Modelling Acidification and Recovery of Swedish Lakes

The MAGIC model was calibrated to 143 lakes in Sweden, all of which are monitored in Swedish national monitoring programmes conducted by the University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Soil characteristics of the lake catchments were obtained from the National Survey of Forest Soils and Vegetation also carried out by SLU. Deposition data were provided by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI). The model successfully simulated the observed lake and soil chemistry at 133 lakes and their catchments. The fact that 85% of the lakes calibrated successfully without being treated in an individual way suggests that data gathered by the national monitoring programmes are suitable for modelling of soil and surface water recovery from acidification. The lake and soil chemistry data were then projected into the future under the deposition scenario based on emission reductions agreed in the Gothenburg protocol. Deposition of sulphur (sea salt corrected) was estimated to decrease from 1990 to 2010 by 65–73%; deposition of nitrogen was estimated to decrease by 53%. The model simulated relatively rapid improvements in lake water chemistry in response to the decline in deposition from 1990 to 2010, but the improvements levelled off once deposition stabilised at the lower value. There was a major improvement of simulated lake water charge balance acid neutralising capacity (ANC) from 1990 to 2010 in all lakes. The modelled lakes were divided into acidification sensitive and non-sensitive. The modelled sensitive lakes are representative of 20% of the most sensitive lakes in Sweden. By 2010, the ANC in the sensitive lakes was 10 to 50 μeq L^-1 below estimated pre-industrial levels and did not increase much further from 2010 to 2040. Soils at the majority of the modelled catchments continued to lose base cations even after the simulated decline in acid deposition was complete, i.e. after the year 2010. Based on this model prediction, the acidification of the Swedish soils will in general not be reversed by the deposition reduction experienced over the last 10 years and expected to occur by the year 2010.     

Tracer method to measure landfill gas emissions from leachate collection systems

This paper describes a method developed for quantification of gas emissions from the leachate collection system at landfills and present emission data measured at two Danish landfills with no landfill gas collection systems in place: Fakse landfill and AV Miljø. Landfill top covers are often designed to prevent infiltration of water and thus are made from low permeable materials. At such sites a large part of the gas will often emit through other pathways such as the leachate collection system. These point releases of gaseous constituents from these locations cannot be measured using traditional flux chambers, which are often used to measure gas emissions from landfills. Comparing tracer measurements of methane (CH₄) emissions from leachate systems at Fakse landfill and AV Miljø to measurements of total CH₄ emissions, it was found that approximately 47% (351 kg CH₄ d^?1) and 27% (211 kg CH₄ d^?1), respectively, of the CH₄ emitting from the sites occurred from the leachate collection systems. Emission rates observed from individual leachate collection wells at the two landfills ranged from 0.1 to 76 kg CH₄ d^?1. A strong influence on emission rates caused by rise and fall in atmospheric pressure was observed when continuously measuring emission from a leachate well over a week. Emission of CH₄ was one to two orders of magnitude higher during periods of decreasing pressure compared to periods of increasing pressure.     

Roadmap for assessing regional trends in groundwater quality

Assessing regional trends in groundwater quality can be a difficult task. Data are often scattered in space and time, and the inertia of groundwater systems can create natural, seemingly persistent changes in concentration that are difficult to separate from anthropogenic trends. Here, we show how statistical methods and software for joint analysis of multiple time series can be integrated into a roadmap for trend analysis and critical examination of data quality. Ordinary and partial Mann–Kendall (MK) tests for monotonic trends and semiparametric smoothers for multiple time series constitute the cornerstones of our procedure. The MK tests include a simple and easily implemented method to correct for serial dependence, and the associated software is designed to enable convenient handling of numerous data series and to accommodate covariates and nondetects. The semiparametric smoothers are intended to facilitate detection of synchronous changes in a network of stations. A study of Swedish groundwater quality data revealed true upward trends in acid-neutralizing capacity and downward trends in sulfate but also a misleading shift in alkalinity level that would have been difficult to detect if the time series had been analyzed separately.     

