Raumgliederung für die Ökologische Umweltbeobachtung des Bundes und der Länder

Ecoregionalizations are important for the evaluation of monitoring networks. In this article a method is decribed concerning how to define Germany’s ecoregions by using ecological data on soil, vegetation, climate and elevation through the aid of classification and regression trees. The resulting ecoregions can be linked to metadata (parameters, methods, quality control and assurance measures) from thousands of Germany’s environmental monitoring sites. Together with GIS procedures, multivariate statistics and geostatistics, ecoregions are useful for integrating data of environmental measurements according to ecological and spatial criteria.     

Versuchsanlage zur energetischen Beurteilung von Substraten und Kofermentaten für Biogasanlagen

Goal, Scope and Background

Worldwide energy requirements are constantly increasing. Rising prices and the necessity to secure the future energy supply have led the decision-makers in politics and economy to focus on the more intensive use of their own resources. Before the background of possible climatic effects caused by the use of fossil energies, the use of renewable resources as primary energies, with its narrow C-circulation, have gained in importance, particularly in terms of economic aspects. The production of biogas is of specific interest here. It is a sensible ecological investment and a solid source of income for our agriculture.

Material and Methods

The operator uses a complex biological system in a plant with high investment costs. An economic operation is only possible if the process parameters are optimized and the properties of the substrates and the co-ferments are known. For the important determination of the blogas potential, we present an efficient and robust system, which is easy to handle and low cost, that has been developed by the LHL and LLH at the Eichhof. This procedure enables one to make statements on the implementation dynamics and is also suited to judge the fermentation process depending on the size of particles, as the co-ferments are used in a practice-oriented consistency.

Results

With the described fermentation apparatus you can not only assess the potential development of biogas and methane, but also the process of fermentation. The sum-graphs determined allow one to make conclusions on the implementation dynamics and, thus, on the optimization of the process. The advanced equipment makes it possible to determine the process of fermentation and the gas yield under different retention times and digester loads. The determination of the potential of the biogas and also the evaluation of the continuous fermentation are related to a specific correction factor won from the standard.

Discussion

A prerequisite for economic process management is the knowledge of the attainable gas yield and the fermentation process of substrates and co-ferments. A precise calibration is the quality basis for the results achieved with this method, as is the case with other fermentation tests as well. For the tests, a highly homogeneous substrate, which guarantees a continuous biological activity in the digesters, ought to be used. The possibility of determining optimum retention times and digester loads with this equipment makes costly tests with a full scale reactor unnecessary.

Conclusions

All tests run demonstrated that the fermentation apparatus originally developed to determine the biogas yield is absolutely suited to also assess the impact of different digester loads and retention times.

Recommendations

The problem of the suitability and the potential of different materials, the optimum reactor performance and the combination of different processes of energy generation from renewable but also conventional resources will increaseingly become the focus of laboratory tests. The following subjects have to be taken into account:

- Testing different materials on their suitability

- Evaluation security of common and new co-ferments

- Guidelines for mixtures to optimize reactor performance

- Mixtures of different substrates and co-ferments available to a particular operator (also with the help of simulation models)

- Processing changing quantity proportions of plants won from a rotation of crops altered for energy generation

- Other parameters like pre-fermentation, particle size and fer mentation supplements.

Perspective

These tests with a high practical relevance are supposed to contribute to a reliable method of producing biogas, in order to optimize the yield of gas production, but also to find a calibration of less costly procedures like those involving Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS).     

Klima-Biomonitoring: Nachweis des Klimawandels und dessen Folgen für die belebte Umwelt

