Ambio - A horizon scan was conducted to identify emerging and intensifying issues for biodiversity conservation in South Africa over the next 5–10 years. South African biodiversity... 相似文献
AbstractThe Parati River contributes to the Babitonga Bay water complex, but the contents of the bay also influence the river during periods of inverted currents. In this study, the water quality along four stretches of the Parati River and Babitonga Bay was evaluated using chemical (physico-chemical and chromatographic analysis), microbiological (fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis) and ecotoxicological (Lumistox) methods to assess the reciprocal influence of the waters of this river-bay system. In addition, the most appropriate type of analysis for the monitoring of the estuarine region of the Parati River was identified. The results of six sampling campaigns showed that the type of contaminants and their levels varied temporally and spatially and thus the water quality also changed. Anthropogenic activity, such as banana cultivation and the release of sewage into the water system, is the primary cause of the contamination that affects the quality of the water in the Parati River estuary, which is a crucial ecological niche for the reproduction of various marine species. The ecotoxicity tests with Aliivibrio fischeri conducted to evaluate the water quality showed an integrative response, and the ecotoxicity data indicated that the Parati River does not have a significant influence on the water quality of Babitonga Bay. 相似文献
The present work investigated color and biochemical oxygen demand (COD) removal from treated landfill leachate via advanced oxidative processes (AOPs) artificially emitted. The AOP H2O2/UV, TiO2/UV, and photolysis were tested in two bench‐scale photoreactors: The first one with UV‐C lamp and the other with UV‐A lamp associated or not with coagulation / flocculation pretreatment. Crude leachate samples with pH ranging from 8 to 3 were used, and time varied in 30, 45, and 60 minutes. Experiments were performed in two stages: step 1 with a 20 mL volume from each sample and step 2 with repetition of the best results from the previous step, adopting the 150 mL volume. In step 1, the AOP applied in the crude leachate sample showed the best results, standing out H2O2/UV‐C with 30 minutes and TiO2/UV‐A with 60 minutes. In step 2, H2O2/UV‐C had a 60% color removal and 25% COD reduction, while TiO2/UV‐A had a 10% color removal and 20% COD reduction. Therefore, the H2O2/UV‐C process was the most efficient, because the complex characteristics of the effluent interfered in the TiO2/UV‐A efficiency, but it is necessary to eliminate the process interferences. The use of artificial radiation is a viable alternative; however, it can be costly, being relevant in the associations between processes with artificial UV and solar UV, as the natural radiation becomes more attractive and allows the process operating costs reduction. 相似文献
The environmental impact caused by the disposal of plastics has motivated the development of biodegradable materials. Recent
studies showed that supplementation with oleic acid (OA) in cultures producing poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), P(3HB), increased
the polymer productivity. However only few studies have shown the properties and biodegradation profile of the polymer obtained.
This research investigated the influence of OA concentration on the biodegradation of the P(3HB) obtained from cultures of
Cupriavidus necator. The crystallinity of the casting films determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was reduced from 70% (0 g L−1 of OA) to 52% (3.0 g L−1 of OA). A reduction of 11 °C in the melting temperature was observed with 3.0 g L−1 of OA. The kinetic of biodegradation was: 3.0 > 1.5 > 0.9 > 0.3 > 0 g L−1 of OA. 相似文献
The importance of stakeholder engagement for the success of natural resources management processes is widely acknowledged, yet evaluation frameworks employed by administrators of environmental programmes continue to provide limited recognition of or insistence upon engagement processes. This paper presents a framework for monitoring and evaluation of engagement that aims to better incorporate community engagement into mainstream environmental programmes, in particular in remote regions such as arid and desert regions of the world. It is argued that successful monitoring of engagement should not only comprise a generic set of indicators but rather, in addition to the principles of good monitoring practice, should take into account a variety of the stakeholder interests as well as key regional drivers, addressing them at right geographic, institutional and time scale. 相似文献
The surface group characteristics of mango cultivar peels and seeds were evaluated by infrared spectra, PZC, and functional group composition. The adsorption/reduction of chromium (VI) in aqueous solutions was investigated by varying pH, contact time, initial Cr(VI) concentration, and adsorbent amount. The results show that both peel and seed powders of the mango cultivars showed significant adsorption/reduction capacity for Cr(VI) and that the desorption process obeys pseudo-second-order kinetics. Optimal adsorption occurred at pH 1.0, using a Cr(VI) concentration of 100 mg/L. On average, at pH 1.0, and a concentration of 3 g/L, the maximum adsorption/reduction capacity of Cr(VI) was 83% (peels 76%, seeds 90%). Of the mango powders tested, the most efficient were Tommy seed (100%) and Coite peel (98%) followed by Coite seed (96%) and Tommy peel powders (95%). The adsorption/reduction of Cr(VI) was complete (100%) by the mango seed, in comparison to the peel powders (97%) after 180 min. The data indicates that mango waste products, such as seed and peel powders, are both excellent candidates for the remediation of Cr(VI) from aqueous systems and due to the higher concentration of gallates and galloyl glucosides, the mango seed powders should be the powders of choice for future remediation projects.
The quality of results of an environmental monitoring plan is limited to the weakest component, which could be the analytical approach or sampling method. Considering both the possibilities and the fragility that sampling methods offer, this environmental monitoring study focused on the uncertainties caused by the time component. Four time series of nutrient concentration at two sampling points (PB1 and PB2) in the Ribeir?o Garcia basin in Blumenau, Brazil, which were significantly correlated to the spatial component, were considered with a 2-hour resolution to develop efficient sampling models. These models were based on the time at which there was the highest tendency toward adverse environmental effects. Fourier spectral analysis was used to evaluated the time series and resulted in two sampling models: (1) the SMCP (sampling model for critical period) that operated with 100% efficiency for registering the highest concentration of nutrients and was valid for 83% of the studied parameters; and (2) the SMGCP (sampling model for global critical period) that operated with 83 and 50% efficiency for PB1 and PB2, respectively. 相似文献
Artisanal fisheries in tropical estuaries are an important economic activity worldwide. However, gear (e.g. ropes, nets, buoys,
crates) and vessels are often in use under dangerous conditions. Polyfilament nylon ropes are used until they are well beyond
human and environmental safety limits. Severe wear and tear results in the contamination of the environment with micro-fragments.
The spread of these fragments in the marine environment and their ingestion by the biota are documented in the scientific
literature and are increasing concerns. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ingestion of plastic fragments by two fish
(drum) species in relation to seasonal, habitat and fish size–class variation. 相似文献
This study proposes three methodologies to define artificial neural network models through genetic algorithms (GAs) to predict the next-day hourly average surface ozone (O3) concentrations. GAs were applied to define the activation function in hidden layer and the number of hidden neurons.
Methods
Two of the methodologies define threshold models, which assume that the behaviour of the dependent variable (O3 concentrations) changes when it enters in a different regime (two and four regimes were considered in this study). The change from one regime to another depends on a specific value (threshold value) of an explanatory variable (threshold variable), which is also defined by GAs. The predictor variables were the hourly average concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and O3 (recorded in the previous day at an urban site with traffic influence) and also meteorological data (hourly averages of temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity and wind speed). The study was performed for the period from May to August 2004.
Results and discussion
Several models were achieved and only the best model of each methodology was analysed. In threshold models, the variables selected by GAs to define the O3 regimes were temperature, CO and NO2 concentrations, due to their importance in O3 chemistry in an urban atmosphere.
Conclusion
In the prediction of O3 concentrations, the threshold model that considers two regimes was the one that fitted the data most efficiently. 相似文献