Distribution Patterns of Synechococcus Indicated Their Environmental Constraints and Related Geochemical Processes in the Yellow Sea

Synechococcus is a widely distributed photosynthetic pico-phytoplankton,which contributes mainly to carbon fixation and maintains the stability of the marine ecosystem.To investigate its distribution patterns in the Yellow Sea,seawater samples were collected during September 2018.Results of flow cytometry analysis showed that the Synechococcus abundance ranged from 6.36×10^(2) to 4.51×10^(4) cells mL^(−1),which correlated with salinity(P<0.01)and temperature(P<0.05).At deeper off-shore sites,Synecho-coccus showed high abundance at the subsurface thermo-halocline,which was in accordance with chlorophyll a(Chl a)content along the vertical column.Based on the high-throughput sequencing data of rpoC1(partial gene encoding RNA polymerase),two Synechococcus subclusters,S5.1 and S5.2,were found to coexist in the studied area.Several clades of S5.1,including Clades I,II,and III,were the dominant components,accounting for 6.63%,26.11%,and 45.5%of the total genus,respectively.Redundancy analysis(RDA)showed that nitrite was the main environmental factor that explained the genus composition among samples.Fur-thermore,co-occurrence network revealed that the main phyla that coexisted with Synechococcus were Proteobacteria,Bacteroidetes,Actinobacteria,Planctomycetes,and Verrucomicrobia,which were involved in the carbon(C),nitrogen(N),sulfur(S),and manga-nese(Mn)cycles.Overall,Synechococcus exhibited biogeographic distribution correlated with temperature-salinity and nitrite in the Yellow Sea,and their geochemical function showed diverse but should be further verified in the future.

Urban expansion and intra-urban land evolution as well as their natural environmental constraints in arid/semiarid regions of China from 2000–2018

Rapid urbanization has occurred in arid/semiarid China,threatening the sustainability of fragile dryland ecosystems;however,our knowledge of natural environmental constraints on multiscale urban lands in this region is still lacking.To solve this issue,this study retrieved 15-m multiscale urban lands.Results indicated that urban area increased by 68%during 2000–2018,and one-third of the increase was contributed by only three large cities.The coverage of impervious surface area(ISA) and vegetated area(VA) increased by 16.6%and 1.38%,respectively.Such land-cover change may be helpful in suppressing wind erosion and sand storms.We also found that the newly urban lands had relatively lower ISA and higher VA than the old urban lands,indicating an improved human settlement environment.Strong environmental constraints on urban expansion were identified,with cities in oasis urban environments(OUEs) that had water supply expanding 150% faster than cities in desert urban environments(DUEs).Urban development was also constrained by terrain,with 73% of the ISA expansion occurring in relatively flat areas.Overall,the aggregated pattern of urbanization and the increase in ISA and VA in the newly urbanized lands have improved water-use efficiency and ecological services and benefited desert ecosystem protection in arid/semiarid China.

Evolution Characteristics of Urban Land Use Efficiency under Environmental Constraints in China

In the context of high-quality economic development and coordinated regional development,this paper measures the urban land use efficiency of 275 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2016,taking into account the unexpected output(environmental pollution),and explores the temporal and spatial evolution of urban land use efficiency through kernel density estimation and spatial autocorrelation analysis.The results show that:(1)From 2003 to 2016,China’s urban land use efficiency showed an overall fluctuating growth,but it remained at a low level.The mean value of urban land use efficiency has been gradually decreasing in east,west and central regions.(2)In the whole country and the eastern,central and western regions,the regional differences have been increasing,and the efficiency values of the whole country and the east have become polarized.(3)Urban land use efficiency shows a weak spatial positive correlation,but the degree of spatial agglomeration is increasing.High-high agglomeration areas are mostly distributed in the southeastern coastal areas,and extend into the central region,while most of the high-low polarized areas are the capital cities of the central and western regions.The low-high depressed areas are scattered around the high-value accumulation areas,some of which have turned into high-high agglomeration areas during the study period,while the low-low homogeneous areas are mainly distributed in the central,western and northeastern regions.Therefore,it is proposed that strengthening the utilization of urban stock land,strengthening the regional cooperation mechanism,and formulating policies which improve the efficiency of land use are effective ways to promote the intensive and economical use of urban land,as well as regional coordinated development.

