Quantification of self pollution from two diesel school buses using three independent methods

We monitored two Seattle school buses to quantify the buses’ self pollution using the dual tracers (DT), lead vehicle (LV), and chemical mass balance (CMB) methods. Each bus drove along a residential route simulating stops, with windows closed or open. Particulate matter (PM) and its constituents were monitored in the bus and from a LV. We collected source samples from the tailpipe and crankcase emissions using an on-board dilution tunnel. Concentrations of PM₁, ultrafine particle counts, elemental and organic carbon (EC/OC) were higher on the bus than the LV. The DT method estimated that the tailpipe and the crankcase emissions contributed 1.1 and 6.8 μg m^?3 of PM_2.5 inside the bus, respectively, with significantly higher crankcase self pollution (SP) when windows were closed. Approximately two-thirds of in-cabin PM_2.5 originated from background sources. Using the LV approach, SP estimates from the EC and the active personal DataRAM (pDR) measurements correlated well with the DT estimates for tailpipe and crankcase emissions, respectively, although both measurements need further calibration for accurate quantification. CMB results overestimated SP from the DT method but confirmed crankcase emissions as the major SP source. We confirmed buses’ SP using three independent methods and quantified crankcase emissions as the dominant contributor.     

The economic dimensions of integrating flood management and agri-environment through washland creation: a case from Somerset, England

In many river floodplains in the UK, there has been a long history of flood defence, land reclamation and water regime management for farming. In recent years, however, changing European and national policies with respect to farming, environment and flood management are encouraging a re-appraisal of land use in rural areas. In particular, there is scope to develop, through the use of appropriate promotional mechanisms, washland areas, which will simultaneously accommodate winter inundation, support extensive farming methods, deliver environmental benefits, and do this in a way which can underpin the rural economy. This paper explores the likely economic impacts of the development of flood storage and washland creation. In doing so, consideration is given to feasibility of this type of development, the environmental implications for a variety of habitats and species, and the financial and institutional mechanisms required to achieve implementation.     

Climate vs. soil factors in local adaptation of two common plant species

Evolutionary theory suggests that divergent natural selection in heterogeneous environments can result in locally adapted plant genotypes. To understand local adaptation it is important to study the ecological factors responsible for divergent selection. At a continental scale, variation in climate can be important while at a local scale soil properties could also play a role. We designed an experiment aimed to disentangle the role of climate and (abiotic and biotic) soil properties in local adaptation of two common plant species. A grass (Holcus lanatus) and a legume (Lotus corniculatus), as well as their local soils, were reciprocally transplanted between three sites across an Atlantic-Continental gradient in Europe and grown in common gardens in either their home soil or foreign soils. Growth and reproductive traits were measured over two growing seasons. In both species, we found significant environmental and genetic effects on most of the growth and reproductive traits and a significant interaction between the two environmental effects of soil and climate. The grass species showed significant home site advantage in most of the fitness components, which indicated adaptation to climate. We found no indication that the grass was adapted to local soil conditions. The legume showed a significant home soil advantage for number of fruits only and thus a weak indication of adaptation to soil and no adaptation to climate. Our results show that the importance of climate and soil factors as drivers of local adaptation is species-dependent. This could be related to differences in interactions between plant species and soil biota.     

Carrying capacity as "Informed Judgment": the values of science and the science of values

Contemporary park and wilderness carrying capacity frameworks rely on formulation of standards of quality, which are defined as minimum acceptable resource and social conditions. Formulation of standards of quality involves elements of both science and values, and both of these elements must be integrated into informed judgments on the part of park and wilderness managers. That is, managers must ultimately make value-based judgments about the maximum acceptable level of visitor-caused impacts to the resource base and the quality of the visitor experience. However, such judgments should be as informed as possible by scientific data on the relationships between visitor use and resulting impacts and the degree to which park and wilderness visitors and other interest groups judge such impacts to be acceptable. Such information represents the “values of science” to managing carrying capacity in parks and wilderness. A growing body of literature has begun to address the corresponding “science of values,” and how this type of information might be integrated in park and wilderness management. Visitor-based research has employed normative theory and techniques to explore the acceptability of a range of resource and social impacts related to visitor use, and findings from these studies are being integrated into a body of knowledge and applied in management decision-making. Conceptual and methodological extensions of the normative approach are currently being explored in a variety of park and wilderness contexts, and new theoretical and empirical approaches are being adapted to address trade-offs inherent in carrying capacity. In these ways, the science of values is progressing to meet the opportunities and challenges of the values of science to park and wilderness management. The concept of carrying capacity, along with the theoretical and methodological approaches described in this paper, can be extended to a large number of natural resource and environmental issues.     

Using a high-powered strobe light to increase the catch of Antarctic krill

Adult euphausiids are difficult to capture with the nets typically used by oceanographers due in part to avoidance of the net. A cruise of the Southern Ocean GLOBEC program (NBP0103) in April/May 2001 permitted an evaluation of the efficacy of a high-powered strobe light (150 W) mounted on a 1-m² multiple opening/closing net and environmental sampling system (MOCNESS) in reducing net avoidance. Three horizontal tows were made in Laubeuf Fjord, Marguerite Bay (western Antarctic Peninsula, 67.89°S; 68.30 W) on 28–29 May in an area that had a high abundance of adult krill (mostly Euphausia superba, Dana and a few E. crystallorophias, Holt and Tattersall). Each tow consisted of a series of paired down and up casts through a set depth interval (e.g. 50–90 m), with each successive net (335 µm mesh) sampling both a down and up cast. The strobe light was either on or off while each net was open, and when on, the light flashed at 4-s intervals. During a tow, four of the eight nets sampled with the strobe flashing and four sampled with the strobe off, in a random sequence. Total zooplankton displacement volume was significantly higher (P<0.05), on average by a factor of ~1.5, when the strobe light was on. The increased biovolume was due to the enhanced catch (factor of ~2) of adult krill (15–60 mm length). There was no enhanced catch of smaller krill (5–15 mm length: a mixture of E. superba, E. crystallorophias, and Thysanoessa macrura, GO Sars). In addition, the average length of the large krill fraction was not changed substantially with the strobe light on. These results suggest that krill avoidance of nets can be overcome by intense strobe lighting.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00227-003-1228-z.Communicated by J.P. Grassle, New Brunswick     

Production of biodegradable pots from cattle manure and wood waste: effects of natural binders on mechanical performances and biodegradability

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The present study seeks to investigate the use of husbandry waste and sawdust in the construction of degradable pots as a suitable alternative to...