Chemometric studies of the effect of toxic metals on plants: the use of response surface methodology to investigate the influence of Tl, Cd and Ag on the growth of cabbage seedlings

The growth of cabbage seedlings at five concentrations of Cd, Tl and Ag was monitored by measuring their wet weights, root and shoot lengths after four week's growth in a controlled environment. Toxicity curves were constructed using a three factor central composite experimental design. The interaction and competition between any two metals were studied by displaying response surfaces. Ag was observed to be the most toxic, while Tl and Cd, although toxic, exhibited fairly similar effects. Analysis of variance was used to test for the significance of each of the computed parameters.     

Towards a sustainability criteria and indicators framework for legacy mine land

Sustainable development practices have become an integral part of most major mining companies’ business activities. However, the history of mining and the negative impacts it has had on the natural and social environment mean future mining activities, rightly or wrongly, will be judged against the legacies of the past and current poor performers. Legacy mine land, defined here as land which has been mined and is now being used for another purpose, or is orphaned, abandoned or derelict and in need of remedial work, is one management challenge that will be judged in the context of sustainable development. Globally, millions of such sites exist. Having criteria against which to measure progress toward or away from sustainable development goals is a key to delivering results. The aim of this research was to develop a sustainability criteria and indicators framework to suit the particular needs of legacy mine land. The resulting framework consists of 14 criteria and 72 indicators.     

Exploring the spatial dimension of community-level flood risk perception: a cognitive mapping approach

Environmental perceptions are central to individuals’ behavioural interactions with the environment. Cognitive maps, portraying a spatial representation of an individual’s environmental perception, can be aggregated to gain insight into the collective environmental perception of groups and populations. This paper uses cognitive mapping techniques to examine one aspect of environmental perception, flood risk perception, within a residential population (n?=?305). Flood risk perception was examined for the whole sample and six subgroup pairs. Using subgroups allowed examination of how factors previously shown to influence flood risk perception influence the cognitive map production in this population. We use a novel technique (slope analysis) to examine how the population’s perception of flood risk compares with expert assessments of flood risk, and compare the results of this novel technique with a commonly used cognitive map analysis technique (majority threshold method). Both methods identify areas where there is consensus within the population as to which areas are at risk of flooding. However, slope analysis usefully identifies areas where the population’s perception of flood risk lacks consensus, and is at odds with expert assessments of flood risk, without the loss of information inherent in the majority threshold method. Thus, this technique provides a novel approach to studies of environmental perception that can be widely applied within many fields.     

加拿大安大略省基拉尼湖酸化恢复的动态模拟

20世纪的大部分时间里,由于附近的萨德伯里冶炼厂的硫排放,致使基拉尼省立公园内湖泊的酸性物质沉降一直处于较高的水平.目前,这个大型点源的硫排放量已降到上世纪60年代的10%左右.由于排放量减少,基拉尼湖的水质已发生了很大的变化,尤其是硫、铝和钙的浓度明显降低.本文在对基拉尼公园3个湖泊的酸化研究中,采用了动态酸化模型(MAGIC).这3个湖泊各自具有不同的缓冲能力和响应时间,代表了快速、中速和慢速酸化恢复的3种情况.经过对模型校正,使其与现场观测数据相匹配,并针对未来硫沉积减少的4种情况进行了酸化恢复预测.结果表明基拉尼湖的水质还有很大的改善潜力.不同湖泊的恢复时间差异很大.对于响应最慢的湖泊,在沉积量减少后,物质的组成和化学性质的稳定可能需要几十年时间.     

Jumps in Euribor and the effect of ECB monetary policy announcements

The main tool that the ECB uses to influence monetary policy is through the short-term refinancing rate, a change in the short-term interest rate can in turn cause the whole yield curve to shift. In addition to central bank announcements, interbank rates such as Euribor are also influenced by, forward guidance from the ECB, various macroeconomic events, liquidity in the money markets and the perceived credit worthiness of financial institutions. Forward rates are usually used by policy makers and market practitioners to examine expectations, but options provide additional information about the uncertainty of these expectations, particularly future jump expectations. This research examines the jump characteristics of the 3-month Euribor futures contract and its corresponding futures option contracts using both a jump diffusion model with a Bernoulli jump distribution and option-implied parameters using a jump diffusion process with Poisson distribute. We find that both the Bernoulli jump analysis of historical data and implied jump diffusion model succinctly capture diffusion volatility, jumps and jump size. Using a regression analysis to examine the effect of ECB refinancing rate monetary policy announcements on the 3-month Euribor and the associated jump parameters, we find a significant relationship between ECB announcements and the probability of a jump in Euribor. Regression coefficients on the implied jump amplitude parameters suggest that the market correctly anticipates the direction of the rate announcement suggesting option-implied jump parameters can predict, to some extent, ECB announcements. However, our results also show that there is significant uncertainty before the announcements, and this implies that monetary policy communication is not having the full desired effect.     

