Distribution and sources of heavy metals in the sediment of Xiangshan Bay

Heavy metals in the surface sediments and sediment core from the Xiangshan Bay, a mariculture base on the coast of the East China Sea, were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry（ICP–MS） in order to evaluate their levels and sources. The results showed that the levels of Cu, Pb, Zn, and Cr in the sediments of the bay have been generally influenced by anthropogenic inputs since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. In particular, Cu and Zn were polluted to some extent, as evidenced by high enrichment factors. Organic matter, grain size, wastewater discharge, and low energy hydrodynamic environment played dominant roles in the heavy metal enrichment in the sediments. The ratio of terrigenous source to marine biogenic deposit of trace metals in the sediments was calculated, revealing that terrigenous inputs were the main source of Cu, Pb, and Zn, while biological pellets contributed much more to the enrichment of Cr and Cd. Considering the influence of biological sources on the enrichment of Cd and Cr, and the fact that the sediment has been polluted by Cu and Zn, the development of mariculture and discharge of wastewater into the Bay should be restricted

Recent strong inter-decadal change of Meiyu in 121-year variations

The strongest change in Meiyu periods in the mid-lower Yangtze Basin （MLY） since 1885 occurred in the late 1970s： a stage of weak Meiyu from 1958 to 1978 abruptly transformed into a stage of plentiful Meiyu from 1979 to 1999. The average Meiyu amount of the latter 21 years increased by 66% compared with that of the former 21 years, accompanied by a significant increase in the occurrence of summer floods in the MLY. This change was closely related with the frequent phenomenon of postponed Meiyu ending dates （MED） and later onset dates of high summer （ODHS） in the MLY. To a considerable degree, this reflects an abrupt change of the summer climate in East China. Further analysis showed that the preceding factors contributing to inter-annual changes in Meiyu in the two 21-year stages delimited above were also very different from each other. The causes of change were associated with the following： China’s industrialization has greatly accelerated since the 1970s, accompanied by an increase in atmospheric pollution and a reduction of the solar radiation reaching the ground. The sand area of North China has also expanded due to overgrazing. The enhanced greenhouse effect is manifested in warm winters （especially in February）. Meanwhile, the January precipitation of the MLY has for the most part increased, and El Ni？o events have occurred more frequently since the late 1970s. A correlative scatter diagram consisting of these five factors mentioned above clearly shows that the two stages with opposite Meiyu characteristics are grouped in two contrasting locations with very different environmental （land-atmosphere） conditions. It is quite possible that we are now entering a new stage of lesser Meiyu, beginning in 2000.

Role of Anthropogenic Climate Change in Autumn Drought Trend over China from 1961 to 2014

Understanding the impact of anthropogenic climate change on drought is of great significance to the prevention of its adverse effects.Two drought indices,standardized precipitation index(SPI)and standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index(SPEI),are used here for the detection and attribution of autumn droughts in China,and for the exploration of the role played by the anthropogenic climate change.SPI is only related to precipitation,but SPEI involves both precipitation and potential evapotranspiration.For their trend’s spatial patterns,the historical simulations(including all forcings,noted as ALL)from 11 models of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6,as an ensemble,are able to reproduce their observational counterpart.SPI shows wetting trend in the north of 35°N and drying trend in the south.SPEI shows drying trend in almost whole China.The drying trend in historical simulations ALL is significantly stronger,compared with the counterpart from the accompanying simulations(called NAT)with only natural forcings implemented.This result clearly indicates that anthropogenic climate change plays a dominant role in the enhancement of autumn drought in China.A more rigorous detection work is also performed with the signal’s fingerprint of ALL(and NAT)projected onto the observation and assessed with the background noise from no external-forcing control simulations.The trend pattern signal in ALL is significantly detected in observation for both SPI and SPEI,with a more pronounced signal in SPEI than in SPI,while the signal of NAT is not detected for neither SPI nor SPEI.Finally,extreme droughts(with indices beyond-2)are assessed in terms of probability ratio between ALL and NAT.It is shown that the anthropogenic precipitation change plays a leading role in the south of 35°N,while the anthropogenic temperature change leads in the north.

Impact of human disturbances on soil cyanobacteria diversity and distribution in suburban arid area of Marrakesh, Morocco

Background:Cyanobacteria are among the first photoautotrophic component of soil microorganism communities which play a key ecological role in nutrient cycles and soil productivity.However,the sustainability of these soil biodiversity ecosystem services is increasingly compromised,especially in urban and peri-urban areas where soils are heavily exploited and used for a wide range of human activities.The aim of this study is to assess the impact of different types of human disturbances on cyanobacteria diversity and distribution in suburban soils of Marrakesh.Soil and cyanobacteria sampling were carried out during two campaigns at six sites located along an anthropogenic gradient from the least urbanized suburbs of Marrakesh to the highly anthropized suburban area.In the laboratory,soil physicochemical characteristics were measured.The morphological identification of cyanobacteria species was based both on microscopic observation and on soil cultures in solid and liquid Z8 media.Results:The results showed a total of 25 cyanobacteria taxa belonging to ten genera,four families,and two orders(Oscillatoriales 88%and Chroococcales 12%of taxa).Among the taxa identified,seven strains were isolated in soil culture in nutrient media and purified in monoalgal culture.The highest cyanobacterial diversity was recorded in irrigated soil with treated wastewater compared to the non-cultivated control soil.In Principal Component and Cluster Analysis,suburban soils were subdivided into three groups depending on the chemical properties and cyanobacteria composition.Cyanobacteria diversity was significantly associated with the soil moisture,total organic carbon(TOC),PO_(4)^(-)P,NO_(3)^(-)N,and NH_(4)^(-)N contents.Conclusions:While diversity and microalgal biomass were significantly lower in the soils affected by municipal and mining solid wastes,the input of organic matter and nutrients from treated wastewater appears to be beneficial for the increasing of the biodiversity of soil cyanobacteria.This survey provides a first inventory of the soil cyanobacterial communities and shows their spatial variability and high sensitivity to the land-use practices and anthropogenic disturbances on urban soil in Moroccan drylands.