Remotely engaged? Towards a framework for monitoring the success of stakeholder engagement in remote regions

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.     

Evaluation of an approach for the characterization of reactive and available pools of 20 potentially toxic elements in soils: part II--solid-solution partition relationships and ion activity in soil solutions

To assess environmental risks related to contaminants in soil it is essential to predict the available pool of inorganic contaminants at regional scales, accounting for differences between soils from variable geologic and climatic origins. An approach composed of a well-accepted soil extraction procedure (0.01 M CaCl(2)) and empirical Freundlich-type models in combination with mechanistically based models which to date have been used only in temperate regions was applied to 136 soils from a South European area and evaluated for its possible general use in risk assessment. Empirical models based on reactive element pools and soil properties (pH, organic carbon, clay, total Al, Fe and Mn) provided good estimations of available concentrations for a broad range of contaminants including As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cu, Hg, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se and Zn (r(2): 0.46-0.89). The variation of the pools of total Al in soils expressed the sorptive capacity of aluminosilicates and Al oxides at the surfaces and edges of clay minerals better than the actual variability of clay contents. The approach has led to recommendations for further research with particular emphasis on the impact of clay on the solubility of As and Sb, on the mechanisms controlling Cr and U availability and on differences in binding properties of soil organic matter from different climatic regions. This study showed that such approach may be included with a good degree of certainty for first step risk assessment procedures to identify potential risk areas for leaching and uptake of inorganic contaminants in different environmental settings.     

Ability of salt marsh plants for TBT remediation in sediments

Introduction  

The capability of Halimione portulacoides, Spartina maritima, and Sarcocornia fruticosa (halophytes very commonly found in salt marshes from Mediterranean areas) for enhancing remediation of tributyltin (TBT) from estuarine sediments was investigated, using different experimental conditions.     

Visual diagnosis of solid waste contamination of a tourist beach: Pernambuco, Brazil

The solid waste accumulation patterns on Tamandaré beach, Pernambuco State (Brazil), was assessed from February 2001 to July 2002. This beach is easily accessible, frequently used, and there is a public cleaning service. The beach is under the influence of three small coastal drainage basins. The study visually divided the beach into 15 segments according to the level of solid waste contamination into absent (A), trace (B), unacceptable (C) and objectionable (D). The lowest levels of contamination were found at the middle part of the study area, the most vulnerable in respect to coastal erosion presenting numerous interventions on the beach, absence of native vegetation and lesser width. The highest levels of contamination were at the northern and southern ends of the area, where there are no developments, the beach morphology favours deposition of sediments, there is native vegetation and the beach is wider. The D level did not occur within the area.     

The influence of suburban land use on habitat and biotic integrity of coastal Rhode Island streams

Watershed land use in suburban areas can affect stream biota through degradation of instream habitat, water quality, and riparian vegetation. By monitoring stream biotic communities in various geographic regions, we can better understand and conserve our watershed ecosystems. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between watershed land use and the integrity of benthic invertebrate communities in eight streams that were assessed over a 3-year period (2001-2003). Sites were selected from coastal Rhode Island watersheds along a residential land-use gradient (4-59%). Using the rapid bioassessment protocol, we collected biological, physicochemical, habitat, and nutrient data from wadeable stream reaches and compared metrics of structure and integrity. Principal component analyses showed significant negative correlation of indicators for stream physicochemical, habitat, and instream biodiversity with increasing residential land use (RLU) in the watershed. The physicochemical variables that were most responsive to percent RLU were conductivity, instream habitat, nitrate, and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN). The positive correlation of DIN with percent RLU indicated an anthropogenic source of pollution affecting the streams. The biotic composition of the streams shifted from sensitive to insensitive taxa as percent RLU increased; the most responsive biological variables were percent Ephemeroptera, percent Scrapers, percent Insects, and the Hilsenhoff biotic index. These data show the importance of land management and conservation at the watershed scale to sustaining the biotic integrity of coastal stream ecosystems.     

Effects of soil mechanical resistance on nematode community structure under conventional sugarcane and remaining of Atlantic Forest

