Genetic Diversity in the Endangered Lily Harperocallis flava and a Close Relative, Tofieldia racemosa

We examined genetic diversity in 464 individuals of the monotypic lily Harperocallis flava in its two habitats (seepage bogs and a roadside right-of-way) and five populations of a co-occurring related lily, Tofieldia racemosa. The endangered H. flava, endemic to the Apalachicola lowlands of the Florida panhandle, was monomorphic for the 22 loci scored. In contrast, T. racemosa had a high proportion of polymorphic loci ( P_s = 68.2%; P_p = 47.7%) with moderate genetic diversity (   H_es = 0.134; H_ep = 0.114). Estimated gene flow was moderately high ( Nm = 2.07) for T. racemosa, with most (93%) of the total genetic diversity found within populations. Despite the low level of genetic divergence, some isolation by distance was detected among T. racemosa populations. Harperocallis flava and other species without discernable genetic variation pose special problems for conservation biologists because genetic criteria are not available for the development of ex situ and in situ conservation and management strategies.     

Foraging activity and resource use by three parrotfish species at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, tropical West Atlantic

Parrotfishes are important components of the herbivore and detritivore guilds of tropical and subtropical reefs. Most of parrotfish species are protogynous hermaphrodites that change colour and sex, from initial phase females or males (IP) to terminal phase males (TP). We studied the foraging behaviour of Sparisoma amplum, S. axillare and S. frondosum, three syntopic scarids on the rocky reefs of Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Tropical West Atlantic. The three parrotfish species differed in food selection and preference, but IP and TP individuals of the same species preferred the same food types, except for S. amplum. Feeding rates of IP individuals were higher than those of TP individuals, but the distribution of feeding frequencies throughout the day of IP and TP individuals of the same species was similar. IP individuals had higher feeding rates than TP ones, which seems related to the fact that TP individuals spend a large amount of time patrolling their territories and chasing away conspecific individuals at the study site. The general foraging pattern we found for S. amplum, S. axillare and S. frondosum is similar to patterns found for other parrotfish species in the Western Atlantic.     

ASSESSING THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF GROUND WATER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY DECISIONS1

ABSTRACT: The full range of environmental and economic services of ground water need to be accounted for in policy decisions. Non-recognition of these services imputes a lower value for the ground water resource in establishing policies. We describe a conceptual framework for identifying and measuring the economic value of groundwater. The valuation framework links changes in physical characteristics of ground water to services provided by ground water and the economic effects of changes in ground water services. In addition to the framework, we develop a general protocol to follow for assessing the benefits of ground water policies. Application of the protocol will aid in establishing structure and consistency across policy assessments and improve the accuracy and completeness of benefit estimates, avoid double-counting problems, and eliminate duplication of ground water valuation efforts.     

Evaluation of CO exposure in active smokers while smoking using breath analysis technique

The current study evaluated the personal CO exposure of active smokers while smoking under controlled conditions, decay rate of CO in the body following active smoking, and CO accumulation in the body from repeated active smoking using a novel device for the direct measurement of alveolar breath CO. Prior to this evaluation, the proposed alveolar CO measurement device was successfully evaluated as regards the effect of humidity, CO recovery, carryover effect, and in comparison with the bag sampling method. The breath concentrations prior to and after a single cigarette were measured using a repeated measure design. Under the controlled conditions employed in the present study, active smoking was found to cause a significant body burden of CO. The post-exposure breath CO level was 1.6-2.0 times higher than the background breath level, depending on the subject and cigarette brand. In addition, the pre- and post-exposure breath concentrations were both significantly different among the subjects, yet the ratios of post-exposure to pre-exposure breath concentrations did not differ significantly between the different cigarette brands. The time-series alveolar breath concentrations measured following active smoking showed that the post-exposure alveolar CO concentrations decreased slowly even in the early phase of the decay curves, indicating a mono-compartment uptake and elimination model for the human body. The half-lives estimated in the present study (301, 315, and 385 min) were longer than or comparable to those in previous studies. The breath measurements prior to and after repeated active smoking exhibited a significant increasing trend for both the pre- and post-exposure concentrations. The changes in the pre- and post-exposure breath CO concentrations with repeated smoking ranged from 7% to 23% and from 10% to 15%, respectively, with half-hour intervals between cigarettes, and from 4% to 11% and from 6% to 8%, respectively, with hour intervals between cigarettes. Accordingly, most of the current results indicated that CO was accumulated in the human body with repeated active smoking.     

