Hunting Increases Dispersal Limitation in the Tree Carapa procera, a Nontimber Forest Product

Abstract:  The sustainability of seed extraction from natural populations has been questioned recently. Increased recruitment failure under intense seed harvesting suggests that seed extraction intensifies source limitation. Nevertheless, areas where more seeds are collected tend to also have more intense hunting of seed-dispersing animals. We studied whether such hunting, by limiting disperser activity, could cause quantitative dispersal limitation, especially for large crops and for crops in years of high seed abundance. In each of four Carapa procera (Meliaceae) populations in French Guiana and Surinam, two with hunting and two without, we compared seed fate for individual trees varying in crop size in years of high and low population-level seed abundance. Carapa seeds are a nontimber forest product and depend on dispersal by scatter-hoarding rodents for survival and seedling establishment. Hunting negatively affected the proportion of seeds dispersed and caused greater numbers of seeds to germinate or be infested by moths below parent trees, where they would likely die. Hunting of seed-dispersing animals disproportionally affected large seed crops, but we found no additional effect of population-level seed abundance on dispersal rates. Consistently lower rates of seed dispersal, especially for large seed crops, may translate to lower levels of seedling recruitment under hunting. Our results therefore suggest that the subsistence hunting that usually accompanies seed collection is at the cost of seed dispersal and may contribute to recruitment failure of these nontimber forest products. Seed extraction from natural populations may affect seedling recruitment less if accompanied by measures adequately incorporating and protecting seed dispersers.     

会计集中核算的实践与思考

会计集中核算是会计管理体制改革的一项举措,从试点单位初步运行情况看,其作用明显,产生了较好的社会效益和经济效益,为防止各种违纪行为筑起了一道坚固的防线。虽然会计集中核算有一定的局限性,但它作为会计管理体制改革的一项有益尝试,应在有条件的部门积极推行     

《中华人民共和国防震减灾法》执法时效浅析

《中华人民共和国防震减灾法》的实施,为作好防震减灾工作提供了法律依据和保障,标志着我国的防震减灾工作已纳入法制化管理的轨道。加强防震减灾法制建设,依法管理防震减灾工作,是实现防震减灾社会功能的根本保障。在本法律条文中,关于执法时效问题没有明确规定,本文通过对该问题的浅析,希望为本法的修订和防震减灾工作深入开展提供一些参考。     

淀山湖浮游植物营养限制因子的研究

通过藻类增长的生物学评价(Nutrient Enrichment Bioassay)研究淀山湖浮游植物生长限制性因子,并采用析因方差分析和事后比较方法分析营养盐（PO^3-₄P、NH₃N、NO^-₃N）对浮游植物生长速度、平均最大现存量和平均最大特定增长率的影响。研究表明：磷对浮游植物生长有明显的促进作用,能提高浮游植物的生长速度和现存量,且促进作用随磷浓度（0.13～0.53 mg/L）的增加而加强,磷是淀山湖浮游植物增长的第一限制性因子;低浓度硝氮（2.91～5.91 mg/L）对浮游植物生长有微小的促进作用,但高浓度（5.91～8.91 mg/L）的硝氮表现出抑制作用;氨氮对浮游植物生长有抑制作用,并随浓度（1.25～7.25 mg/L）的增加而增大;添加磷+硝氮能明显促进浮游植物生长,磷与硝氮之间存在一定的交互作用.     

Potential concerns related to using octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) in rendering soils and porous ceramics hydrophobic

The treatment of hydrophilic porous ceramics to render them hydrophobic and wetting to non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) is frequently needed in multiphase flow experiments to control the flow or to measure the pressure of the NAPL. In addition, research dealing with soil wettability implies a need for hydrophobic or NAPL-wet soils. The traditional procedure, which has been widely used in literature, to render hydrophilic porous ceramics and soils hydrophobic is achieved by placing the hydrophilic solid in a 5% (by volume) octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) solution in ethanol followed by rinsing in ethanol. This research assesses the use of this procedure as it was found that this treatment procedure resulted in excess OTS on the surface of treated hydrophobic solids which can dissolve in an organic phase and in turn alter the wettability condition of adjacent hydrophilic soils. A modified procedure, which results in hydrophobic solids free of excess OTS, is presented.     

Mapping of tritium emissions using absorption vapour samplers

Püspökszilágy Radioactive Waste Treatment and Disposal Facility (RWTDF) is a typical near-surface engineered repository designated to store low- and intermediate-level wastes from various institutes, research facilities and hospitals in Hungary. Two automatic combined ¹⁴C–tritium sampling units installed at the facility sample the air 2 m above surface. The one installed near the vaults detects tritium (T) activities two orders of magnitude higher than the far reference sampling unit. To localize the T emissions, 19 small absorption vapour samplers filled with silica gel were settled onto the ground surface. After the saturation of the silica gel, the water was recovered and its T concentration was measured with a low-background liquid scintillation counter. The absorption vapour samplers are cheap, simple and easy-to-use. We present the samplers and the T distribution map constructed from the data, which helps to localize the T emission.     