Nematodes present high potential as a biological indicator of soil quality. In this work, it was evaluated relations between soil physical properties and nematode community under sugarcane cropping and remaining of Atlantic Forest areas in Northeastern Pernambuco, Brazil. Soil samples were collected from September to November 2009 along two 200-m transects in both remaining of Atlantic Forest and sugarcane field at deeps of 0–10, 10–20, 20–30, 30–40, and 40–50 cm. For soil characterization, it was carried out analysis of soil size, water content, total porosity, bulk density, and particle density. The level of soil mechanical resistance was evaluated through a digital penetrometer. Nematodes were extracted per 300 cm³ of soil through centrifugal flotation in sucrose being quantified, classified according trophic habit, and identified in level of genus or family. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation at 5% of probability. Geostatistical analysis showed that the penetration resistance, water content, total porosity, and bulk density on both forest and cultivated area exhibited spatial dependence at the sampled scale, and their experimental semivariograms were fitted to spherical and exponential models. In forest area, the ectoparasites and free-living nematodes exhibited spherical model. In sugarcane field, the soil nematodes exhibited pure nugget effect. Pratylenchus sp. and Helicotylenchus sp. were prevalent in sugarcane field, but in forest, there was prevalence of Dorylaimidae and Rhabditidae. Total amount of nematode did not differ between environments; however, community trophic structure in forest presented prevalence of free-living nematodes: omnivores followed by bacterial-feeding soil nematodes, while plant-feeding nematodes were prevalent in sugarcane field. The nematode diversity was higher in the remaining of Atlantic Forest. However, the soil mechanical resistance was higher under sugarcane cropping, affecting more directly the free-living nematodes; especially Dorylaimidae which was the most sensible to changes in soil physical properties.     

Assessment of indoor airborne contamination in a wastewater treatment plant

The main objective of this work was to quantify and characterize the major indoor air contaminants present in different stages of a municipal WWTP, including microorganisms (bacteria and fungi), carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide ammonia, formaldehyde, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In general, the total bacteria concentration was found to vary from 60 to >52,560 colony-forming units (CFU)/m³, and the total fungi concentration ranged from 369 to 14,068 CFU/m³. Generally, Gram-positive bacteria were observed in higher number than Gram-negative bacteria. CO₂ concentration ranged from 251 to 9,710 ppm, and CO concentration was either not detected or presented a level of 1 ppm. H₂S concentration ranged from 0.1 to 6.0 ppm. NH₃ concentration was <2 ppm in most samples. Formaldehyde was <0.01 ppm at all sampling sites. The total VOC concentration ranged from 36 to 1,724 μg/m³. Among the VOCs, toluene presented the highest concentration. Results point to indoor/outdoor ratios higher than one. In general, the highest levels of airborne contaminants were detected at the primary treatment (SEDIPAC 3D), secondary sedimentation, and sludge dehydration. At most sampling sites, the concentrations of airborne contaminants were below the occupational exposure limits (OELs) for all the campaigns. However, a few contaminants were above OELs in some sampling sites.     

Water quality of the Ribeirão Preto Stream, a watercourse under anthropogenic influence in the southeast of Brazil

It is known that Brazil still has a privileged position of water quantity and quality, but water use has not proceeded in a responsible manner and often results in impairment of quality. This study aims to evaluate limnological parameters, parasites and bacteria, and concentrations of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, Cr, Mn, Hg, and Zn) in surface water of Ribeirão Preto Stream. The Ribeirão Preto Stream is located in urban areas under anthropogenic influence. The results showed that the levels of dissolved oxygen values were lower than those established by the National Environmental Council (CONAMA Resolution No 357/2005). The reading of electrical conductivity showed values typical of impacted environments. The parasitological analysis revealed the presence of nematode larvae. The bacteriological analysis showed higher values for total coliform and Escherichia coli than those set by the Brazilian National Environment Council (CONAMA). The heavy metals Cd, Pb, Cu, Cr, Mn, Hg, and Zn showed concentrations in accordance with the guidelines established by CONAMA. The results provide data on the quality of these waters and showed the necessity to protect the watercourse from point sources of contamination, recommending their continued monitoring.     

A systematic indoor air quality audit approach for public buildings

Good indoor air quality (IAQ) in buildings provides a comfortable and healthy environment for the occupants to work, learn, study, etc. Therefore, it is important to ascertain the IAQ status in the buildings. This study is aimed to establish and demonstrate the comprehensive IAQ audit approach for public buildings, based on Portugal national laws. Four public buildings in Portugal are used to demonstrate the IAQ audit application. The systematic approach involves the measurement of physical parameters (temperature, relative humidity, and concentration of the suspended particulate matter), monitoring of the concentrations of selected chemical indicators [carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, ozone, and total volatile organic compounds], and the measurements of biological indicators (bacteria and fungi). In addition, air exchange rates are measured by the concentration decay method using metabolic CO₂ as the tracer gas. The comprehensive audits indicated some situations of common IAQ problems in buildings, namely: (1) insufficient ventilation rate, (2) too high particle concentration; and (3) poor filtration effectiveness and hygienic conditions in most of the air handling units. Accordingly, a set of recommendations for the improvement of IAQ conditions were advised to the building owner/managers.