Description of Hyloconis longivalvata Li, sp. n., with notes on its biology (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae, Lithocolletinae)

Hyloconis longivalvata Li, sp. n. is described based on adults, larvae and pupae from Tianjin and Shanxi, northern China. Campylotropis macrocarpa (Bunge) and Lespedeza bicolor Turcz. (Fabaceae) are reported as its host plants. The larval head and pupal features of the genus Hyloconis are described for the first time. Morphological characters of adult and immature stages as well as leafmines of the new species are illustrated

Remote sensing-based spatiotemporal variation and driving factor assessment of chlorophyll-a concentrations in China’s Pearl River Estuary

Climate change and intensive anthropogenic activities have severely challenged the water quality of China’s Pearl River Estuary (PRE). Further investigations into long-term water quality variation and associated driving mechanisms are therefore necessary to support the sustainable development of the PRE’s Greater Bay Area (GBA). This study used remote sensing retrieval to address long-term spatiotemporal chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) variation characteristics in the PRE and the relationship between Chl-a concentrations and socioeconomic/environmental indicators. Three decades of Landsat satellite images and measured data were collected, and a two-band global algorithm was used to retrieve Chl-a concentration data. Results reveal significant spatiotemporal variability in Chl-a concentrations. The space-averaged Chl-a concentration exhibited a slight downward trend during the past three decades, and the multi-year mean value was 5.20 mg/L. Changes to environmental protection policies in recent years have improved overall PRE water quality. The western section of the PRE had the highest Chl-a concentration (i.e., 5.92 mg/L average) while the eastern section had the lowest (i.e., 3.98 mg/L average). This discrepancy was likely caused by the western section’s more intensive industrial activities, resulting in a higher overall wastewater discharge volume. Affected by climatic conditions, winter Chl-a concentrations were evenly distributed while summer concentrations were significantly higher. Additionally, Chl-a concentrations significantly and positively correlated with total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), and the biotic oxygen demand (BOD5). Chl-a concentrations also correlated with external factors (i.e., climate and anthropogenic activities). Among these factors, industrial wastewater discharge and the proportion of primary industries in coastal cities significantly and positively correlated with water quality. This study is intended to help direct water quality improvement management and urban sustainable development in the GBA

Gap analysis for DNA-based biomonitoring of aquatic ecosystems in China

DNA-based taxon identification is improving the assessment and management of biodiversity in rivers. However, the lack of comprehensive DNA barcode reference libraries and globally highly unequal coverage are still hindering the application prospects of this method worldwide. Here, we analyzed the COI barcode gap in two reference libraries, Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) and NCBI GenBank, with a focus on three aquatic animal groups (freshwater fish, aquatic insects and molluscs) in Chinese rivers. Our data show gaps in barcode coverage (e.g., organisms without barcodes) of ca. 40–70% of taxa in these groups in the BOLD or NCBI GenBank database, respectively. These gaps can rise even further if the barcode thresholds are set to contain at least five reference sequences per taxon. Furthermore, most barcodes are from non-local samples, and only 14.4% (BOLD) and 28.8% (NCBI GenBank) of reference sequences were from organisms sampled in China, respectively. The pairwise genetic distance of local barcodes is 3 to 5 times lower than non-local barcodes, indicating that the latter may not be a good substitute. When looking at individual catchments, ca. 60% of the potentially occurring aquatic species have one or more barcodes, yet the barcode coverage varies slightly across ten major river catchments, ranging from 54.3% (Liao River basin) to 68.2% (Huai River basin). The taxa Salmoniformes and Perciformes in freshwater fish, Odonata and Diptera in aquatic insects, and Bivalvia in molluscs have the best barcode coverage in most catchments (mean coverage >70%). This study gives the first overview and current status of barcode reference libraries of three major aquatic animal groups in Chinese rivers. Our results will help to better interpret current metabarcoding studies from China, and also provide a basis to develop a strategy of filling the gaps in the reference libraries of aquatic species in China

Direct Manipulation of quantum entanglement from the non-Hermitian nature of light-matter interaction

Biphoton process is an essential benchmark for quantum information science and technologies, while great efforts have been made to improve the coherence of the system for better quantum correlations. Nevertheless, we find that the non-Hermitian features induced by the atomic quantum interference could be well employed for the direct control of entanglement. We report the demonstration of exceptional point (EP) in biphotons by measuring the light-atom interaction as a natural non-Hermitian system, in which the electromagnetically induced transparency regime provides a powerful mechanism to precisely tune the non-Hermitian coupling strength. Such biphoton correlation is tuned within an unprecedented large range from Rabi oscillation to antibunching-exponential-decay, also indicating high-dimensional entanglement within the strong and weak light-matter coupling regimes. The EP at the transition point between the two regimes is clearly observed with the biphoton quantum correlation measurements, exhibiting a single exponential decay and manifesting the coalesced single eigenstate. Our results provide a unique method to realize the controllability of natural non-Hermitian processes without the assistance of artificial photonic structures, and paves the way for quantum control by manipulating the non-Hermitian features of the light-matter interaction

