Preparation of a porous clay heterostructure and study of its adsorption capacity of phenol and chlorinated phenols from aqueous solutions.

A porous clay heterostructure (PCH) from a Mexican clay was prepared and characterized, and its aqueous phenol and dichlorophenols (DCPs) adsorption capacities were studied using a batch equilibrium technique. The PCH displayed a surface area of 305.5 m2/g, 37.2 A average porous diameter, and a basal space of 23.2 A. The adsorption capacity shown by the PCH for both phenol and DCPs from water (14.5 mg/g for phenol; 48.7 mg/g for 3,4-DCP; and 45.5 mg/g for 2,5-DCP) suggests that the PCH has both hydrophobic and hydrophilic characteristics, as a result of the presence of silanol and siloxane groups formed during the pillaring and calcination of the PCH. The values of maximal adsorption capacity for dichlorophenols were higher than those reported for aluminum pillared clays and some inorgano-organo clays and comparable with some ionic exchange resins.     

Changes in hematological and serum biochemical values in jundiá Rhamdia quelen due to sub-lethal toxicity of cypermethrin

Jundiá (Rhamdia quelen, Quoy and Gaimard), a South American teleostean fish, was exposed to sub-lethal concentrations of cypermethrin (30% and 45% of the 48-h LC(50) value of 0.265 ppm) for 2, 4 or 8 days. Serum biochemical and hematological values and behavioral changes were studied. The 30% LC(50), 0.08 ppm, produced significant increases in Mg(2+), P, K(+), creatinine, urea, glucose, cholesterol, aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase levels, and reduction in total proteins and triglycerides in serum. The 45% LC(50), 0.12 ppm, produced significant increase in Na(+), Mg(2+), P, K(+), creatinine, urea, glucose, cholesterol, and alkaline phosphatase, and reduction in triglycerides and alanine aminotransferase levels in serum. At this concentration, the fish showed behavior changes such as hyper-excitability, asphyxia, and widening of mouth and operculum. The hematological values remained normal, except for hemoglobin concentrations and the mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, which increased with exposure to 0.08 ppm and 0.12 ppm cypermethrin. Results of the present work show that biochemical analysis of serum can be useful to detect incipient cypermethrin intoxication of the shoal.     

Analysis of land suitability for the siting of inter-municipal landfills in the Cuitzeo Lake Basin, Mexico

This paper presents three spatial decision-support models (Boolean logic, binary evidence and overlapping index of multiple class maps) to perform a land suitability analysis for sanitary landfill siting. The study was carried out in the basin of Lake Cuitzeo, Mexico, with the objective of locating areas that comply with environmental regulations and with the inter-municipality criterion, i.e., that are accessible by at least two municipalities. Biophysical and socio-economic data were processed in a Geographic Information System (GIS). The three models differ in their complexity and restrictiveness. The Boolean logic model is easier to apply and more restrictive than the other two, because it is based on the assessment of single attributes. On the other hand, the binary data and overlapping index methods are relatively more complex because they require attribute weighting. The results showed that 23 of the 28 municipalities included in the basin have at least one area that was classified as highly suitable. The most suitable areas covered from 63.8 to 204.5 km(2) (from 1.5% to 5%), and they are not distributed homogeneously, but clustered around four main sites. The larger and most suitable of these sites is located in the central part of the basin, and it can be accessed by five of the most densely populated municipalities. The proposed approach represents a low-cost alternative to support a common spatial decision-making process in developing countries.     

Stochastic bycatch, informational asymmetry, and discarding

The existing literature (i) examines bycatch and discard behavior in a static framework and (ii) treats bycatch as a deterministic process uniform across vessels. Using a dynamic representative agent model in a two-stock resource, this paper explores strategic interactions between a social planner and two groups of harvesters, one of which imposes a stochastic “technological externality” (bycatch) on the other. In addition to limitations on entry and the number of trips taken in each industry, three bycatch control instruments are compared to the unconstrained case: taxes, trip limits, and value-based quotas. Implementation and enforcement costs aside, taxes dominate both types of quota, and value limits outperform trip limits by eliminating one type of discarding. In simulations, relative performance depends upon variance in the bycatch process, differences in the ex vessel prices of stocks, relative efficiency of the harvester types, and fixed costs on the trip and industry margins.     

Bioconcentration of the insecticide pyridaphenthion by the green algae Chlorella saccharophila

A study was undertaken to examine the uptake of the organophosphate insecticide pyridaphenthion in the chlorophyta Chlorella saccharophila. Algae cultures were exposed to the initial nominal concentration 10.0 mg l(-1) pyridaphention during seven days. The insecticide bioconcentrates in the biomass to the highest level of 441.5 +/- 25.9 mg kg(-1) on the fifth day of exposure and was followed by a decrease to 76.6 +/- 5.1 mg kg(-1) on the seventh day. A model was constructed to describe the dynamic process, which estimated a bioconcentration factor (BCF) equal to 28. The study demonstrates the potential of accumulation of pyridaphenthion in aquatic organisms and helps to expand the pyridaphenthion toxicity database. The replacement of fenitrothion by pyridaphenthion concerning their use in rice flooded cultures is discussed.     

