Trust,political orientation,and environmental behavior

A growing body of large-N cross-national studies has identified key predictors of environmental behavior. Adopting a social dilemma perspective, where individuals must choose collective over self-interest to act pro-environmentally, integrated national datasets for 30 countries are used to examine the effects of generalized trust, trust in government, leftism, and post-materialism on three types of environmental behavior (intended action, informal action, and formal action). At the individual level, all predictors but institutional trust have significant positive effects on each type of behavior. Institutional trust is associated with greater willingness to make economic sacrifice for the environment and with less frequent informal environmental behavior, but it is unrelated to formal behavior. However, at the country level, the effect of trust is limited to intended behavior and depends on the type of trust. Individuals in countries with higher generalized trust averages are less willing to sacrifice for the environment, and those in countries with higher averages of institutional trust are more willing to do so.     

Inverse modeling of Asian Rn flux using surface air Rn concentration

When used with an atmospheric transport model, the ²²²Rn flux distribution estimated in our previous study using soil transport theory caused underestimation of atmospheric ²²²Rn concentrations as compared with measurements in East Asia. In this study, we applied a Bayesian synthesis inverse method to produce revised estimates of the annual ²²²Rn flux density in Asia by using atmospheric ²²²Rn concentrations measured at seven sites in East Asia. The Bayesian synthesis inverse method requires a prior estimate of the flux distribution and its uncertainties. The atmospheric transport model MM5/HIRAT and our previous estimate of the ²²²Rn flux distribution as the prior value were used to generate new flux estimates for the eastern half of the Eurasian continent dividing into 10 regions.The ²²²Rn flux densities estimated using the Bayesian inversion technique were generally higher than the prior flux densities. The area-weighted average ²²²Rn flux density for Asia was estimated to be 33.0 mBq m⁻² s⁻¹, which is substantially higher than the prior value (16.7 mBq m⁻² s⁻¹). The estimated ²²²Rn flux densities decrease with increasing latitude as follows: Southeast Asia (36.7 mBq m⁻² s⁻¹); East Asia (28.6 mBq m⁻² s⁻¹) including China, Korean Peninsula and Japan; and Siberia (14.1 mBq m⁻² s⁻¹). Increase of the newly estimated fluxes in Southeast Asia, China, Japan, and the southern part of Eastern Siberia from the prior ones contributed most significantly to improved agreement of the model-calculated concentrations with the atmospheric measurements. The sensitivity analysis of prior flux errors and effects of locally exhaled ²²²Rn showed that the estimated fluxes in Northern and Central China, Korea, Japan, and the southern part of Eastern Siberia were robust, but that in Central Asia had a large uncertainty.     

Experimental testing of an annular denuder and filter system to measure gas–particle partitioning of semivolatile bifunctional carbonyls in the atmosphere

An annular denuder and filter-pack system was tested in combination with the use of the in-tube and on-fiber O-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl)hydroxylamine hydrochloride (PFBHA)-derivatization technique to simultaneously sample and measure gaseous and particulate concentrations of semivolatile bifunctional carbonyl compounds in the atmosphere. Ozone was denuded from the sampling air to avoid oxidation and PFBHA was used as the sorbent by coating the sampling denuders and impregnating the filters. The collection efficiency of the system was evaluated under different conditions in photochemical smog chamber experiments and in field samplings of urban and suburban atmospheres. The effects of concentration level, temperature, and humidity on the collection efficiency were assessed. The system showed average collection efficiencies in one denuder from 81% for pyruvic acid and 82% for glyoxylic acid to 87% for hydroxyacetone and dihydroxyacetone. The capacity of the filters to collect the gaseous fraction that cannot be collected in the denuders was also evaluated, and the system allows a correction for this artifact. The application of this method to chamber experiments and field samplings offers an easy-to-apply technique with good results that can be used to evaluate the partition mechanisms of these compounds in the atmosphere.     

