Soil erosion tolerance and water runoff control: minimum environmental standards

Council Regulations (EC) No 1257/1999 and the EU Soil Thematic Strategy give great importance to soil and land conservation to develop knowledge driven governance for rural development. In the hilly areas of Italy cultivated intensively, and especially in the ones devoted to viticulture, agricultural practices determine high loss of soil with consequent degradation of the soil resource. In addition to it, offsite effects of soil erosion can be unsustainable, due to sediment transfer to the channel network and infrastructures. In order to achieve a sustainable rural development there is a need for tools and instruments to allow European regional administrations, to develop, implement, manage and monitor rural development plans. To counteract the environmental threats intensified by agricultural activity, the environmental functions “soil erosion control” and “water runoff control” were investigated in the Chianti area by using GIS. To determine the EMR (Environmental Minimum Requirements) values for soil erosion the “regeneration” capability of soils was considered, and the value of estimated soil loss was compared with the value of soil reformation. A scenario analysis was also performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the agroenvironmental measure “grass cover” in reducing erosion. The concept of tolerable erosion based on soil productivity and soil reformation rate only is reductive and off-site effects of soil erosion should be also taken into account. For this reason, it was proposed to extend the concept of hydrogeological risk to soil erosion by implementing the notion of soil erosion tolerance (T) with the new concept of environmental risk of soil erosion (ERSE). The new ERSE index takes into account all the in- and off-farm externalities of soil erosion. For this reason, it can be considered an aggregated environmental indicator that enables policy makers to evaluate the impacts of soil erosion by following an holistic approach.     

Proximity to wood industries and respiratory symptoms in children: a sensitivity analysis

Increased prevalence of respiratory and irritation symptoms was found in children who live near a large wood industrial park. Proximity to the wood industries was used as indicator of exposure. This study describes a sensitivity analysis for the results of the survey. All the children (3-14 years) living in the area were surveyed through a parental questionnaire (n = 3854) and their addresses were geocoded. The distances from each child's home and school to the closest industry were combined, weighted and used as an indicator of exposure. A sensitivity analysis was performed to check 1) the robustness of the results to the choice of weights used for defining the exposure indicator, 2) the effect of outliers on risk estimates and 3) the sensitivity on the functional form used for modeling the dose-response function. The choice of the weights did not influence the association between proximity to the industries and respiratory symptoms. Excluding the subjects who lived far away from the industries showed that in a radius of 5 km from the industries the study did not had enough power to estimate a gradient in the dose-response function. Besides, results were sensitive to the choice of the functional form used for modeling the minimum distance. The sensitivity analyses confirmed the overall increasing trend of respiratory symptoms with proximity to the industries and pointed out that all the assumptions made for defining a proxy of exposure need to be carefully checked.     

Impact of elevated CO(2) and nitrogen fertilization on foliar elemental composition in a short rotation poplar plantation

The experiment was carried out on a short rotation coppice culture of poplars (POP-EUROFACE, Central Italy), growing in a free air carbon dioxide enriched atmosphere (FACE). The specific objective of this work was to study whether elevated CO(2) and fertilization (two CO(2) treatments, elevated CO(2) and control, two N fertilization treatments, fertilized and unfertilized), as well as the interaction between treatments caused an unbalanced nutritional status of leaves in three poplar species (P. x euramericana, P. nigra and P. alba). Finally, we discuss the ecological implications of a possible change in foliar nutrients concentration. CO(2) enrichment reduced foliar nitrogen and increased the concentration of magnesium; whereas nitrogen fertilization had opposite effects on leaf nitrogen and magnesium concentrations. Moreover, the interaction between elevated CO(2) and N fertilization amplified some element unbalances such as the K/N-ratio.     

