基于Nextflow构建的宏条形码自动化分析流程EPPS

基于宏条形码技术的物种快速检测有助于生物多样性的评估、预测和保护。本文介绍了常用宏条形码分析的步骤和参数设定方法。我们利用Nextflow搭建了一款宏条形码分析流程EPPS, 可以自动化地运行从原始数据的质量控制到环境多样性的比较。Nextflow软件还拥有流程监控的功能, 可视化输出每个进程所消耗的时间与内存。本文还使用测试数据和已发表数据证明该平台能够有效地分析宏条形码数据并可靠地分析环境生物多样性的相似性。     

A Statistical Approach for Estimation of Process Flow Data from Production of Chemicals of Fossil Origin (6 pp)

Goal, Scope and Background The life cycles of many products including textiles contain chemicals for which process flow data are not known or are too time consuming to collect. Although each chemical may not contribute significantly to the LCA results of the product, which might justify excluding them, but together their contribution could be significant. Similarly, rough estimates of the process flows for the production of a single chemical may be very uncertain and considered meaningless, while the estimates of the cumulative data of process flows for several chemicals may be less uncertain and be a meaningful contribution to the quality of the LCA results. There are methods for estimation of process flows for different types of products, with varying demands regarding input data and time and with varying accuracy of the results. This work contributes to the available methods, focusing on simple estimations for production of chemical substances. The goal was to create a fast method for estimation of emissions, resource and energy flows (process flows) for the production of chemicals, based on easily available data on the properties of the chemicals. The process flows investigated were limited to those normally associated with process industries and contributing most to depletion of resources, to global warming, acidification, eutrophication and photochemical ozone production, i.e. use of energy, crude oil, coal, natural gas, uranium in ore and emissions of CO2, SOx, NOx, NMVOC, methane, BOD, COD and total N. Toxic substances were excluded, since toxic emissions are substance specific and cannot be included in a generalization. Method Available data for the process flows for the production of chemicals of mainly fossil origin were correlated to properties of chemicals such as amount of carbon in the molecule, heat of formation and average number of chemical reaction steps in the production. The production procedures were found in readily available literature. Up to about six reaction steps were evaluated in the correlation study. The variations in the process flows among the chemicals studied were calculated. Results and Discussion There were weak correlations between average number of chemical reaction steps in the production and energy use, COD measured in water emissions, and SOx and NOx emissions to air. For the remaining properties of chemicals and process flows, there were only weak correlations for share of double bonding in the molecule if only molecules containing double bondings were included. Conclusions The precision in estimation of the process flows increases non-significantly when adding information on the number of reaction steps or share of double bonding for chemicals containing double bonding is added. Recommendations and Outlook It seems reasonable to start with a simple grouping method to estimate the process flows for the production of a chemical of fossil origin. Further investigations might investigate whether there is a correlation between process flows and the costs of chemicals, and further study the correlations between process flows and share of double bonding for chemicals containing double bondings.     

An assessment of feral horse impacts on treeless drainage lines in the Australian Alps

The feral Horse (Equus caballus) is widespread across the Australian Alps. Feral horses degrade alpine and sub‐alpine ecosystems and damage habitat of a range of threatened species. Despite this, there is little published work to document the extent and severity of these impacts. This study investigated impacts of feral horses on treeless drainage lines at 186 sites across the Australian Alps. The study included sites in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Victoria. We assessed nine variables related to soil and stream stability and vegetation cover, which in turn influence ecosystem function and habitat quality. We found significant differences among horse‐occupied and horse‐free sites for all soil and stream stability variables assessed. For all variables assessed, the average score (and hence, condition) was worse in horse‐occupied areas. The sites in poorest condition were occupied by horses. Impacts from other mammalian herbivores species appeared to be minor. Management intervention is necessary if these impacts of feral horses are to be addressed.     

Nonlinear responses of productivity and diversity of alpine meadow communities to degradation北大核心CSCD

Aims The alpine meadow degradation could have profound effects on the grassland productivity. The aim of our study is to clarify the dynamic response of community productivity and species diversity in the process of alpine meadow degradation. Methods In the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Northern Tibetan Grassland Ecosystem Research Station (Nagqu station), we conducted stages experiments with multiple degradation levels: control, mild degraded meadow, moderate degraded meadow, severe degraded meadow and serious sandy meadow. Important findings The response of aboveground biomass to alpine meadow degradation showed a linear or nonlinear increased response patterns, but the belowground biomass and total biomass decreased nonlinearly. As observed in measurement of aboveground biomass, Margalef index, Simpson index, Shannon-Wiener index and Pielou evenness index also exhibit a nonlinear increased response to degradation. The results of structural equation models showed that belowground biomass has a positive relationship with soil carbon content (p < 0.05) and volume water content (p < 0.1). However, soil nutrient and soil physical properties had no significant impact on aboveground biomass (p < 0.1). Compared with soil physical properties, soil nutrition is an important factor influencing the diversity index. In our study, the nonlinear responses of productivity and diversity of alpine meadow were described by using the multiple levels of degradation in space. The results suggested that aboveground productivity cannot interpret the degree of degradation of alpine meadow, and by contrast, alpine meadow degradation should be measured by the change of plant functional groups, such as edible grasses and poisonous forbs. © 2018 Editorial Office of Chinese Journal of Plant Ecology. All rights reserved.     

