Policies towards proposals for large-scale natural resource projects: Attenuation versus postponement

The authors examine the problem of dealing with the environmental impact of uranium mining in Australia and consider its wider implications. Government, faced with unknown environmental and social damage from the initiation of uranium mining in northern Australia, has initiated an environmental impact assessment procedure. This requires the appellant company to provide information about the proposed project and its alternatives and is often followed by a period of ‘postponement’. This is compared with an alternative procedure, ‘attenuation’, allowing the project to proceed on a reduced scale in order to obtain information. Comparisons are made between the information which might be obtained by the two alternative procedures and the expected relative benefits and costs from a postponed project and an attenuated project.     

Weekend–weekday aerosols and geographic variability in cloud-to-ground lightning for the urban region of Atlanta, Georgia, USA

We characterized the differences in warm-season weekday and weekend aerosol conditions and cloud-to-ground (CG) flashes (1995–2008) for an 80,000 square kilometer region around Atlanta, Georgia, a city of 5.5 million in the humid subtropics of the southeastern United States. An integration of distance-based multivariate techniques (hierarchical agglomerative clustering, multiresponse permutation procedures, fuzzy kappa statistics, and Mantel tests) indicated a greater concentration of CG flash activity within a 100 km radius around Atlanta under weekday aerosol concentrations. On weekends, these effects contracted toward the city. This minimized any weekly anthropogenic cycle over the more densely populated urban center even though this location had a higher flash density, a higher percentage of days with flashes, and stronger peak currents over the course of a week compared to the surrounding region. The sharper contrasts in weekday and weekend lightning regime developed outside the perimeter of the city over nonurban land uses. Here, lightning on weekend and weekdays differed more in its density, frequency, polarity, and peak current. Across the full extent of the study region, weekday peak currents were stronger and flash days more frequent, suggesting that weekly CG lightning signals have a regional component not tied to a single city source. We integrate these findings in a conceptual model that illustrates the dependency of weekly anthropogenic weather signals on spatial and temporal extent.     

Ozone treatment of soil contaminated with aniline and trifluralin

Column studies were conducted to determine the ability of ozone to degrade aniline and trifluralin in soil. Ozone rapidly degraded aniline from soil under moist soil conditions, 5% (wt). Removal of 77-98% of [UL-14C]-aniline was observed from soil columns (15 ml, i.d. = 2.5 cm), exposed to 0.6% O(3) (wt) at 200 ml/min after 4 min. Initial ozonation products included nitrosobenzene and nitrobenzene, while further oxidation led to CO(2). Ring-labeled-[UL-14C]-trifluralin removal rates were slower, requiring 30 min to achieve removals of 70-97%. Oxidation and cleavage of the N-propyl groups of trifluralin was observed, affording 2,6-dinitro-4-(trifluoromethyl)-aniline, 2,6-dinitro-N-propyl-4-(trifluoromethyl)-benzamine, and 2,6-dinitro-N-propyl-N-acetonyl-4-(trifluoromethyl)-benzamine. Base solutions revealed that trifluralin was similarly oxidized to CO(2), where 72-83% of the activity recovered comprised 14CO(2). Use of ozone-rich water improved contaminant removal in trifluralin-amended soil columns, but did not improve removal in aniline, pentachloroaniline, hexachlorobenzene amended soil columns, suggesting that ozonated water may improve contaminant removal for reactive contaminants of low solubility.     

Uptake of cadmium in tropical marine lamellibranchs,and effects on physiological behaviour

