Embryo/larval toxicity and transcriptional effects in zebrafish (Danio rerio) exposed to endocrine active riverbed sediments

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Sediment toxicity plays a fundamental role in the health of inland fish communities; however, the assessment of the hazard potential of contaminated...     

Factors driving collaboration in natural resource conflict management: Evidence from Romania

A critical challenge in natural resource management is to bring all stakeholders together to negotiate solutions to critical problems. However, various collaborative approaches to heading off conflicts and resolving natural resource management disputes have been used. What drives these efforts, however, still needs further research. Our study provides a systematic look at the drivers likely to initiate collaborative problem-solving efforts in four cases in Romania. We use Emerson’s et al. (2012) framework for collaborative governance and multi-value qualitative comparative analysis (mvQCA) to analyze cases involving endangered species, restrictions on forest harvest, conflicts associated with infrastructure development projects, and disputes over the management of environmentally sensitive areas. Our findings contribute to the already existing collaborative governance literature indicating which of the four factors: uncertainty, interdependence, consequential incentives, and leadership, in which combination, are necessary and sufficient to spur collaborative resource management efforts. Our results showed that in Romania the initiation of collaboration is best explained by positive consequential incentives (i.e., financial opportunities) which has determined leaders to take initiative. This study provides additional information for the complicated process of natural resource management which is often overriding collaboration by investigating what enables and constrains collaborative efforts in a country where natural resources were managed and used according to the principles of central planning.     

Photocatalytic decomposition of methanol over La/TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> materials

Lanthanum-modified TiO₂ photocatalysts (0.2–1.5 wt% La) were investigated in the methanol decomposition in an aqueous solution. The photocatalysts were prepared by the common sol-gel method followed by calcination. The structural (X-ray diffraction, Raman, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), textural (N₂ physisorption), and optical properties (diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, photoelectrochemical measurements) of all synthetized nanomaterials were correlated with photocatalytic activity. Both pure TiO₂ and La-doped TiO₂ photocatalysts proved higher yields of hydrogen in comparison to photolysis. The photocatalyst with optimal amount of lanthanum (0.2 wt% La) showed almost two times higher amount of hydrogen produced at the same time as in the presence of pure TiO₂. The photocatalytic activity increased with both increasing photocurrent response and decreasing amount of lattice and surface O species. It has been shown that both direct and indirect mechanisms of methanol photocatalytic oxidation participate in the production of hydrogen. Both direct and indirect mechanisms take part in the formation of hydrogen.     

Future land use and land cover in Southern Amazonia and resulting greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural soils

Regional Environmental Change - The calculation of robust estimates of future greenhouse gas emissions due to agriculture is essential to support the framing of the Brazilian climate change...     

Sample damage during X-ray fluorescence analysis--case study on ammonium salts in atmospheric aerosols

Atmospheric aerosols can consist of, amongst others, compounds like NH(4)NO(3) or (NH(4))(2)SO(4). Such components can suffer radiation damage and/or evaporate during EDXRF measurements, providing errors on successively applied analysis. The aim of this work is to investigate the influence of measurements using conventional EDXRF on the volatile compounds and to compare it with the influence of polarized beam EDXRF using secondary targets (and hence indirect irradiation). The effect of different parameters (acquisition time, accelerating voltage, current and medium) on the concentration loss was studied. The measurements performed in vacuum during a long period lead to the highest losses of volatile compounds. The influence of direct irradiation was proved to be larger than the indirect variant.     

Prioritizing organic chemicals for long-term air monitoring by using empirical monitoring data—application to data from the Swedish screening program

This paper illustrates a step-by-step approach for evaluating chemical monitoring data in air and deposition and for prioritizing chemicals to be included in long-term air monitoring programs. The usability of the method is shown by application to data generated within the Swedish screening program. The suggested prioritization approach uses a novel methodology by combining empirical data on occurrence in air and deposition with publicly available quantitative structure activity relationship estimation tools that predict atmospheric persistence and bioaccumulation. A selection tree is presented, which may be used by regulatory bodies to prioritize chemicals for long-term air monitoring. A final ranking list is presented proposing a prioritization order for inclusion in monitoring programs. Based on the suggested strategy, the chemicals identified as most relevant to include in Swedish long-term monitoring programs were short-chain chlorinated paraffins(C10-C13), perfluorooctane sulfonate, octachlorostyrene, hexabromocyclododecane, hexachlorobenzene, pentachloroanisole, decamethylcyclopentasiloxane, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, pentachlorobenzene, 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorobenzene, hexachlorobutadiene, dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane, perfluorodecane sulfonate, 1,2,4,5-tetrachlorobenzene, and pentabromophenol.     

Towards a sampling strategy for the assessment of forest condition at European level: combining country estimates

A correct characterization of the status and trend of forest condition is essential to support reporting processes at national and international level. An international forest condition monitoring has been implemented in Europe since 1987 under the auspices of the International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP Forests). The monitoring is based on harmonized methodologies, with individual countries being responsible for its implementation. Due to inconsistencies and problems in sampling design, however, the ICP Forests network is not able to produce reliable quantitative estimates of forest condition at European and sometimes at country level. This paper proposes (1) a set of requirements for status and change assessment and (2) a harmonized sampling strategy able to provide unbiased and consistent estimators of forest condition parameters and of their changes at both country and European level. Under the assumption that a common definition of forest holds among European countries, monitoring objectives, parameters of concern and accuracy indexes are stated. On the basis of fixed-area plot sampling performed independently in each country, an unbiased and consistent estimator of forest defoliation indexes is obtained at both country and European level, together with conservative estimators of their sampling variance and power in the detection of changes. The strategy adopts a probabilistic sampling scheme based on fixed-area plots selected by means of systematic or stratified schemes. Operative guidelines for its application are provided.     

Expansion of alien gammarids in the Vistula Lagoon and the Vistula Delta (Poland)

Amphipod crustaceans belong to the most successful invaders of aquatic environments. The work provides information concerning the spatial and temporal scales of expansion of four alien gammarid amphipods (three of them of Ponto-Caspian and one of North American origin): Pontogammarus robustoides (G.O. Sars, 1894), Obesogammarus crassus (G.O. Sars, 1894), Dikerogammarus haemobaphes (Eichwald, 1841), and Gammarus tigrinus Sexton, 1939 in the Vistula Lagoon (VL) and the Vistula Delta (VD) in 2008–2010. The mean abundance of these gammarids in nearshore zones was 382 ind?m^?2 in VL and 89 ind?m^?2 in VD. Their mean biomasses were likewise greater in VL (0.91 g?m^?2) than in VD (0.49 g?m^?2). G. tigrinus was the most dominant species in both nearshore zones of VL and VD and attained the highest frequency in these areas. The study gives evidence of total extinction of native gammarid species.