Biological methane production coupled with sulfur oxidation in a microbial electrosynthesis system without organic substrates

Methane is produced in a microbial electrosynthesis system (MES) without organic substrates. However, a relatively high applied voltage is required for the bioelectrical reactions. In this study, we demonstrated that electrotrophic methane production at the biocathode was achieved even at a very low voltage of 0.1 V in an MES, in which abiotic HS⁻ oxidized to SO₄²⁻ at the anodic carbon-cloth surface coated with platinum powder. In addition, microbial community analysis revealed the most probable pathway for methane production from electrons. First, electrotrophic H₂ was produced by syntrophic bacteria, such as Syntrophorhabdus, Syntrophobacter, Syntrophus, Leptolinea, and Aminicenantales, with the direct acceptance of electrons at the biocathode. Subsequently, most of the produced H₂ was converted to acetate by homoacetogens, such as Clostridium and Spirochaeta 2. In conclusion, the majority of the methane was indirectly produced by a large population of acetoclastic methanogens, namely Methanosaeta, via acetate. Further, hydrogenotrophic methanogens, including Methanobacterium and Methanolinea, produced methane via H₂.     

Paternal expenditure is related to brood sex ratio in polygynous great reed warblers

In many polygynous animals, parents invest more heavily in individual sons than in daughters. However, it is unclear if these differences in investment are a consequence of sex differences in the demand of offspring related to sexual size dimorphism or a consequence of parental manipulation. Here, we report on parental food delivery frequency in relation to brood size and brood sex ratio in a wild population of polygynous great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus. We used the polymorphic microsatellite loci on the Z chromosome to sex chicks. We found that paternal feeding frequency (times/h per nest) increased not with brood size, but with the proportion of males in the brood, although the demand per nest was more closely related to brood size than to brood sex ratio. Additionally, the increase in rate of paternal feeding frequency in relation to the brood sex ratio was much higher than the increase in rate of nestling food demands. Maternal feeding frequency was independent of both brood size and brood sex ratio. These results strongly suggest that fathers preferentially invest in their sons. We propose that parents can afford sex-biased parental care in animals in which food provisioning is enough for all offspring to survive. Received: 22 January 1996/Accepted after revision: 30 June 1996     

Seasonal fluctuations in sand temperature: effects on the incubation period and mortality of loggerhead sea turtle (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Caretta</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">caretta</Emphasis>) pre-emergent hatchlings in Minabe,Japan

Incubation period, hatching success, and emergence percentage in loggerhead (Caretta caretta) nests were quantified during the 1993 and 1995 nesting seasons and following incubation seasons in Minabe, Wakayama, Japan. Sand and nest temperatures were also monitored. Over the seasons, daily mean sand temperature at nest depth fluctuated between 18.0°C and 33.3°C, with a steep increase in the second week of July and a peak in late August. Temperatures inside the nest chambers were a few degrees above those of the surrounding sand at the end of incubation. The incubation period ranged from 46 to 82 days. A significant negative correlation was found between mean sand temperature and incubation period. The relationship conformed to the day-degree concept. There was no significant seasonal trend in hatching success, but many pre-emergent hatchlings were found dead in most of the clutches during the warmest part of the season. Emergence percentage was correlated with mean sand temperature calculated for 4 days before emergence, suggesting that mortality may be due to heat. This heat-related mortality is considered to be a common phenomenon at our study site, because the peak in emergences coincides with the peak in high temperatures. These temperature effects on hatchling mortality must be taken into account in estimates of hatchling sex ratios. Because sand temperatures already exceed the optimal thermal range for incubation, this population is vulnerable to even small temperature increases resulting from global warming.     

