Temperature niche composition change inside and outside protected areas under climate warming

Conservation of biodiversity relies heavily on protected areas but their role and effectiveness under a warming climate is still debated. We estimated the climate-driven changes in the temperature niche compositions of bird communities inside and outside protected areas in southern Canada. We hypothesized that communities inside protected areas include a higher proportion of cold-dwelling species than communities outside protected areas. We also hypothesized that communities shift to warm-dwelling species more slowly inside protected areas than outside. To study community changes, we used large-scale and long-term (1997–2019) data from the Breeding Bird Survey of Canada. To describe the temperature niche compositions of bird communities, we calculated the community temperature index (CTI) annually for each community inside and outside protected areas. Generally, warm-dwelling species dominated communities with high CTI values. We modeled temporal changes in CTI as a function of protection status with linear mixed-effect models. We also determined which species contributed most to the temporal changes in CTI with a jackknife approach. As anticipated, CTI was lower inside protected areas than outside. However, contrary to our expectation, CTI increased faster over time inside than outside protected areas and warm-dwelling species contributed most to CTI change inside protected areas. These results highlight the ubiquitous impacts of climate warming. Currently, protected areas can aid cold-dwelling species by providing habitat, but as the climate warms, the communities’ temperature compositions inside protected areas quickly begin to resemble those outside protected areas, suggesting that protected areas delay the impacts of climate warming on cold-dwelling species.     

Elevated biogenic sulphur dioxide concentrations over the North Atlantic

Elevated biogenic SO₂ from the oxidation of dimethylsulphide (DMS) in the marine atmosphere was measured over the North Atlantic Ocean in spring and summer 2003. Stable isotope apportionment was used to distinguish between anthropogenic and biogenic SO₂ in the marine atmosphere south of Greenland. Atmospheric DMS measurements were within range of previous studies. Biogenic SO₂ concentrations were as high as 82 nmol m^?3 (spring geometric mean: 4 nmol m^?3, σ = 17; summer geometric mean 7 nmol m^?3, σ = 19) and are the highest reported values for marine biogenic SO₂ in the literature. Elevated biogenic SO₂ was found in air masses influenced by anthropogenic pollutants during the summer. This indicates that anthropogenic pollutants may affect the fate of oceanic emissions of sulphur compounds in the atmosphere favoring the formation of cloud condensation nuclei.     

Blood dioxin biomonitoring to assess local residents' exposure from a large urban remediation project

Background

A total of 265 000 m³ of dioxin contaminated soil and sediments from past industrial activity was treated on site in an urban setting in Sydney, Australia. To respond to local community concerns about potential dioxin exposure from fugitive emissions a human biomonitoring study was undertaken.

Objective

To determine whether local residents were exposed to significant amounts of dioxin from the remediation process.Methods: Blood samples were collected from local residents around the site and a representative metropolitan control group. They were pooled within age and sex strata and the change in dioxin concentrations over the remediation period and a summary of the mid point and post remediation dioxin concentrations were compared between groups. Information on dietary intake was collected to look for possible confounding.

Results

The mean dioxin Toxic Equivalent concentrations (TeQ) decreased among both the local resident and control groups over the remediation period by 1.9 and 2.1 pg gm⁻¹ lipid respectively. Modelled blood concentrations adjusting for age and sex did not detect a significant difference between groups for changes in either TeQ or 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8 TCDD). The summary measure approach did however demonstrate that the 2,3,7,8 TCDD concentrations among the local resident group was approximately 0.7 pg g⁻¹ lipid higher compared to the control group post remediation. There were no significant changes in dietary intake sources of dioxin.

Conclusion

Biomonitoring demonstrated that local residents were not exposed to significant quantities of dioxin. Large scale remediation of dioxin contaminated land can be safely undertaken in an urban setting.     

