Stability of a Coal Waste Artificial Reef

The feasibility of using U.K. coal-fired power station waste materials for artificial reef production is being examined. in June, 1989, an experimental artificial reef was constructed in Poole Bay, off the central south coast of the U.K., using three different mixtures of pulverised fuel ash (PFA), flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) gypsum and slurry, stabilized with cement and formed into blocks. Fifty tonnes of 40 × 20 × 20 cm blocks were formed into eight conical reef units replicating three different PFA/gypsum mixtures and one concrete control. the reef structure is 10m below chart datum on a flat sandy sea-bed.

Combustion of coal concentrates the heavy metal content in the resultant ash. the purpose of stabilization of the ash as blocks is twofold: to immobilize heavy metals (or other components) and to provide hard substratum for the attachment of organisms. to examine the effectiveness of this stabilization and hence the environmental compatibility of the block materials, heavy metal (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Mn, Ni, Zn) content of the blocks has been monitored routinely over two years, to determine leaching rates. Sectional profiles indicate partial replacement of calcium content by magnesium. Associated with this there has also been some redistribution of heavy metals. Only in the case of cadmium has there been a detectable loss from the surface of blocks. Chromium and manganese concentrations appear to have increased. the metal content of the reef epibiota (including ascidians, Ascidia mentula; hydroids, Halecium spp.; bryozoans, Bugula spp. and red algae) growing on the ash blocks has been compared to that of epibiota attached to the concrete controls and surrounding sea-bed. to date no evidence of excess bioaccumulation of metals has been detected.

The physical integrity of the ash reef blocks has been maintained. There is evidence that the blocks are increasing in compressive strength.

An indication of the fishery enhancement potential of the experimental structure is given by the presence of eight commercially fished species (crustaceans and molluscs) including lobsters (Homarus gammarus).     

Two Hundred Years of Local Avian Extinctions in Eastern Amazonia

Local, regional, and global extinctions caused by habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation have been widely reported for the tropics. The patterns and drivers of this loss of species are now increasingly well known in Amazonia, but there remains a significant gap in understanding of long‐term trends in species persistence and extinction in anthropogenic landscapes. Such a historical perspective is critical for understanding the status and trends of extant biodiversity as well as for identifying priorities to halt further losses. Using extensive historical data sets of specimen records and results of contemporary surveys, we searched for evidence of local extinctions of a terra firma rainforest avifauna over 200 years in a 2500 km² eastern Amazonian region around the Brazilian city of Belém. This region has the longest history of ornithological fieldwork in the entire Amazon basin and lies in the highly threatened Belém Centre of Endemism. We also compared our historically inferred extinction events with extensive data on species occurrences in a sample of catchments in a nearby municipality (Paragominas) that encompass a gradient of past forest loss. We found evidence for the possible extinction of 47 species (14% of the regional species pool) that were unreported from 1980 to 2013 (80% last recorded between 1900 and 1980). Seventeen species appear on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, and many of these are large‐bodied. The species lost from the region immediately around Belém are similar to those which are currently restricted to well‐forested catchments in Paragominas. Although we anticipate the future rediscovery or recolonization of some species inferred to be extinct by our calculations, we also expect that there are likely to be additional local extinctions, not reported here, given the ongoing loss and degradation of remaining areas of native vegetation across eastern Amazonia. Doscientos Años de Extinciones Locales de Aves en la Amazonia Oriental     

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi alter the response of growth and nutrient uptake of snap bean（Phaseolus vulgaris L.） to O_3

The effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) Glomus mosseae on the responses to elevated O3 in growth and nutrition of snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv Guangzhouyuan) were investigated. Exposure was conducted in growth chambers by using three O3 concentrations (20 (CF), 80 (CFO1) and 120 nL/L (CFO2); 8 hr/day for 75 days). Results showed that elevated O3 slightly impacted overall mycorrhizal colonization, but significantly decreased the proportional frequency of hypha and increased the proportional frequency of spores and vesicles, suggesting that O3 had significant effects on mycorrhizal structure. Elevated O3 significantly decreased yield, dry mass and nutrient contents (N, P, K, Ca and Mg) in both non-mycorrhizal and mycorrhizal plants. However, significant interactive effects were found in most variables due to that the reduction by O3 in the mycorrhizal plants was less than that in the non-mycorrhizal plants. Additionally, AMF increased the concentrations of N, P, Ca, and Mg in shoot and root. It can be concluded that AMF alleviated detrimental effects of increasing O3 on host plant through improving plant nutrition and growth.     