Influence of local environmental target constraints on enterprise OFDI

By collecting the environmental target constraints in the annual government work report of prefecture-level cities,this paper studies its impact on local enterprises’OFDI.The main conclusions are as follows:(1)Both direct and indirect constraints have a significant positive impact on enterprises’OFDI,and the degree of direct constraints is stronger than that of indirect constraints.(2)Environmental target constraints of local governments will affect corporate OFDI behavior by affecting production costs,local economic development level and local openness,and(3)There are regional heterogeneity and investment type heterogeneity in the impact of environmental goal constraints on corporate OFDI.The suggestions are as follows:government departments can appropriately strengthen the constraint intensity of environmental targets and formulate specific restraint rules for industries with different levels of pollution,so as to effectively make use of the technology spillover effects brought about by OFDI to promote the upgrading of domestic industrial structure.When making OFDI,enterprises should clarify the investment motivation,strengthen corporate social responsibility,and make use of technology spillover effect to promote the upgrading and development of home country industry while being beneficial to their own development.

Environmental Integration of Small Hydropower Development

On the basis of cooperative research with European professionals, problems relating to environmental and ecological protection were discussed while small hydropower development in China currently was introduced in this paper. Guidelines of small hydropower development dealing with environmental protection were sug- gested hereby. Various specific technical environmental solutions focusing on small hydropower development applied in European and other developed countries were also introduced in this paper. Main environmental solutions are discussed as follows： integrated design should be advocated during plan/design stage,＂ ecohydraulic engineering and its utilization in SHP design and construction; effective technical approaches to relieve and eliminate the impact of river interception and fix the reasonable minimum biological flow; environment-friendly mitigation and compensation measures for high/low-head hydropower schemes applied in diversion works, intake, nature-like fish-passes, penstock and powerhouse design; study and application of the new technology, material and equipments; launching renovation of environmental protection in existing stations; emphasiz- ing public participation and their acceptability for the SHP environment; coordinated inter-disciplinary study at national level, etc. Two case studies in Sweden and Australia are given here.

Upper Lillooet River Hydroelectric Project： The Challenges of Constructing a Power Tunnel for Run-of-River Hydro Projects in Mountainous British Columbia

The Upper Lillooet River Hydroelectric Project （ULHP） is a run-of-river power generation scheme located near Pemberton, British Columbia, Canada, consisting of two separate hydroelectric facilities （HEFs） with a combined capacity of 106.7 MW. These HEFs are owned by the Upper Lillooet River Power Limited Partnership and the Boulder Creek Power Limited Partnership, and civil and tunnel construction was completed by CRT-ebc. The Upper Lillooet River HEF includes the excavation ofa 6 m wide by 5.5 m high and approximately 2500 m long tunnel along the Upper Lillooet River Valley. The project is in a moun- tainous area; severe restrictions imposed by weather conditions and the presence of sensitive wildlife species constrained the site operations in order to limit environmental impacts. The site is adjacent to the Mount Meager Volcanic Complex, the most recently active volcano in Western Canada. Tunneling conditions were very challenging, including a section through deposits associated with the most recent eruption from Mount Meager Volcanic Complex （-2360 years before the present）. This tunnel section included welded breccia and unconsolidated deposits composed of loose pumice, organics （that represent an old forest floor）, and till, before entering the underlying tonalite bedrock. The construction of this section of the tunnel required cover grouting, umbrella support, and excavation with a combination of road header, hydraulic hammer, and drilling-and-blasting method. This paper provides an overview of the project, a summary of the key design and construction schedule challenges, and a description of the successful excavation of the tunnel through deposits associated with the recent volcanic activity.

