Increasing pressure, declining water and climate change in north-eastern Morocco

The coastal stretch of north-eastern Mediterranean Morocco holds vitally important ecological, social, and economic functions. The implementation of large-scale luxury tourism resorts shall push socio-economic development and facilitate the shift from a mainly agrarian to a service economy. Sufficient water availability and intact beaches are among the key requirements for the successful realization of regional development plans. The water situation is already critical, additional water-intense sectors could overstrain the capacity of water resources. Further, coastal erosion caused by sea-level rise is projected. Regional climate change is observable, and must be included in regional water management. Long-term climate trends are assessed for the larger region (Moulouya basin) and for the near-coastal zone at Saidia. The amount of additional water demand is assessed for the large-dimensioned Saidia resort; including the monthly, seasonal and annual tourist per capita water need under inclusion of irrigated golf courses and garden areas. A shift of climate patterns is observed, a lengthening of the dry summer season, and as well a significant decline of annual precipitation. Thus, current water scarcity is mainly human-induced; however, climate change will aggravate the situation. As a consequence, severe environmental damage due to water scarcity is likely and could impinge on the quality of local tourism. The re-adjustment of current management routines is therefore essential. Possible adjustments are discussed and the analysis concludes with management recommendations for innovative regional water management of tourism facilities.     

Contribution of sugar-cane harvesting season to atmospheric contamination by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Araraquara city,Southeast Brazil

In Brazil, sugar-cane crops are burned to facilitate harvesting, and this causes environmental pollution from the large amounts of smoke and soot that are released into the atmosphere. The smoke and soot contain numerous organic compounds such as PAHs. In this study, PM₁₀ and PAH concentrations in the air of Araraquara (SE Brazil, with around 200,000 inhabitants and surrounded by sugar-cane plantations) were determined during the harvest and non-harvest seasons. The sampling strategy included two campaigns in each season, with 20 samples per season. PM₁₀ was collected using a Hi-vol sampler with Teflon? – coated glass fiber filters. PM₁₀ ranged from 41 to 181 μg m^?3 during the harvest season, and from 12 to 47 μg m^?3 during the non-harvest season. The mean total concentration of PAHs was 2.5 ng m^?3 (non-harvest season) and 11.6 ng m^?3 (harvest season). In all sampling periods, the most abundant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were phenanthrene and fluoranthrene, and the least abundant was anthracene. The cluster analysis of the total PAH concentrations for each day of sampling and the corresponding meteorological data suggested that the atmospheric concentration of PAHs was independent of the differences in the weather between the seasons. For both sampling seasons, the statistical treatment (PCA, Varimax rotation and HCA) indicated the presence of vehicle sources (diesel, gasoline, and natural-gas engines); but for the harvest season, the main source was attributed to sugar-cane burning. The data generated by this study indicated the burning of sugar-cane as the main contributor to the high levels of PAHs detected in samples during the sugar-cane harvest season.     

Socio-economic predictors of domestic wood use in an Atlantic forest area (north-east Brazil): a tool for directing conservation efforts

Given the excessive use pressure on forests, characterisation of the major users of forest resources can help guide conservation efforts. This study examines whether socio-economic variables explain domestic wood use in an area of Atlantic forest in the community of Três Ladeiras (Pernambuco, north-east Brazil). Socio-economic data were collected from 62 households, and geometric measurements of wood products in each household were taken to calculate the wood volume. An informant in each household indicated the average replacement time for each type of wood use. Data were analysed for static volume (wood volume found at the time of the visit) and dynamic volume (rate of wood consumption, calculated as the ratio between volume and replacement time). Multiple regression analyses were performed to determine the relationships between wood volume (static and dynamic) and the number of species used; independent variables including monthly family income, number of residents, average age of heads of the household, age of oldest household member, average residence time of heads of the household, average education level of heads of the household and education level of the most educated household member. Monthly income was inversely related to the static wood volume (adjusted R ² = 17.6%, p < 0.001), rate of wood consumption (adjusted R ² = 23.0%, p < 0.001) and number of species used (adjusted R ² = 22.3%, p < 0.001) and was the most important predictive variable for these three outcomes. Other factors such as average education level and average age of heads of the household were also explanatory variables of the total rate of wood consumption, as these two variables, together with monthly family income, explain 31.3% of the total dynamic volume. Given the high importance of income in our study, we suggest that future conservation strategies give special attention to the poorest members of the community.     

