Overview of Radioactive Waste Disposal at Sea

For hundreds of years, the seas have been used as a place to dispose of wastes from human activities. Although no high level radioactive waste has been disposed of into the sea, variable amounts of packaged low level radioactive wastes have been dumped at 47 sites in the northern part of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. in 1946 the first sea dumping operation took place at a site in the North-East Pacific Ocean. the last dumping operation was in 1982, at a site off the European continental shelf in the Atlantic Ocean. Between these two dates, an estimated 46 PBq (1.24 MCi) of radioactive waste coming from research, medical, military and industrial activities have been disposed of at sea. the present trend, through the Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and other Matter and other Regional Conventions, points towards the prohibition of the dumping of any radioactive waste into the marine environment.     

Small queens in the ant Ectatomma tuberculatum: a new case of social parasitism

Social parasites exploit the worker force of colonies of other social insects to rear their own young. Social parasitism occurs in several Hymenoptera and is particularly common in several tribes of the ant subfamilies Myrmicinae and Formicinae. Here, we document the occurrence of miniaturized queens (microgynes) in colonies of Ectatomma tuberculatum, an ant belonging to the subfamily Ectatomminae. Behavioral observations and genetic analyses show that microgynes concentrate their reproductive efforts almost exclusively on the production of sexual offspring (microgynes and males), whereas the regular, large queens (macrogynes) produce workers in addition to sexuals. According to mitochondrial and nuclear markers, gene flow between microgynes and macrogynes is extremely limited. Whereas the co-occurrence of microgynes and macrogynes in the related species Ectatomma ruidum constitutes an intraspecific polymorphism associated with alternative dispersal tactics, microgynes found in colonies of E. tuberculatum appear to be a distinct species and to represent the first case of social parasitism in the poneromorph subfamilies of ants.     

Farm management decision and response to climate variability and change in Côte d’Ivoire

This paper investigates threats to farm management in the northern and central region of Côte d’Ivoire, with a particular focus on climate-related threats. To this end, farmers’ perception and adaptation strategies for climate change have been analyzed. The data were collected from 205 respondents by means of the Focus Groups method, and they were evaluated using a framework analysis. The main reported threats related to the implementation of farming activities are the high cost of inputs and the lack of technical support, which are followed by diseases, insects, and climate variations (scarcity of rains, strong winds, and high temperature). We find that most farmers have a strong perception of changes in climatic conditions. Their perceived impacts on the local environment through evidences like the disappearance of certain farming practices, occurrence of new insects, and the disruption of key time reference periods. Farmers mainly attempt to adapt by adjusting their agricultural calendar, adopting new short-season varieties, and using mixed cropping. We find that the most influential factors for farmers’ adaptation behavior is lack of contact with extension services and the scarcity of rainfall. Our suggestions for future agricultural policies for better adaptation to climate change are to take into account farmers’ perception, to provide suitable climate forecast, and to improve local technical support.     

Cache and carry: hoarding behavior of arctic fox

Food-hoarding animals are expected to preferentially cache items with lower perishability and/or higher consumption time. We observed arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus) foraging in a greater snow goose (Anser caerulescens atlanticus) colony where the main prey of foxes consisted of goose eggs, goslings, and lemmings (Lemmus and Dicrostonyx spp.). We recorded the number of prey consumed and cached and the time that foxes invested in these activities. Foxes took more time to consume a goose egg than a lemming or gosling but cached a greater proportion of eggs than the other prey type. This may be caused by the eggshell, which presumably decreases the perishability and/or pilfering risk of cached eggs, but also increases egg consumption time. Arctic foxes usually recached goose eggs but rarely recached goslings or lemmings. We tested whether the rapid-sequestering hypothesis could explain this recaching behavior. According to this hypothesis, arctic foxes may adopt a two-stage strategy allowing both to maximize egg acquisition rate in an undefended nest and subsequently secure eggs in potentially safer sites. Foxes spent more time carrying an egg and traveled greater distances when establishing a secondary than a primary cache. To gain further information on the location and subsequent fate of cached eggs, we used dummy eggs containing radio transmitters. Lifespan of primary caches increased with distance from the goose nest. Secondary caches were generally located farther from the nest and had a longer lifespan than primary caches. Behavioral observations and the radio-tagged egg technique both gave results supporting the rapid-sequestering hypothesis.     

