Phosphorus loss from different farming systems estimated from soil surface phosphorus balance

The phosphorus load originating from crop production and animal husbandry is a major contributor to the eutrophication of lakes, rivers and coastal waters. The P losses to surface waters may, however, differ drastically due to the diversity of agricultural production systems practised under contrasting environmental conditions. To assess the most problematic types of agriculture, we need information on the P load from different alternative farming practices. Such information cannot, however, be obtained solely from field runoff experiments, as the number of treatment combinations required to account for all relevant farming systems and environmental conditions far exceeds our research capabilities. To facilitate the comparison of P loads, we therefore need reasonably simple models. A key factor controlling the P load from agriculture is the past and present use of nutrients in fertilizers and manure in relation to a crop's uptake, i.e. the soil-surface balance of P. Here, we present a simple empirical model that relates the P surplus (or deficit) in a farm to the edge-of-field losses of algal-available P. Based on long-term fertilizer trials, the model first estimates the change in soil-test P of top soil with the aid of the soil-surface balance of P. Soil-test P is then used to approximate the concentration of dissolved reactive P in surface runoff and drainage flow, as adjusted for different P application types. The loss of particulate P is obtained from typical erosion rates. The model can be applied in life-cycle analyses and in assessing future developments. We illustrate use of the model by calculating the loss of algal-available P from conventional and organic crop and dairy farms located on clay and fine sand soils.     

Randomized trial comparing first-trimester transcervical chorionic villus sampling and second-trimester amniocentesis

A total of 800 patients were randomized at the 9th to 11th week of pregnancy either for transcervical chorionic villus sampling (CVS) on the day of trial entry or for amniocentesis (AC) at the 16th week. The indication for fetal karyotyping was maternal age in 94 per cent of the cases; the mean maternal age was 39.2 years. An adequate sample was obtained in 98.3 per cent of the cases in the CVS group and in all cases in the AC group. Retesting was indicated in 3.3 per cent of the CVS cases. An abnormal karyotype was found in 6.1 per cent of the CV samples and in 4.5 per cent of the amniotic fluid samples. There was one false-positive chromosome result in both groups. Twelve (3.1 per cent) miscarriages occurred by the 22nd week of pregnancy in the CVS group in pregnancies intended to continue. No difference was seen between the groups for total fetal loss rates. The number of surviving infants in the CVS group was 92.2 per cent and in the AC group 91.7 per cent (rate difference 0.5 per cent (95 per cent confidence interval − 3.3 to 4.3)). In our study, both the diagnostic accuracy and the risk of fetal loss were equal in the CVS and AC groups.     

Release of uranium from rock matrix—a record of glacial meltwater intrusions?

Uranium release observed in a rock matrix around water-carrying fractures was studied using U-series disequilibrium (USD) modelling and mass balance calculations. Several release scenarios were tested, with specific attention to the glacial aspects. The release appears to have occurred in two or three violent episodes during the last 300 ky. A release after the last glaciation can be excluded on mass flow grounds. Continuous release for more than 300 ky can be excluded on radioactive disequilibrium grounds. Repeated inflows of oxic glacial meltwater seem to have triggered the release episodes.     

Recent trends of biocides in pikes of the Lake Päijänne

Pikes were sampled in May 1980 from three areas of the Lake Päijänne, Finland and analyzed for their contents of total mercury, methyl mercury, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), DDE, PCB and chlorophenolic residues. An improved method for methyl mercury determination was applied and 82–84 % methylation of mercury in pikes regardless of area or biological variation was observed. Statistical analysis with previous results from the same areas gave a very significant decreasing trend of mercury levels at all three areas from 1970 to 1980. Future levels of mercury in fish to be consumed as food could be estimated from the trend regression. The very low levels of DDE and PCB showed some increasing trend when the influence of fat contents was eliminated by covariance analysis. General appearance of HCB at sub-ppb level was observed. Also pentachlorophenol occured at 10–70 ppb (fresh weight) levels at all areas, but the other chlorophenols were abundant only at Tiirinselkä which is most contaminated by pulp bleaching effluents.     

