Behavior of potentially toxic elements from stoker-boiler fly ash in Interior Alaska: paired batch leaching and solid-phase characterization

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Despite significant investigation of fly ash spills and mineralogical controls on the release of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) from fly ash,...     

Heterogeneous mercury reaction chemistry on activated carbon

Experimental and theory-based investigations have been carried out on the oxidation and adsorption mechanism of mercury (Hg) on brominated activated carbon (AC). Air containing parts per billion concentrations of Hg was passed over a packed-bed reactor with varying sorbent materials at 140 and 30 degrees C. Through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy surface characterization studies it was found that Hg adsorption is primarily associated with bromine (Br) on the surface, but that it may be possible for surface-bound oxygen (O) to play a role in determining the stability of adsorbed Hg. In addition to surface characterization experiments, the interaction of Hg with brominated AC was studied using plane-wave density functional theory. Various configurations of hydrogen, O, Br, and Hg on the zigzag edge sites of graphene were investigated, and although Hg-Br complexes were found to be stable on the surface, the most stable configurations found were those with Hg adjacent to O. The Hg-carbon (C) bond length ranged from 2.26 to 2.34 A and is approximately 0.1 A shorter when O is a nearest-neighbor atom rather than a next-nearest neighbor, resulting in increased stability of the given configuration and overall tighter Hg-C binding. Through a density of states analysis, Hg was found to gain electron density in the six p-states after adsorption and was found to donate electron density from the five s-states, thereby leading to an oxidized surface-bound Hg complex.     

Graded recruitment in a ponerine ant

Summary (1) The giant tropical ant, Paraponera clavata, exhibits graded recruitment responses, depending on the type, quantity, and quality of a food source. More ants are initially recruited to a large prey or scavenge item than to a large quantity of sugar water. (2) Individual ants encountering prey items gauge the size and/or unwieldiness of the item, regardless of the weight, when determining whether to recruit. (3) The trail pheromone of this species is often used as an orientation device by individual ants, independent of recruitment of nestmates. (4) It is proposed that the foraging behavior of P. clavata represents one of the evolutionary transitions from the independent foraging activities of the primitive ants to the highly coordinated cooperative foraging activities of many higher ants.     

Using surface drifter observations to measure tidal vortices and relative diffusion at Aransas Pass,Texas

Tidal vortices play an important role in the flushing of coastal regions. At the mouth of a tidal inlet, the input of circulation by the ebb tide may force the formation of a starting-jet dipole vortex. The continuous ebb jet current also creates a periodic sequence of secondary vortices shed from the inlet mouth. In each case, these tidal vortices have a shallow aspect ratio, with a lateral extent much greater than the water depth. These shallow vortices affect the transport of passive tracers, such as nutrients and sediment from the estuary to the ocean and vice versa. Field observation of tidal vortices primarily relies on ensemble averaging over several vortex events that are repeatable in space and can be sampled by a fixed Eulerian measurement grid. This paper presents an adaptive approach for locating and measuring within tidal vortices that propagate offshore near inlets and advect along variable trajectories set by the wind-driven currents. A field experiment was conducted at Aransas Pass, Texas to measure these large-scale vortices. Locations of the vortices produced during ebb tide were determined using near real-time updates from surface drifters deployed near or within the inlet during ebb tide, and the paths of towed acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) transects were selected by analysis of the drifter observations. This method allowed ADCP transects to be collected within ebb generated tidal vortices, and the paths of the drifters indicated the presence of both the starting-jet dipole and the secondary vortices of the unstable ebb tidal jet. Drifter trajectories were also used to estimate the size of each observed vortex as well as the statistics of relative diffusion offshore of Aransas Pass. The field data confirmed the starting-jet spin-up time (time until the vortex dipole begins to propagate offshore) measured in the laboratory by Bryant et al. [6] and that the Strouhal condition of \(St=0.2\) predicts the shedding of secondary vortices from the inlet mouth. The size of the rotational core of the vortex is also shown to be approximated physically by the inlet width or by \(0.02UT\) , where U is the maximum velocity through the inlet channel and T is the tidal period, and confirms results found in laboratory experiments by Nicolau del Roure et al. [23]. Additionally, the scale of diffusion was approximately 1–15 km and the apparent diffusivity was between 2–130  \(m^2/s\) following Richardsons law.     

Are rivers just big streams? A pulse method to quantify nitrogen demand in a large river

Given recent focus on large rivers as conduits for excess nutrients to coastal zones, their role in processing and retaining nutrients has been overlooked and understudied. Empirical measurements of nutrient uptake in large rivers are lacking, despite a substantial body of knowledge on nutrient transport and removal in smaller streams. Researchers interested in nutrient transport by rivers (discharge >10000 L/s) are left to extrapolate riverine nutrient demand using a modeling framework or a mass balance approach. To begin to fill this knowledge gap, we present data using a pulse method to measure inorganic nitrogen. (N) transport and removal in the Upper Snake River, Wyoming, USA (seventh order, discharge 12000 L/s). We found that the Upper Snake had surprisingly high biotic demand relative to smaller streams in the same river network for both ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3-). Placed in the context of a meta-analysis of previously published nutrient uptake studies, these data suggest that large rivers may have similar biotic demand for N as smaller tributaries. We also found that demand for different forms of inorganic N (NH4+ vs. NO3-) scaled differently with stream size. Data from rivers like the Upper Snake and larger are essential for effective water quality management at the scale of river networks. Empirical measurements of solute dynamics in large rivers are needed to understand the role of whole river networks (as opposed to stream reaches) in patterns of nutrient export at regional and continental scales.     

