Adaptation research has changed significantly in recent years as funders and researchers seek to encourage greater impact, ensure value for money and promote interdisciplinarity across the natural and social sciences. While these developments are inherently positive, they also bring fresh challenges. With this in mind, this paper presents an agenda for the next generation of climate adaptation research for development. The agenda is based on insights from a dialogue session held at the 2016 Adaptation Futures conference as well as drawing on the collective experience of the authors. We propose five key areas that need to be changed in order to meet the needs of future adaptation research, namely: increasing transparency and consultation in research design; encouraging innovation in the design and delivery of adaptation research programmes; demonstrating impact on the ground; addressing incentive structures; and promoting more effective brokering, knowledge management and learning. As new international funding initiatives start to take shape, we underscore the importance of learning from past experiences and scaling-up of successful innovations in research funding models.
Agricultural practices can lead to copper accumulation in soils and at high concentration it can become toxic for plants.
One common toxic effect of copper on plants is a decrease of crop yield. Here, we studied 1) the crop yield of maize grown
on plots of a soil intentionally enriched with copper sulphate and 2) the possible relationship between the copper concentration
in chemical soil fractions and the maize crop yield. Anthropogenic copper is mainly bound to manganese oxides, to iron oxides
and to the organic matter. Maize (Zea maize L.) was grown on outdoor experimental plots. The crop yield was evaluated for three development stages: the 6–10 leaf stage,
the female flowering stage and the maturity stage, 2, 4 and 6 years after the soil copper enrichment. Strong crop yield reductions,
proving a toxic effect of copper on maize growth were noted 2 years after the copper input at the maturity stage and 4 years
after the copper input at the 6–10 leaf stage. Variations in maize crop yield are described with linear multiple regression
equations including the variable copper content in soil, and other variables when needed such as soil pH, soil organic carbon
level and the climatic variables, the precipitation rate and the ambient temperature. The crop yield study at the 6–10 leaf
stage and at the female flowering stage does not provide significant regression equations, while the crop yield study at the
maturity stage does. Request variables for the models are the total copper content or the copper bound to the organic matter
and the meteorological data.
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The effects of chloride, nitrate, perchlorate and sulfate ions on the rates of the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide and the oxidation of organic compounds by the Fenton's process have been investigated. Experiments were conducted in a batch reactor, in the dark at pH < or = 3.0 and at 25 degrees C. Data obtained from Fe(II)/H2O2 experiments with [Fe(II)]0/[H2O2]0 > or = 2 mol mol(-1), showed that the rates of reaction between Fe(II) and H2O2 followed the order SO4(2-) > ClO4(-) = NO3- = Cl-. For the Fe(III)/H2O2 process, identical rates were obtained in the presence of nitrate and perchlorate, whereas the presence of sulfate or chloride markedly decreased the rates of decomposition of H2O2 by Fe(III) and the rates of oxidation of atrazine ([atrazine]0 = 0.83 microM), 4-nitrophenol ([4-NP]0 = 1 mM) and acetic acid ([acetic acid]0 = 2 mM). These inhibitory effects have been attributed to a decrease of the rate of generation of hydroxyl radicals resulting from the formation of Fe(III) complexes and the formation of less reactive (SO4(*-)) or much less reactive (Cl2(*-)) inorganic radicals. 相似文献
Sediment cores from oxygen depleted zones of lake Léman (lake of Geneva) and from anoxic surface sediment from Voua de la Motte (France) were analyzed for their sterol compositions. 4-methylstanols were found to be major sterols in Motte lake sediment, which is rich in organic matter. In lake Léman, the relative abundances of the same 4-methylstanols increase with the depth in the core, but they remain always minor compounds. An extensive search for a possible external source for these compounds included the analysis of water, of the plankton and of the surrounding soil material. All these results, along with those of an in situ incubation experiment, give strong evidence in favor of their in situ bacterial biosynthesis. 相似文献
Flow-through column tests were conducted to investigate the performance of iron wall remediation systems for the degradation of aqueous-phase trichloroethylene (TCE). Concentration profiles under steady-state transport conditions were generated by measuring TCE concentrations at sample ports located at various locations along the length of the column. The results indicated that a pseudo-first-order model is adequate at describing degradation kinetics for low initial TCE concentrations, but not for higher initial concentrations. The deviation from pseudo-first-order kinetics can be explained by interspecies competition for reactive sites between TCE and a dominant reaction product. A modification of the pseudo-first-order model that accounts for product interference predicts laboratory data for high initial concentration profiles, but deviates slightly as initial concentrations approach the solubility of TCE. The data clearly demonstrate the importance of accurately describing reaction kinetics for the purpose of designing iron wall treatment systems. 相似文献
