Organochlorine residues in the avifauna of Tamil Nadu (Southeast coast of India)

Pollution due to persistent pesticides is not a regional but a global problem. Organochlorine pesticides are persistent chemicals, stored and accumulated in the tissues of a wide variety of invertebrates and vertebrates including marine species. In the present study the organochlorine residues HCHs, DDTs and PCBs were measured in different trophic groups of birds (scavengers, inland piscivores, coastal piscivores, insectivores, granivores and omnivores) collected from Tamil Nadu Coast, India. The residue accumulation as a function of sex did not depict distinct variation. However, females had lower residue levels than males in terms of their mean weight and feeding habits. A continuous monitoring programme is recommended to establish the studied organisms as indicator species.     

大使的环保情节--访挪威驻华大使赫图安先生

赫图安(Tor Chr．Hildan)大使似乎与本杂志有缘，在他刚刚接到出任驻华大使任书的同时．也接到了本刊通过挪威驻华使馆文化专员梅园梅(Rigmor Kristin Johnsen)女士转达的采访邀请．他欣然接受了本刊的采访邀请，原意把本刊作为他来华后首先接受采访的媒体．并希望能为《世界环境》提供支持。     

东部油田采出污水处理的长远对策

从综合治理，合理利用采出污水的长远利益出发，针对东部油田高含水阶段的新特点，提出地面高效处理，地下控水稳油相结合的治理策略，探讨了相关的技术和方法，并讨论了采出污水回注利用中应加强研究的几个问题。     

复合填料热传导过程数值模拟

复合填料由废铸砂、粉煤灰、聚苯乙烯(EPS)颗粒、水泥和水按一定质量比例混合制成,具有低导热性、抗冻胀和轻质特性。根据热阻力法则和比等效导热系数相等法则,将材料视为由大量正方形单元体组成,其中心为一个球形EPS颗粒,这种单元体与总体的导热系数相等。运用AN SY S软件对复合填料单元体的传热过程进行了有限元模拟,根据瞬态法导热系数测试原理,推求不同EPS掺入比情况下的复合填料导热系数,分析EPS颗粒与导热系数的关系,发现材料导热系数随着EPS掺入比的增加而快速降低。将材料导热系数数值模拟与实测结果作比较,发现有限元模拟值与实测值接近,说明采用有限元方法可以实现对材料传热过程的模拟。     

Analyzing the Impacts of Dams on Riparian Ecosystems: A Review of Research Strategies and Their Relevance to the Snake River Through Hells Canyon

River damming provides a dominant human impact on river environments worldwide, and while local impacts of reservoir flooding are immediate, subsequent ecological impacts downstream can be extensive. In this article, we assess seven research strategies for analyzing the impacts of dams and river flow regulation on riparian ecosystems. These include spatial comparisons of (1) upstream versus downstream reaches, (2) progressive downstream patterns, or (3) the dammed river versus an adjacent free-flowing or differently regulated river(s). Temporal comparisons consider (4) pre- versus post-dam, or (5) sequential post-dam conditions. However, spatial comparisons are complicated by the fact that dams are not randomly located, and temporal comparisons are commonly limited by sparse historic information. As a result, comparative approaches are often correlative and vulnerable to confounding factors. To complement these analyses, (6) flow or sediment modifications can be implemented to test causal associations. Finally, (7) process-based modeling represents a predictive approach incorporating hydrogeomorphic processes and their biological consequences. In a case study of Hells Canyon, the upstream versus downstream comparison is confounded by a dramatic geomorphic transition. Comparison of the multiple reaches below the dams should be useful, and the comparison of Snake River with the adjacent free-flowing Salmon River may provide the strongest spatial comparison. A pre- versus post-dam comparison would provide the most direct study approach, but pre-dam information is limited to historic reports and archival photographs. We conclude that multiple study approaches are essential to provide confident interpretations of ecological impacts downstream from dams, and propose a comprehensive study for Hells Canyon that integrates multiple research strategies.     

Volunteer Macroinvertebrate Monitoring: Tensions Among Group Goals,Data Quality,and Outcomes

Volunteer monitoring of natural resources is promoted for its ability to increase public awareness, to provide valuable knowledge, and to encourage policy change that promotes ecosystem health. We used the case of volunteer macroinvertebrate monitoring (VMM) in streams to investigate whether the quality of data collected is correlated with data use and organizers' perception of whether they have achieved these outcomes. We examined the relation between site and group characteristics, data quality, data use, and perceived outcomes (education, social capital, and policy change). We found that group size and the degree to which citizen groups perform tasks on their own (rather than aided by professionals) positively correlated with the quality of data collected. Group size and number of years monitoring positively influenced whether a group used their data. While one might expect that groups committed to collecting good-quality data would be more likely to use it, there was no relation between data quality and data use, and no relation between data quality and perceived outcomes. More data use was, however, correlated with a group's feeling of connection to a network of engaged citizens and professionals. While VMM may hold promise for bringing citizens and scientists together to work on joint conservation agendas, our data illustrate that data quality does not correlate with a volunteer group's desire to use their data to promote regulatory change. Therefore, we encourage scientists and citizens alike to recognize this potential disconnect and strive to be explicit about the role of data in conservation efforts.     

River-Stream Connectivity Affects Fish Bioassessment Performance

Stream fish bioassessment methods assume that fish assemblages observed in sample sites reflect responses to local stressors, but fish assemblages are influenced by local factors as well as regional dispersal to and from connected streams. We hypothesized that fish movement to and from refugia and source populations in connected rivers (i.e., riverine dispersal) would weaken or decouple relations between fish community metrics and local environmental conditions. We compared fish-environment relations between streams that flow into large rivers (mainstem tributaries) and streams that lack riverine confluences (headwater tributaries) at multiple spatial grains using data from the USEPA's Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program in the mid-Atlantic highlands, USA (n = 157 sites). Headwater and mainstem tributaries were not different in local environmental conditions, but showed important differences in fish metric responses to environmental quality gradients. Stream sites flowing into mainstem channels within 10 fluvial km showed consistently weaker relations to local environmental conditions than stream sites that lacked such mainstem connections. Moreover, these patterns diminished at longer distances from riverine confluences, consistent with the hypothesis of riverine dispersal. Our results suggest that (1) the precision of fish bioassessment metrics may be improved by calibrating scoring criteria based on the spatial position of sites within stream networks and (2) the spatial grain of fish bioassessment studies may be manipulated to suit objectives by including or excluding fishes exhibiting riverine dispersal.     

氯酚与富里酸的缔合作用

本文用超滤膜方法证实氯酚与富里酸之间存在缔合作用,并计算出表观缔合常数在２．７＊１０＾３－－１２１＊１０＾３ｍｌ．ｇ＾－１范围内。实验结果表明”ＰＨ、富里酸含量,氯酚取代氯原子个数都能够影响Ｋ值的大小。