Waste management issues for the UK ready-mixed concrete industry

The UK government has recognised the vital contribution that the construction industry has to play in contributing towards sustainable development. While the issue of hardened concrete waste has received considerable attention, process waste arising from the manufacture of ready-mixed concrete is relatively unexplored. It is apparent that initiatives such as the landfill tax have encouraged UK ready-mixed concrete manufacturers to reduce substantially the amount of waste they produce. Environmental pressures continue to increase and ready-mixed concrete producers are being forced towards a closed loop production system.     

Effectiveness of Management Interventions to Control Invasion by Rhododendron ponticum

Rhododendron ponticum is an invasive species in many countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, and France. It poses a serious threat to native flora and fauna, as it is capable of altering entire seminatural communities through its vigorous spread. Control is essential if the conservation value of some communities, such as oak woodland and lowland heath, are to be successfully maintained. Commonly used interventions are herbicide application, herbicide application postcut, and cutting (manual or mechanical) alone. Various techniques have been developed to apply these interventions, but often retreatment of the area is required, increasing the cost of control. Here, we evaluate the effectiveness of some commonly used interventions for R. ponticum control using a systematic review methodology. Eleven studies provided data for statistical analysis. Meta-analyses of captured data show that postcut application of the herbicide Glyphosate or applying the herbicides Metsulfuron-methyl or Imazapyr (no cut) can effectively reduce a R. ponticum stand. There is insufficient available experimental evidence for effectiveness of any other intervention. The systematic review process has demonstrated the lack of replicated studies with controls or long-term monitoring and increases the call for more rigorous monitoring of all conservation management interventions. The quality of experimental evidence of the effectiveness of some interventions contrasts with the acceptance of their use through dissemination of experience. The collection and objective review of experience will require active collaboration of organizations concerned with R. ponticum control.     

Ecosystem responses to climate change at a Low Arctic and a High Arctic long-term research site

Long-term measurements of ecological effects of warming are often not statistically significant because of annual variability or signal noise. These are reduced in indicators that filter or reduce the noise around the signal and allow effects of climate warming to emerge. In this way, certain indicators act as medium pass filters integrating the signal over years-to-decades. In the Alaskan Arctic, the 25-year record of warming of air temperature revealed no significant trend, yet environmental and ecological changes prove that warming is affecting the ecosystem. The useful indicators are deep permafrost temperatures, vegetation and shrub biomass, satellite measures of canopy reflectance (NDVI), and chemical measures of soil weathering. In contrast, the 18-year record in the Greenland Arctic revealed an extremely high summer air-warming of 1.3 °C/decade; the cover of some plant species increased while the cover of others decreased. Useful indicators of change are NDVI and the active layer thickness.     

Small-scale on-site treatment of fecal matter: comparison of treatments for resource recovery and sanitization

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - On-site small-scale sanitation is common in rural areas and areas without infrastructure, but the treatment of the collected fecal matter can be...     

Characterization of three major toxaphene congeners in arctic ringed seal by electron ionization and electron capture negative ion mass spectrometry

Three environmentally significant chlorinated bomane (CHB) congeners were extracted from Arviat ringed seal blubber and identified by using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRECNIMS (CH₄), low resolution EIMS, and linked field scanning). They are referred to as TS2 (Parlar#39, B8-531) [2-exo,3-endo,5-exo,6,6,8b,9c,10c (or 10a)-octachlorobonane], TS3 (Parlar#40, B8-1414) [2-endo,3-exo,5-endo,6-exo,8c,9b,10a,10c (or 10b)-octachlorobornane] and TS4 (Parlar#42, Toxicant A, B8-806/809) [2-exo,3-endo,6,6,8b,8c,9c,10c (or 10a)-octachlorobonane/2-exo,3-endo,6,6,8b,9b,9c,10a (or 10b)-octachlorobonane]. This is the first time Toxicant A, known to be the most toxic CHB congener in technical toxaphene, has been found in any significant concentration in a marine mammal.     

Sexual reproduction in Acropora (Isopora) (Coelenterata: Scleractinia)

In contrast to the seasonal gamete and planula production of Acropora (Isopora) palifera on Heron Island reef (Lat. 23° S), populations on Lizard Island reef (Lat. 14° S), sampled in 1979, 1981 and 1983, and Salamaua and Busama reefs (Lat. 7° S), sampled from 1980 to 1983, planulated year-round. Intensive sampling of colonies at Salamaua and Busama showed that gametes ripened at two-month intervals and that up to six cycles of gametes and larvae could be produced by an individual colony. Gametes of only a portion of the population — usually close to 50% — ripened each month. The Salamaua population, on average, produced fewer and smaller planulae than the Heron Island population during each two-monthly reproductive cycle. Hypotheses correlating the annual periodicity of breeding in marine animals with latitudinal variation of temperature were tested. In general, the time of breeding in A. palifera at Heron Island reef is much more restricted than theories based on latitudinal variations of water temperature would predict. It is hypothesized that, in the near subtropical environment of Heron Island reef, this species has evolved a life-history strategy that limits the amount of energy allocated to reproduction and allocates more energy to growth.