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).     

Damage to Cauliflower Coral by Monofilament Fishing Lines in Hawaii

Abstract:  Many fishing methods and gear types used in coral reefs cause physical damage to the reef substratum. Only recently have monofilament fishing lines been recognized as a cause of coral damage and death. We assessed the extent of damage caused by monofilament fishing lines to the cauliflower coral (  Pocillopora meandrina ) colonies in fished and adjacent unfished zones at seven sites in the main Hawaiian islands. We examined coral colonies for the presence or absence of fishing line and for the degree of damage (dead, no live coral surface; damaged, some dead coral surface; or intact, no dead coral surface) in nine 25-m² grids. The mean proportion of colonies entangled with fishing lines in fished zones ranged from 0.18 to 0.44. The mean proportion of dead or damaged colonies was higher in fished than adjacent unfished zones, and there was a positive linear relationship between the proportion of colonies entangled with fishing lines and the proportion of dead or damaged colonies. These results indicate that monofilament fishing lines have a negative impact on the health and survival of P. meandrina colonies. Because tourism and related recreational fishing activities are expanding rapidly in many tropical states and nations, we recommend that the degrading effects of fishing lines on corals be considered in the design and management of tourism development.     

Modeling channel management impacts on river migration: a case study of Woodson bridge state recreation area,Sacramento river,California, USA

Understanding how hydraulic factors control alluvial river meander migration can help resource managers evaluate the long-term effects of floodplain management and bank stabilization measures. Using a numerical model based on the mechanics of flow and sediment transport in curved river channels, we predict 50 years of channel migration and suggest the planning and ecological implications of that migration for a 6.4-km reach (river miles 218–222) of the Sacramento River near the Woodson Bridge State Recreation Area, California, USA. Using four different channel management scenarios, our channel migration simulations suggest that: (1) channel stabilization alters the future channel planform locally and downstream from the stabilization; (2) rock revetment currently on the bank upstream from the Woodson Bridge recreation area causes more erosion of the channel bank at the recreation area than if the revetment were not present; (3) relocating the channel to the west and allowing subsequent unconstrained river migration relieves the erosion pressure in the Woodson Bridge area; (4) the subsequent migration reworks (erodes along one river bank and replaces new floodplain along the other) 26.5 ha of land; and (5) the river will rework between 8.5 and 48.5 ha of land in the study reach (over the course of 50 years), depending on the bank stabilization plan used. The reworking of floodplain lands is an important riparian ecosystem function that maintains habitat heterogeneity, an essential factor for the long-term survival of several threatened and endangered animal species in the Sacramento River area.     

特定岸坡生态系统去除水源中微量有机物实验研究

水源地长期污染严重,微量有机物检出率增加,水质安全性下降,以及岸坡传统硬质化护砌导致生态恶化,为此提出以新型环保材料生态混凝土构建特定岸坡生态系统改善水源水质的研究方法.中试实验结果表明,停留时间为6 d时,水中阿特拉津、邻苯二甲酸二甲酯、邻苯二甲酸二(2-乙基己基)酯、邻苯二甲酸二乙酯、邻苯二甲酸二丁酯的去除率分别为70.5%、57.7%、72.4%、62.4%和45.1%,水样有机物图谱峰数与黄浦江原水相比减少23个,峰总面积降低36.8%;相同条件下对照水库(岸坡硬质护砌),5种微量有机物的去除率仅为40.2%、42.9%、54.8%、52.0%和16.2%.以生态混凝土为载体构建的水源地特定岸坡生态系统在微生物和绿色植物等多因素协同作用下,使水中微量有机物去除效果明显,对改善水源水质和生态修复具有积极意义.     