限氮和限磷对活性污泥合成聚羟基烷酸的影响

聚羟基烷酸(PHA)是微生物在不平衡营养条件下贮存的一种胞内聚合物,限磷和限氮两种方式均有助于活性污泥中的混合菌群合成PHA,研究考察了两种不同方式下活性污泥合成PHA的情况。实验结果表明,当C∶N为125时,活性污泥中PHA的合成量达到细胞干重的59%;当C∶P为750时,活性污泥积累的最大PHA含量占细胞干重的37%,说明限氮和限磷两种方式对活性污泥合成PHA均有很大影响,且限氮方式更有效。     

江苏省太湖流域水功能区纳污能力及限制排污总量研究

水功能区纳污能力及限制排污总量研究是制定区域水污染控制规划的基础。依据《江苏省地表水(环境)功能区划》,结合江苏省太湖流域现状水质和污染概况,针对河网区和湖库区分别采用一维、二维非稳态模型,计算江苏省太湖流域水功能区纳污能力,在此基础上,引入最大污染物入河量,核定50%、75%和90%水文保证率下的最大污染物入河量分别为2015年、2020年和2030年限排总量。结果表明:(1)CODMn和氨氮纳污能力分别为284 803 t/a和22 448 t/a;(2)2015年CODMn和氨氮限排总量分别为221 867 t/a和20 520 t/a,2020年和2030年限排总量递减,均小于纳污能力;(3)CODMn和氨氮入河量削减率分别为21.8%和46.3%,与水质超标率相差均在25%以内,基本相符。江苏省太湖流域纳污能力、限排总量、污染物入河量削减率和水质超标率之间关系合理,计算结果合理。研究成果为太湖流域水环境控制规划提供决策依据。     

Stabilization of heavy metals in MSWI fly ash using silica fume

The objective of this work was to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of silica fume on stabilizing heavy metals in municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash. In addition to compressive strength measurements, hydrated pastes were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal-analyses (DTA/TG), and MAS NMR (²⁷Al and ²⁹Si) techniques. It was found that silica fume additions could effectively reduce the leaching of toxic heavy metals. At the addition of 20% silica fume, leaching concentrations for Cu, Pb and Zn of the hydrated paste cured for 7 days decreased from 0.32 mg/L to 0.05 mg/L, 40.99 mg/L to 4.40 mg/L, and 6.96 mg/L to 0.21 mg/L compared with the MSWI fly ash. After curing for 135 days, Cd and Pb in the leachates were not detected, while Cu and Zn concentrations decreased to 0.02 mg/L and 0.03 mg/L. The speciation of Pb and Cd by the modified version of the European Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) extractions showed that these metals converted into more stable state in hydrated pastes of MSWI fly ash in the presence of silica fume. Although exchangeable and weak-acid soluble fractions of Cu and Zn increased with hydration time, silica fume addition of 10% can satisfy the requirement of detoxification for heavy metals investigated in terms of the identification standard of hazardous waste of China.     

Biogeochemical cycling constraints on stream ecosystem recovery

In systems where production is limited by the availability of a nutrient, nutrient input to and recycling within the system is related to the resilience, or speed of recovery, of a system to its steady state following a disturbance. In particular, it is shown that the return timeT _s of the system to steady state, or the inverse of the resilience, is approximately equal to the mean turnover time of the limiting nutrient in the system. From this relationship, it is possible to understand and predict how various properties of food webs and their environments affect resilience. These properties include nutrient input rate, loss rate, size of the detritus compartment, and trophic structure. The effects of these properties on resilience are described by using simple mathematical models. To test model predictions, experimental studies of the response of periphyton-dominated stream ecosystems to disturbance are being conducted on a set of laboratory streams in which nutrient inputs and grazing intensity are regulated at different levels. In streams without snail grazers (low-grazed streams), 90% recirculation of stream water to reduce nutrient inputs resulted in longer turnover times (T _r ) of phosphorus within the stream compared with once-through flow. However, in streams with snail grazers (high-grazed streams), there were no differences in phosphorus turnover time between once-through and partially recirculated treatments. Results on the rate of recovery of periphyton from a flood/scour disturbance to each stream partially support the model prediction of a positive relationship between ecosystem return time (T _s ) and nutrient turnover time (T _r ) within the streams.