Lack of phylogenetic signals within environmental niches of tropical tree species across life stages

The lasting imprint of phylogenetic history on current day ecological patterns has long intrigued biologists. Over the past decade ecologists have increasingly sought to quantify phylogenetic signals in environmental niche preferences and, especially, traits to help uncover the mechanisms driving plant community assembly. However, relatively little is known about how phylogenetic patterns in environmental niches and traits compare, leaving significant uncertainty about the ecological implications of trait-based analyses. We examined phylogenetic signals within known environmental niches of 64 species, at seedling and adult life stages, in a Chinese tropical forest, to test whether local environmental niches had consistent relationships with phylogenies. Our analyses show that local environmental niches are highly phylogenetically labile for both seedlings and adult trees, with closely related species occupying niches that are no more similar than expected by random chance. These findings contrast with previous trait-based studies in the same forest, suggesting that phylogenetic signals in traits might not a reliable guide to niche preferences or, therefore, to community assembly processes in some ecosystems, like the tropical seasonal rainforest in this study

Detecting One-Hundred-Year Environmental Changes in Western China Using Seven-Year Repeat Photography

Due to its diverse, wondrous plants and unique topography, Western China has drawn great attention from explorers and naturalists from the Western World. Among them, Ernest Henry Wilson (1876 –1930), known as ‘Chinese’ Wilson, travelled to Western China five times from 1899 to 1918. He took more than 1,000 photos during his travels. These valuable photos illustrated the natural and social environment of Western China a century ago. Since 1997, we had collected E.H. Wilson's old pictures, and then since 2004, along the expedition route of E.H. Wilson, we took 7 years to repeat photographing 250 of these old pictures. Comparing Wilson's photos with ours, we found an obvious warming trend over the 100 years, not only in specific areas but throughout the entire Western China. Such warming trend manifested in phenology changes, community shifts and melting snow in alpine mountains. In this study, we also noted remarkable vegetation changes. Out of 62 picture pairs were related to vegetation change, 39 indicated vegetation has changed to the better condition, 17 for degraded vegetation and six for no obvious change. Also in these photos at a century interval, we found not only rapid urbanization in Western China, but also the disappearance of traditional cultures. Through such comparisons, we should not only be amazed about the significant environmental changes through time in Western China, but also consider its implications for protecting environment while meeting the economic development beyond such changes

Are Adolescents Engaged in the Problematic Use of Social Networking Sites More Involved in Peer Aggression and Victimization?

The problematic use of social networking sites is becoming a major public health concern. Previous research has found that adolescents who engage in a problematic use of social networking sites are likely to show maladjustment problems. However, little is known about its links with peer aggression and victimization. The main goal of this study was to analyze the relationship between problematic use of online social networking sites, peer aggression ¿overt vs. relational and reactive vs. instrumental¿, and peer victimization ¿overt physical and verbal, and relational¿, taking into account gender and age (in early and mid-adolescence). Participants were selected using randomized cluster sampling considering school and class as clusters. A battery of instruments was applied to 1,952 adolescents¿ secondary students from Spain (Andalusia) (50.4% boys), aged 11 to 16 (M = 14.07, SD = 1.39). Results showed that girls and 14¿16 adolescents were more involved in a problematic use of online social networking sites. Furthermore, adolescents with high problematic use of online social networking sites were more involved in overt¿reactive and instrumental¿and relational¿reactive and instrumental¿aggressive behaviors, and self-reported higher levels of overt¿physical and verbal¿and relational victimization. Even though boys indicated higher levels of all types of victimization, girls with high problematic use of online social networking sites scored the highest on relational victimization. Relating to age, early adolescents (aged 11¿14) with higher problematic use of online social networking sites reported the highest levels of overt verbal and relational victimization. Overall, results suggested the co-occurrence of problematic use of online social networking sites, peer aggression and victimization. In addition, results showed the influence that gender and age had on peer victimization. This study highlights the continuity between offline and online domains with regard to maladjustment problems in adolescence.Departamento de Educación y Psicología SocialVersión del edito

Impact of Conditioning Agent Addition Sequence on Dewatering Performance of Advanced Anaerobic Digested Sludge

The advanced anaerobic digestion process enhances sludge resource utilization. However, thermal hydrolysis pretreatment of anaerobically digested sludge reduces dewatering efficiency due to excessive organic matter decomposition. This necessitates significant time and effort for sludge conditioning in wastewater treatment plants. Using conditioning agents can achieve high dewatering efficiency. This study investigates how the order of adding coagulants and flocculants impacts the dewatering performance of digested sludge. The results indicate that, compared to the flocculation–coagulation process with the same dosage, the coagulation–flocculation process leads to a 15–20% increase in the average particle size of digested sludge. The content of polysaccharides and proteins in S-EPS decreases by 28.8–30.8% and 10.1–11.3%, respectively. The filter cake solids content increases by 8.5%, and there is an increase in surface water channels within the flocs. This is because initially adding coagulants efficiently adsorbs small particles, forming larger aggregates that settle effectively. This promotes the breakdown of extracellular polymeric substances, releasing more bound water. Adding flocculants later bridges the aggregates, further enhancing settling and filtration performance, thereby improving sludge dewatering efficiency. These research findings contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms of coagulant and flocculant co-conditioning for digested sludge and provide recommendations for optimizing sludge conditioning steps

