Material suppliers and industrial metabolism

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is not sufficiently tailored to the analysis of strategic environmental problems of material suppliers. Sustainable development calls for a reduction by a factor of 10 to 20 in the material intensity of the economy, a situation which leads to dramatic shifts in markets for raw materials. Furthermore, a material supplier might have major improvement options in the material’s numerous downstream uses. LCAs, however, can’t cover these two aspects. An adapted form of Substance Flow Analysis (SFA) may be an answer. This approach defines a system in relation to the flow of a specific material through society. All environmental interventions related to the material are inventoried. An emission evaluation indicates the dominant environmental bottlenecks, given the current market volume of each application of the material. This helps to identify improvement options and strategic choices in market portfolios. Scenario analysis on potential measures can further indicate changes of material flows — and thus markets — in the system. The approach is illustrated with a case study on chlorine.     

Split-hand/split-foot malformation with paternal mutation in the p63 gene

We report the prenatal diagnosis at 16 weeks' gestation of bilateral split-hand/split-foot malformation (SHSFM) with severe lobster claw deformity of hands and feet in a male fetus without associated malformations. A minor manifestation of SHSFM was present in the father with only mild bilateral foot involvement (syndactyly I–II; cleft II–III; left cutaneous syndactyly III–IV). Mutation analysis of the p63 gene on chromosome 3q27 showed a missense mutation 577A→G (predicting amino acid substitution K193E) in the father. This mutation has not been reported so far in SHSFM but resembles the previously reported 580A→G (predicting amino acid substitution K194E) in a family with SHSFM. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Orientation ofRhizophagus grandis (Coleoptera: Rhizophagidae) to oxygenated monoterpenes in a species-specific predator-prey relationship

Summary The predator,Rhizophagus grandis, is linked to its specific prey,Dendroctonus micans, by semiochemical signals regulating oviposition and long range orientation. A mixture of simple oxygenated monoterpenes [(–)—fenchone, (–)—pinocamphone, rac. camphor, terpinene-4-ol, borneol, fenchol and verbenone], identified from the frass ofD. micans has been found to be extremely active in a flight windtunnel as a long—range attractant for the predator. The mixture elicited 84 % of the response to larval frass of the prey. Excluding pinocamphone from the mixture did not influence its activity. Also, changing the absolute configurations of some of the components (fenchol, terpinene-4-ol and borneol) did not influence the predators' response. However, the addition of (–)—-terpineol increased the attractivity of the synthetic blend to almost that of larval frass of the prey. Ecological implications of the identified semiochemicals and their use in pest management are discussed.     

A test on social behavior as a cause of dispersal of spruce grouse

Summary Social behavior is one hypothesized cause for dispersal. We tested this hypothesis on spruce grouse (Dendragapus canadensis) in two years by removing adults in summer and monitoring emigration of juveniles in autumn. Despite the absence of adults, juveniles emigrated from the natal range at rates comparable to juveniles on control areas. Data on density and dispersal from earlier spruce grouse studies are reviewed, which show that emigration is constant despite substantial differences in density, and that a clear female sex bias occurs across a wide range of densities. Results do not support the hypothesis that social behavior influences dispersal nor do they support a prediction of the Oedipus hypothesis that no sex bias occurs in polygynous birds. Offprint requests to: D.M. Keppie     

Identifying the land use and land cover change drivers: methods and case studies of two forest reserves in Northern Benin

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Land use and land cover change (LULCC) is one of the problems that the world has been facing for the last few decades despite political attention....     

Role of the floodplain lakes in the methylmercury distribution and exchanges with the Amazon River, Brazil

Seasonal variability of dissolved and particulate methylmercury(F-MeHg, P-MeHg) concentrations was studied in the waters of the Amazon River and its associated Curuai floodplain during hydrological year 2005–2006, to understand the MeHg exchanges between these aquatic systems. In the oxic white water lakes, with neutral pH, high F-MeHg and P-MeHg concentrations were measured during the rising water stage(0.70 ± 0.37 pmol/L, n = 26) and flood peak(14.19 ± 9.32 pmol/g, n = 7) respectively, when the Amazon River water discharge into the lakes was at its maximum. The lowest mean values were reported during the dry season(0.18 ± 0.07 pmol/L F-MeHg, n = 10 and 1.35 ± 1.24 pmol/g P-MeHg, n = 8), when water and suspended sediments were outflowing from the lakes into the River. In these lakes,the MeHg concentrations were associated to the aluminium and organic carbon/nitrogen changes. In the black water lakes, with acidic pH and reducing conditions, elevated MeHg concentrations were recorded(0.58 ± 0.32 pmol/L F-MeHg, n = 16 and 19.82 ± 15.13 pmol/g PMeHg, n = 6), and correlated with the organic carbon and manganese concentrations. Elevated values of MeHg partition coefficient(4.87 Kd 5.08 log(L/kg) indicate that MeHg is mainly transported associated with the particulate phase. The P-MeHg enrichment detected in all lakes suggests autochthonous MeHg inputs from the sediments into the water column. The MeHg mass balance showed that the Curuai floodplain is not the source of P-MeHg for the Amazon River.     

Mangrove forest structure and productivity in the Fly River estuary,Papua New Guinea

In April, July and August 1989 and February 1990, the delta region of the Fly River was surveyed to establish the aerial extent of mangrove forests, their species composition, tree densities and basal areas, and potential net primary production. Mangrove forests cover 87 400 ha, mainly on islands within the delta. Twentynine mangrove plant species were recorded, but there were only three major forest types in the delta.Rhizophora apiculata-Bruguiera parviflora forests (hereafterRhizophora-Bruguiera forests) predominated in regions where river water salinities were >10. These forests covered 31 500 ha and had mean total tree densities and basal areas of 2027 stems ha^–1 and 21 m² ha^–1, respectively. Forests of the palmNypa fruticans (hereafterNypa forests) covered 38 400 ha, mainly in regions where river salinities were ~1 to 10, and had mean total densities and basal areas of 4431 stems ha^–1 and 38 m² ha^–1, respectively. Forests dominated byAvicennia marina and/orSonneratia lanceolata (hereafterAvicennia-Sonneratia forests) predominated on accreting banks of sediment and covered 17 500 ha. In very low-salinity (< 1) regions there are large monospecific stands ofS. lanceolata. Mean total densities and basal areas forAvicennia-Sonneratia forests were 7036 stems ha^–1 and 22 m² ha^–1, respectively. Mean net primary productivity (kg C ha^–1 d^–1) was estimated to be 26.7, 27.1 and 19.0 forRhizophora-Bruguiera, Nypa andAvicennia-Sonneratia forests, respectively. Total daily net primary production by all mangrove forests was estimated at 2214 t carbon. Using assumptions based on work in tropical Australia, it was estimated that ~678 t carbon (or 31% of primary production) were exported daily from mangrove forests to the waters of the delta.Contribution No. 550 from the Australian Institute of Marine Science