Aromatic free radicals in the gunflint chert

The Middle Precambrian chert of Gunflint formation contains an exceptionally high amount of bitumen free radicals. The Gunflint chert appears to be the oldest formation in which the presence of these radicals has been found. Their presence in this deposit constitutes evidence for the existence of primitive protovascular plants in the early Proterozoic environment of the Lake Superior Region of Canada.     

Radioactive contamination of wood and its products

This paper presents research on radioactive contamination of the three most common kinds of wood in Croatia--beech, oak and fir as well as acorn. Gamma-spectrometric measurements carried out on the samples of bark and wood of beech, oak, fir and acorn have shown radioactivity contents ranging from 1.6 +/- 0.1 to 37.3 +/- 0.5 Bq/kg from deposited 137Cs, whose concentrations in the soil of Croatia have increased after the Chernobyl accident. Measurements have also shown the radioactivity originating from 40K and 214Bi, which are part of the natural composition of the soil. The distribution of the radionuclides in wood has been discussed, as well as the impact of radioactive contamination of wood by the artificial radionuclide 137Cs upon the forest ecosystem. According to the corresponding model, it has been calculated that a 10 h daily stay in a typical family house increases the annual radiation dose of the population, due to the deposited 137Cs in the structure or furniture, by 343 microSv.     

New international long-term ecological research on air pollution effects on the Carpathian Mountain forests,Central Europe

An international cooperative project on distribution of ozone in the Carpathian Mountains, Central Europe was conducted from 1997 to 1999. Results of that project indicated that in large parts of the Carpathian Mountains, concentrations of ozone were elevated and potentially phytotoxic to forest vegetation. That study led to the establishment of new long-term studies on ecological changes in forests and other ecosystems caused by air pollution in the Retezat Mountains, Southern Carpathians, Romania and in the Tatra Mountains, Western Carpathians on the Polish-Slovak border. Both of these important mountain ranges have the status of national parks and are Man & the Biosphere Reserves. In the Retezat Mountains, the primary research objective was to evaluate how air pollution may affect forest health and biodiversity. The main research objective in the Tatra Mountains was to evaluate responses of natural and managed Norway spruce forests to air pollution and other stresses. Ambient concentrations of ozone (O(3)), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) as well as forest health and biodiversity changes were monitored on densely distributed research sites. Initial monitoring of pollutants indicated low levels of O(3), SO(2), and NO(x) in the Retezat Mountains, while elevated levels of O(3) and high deposition of atmospheric sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) have characterized the Tatra Mountains. In the Retezat Mountains, air pollution seems to have little effect on forest health; however, there was concern that over a long time, even low levels of pollution may affect biodiversity of this important ecosystem. In contrast, severe decline of Norway spruce has been observed in the Tatra Mountains. Although bark beetle seems to be the immediate cause of that decline, long-term elevated levels of atmospheric N and S depositions and elevated O(3) could predispose trees to insect attacks and other stresses. European and US scientists studied pollution deposition, soil and plant chemistry, O(3)-sensitive plant species, forest insects, and genetic changes in the Retezat and Tatra Mountains. Results of these investigations are presented in a GIS format to allow for a better understanding of the changes and the recommendations for effective management in these two areas.     

Origin and transport of U and Ra in riverine,estuarine and marine sediments of the Krka River,Croatia

Spatial distribution of ²³⁸U and ²²⁶Ra activities in sediment columns along the Krka River and estuary, were studied using gamma spectrometry. Markedly different ²³⁸U and ²²⁶Ra activities between riverine, estuarine and marine sediments were observed. Distribution of these radionuclides, as well as their anthropogenic and natural origin, was evaluated by activity measurements, taking into account sedimentation rates estimated by ¹³⁷Cs distribution in sediment columns.     

Uptake,distribution and loss of Cr in the crab Xantho hydrophilus

Uptake of ⁵¹Cr(III) is faster than uptake of ⁵¹Cr(VI), but it occurs mainly on the surface of the animals. Steady state is attained after 28 d. The resulting concentration factor is about 200. Although the uptake of ⁵¹Cr(VI) is slower, it is more intensively distributed into the organs and tissues of the animals. Steady state was not attained during the experiments (35 d); the highest concentration factor reached was about 10. The uptake of both ⁵¹Cr(III) and ⁵¹Cr(VI) seems to be passive. For both chemical forms of chromium, the loss rate is inversely proportional to the exposure time. When the uptake lasted longer, owing to the distribution of Cr(VI) into the organs and tissues, the loss rate of Cr(III) is somewhat faster relative to the loss rate of ⁵¹Cr(VI). The opposite is the case when the uptake of both forms lasts only two days. On the basis of the distribution and loss experiments, we argue that hexavalent chromium in living organisms is reduced to the trivalent form and then complexed with organic molecules.     

Taking stock of community-based flood risk management in Malawi: different stakeholders,different perspectives

Current flood risk strategies in Malawi are characterized by community-based flood risk management (CB-FRM), even though studies explicitly documenting evidence of successful CB-FRM remain limited. This paper investigates the realities and challenges of CB-FRM as seen through a lens of different stakeholders. In order to capture the experiences of CB-FRM, a predominantly qualitative research framework was developed. In 2016, 11 focus group discussions with stakeholder groups (local communities, local government and non-governmental organisations) were held. Additionally, informal discussions, field visits, a short survey and an extensive desk study were undertaken. The findings were analysed according to the major themes that emerged related to the realities and challenges of specific stakeholder groups. Although response and relief still remain prominent components of CB-FRM in Malawi, a number of mitigation and preparedness activities is observed. However, a lack of in-country resources, relief-oriented aid approaches and an ‘aid dependency’ syndrome represent obstacles. Different stakeholder groups share similar challenges in terms of financing, participation, decentralised governance and project management. Lack of project sustainability and localised ownership also emerged as major challenges. The identified challenges shed light on the frontiers and directions in which improvements are needed, thus offering a valuable contribution to the existing knowledgebase.     

Characterization of biological responses under different environmental conditions: A hierarchical modeling approach

A natural river system is organized as a nested hierarchy of interconnected habitats with specific environmental conditions to which the biological community has adapted. Due to this hierarchical structure, identifying the role of different stressors on the biological community is a formidable task. Efforts trying to link stressors to biological integrity have always been bound to the geographic scale of the selected study area, leading to scale-specific results. In this research, an attempt is made to lift this limitation and develop a hierarchical, scale-sensitive methodology that can identify the significant environmental stressors to the biological community at different scales. Sites with similar background environmental conditions are clustered using self-organizing maps (SOM). This is used to identify stressors which affect the biological community throughout the area of study - called environmental gradients or large-scale stressors. Subsequently, these clusters of similar observations (sampling sites) are progressively sub-divided using environmental variables with a significant but localized effect on the biological community - called small-scale stressors. A parent group of sites is split only when the resulting sub-groups have significantly different biological responses. At the end of this recursive sites decomposition procedure, the original set of observations is organized as a tree of environmentally homogeneous groups of observations characterized by unique biological responses to multiple stressors with different geographic extents. The developed hierarchical analysis methodology has been validated using a large-size dataset of environmental observations from the State of Ohio. Our results show that habitat degradation and increased nutrient loading are the large-scale stressors with a widespread impact in Ohio. Other stressors, such as heavy metals, pH or nitrate concentrations have significant albeit localized effects on biological integrity.