Direct and indirect land-use change as prospective climate change indicators for peri-urban development transitions

With urban areas responsible for a significant share of total anthropogenic emissions, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to land-use change (LUC) induced by peri-urban (PU) development have the potential to be considerable. Despite this, there is little research into the transition from PU cropland to housing in terms of contribution to global warming. This paper presents a cross-sectoral integrative method for prospective climate change evaluation of PU LUC. Specifically, direct LUC (dLUC) GHG emissions from converting PU cropland to greenfield housing were examined. Additionally, GHG emissions due to displaced crop production inducing indirect LUC (iLUC) elsewhere were assessed. GHG impacts of dLUC and iLUC were each determined to be approximately 8 per cent of total GHG emissions due to a greenfield housing development displacing PU cropland. This magnitude of dLUC and iLUC emissions suggests that both have importance in future land-use decision making with respect to PU environments.     

Sperm allocation in an uncertain world

Models of optimal sperm allocation are constructed using stochastic dynamic programming techniques, yielding predictions about sperm allocation when males mate sequentially, breeding time is finite, sperm stores are limited and females vary in quality. The models suggest that uncertainty of future reproductive opportunities should favour withholding of sperm, so that males tend to allocate less (for a given level of stored sperm) earlier in the breeding season. This effect is more pronounced the greater the variance in female quality. We also show that while allocation will be influenced by mate value, it is not necessarily optimal to allocate preferentially to high-quality females, since the benefits of a higher-quality mate may be offset by increased risk of rejection of sperm or higher sperm competition. The relationship between mate quality and level of allocation will depend strongly on the amount of remaining stored sperm, with males whose supplies are depleted being more likely to favour lower-quality partners. Received: 12 September 1997 / Accepted after revision: 28 June 1998     

Technological options for the management of biosolids

BACKGROUND, AIM, AND SCOPE: Large quantities of biosolids (sewage sludge), which are produced from municipal wastewater treatment, are ever-increasing because of the commissioning of new treatment plants and continuous upgrades of the existing facilities. A large proportion of biosolids are currently landfilled. With increasing pressure from regulators and the general public, landfilling of biosolids is being phased out in many countries because of potential secondary pollution caused by leachate and the emission of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Biosolids contain nutrients and energy that can be used beneficially. Significant efforts have been made recently to develop new technologies to manage biosolids and make useful products from them. In this paper, we provide a review of the technologies in biosolids management. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey of literature was conducted. RESULTS: At present, the most common beneficial use of biosolids is agricultural land application because of inherent fertilizer values found in biosolids. Expansion of land application, however, may be limited in the future because of more stringent regulatory requirements and public concern about food chain contamination in some countries. Perceived as a green energy source, the combustion of biosolids has received renewed interest. Anaerobic digestion is generally a more effective method than incineration for energy recovery, and digested biosolids are suitable for further beneficial use through land application. Although conventional incineration systems for biosolid management generally consume more energy than they produce because of the high moisture content in the biosolids, it is expected that more combustion systems, either monocombustion or cocombustion, will be built to cope with the increasing quantity of biosolids. DISCUSSION: Under the increasingly popular low-carbon economy policy, biosolids may be recognized as a renewable fuel and be eligible for 'carbon credits'. Because ash can be used to manufacture construction materials, combustion can provide a complete management for biosolids. A number of advanced thermal conversion technologies (e.g., supercritical water oxidation process and pyrolysis) are under development for biosolids management with a goal to generate useful products, such as higher quality fuels and recovery of phosphorus. With an ever-increasing demand for renewable energy, growing bioenergy crops and forests using biosolids as a fertilizer and soil amendment can not only contribute to the low-carbon economy but also maximize the nutrient and carbon value of the biosolids. CONCLUSIONS: Land application of biosolids achieves a complete reuse of its nutrients and organic carbon at a relatively low cost. Therefore, land application should become a preferred management option where there is available land, the quality of biosolids meet regulatory requirements, and it is socially acceptable. Intensive energy cropping and forest production using biosolids can help us meet the ever-increasing demand for renewable energy, which can eliminate the contamination potential for food sources, a common social concern about land application of biosolids. In recent years, increasing numbers of national and local governments have adopted more stringent regulations toward biosolid management. Under such a political climate, biosolids producers will have to develop multireuse strategies for biosolids to avoid being caught because a single route management practice might be under pressure at a short notice. Conventional incineration systems for biosolids management generally consume more energy than they produce and, although by-products may be used in manufacturing, this process cannot be regarded as a beneficial use of biosolids. However, biosolids are likely to become a source of renewable energy and produce 'carbon credits' under the increasingly popular, low-carbon economy policy. RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES: To manage biosolids in a sustainable manner, there is a need for further research in the following areas: achieving a higher degree of public understanding and acceptance for the beneficial use of biosolids, developing cost-efficient and effective thermal conversions for direct energy recovery from biosolids, advancing technology for phosphorus recovery, and selecting or breeding crops for efficient biofuel production.     