Particle-phase Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Emissions from Non-catalysed, In-use Four-stroke Scooters

Metals and radionuclide levels in marine birds of the Aleutians are of interest because they are part of subsistence diets of the Aleut people, and can also serve as indicators of marine pollution. We examined geographic and species-specific variations in concentrations of radionuclides in birds and their eggs from Amchitka, the site of underground nuclear tests from 1965 to 1971, and Kiska Islands (a reference site) in the Aleutians, and the levels of lead, mercury and cadmium in eggs. In 2004 we collected common eiders (Somateria mollissima), tufted puffins (Fratercula cirrhata), pigeon guillemot (Cepphus columba) and glaucous-winged gulls (Larus glaucescens) from Amchitka and Kiska, and eggs from eiders and gulls from the two island. We also collected one runt bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) chick from both Amchitka and Kiska Islands. For most species, the levels of radionuclide isotopes were below the minimum detectable activity levels (MDA). Out of 74 cesium-137 analyses, only one composite (gulls) was above the MDA, and out of 14 composites tested for plutonium (Pu-239, 240), only one exceeded the MDA (a guillemots). Three composites out of 14 tested had detectable uranium-238. In all cases, the levels were low and close to the MDAs, and were below those reported for other seabirds. There were significant interspecific differences in metal levels in eggs: gulls had significantly higher levels of cadmium and mercury than the eiders, and eiders had higher levels of lead than gulls. There were few significant differences as a function of island, but eiders had significantly higher levels of cadmium in eggs from Kiska, and gulls had significantly higher levels of mercury on Kiska. The levels of cadmium and mercury in eggs of eiders and gulls from this study were above the median for cadmium and mercury from studies in the literature. The levels of mercury in eggs are within the range known to affect avian predators, but seabirds seem less vulnerable to mercury than other birds. However, the levels of mercury are within the action levels for humans, suggesting some cause for concern if subsistence Aleuts eat a large quantity of eggs.     

Long-term effects of aided phytostabilisation of trace elements on microbial biomass and activity, enzyme activities, and composition of microbial community in the Jales contaminated mine spoils

We studied the effectiveness of remediation on microbial endpoints, namely microbial biomass and activity, microbial and plant species richness, of an As-contaminated mine spoil, amended with compost (C) alone and in combination with beringite (B) or zerovalent iron grit (Z), to increase organic matter content and reduce trace elements mobility, and to allow Holcus lanatus and Pinus pinaster growth. Untreated spoil showed the lowest microbial biomass and activity and hydrolase activities, and H. lanatus as sole plant species, whereas the presented aided phytostabilisation option, especially CBZ treatment, significantly increased microbial biomass and activity and allowed colonisation by several plant species, comparable to those of an uncontaminated sandy soil. Microbial species richness was only increased in spoils amended with C alone. No clear correlation occurred between trace element mobility and microbial parameters and plant species richness. Our results indicate that the choice of indicators of soil remediation practices is a bottleneck.     

Pre-combustion CO2 capture from natural gas power plants,with ATR and MDEA processes

Among the various configurations of fossil fuel power plants with carbon capture, this paper focuses on pre-combustion techniques applied to natural gas combined cycles. With more detail, the plant configuration here addressed includes: (i) the steam reforming of natural gas, based on an air-blown autothermal process, following a recuperative pre-reforming treatment, (ii) the water gas shift producing CO₂ and H₂, (iii) the separation of CO₂ by means of a mixed physical–chemical absorption system using a MDEA solution, and (iv) a hydrogen fuelled combined cycle.Similar configurations have been studied quite extensively, being among the most attractive for full-scale realizations in a near-mid term future. This paper proposes a detailed thermodynamic study and optimization of the plant configuration, bringing to a reliable performance estimation based on today's best available technology as far as the various plant sections are concerned (gas and steam turbine, natural gas reforming process, CO₂ separation). The predicted LHV efficiency for the base configuration is about 50%. Being this value at the top of the range quoted in the open literature studies (35–50%), the paper includes a quite extensive sensitivity analysis, showing that more conservative assumptions may bring to significantly poorer performance, especially considering the pretty large number of operating parameters involved in the process.     

