Contribution of contact toxicity and wheat condition to mortality of stored-product insects exposed to spinosad

Spinosad, a reduced-risk commercial insecticide derived from a bacterial fermentation product, possesses both contact and oral toxicities against insects. Contact toxicity of spinosad to adults of Rhyzopertha dominica (F), Sitophilus oryzae (L), and Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) was evaluated by exposure for 24 or 48 h to treated glass Petri dishes. Adults were exposed to different deposits (0.001-0.79 mg cm(-2)) of spinosad in 24-h tests and to deposits of 0, 0.0016 and 0.016mg cm(-2) in 48-h tests. Rhyzopertha dominica was most susceptible to spinosad in 24- and 48-h tests, followed by S. oryzae, and T. castaneum. The 24-h LD50 values were 0.0004, 0.077 and 0.189mg cm(-2) for R. dominica, S. oryzae, and T. castaneum, respectively. All R. dominica adults were dead following 48 h exposure to both spinosad deposits, whereas mortality of S. oryzae and T. castaneum ranged from 10 to 85% and 12 to 48%, respectively. Rhyzopertha dominica, T. castaneum, and O. surinamensis adults were exposed for 14 days to whole wheat, cracked wheat and wheat flour treated with 0, 0.1 and 1.0 mg kg(-1) of spinosad. Rhyzopertha dominica adults were highly susceptible to spinosad, followed by O. surinamensis and T. castaneum. Immatures (eggs and larvae) of T. castaneum and O. surinamensis exposed for 14 days were more susceptible on spinosad-treated whole wheat than on treated cracked wheat and wheat flour. This is the first report documenting contact activity of spinosad, and the effect of grain condition on spinosad toxicity, to stored-product insects.     

Environmental changes in man‐made coastal dune pools since 1850 as indicated by sedimentary and epiphytic diatom assemblages (Belgium)

• 1. Diatom assemblages of man‐made coastal dune wetlands between Blankenberge and Heist (Belgium), dating from 1852 to 1929 and sampled from herbarium specimens of macrophytes, were compared with more recent samples collected in the remaining calcareous dune marshes and pools in this area.
• 2. Overall, nutrient conditions inferred from the reference assemblages were fairly eutrophic for phosphorus. Only a minority of the historical assemblages pointed to presumably nitrogen‐limited conditions.
• 3. Significant alterations in general assemblage composition were observed, including a marked decline of epiphytic species, and a decrease in the compositional variation in sediment diatom assemblages. These changes can be attributed mainly to an increased availability of nutrients and degradable organic matter since the mid 1970s. No changes in the salinity range seem to have occurred, suggesting fairly stable hydrological conditions.
• 4. Possible causes for eutrophication include increased atmospheric deposition of nutrients, but also more site‐related phenomena such as guanotrophication, angling and, perhaps, effects of nature management on soil–nutrient cycling. Their relative importance needs to be established and further monitoring is necessary.
• 5. Measures are required to reduce nutrient levels of both permanently and periodically inundated sites and to promote small‐scale habitat differentiation. Due to physical constraints, the latter will be possible only by mimicking the processes that act upon more natural dune systems in management practice.

Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An ecological risk assessment for spinosad use on cotton

Spinosad is a reduced-risk insecticide with a novel mode of action that provides an alternative to older classes of insecticides such as organophosphates, carbamates and pyrethroids. A comprehensive ecological risk assessment for spinosad use in US cotton crops is presented within a framework of tiered levels of refinement following the guidelines of the US EPA for ecological risk assessments. Toxicity information for a variety of species is documented and utilized, environmental concentrations estimated, and risk characterizations in the form of risk quotients are quantified. Results indicate that spinosad use in cotton does not exceed the most conservative Tier I levels of concern (LOC) values for groundwater, mammals and birds or acute risk to aquatic organisms. Use of very conservative Tier I screening methods resulted in exceeding LOC values for chronic exposure for some aquatic organisms, thus prompting further refinement. When the exposure prediction was refined using less conservative, Tier II mechanistic environmental fate transport models to predict offsite transport and environmental concentrations, chronic risk was not predicted for these species. Spinosad is acutely toxic to bees under laboratory conditions, but toxicity of residue studies and field studies indicate that under actual use conditions the impact on bees is minimal.     