凤阳山森林生态系统碳交换及其物候特征

凤阳山位于浙江省龙泉市南部,为亚热带典型森林生态系统保护区,受海洋性气候和季风的影响,是研究森林生态系统碳预算及其物候特征的理想之地。采用位于浙江凤阳山的涡动相关通量观测系统（EC）观测的2017年（除去9月）CO₂通量数据、气象数据并结合物候模型来分析本地尺度亚热带森林生态系统总初级生产力（GPP）、生态系统呼吸（Re）动态特征、不同时间尺度下的影响因子及其物候特征,结果表明：该生态系统全年扮演着碳汇的角色,净生态系统碳交换量（NEE）（除去9月）为?89 g?m^?2?a^?1（以碳计）,GPP总量为1377.75 g?m^?2?a^?1,Re总量为1288 g?m^?2?a^?1,GPP和Re的日变化和季节变化均呈单峰型,先增加后降低。GPP在不同的物候时期均为倒“U”型的变化趋势,而Re在夜间的生态系统呼吸略高于白天,且在日夜交替时刻会出现陡降现象。整个生态系统在174 d GPP增长率达到峰值0.25 μmol?m^?2?s^?1,达到最大恢复率;202 d的GPP增长率为0 μmol?m^?2?s^?1;228 d的GPP增长率最低,为?0.21 μmol?m^?2?s^?1,达到最大衰退率。不论是日尺度还是月尺度上,GPP和Re变化的主要驱动因素为空气温度,日尺度上Re较GPP对环境因子的变化更加敏感;反之,在月尺度上GPP对环境因子变化的响应比Re更加敏感。总体而言,凤阳山森林生态系统全年表现为碳汇,能够调节当地的二氧化碳浓度;生长季森林生态系统生长旺盛,稳定阶段的GPP与Re达到峰值;在不同的时间跨度上生态系统对环境因子的响应存在差异。     

基于着生硅藻指数的梧桐河水生态健康评价

在黑龙江省梧桐河,调查了13个点位的着生硅藻群落结构和水环境特征,应用8种硅藻指数对该河流水生生态系统进行健康评价,并在此基础上应用主成分分析、相关分析、冗余分析、箱型图分析等统计分析方法研究了影响梧桐河着生藻类群落的主要环境因子和8种硅藻指数在梧桐河的适用情况。结果显示:梧桐河存在一定程度的环境污染,优势种以小型异极藻(Gomphonema parvulum)等耐污种为主。8个硅藻指数中,硅藻属指数(Generic Index of Diatom,GI)、澳大利亚河流硅藻生物评价指数(Diatom Index for Australian Rivers,DIAR;Diatom Species Index for Bioassessment of Australian Rivers,DSIAR)评价结果偏差较大,在梧桐河不适用;相似度指数(Jaccard Index,JI)与富营养化硅藻指数(Trophic Diatom Index,TDI)评价结果较为严格,评分明显偏低;硅藻污染耐受指数(Pollution Tolerance Index,PTI)、硅藻生物评价指数(Diatom Bioassessment Index,DBI)和生物硅藻指数(Biological Diatom Index,BDI)在梧桐河流域适用性最好。根据冗余分析(RDA),将梧桐河流域点位分为3组,第一组点位为中-重度污染,主要影响因子为流速和总磷;第二组点位为轻-中度污染,主要影响因子为磷酸盐、氨氮和溶解氧;第三组点位为轻污染-清洁,主要影响因子为pH和电导率。     

The Role of Prices in Conserving Critical Natural Capital

Abstract: Until recent decades, economic decision makers have largely ignored the nonmarket benefits provided by nature, resulting in unprecedented threats to ecological life‐support functions. The economic challenge today is to decide how much ecosystem structure can be converted to economic production and how much must be conserved to provide essential ecosystem services. Many economists and a growing number of life scientists hope to address this challenge by estimating the marginal value of environmental benefits and then using this information to make economic decisions. I assessed this approach first by examining the role and effectiveness of the price mechanism in a well‐functioning market economy, second by identifying the issues that prevent markets from pricing many ecological benefits, and third by focusing on problems inherent to valuing services generated by complex and poorly understood ecosystems subject to irreversible change. I then focus on critical natural capital (CNC), which generates benefits that are essential to human welfare and have few if any substitutes. When imminent ecological thresholds threaten CNC, conservation is essential and marginal valuation becomes inappropriate. Once conservation needs have been met, remaining ecosystem structure is potentially available for economic production. Demand for this available supply will determine prices. In other words, conservation needs should be price determining, not price determined. Conservation science must help identify CNC and the quantity and quality of ecosystem structure required to ensure its sustained provision.     

