Energy or compost from green waste? – A CO2 – Based assessment

Green waste is increasingly extracted from the material recycling chain and, as a result of the financial subsidy arising from the German renewable energy law for the generation of energy from renewable raw materials; it is fed into the energy recovery process in biomass power stations. A reduction in climate relevant gases is also linked to the material recovery of green waste – in particular when using composts gained from the process as a new raw material in different types of potting compost and plant culture media as a replacement for peat. Unlike energy recovery, material valorisation is not currently subsidised. Through the analysis of material and energy valorisation methods for green waste, with particular emphasis on primary resource consumption and CO₂-balance, it could be determined that the use of green waste for energy generation and its recovery for material and peat replacement purposes can be considered to be on a par. Based on energy recovery or material oriented scenarios, it can be further deduced that no method on its own will achieve the desired outcome and that a combination of recycling processes is more likely to lead to a significant decrease of greenhouse gas emissions.     

Usability of the climate-resilient nature-based sand motor pilot,The Netherlands

Coastline maintenance in the Netherlands, formally in place since 1990, aims at a sustainable preservation of coastal flood protection. Over 25 years annual assessments, comparing the actual coastline positions with the 1990 reference position of the coastline, have governed the execution of sand nourishments following an adaptive management method. This method involves yearly assessment of the coastline based on measurements, design and adoption of nourishment strategies and measures and execution of the nourishments. This management approach has enabled learning and introduction of innovations in coastline maintenance. For instance, in comparison to the early nineties, nourishments are now placed more on the foreshore and the yearly nourishment budget has doubled. The most recent innovation in coastline maintenance is the ‘Sand Motor’, a nature-based nourishment approach, which concentrates the regular nourishments in space and time, given that natural processes should redistribute the sediment over the wider coastal system. In contrast to regular nourishments, the Sand Motor combines flood protection with nature and recreational objectives and is much larger in dimensions. Five years after the construction of the Sand Motor we investigate its usability in this article. We present the results of first Sand Motor evaluation and draw conclusion on the adoption and usefulness of it for coastline management from the perspective of the adaptive management method used in coastline maintenance. Recent evaluation of the monitoring data shows that the large amount of sand used for the Sand Motor has a positive impact on coastal protection. Bridging between the Sand Motor pilot and daily nourishement practice is however not yet achieved.     

Do we have to incorporate ecological interactions in the sensitivity assessment of ecosystems? An examination of a theoretical assumption underlying species sensitivity distribution models

Species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) are statistical distributions which extrapolate single-species toxicity test results to ecosystem effects. This SSD approach assumes that ecological interactions between populations, such as grazing and competition, do not influence the sensitivity of ecosystems. The validity of this assumption in a simple freshwater pelagic ecosystem was tested using ecosystem modelling. For each of a 1000 hypothetical toxicants, a lognormal SSD was fitted to chronic single-species EC10s of the species present. As such, these distributions did not account for ecological interactions and were therefore termed 'conventional SSDs' (cSSDs). Next, sensitivity distributions that did take into account ecological interactions were constructed (eco-SSD) for the same 1000 toxicants, using an ecosystem model. For 254 of the 1000 hypothetical toxicants, mean and/or variance of the cSSD were significantly higher than mean and/or variance of the eco-SSD, as such rejecting the general validity of the tested assumption. A classification tree approach indicated that especially toxicants which directly affect phytoplankton (i.e. herbicides) may have a higher mean for cSSD than for eco-SSD. Conversely, means of eco-SSD and cSSD tend to be equal for toxicants directly affecting zooplankton and fish, e.g. insecticides. For the 254 hypothetical toxicants for which the tested assumption was false, a predicted no effect concentration (PNEC) calculated as the lowest single-species EC10 divided by an application factor of 10 was on average a factor 10 lower than the corresponding ecosystem-NOEC calculated by the ecosystem model.     

Specificity of odour-mediated avoidance of competition in Drosophila parasitoids

Although there are many examples of the role of volatile infochemicals in interactions between trophic levels of insect communities, surprisingly little is known of volatile interactions between species within the third trophic level. Recently it was found that Leptopilina heterotoma, an endoparasitoid that attacks Drosophila larvae, avoids one type of patches (decaying stinkhorn mushrooms) when parasitoids of another species (L. clavipes) are present on these patches. L. heterotoma is able to smell the presence of L. clavipes from a distance (Fig. 1). In this paper we investigate the source of the odour that induces avoidance behaviour, by varying the host species and parasitoid species present on stinkhorn mushrooms, and by using another type of patch (sap-fluxes of wounded trees). L. heterotoma was found to avoid stinkhorn patches with conspecific as well as heterospecific parasitoids (Fig. 2). Hosts had to be present in the patch to elicit avoidance, but avoidance behaviour was also found with another host species present in the patch (Fig. 3). No avoidance behaviour was found with sap-flux patches with hosts and parasitoids on them (Fig. 4). Avoidance of stinkhorn patches only occurred when the parasitoids present on the patch were able to contact hosts (Figs. 5 and 6). The exact source of the odour that elicits avoidance is still unclear, so that one can only speculate on the function of the signal. However, there is a clear benefit to the receiver, because it is able to avoid superior competitors. Avoidance can lead to non-aggregated parasitoid distributions. The importance of avoidance behaviour for population dynamics and stability of parasitoid-host systems is discussed.     