The effect of cadmium introduced as inorganic salts (chloride, nitrate, sulfate, carbonate, acetate and iodide) or organic chelates (with EDTA, NTA and humic acid) on the physiological behaviour of six species of tropical lamellibranchs — arcid blood clamsAnadara granosa andA. rhombea, venerid clamsMeretrix casta andKatelysia opima, and mytilid musselsPerna viridis andP. indica, collected from various intertidal areas in southern India from 1986 to 1989 — was evaluated. Inorganic salts of Cd are reported to completely ionize upon introduction to full-strength sea water and form predominantly (97%) chloride complexes. Some inorganic Cd salts, therefore, would hardly affect physiological parameters. However, bioaccumulation of Cd was greatest upon exposure to Cd introduced as sulfate, followed by iodide, acetate, chloride, nitrate and carbonate; 96-h LC₅₀'s also varied, but in a different order, being highest for chloride (3.5µg ml^–1), followed by nitrate, acetate, iodide and sulfate (1.8µg ml^–1). Furthermore, Cd levels increased linearly with time of exposure and levels in medium, and were species-specific, being highest in the arcid clams, followed by the venerid clams and mytilid mussels. The presence of other metals such as Zn reduced bioaccumulation of Cd significantly (P < 0.001), but the reverse was not true. Upon exposure to Cd in the presence of Cu, on the other hand, accumulation of both metals was reduced by 15 to 20%. In the presence of organic chelators — EDTA, NTA and reduced glutathione (GSH) — Cd accumulation was significantly inhibited, by 1/2 to 1/3. Humic acid, on the other hand, had no effect. Cd levels in soft tissues were inversely related to ambient salinity in the range of 12 to 32. However, both Zn and Cu significantly inhibited Cd accumulation irrespective of salinity. Cd increased the rate of filtration inAnadara granosa over the first 24 h by 28%, but on prolonged exposure (96 h) that rate decreased significantly, by 50%. Zn alone and in the presence of Cd, on the contrary, initially reduced filtration activity, which subsequently increased to control levels upon continued exposure. Cu alone and in combination with Cd and Zn also significantly (P < 0.001) inhibited filtration relative to controls. This combination also progressively reduced respiratory activity with time, the maximum decrease being 80% after 96 h of exposure. Furthermore, impact of all three metals on both filtration rate and oxygen consumption was initially synergistic, but changed to antagonistic upon prolonged exposure up to 96 h.Deceased. Please send all correspondence and requests for reprints to Dr. S. Patel at the same address     

Controls on leaching of N species in upland moorland catchments

Spatial and temporal changes in mobility of N species have been studied for three UK upland river networks, the Etherow in the South Pennines, the Nether Beck in the Lake District and the Dee in NE Scotland. The catchments are subject to N deposition at 35.1, 22.0 and 10.8–15.6 kg N ha^?1 yr^?1, respectively. The NH⁺ ₄ leaching appears to be predominantly regulated by flow path in more polluted upland catchments. It is greatest where water draining acidified peaty soils contributes more to total discharge. Soluble organic matter may provide the dominant counter anion. In the Etherow and Dee catchments, which are dominated by acid mineral and organic soils, at high discharge NO^? ₃ also appears to be associated with greater input of water from acidified soils. In contrast, for the Nether Beck, higher NO^? ₃ concentrations are associated with tributaries draining soils contributing water with higher alkalinity, suggesting nitrification is important. For the Etherow and Dee, dissolved organic N (DON) appears to originate predominantly from acidified, peaty soils. Spiking experiments with peat soil from the Etherow catchment confirmed the limited capacity of these soils to utilize inorganic N inputs, favouring equilibration with NH⁺ ₄ inputs and leaching losses of inorganic N throughout the year.     

The Application of the Ecological Footprint: a case of passenger transport in Merseyside

The release of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels is believed to be responsible for climate change. In the UK, road transport emits 22% of the total output of carbon dioxide. This study applies the ecological footprint to Merseyside to ascertain the global environmental impact of passenger transport (expressed in hectares). Results show that car travel has a footprint of 704 000 hectares, which is 87% of the total footprint. It is demonstrated in scenarios that Policy initiatives involving the Local Transport Plan will cause the footprint to increase. It is also shown that individual behaviour could be influenced when highlighting the impacts of different modes of transport along the same route. By using the ecological footprint in educational programmes, the effect can be shown of carbon emissions and land appropriation on the 'school run'; these issues could be promoted alongside others such as health, safety, congestion, global equity and fairness.     

Sustainable public/private partnerships for public service delivery

This article defines three kinds of public/private partnership, lists their potential benefits and explains common issues and problems in their operation with examples from developing countries. It then defines and discusses the concepts of social sustainability and financial sustainability in relation to public/private partnerships, and emphasizes the importance of applying sustainability criteria to each partner. It is argued that essentially the same criteria apply to non-profit NGOs as to for-profit firms, despite their differences in goals and values. The article concludes with some suggested strategies for effective international technical co-operation in the establishment of public/private partnerships.     

