Survival,reproduction, and recruitment of woody plants after 14 years on a reforested landfill

With the advent of modern sanitary landfill closure techniques, the opportunity exists for transforming municipal landfills into urban woodlands. While costs of fullscale reforestation are generally prohibitive, a modest planting of clusters of trees and shrubs could initiate or accelerate population expansions and natural plant succession from open field to diverse forest. However, among woody species that have been screened for use on landfills, these ecological potentials have not yet been investigated. We examined a 14-yr-old landfill plantation in New Jersey, USA, established to test tolerance of 19 species of trees and shrubs to landfill environments. We measured survivorship, reproduction, and recruitment within and around the experimental installation. Half of the original 190 plants were present, although survival and growth rates varied widely among species. An additional 752 trees and shrubs had colonized the plantation and its perimeter, as well as 2955 stems of vines. However, the great majority (>95%) of woody plants that had colonized were not progeny of the planted cohort, but instead belonged to 18 invading species, mostly native, bird-dispersed, and associated with intermediate stages of secondary plant succession. Based on this evidence, we recommend that several ecological criteria be applied to choices of woody species for the restoration of municipal landfills and similar degraded sites, in order to maximize rapid and economical establishment of diverse, productive woodlands.     

Trophic State in Voyageurs National Park Lakes before and after Implementation of a Revised Water‐Level Management Plan

We compiled Secchi depth, total phosphorus, and chlorophyll a (Chla) data from Voyageurs National Park lakes and compared datasets before and after a new water‐level management plan was implemented in January 2000. Average Secchi depth transparency improved (from 1.9 to 2.1 m, p = 0.020) between 1977‐1999 and 2000‐2011 in Kabetogama Lake for August samples only and remained unchanged in Rainy, Namakan, and Sand Point Lakes, and Black Bay in Rainy Lake. Average open‐water season Chla concentration decreased in Black Bay (from an average of 13 to 6.0 μg/l, p = 0.001) and Kabetogama Lake (from 9.9 to 6.2 μg/l, p = 0.006) between 1977‐1999 and 2000‐2011. Trophic state index decreased significantly in Black Bay from 59 to 51 (p = 0.006) and in Kabetogama Lake from 57 to 50 (p = 0.006) between 1977‐1999 and 2000‐2011. Trophic state indices based on Chla indicated that after 2000, Sand Point, Namakan, and Rainy Lakes remained oligotrophic, whereas eutrophication has decreased in Kabetogama Lake and Black Bay. Although nutrient inputs from inflows and internal sources are still sufficient to produce annual cyanobacterial blooms and may inhibit designated water uses, trophic state has decreased for Kabetogama Lake and Black Bay and there has been no decline in lake ecosystem health since the implementation of the revised water‐level management plan.     

Forecast-based action for conservation

Extreme weather events pose an immediate threat to biodiversity, but existing conservation strategies have limitations. Advances in meteorological forecasting and innovation in the humanitarian sector provide a possible solution—forecast-based action (FbA). The growth of ecological forecasting demonstrates the huge potential to anticipate conservation outcomes, but a lack of operational examples suggests a new approach is needed to translate forecasts into action. FbA provides such a framework, formalizing the use of meteorological forecasts to anticipate and mitigate the impacts of extreme weather. Based on experience from the humanitarian sector, I suggest how FbA could work in conservation, demonstrating key concepts using the theoretical example of heatwave impacts on sea turtle embryo mortality, and address likely challenges in realizing FbA for conservation, including establishing a financing mechanism, allocating funds to actions, and decision-making under uncertainty. FbA will demand changes in conservation research, practice, and governance. Researchers must increase efforts to understand the impacts of extreme weather at more immediate and actionable timescales and should coproduce forecasts of such impacts with practitioners. International conservation funders should establish systems to fund anticipatory actions based on uncertain forecasts.     