Simulated sea surface temperature and heat fluxes in different climates of the Baltic Sea

The physical state of the Baltic Sea in possible future climates is approached by numerical model experiments with a regional coupled ocean-atmosphere model driven by different global simulations. Scenarios and recent climate simulations are compared to estimate changes. The sea surface is clearly warmer by 2.9 degrees C in the ensemble mean. The horizontal pattern of average annual mean warming can largely be explained in terms of ice-cover reduction. The transfer of heat from the atmosphere to the Baltic Sea shows a changed seasonal cycle: a reduced heat loss in fall, increased heat uptake in spring, and reduced heat uptake in summer. The interannual variability of surface temperature is generally increased. This is associated with a smoothed frequency distribution in northern basins. The overall heat budget shows increased solar radiation to the sea surface, which is balanced by changes of the other heat flux components.     

Multi-generation cadmium acclimation and tolerance in Daphnia magna Straus

The cladoceran Daphnia magna was acclimated for seven generations to cadmium concentrations ranging from 0 (control) to 250 microg/l Cd (corresponding to a free ion activity of 4.60 nM Cd2+). Acute and chronic cadmium tolerance as well as cadmium accumulation were monitored as a function of acclimation time. After two to three generations of acclimation to concentrations ranging from 0.23 to 1.11 nM Cd2+ increases in acute tolerance were maximal (factor 7.2) and significant. Acclimation for seven generations to the same acclimation concentrations did result in an increased chronic cadmium tolerance (21 days EC50 values increased). Organisms acclimated to 1.93 nM Cd2+ were equally or more sensitive than non-acclimated daphnids in acute and chronic toxicity tests. Cadmium contents in D. magna increased significantly as a function of the acclimation concentration. Maximum body burdens of 236+/-30 microg Cd/g dry weight were measured in organisms exposed to 4.60 nM Cd2+, but detoxification mechanisms were only successful up to 82+/-20 microg Cd/g dry weight as this concentration did not cause major decreases in survival and reproduction in chronic toxicity tests. As the potential positive effect of acclimation on cadmium tolerance disappeared with successive acclimation generations and increasing acclimation concentrations, it is concluded that multi-generation acclimation studies are important for the evaluation of the long-term effects of environmental toxicants.     

Determination of 226Ra at ultratrace level in mineral water samples by sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

An analytical procedure has been proposed for the determination of (226)Ra at the low femtogram per ml concentration level in mineral water samples using double focusing sector field ICP-MS (ICP-SFMS). For the pre-concentration and separation of radium from the matrix elements in water a tandem of a laboratory-prepared filter, based on MnO(2), and Eichrom "Sr-specific" resin was used. The recovery of the method was determined to be 70.5%. The limit of detection for (226)Ra determination was 0.02 fg ml(-1), including a pre-concentration factor of 10. In addition, uranium concentration and uranium isotope ratios were measured by ICP-SFMS. In several mineral water samples with a relatively high uranium content, (226)Ra concentrations were found between 0.7-15 fg ml(-1). The effective dose of the contribution was calculated using the radionuclide concentration and dose conversion factors from the World Health Organization, WHO (1993). Assuming a mineral water consumption of 2 l d(-1), a slightly higher calculated dose than the suggested limit for drinking water (0.1 mSv y(-1)) was found in some samples.     

The anthropogenic contribution to the organic load of the Lippe River (Germany). Part I: Qualitative characterisation of low-molecular weight organic compounds

GC/MS-screening analyses of water samples from the Lippe River, Germany, revealed the presence of a wide spectrum of low-molecular weight organic compounds ranging from non-polar constituents like aliphatic hydrocarbons to polar constituents like n-carboxylic acids and phenols. Most of the identified compounds could be attributed to anthropogenic input and are used as plasticizers, flame retardants, pharmaceutical drugs or fragrances. Some of them had rarely been noticed as organic pollutants of aquatic environments before. These are, among others, 9-methylacridine, the plasticizer 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentandioldiisobutyrate (TXIB), the surfactant 2,4,7,9-tetramethyl-5-decyne-4,7-diol (TMDD), triphenylphosphinoxide and the flame retardant tris(chloropropyl)phosphate. On the other hand, most of the identified trialkyl phosphates, pharmaceutical drugs and synthetic fragrances have been reported in surface waters by several authors so far. Input pathways of the detected compounds were traced back by sampling various input sources of organic matter such as discharges of wastewater and Lippe River tributaries. Several contaminants were ubiquitous in Lippe River water and also occurred in sewage effluent from a municipal sewage treatment plant and in samples from the tributaries. This observation suggests that they are typical sewage derived contaminants and have the potential to be used as anthropogenic molecular markers.