Effects of land use,cover, and protection on stream and riparian ecosystem services and biodiversity

Protected areas are an important part of broader landscapes that are often used to preserve biodiversity or natural features. Some argue that protected areas may also help ensure provision of ecosystem services. However, the effect of protection on ecosystem services and whether protection affects the provision of ecosystem services is known only for a few services in a few types of landscapes. We sought to fill this gap by investigating the effect of watershed protection status and land use and land cover on biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services. We compared the ecosystem services provided in and around streams in 4 watershed types: International Union for Conservation of Nature category II protected forests, unprotected forests, unprotected forests with recent timber harvesting, and unprotected areas with agriculture. We surveyed 28 streams distributed across these watershed types in Quebec, Canada, to quantify provisioning of clean water, carbon storage, recreation, wild foods, habitat quality, and terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity richness and abundance. The quantity and quality of ecosystem services and biodiversity were generally higher in sites with intact forest—whether protected or not—relative to those embedded in production landscapes with forestry or agriculture. Clean-water provision, carbon storage, habitat quality, and tree diversity were significantly higher in and around streams surrounded by forest. Recreation, wild foods, and aquatic biodiversity did not vary among watershed types. Although some services can be provided by both protected and unprotected areas, protection status may help secure the continued supply of services sensitive to changes in land use or land cover. Our findings provide needed information about the ecosystem service and biodiversity trade-offs and synergies that result from developing a watershed or from protecting it.     

Diminution of migration of phthalic acid esters in tequila beverage by the year of production

Abstract

The presence of diethyl-phthalate (DEP), dibutyl-phthalate (DBP), butylbenzyl-phthalate (BBP), diethylhexyl-phthalate (DEHP) and diisononyl-phthalate (DINP) was determined in 295 tequila samples. They were grouped by age of maturation (white, aged, extra aged or ultra aged) and year of production (between 2013 and 2018). Gas Chromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry was used for identification and quantification. The results showed that 65 samples (22% of the total) were phthalate free. DEP (0.13-0.27?mg/kg), BBP (0.05–2.91?mg/kg) and DINP (1.64–3.43?mg/kg) were detected in 11 (3.73%), 37 (12.54%) and 5 (1.69%) samples, respectively. But, these concentrations did not exceed the maximum permitted limits (MPL) of phthalates for alcoholic beverages. DBP (0.01–2.20?mg/kg) and DEHP (0.03–4.64?mg/kg) were detected in 96 (32.54%) and 224 (75.93%) samples, from them only 10 (3.39%) and 15 (5.08%) samples, respectively, exceeded the MPL for alcoholic beverages and they were few tequilas produced in the year 2014 or before. DEHP was the most frequent phthalate found in tequila and observed DEHP concentrations were 2-times higher in ultra aged tequilas compared to those in white tequilas. We concluded that all tequilas produced in 2015 and after, satisfied the international standards for these compounds.     

Growth of Dehalococcoides spp. and increased abundance of reductive dehalogenase genes in anaerobic PCB-contaminated sediment microcosms

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contaminate 19% of US Superfund sites and represent a serious risk to human and environmental health. One promising strategy to remediate PCB-contaminated sediments utilizes organohalide-respiring bacteria (OHRB) that dechlorinate PCBs.

However, functional genes that act as biomarkers for PCB dechlorination processes (i.e., reductive dehalogenase genes) are poorly understood. Here, we developed anaerobic sediment microcosms that harbor an OHRB community dominated by the genus Dehalococcoides. During the 430-day microcosm incubation, Dehalococcoides 16S rRNA sequences increased two orders of magnitude to 10⁷ copies/g of sediment, and at the same time, PCB118 decreased by as much as 70%. In addition, the OHRB community dechlorinated a range of penta- and tetra-chlorinated PCB congeners including PCBs 66, 70?+?74?+?76, 95, 90?+?101, and PCB110 without exogenous electron donor. We quantified candidate reductive dehalogenase (RDase) genes over a 430-day incubation period and found rd14, a reductive dehalogenase that belongs to Dehalococcoides mccartyi strain CG5, was enriched to 10⁷ copies/g of sediment. At the same time, pcbA5 was enriched to only 10⁵ copies/g of sediment. A survey for additional RDase genes revealed sequences similar to strain CG5’s rd4 and rd8. In addition to demonstrating the PCB dechlorination potential of native microbial communities in contaminated freshwater sediments, our results suggest candidate functional genes with previously unexplored potential could serve as biomarkers of PCB dechlorination processes.

     

Spatial distribution of pesticides,organochlorine compounds,PBDEs, and metals in surface marine sediments from Cartagena Bay,Colombia

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Cartagena Bay is an estuarine system located in the Caribbean Sea (Colombia, South America), that receives fresh water from Canal del Dique, which is...     