甘肃省草业可持续发展策略刍议

甘肃省发展草业具有土地、气候、生物和劳力优势。根据4个生态经济区的特点,分别讨论了草业发展与生态建设的关系。牧区生态保护与草业开发和草地畜牧业的产业更新;河西农区草畜产品生产和荒漠生态系统保护;河东黄土高原区保持水土与草畜产业链延伸;特别是甘肃省陇南山区最适于发展包括生物柴油的新型生物产业。     

The management of intensive dairy farms can be improved for better welfare and milk yield

The intensive breeding is often considered a risk of low welfare in dairy cows. Namely, the high yield has been suggested to be per se a cause of well-being reduction. Conversely, we have in many farms demonstrated that high milk yielding cows are not necessarily in a bad welfare condition, while many environmental and management problems can cause a distress situation and a reduced milk yield. To confirm these results, in an average yielding dairy farm affected by several problems, the welfare was assessed according to an Integrated Diagnostic System which considers health status, milk yield and quality, feeding strategy, blood profiles etc. The same check-up has been repeated a year later, after some attempts to correct main mistakes previously observed: dry and lactating cow diets, n° of cubicles, hygiene conditions, preparation and milking procedures etc. In one year only part of the mistakes have been fully corrected; nevertheless, the animal response was definitively improved suggesting a better welfare situation: improvement of teat and body condition (BCS) scores and reduction of open days, of legs and feet lesions and of somatic cell count (SCC : 283 vs. 456 cells/μl) as well as an increase of milk yield (25.2 vs. 20.1 kg/d).

Results confirmed that better breeding techniques can optimise the animal welfare and optimise milk yield in the intensive systems.     

科学发展观的评价指标体系构建

本文通过对科学发展观基本内涵的剖析，以及专家们的见仁见智，得出科学的发展观应该是经济发展、社会进步、生态良好，并通过运用模糊数学方法在层次分析法的基础上对一些核心的量化指标进行了综合评价和权重的优化，进而构建了科学发展观的评价指标体系，以期能更为科学地评价我们的社会是否在更加科学地发展。     

无磷酸氢钙日粮对生长猪的影响研究

将48头杜×长×大三元杂交生长猪随机分为两组,分别饲喂正常磷水平日粮和无磷酸氢钙日粮,结果表明:与正常磷水平日粮相比,无磷酸氢钙日粮可显著提高磷的表观消化率(P<0.05),增加猪场的纯收入,减少粪中磷的排放以保护猪场周边的生态环境。     

基于灰色理论的畜禽粪便环境污染风险预测分析

本文运用灰色建模理论中的灰色数列预测方法,利用北京密云县10个乡镇的畜禽粪便实际负荷量和最大负荷量的确定,对未来年份的畜禽粪便负荷预警值进行预测。结果表明:该流域各乡镇未来十年所受畜禽粪便的污染威胁均呈现逐年加剧趋势,其中石城和番字牌预警值上升最快;冯家峪、大城子和新城子次之,高岭、太师屯和不老屯呈现缓慢上升态势。     

Evaluating environmental impacts of the Japanese beef cow–calf system by the life cycle assessment method

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the environmental impacts of a beef cow–calf system using a life cycle assessment (LCA) method and to investigate the effects of scenarios to reduce environmental impacts on the LCA results. The functional unit was defined as one marketed beef calf, and the processes associated with the cow–calf life cycle, such as feed production, feed transport, animal management, the biological activity of the animal and the treatment of cattle waste were included in the system boundary. The present results showed that the total contributions of one beef calf throughout its life cycle to global warming, acidification, eutrophication and energy consumption were 4550 kg of CO₂ equivalents, 40.1 kg of SO₂ equivalents, 7.0 kg of phosphate (PO₄) equivalents and 16.1 GJ, respectively. The contribution of each process to the total environmental impact in each environmental impact category showed a similar tendency to the contribution of each process in each environmental category reported in the case of the beef fattening system as a whole. The results from this analysis showed that shortening calving intervals by 1 month reduced environmental impacts by 5.7–5.8% in all the environmental impact categories examined in the current study, and increasing the number of calves per cow also reduced environmental impacts in all the categories, although the effects were smaller.     

茶园生态系统服务功能

茶园生态系统是农业生态系统的组成之一，茶树及其间作植物与环境既有矛盾的一面，又有统一的一面，两者构成一个有机的整体。生物体必须与它的环境条件相适应才能生存和发展这一基本原理，无论自然生态系统或茶园生态系统都是一致的。人们认识到，茶园生态系统不仅向人类提供茶叶、其他的一些副产品，如水果、蔬菜、药材和家禽、家畜等，更重要的是它也维持了地球生命支持系统，即涵养水源、改良土壤、防止水土流失、减轻自然灾害、调节气候、净化环境、孕育和保存生物多样性等功能，以及具有观赏园林价值、展示传统文化、旅游休憩等社会功能。文中论述了茶园的生态服务功能、经济服务功能、社会服务功能。