Coral bleaching indices and thresholds for the Florida Reef Tract, Bahamas, and St. Croix, US Virgin Islands

It is well established that elevated sea temperatures cause widespread coral bleaching, yet confusion lingers as to what facet of extreme temperatures is most important. Utilizing long-term in situ datasets, we calculated nine thermal stress indices and tested their effectiveness at segregating bleaching years a posteriori for multiple reefs on the Florida Reef Tract. The indices examined represent three aspects of thermal stress: (1) short-term, acute temperature stress; (2) cumulative temperature stress; and (3) temperature variability. Maximum monthly sea surface temperature (SST) and the number of days >30.5 °C were the most significant; indicating that cumulative exposure to temperature extremes characterized bleaching years. Bleaching thresholds were warmer for Florida than the Bahamas and St. Croix, US Virgin Islands reflecting differences in seasonal maximum SST. Hind-casts showed that monthly mean SST above a local threshold explained all bleaching years in Florida, the Bahamas, and US Virgin Islands.     

东莞市农田土壤和蔬菜重金属的含量特征分析

从东莞市采集118 个农田土壤样品和43 个蔬菜样品, 测试其中Cu、Zn、Ni、Cr、Pb、 Cd、As 和Hg 等8 种重金属元素的含量, 并结合GIS 制图和数据统计, 对农田土壤中重金属 的空间分布和来源、土壤和蔬菜中重金属的富集特征及其潜在风险进行了分析。结果表明, 农田土壤中Cu、Zn、Ni、Pb、Cd 和Hg 等元素含量均高于相应元素的广东省土壤背景值, 其中, Pb (65.38 mg kg^-1) 和Hg (0.24 mg kg^-1) 含量分别为其对应背景值的1.82 和2.82 倍。与我国《土壤环境质量标准》中II 级标准(pH < 6.5) 相比, 土壤中Cu、Ni、Cd 和Hg 含量样本超标率分别为3.4%、5.9%、1.7%和28%, 表现为以Hg 为主的多种重金属共同污染。土壤 中8 种重金属中Cu、Zn、Ni、Cr 和As 等元素主要来源于成土母质, Pb、Hg 和Cd 等元素主要与人类活动有关。空间分布上, Cu、Zn、Ni、Cr、Pb、As 和Hg 等7 种重金属含量呈现出西部高、东部低的特点, Cd 含量在西北部和东南部较高, 西南部较低。与《食品中污染物限量》(GB2762-2005) 等相关标准比较, 蔬菜中Ni、Pb 和As 含量的样本超标率分别为4.7%、16.3%和48.8%。蔬菜中重金属富集系数的顺序为: Cd > Zn > Cu > As > Ni > Hg > Cr > Pb。