Sediment concentration and turbidity changes during culvert removals

The concentrations of sediment and turbidity in stream water were monitored during culvert removals to determine the short term effects of road obliteration. Sediment concentration was measured at 11 stream crossings among two locations in Idaho and one in Washington. Sediment concentration immediately below the culvert outlet exceeded levels above the culvert outlet by at least three orders of magnitude at all stream crossings. Sediment yields ranged from 170 to less than 1kg in the 24-h period following culvert removal. Turbidity exceeded the regulatory limits during culvert removal at all locations monitored in this study and remained above the limits beyond the monitoring periods of 24h at four of the locations. Sediment concentrations 100m downstream of the culvert outlet were reduced by an order of magnitude, but did not change the turbidity values sufficiently to meet regulatory limits. Sediment concentrations an average of 810m downstream of the culvert outlet were similar to sediment concentrations above the culvert for the entire excavation period and turbidity regulations were met. Mitigation consisting of two straw bales placed in the stream caused a significant reduction in sediment yield from an average of 67kg to an average of 1.6kg.     

TOL plasmid transfer during bacterial conjugation in vitro and rhizoremediation of oil compounds in vivo

Molecular profiling methods for horizontal transfer of aromatics-degrading plasmids were developed and applied during rhizoremediation in vivo and conjugations in vitro. pWW0 was conjugated from Pseudomonas to Rhizobium. The xylE gene was detected both in Rhizobium galegae bv. officinalis and bv. orientalis, but it was neither stably maintained in orientalis nor functional in officinalis. TOL plasmids were a major group of catabolic plasmids among the bacterial strains isolated from the oil-contaminated rhizosphere of Galega orientalis. A new finding was that some Pseudomonas migulae and Pseudomonas oryzihabitans strains harbored a TOL plasmid with both pWW0- and pDK1-type xylE gene. P. oryzihabitans 29 had received the archetypal TOL plasmid pWW0 from Pseudomonas putida PaW85. As an application for environmental biotechnology, the biodegradation potential of oil-polluted soil and the success of bioremediation could be estimated by monitoring changes not only in the type and amount but also in transfer of degradation plasmids.     

Finding the Tradeoffs Between the Reserve Design and Representation

Many reserve selection tools have been created to solve the minimum representation problem, selecting the least costly set of sites such that all conservation surrogate targets are met. However, there are practical problems and risks associated with this method for finding reserve network alternatives, including the treatment of persistence-promoting design considerations as secondary objectives. Here, reserve networks are generated for a hypothetical landscape where the objectives are to maximize representation and to maximize conformance with persistence-promoting design principles, subject to a constraint on the number of sites in the networks. The efficiency of potential networks is calculated as the total number of species captured in the included sites. Effectiveness is measured as a function of the size of individual patches, total reserve size, and extent of interpatch connectivity. A series of tradeoff curves are produced showing the nondominated compromise alternatives between representation and design for organisms with varying dispersal capabilities. Each alternative comprises a list of selected sites and covers species, as well as the identities and locations of the interpatch edges connecting the sites. Potential ways to use the results are discussed.     

A Systems Thinking Approach to Environmental Follow-Up in a Swedish Central Public Authority: Hindrances and Possibilities for Learning from Experience

This study analysed the environmental follow-up of a public organisation from a systems thinking approach, including follow-up within different phases of operation and with different environmental management tools. The Swedish Rail Administration (SRA), a public authority responsible for Swedish rail infrastructure, was used as a case organisation. The main aim was to identify different follow-up activities during planning, construction and operation of rail infrastructure. Additional aims were to identify limiting factors for effective environmental follow-up and to provide suggestions on how SRA follow-up can better be used as an organisational learning tool. The follow-up proved to be highly influenced by Environmental Management System and was mainly used for showing compliance with legal regulations or contract requirements. Use of environmental monitoring data was limited to the specific project in which the follow-up was carried out, possibly because of the project-based structure of the organisation following rail deregulation. Theory on organisational learning was applied in the study to discuss how to improve the distribution and use of follow-up data. A more complete ‘organisational memory’ seems to be required for learning from experience and adapting to change.     

Indigenous knowledge about climate change and sustainability of nomadic livelihoods: understanding adaptability coping strategies

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Indigenous knowledge about climate change that makes adaptability necessary by coping strategies leads to the sustainability of nomadic livelihoods....