A Simulation of Temporal and Spatial Variations in Carbon at Landscape Level: A Case Study for Lake Abitibi Model Forest in Ontario,Canada

Using a case study of the Lake Abitibi Model Forest (LAMF), this study aims to assess the temporal and spatial variability in carbon storage during 1990–2000, and to present a comprehensive estimation of the carbon budget for LAMF's ecosystems. As well, it provided the information needed by local forest managers to develop ecological and carbon-based indicators and monitor the sustainability of forest ecosystems. Temporal and spatial carbon dynamics were simulated at the landscape level using ecosystem model TRIPLEX1.0 and Geographical Information System (GIS). The simulated net primary productivity (NPP) and carbon storage in forest biomass and soil were compared with field data and results from other studies for Canada's boreal forests. The results show that simulated NPP ranged from 3.26 to 3.34 tC ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ in the 1990s and was consistent with the range measured during the Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Studies (BOREAS) in central Canada. Modeled NPP was also compared with the estimation from remote sensing data. The density of total above-and belowground biomass was 125.3, 111.8, and 106.5 tC ha⁻¹ for black spruce, trembling aspen, and jack pine in the LAMF ecosystem, respectively. The total carbon density of forested land was estimated at 154.4 tC ha⁻¹ with the proportion of 4:6 for total biomass and soil. The analysis of net carbon balance of ecosystem suggested that the LAMF forest ecosystem was acting as a carbon sink with an allowable harvest in the 1990s.     

滇池湿地生态系统服务功能价值评估

滇池湿地的直接使用价值包括物质生产价值、供水价值、休闲娱乐价值和科研文化价值;间接使用价值包括生物栖息地功能价值、调节气候功能价值、降解污染功能价值、涵养水源价值和侵蚀控制功能价值。采用机会成本法、影子工程法、替代市场法及生态价值法等评价方法,计算出滇池湿地的各项服务功能总价值为78．778亿元,其中直接使用价值50．116亿元,间接价值为28．662亿元。     

Impact of excess and harmful radiation on energy budgets in scleractinian corals

Using dynamic energy budget (DEB) theory, this paper explores the potential of excess and harmful radiation, notably UV, to cause changes in performance and, ultimately, bleaching in scleractinian corals for a range of ambient nitrogen and (beneficial) photosynthetically active radiation levels. Two negative impacts of radiation are considered: a reduction in the capacity of the symbiont to generate energy through photosynthesis (defined in this paper as photoinhibition); an increase in the costs for the symbiont to remain viable due to repair of damage (defined in this paper as photodamage). Model predictions indicate that although both types of impact reduce the growth potential of host and symbiont, photoinhibition predominantly affects host features, except at very low ambient nitrogen levels, under which conditions the severity of nitrogen limitation is so strong that a reduction in photosynthetic rates due to photoinhibition has minimal impact. In steady state, photoinhibition leads to a reduction in host biomass, and an increase in symbiont density, implying that photoinhibition (as defined in this paper) is unlikely to cause bleaching. In contrast, the impact of photodamage is mostly affecting symbiont features, including a decline in symbiont density. Thus, photodamage may contribute to coral bleaching. Furthermore, the model predicts that, with both photoinhibition and photodamage, an increasing ratio of harmful to beneficial radiation accelerates the suppression of growth rates of symbiont and host, implying that coral health deteriorates progressively faster with increasing harmful radiation, such as UVb.