Trend analysis for integrated regional climate change impact assessments in the Lusatian river catchments (north-eastern Germany)

Regional Environmental Change - Trend analysis on observations and model-based climate change simulations are two commonly used methods for climate change detection and impact analysis. Here we...     

Interacting environmental and chemical stresses under global change in temperate aquatic ecosystems: stress responses,adaptation, and scaling

Regional Environmental Change - Unfavorable environmental conditions—abiotic stress—constitute one of the key drivers of evolution leading to environmental adaptation. Since the start...     

Determination of carbamazepine and 12 degradation products in various compartments of an outdoor aquatic mesocosm by reliable analytical methods based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The aims of this work are to develop suitable analytical methods to determine the widely used anticonvulsant carbamazepine and 12 of its...     

17 β-estradiol and 17 α-ethinylestradiol mineralization in sewage sludge and biosolids

Natural steroid estrogens (e.g., 17 β-estradiol, E2), synthetic steroid estrogens (e.g., 17 α-ethinylestradiol, EE2) and pharmaceutical antibiotics (e.g., ciprofloxacin) are chemicals detected in biosolids and sewage sludges because they partition into the solids fraction during the wastewater treatment process. This research utilized a three-way factorial design (six media × two estrogens × three antibiotic treatments) to quantify cumulative E2 and EE2 mineralization over 133 d (MAX) in a range of sewage sludge and biosolid samples in the presence (4 and 40 mg kg^?1) and absence of ciprofloxacin. The same three-way factorial design was utilized to quantify the impact of the six media, E2 or EE2, and ciprofloxacin on cumulative soil respiration over 133 d (RESP). Minimal ciprofloxacin mineralization was observed (<0.05% over 133 d), but despite its persistence, ciprofloxacin had no significant effect on MAX of E2 or EE2, and, in general, no significant effect on RESP. MAX ranged from 38.38% to 48.44% for E2 but from only 0.72% to 24.27% for EE2 although RESP was relatively similar, ranging from 101.00 to 866.54 mg CO₂ in the presence of E2 and from 69.55 to 893.95 mg CO₂ in the presence of EE2. The sorption-limited bioavailability of EE2, which is inherently resistant to biodegradation due to chemical structure, as MAX and Freundlich sorption coefficients (K_f) were negatively correlated. As such, the K_f values of EE2 were largest in composted biosolids in which EE2 was particularly resistant to microbial degradation as the MAX of EE2 was <3%. In contrast, the MAX of E2 showed a positive association with the K_f values of E2 because some steps in the E2 transformation process have been found to occur in the sorbed phase. The MAX of E2 was significantly greater in the biosolid and composted biosolid media than in any other media, whereas the MAX of E2 decreased in the following order: secondary sewage sludge > primary sewage sludge > biosolid = composted biosolid. This suggests that sewage sludges in municipal lagoons and pre-treatment holding lagoons are a more favorable media for mineralization of EE2, whereas biosolids in post-treatment storage lagoons are a more favorable media for the mineralization of E2. The presence of ciprofloxacin will have no impact on the potential E2 or EE2 mineralization rates in these cases.     

Fluctuations in the size of Lake Chad: consequences on the livelihoods of the riverain peoples in eastern Niger

Recent level changes in Lake Chad are associated with large area changes because the lakebed is almost flat. They have deeply impacted the lifestyle of local populations. The Mober are the main ethnic group living in the surroundings of Bosso, in eastern Niger near the Yobe River and in Lake Chad. They were initially herders and farmers who developed flood-retreat farming and sophisticated irrigation systems. But their main activity during high Lake levels was fishing: it provided food as well as substantial incomes, thanks to the export of smoked and dried fish. Since 1973, Lake Chad has shrunk, mainly because of the decrease in rainfall in its southern hydrological basin, on the border between Chad and the Republic of Central Africa. On the border between Niger and Nigeria, the Yobe River discharge was more stable but it provided a minor input to the Lake. Large areas with rich soils, termed here as polders by analogy with those of the Bol region in Chad, became available and allowed maize, cowpeas, sorghum and vegetables farming without irrigation or fertilizer. This system is governed by the “bulama,” chiefs of the villages and of the land that is still abundant. However, without any return of the Lake on the polders, there is a serious risk of soil exhaustion. Sweet pepper farming has been developed on the sandy Yobe borders since 1960, partly thanks to the local farmers’ ancient knowledge of irrigation techniques. It requires an investment of capital to buy fertilizers, pesticides, and gasoline for the motor pumps. This farming system may not only provide high incomes, but it also promotes inequality between men and women on the one hand and on the other hand, between poor farmers, who must borrow money and who have to sell their harvest immediately, and those who are able to store their products and wait for the best prices. The Mober of Bosso were able to adapt to rapid changes in the level of the Lake firstly without public intervention due to their long-lasting pluriactivity. However, their ability to cope with stronger changes induced either by climate or by large projects aiming at restoring high Lake Chad levels should be carefully monitored.     

