Muskox status,recent variation,and uncertain future

Ambio - Muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) are an integral component of Arctic biodiversity. Given low genetic diversity, their ability to respond to future and rapid Arctic change is unknown, although...     

Monoterpene emissions and carbonyl compound air concentrations during the blooming period of rape (Brassica napus)

An increasing percentage of agricultural land in Germany is used for oil seed plants. Hence, rape has become an important agricultural plant (in Saxony 1998: 12% of the farmland) in the recent years. During flowering of rape along with intensive radiation and high temperatures, a higher production and emission of biogenic VOC was observed. The emissions of terpenes were determined and more importantly, high concentrations of organic carbonyl compounds were observed during this field experiment. All measurements of interest have been carried out during two selected days with optimal weather conditions. It is found that the origin or the mechanism of formation of different group of compounds had strong influence on the day to day variation of their concentrations. The emission flux of terpenes from flowering rape plants was determined to be 16–32 μg h⁻¹ m⁻² (30–60 ng h⁻¹ per g dry plant––540–1080 ng h⁻¹ per plant), in total. Limonene, -thujene and sabinene were the most important compounds (about 60% of total terpenes). For limonene and sabinene reference emission rates (M_S) and temperature coefficients were determined: β_limonene=0.108 K⁻¹ and M_S=14.57 μg h⁻¹ m⁻²; β_sabinene=0.095 K⁻¹ and M_S=5.39 μg h⁻¹ m⁻².

The detected carbonyl compound concentrations were unexpectedly high (maximum formaldehyde concentration was 18.1 ppbv and 3.4 ppbv for butyraldehyde) for an open field. Possible reasons for these concentrations are the combination of primary emission from the plants induced by high temperature and high ozone stress, the secondary formation from biogenically and advected anthropogenically emitted VOC at high radiation intensities and furthered by the low wind speeds at this time.     

Monoterpene emissions and carbonyl compound air concentrations during the blooming period of rape (Brassica napus)

An increasing percentage of agricultural land in Germany is used for oil seed plants. Hence, rape has become an important agricultural plant (in Saxony 1998: 12% of the farmland) in the recent years. During flowering of rape along with intensive radiation and high temperatures, a higher production and emission of biogenic VOC was observed. The emissions of terpenes were determined and more importantly, high concentrations of organic carbonyl compounds were observed during this field experiment. All measurements of interest have been carried out during two selected days with optimal weather conditions. It is found that the origin or the mechanism of formation of different group of compounds had strong influence on the day to day variation of their concentrations. The emission flux of terpenes from flowering rape plants was determined to be 16–32 μg h⁻¹ m⁻² (30–60 ng h⁻¹ per g dry plant––540–1080 ng h⁻¹ per plant), in total. Limonene, α-thujene and sabinene were the most important compounds (about 60% of total terpenes). For limonene and sabinene reference emission rates (M_S) and temperature coefficients were determined: β_limonene=0.108 K⁻¹ and M_S=14.57 μg h⁻¹ m⁻²; β_sabinene=0.095 K⁻¹ and M_S=5.39 μg h⁻¹ m⁻².The detected carbonyl compound concentrations were unexpectedly high (maximum formaldehyde concentration was 18.1 ppbv and 3.4 ppbv for butyraldehyde) for an open field. Possible reasons for these concentrations are the combination of primary emission from the plants induced by high temperature and high ozone stress, the secondary formation from biogenically and advected anthropogenically emitted VOC at high radiation intensities and furthered by the low wind speeds at this time.     

Detection of polychlorinated biphenyls employing chemical dechlorination followed by biphenyl whole cell sensing system

