[Spatial heterogeneity of community structure of Picea crassifolia forest in Qilian Mountains, China].

We selected the grid of 5 m x 5 m in a dynamic monitoring plot (340 m x 300 m) as the sampling unites and chose 5 structural characteristics (density, average crown breadth, coverage, conspicuousness and average height) to study the spatial heterogeneity of community structure of Picea crassifolia forest in Dayekou Basin of Qilian Mountains by the fractal geometry and geostatistics methods. The results showed that the order of spatial variation in these characteristics was: density > average crown breadth > conspicuousness > coverage > average height, with the variation coefficient ranging from 43.7% to 79.6%. Moran's I index indicated that the structural variables had different degrees of spatial autocorrelation, and the order of autocorrelation was density > average height> coverage > average crown breadth > conspicuousness, with the range of -0.047-0.382. The exponential semivariation model well fitted the spatial variability in different structural features, and the range was 24.6-68.1 m. The variables displayed moderate spatial autocorrelation except for coverage, while the other variables had strong spatial autocorrelation, and the fractal dimension of the variables was close to 2, indicating a low spatial dependence among variables. The variables presented a superposing characteristic of zonal and patchy structures except for density and coverage, while the other variables presented strong patchiness property. Density and coverage had a certain spatial dependence on average crown breadth, conspicuousness and average height. Density and coverage for the spatial heterogeneity of community structural of P. crassifolia forests were 10 m and 0.5 hm2, respectively.

Sorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to lignin: effects of hydrophobicity and temperature.

The study of the sorption of contaminants to lignin is significant for understanding the migration of contaminants in the environment as well as developing low cost sorbent. In this study, sorption of three polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), naphthalene, acenaphthene and phenanthrene, to lignin was investigated. Sorption isotherms were well described by both linear and Freundlich sorption models. Sorption coefficients of PAHs to lignin from water obtained from regression of both linear model (K d) and Freundlich model (K f) were highly positively correlated with hydrophobicity of PAHs. The amorphous structure of lignin provided sufficient sorption domain for partitioning of PAHs, and the attraction between PAHs molecules and aromatic fractions in lignin via π-π electron-donor-acceptor (π-π EDA) interaction is hypothesized to provide a strong sorption force. Thermodynamic modeling revealed that sorption of PAHs to lignin was a spontaneous and exothermic process.