Fluoride hazard and assessment of groundwater quality in the semi-arid Upper Panda River basin,Sonbhadra district,Uttar Pradesh,India

Abstract

Around 9000 inhabitants in the Panda River basin, Sonbhadhra District, Uttar Pradesh, India, are vulnerable to a “silent” dental and skeletal fluorosis from groundwater consumption. The fluoride source and seasonal groundwater quality variation were studied by collecting 65 groundwater samples in the Upper Panda River basin. Major rock types are phyllites and granite gneissic rocks. Fluoride concentrations are in the range 0.4–5.6 mg/L in the pre-monsoon season and 0.1–6.7 mg/L in the post-monsoon season. Fluor-apatite and biotite mica in the granite gneissic rock were identified as the main provenance of fluoride in the groundwater through water–rock interactions. Due to precipitation of calcium, soils become alkaline with high contents of sodium; these conditions allow fluoride to accumulate in water. According to risk index calculations, the fluoride-affected villages were shown to fall in the fluoride risk zone (with a risk index of around 1.7). On the basis of mineral stability diagrams, groundwater from the weathered and fractured aquifers appears to be stable within the kaolinite field, suggesting weathering of silicate minerals. The groundwater is chemically potable and suitable for domestic and agricultural purposes, except for a few wells in the southern region that are contaminated with high amounts of fluoride.

Editor D. Koutsoyiannis

Citation Raju, N.J., Dey, S., Gossel, W., and Wycisk, P., 2012. Fluoride hazard and assessment of groundwater quality in the semi-arid Upper Panda River basin, Sonbhadra District, Uttar Pradesh, India. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 57 (7), 1433–1452.     

准噶尔沙蒿群落主要物种间的关联性分析

采用方差比率法(VR),基于2×2列联表的χ2统计量、Ochiai联结指数(OI)以及去势对应分析(DCA),对准噶尔荒漠地区15个准噶尔沙蒿(Artemisia songarica)群落21个主要物种间的关联性进行了分析。结果表明:准噶尔沙蒿群落物种间总体为显著正关联(VR=2.726>1)。210个种对中,正关联种对数(125对)多于负关联种对(85),且前者达到显著关联的种对数(53)也多于后者(4)。准噶尔沙蒿与伴生种间虽为显著正关联,但OI联结指数稍小。群落内多数伴生种间的关联性较弱(OI<0.4),表明物种多趋于独立和随机分布。群落优势种琉苞菊、角果藜、囊果苔草、尖喙牻牛儿苗、齿稃草和条叶庭荠之间为显著正关联,且OI指数最大,表明这些物种具有相似的生态需求。DCA排序图中的种间距离和分布位置较好地表征了物种之间的相互关系,印证了上述结论。总之,准噶尔沙蒿群落虽生境不同,但群落内种间关系总体上较稳定,这对准噶尔沙蒿种群分布和群落发展较有利。     

浙江舟山定海护城河浮游植物优势种生态位与种间联结性季节性分析

以舟山定海护城河为例,分析浮游植物四季优势种生态位与种间联结性,探讨水生态系统浮游植物群落中优势种间相互作用的生态关系,对环境资源共用的季节性变化,为富营养化污染水体浮游植物群落结构特征研究提供重要依据.2016年5月至2017年2月4个季节共出现优势种4门12属14种,其中尖肘杆藻、颗粒沟链藻、绿色颤藻、铜绿微囊藻、四尾栅藻和吻状隐藻6种为富营养化指示种.优势种种类具有明显的季节变化,蓝藻细小隐球藻4个季节均为优势种,并在春、秋、冬季为绝对优势种.根据优势度和生态位宽度,14个优势种可以划分为3个类群.生态位重叠值最大值和最小值分别为0.984和0.004,季节性差异较大,冬季 ≈ 秋季 > 夏季 > 春季.方差比率法求出的各季节优势种VR值均大于1,统计量W检验结果显示,浮游植物优势种间联结性总体上呈显著正相关.基于2×2联列表的χ²检验,54对优势种对仅有11对有显著联结性,负关联种对多于正关联.总体而言,优势种种间关联程度与生态位重叠程度并不完全一致,可能是浮游植物群落物种多样性高及物种组成季节变化明显所导致.     

Analysis of occurrence patterns and biological factors of cetaceans based on long‐term and fine‐scale data from platforms of opportunity: Madeira Island as a case study

Management and conservation issues are addressed through the identification of areas of particular importance, which requires the acquisition of baseline information on species distribution and dynamics. These types of data are particularly difficult to obtain at high resolution for large marine vertebrates like cetaceans, given that dedicated surveys are complex and logistically expensive. This study uses daily presence–absence sighting data of cetaceans collected year‐round from whale‐watching boats to support the theory that fine‐scale data obtained from platforms of opportunity can provide valuable information on species occurrence and group dynamics. Data from 7,551 (daily) sightings comprising 22 species were collected from 3,527 surveyed days over 11 years (mean of 321 days per year, SD = 17) in the pelagic environment of Madeira Island. Cetaceans were observed on 92% of the surveyed days, and a mean of 15.4 (SD = 1.5), 8.2 (SD = 2.0) and 2.1 (SD = 1.2) species were recorded per year, month, and day, respectively. There were significant differences in the number of species per month (p < .001), with the highest diversity recorded in June. At least nine species, comprising 96% of all sightings, were found to use the Madeiran waters on a regular basis, such as the Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis), the short‐beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), and others featured in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature as Endangered, Vulnerable, and Data Deficient. In addition, 10 species were found to use the Madeiran waters for travelling, feeding, resting, socializing and calving, which suggests that the southern and southeastern waters of Madeira Island constitute an area of interest for cetaceans. This study characterizes the cetaceans’ community structure (occurrence, aggregation sizes, behaviours, proportion of calves, and inter‐specific relationships) of a poorly studied region, providing important information for managers. Finally, the advantages and limitations of using fine‐scale data from a type of platform of opportunity that is increasing along coastlines globally are discussed.     