Biodiversity of galling insects: historical, community and habitat effects in four neotropical savannas

Five hypotheses were tested to explain the pattern of galling insect species richness in four neotropical savanna physiognomies, 'canga ', 'campo sujo', 'cerrado' s. st., and 'cerradão', that occur in Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. We found 125 species of galling insects on 80 host plant species. The increase of plant species richness explained 35% of the variation in galling insect richness, corroborating the plant species richness hypothesis. Most of the galling species occurred on trees, followed by shrubs, and herbs. However, the difference in mean number of galls was only statistically significant between herbs and trees, corroborating partially the plant structural complexity hypothesis. A significant relationship was observed between galling species richness and density of herbs, and shrubs, corroborating partially the resource concentration hypothesis. Galling insect richness showed a negative correlation with magnesium, potassium, and zinc on soil, corroborating the soil fertility hypothesis. The content of magnesium, potassium, iron and CTC (T) explained 72% of the variation in galling insect richness. Plant family size positively influenced galling insect richness, corroborating the plant family size hypothesis. Overall, the results corroborate the hypothesis that predicts that habitat stress is the main factor generating the patterns of galling insect richness in Brazilian savannas.     

长白落叶松冠层光合作用的空间异质性

以2014年黑龙江省帽儿山林场14年生人工长白落叶松为研究对象,对比分析了各项光合指标、环境因子及光合生理参数在冠层内的空间差异性,并探讨了净光合速率(P_n)与其他指标的关系.结果表明: 在树冠垂直方向,上层P_n、气孔导度(g_s)和蒸腾速率(T_r)显著高于中层和下层,胞间CO₂浓度(C_i)表现为下层>中层>上层;光合有效辐射(PAR)从上层外部到下层内部呈显著降低趋势,水汽压差(VPD)和叶片温度(T_l)表现为上层显著高于中层和下层,相对湿度(RH)则无显著差异;最大净光合速率(P_{n max})、暗呼吸速率(R_d)、光补偿点(LCP)和光饱和点(LSP)均表现为上层>中层>下层,下层比上层分别降低32.7%、55.8%、80.2%和51.6%,表观量子效率(AQY)表现为下层>中层>上层,下层分别是中层和上层的1.2和1.3倍.水平方向,光合指标和环境因子的差异性主要体现在树冠上层,P_n、g_s、T_r、PAR和VPD表现为树冠外部显著高于树冠内部,而C_i和RH差异不显著;P_{n max}、R_d、LCP和LSP表现为外部>内部,内部比外部分别降低0.4%、37.7%、42.0%和16.4%,而AQY在内部比外部高0.7%.C_i是限制P_n的主要生理因子,PAR是影响P_n的主要环境因子,尤其在弱光区域PAR对P_n的影响十分明显.因此,在模拟和预估树木冠层光合作用时,考虑空间异质性有一定的必要性.     

我国HEV废旧镍氢电池包中稀贵金属资源化利用环境效益分析

废旧动力电池包中含有丰富的镍、钴、稀土等稀贵金属,其资源化利用是实现混合动力汽车(Hybrid Electrical Vehicle,简称HEV)全生命周期绿色化管理的重要内容之一。随着HEV的不断发展,动力电池包在未来几年将逐渐进入批量报废阶段,其资源化利用的环境效益成为值得关注的问题。鉴于此,以丰田混合动力汽车镍氢电池包为研究对象,利用GREET模型和LIME值法测算出,相比于原生矿开采,单位废旧镍氢电池包中稀贵金属资源化利用所产生的环境效益为1083元;根据报废周期,对我国市场上现存的HEV镍氢电池包的未来报废情况进行预测。结果表明,这些电池包将从2018年开始迎来报废,在2021年达到报废高峰,至2024年基本完成报废;预计其稀贵金属资源化利用的环境效益,可累计达9421万元。提出了加强废旧动力电池回收体系和资源化利用体系建设的政策建议。     

Environmental influences on and antimicrobial activity of the skin microbiota of Proceratophrys boiei (Amphibia,Anura) across forest fragments

The composition of the skin microbiota of amphibians is related to the biology of host species and environmental microbial communities. In this system, the environment serves as a microbial source and can modulate the hosted community. When habitats are fragmented and the environment disturbed, changes in the structure of this microbial community are expected. One important potential consequence of fragmentation is a compromised protective function of the microbiota against pathogenic microorganisms. In this study, the skin microbiota of the amphibian Proceratophrys boiei was characterized, evaluated for relationships with environmental variables and environmental sources of microbial communities, and its diversity evaluated for frog populations from fragmented and continuous forests. In addition, the antimicrobial activity of this skin community was studied in frogs from both forest types. Culture methods and 16S rRNA high‐throughput gene sequencing were used to characterize the microbial community and demonstrated that the skin microbiota of P. boiei is more closely related to the soil microbial communities than those inhabiting water bodies or fragment matrix, the unforested area around the forested fragment. The microbial diversity and abundance of P. boiei skin microbiota are different between continuous forests and fragments. This community is correlated with environmental variables, especially with temperature of microhabitat and distance to human dwelling. All individuals of P. boiei harbored bacteria capable of inhibiting the growth of pathogenic bacteria and different strains of the pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, and a total of 27 bacterial genera were detected. The results of this study indicate that the persistence of populations of this species will need balanced and sustained interactions among host, microorganisms, and environment.