Evaluating approaches for scaling-up community-based marine-protected areas into socially equitable and ecologically representative networks

Marine-protected areas (MPAs) are vital to marine conservation, but their coverage and distribution is insufficient to address declines in global biodiversity and fisheries. In response, many countries have committed through the Aichi Target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity to conserve 10% of the marine environment through ecologically representative and equitably managed MPAs by 2020. The rush to fulfill this commitment has raised concerns on how increasing MPA coverage will affect other elements of Target 11, including representation and equity. We examined a Philippines case study to assess and compare 3 MPA planning approaches for biodiversity representation and equitable distribution of costs to small-scale fishers. In the opportunistic approach, MPAs were identified and supported by coastal communities. The donor-assisted approach used local knowledge to select MPAs through a national-scale and donor-assisted conservation project. The systematic conservation planning approach identified MPA locations with the spatial prioritization software Marxan with Zones to achieve biodiversity objectives with minimal costs to fishers. We collected spatial data on biodiversity and fisheries features and performed a gap analysis to evaluate MPAs derived from different approaches. We assessed representation based on the proportion of biodiversity features conserved in MPAs and distribution equity by the distribution of opportunity costs (fishing areas lost in MPAs) among fisher stakeholder groups. The opportunistic approach did not ineffectively represent biodiversity and resulted in inequitable costs to fishers. The donor-assisted approach affected fishers disproportionately but provided near-optimal regional representation. Only the systematic approach achieved all representation targets with minimal and equitable costs to fishers. Our results demonstrate the utility of systematic conservation planning to address key elements of Target 11 and highlight opportunities (e.g., integration of local and scientific knowledge can address representation and equity concerns) and pitfalls (e.g., insufficient stakeholder considerations can exacerbate social inequalities) for planning MPAs in similar contexts.     

Health impact assessment of air pollutants during the COVID-19 pandemic in a Brazilian metropolis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Studies around the world have revealed reduced levels of atmospheric particulate matter in periods of greatest human mobility restriction to contain...     

Selective effects of natural and synthetic insecticides on mortality of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and its predator Eriopis connexa (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Spodoptera frugiperda Smith (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a serious pest of corn in several American countries. It is mainly controlled with synthetic insecticides. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of the natural products, neem oil and pyroligneous extract, and the synthetic insecticide, lufenuron, at 2.50mL water (0.25 %) on the mortality of 2-, 4- and 6-day-old caterpillars of S. frugiperda, and their selectivities against fourth instar larvae of Eriopis connnexa Germar (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). Four- and 6-day-old S. frugiperda caterpillars showed higher mortality after exposure to neem oil (83.33 ± 0.83 and 89.58 ± 0.90 %, respectively) and lufenuron (95.83 ± 0.96 and 85.41 ± 0.83 %), compared to pyroligneous extract (68.75 ± 0.69 and 31.25 ± 0.31 %). The deleterious effect of pyroligneous extract was higher in 2- (83.33 ± 0.83 % mortality) and 4-day-old (68.75 ± 0.69 %) S. frugiperda caterpillars than in 6-day-old caterpillars (31.25 ± 0.31 %). Larval mortality of the predator E. connexa was lower with neem oil and pyroligneous extract (25.00 ± 0.33 %) than with lufenuron (91.66 ± 1.22 %). Neem oil is thus recommended for control of S. frugiperda because of its high toxicity, combined with its relatively low toxicity to larvae of the natural enemy E. connexa.     

