Environmental sensitivity mapping — what,why and how

Terms such as environmental stability, resilience or sensitivity are verbal abbreviations or abstractions for particular features of environmental stress-response relationships. An environmental planning map must take account of the range of possible stresses, responses, and stress-response relations, assess the significance of each, and express the most significant in a form immediately useable by planning engineers. The most critical part of this process is predicting the form of the stress-response relation for each stress and response. This is done essentially by comparison with similar environmental units elsewhere where the actual responses of particular stresses are already known. The level of precision attainable in an environmental planning map depends on the extent and relevance of information available for comparison: on the degree of similarity between the ecosystems and stresses where the responses are known and those for which the map is being prepared. The collection of environmental data from the area concerned, by aerial and ground survey, is of course also essential, but such data are of limited value without the background information required to predict the consequences of particular actions in the course of development.     

Auditing the precision and accuracy of environmental impact predictions in Australia

Our understanding of natural ecosystems can be measured by our ability to predict their responses to external disturbances. Predictions made during environmental impact assessment (EIA) for major development projects are hypotheses about such responses, which can be tested with data collected in environmental monitoring programmes. The systematic comparison of predicted and actual impacts has been termed environmental impact audit. Ecosystem disturbances associated with major resource developments, though of lesser magnitude than those associated with natural cataclysms, are generally of far greater magnitude than those which can be applied experimentally. Environmental audit can hence provide critical tests of theory in a number of natural sciences. It is also needed to improve the scientific content of EIA. Audits of 4 and 29 EISs respectively have been carried out previously in the UK and USA, but this is the first national scale audit for any country. It is also the first attempt to select, from the many vague statements in EISs, only those predictions that are scientifically testable, and to determine and analyse their quantitative accuracies. Its principal results are as follows. The average accuracy of quantified, critical, testable predictions in environmental impact statements in Australia to date is 44%±5% s.e. Predictions where actual impacts proved more than expected were on average significantly (p<0.05) less accurate (33%±9%) than those where they proved as or less severe (53%±6%).     

Monitoring Diffuse Impacts: Australian Tourism Developments

/ The scientific quality of monitoring for diffuse environmental impacts has rarely been quantified. This paper presents an analysis of all formal environmental monitoring programs for Australian tourism developments over a 15-year period from 1980 to 1995. The tourism sector provides a good test bed for this study because tourism developments are (1) often adjacent to or even within conservation reserves and other relatively undisturbed natural environments, and (2) often clustered, with resulting cumulative impacts that require detection at an early stage. Here we analyze the precision and reliability with which monitoring programs as actually implemented can detect diffuse environmental impacts against natural variation. Of 175 Australian tourism developments subject to EIA from 1980 to 1993 inclusive, only 13 were subject to formal monitoring. Only 44 individual parameters, in total, were monitored for all these developments together. No baseline monitoring was conducted for nine of the 44 parameters. For the remaining 35, only one was monitored for a full year. Before, after, control, impact, paired sampling (BACIP) monitoring designs were used for 24 of the 44 parameters, and power analysis in 10. The scientific quality of monitoring was significantly better for developments subject to control by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). The key factor appears to be the way in which GBRMPA uses external referees and manages external consultants. The GBRMPA model merits wider adoption.     

Enhanced experimental flexibility and control in ecotoxicological mesocosm experiments--a new outdoor and indoor pond and stream system

Scope The German Federal Environmental Agency has put into operation a new modular mesocosm system consisting of eight outdoor and eight indoor ponds and streams in order to investigate fate and effects of chemicals and municipal wastewater in aquatic ecosystems. General design and special characteristics are given to demonstrate the wide range of possibilities for experimental research. - General design. Each of the 16 streams with riffle and pool sections can be varied in length up to 106 m. The streams can be run as circular or flow-through systems at a flow velocity of 0.02 to 0.6 m/s. Physico-chemical standard parameters are measured on-line. The 16 ponds, which can be connected to the stream systems, are equipped with drainage and pore water-sampling devices for simulating processes in the littoral zone including influent and effluent ground water flow. Perspectives Since the highly flexible and controllable construction also allows treating a wide range of hydrological and ecological experiments external institutions are invited to submit proposals.     

(M)VOC and composting facilities. Part 2: (M)VOC dispersal in the environment

BACKGROUND, AIMS AND SCOPE: Composting facilities are known to release odorous volatiles due to biodegradation of municipal waste and plant residues. Although odour perception and its grading is influenced by experience, attitude and adaptation, these emissions have created a lack of acceptance for residents in the vicinity of composting facilities. Enclosure of compost pile halls, ventilation systems and biofilters are often insufficient to minimise the burden of compost-derived compounds in the air. Moreover, economic considerations forced smaller communities to establish less sophisticated facilities with open storage areas and other relevant sources for wind-borne dispersal of bioaerosols. Aim of the present study was to characterise the immission and dispersal of microbial volatiles (MVOC) and, besides, to find coincidences between MVOC and compost odour. METHODS: In the course of this study, the surroundings of two composting facilities, differing in their type of process engineering, were investigated for emission of volatiles in the environment. Both microbially and plant-derived substances were assessed, several of which have low odour thresholds. Air samples were taken in distances ranging from 50 to 800 m in a downwind direction from each facility. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Compost-derived and microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOC) were found at distances of up to 800 m from the composting facilities. Terpenes like alpha-pinene, camphene and camphor were the dominant compounds and coincided with typical compost odour, whereas several typical MVOC were not found at greater distances. The terpenes in combination with certain MVOC may play an important role in the perception of compost odour. Exposure concentrations were not of toxicological relevance, but sensory irritation and psychohygienic effects due to an annoyance potential of such compounds should not be dismissed. RECOMMENDATIONS AND OUTLOOK: Although terpenes are generally associated with pleasant odour characteristics, they seemed to contribute to malodours in a mixture with other VOC, in this context of volatile waste from compost facilities. Malodorous emissions from biowaste have to be considered as sources of health complaints and the investigation of mixtures of compost-derived volatiles is still inevitable. Exposure levels have to be discussed taking VOC mixtures into account. Within composting facilities, technical devices have to be improved to minimise dispersal of volatiles to prevent residents from immissions eventually causing health complaints.     

