甲烷化抑制剂在微生物电化学合成乙酸系统中的生物抑制效应

研究了利用2-溴乙烷磺酸钠(BES)选择性抑制产甲烷菌,从而提高微生物电化学系统合成乙酸产率的可行性,并对比了BES添加前后阴极室微生物菌群结构的变化。结果表明,厌氧混合菌接种物未经BES处理时甲烷是电化学系统CO_2还原的主导产物,最大生成速率达0.95 mmol·L^(-1)·d^(-1),8 d反应时间甲烷中电子回收率达55.0%,16S r RNA测序结果显示固态阴极的主要菌群为Methanobacteriaceae。BES的添加基本抑制了产甲烷菌的活动,使得乙酸成为主导产物,其合成速率最高达2.22 mmol·L^(-1)·d^(-1),系统总电子回收率达67.3%。Rhodocyclaceae(15.1%),Clostridiaceae(11.9%)、Comamonadaceae(11.1%)和Sphingobacteriales(11.0%)为主要菌群。研究结果表明了微生物电化学合成系统中抑制甲烷生成对调控微生态结构,从而调控电化学终产物的重要性。

Role of bioengineering structures made of willow cuttings in marly sediment trapping: assessment of three real-size experiments in the Southern French Alps

Improving knowledge on the ability of bioengineering structures made of willow cuttings to enhance efficient and sustainable sediment trapping in marly gullies in the Southern French Alps under a mountainous Mediterranean climate, to decreasesediment trapped per experiment, the mean annual values reached 0.25, 0.14 and 0.08 m3 yr-1 in experiments C, A and B, respectively. Maximum values for one structure reached 1.94 m3 per year in experiment C. The significance of the volumes ofsediment yield at their outlets, is a key issue today for the international scientific community working in geosciences and ecology. This study therefore aims to assess three real-size experiments(A, B and C) carried out between 2003 and 2013 in this environment. A total of 157 bioengineering structures using purple and white willow(Salix purpurea and Salix incana)cuttings – which have been shown to resprout and survive more than 2 years after their installation,corresponding to brush layers with brush mats on wooden sills(BLM), 1.2 m wide and 2 m long,installed on the floors of 33 experimental marly gullies, were monitored. The results showed that sediment trapping occurred upstream of the vegetation barriers from the 1 st year onwards.Considering the depth of sediment trapped per experiment, the mean annual values reached 11.2 cm yr-1 after 3 years in experiment A, 7.7 cm yr-1 after 2–4 years in experiment C and 5.1 cm yr-1 after 5 years in experiment B. Occasionally, BLMs showed that they could trap up to 16 and 15 cm yr-1 in experiments A and C, respectively. Considering the volumes oftrapped sediment and the sustainability of sediment trapping are discussed, and rules for bioengineering strategies are proposed.

垂直流砂滤器现场污水处理系统的氧分布和阻塞

在法国,有1300万人民(约占人口总数的20%)都使用就地处理废水技术。这些废水处理装置常修建地埋竖流式砂过滤器,尤其是当沙的渗透率不足以处理化粪池的污水。堵塞是影响废水处理的主要原因之一,且使用沙作为滤料时,堵塞的程度难以估计。笔者建议使用以下两个方法用于检测早期堵塞:1)出口的NH_4-N/NO_3-N浓度比例;2)使用多孔介质测量氧浓度。两个试点规模的过滤器安装上氧浓度探测仪并在不同深度采取水样进行污染物检测。进出口水样一个星期检测3次。实验使用投料化粪池。在堵塞和未堵塞条件下的氧含量能监测。NH_4-N出口浓度对早期堵塞的检测用处不大,而NO_3-N出口浓度和氧含量能用于诊断系统的早期堵塞。

Effects of vegetation patterns and environmental factors on woody regeneration in semi-arid oak-dominated forests of western Iran