Assessing spatial uncertainty of the Portuguese fire risk through direct sequential simulation

Forest fires have a significant economic, social, and environmental impact in Portugal. For that its fire risk was assessed through Bayes Formalism, where the main component of the risk of fire was assessed by the conditional probability of fire I(u,t) given a class of the daily severity rating (DSR) for a specific period of time—P[I(u,t)|R(u,t)]. The evaluation of this a posterior probability, P[I(u,t)|R(u,t)], was based on the update of marginal local probability of fire in each chosen region u (Durão, 2006).DSR values were used to calculate fire's risk, taking into account historical data, I(s,t), in a given region s, and also to define DSR's local thresholds in order to have P [I(u,t)|R(u,t)] ≥ 0.65.In this paper we characterize these posterior probabilities using direct sequential simulation models (DSS models) to obtain the spatial distribution of these probabilities over the entire Portugal, in order to assess the risk of fire and associated spatial uncertainty. Local probability density functions (pdfs) and spatial uncertainty are evaluated by a set of equiprobable simulated images of these posterior probabilities.Results are presented and discussed for the Portuguese fire seasons of the 2-year period, 2003-2004. The conditional probabilities reproduced reasonably well what was officially published for the studied fire seasons. We expect that a better understanding of both spatial and temporal patterns of fire in Portugal together with uncertainty measures constitutes an important tool for managers, helping to improve the effectiveness of fire prevention, detection and fire fighting resources allocation in critical social and environmental areas.     

Dynamic stoichiometric response to food quality fluctuations in the heterotrophic dinoflagellate Oxyrrhis marina

With respect to nutrients, plants are rather non-homoeostatic while most metazoans have much more confined ranges of nutrient ratios. It was recently highlighted that the homoeostatic ability of microzooplankters lies in between these two extremes. Nevertheless, we know very little on the dynamics of stoichiometric changes. Hence, we investigated how the stoichiometry of the heterotrophic dinoflagellate Oxyrrhis marina is affected (1) during a starvation period and (2) when fed nutrient deplete Rhodomonas salina after having been pre-conditioned on nutrient replete algae and vice versa. We observed that the dinoflagellate was able to maintain its N:P ratio constant over 78 h of starvation. We inferred that under starvation, nitrogen-limited O. marina mainly used fat as energy source while nitrogen-rich individuals also used proteins as fuel in cellular respiration. Further, we showed that O. marina presents resistance to nutrient limitation, with stronger regulation against P-limitation than against N-limitation. This resilience in microzooplankton stoichiometry following food quality stress would have great implications for both top-down (nutrient remineralisation) and bottom-up controls (quality as food).     

From classic methodologies to application of nanomaterials for soil remediation: an integrated view of methods for decontamination of toxic metal(oid)s

Soil pollution with toxic elements is a recurrent issue due to environmental disasters, fossil fuel burning, urbanization, and industrialization, which have contributed to soil contamination over the years. Therefore, the remediation of toxic metals in soil is always an important topic since contaminated soil can affect the environment, agricultural safety, and human health. Many remediation methods have been developed; however, it is essential to ensure that they are safe, and also take into account the limitation of each methodology (including high energy input and generation of residues). This scenario has motivated this review, where we explore soil contamination with arsenic, lead, mercury, and chromium and summarize information about the methods employed to remediate each of these toxic elements such as phytoremediation, soil washing, electrokinetic remediation, and nanoparticles besides elucidating some mechanisms involved in the remediation. Considering all the discussed techniques, nowadays, different techniques can be combined together in order to improve the efficiency of remediation besides the new approach of the techniques and the use of one technique for remediating more than one contaminant.     

Geostatistics under preferential sampling in the presence of local repulsion effects

Environmental and Ecological Statistics - This paper presents an extension of the Geostatistical model under preferential sampling in order to accommodate possible local repulsion effects. This...