铅锌尾矿中砷代谢功能基因的多样性

Microbial activities impact arsenic (As) transformation in mine tailings substantially,yet little is understood on the functional diversity of As metabolism genes.This study explored this issue using a metagenomic approach coupled by a local BLASTN procedure established in our recent studies.An assembled metagenome,recovered from hypersaline and sulfidic mine tailings,was screened for As metabolism genes aioA,arrA,arsC and arsM.This was done using a local BLASTN procedure against databases of the As metabolism genes built in this study.Putative As metabolism genes detected in the assembled metagenome included 11 arsM,20 arsC and 1 arrA full-length sequences.Together with the rRNA-based phylogenetic profiling results,a picture depicting microbial As cycling in the tailings to the genus level was obtained.It was found that most of the dominant genera in the tailings potentially harboured the genes for As reduction and/or methylation.In particular,a typical pyrite-eater present in the tailings,Thioalkalivibrio sp.,was found to harbour not only arsC and arsM,but also arrA.These results highlight the unexpected diversity of As metabolism genes in the tailings,especially considering the extremely low species diversity therein.The microbial As cycling picture established here has potential use for guiding the purposeful manipulation of As biogeochemistry in the tailings.     

基于SEBAL模型评估干旱半干旱区人工灌丛植被对陆表蒸散的影响

评估人工灌丛植被重建对干旱半干旱区陆地生态系统蒸散的影响,不仅能揭示植被变化与水文过程的耦合机理,又可为区域生态治理与水资源管理提供科学指导。该研究利用Landsat-8OLI/TIR遥感影像及气象数据等驱动SEBAL模型,反演宁夏盐池县的年内不同日期的陆表蒸散,结合目视解译选取的人工灌丛区与对照草地,评估了人工灌丛植被对陆表蒸散的影响。结果表明:1)SEBAL模型的蒸散反演精度与站点观测结果较为一致,可用于干旱半干旱区蒸散反演及空间特征研究;2)盐池县人工灌丛植被区日平均蒸散为1.20mm/d,高于对照草地1.17mm/d的日平均蒸散量,即干旱半干旱区人工种植灌木林增加了生态系统水分消耗,但不同季节和不同生物地理条件下的蒸散增强作用存在差异,蒸散增强在8月份最大,而3、4月份呈现负效应;3)人工灌丛的密度越大、植被盖度越高,对陆表蒸散的增强作用越强,特别在NDVI0.4的高盖度情况下蒸散增强作用更加明显。由此可知,在水资源紧缺的干旱半干旱区开展以灌木树种为主的植被重建需在合理的生态水文阈值范围内开展,才能构建出稳定可持续的人工生态系统。     

Carbon Fluxes from Different Pools in a Mined Area under Reclamation in Minas Gerais State,Brazil

Despite the benefits of grass cultivation and organic fertilization in mining areas undergoing reclamation, these practices may be associated to CO₂ emissions and soil organic matter (SOM) losses by priming effect. In the present study, we evaluated the changes on SOM pools and C–CO₂ emissions in a bauxite‐mined area under reclamation fertilized with poultry litter (PL) (0, 10, 20, and 40 Mg ha⁻¹) and cultivated with Brachiaria brizantha . Increases of about 3·5 times in the soil labile C were observed 1 year after experiment establishment. High C–CO₂ fluxes and a significant positive priming effect were observed in the presence of B. brizantha , increasing native C mineralization by nearly 4·9 times. Nevertheless, no net soil C loss was detected, probably because of the C inputs derived from B. brizantha , which offset these losses. In fact, the grass increased total organic C by 45% when fertilized with 40 Mg PL ha⁻¹. The data obtained suggest that the cultivation of B. brizantha fertilized with PL can be a promising option for rapid recovery in SOM in areas under reclamation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Application of the analytic hierarchy process to riparian revegetation policy options

While riparian vegetation can play a major role in protecting land, water and natural habitat in catchments, there are high costs associated with tree planting and establishment and in diverting land from cropping. The distribution of costs and benefits of riparian revegetation creates conflicts in the objectives of various stakeholder groups, and elicitation of importance weights of objectives and determination of rankings of a number of policy options by these stakeholder groups becomes critical in decision-making. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is a multicriteria analysis technique that provides an appropriate tool to accommodate the conflicting views of various stakeholder groups. The AHP allows the users to assess the relative importance of multiple criteria (or multiple alternatives against a given criterion) in an intuitive manner. This paper presents an application of AHP to obtain preference weights of environmental, social and economic objectives which have been used in ranking riparian revegetation policy options in a small catchment (watershed) in north Queensland, Australia. The preference weights towards environmental, economic and social objectives have been obtained for the various stakeholder groups (landholders, representatives of local sugar mill staff, environmentalists, recreational fishers and the local community). The AHP technique has proved useful in eliciting objectives and ranking policy options as well as in checking for consistency of the statements of stakeholder groups. Implementation of this approach requires a complex data elicitation process.     

