Modelling spatial distribution of hard bottom benthic communities and their functional response to environmental parameters

In this study we analyzed and modelled spatial distribution of hard bottom benthic communities in the Lagoon of Venice, and used the model to derive functional response of these communities to changing environmental conditions.     

The interactive effects of conscientiousness,openness to experience,and political skill on job performance in complex jobs: The importance of context

Caveats concerning the ability of personality to predict job performance have been raised because of seemingly modest criterion‐related validity. The goal of the present research was to test whether narrowing the context via the type of job (i.e., jobs with complex task demands) and adding a social skill‐related moderator (i.e., political skill) would improve performance prediction. Further, along with political skill, the broad factor of personality demonstrated in prior research to have the strongest criterion validity (i.e., conscientiousness) was joined with a narrow construct closely related to openness to experience (i.e., learning approach) in a three‐way interactive prediction of supervisor‐rated task performance. With the employee–supervisor dyads among professionals, but not with the control group of non‐professional employees, task performance was predicted by the three‐way interaction, such that those high on all three received the highest performance ratings. Implications, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rapid analysis of neonicotinoid insecticides in guttation drops of corn seedlings obtained from coated seeds

Regarding the hypothesis that neonicotinoid insecticides used for seed coating of agricultural crops - mainly corn, sunflower and seed rape - are related to the extensive death of honey bees, the phenomenon of corn seedling guttation has been recently considered as a possible route of exposure of bees to these systemic insecticides. In the present study, guttation drops of corn plants obtained from commercial seeds coated with thiamethoxam, clothianidin, imidacloprid and fipronil have been analyzed by an optimized fast UHPLC-DAD procedure showing excellent detection limits and accuracy, both adequate for the purpose. The young plants grown both in pots - in greenhouse - and in open field from coated seeds, produced guttation solutions containing high levels of the neonicotinoid insecticides (up to 346 mg L(-1) for imidacloprid, 102 mg L(-1) for clothianidin and 146 mg L(-1) for thiamethoxam). These concentration levels may represent lethal doses for bees that use guttation drops as a source of water. The neonicotinoid concentrations in guttation drops progressively decrease during the first 10-15 days after the emergence of the plant from the soil. Otherwise fipronil, which is a non-systemic phenylpyrazole insecticide, was never detected into guttation drops. Current results confirm that the physiological fluids of the corn plant can effectively transfer neonicotinoid insecticides from the seed onto the surface of the leaves, where guttation drops may expose bees and other insects to elevated doses of neurotoxic insecticides.     

Port safety and the container revolution: A statistical study on human factor and occupational accidents over the long period

Several factors can affect occupational accident frequency, namely economical factors, technologies used (low automation, discontinuous operating) job design, organization of work/environmental conditions and human factors. In particular, technological advances in industrial activities can give rise to improvement in productivity and in occupational health and safety, but not necessarily simultaneously. The beginning of the container transport dates back to 50 years ago, but while containerization changed everything, from ships and ports to patterns of global trade, its impact on work injuries was not explored at all. The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between work organization, job experience, productivity and occupational accidents, from the starting of the container expansion to nowadays, considering Genoa port (Italy), one of the largest of the Mediterranean Sea. In order to minimize possible reporting biases, such as underreporting or reclassification to a lower level of severity, injury statistics are elaborated starting from data collected directly on-site, from internal accident or medical-aid reports. An in-depth statistical analysis on occupational injuries in the years 1980–2006 is carried out, with reference to frequency indexes, mechanism of injury and material causes. The increase of container-ships traffic and, consequently, the sharp change in port infrastructure involved a rapid modification also in the work organization, with particular reference to the number and characteristics of workforce (decrease from 5783 to nearly 1000 employees and increase of low experience workers from 28% to 74%). The striking high percentage increase of young or low experienced workers in handling container (and performing correlated new tasks) caused a remarkable increase of the risk for occupational injuries. In the studied port, we recorded an increase of the frequency index (injuries per hundred thousand hours worked) from 13.0 to 29.7. It results that the increased expansion of shipping container utilization is not connected to a correspondent human factor safety implementation. Main risk factors are pointed out, revealing an increase of accidents due to transport vehicle (+8.3%) and a reduction of accidents caused by substance or materials (?4.5%). These factors show a statistical significant correlation with the new job tasks. Consideration of these findings may enable managerial solutions and workplace organization interventions for the prevention of injuries and safety performance improvement in port activities.     

