EMERGY-based environmental systems assessment of a multi-purpose temperate mixed-forest watershed of the southern Appalachian Mountains, USA

Emergy (with an 'm') synthesis was used to assess the balance between nature and humanity and the equity among forest outcomes of a US Forest Service ecosystem management demonstration project on the Wine Spring Creek watershed, a high-elevation (1600 m), temperate forest located in the southern Appalachian mountains of North Carolina, USA. EM embraces a holistic perspective, accounting for the multiple temporal and spatial scales of forest processes and public interactions, to balance the ecological, economic, and social demands placed on land resources. Emergy synthesis is a modeling tool that allows the structure and function of forest ecosystems to be quantified in common units (solar emergy-joules, sej) for easy and meaningful comparison, determining 'system-value' for forcing factors, components, and processes based on the amount of resources required to develop and sustain them, whether they are money, material, energy, or information. The Environmental Loading Ratio (ELR), the units of solar emergy imported into the watershed via human control per unit of indigenous, natural solar emergy, was determined to be 0.42, indicating that the load on the natural environment was not ecologically damaging and that excess ecological capacity existed for increasing non-ecological activities (e.g. timbering, recreation) to achieve an ELR of 1.0 (perfect ecological-economic balance). Three forest outcomes selected to represent the three categories of desired sustainability (ecological, economic, and social) were evaluated in terms of their solar emergy flow to measure outcome equity. Direct economic contribution was an order of magnitude less (224 x 10(12)solar emergy-joules (sej) ha(-1)) than the ecological and social contributions, which were provided at annual rates of 3083 and 2102 x 10(12)sejha(-1), respectively. Emergy synthesis was demonstrated to holistically integrate and quantify the interconnections of a coupled nature-human system allowing the goals of ecological balance and outcome equity to be measured quantitatively.     

Development of a method for predicting the ignition of explosive atmospheres by mechanical friction and impacts (MECHEX)

Mechanical friction and impacts is still today a main cause of ignition of explosive atmospheres (ATEX) in the industry and this trend seems to be stable in time. This situation certainly results from a significant gap of knowledge in the underlying mechanisms so that the parameters to play on are not precisely identified. In this programme of European dimensions, the process of degradation of the mechanical energy into heat during friction and impacts have been studied.

An extensive experimental programme is presented to this end. The mechanisms of dissipation of the mechanical energy into heat during friction has been studied with rubbing machines in which a slider equipped with temperature sensors rubs against a rotating wheel. For impacts, a new device has been developed using a special “air driven cannon” to propel a projectile accurately up to 50 m/s onto an inclined target. A very significant effort has been reserved to the investigation of the ignition mechanisms, not only for ATEX but also for dust accumulations.

Some “simple” modelling is proposed on purpose of practical applications. For frictional situations, a critical rubbing power is calculated without any limitations about any lower boundary concerning the rubbing velocity. For “impacts”, the relevant parameter for ignition is not the kinetic energy of the projectile but its velocity and the nature of the materials.     

Mapping the public first‐aid training landscape: uptake,knowledge, confidence and willingness to deliver first aid in disasters/emergencies—a scoping review

The above article from Disasters, published online on 24 June 2019 in Wiley Online Library ( http://wileyonlinelibrary.com ) has been withdrawn by agreement among the authors, the Journal editors and John Wiley & Sons Inc. on behalf of ODI. The withdrawal has been agreed because this is a duplicate of an article that has been published in Disasters Volume 44 Issue 1.     

Challenges for physical characterization of silver nanoparticles under pristine and environmentally relevant conditions

The reported size distribution of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is strongly affected by the underlying measurement method, agglomeration state, and dispersion conditions. A selection of AgNP materials with vendor-reported diameters ranging from 1 nm to 100 nm, various size distributions, and biocompatible capping agents including citrate, starch and polyvinylpyrrolidone were studied. AgNPs were diluted with either deionized water, moderately hard reconstituted water, or moderately hard reconstituted water containing natural organic matter. Rigorous physico-chemical characterization by consensus methods and protocols where available enables an understanding of how the underlying measurement method impacts the reported size measurements, which in turn provides a more complete understanding of the state (size, size distribution, agglomeration, etc.) of the AgNPs with respect to the dispersion conditions. An approach to developing routine screening is also presented.     

Woodlot management and livelihoods in a tropical conservation landscape

In biodiversity hotspots, there is often tension between human needs and conservation, exacerbated when protected areas prevent access to natural resources. Forest-dependent people may compensate for exclusion by managing unprotected forests or cultivating planted woodlots. Outside Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, household wood product needs are high and population growth puts pressure on the environment. We investigated the role of privately and collectively managed woodlots in provisioning wood products and supporting local livelihoods. We found that households relied heavily on woodlots for daily needs and as resources during time of need. We also found that locally relevant social institutions, called stretcher groups, played a role in the management of woodlots, providing shared community resources. Privately and collectively owned woodlots support local livelihoods and wood product needs in the region. Long-term management of forests in Uganda should consider the value of woodlots and the mechanisms required to support them.     

