The Links Between Resource Dependency and Attitude of Commercial Fishers to Coral Reef Conservation in the Red Sea

The imperative to further constrain extractive uses of natural resources will strengthen as resources degrade through over-use or exposure to climate changes. Here, we explore an approach to increase the support for marine conservation among coral reef fishers. We explore the proposition that resource dependency in the Egyptian Red Sea can act as a barrier to conservation. We administered face-to-face surveys to 49% of the fishing industry to: (i) identify the level of compliance to the local marine protected area (MPA), (ii) assess the level of dependency on marine resources in the region and (iii) examine the relationship between resource dependency and conservation attitudes. Only 11.4% of fishers were aware of the MPA. Fishers were mostly limited in their social flexibility and livelihood options. Results suggest that resource dependency is highly and negatively correlated with conservation attitudes suggesting that management efforts need to seriously focus on reducing dependency if conservation goals are to be met.     

Generation and characterization of diesel exhaust in a facility for controlled human exposures

An idling medium-duty diesel truck operated on ultralow sulfur diesel fuel was used as an emission source to generate diesel exhaust for controlled human exposure. Repeat tests were conducted on the Federal Test Procedure using a chassis dynamometer to demonstrate the reproducibility of this vehicle as a source of diesel emissions. Exhaust was supplied to a specially constructed exposure chamber at a target concentration of 100 microg x m(-3) diesel particulate matter (DPM). Spatial variability within the chamber was negligible, whereas emission concentrations were stable, reproducible, and similar to concentrations observed on the dynamometer. Measurements of nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter (PM), elemental and organic carbon, carbonyls, trace elements, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were made during exposures of both healthy and asthmatic volunteers to DPM and control conditions. The effect of the so-called "personal cloud" on total PM mass concentrations was also observed and accounted for. Conventional lung function tests in 11 volunteer subjects (7 stable asthmatic) did not demonstrate a significant change after 2-hr exposures to diesel exhaust. In summary, we demonstrated that this facility can be effectively and safely used to evaluate acute responses to diesel exhaust exposure in human volunteers.     

Compost impacts on dissolved organic carbon and available nitrogen and phosphorus in turfgrass soil

Compost application to turfgrass soils may increase dissolved organic C (DOC) levels which affects nutrient dynamics in soil. The objectives of this study were to investigate the influence of compost source and application rate on soil organic C (SOC), DOC, NO(3), and available P during 29 months after a one-time application to St. Augustinegrass [Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze] turf. Compost sources had variable composition, yet resulted in few differences in SOC, DOC, and NO(3) after applied to soil. Available NO(3) rapidly decreased after compost application and was unaffected by compost source and application rate. Available P increased after compost application and exhibited cyclical seasonal patterns related to DOC. Compost application decreased soil pH relative to unamended soil, but pH increased during the course of the study due to irrigation with sodic water. Increasing the compost application rate increased SOC by 3 months, and levels remained fairly stable to 29 months. In contrast, DOC continued to increase from 3 to 29 months after application, suggesting that compost mineralization and growth of St. Augustinegrass contributed to seasonal dynamics. Dissolved organic C was 75%, 78%, and 101% greater 29 months after application of 0, 80, and 160 Mg compostha(-1), respectively, than before application. Impacts of composts on soil properties indicated that most significant effects occurred within a few months of application. Seasonal variability of SOC, DOC, and available P was likely related to St. Augustinegrass growth stages as well as precipitation, as declines occurred after precipitation events.     

The Missoula Valley semivolatile and volatile organic compound study: seasonal average concentrations