This study assesses the effects of vegetation natural tree and shrub regeneration in semi-arid forests patterns and environmental factors on the abundance of of the Zagros Mountains, western Iran. We sampled 120 releves at different topographic positions in a protected area of the studied region. Floristic composition, slope, elevation and soil properties were recorded at each releve, and woody seedling density was measured. We have first discerned five floristic groups using two-way indicator species analysis （TWINSPAN）, detrended correspondence analysis （DCA）, and canonical correspondence analysis （CCA） and then explored the relationships among the floristic group compositions, environmental factors and seedling densities. The indicator species of the five groups were Quercus brangi, Acer monspessulanum, Cerasus microcarpa, Rhamnus arvensis and Astragalus licyoides. Our results indicated that these groups were significantly affected by elevation and soil properties and the soil properties refer to： EC （electrical conductivity）, N （nitrogen）, K （potassium）, OM （organic matter）, and bulk density. Woody regeneration was composed of Q. brangi, A. monqJessulanum, C microcarpa, Amygdalus scopada and Crataeguspongca seedlings. The highest density of seedlings was found for Q. brantii （97.14 （_＋48.00） plants/hm2） and the lowest for A. scoparia （2.28 （＋1.50） plants/hm2）. Quercus brantii was the dominant species and the seedling density was positively correlated with soil pH and P （phosphorus） values. Amygdalus scoparia regeneration was negatively correlated with elevation, and the seedling density peaked in C. microcarpa group. There was no significant variation in distribution of C. pongca seedlings among the groups, but the seedling density of this species was positively correlated with slope and K. Cerasus microcarpa seedlings were more abundant in the Q. brantii group than in other groups. This study showed that the regeneration of tree and shrub species was unequally distributed in different floristic groups for some species （A. scopada and C microcarpa） but not for other （Q. branlii and C. pongca） and was generally correlated with some environmental factors, particularly elevation, slope and soil nutrients （P and K）. These results are a first step to implement future management and restoration strategies for promoting forest regeneration.

Farm-Scale Applicability of Three Covers (Peat, Polystyrene Balls and Synthetic Sheet Roof) to Reduce Ammonia Emissions from Pig Slurry Storage

Covering the slurry pit has been shown to be one of the best ways to reduce ammonia emissions (NH3) during manure management. Yet, few studies have been conducted at farm scale. We studied the feasibility of three cover materials (peat, polystyrene balls and synthetic sheet roof) to reduce ammonia (NH3) emissions during on-farm storage of pig slurry. The impact on greenhouse gas emissions, methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) of covering the slurry pit was also evaluated. Simultaneous field experiments were carried out using two similar pits at a farm with peat and polystyrene ball covers, which allowed direct comparison of the feasibility of the two covers to reduce gas emissions (measured using the dynamic chamber technique). Emissions from the third option (using a synthetic sheet roof) were estimated by measuring the concentrations in the headspace under the cover and the air leakage from the cover with a tracer gas (CO2). Results showed that the polystyrene balls cover reduced emissions of NH3 during storage by up to 80% whatever the season, but increased potential greenhouse gas emissions by 20% in summer. No consistent reduction was achieved with the peat cover even though some individual results seemed to indicate up to 25% reduction in ammonia emissions;moreover, there was a 30% increase in CH4 and CO2 emissions during the storage period. The use of a synthetic sheet roof enabled up to 90% reduction in NH3, CH4 and CO2 emissions whatever the season.

Toward Modelling of Transformational Change Processes in Farm Decision-Making

In the coming decades, agricultural systems will have to adapt to tremendous challenges. Behavioral models have important potential to better understand and steer changes toward sustainability brought about by this context. Relying on a literature review, we distinguish incremental changes (extensions of what is already done) and transformational changes, which involve the reorientation of a considerable amount of farming activities. Transformational changes are particularly important in the context of global change. Existing integrated modelling frameworks based on behavioral theories are suited for incremental changes, but remain limited for transformational changes. Qualitative studies provide important insights on two key aspects of transformational changes, learning and social relations, but they have not been explicitly oriented toward computer modelling yet. Based on this literature and three seminal decision-making approaches, we propose a description of transformational change processes in farm decision-making, as a first step toward an implementation in agent-based models.

An Analysis of the Value of Additional Information Provided by Water Quality Measurement Network

European Community policy concerning water is placing increasing demands on the acquisition of information about the quality of aquatic environments. The cost of this information has led to a reflection on the rationalization of monitoring networks and, therefore, on the economic value of information produced by these networks. The aim of this article is to contribute to this reflection. To do so, we used the Bayesian framework to define the value of additional information in relation to the following three parameters: initial assumptions (prior probabilities) on the states of nature, costs linked to a poor decision (error costs) and accuracy of additional information. We then analyzed the impact of these parameters on this value, particularly the combined role of prior probabilities and error costs that increased or decreased the value of information depending on the initial uncertainty level. We then illustrated the results using a case study of a stream in the Bas-Rhin department in France.