Incorporating Habitat Mapping into Practical Koala Conservation on Private Lands

Abstract: Identifying and conserving faunal habitat on private lands has been conducted largely on a site-by-site basis as development proposals arise. We sought to map koala habitat at a scale suitable for use by a local planning authority so that habitat remnants could be protected and managed while remaining in private ownership. At this scale, the level of detail and accuracy needed by local planners required a new approach to mapping koala habitat. Two independent techniques, community and field surveys, were employed. We mailed a survey to every household in Coffs Harbour shire. Respondents told of 3309 koala sightings. We conducted a field survey, a plot-based scat (  fecal pellet) search, to determine which vegetation types and tree species were preferred by koalas. We surveyed 119 sites, which contained 42 different vegetation types. Of these, 37 (31%) had been used by koalas. The outcomes of the community and field surveys were combined to produce a distribution map of koala habitat. The most striking outcome has been the use of our results by the local government authority, Coffs Harbour City Council: planners have incorporated the koala habitat map into their local environmental plan. Our procedure offers a rigorous, repeatable, and publicly accessible method for identifying and mapping important habitat for the purposes of land-use planning, an essential procedure for conserving habitat outside the reserve system.     

Suppression of nucleation mode particles by biomass burning in an urban environment: a case study

Measurements of concentrations and size distributions of particles 4.7 to 160 nm were taken using an SMPS during the bonfire and firework celebrations on Bonfire Night in Leeds, UK, 2006. These celebrations provided an opportunity to study size distributions in a unique atmospheric pollution situation during and following a significant emission event due to open biomass burning. A log-normal fitting program was used to determine the characteristics of the modal groups present within hourly averaged size distributions. Results from the modal fitting showed that on bonfire night the smallest nucleation mode, which was present before and after the bonfire event and on comparison weekends, was not detected within the size distribution. In addition, there was a significant shift in the modal diameters of the remaining modes during the peak of the pollution event. Using the concept of a coagulation sink, the atmospheric lifetimes of smaller particles were significantly reduced during the pollution event, and thus were used to explain the disappearance of the smallest nucleation mode as well as changes in particle count mean diameters. The significance for particle mixing state is discussed.     

Urban Domestic Gardens (XIV): The Characteristics of Gardens in Five Cities

Domestic gardens make substantial contributions to the provision of green space in urban areas. However, the ecological functions provided by such gardens depend critically on their configuration and composition. Here, we present the first detailed analysis of variation in the composition of urban gardens, in relation to housing characteristics and the nature of the surrounding landscape, across different cities in the United Kingdom. In all five cities studied (Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leicester, and Oxford), garden size had an overwhelming influence on garden composition. Larger gardens supported more of the land-use types recorded, in greater extents, and were more likely to contain particular features, including tall trees and mature shrubs, areas of unmown grass and uncultivated land, vegetable patches, ponds, and composting sites. The proportional contribution of non-vegetated land-uses decreased as garden area increased. House age was less significant in determining the land-use within gardens, although older houses, which were more likely to be found further from the urban edge of the city, contained fewer hedges and greater areas of vegetation canopy >2 m in height. Current UK government planning recommendations will ultimately reduce the area of individual gardens and are thus predicted to result in fewer tall trees and, in particular, less vegetation canopy >2 m. This might be detrimental from ecological, aesthetic, social, and economic stand points.     

国际石油工业环境保护协会(IPIECA)：在城市空气质量管理中的积极作用

国际石油工业环境保护协会(IPIECA)已形成了用于发展中国家的城市空气质量管理框架.它提出一种为削减排放从而达到空气质量标准而进行的区域项目评估、了解问题和评价对策的方法.这一举措的目的是促进发展实用的、有科学根据的和成本效率的方法以帮助建立有益于健康的空气质量标准.