Hintergrund und ZielEs wird vorgeschlagen, Biomonitoring-Verfahren zu verwenden, um Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf die belebte Umwelt zu erkennen, zu bewerten und zu dokumentieren, weil ? es mit dieser Methode gelingt, klimainduzierte Veränderungen in besonders empfindlichen Gebieten in Deutschland mit ihren Lebensräumen, Lebensgemeinschaften und Arten darzustellen, ? es bezüglich Zuwanderung und Ausbreitung neuer Schädlinge und Krankheitserreger für Mensch, Tier und Pflanze nach bzw. in Deutschland relevante Informationen liefern kann, ? damit der Politik zur Bewertung der Auswirkungen des Klimawandels wichtige Informationen, Handreichungen und Entscheidungsgrundlagen zur Verfügung gestellt werden können und ? auf dieser Grundlage geeignete Anpassungsmaßnahmen eingeleitet und auf ihre Wirksamkeit geprüft werden können, wie beispielsweise in der Deutschen Anpassungsstrategie (BMU 2009) beschrieben. Für Biomonitoring-Verfahren, die geeignet sind, Auswirkungen des Klimawandels anzuzeigen, wird der Begriff Klima-Biomonitoring vorgeschlagen Diese Verfahren sollten aus verschiedenen Gründen (u.?a. abgestimmte Methodik und gleiche Datenbasis, Kostenersparnis) unter Beteiligung aller Bundesländer umgesetzt werden. Bioindikation ist bereits heute ein unverzichtbares Verfahren, frühzeitig Veränderungen in der belebten Umwelt zu erkennen und somit Hinweise auf besondere Gefahren zu liefern (Frühwarnsystem). Für das Klima-Biomonitoring werden vorzugsweise bestehende Monitoringsysteme mit ihren bereits erhobenen Daten ausgewertet und mitgenutzt. Material und Methoden Das Klima-Biomonitoring greift auf bereits eingeführte und bewährte Methoden der Bioindikation von Umweltveränderungen zurück. Bestehende Methoden werden im Hinblick auf die besonderen, durch den Klimawandel bedingten Anforderungen ergänzt, angepasst und weiterentwickelt. Auf der Grundlage einer Auswertung relevanter laufender Bundes- und Länderprogramme werden wesentliche Wirkungen des Klimawandels identifiziert, die datenliefernden Programme zugeordnet und Auswertungen vorgeschlagen. Zusätzlich werden Datenquellen beschrieben, deren Nutzung weitergehende Betrachtungen ermöglichen. ErgebnisseIn einer Übersichtstabelle werden Monitoring-Programme auf Bundes- und Länderebene systematisiert und hinsichtlich ihrer Bedeutung für die Bewertung von Klimafolgen auf die belebte Umwelt dargestellt. Eine Übersicht über Datenquellen sowie eine Darstellung erster Erkenntnisse aus der Auswertung vorliegender Daten belegen die Relevanz des vorgeschlagenen Verfahrens. Der erkennbare Forschungs- und Entwicklungsbedarf wird umrissen und Vorschläge für eine Optimierung des Daten- und Methodenaustausches benannt. Beispiele zur Anwendung und Vertiefung der Thematik sowie Anregungen zur Weiterentwicklung der Methodik und zum Schließen von Kenntnislücken werden in Folgepublikationen aufgezeigt. DiskussionAuf der Basis des Klima-Biomonitorings kann das Ausmaß der durch den Klimawandel bereits eingetretenen Veränderungen beschrieben sowie Szenarien und Prognosen zu den Auswirkungen von Klimaveränderungen erstellt werden. Weiterhin ist es möglich, die sekundären Wirkungen des Klimawandels, insbesondere die Auswirkungen der Maßnahmen zur Anpassung an den Wandel, mithilfe der Bioindikation auf ihre Wirksamkeit zu prüfen. Für einige Klima-Bioindikatoren ist der kausale Zusammenhang zwischen Klimawandel und Reaktion bereits belegt (zum Beispiel die Frühjahrsphasen in der Pflanzenphänologie), in anderen Fällen müssen noch Methoden zur Unterscheidung zwischen Klimawirkungen und anderen Wirkfaktoren entwickelt werden. Die Erkenntnisse aus dem Klima-Biomonitoring sollen Grundlage für entsprechende Handlungen sein, sodass geeignete Anpassungsstrategien und gleichzeitig Maßnahmen zur Vermeidung oder zur Verminderung der Effekte eingeleitet werden können. Zugleich sollen eine angemessene Politikberatung, eine Information der Öffentlichkeit und die Erfüllung entsprechender Berichtspflichten erfolgen. Schlussfolgerungen:Klima-Biomonitoring ist eine geeignete Methode, um klimainduzierte Veränderungen in besonders empfindlichen Gebieten in Deutschland mit ihren Lebensräumen, Lebensgemeinschaften und Arten darzustellen. Erste Auswertungen zeigen, dass bereits Wirkungen des Klimawandels auf die belebte Umwelt nachweisbar sind. Hierbei liefert die Pflanzenphänologie seit vielen Jahren wertvolle Hintergrunddaten. Eine Verschneidung dieser Hintergrunddaten mit Daten aus anderen geeigneten Monitoring-Programmen und weiteren Informationen (zum Beispiel Geobasisdaten) ermöglicht es, diese Erkenntnisse zu ergänzen. Damit ist die Ermittlung und Bewertung von klimainduzierten Wirkungen auch im Bereich der Ausbreitung von Krankheitsüberträgern und -erregern und anderer Phänomene sowie der Bewertung von Maßnahmen möglich. Empfehlungen und PerspektivenEine abgestimmte Anwendung der Methodik in allen Bundesländern und beim Bund, eine Verbesserung des Daten- und Methodenaustausches, die Identifikation, Erschließung und Nutzung weiterer Datenquellen, die Weiterentwicklung der Methodik und eine Publikation weiterer Erkenntnisse werden empfohlen. Es ist davon auszugehen, dass sich das Klima-Biomonitoring wegen seiner Vorteile als Methode zur Erhebung von Klimafolgen für die belebte Umwelt auch international etablieren wird.     