Plant intelligence

Intelligent behavior is a complex adaptive phenomenon that has evolved to enable organisms to deal with variable environmental circumstances. Maximizing fitness requires skill in foraging for necessary resources (food) in competitive circumstances and is probably the activity in which intelligent behavior is most easily seen. Biologists suggest that intelligence encompasses the characteristics of detailed sensory perception, information processing, learning, memory, choice, optimisation of resource sequestration with minimal outlay, self-recognition, and foresight by predictive modeling. All these properties are concerned with a capacity for problem solving in recurrent and novel situations. Here I review the evidence that individual plant species exhibit all of these intelligent behavioral capabilities but do so through phenotypic plasticity, not movement. Furthermore it is in the competitive foraging for resources that most of these intelligent attributes have been detected. Plants should therefore be regarded as prototypical intelligent organisms, a concept that has considerable consequences for investigations of whole plant communication, computation and signal transduction.     

Coral mortality following extreme low tides and high solar radiation

Extreme tidal events are one of the most predictable natural disturbances in marine benthic habitats and are important determinants of zonation patterns in intertidal benthic communities. On coral reefs, spring low tides are recurrent disturbances, but are rarely reported to cause mass mortality. However, in years when extremely low tides coincide with high noon irradiances, they have the potential to cause widespread damage. Here, we report on such an event on a fringing coral reef in the central Great Barrier Reef (Australia) in September 2005. Visual surveys of colony mortality and bleaching status of more than 13,000 corals at 14 reef sites indicated that most coral taxa at wave-protected sites were severely affected by the event. Between 40 and 75% of colonies in the major coral taxa (Acropora, Porites, Faviidae, Mussidae and Pocilloporidae) were either bleached or suffered partial mortality. In contrast, corals at wave-exposed sites were largely unaffected (<1% of the corals were bleached), as periodic washing by waves prevented desiccation. Surveys along a 1–9 m depth gradient indicated that high coral mortality was confined to the tidal zone. However, 20–30% of faviid colonies were bleached throughout the depth range, suggesting that the increase in benthic irradiances during extreme low tides caused light stress in deeper water. Analyses of an 8-year dataset of tidal records for the area indicated that the combination of extended periods of aerial exposure and high irradiances occurs during May–September in most years, but that the event in September 2005 was the most severe. We argue that extreme low-tide, high-irradiance events are important structuring forces of intertidal coral reef communities, and can be as damaging as thermal stress events. Importantly, they occur at a time of year when risks from thermal stress, cyclones and monsoon-associated river run-off are minimal.     

The status of beaches and shoreline development options on the French Riviera: a perspective and a prognosis

Beach conservation and management on the high-value French Riviera in southeastern France have had mixed fortunes in shoreline economic development strategies over the past half century. Prior to 1965, socio-economic growth related to immigration and tourism resulted in considerable pressure on the coastal zone, leading in particular to beach erosion and degradation of beach environmental quality. Between 1965 and 1980, over 20% of the 132 km-long French Riviera was permanently altered through the implantation of yachting harbours and reclamation fill structures, while beach-based recreation had a rather low ranking as a development choice, except in the two major resorts of Cannes and Nice which exhibit a densely urbanized seafront. On this preponderantly bold rocky coast, the mediocre recreational value inherited by many of the beaches from the regional geologic setting, and from development pressures and earlier errors in coastal management, left them vulnerable to appropriation and so-called ‘valorization’ by yachting harbour and estate developers. Over the last decade, artificial shoreline development has virtually ceased, in response to several more or less interrelated factors. These include relative stagnation of socio-economic growth, increasing development and maintenance costs of yachting harbours, saturation of the yachting harbour market as a result of the burgeoning of new, often cheaper, resorts and of reconversion of commercial and shipbuilding ports to leisure ports in the Mediterranean, more stringent legislation, since 1986, on the implantation of residential and major engineering structures on the coastline, pressure for conservation of the cultural and environmental heritage, and greater demand for beach recreational space. This situation has forced a diversification of shore-based activities, as it has been realised that better managed beaches may balance economic aspirations while contributing to enhanced environmental quality and sensible shoreline conservation. This change in strategy has entailed considerable efforts and money on the improvement of coastal water quality, the provision of amenities for beach-goers, and especially the nourishment of eroding beaches and the creation of several artificial beaches. The extent to which beaches will continue to play a role in the sustainable development of French Riviera resorts will depend largely on the capacity of local authorities to maintain environmental quality in the face of inherited and persistent handicaps such as beach erosion.