Use of local tidal records to identify relative sea level change: accuracy and error for decision makers

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) considers eustatic sea level rise to be a major impact driven by climate change. Relative sea level change, whether positive or negative, will affect industries, communities and ecology along the world??s coastlines and estuaries. Estimates of global eustatic sea level rise between 1961 and 2003 are 1.8?±?0.5?mm a^?1, reflecting results from validated global tide gauge records. Over the last two decades, several studies have used automatic tide gauge records with at least 80?years of data to generate global prediction models. The IPCC recognises that global change is not uniform, therefore local policy for flood management and coastal protection should rely on local change models that incorporate glacio-isostatic adjustment (GIA) and apply accurate data correction techniques. Some of the longest tidal records are held within the Northern Hemisphere, e.g. Cascais, Amsterdam, Aberdeen, Sheerness and Newlyn. The UK provides several important case studies highlighting changes in relative sea level between the north and the south, primarily due to variations in GIA rates of land uplift and subsidence. Tide gauge records are held by a variety of governmental, non-governmental and private organisations. However, each source may typically compile data in different ways, relying on diverse equipment and recording techniques, often with variations in frequency, length, quality and corrections applied. Even within a single organisation there may be differences in dataset quality. This paper examines some of the key sources of error when working with historical tidal datasets in local geographic areas and aims to identify the limitations of locally derived data thereby assisting in the determination of relative sea level trends that are of widespread value to infrastructure and policy makers.     

Social chemistry

This article is both an essay to propose social chemistry as a new scientific discipline and a preface of the books Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable World. Environmental chemistry is a fast emerging discipline aiming at the understanding the fate of pollutants in ecosystems and at designing novel processes that are safe for ecosystems. Past pollution should be cleaned, and future pollution should be predicted and avoided (Lichtfouse et al. 2005a). Such advices are still not applied by humans as demonstrated by the Fukushima nuclear event and global warming. Human errors are repeatable. We therefore suggest a possible solution, which involves bridging chemistry and society by integrating social sciences in chemical research. In particular, citizen discourse analysis should be useful to design chemicals that are both innovative and accepted by society. Then, we present the recent success of environmental chemistry through the foundation of the Association of Chemistry and the Environment; the increase in the impact factor of Environmental Chemistry Letters from 0.814 in 2006 to 2.109 in 2009; and over 35,000 chapter downloads of the book Environmental Chemistry. Lastly, we highlight major topics of the new book series Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable World (Lichtfouse et al. 2011a, b). The two first volumes are entitled Nanotechnology and Health Risk, and Remediation of Air and Water Pollution.     

How the social parasitic bumblebee <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bombus bohemicus</Emphasis> sneaks into power of reproduction

Social parasitism is widespread in many groups of social living hymenopteran species and has also evolved in the genus Bombus. Cuckoo bumblebees (subgenus Psithyrus) are obligate brood parasites in nests of other bumblebee species. After nest usurpation and the killing of the host queen, the parasite female has to control worker reproduction in order to accomplish and maintain reproductive dominance and to ensure her reproductive success. The aim of our study was to examine whether the generalist parasitic bumblebee Bombus bohemicus monopolizes and prevents worker reproduction by physical or chemical means and to identify possible odor compounds involved therein. We performed bioassays with callow workers of the host Bombus terrestris and have shown that B. bohemicus females are able to suppress host worker ovarian development, when these host workers are under the direct influence of the parasite female. Furthermore, by chemical analyses, we have demonstrated that the parasite females adjust to the odor profiles of their host queens in order to maintain the level of fertility signaling inside the host colony although the host queen is absent. We also found that host workers change their odor profile after nest usurpation by the parasite female and consequently, we suggest that the host and parasite are caught up in a chemical arms race.     

Size-dependent behavior of tuna in an array of fish aggregating devices (FADs)

Several lines of evidence indicate that aggregations of yellowfin tuna associated with floating objects are more frequently composed of small animals than larger ones. Also, the diet of small yellowfin tuna caught at anchored fish aggregating devices (FADs) around Oahu, Hawaii, was found to shift quite rapidly when these fish reached approximately 50 cm FL. In order to test for ontogenetic changes in aggregation behavior, we tagged and released two distinct size classes of yellowfin tuna in an array of anchored FADs around Oahu, Hawaii. Twenty-four yellowfin tuna 30–39 cm FL and 16 yellowfin tuna 63–83 cm FL were tagged with acoustic transmitters and released near anchored FADs equipped with automated acoustic receivers. Fish in the smaller size class stayed about 2.5 times longer at individual FADs than the larger fish (mean 4.05 days vs. 1.65 days) and displayed larger horizontal movements within the array. However, the durations of unassociated phases, residence times in the entire FAD array, percentage of time spent associated with FADs and numbers of movements between FADs did not show any difference between the two size groups. The observed size-dependent behavior is discussed in terms of physiological abilities, diet segregation and anti-predator behavior.     

