Household solid waste characteristics and management in Chittagong, Bangladesh

Solid waste management (SWM) is a multidimensional challenge faced by urban authorities, especially in developing countries like Bangladesh. We investigated per capita waste generation by residents, its composition, and the households' attitudes towards waste management at Rahman Nagar Residential Area, Chittagong, Bangladesh. The study involved a structured questionnaire and encompassed 75 households from five different socioeconomic groups (SEGs): low (LSEG), lower middle (LMSEG), middle (MSEG), upper middle (UMSEG) and high (HSEG). Wastes, collected from all of the groups of households, were segregated and weighed. Waste generation was 1.3kg/household/day and 0.25kg/person/day. Household solid waste (HSW) was comprised of nine categories of wastes with vegetable/food waste being the largest component (62%). Vegetable/food waste generation increased from the HSEG (47%) to the LSEG (88%). By weight, 66% of the waste was compostable in nature. The generation of HSW was positively correlated with family size (r(xy)=0.236, p<0.05), education level (r(xy)=0.244, p<0.05) and monthly income (r(xy)=0.671, p<0.01) of the households. Municipal authorities are usually the responsible agencies for solid waste collection and disposal, but the magnitude of the problem is well beyond the ability of any municipal government to tackle. Hence dwellers were found to take the service from the local waste management initiative. Of the respondents, an impressive 44% were willing to pay US$0.3 to US$0.4 per month to waste collectors and it is recommended that service charge be based on the volume of waste generated by households. Almost a quarter (22.7%) of the respondents preferred 12-1pm as the time period for their waste to be collected. This study adequately shows that household solid waste can be converted from burden to resource through segregation at the source, since people are aware of their role in this direction provided a mechanism to assist them in this pursuit exists and the burden is distributed according to the amount of waste generated.     

Short- and medium-term effects of experimental nitrogen fertilization on arthropods associated with Calluna vulgaris heathlands in north-west Spain

We studied the short- and medium-term effects of experimental nitrogen fertilization (3 and 15 months after the treatment) on the arthropods of Calluna vulgaris heathlands in NW Spain. Three heathland sites were selected with two permanent plots per site: control and fertilized. Ammonium nitrate fertilizer (56 kg N ha(-1) yr(-1)) was applied monthly and insects were caught using pitfall traps. We found mainly species-level responses to nitrogen addition. Seven species (e.g. Lochmaea suturalis) showed a consistent trend (benefited or harmed) in both periods and were proposed as possible reliable indicators of the effects of nitrogen deposition in these ecosystems. We also found variable arthropod trophic-group responses: (a) herbivores (leaf beetles, true bugs) increased in abundance on a short-term scale; (b) predators (carabid beetles, true bugs) showed opposite and less clear responses in both periods. Further long-term studies are needed to determine the mechanisms underlying the observed arthropod responses.     

Physiological responses to atmospheric fluorine pollution in transplants of Pseudoscleropodium purum

Transplants of the moss Pseudoscleropodium purum were placed under shade, and with an auto irrigation system, at five sites in the surroundings of an aluminium smelter to enable study of the possible effects of F on different physiological parameters after exposure periods of 28 and 56 days. Reference thresholds for the content of Chl a+b and for the pigment indexes of Chl a/b and D665/D665a were established with the data corresponding to 22 transplants of each duration of exposure, at seven sites where there was little or no contamination by F. The highest determination coefficients for the levels of F in moss were those obtained for chlorophyll content (Chl a+b) and the D665/D665a pigment index, with the effects being most evident in the transplants exposed to the contamination for 56 days.     

Wind direction bias in generating wind roses and conducting sector-based air dispersion modeling

Certain widely used wind rose programs and air dispersion models use an overly simple data-transfer algorithm that induces a directional bias in their output products. The purpose of this paper is to provide a revised algorithm that corrects the directional bias that occurs from the aliasing that occurs when the sector widths used to report wind direction data are on the same order of magnitude, but not equal, to the sector widths used in the wind direction summaries. The directional bias issue arises when output products in 16 direction sectors (22.5 degrees each) are produced from wind direction data reported in terms of 36 sectors (10 degrees each). The result directional bias affects the results of simulations of air and surface concentrations using widely applied air dispersion models. Datasets or models with the directional bias discussed here give consistent positive biases (approximately 30%) for cardinal direction sectors (north, south, east, and west) and consistent negative biases for all of the other sectors (around -10%). Data summary and air dispersion programs providing outputs in direction sectors that do not match the observational sectors need to be checked for this bias. A revised data-transfer algorithm is provided that corrects the directional bias that can occur in transferring wind direction data between different sector widths.     

Mechanical properties of concrete containing a high volume of tire-rubber particles

Due to the increasingly serious environmental problems presented by waste tires, the feasibility of using elastic and flexible tire-rubber particles as aggregate in concrete is investigated in this study. Tire-rubber particles composed of tire chips, crumb rubber, and a combination of tire chips and crumb rubber, were used to replace mineral aggregates in concrete. These particles were used to replace 12.5%, 25%, 37.5%, and 50% of the total mineral aggregate's volume in concrete. Cylindrical shape concrete specimens 15 cm in diameter and 30 cm in height were fabricated and cured. The fresh rubberized concrete exhibited lower unit weight and acceptable workability compared to plain concrete. The results of a uniaxial compressive strain control test conducted on hardened concrete specimens indicate large reductions in the strength and tangential modulus of elasticity. A significant decrease in the brittle behavior of concrete with increasing rubber content is also demonstrated using nonlinearity indices. The maximum toughness index, indicating the post failure strength of concrete, occurs in concretes with 25% rubber content. Unlike plain concrete, the failure state in rubberized concrete occurs gently and uniformly, and does not cause any separation in the specimen. Crack width and its propagation velocity in rubberized concrete are lower than those of plain concrete. Ultrasonic analysis reveals large reductions in the ultrasonic modulus and high sound absorption for tire-rubber concrete.     