Restoration of the mangrove vegetation in the Mahanadi delta,Orissa, India

In India, mangroves occupy 6740 km² of which the Mahanadi delta andBhitarkanika mangrove forests of Orissa cover 191.44 km², most of whichhas been severely overexploited. World wide concern to conserve mangrovesnecessitated propagation of mangroves to re-establish them on barren andswampy land along tidal creeks around Paradeep port of Orissa. Avicenniaofficinalis, Aegiceras corniculatum, Bruguiera parviflora, B. sexangula,Ceriops decandra, Excoecaria agallocha, Heritiera fomes, Kandelia candel,Rhizophora mucronata, Sonneratia apetala were vegetatively propagated andplanted over 10 ha of degraded salt-marshy wetlands of Mahanadi delta inpure and mixed stands depending on the intensity and the frequency of tidalinundation at the experimental site. Survival was significantly higher(80%) in S. apetala followed by A. officinalis, R. mucronata, K.candel and H. fomes (70–75%). S. apetala recorded the maximumgrowth in height (3.0 m after 2 years) whereas C. decandra showed theminimum growth (0.5 m). Growth performance was better with plants in mixedstands than the plantation with single species. This gives us hope topropagate and re-establish mangroves for conservation in scientificallymanaged plantations in a physiologically arid environment.     

Assessing the potential impacts of climate change and their conservation implications in Japan: A case study of conifers

The Japanese archipelago is a biodiversity hotspot with a unique regional climate influenced by the Asian monsoon circulation, surrounding seas, and complex topography. Japan has numerous mountains and islands, which are potentially vulnerable to climate change. This study evaluated the potential impact of climate change on species diversity in Japan, using 25 conifer tree species as a case study. We applied ensemble models based on generalised additive models, artificial neural networks, generalised boostedmodels, and random forests to species’ locality records at 1 km² resolution. The results indicated a substantial impact, such that 80% of the species may lose over half of their current climatically suitable areas by 2100. The lower altitudinal range limits were projected to shift upwards by 293 m on average, suggesting that alpine/sub-alpine and sub-boreal species may face widespread local extinctions. The impacts on sub-alpine species may be moderated by assisted migration to the northern island where they currently do not occur. However, climatically suitable areas for these species and sub-boreal species that occur on the island overlapped significantly, indicating that assisted migration may entail the risk of introducing biotic competition or interbreeding. Thus, rugged topography and dispersal barriers between islands are likely to amplify the future impacts of climate change in Japan. Limited areas in the central mountain region were identified as potential bioclimatic refugia, which should be conserved as a priority.     

W-OH新材料特性及在青海湖周边地区沙化地植生固沙中的应用

W-OH是一种新型的化学植生固沙材料,通过室内试验及青海湖周边地区的不同处理方式植生固沙试验表明,3%～5%浓度的W-OH材料在抗冻、抗压、抗拉、抗紫外线等性能均能达到青海湖周边地区植生固沙的要求,在处理方式喷涂W-OH+沟处理试验中取得了良好的植被恢复和治沙效果,适合在青海湖周边地区类似条件的地区进行推广应用。     

Causes of Sandstorm Disaster and Strategies against Desertification——A Case Study of Hexi Corridor in Northwest China

This case study outlines the problems faced by the peoples of the Hexi Corridor. These problems are serious and urgent, and are representative of those faced by other communities right across western China. The root causes are outlined and some remedies are suggested. The practical measures proposed under China's National Action Plan to Combat Desertification are described and discussed.     

Does Biochar Improve Establishment of Tree Seedlings in Saline Sodic Soils?

Reforestation of saline sodic soil is increasingly undertaken as a means of reclaiming otherwise unproductive agricultural land. Currently, restoration of degraded land is limited to species with high tolerances of salinity. Biochar application has the potential to improve physical, biological and chemical properties of these soils to allow establishment of a wider range of plants. In a glasshouse trial, we applied biochar made from Acacia pycnantha (5 Mg ha⁻¹) or no biochar to either a low (EC_e 4·75 dS m⁻¹, ESP 6·9), a moderate (EC_e 27·6 dS m⁻¹, ESP 29·3) or a high (EC_e 49·4 dS m⁻¹, ESP 45·1) saline sodic soil. The regional common reforestation species Eucalyptus viminalis and Acacia mearnsii were planted as tubestock in to the soils. Early establishment indicators, including growth, plant condition and nutrition, were assessed at the end of a simulated growing season, 108 days after biochar application. Application of biochar increased height, and decreased root : shoot and the concentration of Mn, N and S in plants of E. viminalis when grown in the highly saline sodic soil. Biochar application increased the concentration of B in leaves of E. viminalis and increased the concentration of P, K and S in leaves of A. mearnsii when grown in the low saline sodic soil. The results confirm that there is potential for biochar to assist in reforestation of saline sodic soils. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.