A Case Study of an in Situ Botanical Garden in Zagori, Greece

Between 1998 and 2002, a project for the protection of the natural environment was applied, in the framework of the EU Initiative ＂L.I.F.E.＂, in Zagori, a mountainous region in Northwestern Greece with rich natural and human environment. One of the actions that took place as part of the above project was the creation of an in situ botanical garden in order to raise public awareness of the environment and the flora of the region. During the operation of the garden, the visitors answered questions related to their satisfaction or dissatisfaction of their visit. They also made suggestions for the improving of the garden. According to the number of the visitors and the analysis of the questionnaires, the operation of the garden was satisfactory. The in situ botanical garden proved useful not only for environmental awareness and education, but also for local economy. Two years since its creation, the garden eventually stopped operating. The main reason was lucky of funding. Based on the experience gained, it is suggested that the garden should be re-created under a new approach. Regions, such as Zagori, whose economy is based on environmental tourism, would benefit greatly from such structures. Moreover, in situ botanical gardens can play an important role in the protection of Greece＇s rich flora.

Improvements on environmental DNA extraction and purification procedures for matagenomic analysis

Our previously described environmental DNA extraction method has been widely used in environmental microbial community analysis. However, residual humic substances may remain with obtained environmental DNA, which interferes downstream molecular analyses. To remedy this situation, two DNA extraction buffers （PIPES and Tris-HCl） and four purification strategies including our new modified low melting point gel purification method and three commercial kits from QIAEX, Omega and Promega were evaluated with diverse soil samples. The PIPES buffer （pH 6.5） is found to be more effective for removing the humic substances, but it leads to lower DNA yield and causes more severe DNA shearing than using the Tris-HC1 buffer （pH 8.0）. Gel purification and the Promega purification kit achieve much higher DNA recoveries than QIAEX or Omega kit, and higher purity of DNA is obtained by gel purification than by the Promega kit with both DNA extraction buffers mentioned above. Considering all results together, two alternative methods for DNA extraction and purification are proposed： one uses Tris-HCl buffer extraction and gel purification as the primary approach when the amount of soil or biomass is not a major concern, and the other uses PIPES buffer extraction and the Promega kit purification when severe DNA shearing and/or limited biomass occurs. Purified DNA samples by both methods are amenable for use as templates for whole community genome amplifications and PCR amplifications of bacterial 16S rRNA genes. It is demonstrated that these two alternative methods could be applied to a wide variety of environmental samples.

Nitrogen Derivatives of Irrigation in Chihuahua＇s Parks with Wastewater Treatment Residuals

Since 2000 Chihuahua City has distribution system Waste Water Treatment （WTR）, watering city＇s green areas. The need to cover the growing demand for drinking water has encouraged the use of non-potable water where water quality is not an issue despite being used by 10 years ago, it is not known whether nitrogen compounds derived from WTR pose risks to the environment and public health. Therefore, in order to minimize health and environmental risks, this is needed to assess the impact and policy support for water use. The aim of this study is to determine the constitution and the concentration of nitrogen compounds through selection and characterization of park＇s representative. It＇s divided into physical properties and main parameters that affect nitrogen transformations. It was determined that sand was material that allowed more favorable oxidation and reduction of nitrate in soil and atmosphere, opposite of the clay, When used WTR, nitrates, nitrites and ammonia nitrogen were identified in the subsurface and NOx and N20 were identified in the atmosphere. When drinking water was used, none of these compounds was found. However, it was determined that despite having high concentrations of nitrates, the WTR was within the limits allowed by the Mexican standard for the use of WTR in public places.

Molecular Biological Detection of Biological Pollution in Water Environment

Water is contaminated mainly by chemical, physical and biological pollutants. At present, domestic reports on biological pollution of water environment are much less. Biological pollution in water environment pollution which is stable and infectious is the main part of water pollution. To fastly and accuratly detecte biological contamination of the water environment is extremely important for the control of disease outbreaks and water quality protection and public health security. This paper systematically introduces the research progress in biological water environment pollution detection methods in molecular biology aquatic environment, and explore molecular biology methods in the detection of biological contamination in water environment problems and trends.

公私法综合视野下自然保护地财产权限制与补偿研究

自然保护地是改善生态环境质量、传承中华民族文化、维护国家生态安全、建设美丽中国的重要抓手,肩负有保护生态系统、保护生态屏障的重要使命。但自然保护地划定以及建设管理活动会与已经形成的以土地利用为核心的不动产权利体系发生抵牾,即自然保护地生态环境公共利益保护与其所附着土地上原有的财产权的冲突。公私法分离视野下的管制性征收理论以及地役权制度无法有效解决这一冲突,而公私法综合视野下的环境公物理论则为解决自然保护地财产权限制与补偿问题提供了一种新的思路。作为环境公物的自然保护地,其在划定、建设、管理、利用中均可能出现对财产权的干预。故此,应当准确区分这种干预究竟构成征收,还是公共地役权对“剩余财产权”的限制。自然保护地公共地役权对“剩余财产权”的限制也应当予以补偿。“法定补偿+公共地役权补偿”二元补偿模式将选择权赋予供役人,由其自主选择补偿方式并接受相应的役权限制。二元补偿模式既能够使权利受限主体获得最低程度补偿,又能激励有意愿的供役人选择自愿、主动增加生态环境增益行为,切实提升生态环境的公共效能。