Risk-adequate motor underwriting of automated vehicles: a qualitative evaluation using German focus groups

The advent of automated vehicles is already taking place and will significantly disrupt the motor insurance industry. The shift from the human driver to the system as the driver cannot be reflected in the current insurance risk assessment. This call for an amendment of the insurance underwriting was discussed with German experts from both the primary insurance and reinsurance sector with their professional background on motor insurance. Based on the findings, we propose an alternative method to underwrite automated vehicles of level 4 & 5 using an enhanced telematics approach which considers new risk categories such as systems used and the transformed role of the driver as the general user of the automated vehicle.

     

Effects of Natura 2000 on nontarget bird and butterfly species based on citizen science data

The European Union's Natura 2000 (N2000) is among the largest international networks of protected areas. One of its aims is to secure the status of a predetermined set of (targeted) bird and butterfly species. However, nontarget species may also benefit from N2000. We evaluated how the terrestrial component of this network affects the abundance of nontargeted, more common bird and butterfly species based on data from long-term volunteer-based monitoring programs in 9602 sites for birds and 2001 sites for butterflies. In almost half of the 155 bird species assessed, and particularly among woodland specialists, abundance increased (slope estimates ranged from 0.101 [SD 0.042] to 3.51 [SD 1.30]) as the proportion of landscape covered by N2000 sites increased. This positive relationship existed for 27 of the 104 butterfly species (estimates ranged from 0.382 [SD 0.163] to 4.28 [SD 0.768]), although most butterflies were generalists. For most species, when land-cover covariates were accounted for these positive relationships were not evident, meaning land cover may be a determinant of positive effects of the N2000 network. The increase in abundance as N2000 coverage increased correlated with the specialization index for birds, but not for butterflies. Although the N2000 network supports high abundance of a large spectrum of species, the low number of specialist butterflies with a positive association with the N2000 network shows the need to improve the habitat quality of N2000 sites that could harbor open-land butterfly specialists. For a better understanding of the processes involved, we advocate for standardized collection of data at N2000 sites.     

Ecological engineering with high diversity vegetation patches enhances bird activity and ecosystem services in Philippine rice fields

Regional Environmental Change - This study examines the potential for ecological engineering to enhance the beneficial ecosystem services provided by birds in tropical rice fields. Bird activities...     

The use of aggregate complaints data as an indicator of cumulative social impacts of mining: A case study from the Hunter valley,NSW, Australia

Generally speaking, there is a greater amount of quantitative data available to measure and model the cumulative environmental or economic impacts of mining than the social impacts. In part, this is because social impacts are often inherently more difficult to quantify, but historically there have also been fewer regulatory drivers for companies or state agencies to invest in collecting such data. Regulators in some jurisdictions are now starting to require resource companies to report on aspects of their social performance, but companies and regulators are still struggling to identify appropriate metrics, particularly in regards to cumulative impacts. This paper describes an innovative quantitative approach to tracking how communities experience and respond to increased mining activity, using data from the complaints registers maintained by mines located in the Upper Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia. In this study, complaints lodged with five separate mines adjacent to the township of Muswellbrook over several years were aggregated and trends analysed. The aggregated set showed that complaint frequency increased with the increase in mining activity but then decreased as individual complaints were addressed. However, when complaints from near-neighbours were removed, it emerged that the proportion of complaints that came from the town itself steadily increased over time. Further analysis indicated that this increase was closely associated with the amount of mine-disturbed land that could be seen from the town over time, as measured using a combination of remotely sensed data and a digital elevation model. This is persuasive evidence of a cumulative social impact that is more than just the sum of the local impacts of individual mines.