Rheological properties and dewaterability of anaerobic co-digestion with sewage sludge and food waste: effect of thermal hydrolysis pretreatment and mixing ratios

Anaerobic co-digestion (co-AD) of sewage sludge (SS) and food waste (FW) converts municipal organic waste into renewable energy, which plays an important role in achieving carbon emissions reduction. The existing anaerobic digestion (AD) treatment projects often have problems such as low organic conversion and unstable performance. SS and FW were used as raw materials to explore the effects of thermal hydrolysis pretreatment (THP) and mixing ratios on the dewaterability and rheological properties of the digestate. The results showed that co-digestion of FW and SS in a ratio of 1:1 obtained the highest biogas production (255.14 mL/g VS), which was 1.53 times and 14.5 times higher than that of mono-digestion of FW and thermal hydrolysis pretreatment sewage sludge (THSS), respectively. However, the dewaterability of this ratio deteriorated sharply after co-digestion, with a decrease of 54.92%. The groups containing a higher proportion of THSS had improved dewaterability after AD. The apparent viscosity and shear stress were reduced by co-digestion compared with mono-digestion of THSS and FW, indicating a higher flow property of the co-digestion matrix. After the Herschel–Bulkley model fitting, there were linear correlations between rheological indices and soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD), and digestate dewaterability. HIGHLIGHTS THP could promote the dissolution of OM and the digestate dewaterability.; The highest biogas production and the worst dewaterability were achieved by the 1:1 mixing ratio of SS and FW.; Co-AD of SS and FW reduced the apparent viscosity and shear stress of the digestate compared with mono-digestion of THSS and FW.; There were linear correlations between rheological indices and SCOD, and digestate dewaterability.

Antifouling applications and fabrications of biomimetic micro-structured surfaces: A review

Background: Since the inception of the term “Biomimetics” in 1991, the concept of utilizing natural solutions or deriving inspiration from nature to address contemporary engineering challenges has gained significant attention within the scientific community. Organisms, in order to thrive in harsh environments, have evolved a wide range of micro/nanostructured surfaces, which serve as a rich source of inspiration for the development of artificial micro/nano-structured surfaces. These natural adaptations provide valuable insights and novel pathways for fabricating such surfaces. Aim: To conclude recent advances in micro/nano-structured surfaces from four aspects: biomimetic micro-structured surfaces of plants and animals, properties and applications of biomimetic surfaces, methods of preparations, and their limitation. Key Scientific Concepts:: Artificial micro/nano-structured surfaces inspired by animals and plants are classified and demonstrated according to their living environment. The performances, principles and preparation techniques of natural superhydrophobic surfaces, slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS), anisotropic surfaces, etc. are described in detail. Moreover, the pros and cons of each preparation measures are compared and the challenges developing large-scale, cost-effective surface microstructure preparation processes are pointed out. In the end, the development trends of artificial micro/nano-structured surface are forecasted

The Impacts of Vegetation Types and Soil Properties on Soil Microbial Activity and Metabolic Diversity in Subtropical Forests

Microbial functional diversity is significantly associated with both nutrient cycling and organic matter decomposition. However, how different forests as well as the soil parent materials influence the soil microbial carbon metabolism remains poorly understood. In this study, a natural secondary forest and a Pinus yunnanensis plantation, with similar climatic conditions under contrasting parent materials (clasolite in the non-karst areas and limestone in the karst areas) in Yunnan Province, China, were investigated. The soil microbial carbon metabolism diversity was assessed by the Biolog® ECO-plates. During the dry season, the soil microbial communities used carbon substrate in secondary forest and Pinus yunnanensis plantation, showing no significant difference, both in non-karst and karst areas. The microbial communities in the non-karst area were more efficient in utilizing carbon substrates than those in the karst area with the same vegetation types, resulting in the higher accumulation of organic carbon in the karst area. The six categories of most frequently utilized carbon substrates were carbohydrates, carboxylic acids, and amino acids in both the non-karst and the karst areas. The soil basal respiration of the secondary forest was higher than that of the Pinus yunnanensis plantation, both in the non-karst and the karst areas. In addition, the driving factors of the soil microbial community functional diversity in the non-karst and karst areas are different. Our findings suggest that soil microbial functional diversity is governed by vegetation types as well as by soil properties in subtropical forests. Moreover, calcareous soil holds a higher proportion of recalcitrant organic carbon, which is difficult to utilize by microorganisms