Estimating the influence of overhead transmission power lines and landscape context on the density of little bustard Tetrax tetrax breeding populations

Collision with conductors and earth cables is a known impact generated by transmission power lines, however there is virtually no information on how these infrastructures might affect bird distribution in a landscape context. With this work we specifically hypothesise that transmission power lines may affect the occurrence of a threatened bird, the little bustard (Tetrax tetrax). To test this hypothesis we used a Stochastic Dynamic Methodology (StDM), analysing the effects of power lines in a landscape perspective and simulating population trends as a response to power line installation and habitat changes induced by agricultural shifts in southern Portugal. The data used in the dynamic model construction included relevant gradients of environmental conditions and was sampled during the breeding seasons of 2003-2006. Transmission power lines were significantly avoided by the little bustard and the developed StDM model showed that the distance to these utility structures is the most important factor determining breeding densities in sites with suitable habitat for the species, which possibly leads to displacement of populations and habitat fragmentation. The model simulations also provided the base to analyse the cumulative effects caused by the habitat degradation that can ultimately lead to the extinction of local populations. Within priority conservation sites, the dismantling of existing transmission lines should be considered whenever possible, in order to ensure adequate breeding habitat. The model is considered useful as an auxiliary tool to be used in environmental impact assessments, management and conservation studies.     

Evaluation of metabisulfite and a commercial steel wool for removing chromium(VI) from wastewater

Efficiency of metabisulfite and a commercial steel wool as reducing agents in the removal of Cr(VI) from wastewaters was evaluated. Chromium(VI) was converted to Cr(III), precipitated with NaOH, and removed by filtration. A reduction of more than 1.0 × 10⁵ and 4.0 × 10⁵ fold in total Cr and the Cr(VI) concentrations, respectively, was observed by employing steel wool masses as low as 0.4420 g to 30-mL solutions of wastewater. Chromium(III) hydroxide obtained after the treatment was recycled and used as marker in cattle nutrition studies. The liquid residue obtained after the treatment was reused as precipitation agent replacing NaOH.     

Governing climate change for a just city: challenges and lessons from Maputo,Mozambique

As new forms of governance for climate change emerge in African cities, will they enable emancipatory and socially progressive transformations or will they exacerbate existing inequality, poverty and vulnerability patterns? This paper presents one of the case studies developed by UN-Habitat Cities and Climate Change Initiative in Maputo, Mozambique. The case analyses first, the production of urban vulnerabilities under climate change, and second, the existing governance arrangements for climate change in the city. Building on the lessons of the case study, the paper argues that to ensure that new forms of climate change governance lead to socially and environmentally just outcomes climate change interventions should, at least, meet two conditions: first, they should consider the close interactions between social and ecological elements and, specially, how patterns of urban inequality interact with environmental factors; second, they should recognise the opportunities in African cities through a broad notion of governance that looks beyond the government as the sole agent of urban change.     

Marine Protected Dramas: The Flaws of the Brazilian National System of Marine Protected Areas

This article discusses the current problems and issues associated with the implementation of a National System of Marine Protected Areas in Brazil. MPA managers and higher governmental level authorities were interviewed about their perceptions of the implementation of a national MPA strategy and the recent changes in the institutional arrangement of government marine conservation agencies. Interviewees’ narratives were generally pessimistic and the National System was perceived as weak, with few recognizable marine conservation outcomes on the ground. The following major flaws were identified: poor inter-institutional coordination of coastal and ocean governance; institutional crisis faced by the national government marine conservation agency; poor management within individual MPAs; problems with regional networks of marine protected areas; an overly bureaucratic management and administrative system; financial shortages creating structural problems and a disconnect between MPA policy and its delivery. Furthermore, a lack of professional motivation and a pessimistic atmosphere was encountered during many interviews, a malaise which we believe affects how the entire system is able to respond to crises. Our findings highlight the need for a better understanding of the role of ‘leadership’ in the performance of socio-ecological systems (such as MPA networks), more effective official evaluation mechanisms, more localized audits of (and reforms if necessary to) Brazil’s federal biodiversity conservation agency (ICMBio), and the need for political measures to promote state leadership and support. Continuing to focus on the designation of more MPAs whilst not fully addressing these issues will achieve little beyond fulfilling, on paper, Brazil’s international marine biodiversity commitments.     