Changes in niche differentiation and environmental filtering over a hydric stress gradient

Aims Diversity in communities is determined by species’ability to coexist with each other and to overcome environmental stress that may act as an environmental filter.Niche differentiation(ND)results in stronger intra-than interspecific competition and promotes coexistence.Because stress affects interactions,the strength of ND may change along stress gradients.A greater diversity of plant growth forms has been observed in stressful habitats,such as deserts and alpine regions,suggesting greater ND when stress is strong.We tested the hypothesis that niche differences and environmental filters become stronger with stress.Methods In a semiarid grassland in southern Mexico,we sowed six annual species in the field along a hydric stress gradient.Plants were grown alone(without interactions),with conspecific neighbors(intraspecific interactions)or with heterospecific neighbors(interspecific interactions).We analyzed how the ratio of intra-to interspecific competition changed along the gradient to assess how water availability determines the strength of ND.We also determined if hydric stress represented an environmental filter.Important Findings We observed stronger intra-than interspecific competition,especially where hydric stress was greater.Thus,we found ND in at least some portion of the gradient for all but one species.Some species were hindered by stress,but others were favored by it perhaps because it eliminates soil pathogens.Although strong ND was slightly more frequent with stress,our species sample was small and there were exceptions to the general pattern,so further research is needed to establish if this is a widespread phenomenon in nature.

Regional Differentiation and Classification for Carrying Constraints on the Resources and Environment of China

Research on the relationship between national resource constraint-region types and environmental carrying capacity is essential for the continued development of Chinese industrialization and urbanization.Thus,utilizing a series of key indexes including the per-capita potential of available land resources,the per-capita potential of available water resources,the degree of environmental stress,and the degree of ecological restriction,a step-by-step,integrated measuring method is presented here to understand the constrained carrying elements of water and land resources as well as environment and ecology.Spatial differences are analyzed and area types classified at the county level across China.Results reveal that：（1）Almost 90%of China is strongly constrained by both resources and the environment,while nearly 50%of national territory is strongly constrained by two elements,especially in areas of intensive population and industry to the east of the Helan-Longmen Mountain line;（2）Densely populated areas of eastern and central China,as well as on the Tibetan Plateau,are strongly constrained by a shortage of land resources,while North China,the northwest,northeast,the Sichuan basin,and some southern cities are experiencing strong constraints because of water shortages.In contrast,the North China plain,the Yangtze River delta,northern Jiangsu,Sichuan province,Chongqing municipality,Guizhou and Guangxi provinces,the northeast plain,and the northern Loess Plateau are constrained by high levels of environmental stress.Areas of China that are strongly ecologically constrained tend to be concentrated to the southwest of the Tianshan-Dabie Mountain line,as well as in the northeast on the Loess Plateau,in the Alashan of Inner Mongolia,in northeast China,and in the northern Jiangsu coastal area;（3）Constraints on national resources and environmental carrying capacity are diverse and cross-cut China,meanwhile,multi-element spatial distribution does reveal a degree of relative centralization.With the exception of the Tibetan Plateau which is resources-ecological constraint,other areas subject to cross constraints are mainly concentrated to the east of the Helan-Longmen Mountain line.

Beyond biogeographic patterns:Processes shaping the microbial landscape in soils and sediments along the Yangtze River

Deciphering biogeographic patterns of microorganisms is important for evaluating the maintenance of microbial diversity with respect to the ecosystem functions they drives.However,ecological processes shaping distribution patterns of microorganisms across large spatial‐scale watersheds remain largely unknown.Using Illumina sequencing and multiple statistical methods,we characterized distribution patterns and maintenance diversity of microorganisms(i.e.,archaea,bacteria,and fungi)in soils and sediments along the Yangtze River.Distinct microbial distribution patterns were found between soils and sediments,and microbial community similarity significantly decreased with increasing geographical distance.Physicochemical properties showed a larger effect on microbial community composition than geospatial and climatic factors.Archaea and fungi displayed stronger species replacements and weaker environmental constraints in soils than that in sediments,but opposite for bacteria.Archaea,bacteria,and fungi in soils showed broader environmental breadths and stronger phylogenetic signals compared to those in sediments,suggesting stronger environmental adaptation.Stochasticity dominated community assemblies of archaea and fungi in soils and sediments,whereas determinism dominated bacterial community assembly.Our results have therefore highlighted distinct microbial distribution patterns and diversity maintenance mechanisms between soils and sediments,and emphasized important roles of species replacement,environmental adaptability,and ecological assembly processes on microbial landscape.Our findings are helpful in predicting loss of microbial diversity in the Yangtze River Basin,and might assist the establishment of environmental policies for protecting fragile watersheds.