Measured variation in boron loads reaching European sewage treatment works

Per capita boron loads reaching 48 sewage treatment works (STWs) in The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and the UK have been determined from monitoring data. These have been compared with the per capita input predicted from boron in detergents, as determined from detergent product sales data. The resulting distribution of the ratios of measured boron to boron predicted from consumer usage has a 90th percentile of less than 1.5. Boron has previously been shown to be a good marker for substances contained in detergent products, as it cannot be biodegraded and is not substantially adsorbed in the sewer, and there is little or no removal during sewage treatment processes. The monitoring information on the distribution of boron loads found at the different STWs should thus be indicative of the distribution of other substances released to the environment by detergent products, as specified by the relevant industrial category (IC 5-personal/domestic) in the Technical Guidance Documents. Variation in detergent product consumption figures from 18 European countries is also low, with the country with the highest per capita detergent consumption having only 1.3 times the European average detergent use. Thus the present practice of determining a "reasonable worst case" by multiplying the average per capita consumption by a factor of four to account for geographic differences in distribution, is considered to be inappropriate. This should be replaced by a factor of less than two, which combines within country and between country variations to provide a reasonable worst case approximation of the load reaching the sewage treatment facility.     

Integrated models to support multiobjective ecological restoration decisions

Many objectives motivate ecological restoration, including improving vegetation condition, increasing the range and abundance of threatened species, and improving species richness and diversity. Although models have been used to examine the outcomes of ecological restoration, few researchers have attempted to develop models to account for multiple, potentially competing objectives. We developed a combined state‐and‐transition, species‐distribution model to predict the effects of restoration actions on vegetation condition and extent, bird diversity, and the distribution of several bird species in southeastern Australian woodlands. The actions reflected several management objectives. We then validated the models against an independent data set and investigated how the best management decision might change when objectives were valued differently. We also used model results to identify effective restoration options for vegetation and bird species under a constrained budget. In the examples we evaluated, no one action (improving vegetation condition and extent, increasing bird diversity, or increasing the probability of occurrence for threatened species) provided the best outcome across all objectives. In agricultural lands, the optimal management actions for promoting the occurrence of the Brown Treecreeper (Climacteris picumnus), an iconic threatened species, resulted in little improvement in the extent of the vegetation and a high probability of decreased vegetation condition. This result highlights that the best management action in any situation depends on how much the different objectives are valued. In our example scenario, no management or weed control were most likely to be the best management options to satisfy multiple restoration objectives. Our approach to exploring trade‐offs in management outcomes through integrated modeling and structured decision‐support approaches has wide application for situations in which trade‐offs exist between competing conservation objectives.     

Does including physiology improve species distribution model predictions of responses to recent climate change?

Thermal constraints on development are often invoked to predict insect distributions. These constraints tend to be characterized in species distribution models (SDMs) by calculating development time based on a constant lower development temperature (LDT). Here, we assessed whether species-specific estimates of LDT based on laboratory experiments can improve the ability of SDMs to predict the distribution shifts of six U.K. butterflies in response to recent climate warming. We find that species-specific and constant (5 degrees C) LDT degree-day models perform similarly at predicting distributions during the period of 1970-1982. However, when the models for the 1970-1982 period are projected to predict distributions in 1995-1999 and 2000-2004, species-specific LDT degree-day models modestly outperform constant LDT degree-day models. Our results suggest that, while including species-specific physiology in correlative models may enhance predictions of species' distribution responses to climate change, more detailed models may be needed to adequately account for interspecific physiological differences.     

A Method to Assess and Define Environmental Flow Rules for Large Jurisdictional Regions1

Snelder, Ton, Doug Booker, and Nicolas Lamouroux, 2011. A Method to Assess and Define Environmental Flow Rules for Large Jurisdictional Regions. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(4):828‐840. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00556.x Abstract: Hydrological rules of thumb are used across jurisdictional regions to set minimum flows and allocation limits that apply by default (i.e., when more detailed site‐scale studies have not been carried out). Uniform rules do not account for spatial variation in environmental characteristics, resulting in inconsistent consequences for the protection of ecosystems, and the reliability of water resources. We developed a method for assessing hydrological rules of thumb that describes their consequences for protection of the ecosystem (in terms of retention of physical habitat) and the reliability of the water resource. The method links regionalized flow duration curves, at‐station hydraulic geometry, and generalized physical habitat models to make assessments at many locations across a region. The method estimates, for a given set of rules, the retained physical habitat for specified taxa/life stages and the proportion of the time abstractions are restricted. We applied the method to assess a set of rules that are proposed as default minimum flows and allocation limits for New Zealand rivers. The assessment showed that the minimum flow rules had variable consequences. The method could be used to quantify the tradeoff between environmental protection and water resources availability and reliability.     

Lessons from Developing Methods to Study the Relationship of Energy and Water Savings to Housing Conditions and Resident Health

Abstract

Energy- and water-saving have been promoted as ways of saving money while there has been controversy about the effects (if any) of such measures on resident health. In public housing in the US, energy saving has taken the form of Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPC) that pay for renovations out of future savings. In an attempt to test feasibility and pilot research methods we conducted a study of the relationship between gas and water use, exterior heat sensor locations, and basement ventilation with indices developed from resident-reported living conditions and health symptoms in a single housing development. The data sources that we had available to us were not ideal. In particular, we were unable to obtain water use data that coincided in time with our health survey data. Also, we did not have enough surveys in buildings with high water or gas use and had to pool those buildings with other buildings for analysis. Nevertheless, we found several associations between our measures of energy use and resident reports of health symptoms. The associations that we found were generally in the direction that energy and water savings were associated with fewer symptoms and fewer environmental problems. There is a need for studies that obtain better input data but that generally follow the approach we developed.     

Membrane,action, and oscillatory potentials in simulated protocells

Electrical membrane potentials, oscillations, and action potentials are observed in proteinoid microspheres impaled with (3 M KCl) microelectrodes. Although effects are of greater magnitude when the vesicles contain glycerol and natural or synthetic lecithin, the results in the purely synthetic thermal protein structures are substantial, attaining 20 mV amplitude in some cases. The results add the property of electrical potential to the other known properties of proteinoid microspheres, in their role as models for protocells.