Are we counting what counts? A closer look at environmental concern,pro-environmental behaviour,and carbon footprint

Three parallel lines of inquiry regarding individuals' support for the environment have developed within the environmental social sciences. These include individuals' concern for the environment, research on private sphere pro-environmental behaviour (PEB), i.e. household actions seeking to improve the environment (e.g. buying better light bulbs), and more recently, ecological and carbon footprints. Researchers have noted that the correlates of this third form of support for the environment are not necessarily the same as the predictors of the first two forms. Using Canadian survey data, this study examines the relationships among, and predictors of, all three forms. Evidence that there is not a link between private sphere PEB and household carbon footprints, and that measures of socio-economic status (education and income) have different effects on different types of support for the environment, invites a discussion of whether environmental social scientists are really counting what counts.     

Community-Based Integrated Watershed Management

Abstract

Community-based watershed management is different from the traditional natural resources management. Traditional natural resources management is a way from up to bottom, but the community-based watershed management is from bottom to up. This approach focused on the joining of different stakeholders in integrated watershed management, especially the participation of the community who has been ignored in the past. The purpose of this paper is to outline some of the important basic definitions, concepts and operational framework for initiating community-based watershed management projects and programs as well as some successes and practical challenges associated with the approach.     

A COMPARISON OF PHOSPHORUS AND WATER CONTRIBUTIONS BY SNOWFALL AND RAIN IN NORTHEAST OHIO1

ABSTRACT A record snowfall of 55.8 centimeters occurred on December 1 and 2, 1974 in Portage County, Ohio. An early winter thaw melted the greater part of the snow by December 22, 1974, and a two-day rain fell from December 23 to December 25. These weather events provided an opportunity to compare snowmelt and rainfall contribution to runoff and phosphorus loading to the Twin Lakes Watershed. Phosphorus concentrations of the snow and rain were determined. Six lake inflows and two lake outflows were measured daily for volume and phosphorus concentration. The snow added 217,000 cubic meters of water and 2.2 kilograms of total phosphorus to the watershed. The rain added 74,000 cubic meters of water and 1.6 kilograms of total phosphorus. Total water discharge from the watershed during December was 244,537 cubic meters and total phosphorus output was 20.3 kilograms. The snow provided 49.9% of the discharge and 8% of the phosphorus whereas the rainfall contributed 28% of the discharge and 6% of the phosphorus. These results indicate that while snow is a significant source of water, it is not a large source of phosphorus. The greatest contribution of phosphorus comes from fine sediment carried by storm runoff.     

The persistence of chronically accumulated hydrocarbons in the hard shell clam Mercenaria mercenaria

Hard shell clams, Mercenaria mercenaria, from the chronically polluted environment of the Providence River, USA, were transferred to a clean laboratory system located in lower Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. The hydrocarbon contents of these transplanted clams were monitored for 120 days after transfer. After this period only slight depuration had occurred. A 41.9 g g wet weight^-1 average initial hydrocarbon burden decreased to 29.3 g g^-1, a decrease that became statistically significant (P<0.1) only after 120 days. At most, only 30% of the clams' hydrocarbons were lost. These findings indicate that the duration of the exposure period and the chemical nature of the source hydrocarbons are both instrumental in determining the persistence of these compounds in filter-feeding bivalves. Chronically accumulated petroleum hydrocarbons are strongly retained by the organisms and are only very slowly depurated.     

Studies on the digestive lipase of the surf clam Spisula solidissima

Crude molluscan lipase was prepared by homogenizing in tris buffer either fresh or lyophilized crystalline styles of Spisula solidissima. Both preparations showed specific activities less than 2% of standard hog pancreatic lipase, and pH and temperature optima of 8.0 and 20°C, respectively. When compared with mammalian hog pancreatic lipase, the clam lipase was found to be the more versatile enzyme on primary wax esters as well as methyl esters. Neither lipase was capable of hydrolyzing the oleate or palmitate esters of the secondary alcohols of glycerol, cholesterol or isopropyl alcohol; however, both showed activity on the oleate ester of isobutyl alcohol, a primary alcohol. S. solidissima lipase, hog pancreatic lipase, and a lipase isolated from the pancreas of the skate Raja erinacea, all demonstrated an inability to hydrolyze the methyl esters of eicosatetraenoic, eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids. The lipase-resistant polyunsaturated fatty acid esters are discussed in terms of their role in the lipid biochemistry of marine organisms.     

Uptake and depuration of organic contaminants by blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) exposed to environmentally contaminated sediment

Experiments were designed to expose blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) to contaminated sediment collected from Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, USA in 1982. Measurements were taken to allow comparisons of the uptake and depuration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). In addition, concentration factors in the mussels were calculated separately against the dissolved and particulate phase concentrations and the results from the exposure and control systems were compared. Both PAHs and PCBs were rapidly accumulated by the mussels exposed to the contaminated sediment. After the mussels were transferred to control seawater, individual PAHs were depurated with half-lives ranging from 12 to 30 d. Individual PCBs showed depuration half-lives which ranged from 16 to 46 d. Concentration factors in the mussels calculated against the particulate phase concentrations were very different in the exposure and control systems. Concentration factors calculated using only the dissolved phase concentrations (bioconcentration factors) showed excellent agreement in the two systems, possibly an indication that the dissolved phase was the direct source of the contaminants accumulated by the mussels. The bioconcentration factors for PCBs were higher than those of PAHs when compounds with similar n-octanol/water partition coefficients were compared.     

Low-temperature oxidation of coal at elevated pressures

A mathematical model is presented to describe steady-state mass transfer and oxidation processes in coal at low temperatures in a fixed-bed flow reactor. The model incorporates the effects of partial pressure of oxygen, temperature and coal particle size, and accounts for the rate of coal oxidation and the composition of oxygenated products at high pressures. This is an important development since previous models did not include the effect of pressure in their formulation. It is found that, when the partial pressure of oxygen increases the rate of oxygen consumption increases accordingly. However, the influence of partial pressure of oxygen on the rate of oxidation is less pronounced when the pressure surpasses 1 MPa. In addition the model predicts that, for a constant partial pressure of oxygen, higher rates of oxygen consumption occur at lower total pressures. The same trends are also found for the concentration of oxygenated products at the reactor outlet. It is suggested that, the variation of partial pressure of oxygen leads to different concentration levels of oxygen at the surface and within the pores of coal particles, substantially affecting the rate of oxidation.     

Validation of pyrithiobac sodium (Staple herbicide) ELISA for Australian cotton soils

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for pyrithiobac-sodium (Staple) produced by DuPont was validated in Australian soils. This pyrithiobac-sodium ELISA was shown to be highly sensitive with the limit of detection of 4-5 ppt. Soil samples were extracted either in PBS buffer by shaking or by accelerated solvent extraction (ASE). While pyrithiobac sodium can be analyzed directly by ELISA after ASE extraction with 1/10 or more dilutions, the analysis of PBS extract required filtration and dilution 1/20 or more depending on the concentration. Immunoassay results compared favorably with GC-MS results for both ASE and PBS extract of incurred residue of pyrithiobac sodium in soil samples, indicating that this ELISA can be an inexpensive and reliable alternative to conventional residue analysis methods for quantification of pyrithiobac-sodium. This validation provided the basis for applying the ELISA to a field study of pyrithiobac-sodium.