Über eine Aldehydoxydase in roten Blutkörperchen

The Science of Nature -     

TUGAI: An Integrated Simulation Tool for Ecological Assessment of Alternative Water Management Strategies in a Degraded River Delta

The development of ecologically sound water allocation strategies that account for the needs of riverine ecosystems is a pressing issue, especially in semiarid river basins. In the Aral Sea Basin, a search for strategies to mitigate ecological and socioeconomic deterioration has been in process since the early 1990s. The Geographic Information System–based simulation tool TUGAI has been developed to support the policy determination process by providing a simple, problem-oriented method to assess ecological effects of alternative water management strategies for the Amudarya River. It combines a multiobjective water allocation model with simple, spatially explicit statistical and rule-based models of landscape dynamics. Changes in environmental conditions are evaluated by a fuzzy habitat suitability index for Populus euphratica, which is the dominant species of the characteristic riverine Tugai forests. Water management scenarios can be developed by altering spatiotemporal water distribution in the delta area or the amount of water inflow into the delta. Outcomes of scenario analysis are qualitative comparisons of the ecological effects of different options for a time period of up to 28 years. The given approach utilizes different types of knowledge, from quantitative hydrological data to qualitative local expert knowledge. The main purpose of the tool is to integrate the knowledge in a comprehensive way to make it available for discussions on alternative policies in moderated workshops with stakeholders. In this article, the modules of the tool, their integration, and three hypothetical scenarios are presented. Based on the experience gained when developing the TUGAI tool, we propose that the general framework can be transferred to other areas where tradeoffs in water allocation between the environment and other water users are of major concern. The potential for a simulation tool to structure and inform a complex resource management situation by involving local experts and stakeholders in the development of possible future scenarios will become increasingly valuable for transparent and participatory resource management.     

Aquatic fate assessment of the polycyclic musk fragrance HHCB. Scenario and variability analysis in accordance with the EU risk assessment guidelines

By means of the environmental fate and distribution models laid down in the Technical Guidance Documents (TGD) and implemented in the European Union System for the Evaluation of Substances (EUSES) environmental concentrations of the polycyclic musk fragrance HHCB (1,3,4,6,7,8-hexahydro-4,6,6,7,8,8-hexamethyl-cyclopenta-[g]-2- benzopyrane; trade name: e.g. Galaxolide) were calculated for the aquatic environment under consideration of various scenarios. The results were then compared to monitoring data from the region of North Rhine-Westphalia (River Ruhr). An uncertainty analysis was carried out to determine sensitive parameters, to integrate environmental variability and to confirm the model's calculations. The standard scenario of EUSES overestimates the measured concentrations, which confirms the conservative nature of the calculations. The regional-specific scenarios lead to lower deviations from the measured values than the standard scenario. Deviations range from one to two orders of magnitude in the effluent of sewage treatment plants; they amount to one order of magnitude for surface water concentrations on a local scale and conform to monitoring data on a regional scale. The use of measured bioconcentration factors for fish instead of estimated ones reduces deviations remarkably. The investigation reveals that unrealistic worst-case calculations of HHCB can at best be ameliorated by the application of more realistic emission rates and measured bioconcentration factors. The use of regional-specific parameters also diminishes the deviations of the calculations from the measured concentrations.     

Concentration of LAS and boron in the Itter. Comparison of measured data with results obtained by simulation with the GREAT-ER software

The GREAT-ER software was used to calculate linear alkylbenzene sulphonate [LAS] and boron concentrations in the Itter stream in North Rhine-Westfalia, Germany. The aim was to investigate the predictive strength of this newly developed tool and to compare its results to measured data. Substance-specific input data which were used in this scenario were partly generic (e.g. LAS and sodium perborate tetrahydrate consumption figures for Germany) and partly (site-)specific data (e.g. half-life time for LAS elimination). The comparison with the measured data reveals that the model predictions for LAS and boron are correct at least within a factor of two, only if generic German consumption data is applied. By using refined input data, the accuracy can be increased further.