Assessment of NH3 Reduction and N2O Production during Treatment of Exhausted Air from Fattening Pigs Building by a Commercial Scrubber

The use of air scrubbers to reduce ammonia (NH3) emissions from buildings on pig farms is one of the most promising techniques in the GÖteborg protocol and other European regulations including the Industrial Emission Directive. In France, some air scrubbers are currently used on pig farms, mainly to reduce odours from livestock buildings. However, recent research revealed the production of N2O resulting from the treatment of air from pig buildings. In this context, a two-month study was conducted on a pig farm with 750 places for fattening pigs to check the abatement of NH3 emissions and to assess the possible production of N2O during treatment of exhausted air from buildings housing fattening pigs by a air scrubber. Concentrations of NH3 and N2O in the inlet and outlet air of the scrubber were continuously monitored using an Innova 1412 infrared analyzer. With the scrubber operating parameters (airflow, design, size), our results confirmed the production of N2O in the order of 5% of NH3-N reduced. N2O was produced by biological nitrification and/or denitrification inside the air scrubber. Statistical analysis (Pearson’s test) showed that the production of N2O was strongly influenced by the rate of airflow and the outside temperature. The abatement of NH3 emissions from the building was only 33%, i.e. much lower than the 70% - 90% usually cited in the literature.

Multi-Level Approach of the Ecotoxicological Impact of a Combined Sewer Overflow on a Peri-Urban Stream

In periurban zones, urban wet weather discharges have been recognized as the most significant vector of pollution in aquatic environments. The discharge of this water without treatment into the aquatic environment could present an ecotoxicological risk for biocenosis. The aim of the INVASION project is to assess the potential ecotoxicological impact of a combined sewer overflow (CSO) on a peri-urban stream. A comparative study between upstream and downstream areas of the CSO allowed observing significant effects of this overflow on the river. We studied three layers of stream: surface water, benthic layer and hyporheic layer. To characterize the potential ecotoxicological risk of water and sediments, we used a battery of 4 bioassays: Daphnia magna, Vibrio fischeri, Brachionus calyciflorus and Heterocypris incongruens. In parallel, we measured the physico-chemical parameters: ammonium (NH4+), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu) and lead (Pb). An ecological risk is greatest for the hyporheic zone in downstream river, particularly for the solid phase. These results corroborated with the physico-chemical data obtained.

Describing failure in geomaterials using second-order work approach

Geomaterials are known to be non-associated materials. Granular soils therefore exhibit a variety of failure modes, with diffuse or localized kinematical patterns. In fact, the notion of failure itself can be confusing with regard to granular soils, because it is not associated with an obvious phenomenology. In this study, we built a proper framework, using the second-order work theory, to describe some failure modes in geomaterials based on energy conservation. The occurrence of failure is defined by an abrupt increase in kinetic energy. The increase in kinetic energy from an equilibrium state, under incremental loading, is shown to be equal to the difference between the external second-order work,involving the external loading parameters, and the internal second-order work, involving the constitutive properties of the material. When a stress limit state is reached, a certain stress component passes through a maximum value and then may decrease. Under such a condition, if a certain additional external loading is applied, the system fails, sharply increasing the strain rate. The internal stress is no longer able to balance the external stress, leading to a dynamic response of the specimen. As an illustration, the theoretical framework was applied to the well-known undrained triaxial test for loose soils. The influence of the loading control mode was clearly highlighted. It is shown that the plastic limit theory appears to be a particular case of this more general second-order work theory. When the plastic limit condition is met, the internal second-order work is nil. A class of incremental external loadings causes the kinetic energy to increase dramatically, leading to the sudden collapse of the specimen, as observed in laboratory.