The role of time and species identities in spatial patterns of species richness and conservation

Many conservation actions are justified on the basis of managing biodiversity. Biodiversity, in terms of species richness, is largely the product of rare species. This is problematic because the intensity of sampling needed to characterize communities and patterns of rarity or to justify the use of surrogates has biased sampling in favor of space over time. However, environmental fluctuations interacting with community dynamics lead to temporal variations in where and when species occur, potentially affecting conservation planning by generating uncertainty about results of species distribution modeling (including range determinations), selection of surrogates for biodiversity, and the proportion of biodiversity composed of rare species. To have confidence in the evidence base for conservation actions, one must consider whether temporal replication is necessary to produce broad inferences. Using approximately 20 years of macrofaunal data from tidal flats in 2 harbors, we explored variation in the identity of rare, common, restricted range, and widespread species over time and space. Over time, rare taxa were more likely to increase in abundance or occurrence than to remain rare or disappear and to exhibit temporal patterns in their occurrence. Space–time congruency in ranges (i.e., spatially widespread taxa were also temporally widespread) was observed only where samples were collected across an environmental gradient. Fifteen percent of the taxa in both harbors changed over time from having spatially restricted ranges to having widespread ranges. Our findings suggest that rare species can provide stability against environmental change, because the majority of species were not random transients, but that selection of biodiversity surrogates requires temporal validation. Rarity needs to be considered both spatially and temporally, as species that occur randomly over time are likely to play a different role in ecosystem functioning than those exhibiting temporal structure (e.g., seasonality). Moreover, temporal structure offers the opportunity to place management and conservation activities within windows of maximum opportunity.     

Avoiding cultural trauma: climate change and social inertia

ABSTRACT

The failure of societies to respond in a concerted, meaningful way to climate change is a core concern of the social science climate literature. Existing explanations of social inertia display little coherence. Here, a theoretical approach is suggested that integrates disparate perspectives on social inertia regarding climate change. Climate change constitutes a potential cultural trauma. The threat of cultural trauma is met with resistance and attempts to restore and maintain the status quo. Thus, efforts to avoid large-scale social changes associated with climate change constitute an effort to avoid cultural trauma, and result in social inertia regarding climate change at individual, institutional, and societal levels. Existing approaches to social inertia are reviewed. An intellectual framework utilizing the work of Pierre Bourdieu is proposed to integrate these different levels of social interaction. Social processes that maintain social order and thus avoid cultural trauma create social inertia regarding climate change.     

Roadside aerosol study using hygroscopic,organic and volatility TDMAs: Characterization and mixing state

Traffic-related aerosol particles are ubiquitous in the urban atmosphere. As they are produced at ground level, they can also cause adverse health effects to urban dwellers. However, knowledge of the formation, transformation and chemically resolved size distribution of urban ultrafine particles is incomplete. Thus, more of these measurements are needed for better assessment of ambient air quality and its potential health effects. The particle number concentration, aerosol black carbon (BC) concentration and size distribution of traffic-related aerosols were measured near two major roads in Kuopio, Finland, from 16 June to 5 July, 2004. Furthermore, the properties of roadside aerosol particles were examined with the Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer technique (TDMA). A suite of TDMA instruments relying on water (hygroscopic TDMA) and ethanol (organic TDMA) condensation as well as heating (volatility TDMA) were deployed to study the composition of the nucleation and Aitken mode particles (D_p = 10–50 nm) formed from vehicle exhaust. The results show that a simple three-component model was able to reproduce characteristic insoluble, organic and water-soluble volume fractions. Insoluble constituents were dominant in the Aitken mode particles, whereas organic compounds dominated the nucleation mode sizes. On average, only a small volume fraction was water-soluble, but a clear external mixing was observed particularly when enough time was allowed after the tail pipe emissions. The contribution of the insoluble material was seen to increase as a function of particle size, being typically less than 10% at 10 nm and between 20 and 50% at 50 nm, in contrast to the organic fraction, which decreased from about 80% at nucleation mode size range to 50–60% at 50 nm.     

A computationally feasible quantum chemical model for 13C NMR chemical shifts of PCB-derived carboxylic acids

Two quantum chemical models have been derived for the prediction of 13C NMR chemical shifts of novel PCB acids obtained from PCBs by catalytic carbonylation. 13C isotropic shielding constants were calculated employing the GIAO (gauge-independent atomic orbital) method with density functional theory (DFT). The best results were obtained by cluster calculations, which took the solvent effects into account properly. In this approach, a solvent molecule (acetone) was attached by a hydrogen bond to every hydrogen atom present in a PCB acid, and the geometry of the molecular cluster was optimized employing the AM1 method. For 158 chemical shifts, the cross-validated standard error was 2.8 ppm and the cross-validated correlation coefficient was 0.94.     

Investigating the tipping point of crop productivity induced by changing climatic variables

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - South Asia is comprised of several countries, including Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka, all ranked highly at risk of climatic variability....