Climate,land, energy and water (CLEW) interlinkages in Burkina Faso: An analysis of agricultural intensification and bioenergy production

This paper discusses climate, land, energy and water (CLEW) interactions in Burkina Faso. It shows that integrated assessments of resource use at the national level can provide important insights and benefits, especially for a resource constrained least developed country. Agricultural policy is shown to have strong implications for energy use, whereas energy policies are found to be strongly interrelated with water constraints. Without an integrated and coordinated approach, strategy and policy formulation efforts to increase energy, food and water security could become both incoherent and counter‐productive.     

Impact of soil water regime on degradation and plant uptake behaviour of the herbicide isoproturon in different soil types

The environmental fate of the worldwide used herbicide isoproturon was studied in four different, undisturbed lysimeters in the temperate zone of Middle Europe. To exclude climatic effects due to location, soils were collected at different regions in southern Germany and analyzed at a lysimeter station under identical environmental conditions. ¹⁴C-isoproturon mineralization varied between 2.59% and 57.95% in the different soils. Barley plants grown on these lysimeters accumulated ¹⁴C-pesticide residues from soil in partially high amounts and emitted ¹⁴CO₂ in an extent between 2.01% and 13.65% of the applied ¹⁴C-pesticide. Plant uptake and ¹⁴CO₂ emissions from plants were inversely linked to the mineralization of the pesticide in the various soils: High isoproturon mineralization in soil resulted in low plant uptake whereas low isoproturon mineralization in soil resulted in high uptake of isoproturon residues in crop plants and high ¹⁴CO₂ emission from plant surfaces. The soil water regime was identified as an essential factor that regulates degradation and plant uptake of isoproturon whereby the intensity of the impact of this factor is strongly dependent on the soil type.     

The Growing Need for Sustainable Ecological Management of Marine Communities of the Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf is a semi-enclosed marine system surrounded by eight countries, many of which are experiencing substantial development. It is also a major center for the oil industry. The increasing array of anthropogenic disturbances may have substantial negative impacts on marine ecosystems, but this has received little attention until recently. We review the available literature on the Gulfs marine environment and detail our recent experience in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) to evaluate the role of anthropogenic disturbance in this marine ecosystem. Extensive coastal development may now be the single most important anthropogenic stressor. We offer suggestions for how to build awareness of environmental risks of current practices, enhance regional capacity for coastal management, and build cooperative management of this important, shared marine system. An excellent opportunity exists for one or more of the bordering countries to initiate a bold and effective, long-term, international collaboration in environmental management for the Gulf.     

Pre-Colombian Mercury Pollution Associated with the Smelting of Argentiferous Ores in the Bolivian Andes

The development of the mercury (Hg) amalgamation process in the mid-sixteenth century triggered the onset of large-scale Hg mining in both the Old and New Worlds. However, ancient Hg emissions associated with amalgamation and earlier mining efforts remain poorly constrained. Using a geochemical time-series generated from lake sediments near Cerro Rico de Potosí, once the world’s largest silver deposit, we demonstrate that pre-Colonial smelting of Andean silver ores generated substantial Hg emissions as early as the twelfth century. Peak sediment Hg concentrations and fluxes are associated with smelting and exceed background values by approximately 20-fold and 22-fold, respectively. The sediment inventory of this early Hg pollution more than doubles that associated with extensive amalgamation following Spanish control of the mine (1574–1900 AD). Global measurements of [Hg] from economic ores sampled world-wide indicate that the phenomenon of Hg enrichment in non-ferrous ores is widespread. The results presented here imply that indigenous smelting constitutes a previously unrecognized source of early Hg pollution, given naturally elevated [Hg] in economic silver deposits.     

Development and implementation of coral reef biocriteria in U.S. jurisdictions

Coral reefs worldwide are declining at an alarming rate and are under continuous threat from both natural and anthropogenic environmental stressors. Warmer sea temperatures attributed to global climate change and numerous human activities at local scales place these valuable ecosystems at risk. Reefs provide numerous services, including shoreline protection, fishing, tourism and biological diversity, which are lost through physical damage, overfishing, and pollution. Pollution can be controlled under provisions of the Clean Water Act, but these options have not been fully employed to protect coral reefs. No U.S. jurisdiction has implemented coral reef biocriteria, which are narrative or quantitative water quality standards based on the condition of a biological resource or assemblage. The President’s Ocean Action Plan directs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop biological assessment methods and biological criteria for evaluating and maintaining the health of coral reef ecosystems. EPA has formed the Coral Reef Biocriteria Working Group (CRBWG) to foster development of coral reef biocriteria through focused research, evaluation and communication among Agency partners and U.S. jurisdictions. Ongoing CRBWG activities include development and evaluation of a rapid bioassessment protocol for application in biocriteria programs; development of a survey design and monitoring strategy for the U.S. Virgin Islands; comprehensive reviews of biocriteria approaches proposed by states and territories; and assembly of data from a variety of monitoring programs for additional metrics. Guidance documents are being prepared to assist U.S. jurisdictions in reaching protective and defensible biocriteria.     

