pH-Dependent phosphate separation using a tripodal hexaurea receptor.

We demonstrate that a tripodal hexaurea receptor can selectively bind PO43- anions via 12 hydrogen bonds with up to 3.8 × 106 M-1 binding affinity in DMSO, which is 38-fold stronger than SO42-. This receptor facilitates the extraction of PO43- from strongly basic aqueous solutions into chloroform using liquid-liquid extraction, followed by its release as the H2PO4- anion into an acidic solution. This pH-dependent phosphate extraction successfully enables selective separation of phosphate and sulfate anions.

[Small unmanned aerial vehicles for low-altitude remote sensing and its application progress in ecology.] / è½»å°åž‹æ— äººæœºä½Žç©ºé¥æ„ŸåŠå ¶åœ¨ç”Ÿæ€å­¦ä¸­çš„åº”ç”¨è¿›å±•.

Low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) remote sensing system overcomes the deficiencies of space and aerial remote sensing system in resolution, revisit period, cloud cover and cost, which provides a novel method for ecological research on mesoscale. This study introduced the composition of UAV remote sensing system, reviewed its applications in species, population, community and ecosystem ecology research. Challenges and opportunities of UAV ecology were identified to direct future research. The promising research area of UAV ecology includes the establishment of species morphology and spectral characteristic data base, species automatic identification, the revelation of relationship between spectral index and plant physiological processes, three-dimension monitoring of ecosystem, and the integration of remote sensing data from multi resources and multi scales. With the development of UAV platform, data transformation and sensors, UAV remote sensing technology will have wide application in ecology research.

A novel role of ethephon in controlling the noxious weed Ipomoea cairica (Linn.) Sweet.

Several auxin herbicides, such as 2, 4-D and dicamba, have been used to eradicate an exotic invasive weed Ipomoea cairica in subtropical China, but restraining the re-explosion of this weed is still a challenge. Since ethylene is one of the major intermediate functioning products during the eradication process, we explored the possibility, mechanism and efficiency of using ethephon which can release ethylene to control Ipomoea cairica. The results of the pot experiment showed that 7.2 g /L ethephon could totally kill Ipomoea cairica including the stems and roots. The water culture experiment indicated that ethephon released an abundance of ethylene directly in leaves and caused increases in electrolyte leakage, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC), abscisic acid (ABA) and H2O2 and decreases in chlorophyll content and photosynthetic activity, finally leading to the death of Ipomoea cairica. The field experiment showed that the theoretical effective concentration of ethephon for controlling Ipomoea cairica (weed control efficacy, WCE = 98%) was 4.06 g/L and the half inhibitory concentration (I50) was 0.56 g/L. More than 50% of the accompanying species were insensitive to the phytotoxicity of ethephon. Therefore, ethephon is an excellent alternative herbicide for controlling Ipomoea cairica.

[Ecological memory and its potential applications in ecology: a review].

Ecological memory (EM) is defined as the capability of the past states or experiences of a community to influence the present or future ecological responses of the community. As a relatively new concept, EM has received considerable attention in the study of ecosystem structure and function, such as community succession, ecological restoration, biological invasion, and natural resource management. This review summarized the definition, components, and categories of EM, and discussed the possible mechanisms and affecting factors of EM. Also, the potential applications of EM were proposed, in order to further understand the mechanisms of community succession and to guide ecological restoration.