Detection of current and potential hazelnut plantation areas in Trabzon, North East Turkey using GIS and RS

Monitoring agricultural products requires the periodic determination of land cover and the production of land use policies in an optimum way. The hazelnut is one of the important Turkish agricultural exports and Turkey provides 77% of the world's hazelnuts. In Turkey, hazelnut production exceeds the demand; new regulations have been enacted to create new land use policies. By putting into practice regulations restricting hazelnut plantation areas, a more efficient and productive hazelnut harvest policy could be created. Therefore, more information on existing land cover is required to determine optimum (or ideal) potential hazelnut areas (PHA) and to forecast future crop production. The principle aim of this study is to create a methodology for determining existing PHA, using Geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) techniques regarding to support hazelnut policy developers and economists. This study was basically carried out in the province of Trabzon, which is one of the most important hazelnut production areas in Turkey. Landsat ETM+ image was used to generate a current land cover classification. Using the supervised classification method, overall accuracy was determined to be 84.7%. Suitable hazelnut areas were determined according to criteria settled by government regulations.     

A comparative study for results obtained using biomonitors and PM10 collectors in Sado Estuary

In 1996 a program was started, financed by the Environmental Ministry of Portugal and IAEA, aiming to study the inorganic atmospheric pollutant dispersion in Sado Estuary. Gent PM10 air samplers were used for air particulate matter sampling. Three sampling sites were chosen, forming a triangle around the fuel power station of Setúbal. Transplants of Parmelia sulcata Taylor were suspended in nylon bags within a rectangle 15 km wide and 25 km long on a 2.5 x 2.5 km grid. Two sets of four transplants were hung in each of the 47 locations, one set facing the wind and the other set opposing the wind. The transplants were suspended in December 1997 for a 1-year period; every 3 months, one transplant of each set was collected. Both lichen transplants and PM10 filters were analysed by INAA and PIXE. A comparative study of results obtained for the two sampling procedures is presented in this work.     

Analysis of heavy metals and aromatics compounds in soil layers of a sanitary landfill

Solid waste presents the potential for contamination of the soil when it is improperly managed. One of the great challenges of today's society is to promote the proper disposal of municipal solid waste in order to guarantee the safety of public health and to avoid risks to the environment. In this context, the objective of this study is to analyze the concentration profiles of heavy metals and aromatic hydrocarbons of risk that human health in landfill soil. Such works provides an important tool to evaluate the possible presence of contaminants from inappropriate waste disposal, as well as to assist in the management of waste and to prevent environmental contamination. In order to analyze cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), arsenic (As), and mercury (Hg), which are toxic elements, and aromatic hydrocarbons, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, o‐xylene, m‐xylene, and p‐xylene, soil samples were collected at different sites and depths. Neither Cd nor As was detected in any of the samples that were analyzed. Pb levels ranged from 5.34 milligrams per kilograms (mg/kg) to 7.40 mg/kg, Ni levels ranged from 2.17 mg/kg to 3.00 mg/kg, and Hg levels ranged from 75.4 micrograms per kilograms (μg/kg) to 88.3 μg/kg. The aromatic hydrocarbon compounds of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and o‐xylene were below 5.5 μg/kg, and m‐, p‐xylene was below 11 μg/kg. The analysis of heavy metals and aromatic hydrocarbons present in the landfill soil showed concentrations below the soil quality guideline values of the Brazilian National Environment Council (CONAMA) Resolution 420, which has criteria for the presence of chemical substances in soil for Brazil. Therefore, the low levels of chemicals may be related to the operational time of the landfill or to the population profile of the municipality, which is predominantly composed of persons involved in family‐based agriculture.     

Gravimetric and Chemical Features of Airborne PM10 AND PM2.5 in Mainland Portugal

This paper describes concentration amounts of arsenic (As), particulate mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni) and lead (Pb) in PM₁₀ and PM_2.5, collected since 1993 by the Technological and Nuclear Institute (ITN) at different locations in mainland Portugal, featuring urban, industrial and rural environments, and a control as well. Most results were obtained in the vicinity of coal- and oil-fired power plants. Airborne mass concentrations were determined by gravimetry. As and Hg concentrations were obtained through instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), and Ni and Pb concentrations through proton-induced X-ray emission (PIXE). Comparison with the EU (European Union) and the US EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) directives for Ambient Air has been carried out, even though the sampling protocols herein – set within the framework of ITN's R&D projects and/or monitoring contracts – were not consistent with the former regulations. Taking this into account, 1) the EU daily limit for PM₁₀ was exceeded a few times in all sites except the control, even if the number of times was still inferior to the allowed one; 2) the EU annual mean for PM₁₀ was exceeded at one site; 3) the EPA daily limit for PM_2.5 was exceeded one time at three sites; 4) the EPA annual mean for PM_2.5 was exceeded at most sites; 5) the inner-Lisboa site approached or exceeded the legislated PMs; 6) Pb levels stayed far below the EU limit value; and 7) concentrations of As, Ni and Hg were also far less than the reference values adopted by EU. In every location, Ni appeared more concentrated in PM_2.5 than in coarser particles, and its levels were not that different from site to site, excluding the control. The highest As and Hg concentrations were found in the neighbourhood of the coal-fired, utility power plants. The results may be viewed as a “worst-case scenario” of atmospheric pollution, since they have been obtained in busy urban-industrial areas and/or near major power-generation and waste-incineration facilities.     