Assessing Ecological Integrity of Ozark Rivers to Determine Suitability for Protective Status

Preservation of extraordinary natural resources, protection of water quality, and restoration of impaired waters require a strategy to identify and protect least-disturbed streams and rivers. We applied two objective, quantitative methods to determine stream ecological integrity of headwater reaches of 10 Ozark rivers, 5 with Wild and Scenic River federal protective status. Thirty-four variables representing macroinvertebrate and fish assemblage characteristics, in-stream habitat, riparian vegetation, water quality, and watershed attributes were quantified for each river and analyzed using two multivariate approaches. The first approach, cluster and discriminant analyses, identified two groups of river with only one variable (% forested watershed) reliably distinguishing groups. Our second approach employed ordinal scaling to compare variables for each river to conceptually ideal conditions that were developed as a composite of optimal attributes among the 10 rivers. The composite distance of each river from ideal was then calculated using a unidimensional ranking technique. Two rivers without Wild and Scenic River designation ranked highest relative to ideal (highest ecological integrity), and two others, also without designation, ranked most distant from ideal (lowest ecological integrity). Fish density, number of intolerant fish species, and invertebrate density were influential biotic variables for scaling. Contributing physical variables included riparian forest cover, water nitrate concentration, water turbidity, percentage of forested watershed, percentage of private land ownership, and road density. These methods provide a framework for refinement and application in other regions to facilitate the process of establishing least-disturbed reference conditions and identifying rivers for protection and restoration.     

The role of atmospheric transformations in determining environmental impacts of carbonaceous nanoparticles

In studies that have explored the potential environmental impacts of manufactured nanomaterials, the atmosphere has largely been viewed as an inert setting that acts merely as a route for inhalation exposure. Manufactured nanomaterials will enter the atmosphere during production, use, and disposal, and rather than simply being transported, airborne nanoparticles are in fact subject to physical and chemical transformations that could modify their fate, transport, bioavailability, and toxicity once they deposit to aqueous and terrestrial ecosystems. The objective of this paper is to review the factors affecting carbonaceous nanomaterials' behavior in the environment and to show that atmospheric transformations, often overlooked, have the potential to alter nanoparticles' physical and chemical properties and thus influence their environmental fate and impact. Atmospheric processing of naturally occurring and incidental nanoparticles takes place through coagulation, condensation, and oxidation; these phenomena are expected to affect manufactured nanoparticles as well. It is likely that carbonaceous nanomaterials in the atmosphere will be oxidized, effectively functionalizing them. By influencing size, shape, and surface chemistry, atmospheric transformations have the potential to affect a variety of nanoparticle-environment interactions, including solubility, interaction with natural surfactants, deposition to porous media, and ecotoxicity. Potential directions for future research are suggested to address the current lack of information surrounding atmospheric transformations of engineered nanomaterials.     

Attitudes Toward Water Allocation: Segmenting the Public on Beliefs toward Water Conservation

Environmental Management - The population in the American West has been increasing at a rapid rate and is predicted to continue growing. As a result, the availability, use, and allocation of water...     

The life cycle of rice: LCA of alternative agri-food chain management systems in Vercelli (Italy)

The Vercelli rice district in northern Italy plays a key role in the agri-food industry in a country which accounts for more than 50% of the EU rice production and exports roughly 70%. However, although wealth and jobs are created, the sector is said to be responsible for environmental impacts that are increasingly being perceived as topical. As a complex and comprehensive environmental evaluation is necessary to understand and manage the environmental impact of the agri-food chain, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology has been applied to the rice production system: from the paddy field to the supermarket. The LCA has pointed out the magnitude of impact per kg of delivered white milled rice: a CO_2eq emission of 2.9 kg, a primary energy consumption of 17.8 MJ and the use of 4.9 m³ of water for irrigation purposes. Improvement scenarios have been analysed considering alternative rice farming and food processing methods, such as organic and upland farming, as well as parboiling. The research has shown that organic and upland farming have the potential to decrease the impact per unit of cultivated area. However, due to the lower grain yields, the environmental benefits per kg of the final products are greatly reduced in the case of upland rice production and almost cancelled for organic rice. LCA has proved to be an effective tool for understanding the eco-profile of Italian rice and should be used for transparent and credible communication between suppliers and their customers.     

What’s a Stream Without Water? Disproportionality in Headwater Regions Impacting Water Quality

Headwater streams are critical components of the stream network, yet landowner perceptions, attitudes, and property management behaviors surrounding these intermittent and ephemeral streams are not well understood. Our research uses the concept of watershed disproportionality, where coupled social-biophysical conditions bear a disproportionate responsibility for harmful water quality outcomes, to analyze the potential influence of riparian landowner perceptions and attitudes on water quality in headwater regions. We combine social science survey data, aerial imagery, and an analysis of spatial point processes to assess the relationship between riparian landowner perceptions and attitudes in relation to stream flow regularity. Stream flow regularity directly and positively shapes landowners’ water quality concerns, and also positively influences landowners’ attitudes of stream importance—a key determinant of water quality concern as identified in a path analysis. Similarly, riparian landowners who do not notice or perceive a stream on their property are likely located in headwater regions. Our findings indicate that landowners of headwater streams, which are critical areas for watershed-scale water quality, are less likely to manage for water quality than landowners with perennial streams in an obvious, natural channel. We discuss the relationships between streamflow and how landowners develop understandings of their stream, and relate this to the broader water quality implications of headwater stream mismanagement.