利用GFP和抗性双类型标记监测联合固氮菌在玉米根际的定殖

将来自质粒ｐＫＲＰ１０、ｐＫＲＰ１１和ｐＫＲＰ１２的氯霉素、卡那霉素和四环素抗性基因分别插入质粒ＧＦＰｍｕｔ２中ｇｆｐ基因下游的ＰｓｔＩ位点,得到ｇｆｐ和不同抗性基因共存的重组质粒,转化Ｅｎｔｅｒｏｂａｃｔｅｒ ｇｅｒｇｏｖｉａｅ ５７－７野生型菌株和耐铵工程菌Ｅ７后,得到既有抗生素抗性又在蓝光下呈现亮绿荧光的菌株。用它们接种玉米后,利用这两种选择标记双重筛选重新分离到的细菌确定了接种菌在玉米幼苗     

SHORT TERM BENTHIC COLONIZATION DYNAMICS IN AN AGRICULTURAL STREAM RECOVERING FROM SLAUGHTERHOUSE EFFLUENTS1

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to assess short term, macroinvertebrate colonization dynamics and biofilm accumulation in two agricultural streams, one of which had been recently exposed to chronic, intermittent organic effluents from a slaughterhouse. During the winter and summer, macroinvertebrates and biofilm were collected from brick substrates from four or three sites in the streams on a geometric time schedule (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 days of exposure). Invertebrate total densities stabilized quickly, but the mass of biofilm increased throughout the study periods. Invertebrate community indices (diversity, evenness, dominance, richness) differed between the unaffected, “agricultural reference” sites and the affected sites, below the point source. All sites were dominated by Baetis bicaudatus (mayfly), Hydrobia sp. (gastropod), and Dugesia tigrina (Turbellaria). Response of these taxa differed between seasons and exposure to organic effluents. Stream invertebrate colonization processes showed evidence of the perturbation after the inflow of organic effluents had stopped from the slaughterhouse. Chronic organic enrichment reduced the species richness in the potential pool of colonists. Three months after the organic inputs had stopped, colonization timing and community structure was not yet at levels evident in reference and upstream sites.     

Biofilm-overproducing Bacillus subtilis B12ΔYwcc decreases Cd uptake in Chinese cabbage through increasing Cd-immobilizing related gene abundance and root surface colonization

Biofilm-producing bacteria can decrease Cd uptake in vegetables, but mechanisms underlying this effect are poorly characterized. In this study, two mutant strains B12ΔYwcc and B12ΔSlrR were constructed from a biofilm-producing Bacillus subtilis strain B12. Then, the impacts of strain B12 and its high biofilm-producing mutant strain B12ΔYwcc and low biofilm-producing mutant strain B12ΔSlrR on Cd availability and uptake in Chinese cabbage and the related mechanisms were investigated in the Cd-polluted soil. Strain B12 and its mutants B12ΔYwcc and B12ΔSlrR increased the dry biomasses of edible tissues by 54%–130% compared with the controls. Strain B12 and its mutant B12ΔYwcc reduced the soil available Cd content by 36%–50% and root and edible tissue Cd contents by 23%–50% compared with the controls. Furthermore, the mutant strain B12ΔYwcc reduced the edible tissue Cd content by 40% and increased the polysaccharide content by 23%, invertase activity by 139%, and gene copies of the cumA by 4.5-fold, epsA by 7.1-fold, and cadA by 4.3-fold, which were involved in Cd adsorption in the rhizosphere soils, respectively, compared with strain B12. The polysaccharide content and cumA, epsA, and cadA gene copy numbers showed significantly reverse correlations with the available Cd content. Notably, the mutant strain B12ΔYwcc showed better ability to colonize the vegetable root surface than strain B12. These findings demonstrated that the biofilm-overproducing mutant strain B12ΔYwcc increased the polysaccharide production and Cd-immobilizing related cumA, epsA, and cadA gene copies, resulting in lower Cd availability and accumulation in Chinese cabbage in the Cd-polluted soil.     

重组荧光假单胞菌BioP8在环境中消长动态与安全性评价

通过选择分离培养和PCR鉴定,对转苏云金芽孢杆菌(Bacillus thuringiensis,Bt)杀虫蛋白基因荧光假单胞菌BioP8及其天然受体菌P303在温室自然土壤和田间大白菜根际、叶面的环境生存竞争能力进行研究.结果表明,在温室自然土壤中,可培养细菌总量在108 CFU/g土(湿重)左右,40 d内P303和BioP8群落总量分别能维持在105 CFU/g土(湿重)和104 CFU/g土(湿重)左右,100 d后检测不到残留; 在大白菜根际,可培养细菌总量在1010 CFU/g根(湿重)左右,30 d内P303和BioP8可维持在106 CFU/g根(湿重)和105 CFU/g根(湿重),75 d后检测不到残留; 在大白菜叶面,可培养细菌总量在103～106 CFU/ cm2叶片之间波动,处理后3 d的供试菌菌量迅速由105 CFU/ cm2叶片降至最低(103 CFU/cm2叶片和102 CFU/cm2叶片左右),之后回升并以(104和103)CFU/ cm2叶片维持一段时间(第5-15 d),30 d检测不到残留.P303及其工程菌株在温室自然土壤、田间大白菜根际和叶面的定殖时间至少分别为60 d、50 d和15 d,它们的消长动态相似,在温室自然土壤、田间大白菜根际的定殖能力明显强于叶面,BioP8定殖能力弱于出发菌P303.     