Radioactivity in the environment around past radium and uranium mining sites of Portugal

Measurements of ambient radiation doses and determination of radionuclide concentrations in mining waste and soils were performed in 60 areas of former radium and uranium mining. In several places, mining waste and low-grade uranium ore left on the surface contain radioactivity above regional background. Most of the former mining sites present no enhanced radionuclide concentrations. However, in the mining facilities where the radioactive ore was chemically extracted, mill tailings contain materials with elevated levels of radioactivity, up to 200 times the levels in unaffected soils of the region. Mud from neutralization ponds used to treat acid mine waters contains also elevated radionuclide concentrations. Furthermore, depending on the type of waste, the radioelement composition varies. Environmental rehabilitation measures shall take these differences into account in order to prevent in the long term the radioactive contamination of agriculture soils and water resources, and to ensure adequate radiological protection to the public and to the environment.     

Parental diets determine the embryonic fatty acid profile of the tropical nudibranch Aeolidiella stephanieae: the effect of eating bleached anemones

Aeolidiella stephanieae is a stenophagous tropical nudibranch that feeds exclusively on glass anemones of the genus Aiptasia. These sea anemones usually harbour endosymbiotic photosynthetic dinoflagellates that contribute to the nutrition of their host by providing photosynthetates, such as fatty acids (FA). The present work determined the effect of parental diets on the FA profile of A. stephanieae embryos by feeding breeding pairs of this nudibranch with either symbiotic or aposymbiotic A. pallida. Contrasting FA profiles, namely in the levels of palmitic acid (16:0) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3), were recorded for both parental diets and egg masses produced by nudibranchs eating either symbiotic or aposymbiotic A. pallida. Noteworthy effects of parental dietary FAs on egg masses were also observed, particularly for DHA, which is mainly synthetized by the endosymbionts of A. pallida. Additionally, the present study also highlights how bleaching events may promote cascading effects on the nutrition of marine species with a stenophagous diet, such as A. stephanieae.     

Providing a common diet to different marine decapods does not standardize the fatty acid profiles of their larvae: a warning sign for experimentation using invertebrate larvae produced in captivity

Larval decapods are commonly produced in captivity and employed in experiments to evaluate interspecific physiological and biochemical differences. Currently, it is still unknown if different decapod species provided a common diet and exposed to identical abiotic conditions produce newly hatched larvae (NHL) with similar fatty acid (FA) profiles. This study analyzed the FA composition of NHL from five marine shrimp species (Lysmata amboinensis, L. boggessi, L. debelius, L. seticaudata and Rhynchocinetes durbanensis) fed a common diet and stocked at constant temperature. FA profiles of NHL differed significantly within and among genera. NHL from species unable to molt from zoea I to zoea II in the absence of food (L. amboinensis, L. debelius and R. durbanensis) displayed the lowest FA contents. Researchers must be aware that providing a common diet to different species, even if closely related, may not standardize the FA profile of NHL produced in captivity.     

Basis for a national strategy for integrated coastal zone management—in Portugal

This paper includes the proposals made in the report “Basis for a National Strategy for Coastal Zone Management” prepared for the Portuguese Ministry of Environment, Territorial Planning and Regional Development. The final version of that report was presented in June 2006. This paper describes a theme framework followed by a discussion of concepts. Nine Primary Principles, eight Principal Objectives, and 37 Strategic Options for an Integrated Coastal Zone Management are then presented. These Strategic Options are set hierarchically according to their sequential priority, identifying the dominant types of Associated Measures. The analysis of these arrives at a set of Structural Measures, which interlink and aggregate various actions and propose a new method of integrated management for the coastal zone, which includes the “Legal Basis of Coastal Zone”; the Organization System; the Action Plan and Monitoring.     

Network analysis reveals contrasting effects of intraspecific competition on individual vs. population diets

Optimal foraging theory predicts that individuals should become more opportunistic when intraspecific competition is high and preferred resources are scarce. This density-dependent diet shift should result in increased diet breadth for individuals as they add previously unused prey to their repertoire. As a result, the niche breadth of the population as a whole should increase. In a recent study, R. Svanb?ck and D. I. Bolnick confirmed that intraspecific competition led to increased population diet breadth in threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). However, individual diet breadth did not expand as resource levels declined. Here, we present a new method based on complex network theory that moves beyond a simple measure of diet breadth, and we use the method to reexamine the stickleback experiment. This method reveals that the population as a whole added new types of prey as stickleback density was increased. However, whereas foraging theory predicts that niche expansion is achieved by individuals accepting new prey in addition to previously preferred prey, we found that a subset of individuals ceased to use their previously preferred prey, even though other members of their population continued to specialize on the original prey types. As a result, populations were subdivided into groups of ecologically similar individuals, with diet variation among groups reflecting phenotype-dependent changes in foraging behavior as prey density declined. These results are consistent with foraging theory if we assume that quantitative trait variation among consumers affects prey preferences, and if cognitive constraints prevent individuals from continuing to use their formerly preferred prey while adding new prey.     

Genotoxicity study of high aspect ratio silver nanowires

The genotoxicity potential of silver nanowires synthesized via the solution-based polyol method has been investigated. They were found to be non-mutagenic in three Salmonella strains and were not genotoxic in a clastogenicity assay in mice. Residual surfactant was found to have an effect on the toxicological properties of the nanowires by increasing the rate of Ag⁺ release. Residual surfactant can be easily degraded via a UV treatment.