Urban observatories opportunities for environmental monitoring: solid wastes

Towns concentrate around 50% of world-wide population and the trend is oriented to underscore an urban profile of population. In addition, towns have become important for their economic contribution to the Gross Internal Product. The negative side of towns is the environmental and social impacts as a result of productive and domestic activities, besides the lack of available data. In order to overcome these shortcomings, the United Nations has established a project of urban monitoring throughout the Global Network of Urban Observatories; Mexico joined the project in 2005. The Local Urban Observatory of Mexicali has the task to produce information about cities that is useful to design public policies. Some of this information deals with a set of environmental indicators in the United Nations Habitat Agenda, which includes solid wastes. Therefore, this paper deals with two main topics; firstly, from the Habitat Agenda, a comparative urban analysis of waste production and coverage of domestic waste collection services; secondly, from the Local Agenda, the identification and ranking of environmental problems according to public perception coming from people involved in the municipal planning and decision making process. Results will be used to develop local indicators and public environmental policies.     

Characteristics that influence male reproductive success on a lek of Lethrinops c.f. parvidens (Teleostei: Cichlidae)

Sexual selection has long been proposed as a mechanism leading to the diverse cichlid (Teleostei: Cichlidae) fauna of Lake Malawi, Africa. Many of the shallow-water, sand-dwelling, bower-building cichlid species are particularly well suited for studies of sexual selection because they participate in leks. Since females in lekking systems appear to acquire only genetic material from their mates, it has been suggested that leks are ideal systems to study female mate choice. The objectives of the investigation were to examine Lethrinops c.f. parvidens male bower characteristics (i.e., bower size and location) as well as other male characteristics (i.e., length, gular color, and duration on the lek) for their influence on male mating success as measured by the number of visits, circles, and eggs laid by females. These measures are nested in that a visit by a female may or may not lead to circling, and circling by a female may or may not lead to egg-laying. We found increased bower height and higher numbers of conspecific neighbors (analogous to shallow-water, near-shore bower positions) to be positively, significantly associated with the number of visits by females. The only significant correlate with the number of circles was visits, and similarly circles was the only significant correlate with the number of eggs laid. The R ² value for the egg-laying regression was quite low (19.8%) compared with visits (54.3%) and circling (78.9%), suggesting that females may be using additional cues, that we failed to measure, when in close proximity to males or simply that a small proportion of the females were ready to spawn. Both indirect selection and direct selection pressure due to egg predation may have influenced female choice on the lek. Received: 10 April 1999 / Received in revised form: 26 July 1999 / Accepted: 18 September 1999     

Experimental evidence of a testosterone-induced shift from paternal to mating behaviour in a facultatively polygynous songbird

Previous studies have suggested that testosterone (T) profiles of male birds reflect a trade-off between mate attraction behaviours (requiring high T levels) and parental care activities (requiring low T levels). In this study, we experimentally elevated T levels of monogamous males in the facultatively polygynous European starling (Sturnus vulgaris), and compared mate attraction and paternal behaviour of T-treated males with those of controls (C-males). T-males significantly reduced their participation in incubation and fed nestlings significantly less often than C-males. Females paired to T-treated males did not compensate for their mate’s lower paternal effort. The observed reduction in a male’s investment in incubating the eggs was accompanied by an increased investment in typical female-attracting behaviours: T-males spent a significantly higher proportion of their time singing to attract additional females. They also occupied more additional nestboxes than C-males, although the differences just failed to be significant, and carried significantly more green nesting materials into an additional nestbox (a behaviour previously shown to serve a courtship function). T-males also behaved significantly more aggressively than C-males. During the nestling period, the frequency of mate-attracting behaviours by T-treated and control males no longer differed significantly. Despite the reduced paternal effort by T-males and the lack of compensation behaviour by females, hatching and breeding success did not differ significantly between T- and C-pairs. Received: 7 February 2000 / Revised: 10 August 2000 / Accepted: 3 September 2000     

Weather-mediated natural selection on arrival time in cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota)

An unusually long period of cold weather in May 1996 caused extensive mortality among insectivorous cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) in the northern and central Great Plains. We analyzed how viability selection affected spring arrival time in a migratory Nebraska population by comparing capture histories of survivors with those of birds known to have died and by documenting how arrival time changed in the year following the selection event. Surviving birds had significantly later first-capture dates (an index of arrival time) in the years prior to selection than those that died; a significant selection differential suggested directional selection for birds that arrived later. Colony sites were occupied significantly later following the selection event, and the distribution of first-capture dates in the season after selection was significantly shifted toward later arrivals. Offspring of the survivors tended to arrive later than birds of the same age prior to the selection event. While major weather-caused mortality events of this magnitude are rare in the study area, spells of cold weather severe enough to cause limited mortality are frequent in April and early May. At least 25 probable mortality events of varying severity were identified in the last 50 years based on climatological data. Periodic weather-mediated selection against early arrival constrains the cliff swallow’s breeding season and may partly prevent directional selection for earlier nesting. Received: 19 October 1999 / Received in revised form: 15 January 2000 / Accepted: 24 January 2000