Neue Bewertung bei den Toxizitätsäquivalenten für Dioxine/Furane und für PCB durch die WHO

While the large amount of data available makes it possible to provide a statement concerning the effects of PCDD/PCDF on the WHO TEF-reappraisal regarding the observance of dioxin emission values from waste incineration, similar values for PCBs could not be determined accurately or could only be estimated roughly for the WHO, because only limited measurement values are available for these substances. Thanks to the present availability of such measurement values from the MVA in Bielefeld-Herford, Germany and the MVR in Hamburg, Germany, it is now possible to determine a direct relationship between the low PCDD/PCDF values and the 12 different PCBs which are taken into consideration by the WHO. As the results of these investigations have shown, the statement in Section 2 claiming that there are generally only very low levels of PCDD/PCDF emissions stemming from waste incineration plants, and that the 12 additional PCBs considered by the WHO as well as the WHO TEFs lead to no relevant increase in the evaluation/calculation of the actual emission values nor to a value above the dioxin (I-TEQ) threshold value as established in the 17th BImSchV (Germany Federal regulations responsible for protecting the population from emissions), can be confirmed. A dominant role of the WHO PCB-TEQs is seen to be played by the PCB-126. The exhaust gas measurements in waste incineration plants might therefore already be sufficient if merely the dioxin-like PCB-126 values were to be used in the calculation of the dioxin I-TEQ.     

Die Bedeutung von Krabben (Brachyura) bei der Regeneration von kohlenwasserstoffkontaminierten subtropischen Flachküsten am Beispiel des Arabisch Persischen Golfs

Objectives

The second Gulf War (1991) led to the largest oil spill in human history. Over 770 km of coastline from southern Kuwait to Abu Ali Island (Saudi Arabia) were smothered with oil and tar, erasing most of the local plant and animal communities. This long term study was designed to reveal the processes of natural regeneration within the salt marsh ecosystems as well as the processes counter productive to regeneration.

Methods

Field data were collected along permanent transect lines during annual visits from 1994 to 2004. Soil analysis included grain size, carbonate, pH and total hydrocarbon (Soxhlet extraction). Heavy metals were determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy. Hydrocarbons were analysed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography.

Results

The dominant processes of regeneration are characterized by four types of indicators. These are 1) the composition of hydrocarbon compounds remaining in the soil, 2) the hardness of the soil surface, 3) the abundance of laminated cyanobacterial mats, and 4) the abundance and diversity of macrofauna. Cyanobacteria turned out to conserve the oil within the soil where they built laminated mats sealing the surface and thus, preventing oxygen from penetrating the substrate. On the other hand, crustaceans were the first macrofauna returning to contaminated soils. Following bioturbation by the crustaceans significantly accelerates the biodegradation of the hydrocarbons. Since the occurrence of the crabs (mainly Cleistostoma dotilliforme) is primarily restricted to tidal channels the density of the channel network between the affected salt marshes determines the time which is needed for regeneration.

Conclusions

The re-setrlement of crabs is the key process initiating fast and effective biodegradation of the oil residues in the intertidal soils. Because dense laminated cyanobacterial mats and tar covered surface substrates often delay the re-settlement of crabs — even 13 years after the impact — tidal channels are the initial paths of re-colonisation.

Recommendations and Perspectives

Therefore it is recommended that if any restoration measures are to be undertaken, it would be most effective to create a network of artificial channels within the salt marshes in order to bring the pioneer species into the most affected ecosystems.     

