Habitat use by loggerhead sea turtles <Emphasis Type="Italic">Caretta caretta</Emphasis> off the coast of eastern Spain results in a high vulnerability to neritic fishing gear

Previous studies of loggerhead sea turtles have concluded that drifting longlines were the main threat for immature specimens in the western Mediterranean, because immature loggerhead sea turtles mainly inhabit oceanic waters. However, recent aerial surveys have revealed large numbers of immature loggerhead sea turtles over the continental shelf of eastern mainland Spain, where turtles are exposed to neritic fishing gears but not to drifting longlines. We satellite-tracked seven loggerhead sea turtles (minimum straight carapace length (SCLmin) range: 36.5–55.0 cm) to assess whether the turtles in this region are vagrants from the adjoining oceanic regions or whether these loggerheads mostly inhabit the continental shelf. Satellite-tracking revealed that six of the tagged turtles avoided the oceanic realm and made extended use of the continental shelf, whereas only one individual could be considered a true vagrant as it avoided the continental shelf and primarily used the oceanic habitat. These results are in sharp contrast with those previously reported for immature loggerhead sea turtles of similar size from the south-western Mediterranean and fit well a relaxed ontogenic model that was recently proposed for loggerhead sea turtles in the central Mediterranean. Furthermore, these results demonstrate the vulnerability of loggerhead sea turtles of eastern mainland Spain to neritic fishing gears, as three of the seven turtles died and one was bycaught incidentally while being tracked over the continental shelf.     

Dominance and the dynamics of phenotype-limited distribution in common cranes

We studied the behavior of 13 radiotagged cranes dispersing from a communal roost over days when they changed their main daily foraging area between consecutive days during two winter seasons. Individuals went to a new foraging zone when on the previous day their morning food intake had fallen below their mean morning food intake measured over the whole winter. Food intake on the day before a change in foraging area was positively correlated with dominance rank. Dominant cranes changed to new zones with higher numbers of birds and food density, while subordinate cranes went to new zones with lower numbers of birds. As a result, all birds increased their food intake over that of the previous day. Dominant cranes remained more faithful to their most preferred foraging zone, where they spent 69% of the mornings, while subordinate birds were more mobile, switching among zones frequently. Dominant birds left the roost later than subordinate birds on the days they changed to a new zone, which could be used to track the main departing flows. The results suggest that the dynamics that led to a truncated phenotype-limited distribution were determined by social dominance and food abundance, with dominant cranes shifting to a new zone to maintain their high intake levels and subordinates changing more frequently whenever their daily intake did not reach the minimum metabolic requirements. Received: 16 December 1996 / Accepted after revision: 22 February 1997     

Mitigation of global greenhouse gas emissions from waste: conclusions and strategies from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report. Working Group III (Mitigation).

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from post-consumer waste and wastewater are a small contributor (about 3%) to total global anthropogenic GHG emissions. Emissions for 2004-2005 totalled 1.4 Gt CO2-eq year(-1) relative to total emissions from all sectors of 49 Gt CO2-eq year(-1) [including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and F-gases normalized according to their 100-year global warming potentials (GWP)]. The CH4 from landfills and wastewater collectively accounted for about 90% of waste sector emissions, or about 18% of global anthropogenic methane emissions (which were about 14% of the global total in 2004). Wastewater N2O and CO2 from the incineration of waste containing fossil carbon (plastics; synthetic textiles) are minor sources. Due to the wide range of mature technologies that can mitigate GHG emissions from waste and provide public health, environmental protection, and sustainable development co-benefits, existing waste management practices can provide effective mitigation of GHG emissions from this sector. Current mitigation technologies include landfill gas recovery, improved landfill practices, and engineered wastewater management. In addition, significant GHG generation is avoided through controlled composting, state-of-the-art incineration, and expanded sanitation coverage. Reduced waste generation and the exploitation of energy from waste (landfill gas, incineration, anaerobic digester biogas) produce an indirect reduction of GHG emissions through the conservation of raw materials, improved energy and resource efficiency, and fossil fuel avoidance. Flexible strategies and financial incentives can expand waste management options to achieve GHG mitigation goals; local technology decisions are influenced by a variety of factors such as waste quantity and characteristics, cost and financing issues, infrastructure requirements including available land area, collection and transport considerations, and regulatory constraints. Existing studies on mitigation potentials and costs for the waste sector tend to focus on landfill CH4 as the baseline. The commercial recovery of landfill CH4 as a source of renewable energy has been practised at full scale since 1975 and currently exceeds 105 Mt CO2-eq year(-1). Although landfill CH4 emissions from developed countries have been largely stabilized, emissions from developing countries are increasing as more controlled (anaerobic) landfilling practices are implemented; these emissions could be reduced by accelerating the introduction of engineered gas recovery, increasing rates of waste minimization and recycling, and implementing alternative waste management strategies provided they are affordable, effective, and sustainable. Aided by Kyoto mechanisms such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI), the total global economic mitigation potential for reducing waste sector emissions in 2030 is estimated to be > 1000 Mt CO2-eq (or 70% of estimated emissions) at costs below 100 US$ t(-1) CO2-eq year(-1). An estimated 20-30% of projected emissions for 2030 can be reduced at negative cost and 30-50% at costs < 20 US$ t(-) CO2-eq year(-1). As landfills produce CH4 for several decades, incineration and composting are complementary mitigation measures to landfill gas recovery in the short- to medium-term--at the present time, there are > 130 Mt waste year(-1) incinerated at more than 600 plants. Current uncertainties with respect to emissions and mitigation potentials could be reduced by more consistent national definitions, coordinated international data collection, standardized data analysis, field validation of models, and consistent application of life-cycle assessment tools inclusive of fossil fuel offsets.     

