Lithium bioaccumulation in Lentinus crinitus mycelia grown in media with different lithium sources and pH values

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Lentinus crinitus bioaccumulates lithium in mycelia, but bioaccumulation may be affected by pH of the culture medium. Lithium is used in clinical...     

A systematic review of research conducted by pioneer groups in ecotoxicological studies with bees in Brazil: advances and perspectives

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Brazil presents the most threatened endemic or rare species among neotropical regions, with the Hymenoptera order, to which bees belong, classified as...     

Achieving biodiversity benefits with offsets: Research gaps,challenges, and needs

Biodiversity offsets are becoming increasingly common across a portfolio of settings: national policy, voluntary programs, international lending, and corporate business structures. Given the diversity of ecological, political, and socio-economic systems where offsets may be applied, place-based information is likely to be most useful in designing and implementing offset programs, along with guiding principles that assure best practice. We reviewed the research on biodiversity offsets to explore gaps and needs. While the peer-reviewed literature on offsets is growing rapidly, it is heavily dominated by ecological theory, wetland ecosystems, and U.S.-based research. Given that majority of offset policies and programs are occurring in middle- and low-income countries, the research gaps we identified present a number of risks. They also present an opportunity to create regionally based learning platforms focused on pilot projects and institutional capacity building. Scientific research should diversify, both topically and geographically, in order to support the successful design, implementation, and monitoring of biodiversity offset programs.     

Temporal pessimism and spatial optimism in environmental assessments: An 18-nation study

The personal assessments of the current and expected future state of the environment by 3232 community respondents in 18 nations were investigated at the local, national, and global spatial levels. These assessments were compared to a ranking of each country's environmental quality by an expert panel. Temporal pessimism (“things will get worse”) was found in the assessments at all three spatial levels. Spatial optimism bias (“things are better here than there”) was found in the assessments of current environmental conditions in 15 of 18 countries, but not in the assessments of the future. All countries except one exhibited temporal pessimism, but significant differences between them were common. Evaluations of current environmental conditions also differed by country. Citizens' assessments of current conditions, and the degree of comparative optimism, were strongly correlated with the expert panel's assessments of national environmental quality. Aside from the value of understanding global trends in environmental assessments, the results have important implications for environmental policy and risk management strategies.     

Influence of a flooding event discharge on accretion in wetlands

Flooding events in wetlands transport sediment particles landwards and can increase accretion in some areas of the wetland or resuspend the sediment in other areas. In this study a flooding event with different water discharges was analyzed in a laboratory simulated wetland to determine the effect stem density has on particle trapping. The discharge that entered the simulated wetland was a particle laden barotropic current that initially produced a pulse that traveled through the wetland. After the first pulse, a baroclinic current, with a different timescale to the initial pulse, developed. Three stem densities, along with the ‘without plant case’, were considered. A semi-empirical model was formulated to explain the propagation of the water pulse. The model predicted the velocity of the pulse dampening in the presence of the simulated vegetation, by using the roughness parameter that had been found to increase with stem density. The baroclinic current propagated at a lower velocity than the pulse did, and its velocity decreased with stem density. As less sediment was found in the wetland with denser canopies, this indicates that the presence of a canopy acts as a barrier to sediment transportation. Furthermore, a greater amount of sediment was deposited in regions at the foot of the denser vegetated wetland zone and the sediment deposition also increased with the water discharge.     

水环境:巴西大西洋流域盆地的人为压力和生态系统变化

发展中国家中正面临经济发展挑战的那些人口密集的流域盆地和海岸带地区可能会在各种问题上受到中度或严重的环境影响.这些由巴西东北部至南部流向大西洋海岸的汇水盆地包括广阔的气候带和多种生态系统.盆地边界以内分布着大西洋雨林、大范围的半干旱热带旱生林(caatinga)、广阔的树木及灌木林地(cerrado)、巴西6670km 海岸线的一大部分及其海洋生态系统.在过去的几十年中,这些自然资源上的人类活动不断发展.海滨化已给沿海生境及生物群落造成了沉重的负担.caatinga和cerrado中的大部分原生植被遭到了破坏,仅存留了7%的大西洋原始雨林.河口、海湾和沿海泻湖也遭到了无法恢复的破坏.土地使用、筑坝和分水等活动已成为造成生境丧失和水生生态系统改变的主要原因.尽管巴西东北部地区的干旱和东南部及南部地区的富庶和工业化之间形成明显反差,但给上述两种地区的生境和生物群落造成的影响是同样严重的.阻止环境恶化的努力没有见到效果.为此建议,应该实行将重点集中在水生生态系统完整性的一些更加综合性的环境政策,而不是把重点单独地集中在自然资源上.