Using Mediterranean shrubs for the phytoremediation of a soil impacted by pyritic wastes in Southern Spain: a field experiment

Re-vegetation is the main aim of ecological restoration projects, and in Mediterranean environments native plants are desirable to achieve successful restoration. In 1998, the burst of a tailings dam flooded the Guadiamar river valley downstream from Aznalcóllar (Southern Spain) with sludges that contained elevated concentrations of metals and metalloids, polluting soils and waters. A phytoremediation experiment to assess the potential use of native shrub species for the restoration of soils affected by the spillage was performed from 2005 to 2007, with soils divided into two groups: pH < 5 and pH > 5. Four native shrubs (Myrtus communis, Retama sphaerocarpa, Rosmarinus officinalis and Tamarix gallica) were planted and left to grow without intervention. Trace element concentrations in soils and plants, their extractability in soils, transfer factors and plant survival were used to identify the most-interesting species for phytoremediation. Total As was higher in soils with pH < 5. Ammonium sulphate-extractable zinc, copper, cadmium and aluminium concentrations were higher in very-acid soils, but arsenic was extracted more efficiently when soil pH was >5. Unlike As, which was either fixed by Fe oxides or retained as sulphide, the extractable metals showed significant relationships with the corresponding total soil metal concentration and inverse relationships with soil pH. T. gallica, R. officinalis and R. sphaerocarpa survived better in soils with pH > 5, while M. communis had better survival at pH < 5. R. sphaerocarpa showed the highest survival (30%) in all soils. Trace element transfer from soil to harvestable parts was low for all species and elements, and some species may have been able to decrease trace element availability in the soil. Our results suggest that R. sphaerocarpa is an adequate plant species for phytostabilising these soils, although more research is needed to address the self-sustainability of this remediation technique and the associated environmental changes.     

Analyzing the Social Factors That Influence Willingness to Pay for Invasive Alien Species Management Under Two Different Strategies: Eradication and Prevention

Biological invasions occur worldwide, and have been the object of ecological and socio-economic research for decades. However, the manner in which different stakeholder groups identify the problems associated with invasive species and confront invasive species management under different policies remains poorly understood. In this study, we conducted an econometric analysis of the social factors influencing willingness to pay for invasive alien species management under two different regimes: eradication and prevention in the Doñana Natural Protected Area (SW Spain). Controlling for the participation of local residents, tourists and conservationists, email and face-to-face questionnaires were conducted. Results indicated that respondents were more willing to pay for eradication than prevention; and public support for invasive alien species management was influenced by an individual’s knowledge and perception of invasive alien species, active interest in nature, and socio-demographic attributes. We concluded that invasive alien species management research should confront the challenges to engage stakeholders and accept any tradeoffs necessary to modify different conservation policies to ensure effective management is implemented. Finally, our willingness to pay estimates suggest the Department of Environment of Andalusian Government has suitable social support to meet the budgetary expenditures required for invasive alien species plans and adequate resources to justify an increase in the invasive alien species management budget.     

Local calibration of coliforms parameters of water quality problem at Igapó I Lake, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil

This article presents results concerning the local calibration of the transport parameters (longitudinal and transversal diffusions and decay coefficient) for a two-dimensional problem of water quality at Igapó I Lake, located in Londrina, Paraná, Brazil, using fecal coliforms as an indicator of water quality. The simulation of fecal coliforms concentrations all over the water body is conducted by means of a structured discretization of the geometry of Igapó I Lake, together with the finite difference and finite element methods. By using the velocity field, modeled by the Navier-Stokes and Poisson equations, the flow of fecal coliforms is described by means of a transport model, which considers advective and diffusive processes, as well as a process of fecal coliforms decay. In the checkpoint, the longitudinal and transversal diffusion coefficients and the coliforms decay coefficient that best fitted the value of the fecal coliforms concentration were D_x = D_y = 0.001 m²/h and k = 0.5 d⁻¹ = 0.02083 h⁻¹. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the numerical simulations conducted in function of the diffusion coefficients and of the coliforms decay parameter provided a better understanding of the local water quality at Igapó I Lake.     