Gaseous emissions from agriculture contribute to a number of environmental effects. Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are greenhouse gases taking part to the global problem of climate change. Ammonia (NH3) emissions are responsible of soil acidification and eutrophication and contribute also to indirect emissions of N2O. This work evaluated the influence of the type of floor on the emissions of these gases in the raising of weaned pigs. Two trials were carried out. In the first trial, the animals were kept either on fully slatted floor or on straw-based deep litter and, in the second one, either on fully slatted floor or on sawdust-based deep litter. For each trial and on each type of floor, 2 successive batches of weaned pigs were raised without changing the litter or emptying the slurry pit between the 2 batches. The rooms were automatically ventilated to maintain a constant ambient temperature.The performance of the animals was not significantly different according to the floor type. In trial 1, the nitrogen contents of the straw deep litter (including the substrate) and slurry were respectively 276 and 389 g pig−1. In trial 2, the sawdust deep litter and slurry nitrogen contents were respectively 122 and 318 g pig−1.Raising pigs on straw deep litter produced proportionately around 100% more NH3 than raising pigs on slatted floor (0.61 g NH3-N d−1 pig−1 vs. 0.31 g NH3-N d−1 pig−1; P < 0.05). Differences in CO2, H2O and CH4 emissions were not significant between systems. Raising pigs on sawdust deep litter produced also proportionately more NH3 (+52%; 0.55 g NH3-N d−1 pig−1 vs. 0.36 g NH3-N d−1 pig−1; P < 0.01) but also more CO2 (+25%; 427 g d−1 pig−1 vs. 341 g d−1 pig−1; P < 0.001) and H2O (+65%; 981 g d−1 pig−1 vs. 593 g d−1 pig−1; P < 0.001) and less CH4 (−40%; 0.52 g d−1 pig−1 vs. 0.86 g d−1 pig−1; P < 0.001) than raising pigs on slatted floor. Practically no N2O emission was observed from rooms with slatted floor while the N2O emissions were 0.03 and 0.32 g N2O-N d−1 pig−1 for the straw and sawdust deep litter respectively. The warming potential of the greenhouse gases (N2O + CH4), were about 22, 34 and 168 g CO2 equivalents per day and per pig on fully slatted floor, straw or sawdust deep litter respectively.In conclusion, pollutant gas emissions from rearing of weaned pig seem lower with fully slatted plastic floor system than with deep litter systems. 相似文献
The Zambezi River Basin in southern Africa is relatively undeveloped from both a hydropower and irrigated agriculture perspective, despite the existence of the large Kariba and Cahora Bassa dams. Accelerating economic growth increases the potential for competition for water between hydropower and irrigated agriculture, and climate change will add additional stresses to this system. The objective of this study was to assess the vulnerability of major existing and planned new hydropower plants to changes in climate and upstream irrigation demand. Our results show that Kariba is highly vulnerable to a drying climate, potentially reducing average electricity generation by 12 %. Furthermore, the expansion of Kariba generating capacity is unlikely to deliver the expected increases in production even under a favourable climate. The planned Batoka Gorge plant may also not be able to reach the anticipated production levels from the original feasibility study. Cahora Bassa’s expansion is viable under a wetting climate, but its potential is less likely to be realised under a drying climate. The planned Mphanda Nkuwa plant can reach expected production levels under both climates if hydropower is given water allocation priority, but not if irrigation is prioritised, which is likely. For both Cahora Bassa and Mphanda Nkuwa, prioritising irrigation demand over hydropower could severely compromise these plants’ output. Therefore, while climate change is the most important overall driver of variation in hydropower potential, increased irrigation demand will also have a major negative impact on downstream plants in Mozambique. This implies that climate change and upstream development must be explicitly incorporated into both project and system expansion planning. 相似文献
After introducing geostatistics concept and its utility in environmental science and especially in Fallout Radionuclide (FRN) spatialisation, a case study for cesium-137 ((137)Cs) redistribution at the field scale using geostatistics is presented. On a Canadian agricultural field, geostatistics coupled with a Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to test three different techniques of interpolation [Ordinary Kriging (OK), Inverse Distance Weighting power one (IDW1) and two (IDW2)] to create a (137)Cs map and to establish a radioisotope budget. Following the optimization of variographic parameters, an experimental semivariogram was developed to determine the spatial dependence of (137)Cs. It was adjusted to a spherical isotropic model with a range of 30 m and a very small nugget effect. This (137)Cs semivariogram showed a good autocorrelation (R(2)=0.91) and was well structured ('nugget-to-sill' ratio of 4%). It also revealed that the sampling strategy was adequate to reveal the spatial correlation of (137)Cs. The spatial redistribution of (137)Cs was estimated by Ordinary Kriging and IDW to produce contour maps. A radioisotope budget was established for the 2.16 ha agricultural field under investigation. It was estimated that around 2 x 10(7)Bq of (137)Cs were missing (around 30% of the total initial fallout) and were exported by physical processes (runoff and erosion processes) from the area under investigation. The cross-validation analysis showed that in the case of spatially structured data, OK is a better interpolation method than IDW1 or IDW2 for the assessment of potential radioactive contamination and/or pollution. 相似文献