Designing a composite indicator for road safety

This study set out to develop a composite road safety indicator for benchmarking countries’ road safety performance, which would combine the main layers of the road safety pyramid which describes the complex nature of road safety activities, performance and outcomes. Four groups of basic safety indicators were considered, which refer to: policy performance (road safety programmes), final road safety outcomes (fatality rates, scope of traffic injury), intermediate outcomes (wearing rates of seat belts, crashworthiness and composition of vehicle fleet, alcohol-impaired driving), and background characteristics of countries (motorization level, population density). The analysis used the data collected for 27 European countries. Weights based on statistical models were used to combine the basic indicators into a composite one. Principal Component Analysis and Common Factor Analysis weighting were examined. The composite indicators, estimated by several methods, enabled us to rank and group the countries according to their safety performance.The analysis revealed that the countries’ ranking based on the composite indicators is not necessarily similar to the traditional ranking of countries based on fatality rates only. Furthermore, it was observed that the indicators belonging to the final outcomes and intermediate outcomes are not uniform in their behaviour. Indicators which were found to be more consistent and influential and termed a ‘core set of basic indicators’ are recommended for future uses. The general conclusion is that the design of a composite road safety indicator in which relevant information from the different components of the road safety pyramid has been captured and weighted is realistic and meaningful. Such an indicator gives a more enriched picture of road safety than a ranking based only on fatality rates, which is the common practice at present. Grouping countries in this process is promising and seems to be preferable to simply ranking countries.     

No net loss for people and biodiversity

Governments, businesses, and lenders worldwide are adopting an objective of no net loss (NNL) of biodiversity that is often partly achieved through biodiversity offsetting within a hierarchy of mitigation actions. Offsets aim to balance residual losses of biodiversity caused by development in one location with commensurate gains at another. Although ecological challenges to achieve NNL are debated, the associated gains and losses for local stakeholders have received less attention. International best practice calls for offsets to make people no worse off than before implementation of the project, but there is a lack of clarity concerning how to achieve this with regard to people's use and nonuse values for biodiversity, especially given the inevitable trade-offs when compensating biodiversity losses with gains elsewhere. This is particularly challenging for countries where poor people depend on natural resources. Badly planned offsets can exacerbate poverty, and development and offset impacts can vary across spatial-temporal scales and by location, gender, and livelihood. We conceptualize the no-worse-off principle in the context of NNL of biodiversity, by exploring for whom and how the principle can be achieved. Changes in the spatial and temporal distribution of biodiversity-related social impacts of a development and its associated offset can lead to social inequity and negatively impact people's well-being. The level of aggregation (regional, village, interest group, household, and individual) at which these social impacts are measured and balanced can again exacerbate inequity in a system. We propose that a determination that people are no worse off, and preferably better off, after a development and biodiversity offset project than they were before the project should be based on the perceptions of project-affected people (assessed at an appropriate level of aggregation); that their well-being associated with biodiversity losses and gains should be at least as good as it was before the project; and that this level of well-being should be maintained throughout the project life cycle. Employing this principle could help ensure people are no worse off as a result of interventions to achieve biodiversity NNL.     

Sympatric species of threespine stickleback differ in their performance in a spatial learning task

Increasing evidence suggests that cognitive function is under selection in diverse taxa and that this results in different cognitive abilities in taxa experiencing different selective environments. For example, species inhabiting spatially complex environments might be expected to have good spatial learning ability. We investigated whether local habitat conditions influence learning by comparing the performance of two recently diverged species of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus complex) in a spatial learning task. The two species reside sympatrically in several lakes. Benthics occupy the spatially structured vegetated littoral zone, whereas limnetics occupy the spatially homogenous open-water pelagic zone. We trained fish to locate a hidden reward in a T-maze and asked whether they did so by learning a body-centred pattern of movement (turn left or right) or by using plant landmarks. Both benthics and limnetics used turn and landmark cues, but benthics learnt the task almost twice as quickly as limnetics. This difference is consistent with the hypothesis that benthic and limnetic sticklebacks are equipped with spatial learning abilities well suited to the spatial complexity of their littoral and pelagic habitats. Our findings add to the understanding of the evolution of learning.     

High overlap between traditional ecological knowledge and forest conservation found in the Bolivian Amazon

It has been suggested that traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) may play a key role in forest conservation. However, empirical studies assessing to what extent TEK is associated with forest conservation compared with other variables are rare. Furthermore, to our knowledge, the spatial overlap of TEK and forest conservation has not been evaluated at fine scales. In this paper, we address both issues through a case study with Tsimane’ Amerindians in the Bolivian Amazon. We sampled 624 households across 59 villages to estimate TEK and used remote sensing data to assess forest conservation. We ran statistical and spatial analyses to evaluate whether TEK was associated and spatially overlapped with forest conservation at the village level. We find that Tsimane’ TEK is significantly and positively associated with forest conservation although acculturation variables bear stronger and negative associations with forest conservation. We also find a very significant spatial overlap between levels of Tsimane’ TEK and forest conservation. We discuss the potential reasons underpinning our results, which provide insights that may be useful for informing policies in the realms of development, conservation, and climate. We posit that the protection of indigenous cultural systems is vital and urgent to create more effective policies in such realms.     