Spatial cost–benefit analysis of blue restoration and factors driving net benefits globally

Marine coastal ecosystems, commonly referred to as blue ecosystems, provide valuable services to society but are under increasing threat worldwide due to a variety of drivers, including eutrophication, development, land-use change, land reclamation, and climate change. Ecological restoration is sometimes necessary to facilitate recovery in coastal ecosystems. Blue restoration (i.e., in marine coastal systems) is a developing field, and projects to date have been small scale and expensive, leading to the perception that restoration may not be economically viable. We conducted a global cost–benefit analysis to determine the net benefits of restoring coral reef, mangrove, saltmarsh, and seagrass ecosystems, where the benefit is defined as the monetary value of ecosystem services. We estimated costs from published restoration case studies and used an adjusted-value-transfer method to assign benefit values to these case studies. Benefit values were estimated as the monetary value provided by ecosystem services of the restored habitats. Benefits outweighed costs (i.e., there were positive net benefits) for restoration of all blue ecosystems. Mean benefit:cost ratios for ecosystem restoration were eight to 10 times higher than prior studies of coral reef and seagrass restoration, most likely due to the more recent lower cost estimates we used. Among ecosystems, saltmarsh had the greatest net benefits followed by mangrove; coral reef and seagrass ecosystems had lower net benefits. In general, restoration in nations with middle incomes had higher (eight times higher in coral reefs and 40 times higher in mangroves) net benefits than those with high incomes. Within an ecosystem type, net benefit varied with restoration technique (coral reef and saltmarsh), ecosystem service produced (mangrove and saltmarsh), and project duration (seagrass). These results challenge the perceptions of the low economic viability of blue restoration and should encourage further targeted investment in this field.     

Incorporating stakeholder decision support needs into an integrated regional Earth system model

A new modeling effort exploring the opportunities, constraints, and interactions between mitigation and adaptation at regional scale is utilizing stakeholder engagement in an innovative approach to guide model development and demonstration, including uncertainty characterization, to effectively inform regional decision making. This project, the integrated Regional Earth System Model (iRESM), employs structured stakeholder interactions and literature reviews to identify the most relevant adaptation and mitigation alternatives and decision criteria for each regional application of the framework. The information is used to identify important model capabilities and to provide a focus for numerical experiments. This paper presents the stakeholder research results from the first iRESM pilot region. The pilot region includes the Great Lakes Basin in the Midwest portion of the United States as well as other contiguous states. This geographic area (14 states in total) permits cohesive modeling of hydrologic systems while also providing strong gradients in climate, demography, land cover/land use, and energy supply and demand. The results from the stakeholder research indicate that, for this region, iRESM should prioritize addressing adaptation alternatives in the water resources, urban infrastructure, and agriculture sectors, including water conservation, expanded water quality monitoring, altered reservoir releases, lowered water intakes, urban infrastructure upgrades, increased electric power reserves in urban areas, and land use management/crop selection changes. For mitigation in this region, the stakeholder research implies that iRESM should focus on policies affecting the penetration of renewable energy technologies, and the costs and effectiveness of energy efficiency, bioenergy production, wind energy, and carbon capture and sequestration.     

Building regional priorities in forests for development and adaptation to climate change in the Congo Basin

Indentifying common priorities in shared natural resource systems constitutes an important platform for implementing adaptation and a major step in sharing a common responsibility in addressing climate change. Predominated by discourses on REDD + (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries) with little emphasis on adaptation there is a risk of lack of policy measures in addressing climate change in the Congo Basin. Forest products and ecosystem services provide security portfolios for the predominantly rural communities, and play major roles in national development programmes in both revenue and employment opportunities. Thus, raising the profile of forests in the policy arena especially in the twin roles of addressing climate change in mitigation and adaptation and achieving resilient development is crucial. Within the framework of the Congo Basin Forests and Climate Change Adaptation project (COFCCA) project, science policy dialogue was conducted to identify and prioritize forest based sectors vulnerable to climate change but important to household livelihoods and national development. The goal of the prioritization process was for the development of intervention in forest as measures for climate change adaptation in Central Africa. Participants constituted a wide range of stakeholders (government, Non Governmental Organizations, research institutions, universities, community leaders, private sectors etc.) as representatives from three countries directly involved in the project: Cameroon, Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo. Building on national priorities, four forest related sectors were identified as common priorities at the regional level for focus on climate change adaptation. These sectors included: (1) energy with emphasis on fuel wood and Charcoal; (2) Water principally quality, quantity, accessibility, etc.; (3) Food with emphasis on Non Timber Forest Products, and (4) Health linked to healthcare products (medicinal plants). Using these prioritized sectors, the project focused on addressing the impacts of climate change on local communities and the development of adaptation strategies in the three pilot countries of the Congo Basin region. The four sectors constitute the key for development in the region and equally considered as priority sectors in the poverty reduction papers. Focused research on these sectors can help to inject the role of forests in national and local development and their potentials contributions to climate change adaptation in national and public discourses. Mainstreaming forest for climate change adaptation into national development planning is the key to improve policy coherence and effectiveness in forest management in the region.     

Design and evaluation of an atomization-based cutting fluid spray system in turning of titanium alloy

Tool life has been a vital issue in machining titanium alloys. Recently, an atomization-based cutting fluid (ACF) application has been found to be an effective approach for cooling and lubrication in micromachining operations. In this study, an ACF spray system is developed for macro-scale turning of Ti–6Al–4V. The spray system is designed to minimize interaction between the fluid droplets, and the gas nozzle to control the divergence of the fluid droplets. Experiments are conducted to study the effect of five specific ACF spray parameters including fluid flow rate, spray distance, impingement angle, and type and pressure level of the droplet carrier gas on cutting forces, tool life, and chip characteristics. It has been observed that the combination of lower pressure (150 psi) air-mixed CO₂ with a higher flow rate (20 ml/min) and a larger spray distance (35 mm) produces a significantly longer tool life and broken chips. The results also reveal that the ACF spray system can extend tool life up to 40–50% over flood cooling.