A systematic review of animal personality in conservation science

Although animal personality research may have applied uses, this suggestion has yet to be evaluated by assessing empirical studies examining animal personality and conservation. To address this knowledge gap, we performed a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature relating to conservation science and animal personality. Criteria for inclusion in our review included access to full text, primary research articles, and relevant animal conservation or personality focus (i.e., not human personality studies). Ninety-two articles met these criteria. We summarized the conservation contexts, testing procedures (including species and sample size), analytical approach, claimed personality traits (activity, aggression, boldness, exploration, and sociability), and each report's key findings and conservation-focused suggestions. Although providing evidence for repeatability in behavior is crucial for personality studies, repeatability quantification was implemented in only half of the reports. Nonetheless, each of the 5 personality traits were investigated to some extent in a range of conservations contexts. The most robust studies in the field showed variance in how personality relates to other ecologically important variables across species and contexts. Moreover, many studies were first attempts at using personality for conservation purposes in a given study system. Overall, it appears personality is not yet a fully realized tool for conservation. To apply personality research to conservation problems, we suggest researchers think about where individual differences in behavior may affect conservation outcomes in their system, assess where there are opportunities for repeated measures, and follow the most current methodological guides on quantifying personality.     

Emerging applications of green coconut: A promising lignocellulosic biomass

Waste accumulation is a grave concern and becoming a transboundary challenge for environment. During Covid-19 pandemic, diverse type of waste were collected due to different practices employed in order to fight back the transmission rate of the virus. Covid-19 was proved to be capricious catastrophe of this 20th century and even not completely eradicated from the world. The havoc created by this imperceptible quick witted, pleomorphic deadly virus can't be ignored. Though a number of vaccines have been developed by the scientists but there is a fear of getting this virus again in our life. Medical studies prove that immunity drinks will help to reduce its reoccurrences. Coconut water is widely used among all drinks available globally. Its massive consumption created an incalculable pile of green coconut shells around the different corners of the world. This practice generating enormous problem of space acquisition for the environment. Both the environment and public health will benefit from an evaluation of quantity of coconut waste that is being thrown and its potential to generate value added products. With this context, present article has been planned to study different aspects like, coconut waste generation, its biological properties and environmental hazards associated with its accumulation. Additionally, this review illustrates, green technologies for production of different value added products from coconut waste.     

Dyes removal from water using polymeric nanocomposites: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Most dyes are pollutants that should be removed from waters due to their mutagenic and carcinogenic properties, requiring advanced adsorption methods. Here, we...     

Study of the performance of a coolant mixed with an Al2O3/SiC nanomaterial in an engine radiator

One of the important components of a car to control the temperature of a car's engine is the radiator. To increase the heat absorption capacity of the coolant/fluid used in the radiator with minimum pumping power, innovative fluids called nanofluids have become the main area of research these days. Therefore, with the development of new technologies in the field of “nano-materials” and “nano-fluids,” the physical and chemical properties of coolant/fluid can be improved which in turn improves the radiator and engine efficiency, and reduces radiator weight and size. In this article, the heat transfer by forced convection in nanofluids based on Al₂O₃ and SiC was studied experimentally and compared to that of base fluid in an automotive radiator. The nanofluid is mixed with ethylene glycol and the fluid is prepared by the sonication method. The nanofluids were prepared by varying the nanomaterials and the amounts of nanomaterials in the base fluid and their heat transfer performance in the radiator was analyzed using ANSYS FLUENT software. Approximately 15% and 12% increase in radiator efficiency by using Al₂O₃ mixed nanofluid and SiC mixed nanofluid, respectively.     

Assessing the Effectiveness of Winter Cover Crops for Controlling Agricultural Nutrient Losses

A nutrient loss reduction strategy is necessary to guide the efforts of improving water quality downstream of an agricultural watershed. In this study, the effectiveness of two winter cover crops, namely cereal rye and annual ryegrass, is explored as a loss reduction strategy in a watershed that ultimately drains into a water supply reservoir. Using a coupled optimization-watershed model, optimal placements of the cover crops were identified that would result in the tradeoffs between nitrate-N losses reduction and adoption levels. Analysis of the 10%, 25%, 50%, and 75% adoption levels extracted from the optimal tradeoffs showed that the cover crop placements would provide annual nitrate-N loss reductions of 3.0%–3.7%, 7.8%–8.8%, 15%–17.5%, and 20.9%–24.3%, respectively. In addition, for the same adoption levels (i.e., 10%–75%), sediment (1.8%–17.7%), and total phosphorus losses (0.8%–8.6%) could be achieved. Results also indicate that implementing each cover crop on all croplands of the watershed could cause annual water yield reduction of at least 4.8%, with greater than 28% in the months of October and November. This could potentially be detrimental to the storage volume of the downstream reservoir, especially in drought years, if cover crops are adopted in most of the reservoir's drainage area. Evaluating water yield impacts, particularly in periods of low flows, is thus critical if cover crops are to be considered as best management practices in water supply watersheds.     