The city of Missoula is located in a high mountain valley (elevation 3200 ft.) in western Montana and contains one of the largest populations in the entire Rocky Mountain Region completely enclosed by mountains. During the 2000/2001 Missoula Valley Sampling Program, ambient levels of 61 semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) and 54 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were originally quantified before refining the analytical program to 28 of the most prominent SVOCs and VOCs found in the Missoula Valley airshed. These compounds were measured over 24-hr periods at two locations throughout an entire year. This study provides the first, comprehensive appraisal of the levels of SVOCs and VOCs measured simultaneously throughout all four seasons at two locations in the Missoula Valley, including those levels measured during the 2000 Montana wildfire season. Generally, SVOC levels were comparable between both sides of the Missoula Valley. However, there were nearly double the amount of VOCs measured at the more urban Boyd Park site compared with the rural Frenchtown sampling site, a result of the greater number of automobiles on the eastern side of the Valley. SVOCs and VOCs were measured at their highest levels of the sampling program during the winter. Forest fire smoke samples collected during the summer of 2000 showed significant increases in SVOC phenolic compounds, including phenol, 2-methylphenol, 4-methylphenol, and 2,4-dimethylphenol. Although there were modest increases in some of the other SVOCs and VOCs measured during the fire season, none of the increases were as dramatic as the phenolics.     

Evaluation of biochemical effects related to perfluorooctane sulfonic acid exposure in organohalogen-contaminated great tit (Parus major) and blue tit (Parus caeruleus) nestlings

A perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) biomonitoring survey was conducted on great tit (Parus major) and blue tit (Parus caeruleus) nestlings from Blokkersdijk, a bird reserve in the proximity of a fluorochemical plant in Antwerp (Belgium) and Fort IV, a control area. PFOS, together with 11 organochlorine pesticides, 20 polychlorinated biphenyl congeners and 7 polybrominated diphenyl ethers were measured in liver tissue. The hepatic PFOS concentrations at Blokkersdijk (86–2788 and 317–3322 ng/g wet weight (ww) for great and blue tit, respectively) were among the highest ever measured and were significantly higher than at the control area (17–206 and 69–514 ng/g ww for great and blue tit, respectively). The hepatic PFOS concentration was species- and sex-independent and correlated significantly and positively with the serum alanine aminotransferase activity and negatively with the serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels in both species but did not correlate with condition or serum protein concentration. In the great tit, a significant positive correlation was observed between the liver PFOS concentration and the relative liver weight. In the blue tit, the hepatic PFOS concentration correlated positively and significantly with hematocrite values. None of the investigated organohalogen pollutants except for PFOS were suggested to be involved in the observed biological alterations.     

Characterization,source apportionment and risk assessment of PAHs in urban surface dust in Shenyang city,China

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - Characteristics, profile composition, ecological and human health risk of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surface dust collected from Shenyang city,...     

Responding to climate change as a transformative stressor through metro-regional planning

This paper characterises climate change as a “transformative stressor”. It argues that institutional change will become increasingly necessary as institutions seek to reorientate governance frameworks to better manage the transformative stresses created by climate change in urban environments. Urban and metropolitan planning regimes are identified as central institutions in addressing this challenge. The operationalisation of climate adaptation is identified as a central tenet of a comprehensive urban response to the transformative stresses that climate change is predicted to create. Operationalisation refers to climate adaptation becoming incorporated, codified and implemented as a central tenet of urban planning governance. This paper has three purposes. First, it examines conceptual perspectives on the role of transformative stressors in compelling institutional change. Second, it establishes a conceptual approach that characterises climate change as a transformative stressor requiring institutional change within planning frameworks. Third, it reports emergent results and analysis from an empirical inquiry which examines how the metro-regional planning regime of Southeast Queensland has responded to climate change as a transformative stressor via institutional change and the operationalisation of climate adaptation.     

Verdant vehicles via viscoelasticity

The combustion of hydrocarbon (HC) fuels in internal combustion (IC) engines is modified by the presence of a few parts per million of megadalton molecular weight elastomers. The viscoelasticity imparted provides: reduced fuel vaporization, lesser back pressure, larger average droplet sizes, and lower combustion chamber temperatures. These effects result in: a reduction of emissions of HC, CO and NO_x of more than 70%, a substantial decrease in the number of particulates from diesel engines, a drop in combustion temperatures of more than 30vv°C, increases in engine power of more than 10%, an improved fuel octane rating, and economies of fuel consumption of more than 20%. The results are magnified during transitions, especially in the lower gears, used more often in urban traffic, where normal fuels emit more pollutants. These effects have a positive public health impact due to reductions in ozone, acid rain, particulates and partially oxidized HC.