Airspace is a key but not well-understood habitat for many animal species. Enormous amounts of insects and birds use the airspace to forage, disperse, and migrate. Despite numerous studies on migration, the year-round flight activities of both birds and insects are still poorly studied. We used a 2 year dataset from a vertical-looking radar in Central Europe and developed an iterative hypothesis-testing algorithm to investigate the general temporal pattern of migratory and local movements. We estimated at least 3 million bird and 20 million insect passages over a 1 km transect annually. Most surprisingly, peak non-directional bird movement intensities during summer were of the same magnitude as seasonal directional movement peaks. Birds showed clear peaks in seasonally directional movements during day and night, coinciding well with the main migration period documented in this region. Directional insect movements occurred throughout the year, paralleling non-directional movements. In spring and summer, insect movements were non-directional; in autumn, their movements concentrated toward the southwest, similar to birds. Notably, the nocturnal movements of insects did not appear until April, while directional movements mainly occurred in autumn. This simple monitoring reveals how little we still know about the movement of biomass through airspace.
A major drawback of α-MnO2-based zinc-ion
batteries
(ZIBs) is the poor rate performance and short cycle life. Herein,
an oxygen-deficient α-MnO2 nanotube (VO-α-MnO2)-integrated graphene (G) and N, P codoped
cross-linked porous carbon nanosheet (CNPK) composite (VO-α-MnO2/CNPK/G) has been prepared for advanced ZIBs.
The introduction of VO in MnO2 can decrease
the value of the Gibbs free energy of Zn2+ adsorption near
VO (ca. −0.73 eV) to the thermal neutral value.
The thermal neutral value demonstrates that the Zn2+ adsorption/desorption
process on VO-α-MnO2 is more reversible
than that on α-MnO2. The as-made Zn/VO-α-MnO2 battery is able to deliver a large capacity
of 305.0 mAh g–1 and high energy density up to 408.5
Wh kg–1. The good energy storage properties can
be attributed to VO. Additionally, the VO-α-MnO2/CNPK/G composite possesses the structure of nanotube arrays,
which results from the vertical growth of α-MnO2 nanotubes
on CNPK. This unique array structure helps to realize fast ion/electron
transfer and stable microstructure. The electrochemical performance
of VO-α-MnO2 has been comprehensively
improved by compositing with G and CNPK. The VO-α-MnO2/CNPK/G can achieve capacity up to 405.2 mAh g–1, energy density of 542.2 Wh kg–1, and long cycle
life (80% capacity retention after 2000 cycles).
Designating protected and conserved areas is a critical component of biodiversity conservation. The 10th Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2010 set global targets for the areal extent of protected areas (PAs) that were met partially in 2020, yet a new, more ambitious target is needed to halt ongoing global biodiversity loss. China recently introduced a national Ecological Conservation Redline policy, which aims to ensure no net change in land cover and no net loss of biodiversity or degradation of ecosystem services within areas that are critical for maintaining ecological safety and functions. Enacting this policy could achieve ancillary conservation outcomes even where conservation is not the primary objective, thus meeting CBD's definition of “other effective area‐based conservation measures” (OECM). By comparing the Ecological Conservation Redline boundaries with important coastal waterbird sites in China, we found that three times more sites could be conserved under the new redline policy compared to the national nature reserve system alone. This indicates that considering the redline policy approach as a form of OECM is a promising pathway to expand the areal coverage of PAs and conserve biodiversity outside currently designated PAs, providing a model that could be adopted around the world.
As
remarkable pseudocapacitive materials with rich faradic redox
reactions, Ni–Co bimetallic compounds have gained much research
interest as high-performance battery-type supercapacitor electrodes.
Herein, we report a strategy that can enhance the energy storage capability
of supercapacitors by constructing bimetallic phosphosulfides via
simultaneous phosphorization and sulfuration processes. Compared to
a single phosphide, the bimetallic phosphosulfide of NiCo–P/S
presented a highly porous and hollow nanoparticle structure, which
renders more active electrochemical reactions. It is demonstrated
that the coexistence of phosphide and sulfide phases can regulate
charge distribution to improve electronic transportation capability.
Besides, it is also proved that the precalcination of the NiCo-LDH
precusor into NiCo oxides is necessary to achieve adequate phosphorization
or sulfuration. By anchoring NiCo–P/S hollow nanoparticles
into a CNT/rGO hybrid network, superior capacitive performances were
demonstrated, presenting remarkable capacity (698.6 C g–1 at 1 A g–1) as well as promising rate performance
(a capacity retention ratio of 61.5% at 20 A g–1) as an electrode material for supercapacitors. An asymmetric supercapacitor
device employing a NiCo–P/S@C@G composite was also fabricated.
The device presented favorable energy density at high power density
and was able to power a light-emitting diode (LED) for several minutes,
proving outstanding practical properties of the composite.
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