Regeneration status of mangrove forests in Mida Creek,Kenya: a compromised or secured future?

The structure and regeneration patterns of Mida Creek mangrove vegetation were studied along belt transects at 2 forest sites of Mida Creek (3 degrees 20'S, 40 degrees 00'E): Uyombo and Kirepwe. Based on the species importance values, the dominant mangrove tree species in Mida were Ceriops tagal (Perr.) C. B. Robinson and Rhizophora mucronata Lamk. Tree density varied from 1197 trees ha(-1) at Kirepwe to 1585 trees ha(-1) at Uyombo and mean tree height was higher at the former site compared to the latter. The size-class structure at both localities of Mida showed the presence of more small trees than large ones. Spatial distribution pattern of adults and juveniles varied greatly between sites and they showed a close to uniform pattern (Morisita's Index I0 < 1) for trees, but a tendency to random distribution (I0 = 1) for juveniles. The present paper shows that unmanaged but exploited mangroves do not necessarily disappear, but change qualitatively from locally preferred R. mucronata to the less preferred C. tagal. Whereas the effects of this change on the ecological function of the mangrove cannot be estimated yet, the economical function of the mangrove has evidently weakened.     

Improving the decolorization of glycerol by adsorption using activated carbon derived from oil palm biomass

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study provides insight into the decolorization strategy for crude glycerol obtained from biodiesel production using waste cooking oil as raw...     

A discourse-analytical perspective on sustainability assessment: interpreting sustainable development in practice

Sustainable development is a ubiquitously used concept in public decision-making: it refers to an ideal vision of global society where human development and environmental quality go hand in hand. Logically, any decision-supporting process aiming at facilitating and steering society toward a sustainable future then seems desirable. Assessing the sustainability of policy decisions is, however, influenced by what sustainable development is believed to entail, as different discourses coexist under the umbrella of the sustainable development meta-discourse. This paper proposes a typology of sustainable development discourses, and, subsequently, applies a discourse-analytical lens on two practical cases of sustainability assessment in different institutional and geographical contexts (in Belgium and in Benin). The results indicate that sustainability assessments tend to be influenced mainly by the consensual ‘sustainable development as integration’ discourse, while also providing a forum for dialogue between different discourses. The results shed light on context-specific discursive and institutional dynamics for the development and application of sustainability assessment. Acknowledging these dynamics as well as sustainable development’s inherent interpretational limits can lead to an improved use of sustainable development as a decision-guiding strategy.     

Ag nanoparticle-decorated chitosan/SrSnO3 nanocomposite for ultrafast elimination of antibiotic linezolid and methylene blue

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Effective design of ultrafast new-generation photocatalysts is a challenging task that requires highly dedicated efforts. This research focused on the...