Spatial distribution of perfluoroalkyl acids in the Pearl River of Southern China

An intensive campaign was conducted in September 2012 to collect surface water samples along the tributaries of the Pearl River in southern China. Thirteen perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), including perfluorocarboxylates (PFCAs, C4–C11) and perfluorosulfonates (PFSAs, C4, C6–C8, and C10), were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography/negative electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/(-)ESI–MS/MS). The concentrations of total PFAAs (ΣPFAAs) ranged from 3.0 to 52 ng L⁻¹, with an average of 19 ± 12 ng L⁻¹. The highest concentrations of ΣPFAAs were detected in the surface water of the Dong Jiang tributary (17–52 ng L⁻¹), followed by the main stream (13–26 ng L⁻¹) and the Sha Wan stream (3.0–4.5 ng L⁻¹). Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS), and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) were the three most abundant PFAAs and on average accounted for 20%, 24%, and 19% of ΣPFAAs, respectively. PFBS was the most abundant PFAA in the Dong Jiang tributary, and PFOA was the highest PFAA in the samples from the main stream of the Pearl River. A correlation was found between PFBS and PFOA, which suggests that both of these PFAAs originate from common source(s) in the region. Nevertheless, the slope of PFBS/PFOA was different in the different tributaries sampled, which indicates a spatial difference in the source profiles of the PFAAs.     

Quantification of nitrate leaching from German forest ecosystems by use of a process oriented biogeochemical model

Simulations with the process oriented Forest-DNDC model showed reasonable to good agreement with observations of soil water contents of different soil layers, annual amounts of seepage water and approximated rates of nitrate leaching at 79 sites across Germany. Following site evaluation, Forest-DNDC was coupled to a GIS to assess nitrate leaching from German forest ecosystems for the year 2000. At national scale leaching rates varied in a range of 0–>80 kg NO₃–N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ (mean 5.5 kg NO₃–N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹). A comparison of regional simulations with the results of a nitrate inventory study for Bavaria showed that measured and simulated percentages for different nitrate leaching classes (0–5 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹:66% vs. 74%, 5–15 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹:20% vs. 20%, >15 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹:14% vs. 6%) were in good agreement. Mean nitrate concentrations in seepage water ranged between 0 and 23 mg NO₃–N l⁻¹.     

The longitudinal dependence of black carbon concentration on traffic volume in an urban environment

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of traffic volume on ambient black carbon (BC) concentration in an inner-city neighborhood "hot spot" while accounting for modifying effects of weather and time. Continuous monitoring was conducted for 12 months at the Baltimore Traffic Study site surrounded by major urban streets that together carry over 150,000 vehicles per day. Outdoor BC concentration was measured with an Aethalometer; vehicles were counted pneumatically on two nearby streets. Meteorological data were also obtained. Missing data were imputed and all data were normalized to a 5-min observational interval (n = 105,120). Time-series modeling accounted for autoregressively (AR) correlated errors. This study found that outdoor BC was positively correlated at a statistically significant level with neighborhood-level vehicle counts, which contributed at a rate of 66 +/- 10 (SE) ng/m3 per 100 vehicles every 5 min. Winds from the SW-S-SE quarter were associated with the greatest increases in BC (376-612 ng/m3). These winds would have entrained BC from Baltimore's densely trafficked central business district, as well as a nearby interstate highway. The strong influence of wind direction implicates atmospheric transport processes in determining BC exposure. Dew point, mixing height, wind speed, season, and workday were also statistically significant predictors. Background exposure to BC was estimated to be 905 ng/m3. The optimal, statistically significant representation of BC's autocorrelation was AR([1:6]) x 288 x 2016, where the short-term AR factor (lags 1-6) indicated that BC concentrations are correlated for up to 30 min, and the AR factors for lags 288 and 2016 indicate longer-term autocorrelations at diurnal and weekly cycles, respectively. It was concluded that local exposure to BC from mobile sources is substantially modified by meteorological and temporal conditions, including atmospheric transport processes. BC concentration also demonstrates statistically significant autocorrelation at several time scales.     

Protective factors associated with young passenger intervening in risky driving situations

IntroductionWhile the negative influence of passengers on driving is usually studied, young passengers may protect against young drivers' crash involvement by speaking out and trying to stop unsafe driving behavior. This study sought to examine psychosocial constructs of young passengers who are likely to intervene in their friends' risky driving.MethodUniversity students aged 17 to 25 years who were single (n = 123) or in a romantic relationship (n = 130) completed an online survey measuring protective factors.ResultsThe combination of individual, friend and (for participants in a relationship) romantic partner protective factors predicted self-reported passenger intervening intentions.Impact on IndustrySince peer passengers often increase young drivers' crash risk, research on passenger intervening has significant implications for road safety strategies. The findings provide support for the operationalization of protective factors in strategies that target passenger intervening behavior.