The Influence of Road Infrastructure and Traffic on Soil,Water, and Air Quality

Polluting substances are spread as a consequence of the construction and use of roads. This article provides a summary of the substances with which traffic pollutes the environment on a local, regional and global level. The mechanisms of dispersion of pollutants to soil and groundwater are described. Based on environmental quality requirements established in rules and regulations in the Netherlands, the paper discusses mitigating measures necessary to limit the distribution of pollutants along highways. Most of the data in this article come from original research carried out by or by order of the Road and Hydraulic Institute. For comparison, other data from the Netherlands have been included. It is shown that source-oriented measures (volume and technical) will have more effect on environmental quality than measures with regard to treating runoff. The use of porous asphalt instead of nonporous asphalt on highways in the Netherlands has environmental benefits. The article also pays attention to combined use of the roadside verges for treatment of runoff using ecological engineering techniques in the form of natural processes in helophyte filter systems in combination with enhancement of ecological values along highways.     

Post-Emergency Epidemiological Surveillance in Iraqi-Kurdish Refugee Camps in Iran

In 1991 a computerized, comprehensive epidemiological surveillance system was developed to monitor health trends in approximately 25,000 acutely displaced Kurds in Nowsood and Saryas refugee camps, Bakhtaran region, Northwestern Iran. In addition, community-based surveys offered information unobtainable from health facilities. Weekly population movements, attack rates, point-prevalence estimates, and case fatality ratios were calculated, and the data were analysed and compared. The overall crude mortality rate (CMR) in the camps under study was still 9 times higher than the reported CMR for Iraq. Health problems with very low rates (less than 1.0/ 1,000 population/week) included the triad of measles, meningitis and tetanus. However, morbidity for the most common conditions (acute respiratory infections, diarrhoea, skin infections, eye diseases and, finally, typhoid fever) was shown to increase at the end of the intervention, highlighting that the pressure of repatriation on refugees made them progressively worse. This article concludes that epidemiological surveillance systems should be implemented during mass-migrations in developing countries also in post-emergency settings. Furthermore, surveillance appears to be indispensable in order for the international agencies to keep abreast of events and to safeguard human rights when international attention subsides.     

Shoot growth of mature Fagus sylvatica and Picea abies in relation to ozone

Epidemiological analysis of sequential growth data may be a tool in assessing ozone sensitivity of mature trees. Annual shoot growth of mature Fagus sylvatica in 83 Swiss permanent forest observation plots and of Picea abies in 61 plots was evaluated for 11 and 8 consecutive years, respectively, using branches harvested every 4 years. The data were assessed as annual deviation from average growth and related to fructification, ozone, meteorological parameters, and modelled soil water content using a mixed linear model. In beech, a significant association between ozone and shoot growth was observed which corresponded to a 7.4% growth reduction between 0 and 10 ppm h AOT40 (accumulated ozone over threshold 40). This is in the same order of magnitude as the response observed in experiments with seedlings. No interaction was found between ozone and drought parameters. In Norway spruce, shoot growth was neither associated with ozone nor with drought.     

美国西雅图地区城市边缘湖泊的富营养化

引言 近50年来美国住宅开发大量增加.所增住宅很多集中在市区,美国几乎80%的人口现今居住在城里[1].当人们从农村地区和市中心向城市边缘和郊区迁移时,城市变得越来越大,人口增加、地区扩大[1].在城市扩建时,开发商把农业用地和林区的土地转变成城市和城郊[2,3].于是,在城市的边缘、在城乡结合部常常夹杂着被建筑工地、新开发的住宅和商业网点所分割的小块农田和林地以及现在被城市扩建所吞噬的过去十分偏僻的住宅[1,2].     