Development and Operational Testing of a Super‐Ensemble Artificial Intelligence Flood‐Forecast Model for a Pacific Northwest River

Coastal catchments in British Columbia, Canada, experience a complex mixture of rainfall‐ and snowmelt‐driven contributions to flood events. Few operational flood‐forecast models are available in the region. Here, we integrated a number of proven technologies in a novel way to produce a super‐ensemble forecast system for the Englishman River, a flood‐prone stream on Vancouver Island. This three‐day‐ahead modeling system utilizes up to 42 numerical weather prediction model outputs from the North American Ensemble Forecast System, combined with six artificial neural network‐based streamflow models representing various slightly different system conceptualizations, all of which were trained exclusively on historical high‐flow data. As such, the system combines relatively low model development times and costs with the generation of fully probabilistic forecasts reflecting uncertainty in the simulation of both atmospheric and terrestrial hydrologic dynamics. Results from operational testing by British Columbia's flood forecasting agency during the 2013‐2014 storm season suggest that the prediction system is operationally useful and robust.     

Post‐tsunami relocation of fisher settlements in South Asia: evidence from the Coromandel Coast,India

The tsunami that struck the coasts of India on 26 December 2004 resulted in the large‐scale destruction of fisher habitations. The post‐tsunami rehabilitation effort in Tamil Nadu was directed towards relocating fisher settlements in the interior. This paper discusses the outcomes of a study on the social effects of relocation in a sample of nine communities along the Coromandel Coast. It concludes that, although the participation of fishing communities in house design and in allocation procedures has been limited, many fisher households are satisfied with the quality of the facilities. The distance of the new settlements to the shore, however, is regarded as an impediment to engaging in the fishing profession, and many fishers are actually moving back to their old locations. This raises questions as to the direction of coastal zone policy in India, as well as to the weight accorded to safety (and other coastal development interests) vis‐à‐vis the livelihood needs of fishers.     

A high-resolution historical sediment record of nutrients,trace elements and organochlorines (DDT and PCB) deposition in a drinking water reservoir (Lake Brêt,Switzerland) points at local and regional pollutant sources

The ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb dating of a 61-cm long sediment core retrieved from a drinking water reservoir (Lake Brêt) located in Switzerland revealed a linear and relatively high sedimentation rate (～1 cm year^?1) over the last decades. The continuous centimeter scale measurement of physical (porewater and granulometry), organic (C_org, P, N, HI and OI indexes) and mineral (C_min and lithogenic trace elements) parameters therefore enables reconstructing the environmental history of the lake and anthropogenic pollutant input (trace metals, DDT and PCBs) at high resolution. A major change in the physical properties of the lowermost sediments occurred following the artificial rise of the dam in 1922. After ca. 1940, there was a long-term up-core increase in organic matter deposition attributed to enhance primary production and anoxic bottom water conditions due to excessive nutrient input from a watershed predominantly used for agriculture that also received domestic effluents of two wastewater-treatment plants. This pattern contrasts with the terrigenous element input (Eu, Sc, Mg, Ti, Al, and Fe) which doubled after the rising of the dam but continuously decreased during the last 60 years. By comparison, the trace metals (Cu, Pb and Hg) presented a slight enrichment factor (EF) only during the second part of the 20th century. Although maximum EF Pb (>2) occurred synchronously with the use of leaded gasoline in Switzerland (between ca. 1947 and 1985) the Hg and Cu profiles exhibited a relatively similar trend than Pb during the 20th century, therefore excluding the alkyl-lead added to petrol as the dominant (atmospheric) source of lead input to Lake Brêt. Conversely, the Cu profile that did not follow the decrease registered in Pb and Hg during the last 10 years, suggests an additional source of Cu probably linked to the impact of agricultural activities in the area. In absence of heavy industries in the catchment, the atmospheric deposition of DDT and PCBs via surface runoff followed the historical emissions of POPs in Switzerland. Such result highlights the regional contamination of freshwater resources by the large-scale emission of toxic industrial chemicals in the 1960s and 1970s as well as the efficiency of the regulatory measures subsequently taken.