Microwave and Fenton's reagent oxidation of wastewater

We compared two H₂O₂ oxidation methods for the treatment of industrial wastewater: oxidation using Fenton's reagent [H₂O₂/Fe(II)] and microwave irradiation. Both methods were applied to the treatment of synthetic phenol solutions (100 mg L⁻¹) and of an industrial effluent containing a mixture of ionic and non-ionic surfactants at high load (20 g L⁻¹ of COD). The effects of initial pH, initial H₂O₂ concentration, Fenton catalyst amount and irradiation time were assessed. According to the oxidation of phenol, it has been found that the oxidation by Fenton's reagent is dependent on the pH, contrary to the microwave system, which is not influenced by this parameter. For both systems, a limiting amount of oxidant has been found; above this point the oxidation of phenol is not improved by a further addition of peroxide. The oxidation of the industrial surfactant effluent has only been successful with the Fenton's reagent. In this case, large amounts of ferrous ions are necessary for the precipitation of the ionic surfactants of the effluent, followed by the oxidation of the non-ionic constituents of the solution. Electronic Publication     

Radioactive impact in sediments from an estuarine system affected by industrial wastes releases

A big fertilizer industrial complex and a vast extension of phosphogypsum piles (12 km2), sited in the estuary formed by the Odiel and Tinto river mouths (southwest of Spain), are producing an unambiguous radioactive impact in their surrounding aquatic environment through radionuclides from the U-series. The levels and distribution of radionuclides in sediments from this estuarine system have been determined. The analyses of radionuclide concentrations and activity ratios have provided us with an interesting information to evaluate the extension, degree and routes of the radioactive impact, as well as for the knowledge of the different pathways followed for the radioactive contamination to disturb this natural system. The obtained results indicate that the main pathway of radioactive contamination of the estuary is through the dissolution in its waters of the radionuclides released by the industrial activities and their later fixation on the particulate materials. Tidal activity also plays an important role in the transport and homogenization along the estuary of the radioactivity released from the fertilizer plants.     

Antenatal ultrasonic diagnosis of dyssegmental dysplasia: A case report

Sonographic prenatal diagnosis and management of a pregnancy complicated by dys-segmental dysplasia of the Silverman-Handmaker type are presented. This is a documented case of this type of short-limbed dwarfism presenting in a family of Hispanic-American ancestry.     

Sustainability of forest management plans: a discrete goal programming approach

Let us consider i = 1, 2,...n alternative forest plans to be evaluated according to j = 1, 2,...m indicators of sustainability. An expert or panel of experts suggests a set of targets or desirable levels of achievement for the m indicators of sustainability considered. Within this context, an important problem is to determine the system with a higher level of achievement with respect to the targets attached by the expert to the m indicators. A natural extension of this problem involves determining a ranking of the n systems considered. A general procedure based on discrete goal programming is proposed to address these problems. The methodology is applied in a case study of a Spanish forest.     

Eucalyptus ESTs related to genes for oxidative stress

Oxidative stress generating active oxygen species has been proved to be one of the underlying agents causing tissue injury after the exposure of Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.) plants to a wide variety of stress conditions. The objective of this study was to perform data mining to identify favorable genes and alleles associated with the enzyme systems superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxidases, and glutathione S-transferase that are related to tolerance for environmental stresses and damage caused by pests, diseases, herbicides, and by weeds themselves. This was undertaken by using the eucalyptus expressed-sequence database (https//forests.esalq.usp.br). The alignment results between amino acid and nucleotide sequences indicated that the studied enzymes were adequately represented in the ESTs database of the FORESTs project.     

Building Consensus in Environmental Impact Assessment Through Multicriteria Modeling and Sensitivity Analysis

Multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) increasingly is being applied in environmental impact assessment (EIA). In this article, two MCDA techniques, stochastic analytic hierarchy process and compromise programming, are combined to ascertain the environmental impacts of and to rank two alternative sites for Mexico City’s new airport. Extensive sensitivity analyses were performed to determine the probability of changes in rank ordering given uncertainty in the hierarchy structure, decision criteria weights, and decision criteria performances. Results demonstrate that sensitivity analysis is fundamental for attaining consensus among members of interdisciplinary teams and for settling debates in controversial projects. It was concluded that sensitivity analysis is critical for achieving a transparent and technically defensible MCDA implementation in controversial EIA.