Five-wheel framework for system-based monitoring of heavy metal pollution in rivers

Sectorial approach for monitoring heavy metal pollution in rivers has failed to report realistic pollution status and associated ecological and human health risks. The increasing spread of heavy metals from different sources and emerging risks to human and environmental health call for reexamining heavy metal pollution monitoring frameworks. Also, the sources, spread, and load of heavy metals in the environment have changed significantly over time, requiring consequent modification in the monitoring frameworks. Therefore, studies on heavy metal monitoring in rivers conducted in the last decade were evaluated for experimental designs, research frameworks, and data presentations. Most studies (∼99%) (i) lacked inclusiveness of all environmental compartments; (ii) focused on “one pollutant – one/two compartment” or sometimes “one pollutant – one compartment – one effect” approach; and (iii) remained “data-rich but information poor.” An ecological approach with integrative system thinking is proposed to develop a holistic approach for monitoring river pollution. It is visualized that heavy metal monitoring, risk analyses, and water management must incorporate tracking pollutants in different environmental compartments of a river (water, sediment, and floodplain/bank soil) and consider correlating it with riverbank land use. The systems-based pollution monitoring and assessment studies will reveal the critical factors that drive heavy metals pollutant movement in ecosystems and associated potential risks to the environment, wildlife, and humans. Also, water quality and pollution indexing tools would help better communicate complex pollution data and associated risks among all stakeholders. Therefore, integrating systems approaches in scientific- and policy-based tools would help sustainably manage the health of rivers, wildlife, and humans.     

Changes in electrical generator cooling systems: Are they cost-effective sources of water now and under climate change?

In the United States, thermal power plant electrical generators (EGs) are large water diverters and consumptive users who need water for cooling. Retrofitting existing cooling systems to dry cooling and building new facilities with dry cooling can save water and reduce EG's vulnerability to drought. However, this can be an expensive source of water. We estimate that the cost of water saved by retrofitting cooling in existing EGs ranges from $0.04/m³ to $18/m³ depending on facility characteristics. Also water savings from building new EGs with dry cooling ranges in cost per unit water from $1.29/m³ to $2.24/m³. We compare costs with that for water development projects identified in the Texas State Water Plan. We find the water cost from converting to dry cooling is lower than many of the water development possibilities. We then estimate the impact of climate change on the cost of water saved, finding climate change can increase EG water use by up to 9.3% and lower the costs of water saved. Generally, it appears that water planners might consider cooling alterations as a cost competitive water development alternative whose cost would be further decreased by climate change.     

The nexus across water,energy and food (WEF): Learning from research,building on evidence,strengthening practice

While water-energy-food (WEF) Nexus is one of the most important, and widely investigated, environmental topics of our time, previous stock taking efforts possess notable limitations, namely (i) their focus is restricted to research articles, and (ii) there is less focus on nexus permutations that begin with energy and food. This paper assembled more than 900 documents and systematically categorized them according to more than 10 key parameters (e.g. scale, methods, limitations), to characterize approaches, achieved outcomes and presence of variables likely to support on-the-ground change. Our results reveal that WEF Nexus activities are often driven by the water sector, undertaken at global and national scale and authored by experts from diverse backgrounds. Among the utilized methods, modelling and review (i.e. systematic) are the most common. While climate change and governance are routinely considered in WEF Nexus documents, gender, stakeholders and capacity are not. These findings highlight areas for improvement in the design of WEF Nexus initiatives.     

Systematic review of conservation interventions to promote voluntary behavior change

Understanding human behavior is vital to developing interventions that effectively lead to proenvironmental behavior change, whether the focus is at the individual or societal level. However, interventions in many fields have historically lacked robust forms of evaluation, which makes it hard to be confident that these conservation interventions have successfully helped protect the environment. We conducted a systematic review to assess how effective nonpecuniary and nonregulatory interventions have been in changing environmental behavior. We applied the Office of Health Assessment and Translation systematic review methodology. We started with more than 300,000 papers and reports returned by our search terms and after critical appraisal of quality identified 128 individual studies that merited inclusion in the review. We classified interventions by thematic area, type of intervention, the number of times audiences were exposed to interventions, and the length of time interventions ran. Most studies reported a positive effect (n = 96). The next most common outcome was no effect (n = 28). Few studies reported negative (n = 1) or mixed (n = 3) effects. Education, prompts, and feedback interventions resulted in positive behavior change. Combining multiple interventions was the most effective. Neither exposure duration nor frequency affected the likelihood of desired behavioral change. Comparatively few studies tested the effects of voluntary interventions on non-Western populations (n = 17) or measured actual ecological outcome behavior (n = 1). Similarly, few studies examined conservation devices (e.g., energy-efficient stoves) (n = 9) and demonstrations (e.g., modeling the desired behavior) (n = 5). There is a clear need to both improve the quality of the impact evaluation conducted and the reporting standards for intervention results.     

Behavioral intentions toward genetically modified crops in Southwest Iran: a multi-stakeholder analysis

This study examined the influencing factors of the self-reported behavioral intentions toward genetically modified (GM) crops using a multi-stakeholder approach in the Khuzestan Province in Southwest Iran. The study focused on three different groups, including: “agricultural students,” “agricultural private firms’ managers” and “rich-resource farmers.” Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire and was analyzed by SPSS (V20) and AMOS (V20). Results indicated that the respondents perceive more benefits than risks for GM crops and that the perception of benefits and risks, respectively, had positive and negative impacts on the self-reported behavioral intention of the respondents. The knowledge of the respondents regarding these crops had positive impacts on perception of benefits. The results showed that both managers and students worried about the food safety and impact of GM crops on human health while farmers worried about the environmental risks of GM crops. The results also revealed that those who are the most conscious about GM crops are more trusted. The findings also showed that the majority of the respondents hold a positive view of the potential of GM crops.