A knowledge network to promote the use and valorization of wild food plants in the Pantanal and Cerrado,Brazil

Regional Environmental Change - The conservation and use of wild food plants should include local people in the decision-making process, and many countries have done so. However, interacting with...     

Ecotoxicity of imidacloprid to soil invertebrates in two tropical soils with contrasting texture

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Imidacloprid is one of the most commercialized insecticides in agriculture in the world, with a broad spectrum of action. However, little is known...     

Carnauba (Copernicia prunifera) palm tree biomass as adsorbent for Pb(II) and Cd(II) from water medium

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Plant-based biomass (CFB (carnauba fruit biomass)) obtained from the fruit exocarp of the species Copernicia prunifera (Mill.) H.E. Moore (carnauba)...     

Oxidative stress in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and armored catfish (Pterygoplichthys anisitsi) exposed to diesel oil

Considering that diesel oil is one of the most common aquatic contaminants, we compare the oxidative stress between two species of fish with different habitats (Pterygoplichthys anisitsi, benthic and Oreochromis niloticus, nektonic) exposed to diesel oil. Malondialdehyde concentrations (MDA) and the activities of ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD), glutathione S-transferase (GST), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase were all analyzed in the fishes' livers and gills after 2 and 7 days of exposure to different concentrations of diesel (0.1 and 0.5 mL/L). In the tilapia, MDA levels and the activities of EROD and GST activity in the liver, as well as MDA levels and the activities of GST and SOD in the gill had statistically significant differences between the treatments and between the times of exposure. For the catfish, the same occurred in the case of MDA, EROD, and SOD in the liver and in CAT and SOD in the gills. There were significant differences in the enzyme activity and lipid peroxidation between the species. Although the activity of most enzymes seemed to be more expressive and responsive to diesel in O. niloticus, diesel oil also caused significant effects on oxidative stress parameters in P. anisitsi, even though this species is benthic and thus has less access to insoluble fractions of diesel oil. Therefore, both species can be used as sentinel organisms in environmental biomonitoring of diesel contamination.     

Influence of Metals on Lindane Adsorption onto Pine Bark

Some persistent pesticides, as organochlorines, are not efficiently removed from usual wastewater treatment plants, unless a tertiary treatment, commonly activated carbon adsorption, is applied. The downside of this practice rests on its high regeneration costs. This fact motivated the research for alternative processes involving the use of natural materials. Pine bark was used in this work, to remove lindane from contaminated waters. The adsorptive capabilities of this material were studied (equilibrium time, adsorption model and saturation of the adsorbent) and the interference of some metals (iron, cadmium, copper, nickel and lead) was also investigated. Results showed an excellent efficiency of adsorption (average 80,65%) and that the presence of the studied metals did not affect both efficiency and the model of the adsorption, within the range of the concentration of the pesticide studied.     

Simulating N2O fluxes from a Brazilian cropped soil with contrasted tillage practices

Assessing the N₂O fluxes balance is a key challenge to estimate the effect of agriculture practices on greenhouse gas production. N₂O fluxes remained difficult to measure on a field scale due to high spatial and temporal variability and usually low concentrations. Our work aimed at (i) characterizing by laboratory measurements soil potential N₂O emissions from nitrification and denitrification and (ii) testing a modelling approach of N₂O emissions that circumvents the problem of discrete measurements for two Brazilian rainfed rice cropping systems, no-tillage (NT) vs. disk tillage (DT). This latter approach consisted in the combination of 2 models: a mechanistic water transfer model and a N₂O emission model, namely PASTIS and NOE. Simulations with the PASTIS + NOE approach showed for both NT and DT treatments that: (i) the soil emitted low amounts of N₂O, (ii) emissions by denitrification corresponded to short periods of high N₂O emissions (15 times as high as emission by nitrification), (iii) nitrification contributed to ca 35% of the total N₂O emissions at the crop cycle scale, (iv) field N₂O emission measurements corresponded to the low bound of simulated emissions from nitrification.     

Positive and negative aspects of GRI reporting as perceived by Brazilian organizations

This paper aims to identify the positive and negative aspects in the sustainability reporting framework proposed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The research was conducted through content analysis of 27 companies’ responses to three questions: “Why does the company where you work prepare a sustainability report?” “What are the positive aspects you identify in the framework for GRI reporting?” and “What are the negative aspects you identify in the framework for GRI reporting?” The questionnaire was sent to all Brazilian companies that published sustainability reports using the GRI guidelines between 2011 and 2013 related to the base year 2010. We found that respondents viewed the GRI guidelines and the reports they created as management tools for sustainability and that they assist in benchmarking sustainability performance and legitimizing the sustainability actions of the organization. Furthermore, some respondents indicated that the reports themselves are marketing tools. On the other hand, the respondents reported difficulties in understanding the proposed GRI guidelines. They considered the guidelines complex, ambiguous, and too flexible, which undermined both the standardization of the reports and the ability to compare reports. Based on these comments, it is recommended that the GRI develop a simpler and less flexible reporting methodology.