Energy consumption in the Norwegian fisheries

Energy use is of great concern within fisheries, due to both associated environmental effects and the cost of fuel to fishermen. This article explores the scale of energy consumed by most segments of the Norwegian fishing fleet for gadoid fish and for parts of the pelagic fleet for the period 1980–2005. Fuel use is assigned to the different species caught and different fishing gears using economic and mass-based allocation, where data permit. Correlations between variations in energy use and changing catch rates, quotas and oil prices are found. Inverse correlations are found between fuel consumption per kilogram of fish and catch rates on a yearly basis and between fuel consumption and oil prices on a longer term basis. A long term trend towards increased fuel consumption and reduced real prices is observed from the mid 1980s until 2000. This may indicate that low fuel prices do not motivate the development of energy efficient technology in the long run. Increased fuel use may further be used as an indication of over fishing as the correlation between low catch rates and increased fuel consumption is rather strong. Possible means of reducing energy use and emissions are discussed including changing operational strategies, hull forms and the use of alternative energy carriers. A comparison with measures taken in connection with the previous oil crisis around 1980 is done.     

Long-term prediction of traffic accident record from bus driver celeration behavior.

Driver celeration (speed change) behavior of bus drivers measured a number of times was used to predict their culpable accidents over increasing time periods. It was found that predictive power was considerable (>.30 correlation) over 5 years of time with aggregated celeration (mean of repeated measurements) as independent variables, and there were also indications that power reached even further, although too low Ns made these results unreliable. Similarly, there were indications of even stronger correlations with increased aggregation of celeration values. The results were discussed in terms of the methodology needed to bring out such results, and the stability of accident-causing behavior over time.     

Pessimism and Optimism in the Debate on Climate Change: A Critical Analysis

Successful transitions to a sustainable bioeconomy require novel technologies, processes, and practices as well as a general agreement about the overarching normative direction of innovation. Both requirements necessarily involve collective action by those individuals who purchase, use, and co-produce novelties: the consumers. Based on theoretical considerations borrowed from evolutionary innovation economics and consumer social responsibility, we explore to what extent consumers’ scope of action is addressed in the scientific bioeconomy literature. We do so by systematically reviewing bioeconomy-related publications according to (i) the extent to which consumers are regarded as passive vs. active, and (ii) different domains of consumer responsibility (depending on their power to influence economic processes). We find all aspects of active consumption considered to varying degrees but observe little interconnection between domains. In sum, our paper contributes to the bioeconomy literature by developing a novel coding scheme that allows us to pinpoint different aspects of consumer activity, which have been considered in a rather isolated and undifferentiated manner. Combined with our theoretical considerations, the results of our review reveal a central research gap which should be taken up in future empirical and conceptual bioeconomy research. The system-spanning nature of a sustainable bioeconomy demands an equally holistic exploration of the consumers’ prospective and shared responsibility for contributing to its coming of age, ranging from the procurement of information on bio-based products and services to their disposal.

     

Occurrence and distribution of organochlorine residues and metals in sediment,water and fish in the catchment area of lake baiyangdian,china

The occurrence and distribution of metals (Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn), organochlorine residues (HCH, DDT and metabolites, PCBs) and EOC1 (extractable organic bound chlorine) were monitored in 1993 and 1996 in sediment, water and fish in the catchment area of Lake Baiyangdian, China. The levels of the metals, especially Cd and Zn, were significantly higher in the sediment than those in non‐polluted areas. PCBs and chlorinated pesticides constituted only a minor part (< 8.4%) of the extractable organic bound chlorine, indicating the presence of additional, unknown, organochlorine residues. Among the pesticides, DDT was widely distributed and high levels occurred in fish despite a ban of its production and use in 1983. The low quotient of pp‐DDT/pp‐DDE in sediment and fish indicated that the input of DDT to the catchment area was not of recent origin.     

The effect of perceived female parasite load on post-copulatory male choice in a sex-role-reversed pipefish

The last several decades of research in behavioral ecology have resulted in a deeper appreciation of post-mating processes and sexual conflict in sexual selection. One of the most controversial aspects of sexual selection is cryptic mate choice. Here, we take advantage of male pregnancy in a sex-role-reversed pipefish (Syngnathus typhle) to quantify cryptic choice based on perceived parasite load and other sources of variance in female fitness. Studies have shown that S. typhle males preferentially mate with females with lower parasite loads and that a male’s perception of female parasite load can be altered by tattooing females. We manipulated the apparent parasite load of females in controlled mating experiments to test the hypothesis that post-copulatory sexual selection is dependent on a male’s perception of female parasite load in pipefish. Our results provided no evidence for cryptic male choice based on perceived female parasite load. However, we found evidence that eggs from larger females were more likely to result in viable offspring than eggs from smaller females and that the first female to mate with a male transferred more eggs per copulation on average. Overall, our results show that potential for post-copulatory sexual selection does exist in pipefish, but the male’s perception of female parasite load does not play a major role in this process.