Effects of Fireplace Use on Forest Vegetation and Amount of Woody Debris in Suburban Forests in Northwestern Switzerland

Urban forests are popular recreation areas in Europe. Several of these temperate broad-leaved forests also have a high conservation value due to sustainable management over many centuries. Recreational activities, particularly the use of fireplaces, can cause extensive damage to soil, ground vegetation, shrubs, and trees. Firewood collection depletes woody debris, leading to a loss of habitat for specialized organisms. We examined the effects of fireplace use on forest vegetation and the amount of woody debris by comparing disturbed and control plots in suburban forests in northwestern Switzerland. At frequently used fireplaces, we found reduced species densities in the ground vegetation and shrub layer and changes in plant species composition due to human trampling within an area of 150–200 m². Picnicking and grilling also reduced the height and changed the age structure of shrubs and young trees. The amount of woody debris was lower in disturbed plots than in control plots. Pieces of wood with a diameter of 0.6–7.6 cm were preferentially collected by fireplace users. The reduction in woody debris volume extended up to a distance of 16 m from the fire ring, covering an area of 800 m² at each picnic site. In order to preserve the ecological integrity of urban forests and to maintain their attractiveness as important recreation areas, we suggest depositing logging residues to be used as firewood and to restrict visitor movements near picnic sites.     

Runoff of pesticides from rice fields in the Ile de Camargue (Rhône river delta, France): field study and modeling

A field study on the runoff of pesticides was conducted during the cultivation period in 2004 on a hydraulically isolated rice farm of 120 ha surface with one central water outlet. Four pesticides were studied: Alphamethrin, MCPA, Oxadiazon, and Pretilachlor. Alphamethrin concentrations in runoff never exceeded 0.001 microg L(-1). The three other pesticides were found in concentrations between 5.2 and 28.2 microg L(-1) in the runoff water shortly after the application and decreased thereafter. The data for MCPA compared reasonably well with predictions by an analytical runoff model, accounting for volatilization, degradation, leaching to groundwater, and sorption to soil. The runoff model estimated that runoff accounted for as much as 18-42% of mass loss for MCPA. Less runoff is observed and predicted for Oxadiazon and Pretilachlor. It was concluded that runoff from rice paddies carries important loads of dissolved pesticides to the wetlands in the Ile de Camargue, and that the model can be used to predict this runoff.     

Biomonitoring of heavy metals (Cd,Hg, and Pb) and metalloid (As) with the Portuguese common buzzard (Buteo buteo)

The accumulation of heavy metals in the environment may have a wide range of health effects on animals and humans. Thus, in this study, the concentrations of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg) in the blood and tissues (liver and kidney) of Portuguese common buzzards (Buteo buteo) were determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) in order to monitor environmental pollution to these elements. In general, Hg and As were the elements which appeared in the highest and lowest concentrations, respectively. A highest percentage of non-detected concentration was found for blood Cd (94.6 %) but, in turn, it was the only metal that was detected in all kidney samples. The kidney was the analyzed sample which showed the highest concentrations of each element evaluated. Statistically, significant differences among blood, liver, and kidney samples were observed for As and Cd (P?相似文献   

Impact of water quality on bacterioplankton assemblage along Cértima River Basin (central western Portugal) assessed by PCR–DGGE and multivariate analysis

The information on bacterial community composition (BCC) in Portuguese water bodies is very scarce. Cértima River (central western Portugal) is known to have high levels of pollution, namely organic. In the present work, the BCC from a set of 16 water samples collected from Cértima River Basin and its main tributaries was characterized using 16S rDNA–denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, a culture-independent molecular approach. Molecular data were related to environmental parameters through multivariate analysis to investigate potential impact of water pollution along the river. Principal component analysis using environmental data showed a water quality gradient from more pristine waters (at the mountain tributaries) to waters with increasingly eutrophic potential (such as Fermentelos Lake). This gradient was mainly defined by factors such as organic and inorganic nutrient sources, electrical conductivity, hydrogen carbonate concentration, and pH. Molecular results showed variations in BCC along Cértima River Basin but in the main river section, a Bacteroidetes phylotype (Flavobacterium sp.) proved to be dominant throughout the river course. Multivariate analysis suggests that spatial variation of BCC along the Cértima River Basin depended mainly on parameters such as Chl a, total suspended solid (TSS), total organic carbon, electrical conductivity, and HCO _boxclose^-_{3}^{-} levels. Bacteroidetes phylotypes were all related to higher electrical conductivity and HCO₃^-_{3}^{-} levels although some of these were also correlated with high SO₄^2-_{4}^{2-} and others with high soluble reactive phosphorus, nitrate, TN, and Kjeld-N levels. The Gammaproteobacteria occurrence was correlated with high SO₄^2-_{4}^{2-} levels. One of the Betaproteobacteria phylotypes showed to correlate with low redox potential (E_h) and high temperature, pH, TSS, and Chl a levels while another one showed a negative correlation with Chl a values.     