Virtual carbon and water flows embodied in global fashion trade - a case study of denim products

The environmental impacts of the fashion industry have been aroused wide concerns. The globalization and fragmentation of the textile and fashion system have led to the uneven distribution of environmental consequences. As denim is the fabric of jeans that is representative of fashion, this study assessed virtual carbon and water flows embodied in the global denim-product trade, and footprints of denim production were quantified by life-cycle assessment and water footprint assessment. Results indicated that virtual carbon embodied in the global denim trade increased obviously from 14.8 Mt CO2e in 2001 to 16.0 Mt CO2e in 2018, and the virtual water consumption dropped from 5.6 billion m3 to 4.7 billion m3 from 2001 to 2018. The denim fabric production and cotton fibre production respectively contribute the most of the carbon emissions and water consumption. Polyester blended denim has 5% larger carbon footprint and 72% lower water footprint than cotton denim, and contributes to increasing embodied carbon emissions (from 4% in 2001 to 43% in 2018). Increasing the utilization of polyester blended denim would save water but face more pressures on carbon emission reduction. In the past two decades, virtual carbon and water flows embodied in the global denim trade are relocating, main jean consumers (i.e., the USA, EU-15, and Japan) withdraw the denim manufacturing supply chain and developing countries (i.e., China, India, and Pakistan) with higher carbon and water footprint undertake main global denim production, facing increasing climate-related risks and water crisis. The South-South cooperation helps share successful experiences, save production cost, and lessen resource consumption and environmental emissions. The production and consumption of denim should be shifted to circular and sustainable ways and new business models are required. The analysis framework can provide the basis for exploring environmental flows of product-level trade, and results can offer a basis for environmental policies and control strategies of the fashion industry, and as well as the sustainable production and consumption of garment

A quantitative framework to evaluate urban ecological resilience: broadening understanding through multi-attribute perspectives

Intensive human and economic activities in urban areas have had adverse effects on local resources and ecology, leading to a decline in ecological resilience. Enhancing ecological resilience is crucial for improving the urban ecosystem's ability to withstand and recover from external risks. However, quantitative research on urban ecological resilience remains somewhat ambiguous, with many studies lacking comprehensive assessment methods from multiple perspectives. In this study, we established a comprehensive framework to assess urban ecological resilience based on four regime attributes. The study's results indicated the following key findings: The average urban ecological resilience value exhibited a trend of initially declining and then recovering. Cities proposed different approaches when considering and managing social and ecological relationships during the development process. A significant correlation between urbanization levels and ecological resilience was observed, with urban ecological resilience increasing in areas with low urbanization levels and sharply decreasing in areas with high urbanization levels. The findings from this study provide a specific theoretical foundation for decision-makers involved in urban planning and development strategies

Trends, Drivers, and Mitigation of CO₂ Emissions in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area

The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is a national initiative aimed at building a world-class city cluster in China and whose trends, socioeconomic drivers of CO2 emissions, and mitigation pathways are of great significance to the high-quality regional economic development. This study compiled the CO2 emission inventories of the GBA from 2000 to 2019 and explored the key drivers of CO2 emissions using the logarithmic mean Divisia index method. The results showed that CO2 emissions in GBA slowed significantly after 2017 and have already been decoupled from gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Economic growth and energy intensity are the major factors driving and inhibiting the increase in GBA's CO2 emissions, respectively. The energy production and heavy manufacturing sectors have reduced their roles in driving the growth of GBA's CO2 emissions. GBA achieved remarkable results in low-carbon development through industrial restructuring and upgrading. Industrial upgrades in Shenzhen and Hong Kong and technological advances in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Foshan have significantly curbed the growth in the GBA's CO2 emissions. The heterogeneity of cities in the GBA greatly increases the complexity of formalizing the allocation of emission reduction tasks and developing a roadmap for regional carbon neutrality. Graded emission reduction strategies and carbon peaking and neutrality policy recommendations for GBA cities are proposed. This study provides a scientific basis for the development of an action program for carbon peaking and neutrality in GBA cities and low-carbon development plans for other cities and regions.</p

Direct generation of time-energy-entangled W triphotons in atomic vapor

Sources of entangled multiphotons are not only essential for fundamental tests of quantum foundations, but are also the cornerstone of a variety of optical quantum technologies today. Over past three decades, tremendous efforts have been devoted to creating multiphoton entanglement by multiplexing existing biphoton sources with linear optics and postselections. Different from all previous protocols, here we report, for the first time, the observation of continuous-mode time-energy-entangled W-class triphotons with an unprecedented generation rate directly through the process of spontaneous six-wave mixing (SSWM) in a four-level triple-Lambda atomic vapor cell. Facilitated by electromagnetically induced transparency and coherence control, our SSWM scheme enables versatile narrowband triphoton generation with many intriguing properties including long temporal coherence and controllable waveforms, ideal for implementing long-distance quantum communications, networking, and information processing by interfacing photons and atoms. Most importantly, our work paves a way for the development of a reliable and efficient genuine triphoton source, thus making the research on multiphoton entanglement within easy reach.Comment: welcome the comment