人工湿地脱氮除磷的效果与机理研究进展

人工湿地作为一种低耗高效的污水处理系统正在被广泛应用于各种类型的污水处理,不仅对有机污染物有较强的降解能力,而且对传统的二级处理难以去除的氮磷也有较好的去除效果。人工湿地污水处理系统是一个复合生态工程系统,其对污染的去除机理是一个错综复杂的过程,基质、水生植物和微生物共同发挥着重要作用。综述了人工湿地脱氮除磷的效果与机理,讨论了基质、水生植物、微生物及其他外界因素对系统处理效果的影响及氮磷去除的预测模型,提出了当前人工湿地研究中存在的问题和提高人工湿地脱氮除磷能力的对策。     

Downstream hydrologic and geomorphic effects of large dams on American rivers

The hydrology and geomorphology of large rivers in America reflect the pervasive influence of an extensive water control infrastructure including more than 75,000 dams. One hundred thirty-seven of the very large dams, each storing 1.2 km³ (10⁶ acre feet) of water or more, alter the flows of every large river in the country. The hydrologic effects of these very large dams emerge from an analysis of the stream gage records of 72 river reaches organized into 36 pairs. One member of each pair is an unregulated reach above a dam, whereas the other is a regulated reach downstream from the same structure. Comparison of the regulated and unregulated reaches shows that very large dams, on average, reduce annual peak discharges 67% (in some individual cases up to 90%), decrease the ratio of annual maximum/mean flow 60%, decrease the range of daily discharges 64%, increase the number of reversals in discharge by 34%, and reduce the daily rates of ramping as much as 60%. Dams alter the timing of high and low flows and change the timing of the yearly maximum and minimum flows, in some cases by as much as half a year. Regional variation in rivers, dams, and responses are substantial: rivers in the Great Plains and Ozark/Ouachita regions have annual maximum/mean flow ratios that are 7 times greater than ratios for rivers in the Pacific Northwest. At the same time, the ratio of storage capacity/mean annual water yield for dams is greatest for Interior Western, Ozark/Ouachita and Great Plains rivers and least for Pacific Northwest streams. Thus, in many cases those rivers with the highest annual variability have the greatest potential impact from dams because structures can exert substantial control over downstream hydrology. The hydrologic changes by dams have fostered dramatic geomorphic differences between regulated and unregulated reaches. When compared to similar unregulated reaches, regulated reaches have 32% larger low flow channels, 50% smaller high flow channels, 79% less active flood plain area, and 3.6 times more inactive flood plain area. Dams also affect the area of active areas, the functional surfaces that are functionally connected to the present regime of the river. Regulated reaches have active areas that are 72 smaller than the active areas of similar unregulated reaches. The geomorphic complexity (number of separate functional surfaces per unit of channel length) is 37% less in regulated reaches. Reductions in the size of hydrologically active functional surfaces are greatest in rivers in the Great Plains and least in Eastern streams. The largest differences in geomorphic complexity are in interior western rivers. The shrunken, simplified geomorphology of regulated large rivers has had direct effects on riparian ecology, producing spatially smaller, less diverse riparian ecosystems compared to the larger, more complex ecosystems along unregulated reaches of rivers.     

Environmental response of a desert springbrook to incremental discharge reductions,Death Valley National Park,California, USA

Desert springs are biodiversity hotspots that are easily altered by anthropogenic activities. Little is known about the effects of human disturbance on desert springs, and scarce information exists describing the environmental effects of incrementally increasing disturbance. The objective of this research was to quantify the influence of incremental reductions in discharge on the physical and thermal characteristics of a desert springbrook. In this study, the physical characteristics of a desert springbrook include hydraulic attributes that influence habitat availability, such as wetted area, flow velocity, and water depth. Thermal characteristics refer to water temperature and temperature gradients. The research objective was accomplished through a combination of field experiments at Travertine Spring, Death Valley National Park, USA, and hydraulic/temperature modeling to: (1) quantify changes in physical characteristics of the springbrook channel and aquatic environment; (2) investigate the effects of reduced spring discharge on seasonal spatial temperature patterns; (3) delineate tipping points that exhibit a non-linear response to decreased flow. We found that the physical environment changed with small decreases in discharge. Thermal tipping points were also exhibited due to decreases in discharge, but the magnitude of these responses was a function of distance from the spring source, seasonality, and temperature.     

Non-food-chain transfer of sediment-associated persistent organic pollutants to a marine benthic fish

We investigated the transfer of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from unspiked bottom sediment to a benthic marine fish, marbled sole (Pleuronectes yokohamae), via non-food-chain pathways, i.e., via sediment particles and water column. One-year-old sole were held for 28 days in an exposure tank with bottom sediment or in a control tank. o,p′-DDE and tri- to penta-chlorobiphenyls were transferred from the sediment to the fish via non-food-chain pathways, as demonstrated by concentrations in the exposed fish at 2.5-30 times the control levels. A model analysis based on first-order kinetic equations indicated that the overall rate constant of transfer of these compounds from sediment to fish was generally lower than that from food (median of ratio, 0.48). It also suggested that relatively high concentrations of the other POPs in the food and the longer times necessary for them to reach a steady state masked any transfer of them from the sediment.     