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a mixture of 209 individual chlorinated compounds commonly known as PCB congeners. These compounds are hydrophobic and are persistent in the environment. Their use was banned in the US a few decades ago because of harmful health effects. Therefore, detection of PCBs in environmental samples is increasingly important. To that end, we have developed a two-step simple and sensitive method for the detection of total PCBs. Specifically, our method involves dechlorination of PCBs to biphenyl followed by detection of biphenyl using a whole cell sensing system as the detection system. The whole cell sensing system consists of cells of the strain Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes KF707 harboring plasmid pSD7000. Plasmid pSD7000 contains the gene of lacZ, a reporter protein under the control of the bph operon. The detection is achieved through the emission of light afforded by the expression of reporter protein triggered by the presence of biphenyl. Due to the fact that this operon is activated only by few PCB congeners, a chemical dechlorination method was employed to convert all PCBs to biphenyl, and thus all the PCBs present in a given sample are able to be detected. The results showed that PCB congeners were rapidly (30?min) and efficiently (>98.5%) dechlorinated to biphenyl using a Mg/K₂PdCl₆ catalyst, and the biphenyl could be subsequently quantified using the whole cell sensing system. This hybrid analytical method that combines classical dechlorination with novel biosensing methods may find applications in the on-site monitoring of PCBs contamination levels.     

Temporal patterns of populations in a warming world: a modelling framework

In this paper, we present an approach for describing the environmentally induced temporal pattern of structured populations by partial integro-differential equations. Populations are structured according to size or stage. Growth, energy allocation and stage transitions are affected by environmental conditions of which temperature, photoperiod, water depth and food supply were taken into account. The resulting modelling framework was applied to describe, analyse and predict alterations in populations with continuous development, populations with distinct state structures and interacting populations. Our exemplary applications consider populations of freshwater Amphipoda, Isopoda and Odonata. The model was capable of simulating life cycle alterations in dependence on temperature in interaction with other environmental factors: (1) population dynamics, (2) seasonal regulation, (3) water depth-dependent dispersal, (4) intraguild predation and (5) consumer-resource dynamics.     

A comprehensive evaluation of two sample treatment procedures for the determination of emerging and historical halogenated flame retardants in biota

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Two different sample preparation protocols for the determination of 37 emerging and historical halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) in marine tissues...     

Understanding the North–South knowledge divide and its implications for policy: a quantitative analysis of the generation of scientific knowledge in the environmental sciences

The paper investigates the scientific knowledge divide in the environmental sciences between developed and developing countries and explores the implications and impacts on both science and policymaking. Quantitative data analysis of more than 6400 scientific papers published in 1993–2003 yield evidence for a growing divide in authorship, publication rates, and location of scientific research in nine environmental journals with high impact factor ratings. In addition to this severe imbalance in publication rates between developed and developing countries, we also find a research bias toward certain eco-climatic zones. More than 80% of papers are published in and about temperate and cold eco-climatic zones. Only 13% of the papers in our study are based on research in the dry sub-tropical and tropical zones, although these eco-climatic zones account for more than 52% of the world's land area. Based on these results, we discuss how the limited empirical source and focus of environmental research undermine the claims of universality of environmental science and what consequences this may have on policymaking processes at different levels. Finally, we briefly explore some short- and long-term strategies to address the knowledge divide.     

Evolutionary social and biogeophysical changes in the Amazon,Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna and Mekong deltas

Policy-making in social-ecological systems increasingly looks to iterative, evolutionary approaches that can address the inherent complexity of interactions between human wellbeing, provision of goods, and the maintenance of ecosystem services. Here, we show how the analysis of available time-series in tropical delta regions over past decades can provide important insight into the social-ecological system dynamics in deltaic regions. The paper provides an exploratory analysis of the recent changes that have occurred in the major elements of three tropical deltaic social-ecological systems, such as demography, economy, health, climate, food, and water. Time-series data from official statistics, monitoring programmes, and Earth observation data are analysed to explore possible trends, slow and fast variables, and observed drivers of change in the Amazon, Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna and Mekong deltas. In the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna delta zone, increasing gross domestic product and per capita income levels since the 1980s mirror rising levels of food and inland fish production. In contrast, non-food ecosystem services, such as water availability, water quality, and land stability appear to be deteriorating. In the Amazon delta, natural and anthropogenic perturbations are continuously degrading key ecosystem services, such as carbon storage in biomass and soils, the regulation of water balance, and the modulation of regional climate patterns. In the Mekong delta, rapid economic development, changing land-use practices, and salinity intrusion are progressively putting more pressure on the delivery of important provisioning services, such as rice and inland aquaculture production, which are key sources of staple food, farm incomes, and export revenue. Observed changes in many key indicators of ecosystem services point to a changing dynamic state and increased probability of systemic threshold transformations in the near future.