Climate change, aerobiology, and public health in the Northeast United States

The epidemiological implications with respect to climate change and public health (e.g., shifts in disease vectors) are beginning to be acknowledged. Less recognized however, are the potential links between climate, plant biology and public health. In addition to being affected by climate (e.g., temperature determines plant range), carbon dioxide (CO₂) represents the raw material needed for photosynthesis and its rapid increase in the atmosphere is expected to stimulate plant growth. While there are a number of means by which plant biology intersects with human health (e.g., plant nutrition), one of the most widely recognized is aerobiology; specifically, the ability of plants to both produce pollen and to serve as a substrate for molds/fungi (e.g., sporulation). The current review represents an initial attempt to coalesce what is known regarding the likely impacts of climate/CO₂ on plant pollen/fungal spores and associated allergic disease that are, or could be, specific to the Northeast United States. Although the current results indicate a number of potentially unfavorable effects, we wish to stress that the current data are based on a small number of experiments. Additional data are crucial to both reduce epidemiological uncertainty and to derive a robust set of mitigation / adaptation strategies.     

Savviness of prey to introduced predators

The prey naivety hypothesis posits that prey are vulnerable to introduced predators because many generations in slow gradual coevolution are needed for appropriate avoidance responses to develop. It predicts that prey will be more responsive to native than introduced predators and less responsive to introduced predators that differ substantially from native predators and from those newly established. To test these predictions, we conducted a global meta-analysis of studies that measured the wariness responses of small mammals to the scent of sympatric mammalian mesopredators. We identified 26 studies that met our selection criteria. These studies comprised 134 experiments reporting on the responses of 36 small mammal species to the scent of six introduced mesopredators and 12 native mesopredators. For each introduced mesopredator, we measured their phylogenetic and functional distance to local native mesopredators and the number of years sympatric with their prey. We used predator and prey body mass as a measure of predation risk. Globally, small mammals were similarly wary of the scent of native and introduced mesopredators; phylogenetic and functional distance between introduced mesopredators and closest native mesopredators had no effect on wariness; and wariness was unrelated to the number of prey generations, or years, since first contact with introduced mesopredators. Small mammal wariness was associated with predator-prey body mass ratio, regardless of the nativity. The one thing animals do not seem to recognize is whether their predators are native.     

In harm’s way: Non-migration decisions of people at risk of slow-onset coastal hazards in Bangladesh

Non-migration is an adaptive strategy that has received little attention in environmental migration studies. We explore the leveraging factors of non-migration decisions of communities at risk in coastal Bangladesh, where exposure to both rapid- and slow-onset natural disasters is high. We apply the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to empirical data and assess how threat perception and coping appraisal influences migration decisions in farming communities suffering from salinization of cropland. This study consists of data collected through quantitative household surveys (n = 200) and semi-structured interviews from four villages in southwest coastal Bangladesh. Results indicate that most respondents are unwilling to migrate, despite better economic conditions and reduced environmental risk in other locations. Land ownership, social connectedness, and household economic strength are the strongest predictors of non-migration decisions. This study is the first to use the PMT to understand migration-related behaviour and the findings are relevant for policy planning in vulnerable regions where exposure to climate-related risks is high but populations are choosing to remain in place.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01552-8.     

Uncertainty reduction for improved mishap probability prediction: Application to level control of distillation unit

At all levels, the understanding of uncertainty associated with risk of major chemical industrial hazards should be enhanced. In this study, a quantitative risk assessment (QRA) was performed for a knockout drum in the distillation unit of a refinery process and then probabilistic uncertainty analysis was applied for this QRA. A fault tree was developed to analyze the probability distribution of flammable liquid released from the overfilling of a knockout drum. Bayesian theory was used to update failure rates of the equipment so that generic information from databases and plant equipment real life data are combined to gain all available knowledge on component reliability. Using Monte Carlo simulation, the distribution of top event probability was obtained to characterize the uncertainty of the result. It was found that the uncertainty of basic event probabilities has a significant impact on the top event probability distribution. The top event probability prediction uncertainty profile showed that the risk estimation is improved by reducing uncertainty through Bayesian updating on the basic event probability distributions. The whole distribution of top event probability replaces point value in a risk matrix to guide decisions employing all of the available information rather than only point mean values as in the conventional approach. The resulting uncertainty guides where more information or uncertainty reduction is needed to avoid overlap with intolerable risk levels.     

Free-air carbon dioxide enrichment of soybean: influence of crop variety on residue decomposition

Elevated atmospheric CO2 can result in larger plants returning greater amounts of residue to the soil. However, the effects of elevated CO2 on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling for different soybean varieties have not been examined. Aboveground residue of eight soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] varieties was collected from a field study where crops had been grown under two different atmospheric CO2 levels [370 micromol mol(-1) (ambient) and 550 micromol mol(-1) (free-air carbon dioxide enrichment, FACE)]. Senesced residue material was used in a 60-d laboratory incubation study to evaluate potential C and N mineralization. In addition to assessing the overall effects of CO2 level and variety, a few specific variety comparisons were also made. Across varieties, overall residue N concentration was increased by FACE, but residue C concentration was only slightly increased. Overall residue C to N ratio was lower under FACE and total mineralized N was increased by FACE, suggesting that increased N2 fixation impacted residue decomposition; total mineralized C was also slightly increased by FACE. Across CO2 levels, varietal differences were also observed with the oldest variety having the lowest residue N concentration and highest residue C to N ratio; mineralized N was lowest in the oldest variety, illustrating the influence of high residue C to N ratio. It appears (based on our few specific varietal comparisons) that the breeding selection process may have resulted in some varietal differences in residue quality which can result in increased N or C mineralization under elevated CO2 conditions. This limited number of varietal comparisons indicated that more work investigating varietal influences on soil C and N cycling under elevated CO2 conditions is required.