A multi-year study following BACI design reveals no short-term impact of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bti</Emphasis> on chironomids (Diptera) in a floodplain in Eastern Austria

Short-term impacts of aerial application of Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) on Culicidae and Chironomidae were investigated over several years in temporary waters of the Dyje and Morava floodplains in Eastern Austria. The sampling followed a Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) approach with sampling dates immediately before and shortly after the application and was repeated for 3 years. To test for effects of the Bti treatment on the two Diptera families, linear mixed-effects models were used. Data analysis included the factors Before-After and Control-Impact as fixed effects, while general temporal and spatial variables were random effects. One hundred sixteen taxa of chironomids were identified. Abundance varied between 2 and 1125 larvae per m², while culicid densities reached values of several 100 ind. per liter. Total culicid abundance significantly decreased after the Bti treatment, whereas no significant effects were found on the abundance of total chironomids and dominant chironomid subfamilies, tribes, and genera, on relative proportions of chironomid feeding guilds, diversity, and species composition. Further studies from this area are needed to extend the investigation over a period of several weeks in order to reveal possible delayed effects of the larvicide application.     

Main differences on European regulations in the frame of the Seveso Directive

Since the first Seveso Directive was issued 25 years ago, each Member State of the European Union developed own regulations to enforce its application. The lack of a common approach generated differences between Member States, or even between regions within a Member State, which in practical terms caused that establishments falling under the field of application of the Seveso Directive face a different level of requirements. This situation causes significantly different impact on social, technical and financial aspects.Factors like industrial background, accidental history, actual land use, social attitude towards risk, economical and political structures play an important role in how the decisions about hazardous activities are perceived and handled.Answering the question: “Is there a right methodology for the assessment of the risk of major accidents?” may be sterile or impossible. Many tools are appropriate and the main concern is to use them properly. Technically, the causes and consequences of, e.g., a fire in a port in Spain on the Mediterranean Sea or in the port of Basel (Switzerland) in the Rhine River could be assessed using the same methods and criteria, but this is not usually the case.This paper shows, with practical examples, the differences existing while applying different regulations in the field of prevention of major accidents and the potential effects that these differences may generate regarding the definition and management of emergency plans outside establishments.If the existing unequal situation is not faced, the comparative disagreements between Member States will prevail. Therefore, the application of the Seveso Directive will generate a different impact on the society, operators and regulators, and may become a factor which may cause a risk transfer between Member States. Efforts should be addressed to harmonize criteria in this subject.     

Can forest policy contribute to solving the CO2 problem?

The steady rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is due to the combined effects of fossil fuel burning and large scale deforestation. World-wide large scale reforestation could provide, within 15–20 years, an additional biospheric sink of the order of magnitude of the present input. Its capacity would be limited to a time span of several decades, but this time could be used to develop and deploy altenative energy sources (solar, geothermal and others) which presently are unavailable for immediate large scale use.