从水稻种子表面分离的紫云英根瘤菌与不同水稻品种亲合性的研究

采用紫云英琼脂管结瘤试验，在10个供试的不同水稻品种中，仅从“汕优63”和“珍A一代”2个品种的种子表面各分离筛选到在紫云英上结瘤较早且较多的1个菌株，分别命名为SY63－4和SA1D－3。采用无菌盆栽试验分别将这2个菌株接种于4个不同水稻品种“汕优63”、“珍A一代”、“马协63”及“博湛优19”，发现菌株ZA1D－3对4种水稻均表现出显著的促生作用，SY63－4仅对“汕优63”和“珍A一代”表现出明显的促生作用。利用MPN法检测不同水稻品种根内外根瘤菌ZA1D－3和SY63－4的数量，发现ZA1D－3和SY63－4在4种水稻根部的定殖数量也不相同。SY63－4在“汕优63”根部定殖的数量log(ncfumFW^-1/g^-1)为5．20，比在其余3种水稻根部高出2个数量级；ZA1D－3在“珍A一代”根部定殖的最大数量log(ncfumFW^-1/g^-1)为4．54，比在其余3种水稻根部高出1个数量级。这说明SY63－4与“汕优63”，ZA1D－3与“珍A一代”间存在着一定的亲和性。图1表2参12     

Benefits of protected areas for nonbreeding waterbirds adjusting their distributions under climate warming

Climate warming is driving changes in species distributions and community composition. Many species have a so-called climatic debt, that is, shifts in range lag behind shifts in temperature isoclines. Inside protected areas (PAs), community changes in response to climate warming can be facilitated by greater colonization rates by warm-dwelling species, but also mitigated by lowering extirpation rates of cold-dwelling species. An evaluation of the relative importance of colonization-extirpation processes is important to inform conservation strategies that aim for both climate debt reduction and species conservation. We assessed the colonization-extirpation dynamics involved in community changes in response to climate inside and outside PAs. To do so, we used 25 years of occurrence data of nonbreeding waterbirds in the western Palearctic (97 species, 7071 sites, 39 countries, 1993–2017). We used a community temperature index (CTI) framework based on species thermal affinities to investigate species turnover induced by temperature increase. We determined whether thermal community adjustment was associated with colonization by warm-dwelling species or extirpation of cold-dwelling species by modeling change in standard deviation of the CTI (CTI_SD). Using linear mixed-effects models, we investigated whether communities in PAs had lower climatic debt and different patterns of community change than communities outside PAs. For CTI and CTI_SD combined, communities inside PAs had more species, higher colonization, lower extirpation, and lower climatic debt (16%) than communities outside PAs. Thus, our results suggest that PAs facilitate 2 independent processes that shape community dynamics and maintain biodiversity. The community adjustment was, however, not sufficiently fast to keep pace with the large temperature increases in the central and northeastern western Palearctic. Our results underline the potential of combining CTI and CTI_SD metrics to improve understanding of the colonization-extirpation patterns driven by climate warming.     

沙田柚根围AM真菌的生境适宜性和季节变化性

以山地长寿沙田柚成年果树为对象,研究不同生境和季节对丛枝菌根(Arbuscular mycorrhiza,AM)真菌侵染以及根围土壤中AM真菌孢子密度的影响.试验结果表明,不同生境下,菌根侵染率和AM真菌孢子密度都是以梯田最高,坡地次之,洼地最低;在坡地和洼地生境下,生草区均高于清耕区.两块试验地AM真菌的菌丝侵染率均为夏季最高(16.8%±1.9%和16.0%±1.8%),秋季次之,冬季最低;丛枝和泡囊的形成也是夏/秋季较高,春/冬季较低;而根围土壤中AM真菌孢子密度则是秋季最高[(159±19)个/100 g和(167±17)个/100 g],夏季次之,冬季最低.总之,对于长寿沙田柚成年果树,AM真菌的菌根侵染率在夏季梯田最高,根围土壤中的AM真菌孢子密度在秋季梯田最高;在坡地和洼地生境中,生草处理均可显著提高菌根侵染率和AM真菌孢子密度.图4参27