Exploring the perceived restorativeness of natural soundscapes under the global pandemic of COVID-19: A moderated mediation model

Although emerging studies have discussed the potential benefits of soundscape in mental restoration, few have investigated how soundscape renews and re-energizes people, especially in facing the current public challenge of the COVID-19 crisis. We established a moderated mediation model to examine the relationship of the four restorative components of soundscape: being away, compatibility, extent and fascination. The data were collected in Xixi Wetland National Park, China, before the outbreak of COVID-19 (n = 562) in October 2019 and post COVID-19 in October 2020 (n = 341). The results revealed that natural soundscapes have great restorative benefits for visitors. The inter relationships of the restorative components are moderated by the perceived stress level which show significant different before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The post-COVID-19 visitors reported a higher level of stress while natural soundscapes had greater effects on their mental restoration. The direct effects of extent and fascination as well as the mediating effects of fascination were stronger among the post-COVID-19 group. However, the path coefficient from being away to compatibility were higher in the pre-COVID-19 group. This study improves the current understanding of the interactive mechanism among the restorative components of soundscape. Knowledge about natural soundscape encourages practitioners to consider it as a guideline for the creation of sustainable environments, especially under the COVID-19 crisis.

Dynamic simulation of water resources in an urban wetland based on coupled water quantity and water quality models

Water quality in wetlands plays a huge role in maintaining the health of the wetland ecosystem. Water quality should be controlled by an appropriate water allocation policy for the protection of the wetlands. In this paper, models of rainfall/runoff, non-point source pollution load, water quantity/quality, and dynamic pollutant-carrying capacity were established to simulate the water quantity/quality of Xixi-wetland river network (in the Taihu basin, China). The simulation results showed a satisfactory agreement with field observations. Furthermore, a ‘node-river-node’ algorithm that adjusts to the ‘Three Steps Method’ was adopted to improve the dynamic pollutant-carrying capacity model and simulate the pollutant-carrying capacity in benchmark years. The simulation result shows that the water quality of the river network could reach class III stably all year round if the anthropogenic pollution is reduced to one-third of the current annual amount. Further investigation estimated the minimum amount of water diversion in benchmark years under the reasonable water quantity-regulating rule to keep water quality as class III. With comparison of the designed scale, the water diversion can be reduced by 184 million m3 for a dry year, 191 million m3 for a normal year, and 198 million m3 for a wet year.

Flavobacterium palustre sp. nov., isolated from wetland soil

A Gram-staining-negative, non-motile, yellow-coloured, rod-shaped bacterium, designated S44T, was isolated from bankside soil of Xixi wetland, located in Zhejiang province, China. Growth of strain S44T was observed at 6–37 °C (optimum, 28 °C) and at pH 6.0–9.0 (optimum, 7.0). No growth occurred in the presence of >2 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain S44T represented a member of the genus Flavobacterium , showing the highest sequence similarities to the sequences from Flavobacterium succinicans DSM 4002T (96.9 %), Flavobacterium reichenbachii WB 3.2-61T (96.6 %) and Flavobacterium glycines NCBI 105008T (96.5 %). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 33.6 mol%. The predominant cellular fatty acids were C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0 and summed feature 3 (comprising C16 : 1ω7c and/or iso-C15 : 0 2-OH), and the major respiratory quinone was menaquinone 6 (MK-6). The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, two unknown aminolipids, two unknown aminophospholipids and four unknown polar lipids. On the basis of the phenotypic and genotypic data, it is proposed that the isolate S44T be classified as representing a novel species of the genus Flavobacterium , for which the name Flavobacterium palustre sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is S44T ( = CGMCC 1.12811T = NBRC 110389T).

Epilithonimonas xixisoli sp. nov., isolated from wetland bank-side soil

A novel Gram-staining-negative, non-motile and rod-shaped bacterial strain containing flexirubin-type pigments, designated S31T, was isolated from bank-side soil of the Xixi wetland in Zhejiang province, China. Growth occurred at 10–37 °C (optimum, 32 °C), pH 6–8 (optimum, pH 7) and with 0–2 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 1 %). Strain S31T shared highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities with Epilithonimonas lactis H1T (96.2 %) and Chryseobacterium molle DW3T (96.4 %). Phylogenetic analysis suggested that strain S31T was a member of the genus Epilithonimonas . The dominant respiratory quinone was MK-6 and the DNA G+C content was 33.3 mol%. The major fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, summed feature 3 (iso-C15 : 0 2-OH and/or C16 : 1ω7c) and anteiso-C15 : 0. The major polar lipids of strain S31T were phosphatidylethanolamine, three unidentified aminolipids and four unidentified polar lipids. Based on its phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics and phylogenetic data, strain S31T represents a novel species of the genus Epilithonimonas , for which the name Epilithonimonas xixisoli sp. nov. (type strain S31T = CGMCC 1.12802T = NBRC 110387T) is proposed.