Research on Ecological Protection and Restoration Measures in Altay Region based on the Coupling Perspective of the Mountains-Rivers-Forests-Farmlands-Lakes-Grasslands System

The adoption of both Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and a system perspective is a hot issue and an area in which there is much room for improvement in ecological protection and restoration. The study takes Altay region as an example, an area located in Xinjiang, China, which is an important ecological corridor of the national key functional area and the core area of the Belt and Road but has a fragile ecological environment and needs much enhancement in ecological protection and restoration. Guided by the concept of “mountains-rivers-forests- farmlands-lakes-grasslands (MRFFLG) system is a life community”, the coupling relationship of the various MRFFLG elements, the main ecological environmental problems and the integrated countermeasures for protection and restoration in Altay region have been analyzed in this study. The study shows that Altay region has a typical meta-ecosystem of mountain, oasis, and desert, and the connections by rivers and lakes make the ecosystem links within the region much closer. The interweaving of resource-environmental-ecological issues of the aquatic ecosystem, degradation of the quality of terrestrial ecosystems such as forests, grasslands and farmlands, the increased ecosystem fragmentation and ecological risks are the major ecological environmental issues in this region. This study takes the improvement of the ecosystem health and function in Altay region as the core goal of regional ecological protection and restoration. First, we establish a zoning governance pattern from the perspective of ecosystem integrity; second, we design governance strategies for different zones with the goal of synergistic improvements in the ecosystem functions; and finally, we clarify the key engineering tasks in different zones from the perspective of ecosystem services. Ecological conservation and restoration of the MRFFLG system is a prime example of the application and development of NbS in China. This paper constructs an analytical framework for identifying regional life communities, diagnosing ecological protection and restoration of zoning problems, and proposing classified solutions for ecological protection tasks for the protection of the MRFFLG system. This research will enrich the theory and technology for the protection and restoration of MRFFLG systems, and provide guidance for the practice of ecological protection and restoration in Altay region.     

面向模型的大比例尺制图综合框架设计与实现

模型综合作为制图综合的一部分 ,是通过改变地图内部目标关系的表达方式 ,使地图的表达更简单 ,进而使综合更方便。结合交互式制图综合软件AutoMap ,介绍了面向模型综合的系统设计框架和具体实现 ,并着重从地图目标的空间关系、几何属性和语义关系 3个方面来分析模型综合。     

营养盐浓度和初始细胞密度对东海原甲藻与塔玛亚历山大藻种间竞争的影响

以我国东海2种重要赤潮原因种--东海原甲藻(Prorocentrum donghaiense)和塔玛亚历山大藻(Alexandrium tamarense)为研究对象,研究了高、低磷酸盐浓度以及初始细胞密度对这2物种种群增长与种间竞争的影响.结果表明,不同实验条件下2物种有不同的竞争结果,营养盐限制环境中主要表现为资源利用性竞争,东海原甲藻为竞争优势种;丰富营养盐环境中,种间竞争具有明显的密度依赖性,根据初始细胞密度的不同,2竞争物种既可以相互排斥,也可能共存.该结果与东海赤潮特征即2物种既可以分别形成单相型赤潮,又可以共同形成双相型赤潮相一致.     

Examination of Microphysical Relationships and Corresponding Microphysical Processes in Warm Fogs

In this paper, the microphysical relationships of 8 dense fog events collected from a comprehensive fog observation campaign carried out at Pancheng（32.2 N, 118.7 E） in the Nanjing area, China in the winter of 2007 are investigated. Positive correlations are found among key microphysical properties（cloud droplet number concentration, droplet size, spectral standard deviation, and liquid water content） in each case, suggesting that the dominant processes in these fog events are likely droplet nucleation with subsequent condensational growth and/or droplet deactivation via complete evaporation of some droplets. The abrupt broadening of the fog droplet spectra indicates the occurrence of the collision-coalescence processes as well, although not dominating. The combined efects of the dominant processes and collision-coalescence on microphysical relationships are further analyzed by dividing the dataset according to visibility or autoconversion threshold in each case. The result shows that the specific relationships of number concentration to volume-mean radius and spectral standard deviation depend on the competition between the compensation of small droplets due to nucleation-condensation and the loss of small droplets due to collision-coalescence. Generally, positive correlations are found for diferent visibility or autoconversion threshold ranges in most cases, although negative correlations sometimes appear with lower visibility or larger autoconversion threshold. Therefore, the compensation of small droplets is generally stronger than the loss, which is likely related to the sufcient fog condensation nuclei in this polluted area.