Life history and ecology of the Maghrebian endemic Choroterpes atlas Soldán & Thomas, 1983 (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae)

Knowledge of the basic life history traits of an aquatic organism such as voltinism and growth patterns is a fundamental step in understanding its potential use as indicator taxon and how it adapts to its complex environment. The distribution and life cycle of the Maghrebian endemic Choroterpes atlas Soldán & Thomas, 1983 was studied over a two year period. Random forest classification indicated that the species occupied both permanent and intermittent streams with high water depth, large river bed width and strong water flow. Density-based clustering of body measurements allowed the identification of last-instar nymphs which exhibited a significant sexual dimorphism: F-0 females were significantly larger than corresponding males. In addition, size-frequency plots and generalized additive models indicated that C. atlas exhibited a multivoltine annual cycle with three overlapping generations. Nymphal growth of the first generation happened in winter and spring with emergence occurring in June/July. The second generation grew from June/July to September whereas the third generation was completed from August/September to November. GAMs also indicated that body size varied significantly between years. The large regional distribution, habitat requirement, and phenology of C. atlas may ideally complement the potential use of Ecdyonurus rothschildi as a useful environmental indicator for North African streams and rivers.     

Effect of upstream ponds on stream temperature

Many tributaries feeding streams are connected to ponds that heat up during summer months; however, the influence of these ponds on receiving stream temperature was not known. Stream temperature affects microfauna and fish habitats in aquatic ecosystems. Three tributaries with headwater ponds exposed to sunlight and one tributary unassociated with a large, upstream pond were selected for study within the Pennypack Creek watershed in the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area. Temperature loggers were installed in the pond (when applicable), associated tributary, and in the Pennypack Creek up and downstream of its confluence with the tributary. Although diurnal temperature fluctuations were apparent, the study showed no significant differences in temperature up and downstream of tributary discharge to Pennypack Creek. Pond water temperatures were up to 4°C warmer than the Pennypack Creek; however, temperatures downstream and upstream of the tributaries leading out of the ponds were within 1°C of each other.     

Distribution of trace elements in subcellular fractions of three aquatic birds

This study investigated the subcellular distribution of Cu, Zn, Cd and Ag in liver of mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), spot-billed duck (A. poecilorhyncha) and great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) to better understand metal fractionation and dynamics in avian liver. Most of the total Cu, Zn, Cd and Ag were present in hepatocytosol, and their concentrations increased with total hepatic levels in all the three avian species. Copper, Zn and Cd in hepatocytosol were present mostly in metallothionein fractions (MTs), and Cu and Cd contents in this fraction were positively correlated with hepatocytosol levels in all the species. Silver was observed mostly in both high-molecular weight and MT fractions in hepatocytosol in mallard and great cormorant, whereas it was present in both low-molecular weight and MT fractions in spot-billed duck, suggesting that distribution of Ag in the hepatocytosol was species-specific. The elution profile of metals in MT fractions revealed six metallic peaks in mallard and spot-billed duck, and three peaks in great cormorant, implying the presence of multiple MT isoforms in the liver of these avian species. The present study demonstrated that MTs are closely associated with metal regulation, especially Cu and Cd, in these three aquatic birds.     

AMS 14C dating of tundra lake sediments using chironomid head capsules

Radiocarbon dating of late-Quaternary sediments from high-latitude lakes is often complicated by the influx of old carbon, reservoir effects, or both. If terrestrial plant macrofossils are also absent, the dating of bulk sediment often provides the only means to establish chronologies for these problematic sediment sequences. Given that chironomid (non-biting midge) remains are sufficiently abundant in many northern lakes to be ¹⁴C-dated via the accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) method, we decided to explore their utility in age-model development. Five age determinations based on chironomid material were obtained from a lake sediment core sampled in the shrub tundra of northern Québec. These results were compared to six AMS bulk sediment ages, as well as to a date obtained from Drepanocladus spp. The chironomids yielded consistently younger ages (with increasing age offset upcore), confirming both the presence of a reservoir effect and the value of chironomids in establishing more reliable ¹⁴C chronologies.     

BIOGENIC INFLUENCES ON THE FORMATION AND LONG-TERM DYNAMICS OF COHESIVE SEDIMENTS

1 wrRonvCTIoxToday it is widely accepted that the PrOcesses involved in cohesive sediment transpoft are stronglyinfluenced by the biological achvity of planctic (flocculation and sedimentahon) and benthic(consolldation and erosion) orgedsms (SPOrk et al. l997; PrOchnow et al. l999). Furthennre it can notbe neglected that particulary the ProCesses of sediment aging in teW of comPosition, pore-water content,stickiness of particles and aggregates and threshold of sediment motion are affected…