Assessing PM10 source reduction in urban agglomerations for air quality compliance

The objective of this work was to study PM(10) and PM(2.5) concentration data available from monitoring stations in two large urban agglomerations in Greece and to estimate the emissions reduction required for compliance with the EU Air Quality Standards (AQS) for particulate matter. The cities studied are namely the Athens and Thessaloniki Metropolitan Areas (AMA and TMA, respectively). PM(10) concentrations during the period 2001-2010 have been evaluated for 15 air quality monitoring stations in the two urban areas. It was found that the concentrations of PM(10) during the period studied constantly exceeded the threshold values at the traffic and industrial stations in TMA and most of the traffic sites in AMA. Most of the occurrences of non-attainment to the daily AQSs were observed during the winter period at all stations (more pronounced for TMA stations). The reduction in current emission source strength to meet the air quality goal was calculated by the rollback equation using PM(10) day-averaged concentrations over the selected period at each station. Among the lognormal and Weibull distributions, the lognormal distribution was found to best fit the frequency distributions of PM(10) concentrations at the selected stations. The results showed that the minimum reduction required in order to meet the AQS in the AMA ranges from approximately 20 to 38% and up to 11% for traffic and background stations, respectively. Reductions in the range of 31% for traffic and 44% for industrial areas in TMA are also required. The same methodology was applied to PM(2.5) concentrations in the AMA and showed that emission reductions up to 31% are necessary in order to meet the 2020 EU AQS. Finally, continuous concentration data of organic (OC) and elementary carbon (EC) in PM(2.5) were used to study the possibility of achieving specific emission attenuation objectives in AMA.     

Heavy metal content in oysters (Crassostrea gigas) cultured in the Ebro Delta in Catalonia, Spain

The aim of this study was to determine heavy metal content (As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Cd, Pb, and Zn) in oysters transplanted in Ebro Delta bays (Alfacs and Fangar) where oysters are traditionally cultured for human consumption. Metal body burdens were monitored weekly during the period of maximal agriculture activity from May to June in 2008 and 2009. Results indicate that regardless of the high levels of metals reported in biota living in Ebro River, metal levels in oysters from both bays were similar to those found in unpolluted areas and far below the maximum limits of tolerance recommended by the European Commission. Nevertheless, metal accumulation patterns in oysters differentiate two sources of pollution: one coming from agriculture activities within the Ebro’s delta for As, Cd, Cu, and Zn and other coming from Ebro River probably related to industrial activities upstream (Hg, Pb) or to lead shot pellets form hunting activities (Pb). Reported results, thus, are in concern with previous studies and indicate that metallic pollutants do not affect oysters cultures in Ebro Delta associated bays.     

A complex investigation of the extent of pollution in sediments of the Sava River: part 2: persistent organic pollutants

Sediment pollution of the biggest Danube tributary, the Sava River, was investigated within the sixth framework European Union project “Sava River Basin: Sustainable Use, Management and Protection of Resources” (SARIB). The extent of pollution was estimated by determining the amount of inorganic and persistent organic pollutants in sediment samples at 20 selected sampling sites along the Sava River. For the purpose of clarity, the findings are presented and published separately (part I: selected elements and part II: persistent organic pollutants). This study presents an investigation into the presence of organic pollutants in the Sava River sediment. According to the Water Framework Directive, the following persistent organic pollutants were investigated: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), selected chlorinated pesticides and organotin compounds. The results reveal that PAHs were present in moderate concentrations (sum of 16 PAHs: up to 4,000 ng g^???1) and their concentrations increased downstream. Concen trations of PCB were low (sum of seven indicator PCBs: below 4 ng g^???1) and among the pesticides analyzed only p,p-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane was found in moderate concentrations at two sampling sites in Croatia (up to 3 ng g^???1) and hexachlorobenzene was found in a high concentration in the city of Belgrade (91 ng g^???1), although the use of these persistent pesticides has been banned for decades. Repeated sampling at the same location revealed point pollution near Belgrade. Among the organic pollutants surveyed, organotin compounds were not detected. Overall results reveal the presence of persistent organic pollutants in 20 of the Sava River sediments tested that is, in general, comparable or lower than the levels in the Danube River and other moderately polluted European rivers.