The role of environmental and socio-demographic indicators in the analysis of land use changes in a protected area of the Natura 2000 Network: the case study of Lake Trasimeno,Umbria, Central Italy

This article sets out to analyse how and to what degree land use is linked to the physical characteristics of the territory itself, and the way in which changes in land use are determined by agricultural and socio-demographic dynamics. The study was conducted within the territorial boundaries of five municipalities surrounding Lake Trasimeno and refers to the periods 1977–2000 for land use and 1971–2001 for socio-demography data. The use of environmental, social, economic and agricultural indicators demonstrates how a mix of various indicators are useful for monitoring the changes which took place. It also shows the powerful influence that socio-demographic factors exert upon land use and landscape change.     

Packed in-tube solid phase microextraction with graphene oxide supported on aminopropyl silica: Determination of target triazines in water samples

On-line in-tube solid phase microextraction (in-tube SPME) coupled to high performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was successfully applied to the determination of selected triazines in water samples. The method based on the employment of a packed column containing graphene oxide (GO) supported on aminopropyl silica (Si) showed that the extraction phase has a high potential for triazines extraction aiming to its physical-chemical properties including ultrahigh specific surface area, good mechanical and thermal stability and high fracture strength. Injection volume and loading time were both investigated and optimized. The method validation using Si-GO to extract and concentrate the analytes showed satisfactory results, good sensitivity, good linearity (0.2–4.0 µg L^?1) and low detection limits (1.1–2.9 ng L^?1). The high extraction efficiency was determined with enrichment factors ranging from 1.2–2.9 for the lowest level, 1.3–4.9 intermediate level and 1.2–3.0 highest level (n = 3). Although the analytes were not detected in the real samples evaluated, the method has demonstrated to be efficient through its application in the analysis of spiked triazines in ground and mineral water samples.     

Potential sources and meteorological factors affecting PM<Subscript>2.5</Subscript>-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon levels in six main cities of northeastern Italy: an assessment of the related carcinogenic and mutagenic risks

A yearlong sampling campaign (2012–2013) was conducted in six major cities of the Veneto region to investigate the spatial-temporal trends and the factors affecting the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) variations and identify the local sources. Sixty samples per city were collected for analyses in every alternate month (April, June, August, October, December, and February): 10 samples per sampling site in 10 consecutive days of the months selected. Samples were ultrasonically extracted with acetonitrile and processed through high-performance liquid chromatography. Total Σ-PAH concentrations ranged from 0.19 to 70.4 ng m^?3 with a mean concentration of 11.5 ng m^?3. The mean benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) concentration reached 2.0 ng m^?3, which is two-times higher than the limit set by the European Union. BaP contributed for 17.4% to the total concentration of PAHs, which showed the same pattern across the region with maxima during cold months and minima in the warm period. In this study, PAHs showed an inverse relationship with temperature, solar radiation, wind speed, and ozone. According to this study, biomass burning for household heating and cooking, followed by gaseous PAHs absorption on particles due to low atmospheric temperature, were the main reasons for increasing PAHs concentration in winter. Health risk, evaluated as lifetime lung cancer risk (LCR), showed a potential carcinogenic risk from the airborne BaP_TEQ six-fold higher in the cold season than in the warm one. Diagnostic ratios and conditional probability functions were used to locate the sources, and results confirmed that local emission, overall domestic heating, and road transport exhausts were responsible for higher concentration rates of PAHs as well as of PM_2.5.     

Features of fatal injuries in older cyclists in vehicle–bicycle accidents in Japan

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify and better understand the features of fatal injuries in cyclists aged 75 years and over involved in collisions with either hood- or van-type vehicles.

Methods: This study investigated the fatal injuries of cyclists aged 75 years old and over by analyzing accident data. We focused on the body regions to which the fatal injury occurred using vehicle–bicycle accident data from the Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis (ITARDA) in Japan. Using data from 2009 to 2013, we examined the frequency of fatally injured body region by gender, age, and actual vehicle travel speed. We investigated any significant differences in distributions of fatal injuries by body region for cyclists aged 75 years and over using chi-square tests to compare with cyclists in other age groups. We also investigated the cause of fatal head injuries, such as impact with a road surface or vehicle.

Results: The results indicated that head injuries were the most common cause of fatalities among the study group. At low vehicle travel speeds for both hood- and van-type vehicles, fatalities were most likely to be the result of head impacts against the road surface.

The percentage of fatalities following hip injuries was significantly higher for cyclists aged 75 years and over than for those aged 65–74 or 13–59 in impacts with hood-type vehicles. It was also higher for women than men in the over-75 age group in impacts with these vehicles.

Conclusions: For cyclists aged 75 years and over, wearing a helmet may be helpful to prevent head injuries in vehicle-to-cyclist accidents. It may also be helpful to introduce some safety measures to prevent hip injuries, given the higher level of fatalities following hip injury among all cyclists aged 75 and over, particularly women.     

Trees on the move: using decision theory to compensate for climate change at the regional scale in forest social-ecological systems

Regional Environmental Change - The adaptation of social-ecological systems such as managed forests depends largely on decisions taken by forest managers who must choose among a wide range of...