Correlations in the chemical composition of rural background atmospheric aerosol in the UK determined in real time using time-of-flight mass spectrometry

An aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometer (ATOFMS) was used to determine, in real time, the size and chemical composition of individual particles in the atmosphere at the remote inland site of Eskdalemuir, Scotland. A total of 51,980 particles, in the size range 0.3-7.4 microm, were detected between the 25th and 30th June 2001. Rapid changes in the number density, size and chemical composition of the atmospheric aerosol were observed. These changes are attributed to two distinct types of air mass; a polluted air mass that had passed over the British mainland before reaching Eskdalemuir, interposed between two cleaner air masses that had arrived directly from the sea. Such changes in the background aerosol could clearly be very important to studies of urban aerosols and attempts at source apportionment. The results of an objective method of data analysis are presented. Correlations were sought between the occurrence of: lithium, potassium, rubidium, caesium, beryllium, strontium, barium, ammonium, amines, nitrate, nitrite, boron, mercury, sulfate, phosphate, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine and carbon (both elemental and organic hydrocarbon) in both fine (d < 2.5 microm) and coarse (d > 2.5 microm) particle fractions. Several previously unreported correlations were observed, for instance between the elements lithium, beryllium and boron. The results suggest that about 2 in 3 of all fine particles (by number rather than by mass), and 1 in 2 of all coarse particles containing carbon, consisted of elemental carbon rather than organic hydrocarbon (although a bias in the sensitivity of the ATOFMS could have affected these numbers). The ratio of the number of coarse particles containing nitrate anions to the number of particles containing chloride anions exceeded unity when the air mass had travelled over the British mainland. The analysis also illustrates that an air mass of marine origin that had travelled slowly over agricultural land can accumulate amines and ammonium.     

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the determination of dioxins in contaminated sediment and soil samples

A 96-microwell enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was evaluated to determine PCDDs/PCDFs in sediment and soil samples from an EPA Superfund site. Samples were prepared and analyzed by both the ELISA and a gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry (GC/HRMS) method. Comparable method precision, accuracy, and detection level (8 ng kg(-1)) were achieved by the ELISA method with respect to GC/HRMS. However, the extraction and cleanup method developed for the ELISA requires refinement for the soil type that yielded a waxy residue after sample processing. Four types of statistical analyses (Pearson correlation coefficient, paired t-test, nonparametric tests, and McNemar's test of association) were performed to determine whether the two methods produced statistically different results. The log-transformed ELISA-derived 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin values and log-transformed GC/HRMS-derived TEQ values were significantly correlated (r=0.79) at the 0.05 level. The median difference in values between ELISA and GC/HRMS was not significant at the 0.05 level. Low false negative and false positive rates (<10%) were observed for the ELISA when compared to the GC/HRMS at 1,000 ng TEQ kg(-1). The findings suggest that immunochemical technology could be a complementary monitoring tool for determining concentrations at the 1,000 ng TEQ kg(-1) action level for contaminated sediment and soil. The ELISA could also be used in an analytical triage approach to screen and rank samples prior to instrumental analysis.     

Electrolytic debromination of PBDEs in DE-83 technical decabromodiphenyl ether

Electrochemical debromination of the commercial decabromodiphenyl ether flame retardant DE-83 in partly aqueous tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution gave lower brominated congeners by sequential loss of bromine atoms. Hydrodebromination was most facile for the most heavily brominated congeners. It involves initial electron transfer and proton transfer from water, rather than hydrogen atom abstraction from THF, as shown by experiments with deuterated water. The product distribution from electrolysis involves preferential loss of bromine meta- and para- to the ether linkage, comparable with the products of metabolism of BDE-209 in various organisms. Significantly, the environmentally relevant congeners BDE-47, BDE-99, and BDE-154 were not major products of debromination of BDE-209 by the electron transfer mechanism.     

Modification of the biochemical pathways of plants induced by ozone: what are the varied routes to change?

When plants are observed under a low dose of ozone, some physiological and metabolic shifts occur. Barring extreme injury such as tissue damage or stomata closure, most of these disruptive changes are likely to have been initiated at the level of gene expression. The belief is oxidative products formed in ozone exposed leaves, e.g. hydrogen peroxide, are responsible for much of the biochemical adjustments. The first line of defense is a range of antioxidants, such as ascorbate and glutathione, but if this defense is overwhelmed, subsequent actions occur, similar to systemic acquired resistance or general wounding. Yet there are seemingly unrelated metabolic responses which are also triggered, such as early senescence. We discuss here the current understanding of gene control and signal transduction/control in order to increase our comprehension of how ozone alters the basic metabolism of plants and how plants counteract or cope with ozone.