Combined forest and soil management after a catastrophic event

At the end of October 2018,a storm of unprecedented strength severely damaged the forests of the eastern sector of the Italian Alps.The affected forest area covers 42,500 ha.The president of one of the damaged regions asked for help from the University of Padua.After eight months of discussion,the authors of this article wrote a consensus text.The sometimes asper debate brought to light some crucial aspects:1)even experienced specialists may have various opinions based on scientific knowledge that lead to conflicting proposals for action.For some of them there is evidence that to restore a destroyed natural environment it is more judicious to do nothing;2)the soil corresponds to a living structure and every ecosystem’s management should be based on it;3)faced with a catastrophe,people and politicians find themselves unarmed,also because they rarely have the scientific background to understand natural processes.Yet politicians are the only persons who make the key decisions that drive the economy in play and therefore determine the near future of our planet.This article is an attempt to respond directly to the governor of a region who formally and prudently asked a university department called"Land,Environment,Agriculture and Forestry"for help before taking decisions;4)the authors also propose an artistic interpretation of facts(uncontrolled storm)and conclusions(listen to the soil).Briefly,the authors identify the soil as an indispensable source for the renewal of the destroyed forest,give indications on how to prepare a map of the soils of the damaged region,and suggest to anchor on this soil map a series of silvicultural and soil management actions that will promote the soil conservation and the faster recovery of the natural dynamic stability and resilience.

Efficiency of a Grass Buffer Strip for Limiting Diuron Losses from an Uphill Vineyard Towards Surface and Subsurface Waters

Grass buffer strips limit the transfer of pesticides from cultivated fields to rivers. These solutions are generally efficient at reducing polluted surface flows, mainly by infiltration of the soil, raising the question of the fate of the infiltrated pollutants. An environmental evaluation was conducted on the efficiency of a grass strip receiving diuron-contaminated water from an uphill vineyard in France. During two runoff events, the following measurements were taken: surface inflow and outflow with Venturi flumes, vertical percolated flow below the root layer (0-50 cm), and variations in water and solute content of the root layer. One runoff event occurred under natural rainfall conditions, while the other runoff event was artificially provoked with water doped by diuron and bromide. For the natural runoff event, representative of medium intensity events, 94% of the diuron was retained in the root layer, whereas 2% left the grass strip by surface runoff and 4% left the grass strip in the water percolating under the root zone. For the artificial event, representative of intense runoff events, more than half of the incoming diuron was retained by the grass strip, whereas 24% and 18% of it were transferred by surface runoff and percolation, respectively. These results showed that the capacity of the root layer to retain diuron was highly significant despite a large percolation flux. However, for large runoff events, surface and subsurface losses can still be considerable, up to 40% of the pesticide load entering the strip.

新公共服务绩效管理工具与公共水资源治理:来自对城市环境行动研究的主要经验教训

在法国,中央政府正借助绩效指标对其公用事业的治理原则寄予新的希望,而本文认为仅仅凭借绩效测量和管理工具治理,无论其如何成熟,都不足以应对公共水资源治理当前面临的挑战。然而,针对绩效测量工具目标的争论,引出了有关公共水资源治理的实质性问题。这些问题既触及治理模式(战略和组织上的)的构成问题,也涉及其控制系统的问题。与南特大都会(南特城市社区)水务部门联合进行的行动研究试验证明了这一点,试验中引入了新的绩效测量工具,引导该系统中的行动者聚焦公用水治理模式必须承载的价值问题。这些价值与水资源的这种'公共性'以及多维构成相关,作为治理模式的基础已经表现于构建中的地方治理系统之中。

Earthworms promote greater richness and abundance in the emergence of plant species across a grassland-forest ecotone

