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The concepts of slow environmental change through evolutionary processes associated with ordinary artefacts from Central European rural life as part of biogeographical morphology was studied in Goričko Landscape Park, northeastern Slovenia. The research was based on field observations, including the recording of a former aristocratic dwelling and two small rural farmsteads, all abandoned. An analysis of the extant residual artefacts, their in situ placement and their former utility was undertaken. The value of residual items in ascertaining local perceptions, occupations and utilizations of landscape resources, from various viewpoints, was discussed in relationship to the surrounding landscape. The authors found that the abandoned rural buildings are now utilised as a faunal habitat, and the ruins were reincorporated into the wider landscape. The study sites represent empty places in the process of returning to nature after the retreat of human activities. The research examined the transition and transformation of biodegradable/non-biodegradable components within a rural landscape.

This paper reports original data on the physical and chemical parameters of precipitation, river water and groundwater in and around the Longhushan Nature Reserve Area, located in southwestern China karst region, and provides a preliminary characterization of the hydrogeochemical process governing the natural water evolution in this area. The rainfall and river water mainly pertain to the HCO3−–Ca2+ type and groundwater mainly pertain to the HCO3−–Ca2+ + Mg2+ type. The HCO3− was the predominant anion and Ca2+ was the predominant cation in all waters, respectively. The Gibbs Boomerang Envelop model, the 1:1 relationship of Na+ plus K+ versus Cl− as well as the 1:1 relationship of Ca2+ plus Mg2+ versus HCO3− all suggested geochemical weathering is the main controlling factor for the geochemical compositions of this natural water. In surface water, the Mg2+/Ca2+ ratios ranged from 0.32 to 0.42 and the Na+/Ca2+ varied between 0.04 and 0.05. In the groundwater, the Mg2+/Ca2+ ratios varied from 0.37 to 0.62 and were below the ideal ratio of 0.8. These ratios showed the presence of a dolomite source. Analysis of trace elements showed that As, B, Pb, Se, Sr, V and Zn elements were abundant in the natural water during summer in this region.

Fourteen surface water and nine surface sediment samples were collected from the Peacock River and analyzed for organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) by gas chromatograph–electron capture detector (GC-ECD). All the analyzed organochlorine pesticides, except o,p ′-DDT, were detected in sediments from the Peacock River; but in the water samples, only β-HCH, HCB, p,p ′-DDD, and p,p ′-DDT were detected at some sites. The ranges for total OCPs in the water and sediments were from N.D. to 195 ng l − 1 and from 1.36 to 24.60 ng g − 1, respectively. The only existing HCH isomer in the water, β-HCH, suggested that the contamination by HCHs could be attributed to erosion of the weathered agricultural soils containing HCHs compounds. Composition analyses showed that no technical HCH, technical DDT, technical chlordanes, endosulfans, and HCB had been recently used in this region. However, there was new input of γ-HCH (lindane) into the Peacock River. The most probable source was water flowing from Bosten Lake and/or agricultural tailing water that was returned directly into the Peacock River. DDT compounds in the sediments may be derived mainly from DDT-treated aged and weathered agricultural soils, the degradation condition was aerobic and the main product was DDE. HCB in the sediment might be due to the input from Bosten Lake and the lake may act as an atmospheric deposition zone. There was no significant correlation between the concentrations of OCPs (including ∑HCH, ∑DDT, chlordanes, endosulfans, HCB and total OCPs) and the content of fine particles (

Water quality and quantity significantly affects the aquatic fauna in the epikarst and conversely can also reflect the hydrological environment. Intensive, long-term studies on hydrological and hydrochemical parameters were monitored at 4 permanent dripping sites (VP1–VP4) in the Velika Pasica Cave (Slovenian) over a period from 2006 to 2013 concurrently with aquatic fauna sampling. Multivariate methods were applied to elucidate the relationship between the environmental conditions and the resident aquatic ecosystem. Seven major aquatic taxa were collected from the drips, with Copepoda being the dominant taxa; however, the spatial distribution and composition of these species varied distinctively at the 4 study sites; the drip water from different sites had distinct hydrological and hydrochemical characteristics. The most significant parameters influencing community composition were drip water discharge volume and NO3− ion content. The results indicate that hydrology and hydrochemistry significantly influence the microdistribution of aquatic fauna within the epikarstic aquifer.

In this study, an isothermal microcalorimetric technique has been used to show that beta-cypermethrin (CYP) had no significant effect (p0.05) on soil microbial activity at 80 μg g(-1) soil. Our soil enzyme data indicated that beta-CYP ranging 10-80 μg g(-1) soil had no significant effect (p0.05) on soil enzyme activities such as β-glucosidase, urease, acid-phosphatase, and dehydrogenase. Therefore, our results infer that beta-CYP would not pose severe toxicity to soil microbial community, but its toxic level may vary greatly with environment that associates with its increase in bioavailability: the level in soil (at μg g(-1))the level in sediment (varying from μg g(-1) to μg L(-1))the level in water (at μg L(-1)). The comparison of the results of solvent volatilization on soil microbial activity has shown that the acetone-treated sample had no significant difference with the control (p0.05). These results suggest that the heavy application of beta-CYP may not cause damage to soil microbial community which is very different from its high toxicity to the aquatic organism.

Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) was one of the major organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in the water and sediments of the Peacock River in Xinjiang, China. Analyzing the water and sediment samples by gas chromatography–electron capture detection (GC-ECD), it showed that all the HCH isomers (α-HCH, β-HCH, γ-HCH and δ-HCH) could be found in the sediment, and the range was from 0.13 ng/g to 6.58 ng/g. The ratios of α-HCH/γ-HCH at all the sites (except Site 2 and Site 6), were below 1.5, and it appeared that the sediment environment changed recently (there was newly input of γ-HCH) and the Bosten Lake was the most possible source. In the water, only β-HCH could be detected, the range was from N.D. to 0.019μg/L. Discuss the influencing factors of HCH solubility: it showed that the high salinity reduced the solubility of HCHs into the water, and the alkalescence increased the solubility.