Landscape-scale spatial distribution of the Lanner Falcon (Falco biarmicus feldeggii) breeding population in Italy

Falco biarmicus feldeggii is one of the most threatened taxa in Europe. Its global population is estimated at a few hundred pairs unequally scattered in a vast and fragmented area stretching from Sicily to the Caspian Sea. Most recent counts showed that Italy hosts a large part (>25%) of the whole population. Consequently, Italian authorities promoted a national action plan. In this framework, we carried out the first national survey for the Lanner Falcon in Italy (2003-2004). Our study area covered the whole breeding range, i.e., Sicily and the Italian peninsula (n = 2909 cells 10 x 10 km). When possible, we considered also additional information from previous regional investigations (1993-2001). First, we estimated size and distribution of each breeding subpopulation. Then, we tried to identify, at landscape level, the main environmental features linked to the spatial distribution of the nesting sites. We found the Lanner Falcon in 184 cells (6.4% of the total grid map), but we estimated no more than 140-172 pairs (70-80 of which are in Sicily) in the same breeding season. Higher levels of isolation characterize the continental breeding cells whereas in Sicily cells are much more clustered. Altitude is the main factor influencing cell aggregations in Italy; nevertheless, other environmental variables, such as climate, precipitation, and vegetation may be important. Our results show that the conservation measures adopted in Italy are somewhat inadequate given the low number of breeding pairs included in protected areas (23%-28%). Many small and scattered special areas of conservation (SAC) devoted to conserve priority habitats fit the irregular spatial aggregations of Lanner Falcon sites better than several large special protection areas (SPA).     

Preliminary investigation on the environmental occurrence and effects of antibiotics used in aquaculture in Italy

A preliminary investigation has been carried out on the occurrence and effects of antibiotics used in Italian aquaculture with the objective of identifying priorities for monitoring programmes. According to the information available on the most pertinent and diffuse fish diseases and their related therapies, the presence of flumequine and oxytetracycline in sediments sampled from two trout farms and three sea-bass farms and in their surrounding environments was selected for an analytical investigation. The concentrations of oxytetracycline and flumequine varied up to a maximum of 246.3 and 578.8 microg/kg d.w., respectively. Flumequine was seen to have the highest toxicity in a bioluminescence assay with EC50 values varying within the range of 12-15 mg/l, while the EC50 values for oxytetracycline were within the range of 121-139 mg/l. The results of the present study indicate flumequine and oxytetracycline as priority chemicals to be monitored for possible environmental side effects of aquaculture in Italy. Apart from peak concentrations the chronic presence of flumequine and oxytetracycline in sediments both inside and outside farms should also be considered. In spite of the potential risks related to the use of antibiotics, the concentrations found in the sediments of the studied fish farms are significantly lower than those found in other areas.     

Use of ambiguous detections to improve estimates from species distribution models

As large carnivores recover throughout Europe, their distribution needs to be studied to determine their conservation status and assess the potential for human-carnivore conflicts. However, efficient monitoring of many large carnivore species is challenging due to their rarity, elusive behavior, and large home ranges. Their monitoring can include opportunistic sightings from citizens in addition to designed surveys. Two types of detection errors may occur in such monitoring schemes: false negatives and false positives. False-negative detections can be accounted for in species distribution models (SDMs) that deal with imperfect detection. False-positive detections, due to species misidentification, have rarely been accounted for in SDMs. Generally, researchers use ad hoc data-filtering methods to discard ambiguous observations prior to analysis. These practices may discard valuable ecological information on the distribution of a species. We investigated the costs and benefits of including data types that may include false positives rather than discarding them for SDMs of large carnivores. We used a dynamic occupancy model that simultaneously accounts for false negatives and positives to jointly analyze data that included both unambiguous detections and ambiguous detections. We used simulations to compare the performances of our model with a model fitted on unambiguous data only. We tested the 2 models in 4 scenarios in which parameters that control false-positive detections and true detections varied. We applied our model to data from the monitoring of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in the European Alps. The addition of ambiguous detections increased the precision of parameter estimates. For the Eurasian lynx, incorporating ambiguous detections produced more precise estimates of the ecological parameters and revealed additional occupied sites in areas where the species is likely expanding. Overall, we found that ambiguous data should be considered when studying the distribution of large carnivores through the use of dynamic occupancy models that account for misidentification.