Emission control for precursors causing acid rain (V): Improvement of acid soil with the bio-briquette combustion ash

The bio-briquette technique which mixes coal, biomass and sulfur fixation agent and bio-briquettes under 3-5 t/cm^2 line pressure has aroused people‘s attention in view of controlling the air pollution and the acid rain. In this paper, the physicochemical properties of bio-briquette and its ash were investigated. And the acid soil was improved by the bio-briquette combustion ash, which contained nutritive substances such as P, N, K and had the acid-neutralizing capacity(ANC). The pH, EC, effective nutrient elements(Ca, Mg, K, P and N), heavy metal elements(AI, Cu, Cd, Cr, Zn and Mn) and acid-neutralizing capacity change of ash-added soils within the range of 0-10%, were also studied. Specially, when 5% bio-briquette combustion ash was added to the tested soil, the content of the effective elements such as Ca, Mg and K rose by 100 times, ? times and twice, respectively. The total nitrogen also increased by about twice. The results showed the oxyanions such as that of AI, Cu, Cd, Cr, Zn and Mn were not potentially dangerous, because they were about the same as the averages of them in Chinese soil. It is shown that the ANC became stronger, though the ANC hardly increases in the ash-added soil. On the basis of the evaluation indices, it is concluded that the best mixture ratio is to add 2.5%--8% of the bio-briquette combustion ash to the tested soil.     

Effective diffusivity of the uranyl ion in a granite from Inada, Ibaraki, Japan

The effective diffusivity of uranium(VI) in Inada granite has been determined by through-diffusion. Experiments were performed at room temperature (20–25°C) in a 0.1 mol 1⁻¹ KCl solution where uranium is present predominantly as the poorly sorbing UO₂²⁺. An effective diffusivity (D_e) of (3.6 ± 1.6) × 10⁻¹⁴ m² s⁻¹ was obtained, close to that for uranine (nonsorbing organic tracer), but one order of magnitude lower than those obtained for Sr²⁺ and NpO₂⁺, and two orders of magnitude lower than that obtained for I⁻. According to well established theory, a proportional relationship exists between D_e and the diffusivity in the bulk of the solution (D_v). The effective diffusivity obtained in granite was not proportional to D_v. This agrees with results obtained for effective diffusivity in a Swedish granite. The ratio D_e/D_v was found to be not constant but increased with D_e or D_v. This result suggests a limit to the application of the theory.     

Correlation between stomach temperatures and ambient water temperatures in free-ranging loggerhead turtles,Caretta caretta

Instruments were attached to loggerhead turtles, Caretta caretta, at Kamoda Point, Japan in 1989 and on the Senri-coast, Japan in 1991. We simultaneously obtained stomach temperatures, ambient water temperatures and diving depths from four free-ranging loggerhead turtles during the internesting periods, using small recorders. These data were analyzed to understand how body temperature was maintained. Ambient water temperatures changed coincidentally when turtles moved up or down, but a stable stomach temperatures was maintained despite water temperature fluctuations of ca. 20 to 90 min in duration. Loggerhead turtles also experienced water temperature fluctuations longer than 24 h. Stomach temperatures responded to those water temperature changes with a time lag of several hours (160, 170, 230 and 240 min). Stomach temperatures were higher than ambient water temperatures throughout the experimental periods. The median values of the thermal difference between stomach and water temperatures were 1.1, 1.3, 1.5 and 1.7°C. The higher stomach temperatures are thought to be caused by metabolic heat production.     

Evolutionary relationships of deep-sea mussels inferred by mitochondrial DNA sequences

In order to elucidate the evolutionary process of deep-sea Bathymodiolus mussels, we investigated the phylogenetic relationships of 16 species worldwide by analyzing nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial COI and ND4 genes. Deep-sea mussels were clustered into three groups by basal trichotomous divergence. The first was composed of four species found in Japanese waters and one species from the Gulf of Mexico, which contain methanotrophic endosymbiotic bacteria. The second included nine species distributed in the West and East Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans. Members of the second group were trichotomously divided into the Indo-West Pacific, Atlantic, and East Pacific subclusters. The Indo-West Pacific subcluster was composed of three very closely related species with mutual genetic distances at the intraspecific level (av. 0.019 in COI and 0.009 in ND4 relative to av. 0.156 in COI and 0.265 in ND4 among Bathymodiolus species other than Cluster A species), suggesting some gene flow among these species. The third consisted of two West Pacific species. Species in the second and third groups contain mainly thioautotrophic endosymbionts, including some species harboring both methanotrophs and thioautotrophs.