Effect of combined nitrogen on dinitrogen fixation and productivity in Pisum sativum L. Inoculated with different strains of Rhizobium

This growth chamber study was designed to determine rates of nitrogen fixation, growth, productivity and concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus during vegetative growth, flowering and the beginning of the fruiting and ripening period in Pisum sativum plants supplied with different concentrations of nitrate and nodulated by various strains of Rhizobium leguminosarum. Noninoculated control plants were grown under the same nutritional conditions. Nodulated and unnodulated plants responded differently to treatment. The effects of inoculation with Rhizobium and the nitrate treatments on the parameters of growth and nitrogen content varied with plant age. Although the presence of nitrate in the culture medium inhibited nodulation and acetylene reducing activity (ARA), the different Rhizobium strains used in the inoculations led to variations in tolerance to combined nitrogen.     

Incentives and outcomes: Evaluation of a Swedish environmental subsidy programme

This paper empirically evaluates a Swedish government subsidy to environmental sustainability, the Local Investment Programme (LIP). During the programme period, 1998 – 2002, more than 670 million was granted to 1814 different municipal projects, making it the largest Swedish subsidization to ecological sustainability to date. For the 682 projects evaluated here, it was found that the projects were rewarded smaller subsidies than granted. To explain the gap between granted and rewarded subsidies, the gap was decomposed into a quantity effect, depending on the quantified environmental and employment outcomes of the projects, and a price effect, depending on the government's valuation of these outcomes. Whereas no statistically significant quantity effect was found, there was a large statistically significant price effect, indicating that the government paid the municipalities less than promised in the granting decision.     

Determinants of consumer behavior related to organic foods

There have been many studies of what influences consumers in their decisions to purchase or consume organic foods, mainly concerned with fresh organic foods. These show a discrepancy between attitudes and behavior with people being positive about organic foods but often not purchasing them. This discrepancy seems to be explained by the fact that consumers do not consider "organically produced" to be an important purchase criterion, that organic foods are not perceived to surpass conventional foods regarding taste and shelf life (two qualities rated to be of great importance), and because of the perceived premium prices of organic foods. In two Swedish studies, health benefits were demonstrated to be more strongly related to attitudes and behavior toward organic foods than were perceived environmental benefits. A new European Union (EU) project will investigate the influences on both fresh and processed organic foods and investigate the role of moral, ethical, and affective influences on choice across eight EU countries.     

Clonal differences in mercury tolerance, accumulation, and distribution in willow

This study was performed to investigate mercury (Hg) tolerance, accumulation, and translocation within the genus Salix for the potential use of this plant to remediate Hg-contaminated sites. Six clones of willow (Salix spp.) were tested on tolerance to Hg by treating plants grown in solution culture with 0 to 15 microM HgCl(2). Results showed that willow had a large variation in its sensitivity to Hg. However, the accumulation and translocation of Hg to shoots was similar in the eight tested willow clones as shown by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry analysis when plants were treated with 0.5 microM HgCl(2) in a nutrient solution. The majority of total Hg accumulated was localized to the roots, whereas only 0.45 to 0.62% of the total Hg accumulated via roots was translocated to the shoots. Thus, the root system is the main tissue of willow that accumulates Hg and the majority of the Hg in the root system (80%) was bound in the cell wall.     

PCDD/Fs emissions inventory in the Lombardy Region: results and uncertainties

The results of an assessment study of both industrial and non-industrial dioxin and furan (PCDD/Fs) emissions in the Lombardy Region (Italy) are outlined below. The main data source refer to 1997, and are compiled from the Lombardy Emissions Inventory (developed under the framework of the Regional Air Quality Plan) together with documented emissions factors available. Due to the uncertain nature of the emissions assessment, results are provided as a most probable value within a given range. Total PCDD/Fs emissions in Lombardy average 33 g I-TEQ y(-1), ranging from minimum 13 g I-TEQ y(-1) to maximum 88 g I-TEQ y(-1). The main PCDD/Fs sources are waste incineration, electric arc furnace for steel production, vehicle diesel combustion and residential wood combustion. Incineration emission factors are expected to decrease over the period 2005-2010, in compliance with legal requirements. This will prioritize control over the remaining main PCDD/Fs contributors. Due to limited information available concerning this data, the accuracy of which is uncertain, further research is needed to evaluate the future role of these sources.     

Organization of School Centres and Environmental Education: In Search of Action Models for the Greening of School Organization

The introduction of environmental education (EE) in school centres is a process which has mainly followed two paths. One centred on teaching actions, on the curriculum organization and administration in order to enable educational practice orientated towards attaining the aims of EE. The other, which is here denominated 'organizational strategy' focuses, basically, on the organization and administration of the centre from an environmental perspective. The characteristics and main results of this 'environmental education and school organization' research project are described, dedicating special attention to the assessments of some of the participants. A series of elements for discussion and debate which could be useful in the development of future projects and actions within the framework of school organization greening is presented.     

Male lagoon gobies, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Knipowitschia panizzae</Emphasis>, prefer more ornamented to larger females

Female ornamentation may be directly sexually selected, by male choice or female competition, or occurs as the result of a genetic correlation, arising from sexual selection on males. However, increasing evidence supports the former hypothesis, suggesting that males actively choose their partner preferring traits indicative of female quality. In the lagoon goby, Knipowitschia panizzae, a polygynous species whose males perform parental care to eggs, body length and the size of a sex-specific yellow patch on the belly are known to be reliable indicators of female fecundity. In this paper, we tested, using dummies, the male’s mating preferences for female body and yellow belly patch sizes. The two experimental trials in which a single female trait was variable showed that males prefer a larger belly patch and a larger body size, indicating that both these characters are selected by male mate choice. However, when faced with dummies exhibiting an inverse combination of body and belly patch sizes (experiment 3), males significantly preferred the smaller ones with larger yellow belly patches. A calculation of dummy theoretical fecundity reveals that in the first two experiments, males would have received an immediate benefit from their choice in terms of egg number, whereas in the third one, males chose partners that would have provided them with fewer eggs. The male lagoon goby preference for females with larger belly patches, regardless of their size, suggests that this trait, in addition to indicating fecundity, conveys information about other aspects of female and/or egg quality.