Mercury loss from soils following conversion from forest to pasture in Rondônia, Western Amazon, Brazil

This work reports on the effect of land use change on Hg distribution in Amazon soils. It provides a comparison among Hg concentrations and distribution along soil profiles under different land use categories; primary tropical forest, slashed forest prior to burning, a 1-year silviculture plot planted after 4 years of forest removal and a 5-year-old pasture plot. Mercury concentrations were highest in deeper (60-80 cm) layers in all four plots. Forest soils showed the highest Hg concentrations, ranging from 128 ngg(-1) at the soil surface to 150 ngg(-1) at 60-80 cm of depth. Lower concentrations were found in pasture soils, ranging from 69 ngg(-1) at the topsoil to 135 ngg(-1) at 60-80 cm of depth. Slashed and silviculture soils showed intermediate concentrations. Differences among plots of different soil-use categories decreased with soil depth, being non-significant below 60 cm of depth. Mercury burdens were only statistically significantly different between pasture and forest soils at the topsoil, due to the large variability of concentrations. Consequently, estimated Hg losses were only significant between these two land use categories, and only for the surface layers. Estimated Hg loss due to forest conversion to pasture ranged from 8.5 mgm(-2) to 18.5 mgm(-2), for the first 20 cm of the soil profile. Mercury loss was comparable to loss rates estimated for other Amazon sites and seems to be directly related to Hg concentrations present in soils.     

Priority volatile organic compounds in surface waters of the southern North Sea

The occurrence of 25 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was studied from April 1998 to October 2000 in the southern North Sea. Target VOCs were selected from lists of priority pollutants for the marine environment and included, e.g., chlorinated short-chain hydrocarbons (CHCs), monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (MAHs), and chlorinated monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (CMAHs). Water samples were taken from the Channel, the Belgian Continental Shelf, the mouth of the Scheldt estuary and the Southern Bight, and were analysed by purge-and-trap and high-resolution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. All data were produced by analyses deemed 'in control' by a rigorous quality assurance/quality control program provided by QUASIMEME (Quality Assurance of Information for Marine Environmental Monitoring in Europe). Chloroform and trichloroethene were commonly detected at concentrations up to 1900 and 270 ng l(-1), respectively. The other CHCs were generally found below 5 ng l(-1), and rarely exceeded 10 ng l(-1). Concentrations of MAHs were at least one order of magnitude higher than those of the CHCs. The higher levels were attributed to anthropogenic emissions from oil-related activities in coastal areas. CMAHs, except chlorobenzene and 1,4-dichlorobenzene, were hardly detected in North Sea waters. The levels of several CHCs and MAHs were shown to decrease compared to previous investigations in 1994-1995, probably as a result of on-going emission reduction efforts. The occurrence of 1,1,1-trichloroethane, for instance, was substantially reduced since the Montreal Protocol was implemented in 1995.     

Influence of ash on the fiber composition of dried dairy manures

The objective of this work was to examine the role of ash in the compositional analysis of dried dairy manures. Ninety-nine dairy manures obtained from Connecticut, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia were dried at 60 degrees C, and ground to 20 mesh. Samples were analyzed for neutral and acid detergent fiber, acid detergent lignin, total carbon, total nitrogen, and ash. In addition, cellulose and hemicellulose were computed by difference. Results indicated that high ash contents (8-52% of dry matter) can dramatically and unpredictably alter various measures of fiber composition and are a significant source of error in the determination of manure composition and how it relates to mineralization or other compositional influenced factors. Also, while the ash content of the dried intact manure can easily be determined, it is difficult to estimate the ash contribution to the individual fiber determinations, especially if sequential assays are performed.     

