和CeO₂两种催化剂,制备松木屑原位催化热解原料,探究不同添加比例的CeCl₃和CeO₂两种催化剂在不同热解温度下对松木屑热解产物的产率和气体组分的影响。结果表明:在CeCl₃和CeO₂两种催化剂的催化作用下均能使热解气和焦炭产率增加、焦油产率减小,且随着两种催化剂添加比例的增加,松木屑热解产物的产率和气体组分均有所变化;在650℃的热解温度下,与无催化剂相比,当CeCl₃添加比为10.0%时焦油产率降低至53.05%,下降了11.70%,当CeCl₃添加比为7.5%时热解气产率达到最大值18.58%,当CeCl₃添加比为10.0%时焦炭产率为26.85%,增加了7.48%,热解气H₂和CO₂组分的百分比含量显著增加;当CeO₂添加比为7.5%时焦油产率达到最小值59.95%,下降了4.80%,当CeO₂添加比为10.0%时热解气产率增加了2.39%,当CeO₂添加比为10.0%时焦炭产率相对较大值为21.66%,增加了2.29%,各热解气组分的百分比含量变化较小;在原位催化热解中,CeCl₃催化剂的催化效果优于CeO₂催化剂。     

Managing Forests for Increased Regional Water Yield in the Southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain

With growing populations fueling increased groundwater abstraction and forecasts of greater water scarcity in the southeastern United States, identifying land management strategies that enhance water availability will be vital to maintaining hydrologic resources and protecting natural systems. Management of forested uplands for lower basal area, currently a priority for habitat improvement on public lands, may also increase water yield through decreased evapotranspiration (ET). To explore this hypothesis, we synthesized studies of precipitation and ET in coastal plain pine stands to develop a statistical model of water yield as a function of management strategy, stand structure, and ecosystem water use. This model allowed us to estimate changes in water yield in response to varying management strategies across spatial scales from the individual stand to a regional watershed. Results suggest that slash pine stands managed at lower basal areas can have up to 64% more cumulative water yield over a 25‐year rotation compared to systems managed for high‐density timber production, with the greatest increases in stands also managed for recurrent understory fire. Although there are important uncertainties in the magnitude of additional water yield and its final destination (i.e., surface water bodies vs. groundwater), this analysis highlights the potential for management activities on public and private timber lands to partially offset increasing demand on surface and groundwater resources.     

Changes in Species Diversity of Rove Beetles (Coleoptera,Staphylinidae) Depending on the Age of Pine Plantations in Central Belarus

Trends of changes in species richness and dominance in staphylinid communities depending on the age of pine plantations have been analyzed. The species richness of these communities is high in the plantations of age classes 1 and 2 (11 and 28 years, respectively) but decreases in the plantations of age class 3 (60 years). The highest and lowest indices of species diversity are observed in the plantations of age classes 2 and 3, respectively. Four groups of rove beetles have been distinguished by the criterion of their dominance in pine plantations of different ages.__________Translated from Ekologiya, No. 4, 2005, pp. 306–313.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Derunkov.