Epidemiological assessment of food aid in the Bosnian conflict, 1994-97

Surveys in emergency settings are important for the accountability of food aid. Four household surveys conducted between 1994 and 1997 measured the performance of the Bosnia food aid programme, covering a random sample of clusters in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republica Srpska. The team calculated coverage, exclusion and inclusion errors, programme misses, and under-supply. Despite intended universal coverage from 1994-96, 15, 19, and 31 per cent, respectively, did not receive food across the three-year time frame. Households categorised as vulnerable were somewhat more likely to receive food. Programme misses were rare, whereas under-supply fell from 30 per cent in 1994 to four per cent in 1997, as the availability of other food increased. Extrapolation suggested that 61 per cent of the food distributed did not reach households. The programme introduced priority categories for targeting in 1997, yet nearly one-half of the highest priority households did not receive food. Incomplete coverage and weak targeting were related to political constraints.     

Natural History Traits Associated with Detecting Mortality Within Residential Bird Communities: Can Citizen Science Provide Insights?

Cat predation of birds in residential landscapes is ephemeral, unpredictable, and spatially dispersed, and thus requires many person-hours to observe. We sought to identify whether specific behaviors, traits, or feeding ecologies of birds contribute to their probability of cat-caused mortality around residences across temperate North America. In addressing this question, we evaluated citizen science data with respect to peer-reviewed species accounts (Birds of North America, BNA). Using information on cat predation from the BNA, we found that species that glean their prey from the ground or breed in nest boxes were three times more likely to be depredated by cats, while birds that hawk were over two times less likely to become cat prey than would be predicted by random chance. Data from citizen science sources also showed that birds using nest boxes had increased susceptibility to cat predation, as did those that use feeders and that glean from foliage. We caution that observations of predation by citizen science volunteers may be biased towards detection at feeders. Future research should focus on developing volunteer survey techniques for improving estimates of bird mortality rates and sources.     

Lessons learned from natural and industrial analogues for storage of carbon dioxide

The deployment of CCS (carbon capture and storage) at industrial scale implies the development of effective monitoring tools. Noble gases are tracers usually proposed to track CO₂. This methodology, combined with the geochemistry of carbon isotopes, has been tested on available analogues.At first, gases from natural analogues were sampled in the Colorado Plateau and in the French carbogaseous provinces, in both well-confined and leaking-sites. Second, we performed a 2-years tracing experience on an underground natural gas storage, sampling gas each month during injection and withdrawal periods.In natural analogues, the geochemical fingerprints are dependent on the containment criterion and on the geological context, giving tools to detect a leakage of deep-CO₂ toward surface. This study also provides information on the origin of CO₂, as well as residence time of fluids within the crust and clues on the physico-chemical processes occurring during the geological story.The study on the industrial analogue demonstrates the feasibility of using noble gases as tracers of CO₂. Withdrawn gases follow geochemical trends coherent with mixing processes between injected gas end-members. Physico-chemical processes revealed by the tracing occur at transient state.These two complementary studies proved the interest of geochemical monitoring to survey the CO₂ behaviour, and gave information on its use.     

An evaluation of the interaction of morning residual layer and afternoon mixed layer ozone in Houston using ozonesonde data

The Tropospheric Ozone Pollution Project (TOPP) launched >220 ozonesondes in Houston (July 2004–June 2008) providing examples of pollution transported into, re-circulated within, and exported from the Houston area. Fifty-one launches occurred during the Texas Air Quality Study (TexAQS) II and the summer portion of IONS-06 (INTEX [Intercontinental Transport Experiment] Ozonesonde Network Study). On 11 days during TexAQS II and on 8 other occasions, ozonesondes were launched both at dawn and in the afternoon. Analysis of these “intensive” launch sequences shows that morning residual layer (RL) ozone concentrations ([O₃]) explained 60–70% of the variability found in the afternoon mixed layer (ML). Furthermore, maximum RL [O₃] is nearly identical to the mean ML [O₃] from the previous afternoon (morning minus afternoon = ?1.6 ± 8.4 ppbv). During TexAQS II, mean [O₃] below 1.3 km (the mean ML height from ozonesonde data) increased from 37 ± 22 ppbv in the morning to 74 ± 18 ppbv in the afternoon, suggesting an average net local daily O₃ production of ～500–900 tons over the metropolitan Houston area.