Habitat,movements and environmental preferences of dusky sharks,Carcharhinus obscurus,in the northern Gulf of Mexico

The dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus) is the largest member of the genus Carcharhinus and inhabits coastal and pelagic ecosystems circumglobally in temperate, subtropical and tropical marine waters. In the western North Atlantic Ocean (WNA), dusky sharks are overfished and considered vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. As a result, retention of dusky sharks in commercial and recreational fisheries off the east coast of the United States (US) and in the northern Gulf of Mexico is prohibited. Despite the concerns regarding the status of dusky sharks in the WNA, little is known about their habitat utilization. During the summers of 2008–2009, pop-up satellite archival tags were attached to ten dusky sharks (one male, nine females) at a location where they have been observed to aggregate in the north central Gulf of Mexico southwest of the Mississippi River Delta to examine their movement patterns and habitat utilization. All tags successfully transmitted data with deployment durations ranging from 6 to 124 days. Tag data revealed shark movements in excess of 200 km from initial tagging locations, with sharks primarily utilizing offshore waters associated with the continental shelf edge from Desoto Canyon to the Texas/Mexican border. While most sharks remained in US waters, one individual moved from the northern Gulf of Mexico into the Bay of Campeche off the coast of Mexico. Sharks spent 87 % of their time between 20 and 125 m and 83 % of their time in waters between 23 and 30 °C. Since dusky sharks are among the most vulnerable shark species to fishing mortality, there is a recovery plan in place for US waters; however, since they have been shown to make long-distance migrations, a multi-national management plan within the WNA may be needed to ensure the successful recovery of this population.     

Distribution and evolution of genetic caste determination in Pogonomyrmex seed-harvester ants

We examined the distribution and ancestral relationships of genetic caste determination (GCD) in 46 populations of the seed-harvester ants Pogonomyrmex barbatus and P. rugosus across the east-to-west range of their distributions. Using a mtDNA sequence and two nuclear markers diagnostic for GCD, we distinguished three classes of population phenotypes: those with GCD, no evidence of GCD, and mixed (both GCD and non-GCD colonies present). The GCD phenotype was geographically widespread across the range of both morphospecies, occurring in 20 of 46 sampled populations. Molecular data suggest three reproductively isolated and cryptic lineages within each morphospecies, and no present hybridization. Mapping the GCD phenotype onto a mtDNA phylogeny indicates that GCD in P. rugosus was acquired from P. barbatus, suggesting that interspecific hybridization may not be the causal agent of GCD, but may simply provide an avenue for GCD to spread from one species (or subspecies) to another. We hypothesize that the origin of GCD involved a genetic mutation with a major effect on caste determination. This mutation generates genetic conflict and results in the partitioning and maintenance of distinct allele (or gene set) combinations that confer differences in developmental caste fate. The outcome is two dependent lineages within each population; inter-lineage matings produce workers, while intra-lineage matings produce reproductives. Both lineages are needed to produce a caste-functional colony, resulting in two reproductively isolated yet interdependent lineages. Pogonomyrmex populations composed of dependent lineages provide a unique opportunity to investigate genetic variation underlying phenotypic plasticity and its impact on the evolution of social structure.     

Estimating influence of stocking regimes on livestock grazing distributions

Livestock often concentrate grazing in particular regions of landscapes while partly or wholly avoiding other regions. Dispersing livestock from the heavily grazed regions is a central challenge in grazing land management. Position data gathered from GPS-collared livestock hold potential for increasing knowledge of factors driving livestock aggregation patterns, but advances in gathering the data have outpaced advancements in analyzing and learning from it. We fit a hierarchical seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) model to explore how season of stocking and the location where cattle entered a pasture influenced grazing distributions. Stocking alternated between summer on one side of the pasture one year and fall on another side of the pasture the next year for 18 years. Waypoints were recorded on cattle for 50 d each year. We focused our analysis on the pasture's 10 most heavily grazed 4-ha units, because these units were the most prone to negative grazing impacts. Though grazing of the study units was always disproportionately heavy, it was much heavier with the summer than fall stocking regime: Bayesian confidence intervals indicate summer grazing of study units was approximately double the average fall grazing value. This is our core result, and it illustrates the strong effect stocking season or date or both can have on grazing distributions. We fit three additional models to explore the relative importance of stocking season versus location. According to this analysis, stocking season played a role, but stocking location was the main driver. Ostensibly minor factors (e.g. stocking location) can greatly influence livestock distributions.     

Transboundary conservation: Development implications for communities in KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa

Conservation is increasingly promoted as a sustainable development instrument in Southern Africa, particularly for remote rural communities. Conservation and development schemes are marketed as community-based projects providing local empowerment through the creation of jobs and cash stemming from protected areas, as well as increased biodiversity protection by local communities whose jobs are dependent on the resource. Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs), mega Peace Parks that cross international borders, are one of the latest conservation and development paradigms in Southern Africa. TFCAs have gained broad support, including government recognition as a development tool. However, there has been minimal research on the impact of TFCAs on local communities. This paper seeks to provide an empirical case study of a South African community bordering the Lubombo TFCA (South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique). Results are presented that indicate the Mbangweni community in KwaZulu-Natal could experience decreased access to social, natural, and economic resources as a result of the Peace Park.     

Soil Lead and Children’s Blood Lead Levels in Syracuse, NY, USA

A geo-referenced data set of 12 228 first-time blood lead screening values for Syracuse, NY, children was established for the 4-year period 1992–1996. Soil lead values were measured in a 600 m by 600 m tessellation grid covering the city. The two data sets were merged for evaluation of relationships between them. Strong seasonal variation in blood lead levels suggests the importance of contaminated soils as an exposure source. When the data were aggregated at a large geographic scale (3 km²), a logarithmic model showed an R² of > 0.65 for the regression of geometric mean blood lead on median soil lead values. Results showed a striking similarity to those obtained by Mielke et al. (1999) for a study in New Orleans, LA, USA.