Stereotypy and variation of the mating call in the Lusitanian toadfish, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Halobatrachus didactylus</Emphasis>

Signal attributes should show different degrees of variability depending on the information to be conveyed. Species identity is usually associated with stereotyped features of a signal, whereas other types of information such as individual quality and motivation are associated with signal plasticity. Lusitanian toadfish males form aggregations during the breeding season and emit a tonal advertisement call (the boatwhistle) to attract mates to their nests. We test the hypothesis that the boatwhistle can convey information both on individual identity and motivation by checking how signal parameters vary with time. We study how the physical (tide level) and social (calling alone or in a chorus) environments and male calling rate affect this advertisement signal and how all these external and internal factors (environment, social and male motivation) blend to modulate the Lusitanian toadfish’s advertisement call. Boatwhistles of each male were very stereotyped in short periods of time (minutes), but intra-male signal variability greatly increased in a longer time scale (days). Nevertheless, significant differences among males could still be found even in a long time scale. Pulse period was the acoustic feature that most contributed to discriminate among males. Tide level and male calling rate modulated boatwhistle characteristics, and there was a differential effect of tide on call attributes depending on male calling rate. Social acoustic environment only affected calling rate. These results suggest that inter-individual differences in call characteristics and call plasticity may mediate both male–male assessment and mate choice.     

Atmospheric BTEX concentrations in the vicinity of the crude oil refinery of the Baltic region

Among chemical industries, petroleum refineries have been identified as large emitters of a wide variety of pollutants. Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) form an important group of aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) because of their role in the troposphere chemistry and the risk posed to human health. A very large crude oil refinery of the Baltic States (200,000 bbl/day) is situated in the northern, rural part of Lithuania, 10 km from the town of Ma?eikiai (Lithuania). The objectives of this study were: (1) to determine of atmospheric levels of BTEX in the region rural and urban parts at the vicinity of the crude oil refinery; and (2) to investigate the effect of meteorological parameters (wind speed, wind direction, temperature, pressure, humidity) on the concentrations measured. The averaged concentration of benzene varied from 2.12 ppbv in the rural areas to 2.75 ppbv in the urban areas where the traffic was determined to be a dominant source of BTEX emissions. Our study showed that concentration of benzene, as strictly regulated air pollutant by EU Directive 2008/50/EC, did not exceed the limit of 5 ppbv in the region in the vicinity of the crude oil refinery during the investigated period. No significant change in air quality in the vicinity of the oil refinery was discovered, however, an impact of the industry on the background air quality was detected. The T/B ratio (0.50-0.81) that was much lower than 2.0, identified other sources of pollution than traffic.     

The validation analysis of the INSHORE system��a precise and efficient coastal survey system

Government and environmental entities are becoming increasingly concerned with qualifying and quantifying the erosion effects that are observed in sandy shores. Correspondingly, survey methodologies that gather data for such erosion studies are increasingly being demanded. The responsible entities are continually broadening their areas of interest, are concerned in the establishment of regular monitoring programmes and are demanding high accuracy from the geo-spatial data that is collected. The budget available for such monitoring activities, however, does not parallel the trend in the increasing demand for quality specifications. Survey methodologies need improvement to meet these requirements. We have developed a new land-based survey system--the INSHORE system--that is ideal for low cost, highly efficient and highly precise coastal surveys. The INSHORE system uses hi-tech hardware that is based on high-grade global positioning system (GPS) receivers and a laser distance sensor combined with advanced software algorithms. This system enables the determination of the ground coordinates of the surveyed areas with a precision of 1 to 2 cm, without having a sensor in contact with the ground surface. The absence of physical contact with the ground makes this system suitable for high-efficiency surveys. The accuracy of the positioning, which is based on advanced differential GPS processing, is enhanced by considering the estimated attitude of the GPS receiver holding structure and eliminates undesirable offsets. This paper describes the INSHORE survey system and presents the results of validation tests that were performed in a sandy shore environment.