Reservoir water quality: a case from Jordan

Jordan relies heavily on reservoirs building and development to cope with water supply challenges, where monitoring and assessment of reservoir water quality are critically important for the sustainable use of these water supplies. Mujib Dam is an important water supply source in central western Jordan. Evaluation of water quality parameters and their spatial distributions (vertical and horizontal) showed near-neutral pH values with nearly similar values from surface to bottom. The vertical profile of DO and TDS in the dammed reservoir showed slight decreasing trends with increasing depth. Although Ca, Mg, Na, and K concentrations varied slightly with depths, their variations showed no trends. Similarly, the vertical and horizontal distribution patterns of Cl, SO₄, HCO₃, NO₃, and PO₄ in Mujib reservoir water showed insignificant variations in surface water layer and relatively unchanged values or decreasing trends through the water column. Higher values of TN have been observed, especially in the western part, suggesting that agricultural activities and livestock farming in the upstream catchment are impacting water quality. Results revealed that weathering and dissolution of rocks are the major source of water chemistry. The majority of trace metal levels (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn, Co, Ni, Sr, and B) in water showed relatively similar surface and bottom values. The concentrations of COD and BOD₅ in surface water were relatively low with higher concentrations observed in the northwestern corner, coincided with higher levels of chlorophyll a. The average ratio of TN to TP in surface water suggests that phosphorus is the limiting factor for the algal blooms, whereas the average chlorophyll a level in surface water indicates oligo-mesotrophic water.     

The search for an alternative to piped water and sewer systems in the Alaskan Arctic

Forty-two communities in rural Alaska are considered unserved or underserved with water and sewer infrastructure. Many challenges exist to provide centralized piped water and sewer infrastructure to the homes, and they are exacerbated by decreasing capital funding. Unserved communities in rural Alaska experience higher rates of disease, supporting the recommendation that sanitation infrastructure should be provided. Organizations are pursuing alternative solutions to conventional piped water and sewer in order to maximize water use and reuse for public health. This paper reviews initiatives led by the State of Alaska, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation to identify and develop potential long-term solutions appropriate and acceptable to rural communities. Future developments will likely evolve based on the lessons learned from the initiatives. Recommendations include Alaska-specific research needs, increased end-user participation in the design process, and integrated monitoring, evaluation, and information dissemination in future efforts.     

Social justice and mobility in coastal Louisiana,USA

Regional Environmental Change - Louisiana faces extensive coastal land loss which threatens the livelihoods of marginalized populations. These groups have endured extreme disruptive events in the...     

Overcoming barriers to sustainability by combining conceptual,visual, and networking systems

Sustainability challenges rarely align with the conventional boundaries of our disciplines, institutions and means of communication. To address these challenges amid real-world complexity, we need to think holistically and collaborate across disciplines. In this paper, we synthesise three themes: (1) more integrated conceptual frameworks; (2) digital visual communication which provides fluid expression of complex ideas and perceptions; and (3) online networks which can empower sustainability initiatives and communicate them across social and institutional barriers at a global scale. Each of these tools can help to overcome persistent barriers to sustainability. When used together, they provide a strategic basis for the design of digital collaboration platforms for addressing sustainability challenges. Using design thinking, we developed a Synergy Map which identifies relationships among a number of barriers to sustainability and conceptual and digital tools which help to address them. The Map identifies the potential for synthesising these tools into effective digital artefacts. We provide several examples and identify characteristics of particular value for overcoming barriers to sustainability. Combining new theoretical developments in sustainability sciences with recent advances in communication and networking technologies offers substantial potential for advancing sustainability on multiple fronts.     

Freshwater fish diversity hotspots for conservation priorities in the Amazon Basin

Conserving freshwater habitats and their biodiversity in the Amazon Basin is a growing challenge in the face of rapid anthropogenic changes. We used the most comprehensive fish-occurrence database available (2355 valid species; 21,248 sampling points) and 3 ecological criteria (irreplaceability, representativeness, and vulnerability) to identify biodiversity hotspots based on 6 conservation templates (3 proactive, 1 reactive, 1 representative, and 1 balanced) to provide a set of alternative planning solutions for freshwater fish protection in the Amazon Basin. We identified empirically for each template the 17% of sub-basins that should be conserved and performed a prioritization analysis by identifying current and future (2050) threats (i.e., degree of deforestation and habitat fragmentation by dams). Two of our 3 proactive templates had around 65% of their surface covered by protected areas; high levels of irreplaceability (60% of endemics) and representativeness (71% of the Amazonian fish fauna); and low current and future vulnerability. These 2 templates, then, seemed more robust for conservation prioritization. The future of the selected sub-basins in these 2 proactive templates is not immediately threatened by human activities, and these sub-basins host the largest part of Amazonian biodiversity. They could easily be conserved if no additional threats occur between now and 2050.     

Circumpolar status of Arctic ptarmigan: Population dynamics and trends

Rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) and willow ptarmigan (L. lagopus) are Arctic birds with a circumpolar distribution but there is limited knowledge about their status and trends across their circumpolar distribution. Here, we compiled information from 90 ptarmigan study sites from 7 Arctic countries, where almost half of the sites are still monitored. Rock ptarmigan showed an overall negative trend on Iceland and Greenland, while Svalbard and Newfoundland had positive trends, and no significant trends in Alaska. For willow ptarmigan, there was a negative trend in mid-Sweden and eastern Russia, while northern Fennoscandia, North America and Newfoundland had no significant trends. Both species displayed some periods with population cycles (short 3–6 years and long 9–12 years), but cyclicity changed through time for both species. We propose that simple, cost-efficient systematic surveys that capture the main feature of ptarmigan population dynamics can form the basis for citizen science efforts in order to fill knowledge gaps for the many regions that lack systematic ptarmigan monitoring programs.

     

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of municipal solid waste in Iran for implementation of best waste management practice: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - With the rapid growth of population, development of different industries, and production of several ranges of products, the generation of municipal...