Eier der Flußseeschwalbe (Sterna hirundo) als Indikator für die aktuelle Belastung von Rhein, Weser und Elbe mit Umweltchemikalien

In 1995, common tern (Sterna hirundo) eggs from the big German rivers, the Rhine, Weser and Elbe were collected to study the contamination with organochlorines and mercury. We found distinct differences between the rivers: common tern eggs from the Rhine had higher concentrations of PCBs and HCHs, while eggs from the Elbe had higher residues of DDT, HCB and mercury. Also toxic PCB congeners had higher residue levels in the Rhine. Considering all organochlorines, samples from the Rhine also had the highest concentrations, while those from the Elbe were the lowest. With 5.7 μg×g^?1 fresh weight, the ΖCBs had a level endangering breeding success. Fish eating birds should be used as indicators of the contamination of the rivers with environmental chemicals and should be included in monitoring programmes.     

Die Rolle der Globalisierung und Klimaveränderung auf die Entwicklung von Stechmücken und von ihnen übertragenen Krankheiten in Zentral-Europa

Mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases know no borders, and their spread is a consequence of globalization related to high mobility of humans and international trade as well as on climate change. Higher temperatures and precipitation favour the development of mosquitoes as well as the pathogens and parasites which are transmitted by mosquitoes. An increase of about 2?°C would shorten the time for the development of larvae and pupae of Anopheles messeae (vector of malaria) by almost three days resulting in an increase of gonotrophic cycles and number of generations. The higher numbers of breeding sites for Anopheles species such as An. plumbeus in cess pools due to the change of agricultural practises increase the contact with potential vectors of malaria as well. However, at least in Germany, malaria will not play an important role anymore. The invasion of new species such as Stegomyia albopicta (formerly Aedes albopictus) is enhanced by human migration and international trade. St. albopicta was first discovered in Germany in 2007. Nowadays, this species, originally from Southeast Asia, occurs in 13 European states. Thus, the risk for outbreaks of arboviroses is increased.     

Entwicklung und Einsatz eines standardisierten Labortests für Dungkäfer (Aphodius constans) zur Prüfung der Ökotoxizität von Veterinärpharmaka

Goal, Scope, and Background

According to European legislation, an environmental risk assessment of veterinary pharmaceuticals for dung beetles is required if the substance is a parasiticide for the treatment of pasture animals. However, the demonstration of the environmental safety of those substances for dung beetles is strongly hampered by the fact that no standardized test system is available so far. Therefore, starting with recommendations from the SETAC advisory group DOTTS (Dung Organism Toxicity Test Standardization), a test system using the widespread temperate dung beetle species Aphodius constans was developed.

Methods

Using experiences gained at the University of Montpellier (e.g. in field studies) and in other terrestrial tests, details of culturing and testing of A. constans were investigated in a project sponsored by the German Environment Protection Agency (UBA). Basically, the survival of young larvae of A. constans exposed to the test substance spiked into formulated (i.e. dried, grounded and re-wetted) or fresh dung is measured over a period of three weeks. Using the model substance dimethoate (an insecticide required as positive control in tests with the predatory mite Hypoaspis aculeifer) the suitability of the new test was checked. Afterwards, the new test method was used to determine the toxicity of four common veterinary pharmaceuticals (ivermectin, dicyclanil, moxidectin, praziquantel) in formulated and fresh dung. Finally, the effects of ivermectin on the dung beetles were determined in a test using fresh dung from treated cattle.

Results and Conclusions

For Dmethoate LC₅₀-values were found in a range of 1–3 mg a.s./kg dung (dew.), depending on the dung type. Praziquantel did not show eirecis in the tested concentration range (i.e. up to 1000 mg a.s./kg Dung (DW). The LC₅₀-values of the other three pharmaceuticals were very low (<6 mg a.s./kg dung (DW)). With the exception of Dicyclanil no differences between formulated and fresh dung were identified. In the case of ivermectin the LC₅₀-value were even lower: about 0.5 mg a.s./kg dung (DW). No differences between the results of test in which the substance was spiked into dung and those tests which were performed with dung from treated cattle were found. These results prove the sensitivity as well as the robustness of this test method.

Recommendations and Perspectives

Based on the experiences reported here, it is recommended to standardize this test in an international ring test so that it can be incorporated in the risk assessment process for veterinary pharmaceuticals as described in the currently developed international registration guidelines.