Chemical changes in agricultural soils of Korea: data review and suggested countermeasures

The monitoring of chemical properties, including heavy metals, in soils is necessary if better management and remediation practices are to be established for polluted soils. The National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology initiated a monitoring study that investigated fertility and heavy metal contents of the benchmarked soils. The study covered paddy soils, upland soils, and horticultural soils in the plastic film houses, and orchard soils throughout the Korea from 1990 to 1998. Likewise, 4047 samples of paddy and 2534 samples of plastic house in 1999 and 2000 were analyzed through the Soil Environment Conservation Act. Soil chemical properties such as pH, organic matter, available phosphate and extractable calcium, magnesium and potassium contents, and heavy metal contents such as cadmium, copper, lead, zinc, arsenic, mercury, and cobalt contents were analyzed. The study showed that the average contents of organic matter, available phosphate, and extractable potassium rapidly increased in plastic house soils than in upland or paddy soils. Two kinds of fertilizer recommendation systems were established for the study: the standard levels by national soil average data for 77 crops and the recommendation by soil test for 70 crops. Standard nitrogen fertilizer application levels for cereal crops changed from 94 kg/ha in 1960s, 99 kg/ha in 1970s, 110 kg/ha in 1980s to 90 kg/ha in 1990s. The K2O-fertilizer also changed from 67 kg/ha in 1960s, 76 kg/ha in 1970s, 92 kg/ha in 1980s, and only 44 kg/ha in 1990s. In rice paddy fields, the average contents of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn in surface soils (0-15 cm depth) were 0.11 mg kg(-1) (ranged from 0 to 1.01), 4.70 mg kg(-1) (0-41.59), 4.84 mg kg(-1) (0-66.44), and 4.47 mg kg(-1) (0-96.70), respectively. In the uplands, the average contents of Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and As in surface soils (0-15 cm depth) were 0.135 mg kg(-1) (ranged from 0 to 0.660), 2.77 mg kg(-1) (0.07-78.24), 3.47 mg kg(-1) (0-43.00), 10.70 mg kg(-1) (0.30-65.10), and 0.57 mg kg(-1) (0.21-2.90), respectively. In plastic film houses, the average contents of Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and As in surface soil were 0.12 mg kg(-1) (ranging from 0 to 1.28), 4.82 mg kg(-1) (0-46.50), 2.68 mg kg(-1) (0-46.50), 31.19 mg kg(-1) (0.19-252.0), and 0.36 mg kg(-1) (0-4.98), respectively. In orchard fields, the average contents of Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, As, and Hg in surface soils (0-20 cm depth) were 0.11 mg kg(-1) (ranged from 0-0.49), 3.62 mg kg(-1) (0.03-45.30), 2.30 mg kg(-1) (0-27.80), 16.60 mg kg(-1) (0.33-105.50), 0.44 mg kg(-1) (0-4.14), and 0.05 mg kg(-1) (0.01-0.54), respectively. For polluted soils with over the warning content levels of heavy metals, fine red earth application, land reconsolidation and soil amelioration such as lime, phosphate, organic manure, and submerging were recommended. For the countermeasure areas, cultivation of non-edible crops such as garden trees, flowers, and fiber crops; land reformation; and heavy application of fine red earth (up to 30 cm) were strongly recommended. Land use techniques should be changed to be harmonious with the environment to increase yield and income. Soil function characteristics should be taken into account.     

Wet Strength and Water Resistance of Modified Soy Protein Adhesives and Effects of Drying Treatment

Soy protein isolate (SPI) was modified using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl). Adhesion performance of the modified SPI on fiberboard was studied. The Water-soluble mass of the modified SPI adhesives was examined following modified ASTM D5570. The SDS-modified SPI containing 91% protein had a water-soluble mass of 1.7%. To be considered a water-resistant adhesive, the water-soluble mass of adhesive should be less than 2%. The wet shear strength test showed 100% cohesive failure within fiberboard, indicating that the modified SPI has good water resistance. The effect of drying treatment on adhesion performance of the SDS-modified SPI on fiberboard was then investigated. Drying treatment significantly affected the final adhesion performance. Shear strength did not change much, but the percentage of cohesive failure within fiberboard increased markedly as drying temperature increased. All the unsoaked, soaked, and wet specimens glued by the adhesives treated at 70° or 90°C had 100% cohesive failure within fiberboard. Viscosity also increased greatly with an increase in drying temperature. This information will be useful in developing low-cost adhesive processing system in the future.