SNAKES USED IN ETHNOMEDICINE IN NORTHEAST BRAZIL

This paper documents zootherapeutic practices in Northeast Brazil. It is primarily based on field surveys carried out in fishing villages located in the States of Maranhão and Paraíba, where dwellers provided information on snake species used as medicine, body parts used to prepare the remedies, and the illnesses to which the remedies were prescribed. The species used as medicinal drug and their respective families were: Crotalus durissus (rattlesnake), Bothrops leucurus (‘lance head’, a venomous snake), and Lachesis muta (bushmaster) of the family Crotalidae; and Boa constrictor (boa constrictor), Epicrates cenchria (‘salamanta’), and Eunectes murinus (anaconda) of the family (Boidae). These zootherapeutical resources were used for the cure of 14 illnesses. The most commonly cited species were Crotalus durissus (n=26) e Boa constrictor (n=6), Apparently, the medicinal use of snakes does not pose a threat for their population in the studied sites.     

Changes in Arthropod Assemblages along a Wide Gradient of Disturbance in Gabon

Abstract: Searching for indicator taxa representative of diverse assemblages, such as arthropods, is an important objective of many conservation studies. We evaluated the impacts of a wide gradient of disturbance in Gabon on a range of arthropod assemblages representing different feeding guilds. We examined 4 × 10⁵ arthropod individuals from which 21 focal taxa were separated into 1534 morphospecies. Replication included the understory of 3 sites in each of 4 different stages of forest succession and land use (i.e., habitats) after logging (old and young forests, savanna, and gardens). We used 3 complementary sampling methods to survey sites throughout the year. Overall differences in arthropod abundance and diversity were greatest between forest and open habitats, and cleared forest invaded by savanna had the lowest abundance and diversity. The magnitude of faunal differences was much smaller between old and young forests. When considered at this local scale, anthropogenic modification of habitats did not result in a monotonous decline of diversity because many herbivore pests and their associated predators and parasitoids were abundant and diverse in gardens, where plant productivity was kept artificially high year‐round through watering and crop rotation. We used a variety of response variables to measure the strength of correlations across survey locations among focal taxa. These could be ranked as follows in terms of decreasing number of significant correlations: species turnover > abundance > observed species richness > estimated species richness > percentage of site‐specific species. The number of significant correlations was generally low and apparently unrelated to taxonomy or guild structure. Our results emphasize the value of reporting species turnover in conservation studies, as opposed to simply measuring species richness, and that the search for indicator taxa is elusive in the tropics. One promising alternative might be to consider “predictor sets” of a small number of taxa representative of different functional groups, as identified in our study.     

Biotic control of stream fluxes: spawning salmon drive nutrient and matter export

Organisms can control movements of nutrients and matter by physically modifying habitat. We examined how an ecosystem engineer, sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), influences seasonal fluxes of sediments, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) in streams of southwestern Alaska. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether salmon act as net importers or net exporters of matter and nutrients from streams and how these roles change as a function of salmon population density. We measured discharge and concentrations of suspended sediments and total N and P every 7-14 days for up to four summers in 10 streams spanning a gradient in salmon densities. We statistically allocated whole-season fluxes to salmon activities, such as excretion and bioturbation, and to export by hydrologic discharge. In addition, we used counts of spawning salmon to estimate nutrient and matter imports by salmon to streams. Large seasonal pulses of suspended sediments, P, and N were associated with salmon spawning activities, often increasing export an order of magnitude higher than during pre-salmon levels. Years and streams with more salmon had significantly higher levels of export of sediments and nutrients. In addition, years with higher precipitation had higher background export of P and N. Salmon exported an average of the equivalent of 189%, 60%, and 55% of total matter, P, and N that salmon imported in their bodies. The relative magnitude of export varied; salmon exported more than their bodies imported in 80%, 20%, and 16% across all streams and years for sediments, P, and N, respectively. A bioassay experiment indicated that the P exported by salmon is directly available for use by primary producers in the downstream lake. These results demonstrate that salmon not only move nutrients upstream on large spatial scales via their migration from the ocean and subsequent death, but also redistribute matter and nutrients on finer spatial scales through their spawning activities.     

Trends in Public Attitudes Toward Air Pollution

This paper attempts to bring together the findings relative to people’s attitudes about air pollution from a series of studies conducted by or for the U. S. Public Health Service. Trends are noted. These findings are presented in the light of planning for the implementation of air pollution abatement measures and probable public reactions to them. Further research needs are pointed out. Special emphasis is placed on the control officer’s needs for this type of information, its derivation, and its possible use in programming.