Assessing the social cost of housing projects on the built environment: Analysis and monetization of the adverse impacts incurred on the neighbouring communities

Construction projects generate serious environmental adverse impacts on the adjacent residents. All those harmful consequences and damages that third parties or the community sustain due to the implementation of construction processes are called social costs. Although, the presence of social costs is widely mentioned in the literature, in the projects' initial cost estimation practices, the social costs are not estimated and included. Whereas since these costs are not compensated, problems can be emerged by the community. It is a truism that the majority of the models proposed to quantify the social costs have been concentrated on construction, repair, and maintenance of the infrastructure projects namely; utilities, roads, and highways. On the other hand, up to the present, a limited number of attempts has been made to quantify residential housing construction associated social costs. Thus, this research aims to expand and/or contribute to the existing body of knowledge via estimating how much social cost society surrounding residential housing construction sites are subjected to. For this purpose, a social cost estimation model is developed to assist industry professionals on how to estimate social costs in residential construction projects. The social cost estimation model is developed to provide guidance for phase by phase monetization of the residential construction associated social costs. In this paper, the model proposed for social cost estimation is validated via a case study in Turkey.     

Methane,nitrous oxide and ammonia emissions during storage and after application of dairy cattle slurry and influence of slurry treatment

Slurries are a significant source of CH₄, NH₃ and N₂O emissions to the atmosphere. The research project aimed at quantifying CH₄, NH₃ and N₂O emissions from liquid manure stores and after manure application under field conditions. The influence of the manure treatment options “no treatment”, “slurry separation”, “anaerobic digestion”, “slurry aeration” and “straw cover” on the emission level was investigated. Approximately 10 m³ of differently treated slurry were stored in pilot scale slurry tanks. Emissions were followed for c. 80 days. After the storage period, slurries were applied to permanent grassland. Greenhouse gas emissions from slurry were mainly caused by methane emissions during storage and by nitrous oxide emissions after field application of manures. Mitigation of GHG emissions can be achieved by a reduction in slurry dry matter and easily degradable organic matter content. Ammonia emissions mainly occurred after field application. Untreated slurry emitted 226.8 g NH₃ m⁻³ and 92.4 kg CO₂ eq. m⁻³ (storage and field application). Slurry separation (liquid fraction and composting of the solid fraction) resulted in NH₃ losses of 402.9 g m⁻³ and GHG losses of 58.5 kg CO₂ eq. m⁻³. Anaerobic digestion was a very effective means to reduce GHG emissions. 37.9 kg CO₂ eq. m⁻³ were lost. NH₃ emissions were similar to those from untreated slurry. Covering the slurry store with a layer of chopped straw instead of a wooden cover increased NH₃ emissions to 320.4 g m⁻³ and GHG emissions to 119.7 kg CO₂ eq. m⁻³. Slurry aeration nearly doubled NH₃ emissions compared to untreated slurry. GHG emissions were reduced to 53.3 kg CO₂ eq. m⁻³.     

Restrictive dermopathy and fetal behaviour

We report three siblings from consecutive pregnancies affected with restrictive dermopathy (RD). During the second pregnancy, fetal behavioural development and growth were studied extensively using ultrasound at 1–4 week intervals. Dramatic and sudden changes occurred in fetal body movements and growth but not until the end of the second trimester of pregnancy. Prominent at that time were prolonged periods of fetal quiescence and very low heart rate variability, together with abnormally executed body movements of short duration. Retarded femoral development and jerky abrupt fetal body movements (abnormal movement quality) were already present in the early second trimester of pregnancy. Facial anomalies emerged despite the presence of fetal mouth movements. The clinical features of RD were only partly explained by present knowledge of skin development and the fetal akinesia deformation sequence hypothesis. Quantitative assessment of fetal movements proved to be a poor early marker for antenatal diagnosis of this disorder. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Is the alkaloid in 2spot ladybirds (Adalia bipunctata) a defence against ant predation?

Garden black ants,Lasius niger L., in a laboratory colony, attacked three species of live ladybirds found near their nest, killing the smaller two species. A second colony was offered artificial diets containing crushed ladybirds of two species, and the ants' choice of feeding site noted. Both the diets were aversive compared to control, but that containing 7spot,Coccinella septempunctata L., was more aversive than the diet containing 2spot,Adalia bipunctata L. The implications of this lesser protection for 2spots in terms of the chemical defence of the species are discussed.     

Hunting Increases Dispersal Limitation in the Tree Carapa procera, a Nontimber Forest Product

Abstract:  The sustainability of seed extraction from natural populations has been questioned recently. Increased recruitment failure under intense seed harvesting suggests that seed extraction intensifies source limitation. Nevertheless, areas where more seeds are collected tend to also have more intense hunting of seed-dispersing animals. We studied whether such hunting, by limiting disperser activity, could cause quantitative dispersal limitation, especially for large crops and for crops in years of high seed abundance. In each of four Carapa procera (Meliaceae) populations in French Guiana and Surinam, two with hunting and two without, we compared seed fate for individual trees varying in crop size in years of high and low population-level seed abundance. Carapa seeds are a nontimber forest product and depend on dispersal by scatter-hoarding rodents for survival and seedling establishment. Hunting negatively affected the proportion of seeds dispersed and caused greater numbers of seeds to germinate or be infested by moths below parent trees, where they would likely die. Hunting of seed-dispersing animals disproportionally affected large seed crops, but we found no additional effect of population-level seed abundance on dispersal rates. Consistently lower rates of seed dispersal, especially for large seed crops, may translate to lower levels of seedling recruitment under hunting. Our results therefore suggest that the subsistence hunting that usually accompanies seed collection is at the cost of seed dispersal and may contribute to recruitment failure of these nontimber forest products. Seed extraction from natural populations may affect seedling recruitment less if accompanied by measures adequately incorporating and protecting seed dispersers.     

Greenhouse gas abatement strategies for animal husbandry

Agriculture contributes significantly to the anthropogenic emissions of non-CO₂ greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide. In this paper, a review is presented of the agriculture related sources of methane and nitrous oxide, and of the main strategies for mitigation. The rumen is the most important source of methane production, especially in cattle husbandry. Less, but still substantial, amounts of methane are produced from cattle manures. In pig and poultry husbandry, most methane originates from manures. The main sources of nitrous oxide are: nitrogen fertilisers, land applied animal manure, and urine deposited by grazing animals. Most effective mitigation strategies for methane comprise a source approach, i.e. changing animals’ diets towards greater efficiencies. Methane emissions, however, can also be effectively reduced by optimal use of the gas produced from manures, e.g. for energy production. Frequent and complete manure removal from animal housing, combined with on-farm biogas production is an example of an integrated on-farm solution. Reduced fertiliser nitrogen input, optimal fertiliser form, adding nitrification inhibitors, land drainage management, and reduced land compaction by restricted grazing are the best ways to mitigate nitrous oxide emissions from farm land, whereas, management of bedding material and solid manure reduce nitrous oxide emissions from housing and storage. Other than for methane, mitigation measures for nitrous oxide interact with other important environmental issues, like reduction of nitrate leaching and ammonia emission. Mitigation strategies for reduction of the greenhouse gases should also minimize pollution swapping.