Aims Chalk grasslands are subject to vegetation dynamics that range from species-rich open grasslands to tall and encroached grasslands,and woods and forests.In grasslands,earthworms impact plant communities and ecosystem functioning through the modification of soil physical,chemical and microbiological properties,but also through their selective ingestion and vertical transportation of seeds from the soil seed bank.Laboratory experiments showed that seed-earthworm interactions are species specific,but little is known on the impact of seed-earthworm interactions in the field.The overall aim of this study was to better understand seed-earthworm interactions and their impact on the plant community.First we analyzed the composition of seedlings emerging from casts after earthworm ingestion.Then we compared seedling composition in casts to the plant composition of emerging seedlings from the soil and of the aboveground vegetation along four stages of the secondary succession of chalk grasslands.Methods Four stages of the secondary succession of a chalk grassland—from open sward to woods—were sampled in Upper Normandy,France,in February 2010.Within each successional stage(×3 replicates),we sampled the standing vegetation,soil seed bank at three soil depths(0-2,2-5 and 5-10 cm)and earthworm surface casts along transects.Soil and cast samples were water sieved before samples were spread onto trays and placed into a greenhouse.Emerging seedlings were counted and identified.Effect of successional stage and origin of samples on mean and variability of abundance and species richness of seedlings emerging from casts and soil seed banks were analyzed.Plant compositions were compared between all sample types.We used generalized mixed-effect models and a distance-based redundancy multivariate analysis.Important Findings Seedling abundance was always higher in earthworm casts than in the soil seed bank and increased up to 5-fold,4-fold and 3.5-fold,respectively,in the tall grassland,woods and encroached grassland compared to the soil surface layer.Species richness was also higher in earthworm casts than in the soil seed bank in all successional stages,with a 4-fold increase in the encroached grassland.The plant composition of the standing vegetation was more similar to that of seedlings from casts than to that of seedlings from the soil seed bank.Seedlings diversity emerging from casts in the tall and encroached grasslands tended toward the diversity found in woods.Our results indicate that earthworms may promote the emergence of seedlings.We also suggest that the loss of some plant species in the seed bank and the tall grass vegetation in intermediary successional stages modify the local conditions and prevent the further establishment of early-successional plant species.

On the Simpson index for the Wright–Fisher process with random selection and immigration

Moran or Wright–Fisher processes are probably the most well known models to study the evolution of a population under environmental various effects.Our object of study will be the Simpson index which measures the level of diversity of the population,one of the key parameters for ecologists who study for example,forest dynamics.Following ecological motivations,we will consider,here,the case,where there are various species with fitness and immigration parameters being random processes(and thus time evolving).The Simpson index is difficult to evaluate when the population is large,except in the neutral(no selection)case,because it has no closed formula.Our approach relies on the large population limit in the“weak”selection case,and thus to give a procedure which enables us to approximate,with controlled rate,the expectation of the Simpson index at fixed time.We will also study the long time behavior(invariant measure and convergence speed towards equilibrium)of the Wright–Fisher process in a simplified setting,allowing us to get a full picture for the approximation of the expectation of the Simpson index.

Truncation Errors,Exact and Heuristic Stability Analysis of Two-Relaxation-Times Lattice Boltzmann Schemes for Anisotropic Advection-Diffusion Equation

This paper establishes relations between the stability and the high-order truncated corrections for modeling of the mass conservation equation with the tworelaxation-times(TRT)collision operator.First we propose a simple method to derive the truncation errors from the exact,central-difference type,recurrence equations of the TRT scheme.They also supply its equivalent three-time-level discretization form.Two different relationships of the two relaxation rates nullify the third(advection)and fourth(pure diffusion)truncation errors,for any linear equilibrium and any velocity set.However,the two relaxation times alone cannot remove the leading-order advection-diffusion error,because of the intrinsic fourth-order numerical diffusion.The truncation analysis is carefully verified for the evolution of concentration waves with the anisotropic diffusion tensors.The anisotropic equilibrium functions are presented in a simple but general form,suitable for the minimal velocity sets and the d2Q9,d3Q13,d3Q15 and d3Q19 velocity sets.All anisotropic schemes are complemented by their exact necessary von Neumann stability conditions and equivalent finite-difference stencils.The sufficient stability conditions are proposed for the most stable(OTRT)family,which enables modeling at any Peclet numbers with the same velocity amplitude.The heuristic stability analysis of the fourth-order truncated corrections extends the optimal stability to larger relationships of the two relaxation rates,in agreementwith the exact(one-dimensional)and numerical(multi-dimensional)stability analysis.A special attention is put on the choice of the equilibrium weights.By combining accuracy and stability predictions,several strategies for selecting the relaxation and free-tunable equilibrium parameters are suggested and applied to the evolution of the Gaussian hill.

Performance optimization of grid aggregation in spatial data warehouses

The problem of storage and querying of large volumes of spatial grids is an issue to solve.In this paper,we propose a method to optimize queries to aggregate raster grids stored in databases.In our approach,we propose to estimate the exact result rather than calculate the exact result.This approach reduces query execution time.One advantage of our method is that it does not require implementing or modifying functionalities of database management systems.Our approach is based on a new data structure and a specific model of SQL queries.Our work is applied here to relational data warehouses.