A Comparison of Precipitation Sensors Used on the Wet-Only Collectors

The variability in performance of three precipitation sensor types, mounted on three identical wet-only collectors, has been compared for eight months at a single site. The catch efficiencies, determined from the sample volumes, are relatively high for these three apparatuses, since they exceed 89% on average. The recorded data of openings and closings of collector lids reveal that the highest losses of collection efficiency, observed for rainfalls of low intensity and low amount, are largely imputable to design and running characteristics of each sensor. Ionic compositions between the samples of these three collectors are relatively close, although significant differences are especially found for H⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and K⁺, suggesting that these apparatuses are differently exposed to the dry deposition of soil particles. The RS 85 sensor seems to be the most suitable one of the three, since it ensures a high catch efficiency for all rain types and tends to limit the exposures of funnel to the dry deposition.     

Spatial distribution of copper in relation to recreational boating in a California shallow-water basin

The overall effect of the number of boats on the copper (Cu) levels in the water column and sediment, along with their spatial variability within Shelter Island Yacht Basin (SIYB), San Diego Bay, California was examined. We identified a horizontal gradient of increasing dissolved Cu and Cu in sediment from outside to the head of SIYB which was coincident with the increasing number of boats. Spatial models of Cu distribution in water and sediment indicated the presence of ‘hotspots’ of Cu concentration. From outside to the head of SIYB, dissolved Cu ranged from 1.3 μ g L^?1 to 14.6 μ g L^?1 in surface water, and 2.0 μ g L^?1 to 10.2 μ g L^?1 in bottom water. Cu in sediment exceeded the Effect Range Low of 34 mg kg^?1 (i.e. where adverse effects to fauna may occur), with a peak concentration of 442 mg kg^?1 at the head of the basin. Free Cu⁺⁺ in surface water was several orders of magnitude higher than in sediment porewater. High-resolution data of Cu species together with probability maps presented in this paper will allow managers to easily visualise and localise areas of impaired quality and to prioritise which areas should be targeted to improve Cu-related conditions.     

Native ecotypic variation and the role of host identity in the spread of an invasive herbivore, Cactoblastis cactorum

Environmental niche models (ENMs) have gained enormous popularity as tools to investigate potential changes in species distributions resulting from climate change and species introductions. Despite recognition that species interactions can influence the dynamics of invasion spread, most implementations of ENMs focus on abiotic factors as the sole predictors of potential range limits. Implicit in this approach is the assumption that biotic interactions are relatively unimportant, either because of scaling issues, or because fundamental and realized niches are equivalent in a species' native range. When species are introduced into exotic landscapes, changes in biotic interactions relative to the native range can lead to occupation of different regions of niche space and apparent shifts in physiological tolerances. We use an escaped biological control organism, Cactoblastis cactorum (Berg.), to assess the role of the environmental envelope as compared with patterns of host-herbivore associations based on collections made in the native range. Because all nonnative populations are derived from a single C. cactorum ecotype, we hypothesize that biotic interactions associated with this ecotype are driving the species' invasion dynamics. Environmental niche models constructed from known native populations perform poorly in predicting nonnative distributions of this species, except where there is an overlap in niche space. In contrast, genetic isolation in the native range is concordant with the observed pattern of host use, and strong host association has been noted in nonnative landscapes. Our results support the hypothesis that the apparent shift in niche space from the native to the exotic ranges results from a shift in biotic interactions, and demonstrate the importance of considering biotic interactions in assessing the risk of future spread for species whose native range is highly constrained by biotic interactions.     

Bayesian nonparametric inference for the overlap of daily animal activity patterns

The study of the interaction among species is an active area of research in Ecology. In particular, it is of interest to evaluate the overlap of their ecological niches. Temporal activity is one of the niche’s axes most commonly used to explore ecological segregation among animal species, and many contributions focus on the overlap of this variable. Once the information of the temporal activity is obtained in the wild, the data is treated as a random sample. There exist different methods to estimate the overlap. Specifically, in the case of two species, one possibility is to estimate the density of the temporal activity of each species and then evaluate the overlap between these density functions. This leads naturally to the analysis of circular data. Most of the procedures currently in use impose some rather restrictive assumptions on the probabilistic models used to describe the phenomena, and only provide approximate measures of the uncertainty involved in the process. In this article, we propose a Bayesian nonparametric approach which incorporates a well-defined noninformative prior. We take advantage of the data structure to define such a prior in terms of the predictive distribution. To the best of our knowledge, this is a novel approach. Our procedure is compared with a well-known method using simulated data, and applied to the analysis of real camera-trap data concerning two mammalian species from the El Triunfo biosphere reserve (Chiapas, Mexico).