Application of the probability-based Maryland Biological Stream Survey to the state’s assessment of water quality standards

The Clean Water Act presents a daunting task for states by requiring them to assess and restore all their waters. Traditional monitoring has led to two beliefs: (1) ad hoc sampling (i.e., non-random) is adequate if enough sites are sampled and (2) more intensive sampling (e.g., collecting more organisms) at each site is always better. We analyzed the 1,500 Maryland Biological Stream Survey (MBSS) random sites sampled in 2000–2004 to describe the variability of Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) scores at the site, reach, and watershed scales. Average variability for fish and benthic IBI scores increased with increasing spatial scale, demonstrating that single site IBI scores are not representative at watershed scales and therefore at best 25% of a state’s stream length can be representatively sampled with non-random designs. We evaluated the effects on total taxa captured and IBI precision of sampling for twice as many benthic macroinvertebrates at 73 MBSS sites with replicate samples. When sampling costs were fixed, the precision of the IBI decreased as the number of sites had to be reduced by 15%. Only 1% more taxa were found overall when the 73 sites where combined. We concluded that (1) comprehensive assessment of a state’s waters should be done using probability-based sampling that allows the condition across all reaches to be inferred statistically and (2) additional site sampling effort should not be incorporated into state biomonitoring when it will reduce the number of sites sampled to the point where overall assessment precision is lower.     

Anaerobic digestion of autoclaved and untreated food waste

Anaerobic digestion of autoclaved (160 °C, 6.2 bar) and untreated source segregated food waste (FW) was compared over 473 days in semi-continuously fed mesophilic reactors with trace elements supplementation, at organic loading rates (OLRs) of 2, 3, 4 and 6 kg volatile solids (VS)/m³ d. Methane yields at all OLR were 5–10% higher for untreated FW (maximum 0.483 ± 0.013 m³ CH₄/kg VS at 3 kg VS/m³ d) than autoclaved FW (maximum 0.439 ± 0.020 m³ CH₄/kg VS at 4 kg VS/m³ d). The residual methane potential of both digestates at all OLRs was less than 0.110 m³ CH₄/kg VS, indicating efficient methanation in all cases. Use of acclimated inoculum allowed very rapid increases in OLR. Reactors fed on autoclaved FW showed lower ammonium and hydrogen sulphide concentrations, probably due to reduced protein hydrolysis as a result of formation of Maillard compounds. In the current study this reduced biodegradability appears to outweigh any benefit due to thermal hydrolysis of ligno-cellulosic components.     

Measuring safety climate in elderly homes

IntroductionProvision of a valid and reliable safety climate dimension brings enormous benefits to the elderly home sector. The aim of the present study was to make use of the safety climate instrument developed by OSHC to measure the safety perceptions of employees in elderly homes such that the factor structure of the safety climate dimensions of elderly homes could be explored.MethodIn 2010, surveys by mustering on site method were administered in 27 elderly homes that had participated in the "Hong Kong Safe and Healthy Residential Care Home Accreditation Scheme" organized by the Occupational Safety and Health Council.ResultsSix hundred and fifty-one surveys were returned with a response rate of 54.3%. To examine the factor structure of safety climate dimensions in our study, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using principal components analysis method was conducted to identify the underlying factors. The results of the modified seven-factor's safety climate structure extracted from 35 items better reflected the safety climate dimensions of elderly homes. The Cronbach alpha range for this study (0.655 to 0.851) indicated good internal consistency among the seven-factor structure. Responses from managerial level, supervisory and professional level, and front-line staff were analyzed to come up with the suggestion on effective ways of improving the safety culture of elderly homes. The overall results showed that managers generally gave positive responses in the factors evaluated, such as "management commitment and concern to safety," "perception of work risks and some contributory influences," "safety communication and awareness," and "safe working attitude and participation." Supervisors / professionals, and frontline level staff on the other hand, have less positive responses. The result of the lowest score in the factors - "perception of safety rules and procedures" underlined the importance of the relevance and practicability of safety rules and procedures.ConclusionThe modified OSHC safety climate tool provided better evidence of structural validity and reliability for use by elderly homes' decision makers as an indicator of employee perception of safety in their institution.Impact on industryThe findings and suggestions in the study provide useful information for the management, supervisors/professionals and frontline level staff to cultivate the safety culture in the elderly home sector. Most important, elderly homes can use the modified safety climate scale to identify problem areas in their safety culture and safety management practices and then target these for intervention.     

A comparative study of respirable particulate microenvironmental concentrations and personal exposures

Personal monitoring (PM) for respirable suspended particulate matter (RSP) of thirty subjects was performed as part of an air pollution health effects study conducted in Houston, Texas. Parallel RSP measurements were performed in the study subjects' homes and two fixed site monitoring stations. The participants' daytime activities were independently recorded by study techicians. These data were used to characterize RSP concentrations in each microenvironment visited by the participants. Four estimates of daytime exposure to RSP were calculated based on two different microenvironmental models, and home and fixed site mean daytime RSP concentrations. These estimates were compared to mean daytime personal exposure from PM. Hourly estimates of exposure were calculated from a microenvironmental model and mean hourly home RSP concentrations and compared to hourly PM data. The results of the study indicate that, as in the case of NO₂, it is important to characterize indoor microenvironmental RSP concentrations according to location, sources, and concurrent activities, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Stratification of concentrations according to sources present and self-reported activity can lead to misclassification of exposures. For RSP and, probably, other pollutants with indoor sources and with short exposure integration times, adequate measures of exposure can only be obtained with very detailed and complex microenvironmental models or comprehensive personal monitoring.     

Who Visits a National Park and What do They Get Out of It?: A Joint Visitor Cluster Analysis and Travel Cost Model for Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park visitor data were obtained from a survey collected for the National Park Service by the Park Studies Unit at the University of Idaho. Travel cost models have been conducted for national parks in the United States; however, this study builds on these studies and investigates how benefits vary by types of visitors who participate in different activities while at the park. Visitor clusters were developed based on activities in which a visitor participated while at the park. The clusters were analyzed and then incorporated into a travel cost model to determine the economic value (consumer surplus) that the different visitor groups received from visiting the park. The model was estimated using a zero-truncated negative binomial regression corrected for endogenous stratification. The travel cost price variable was estimated using both 1/3 and 1/4 the wage rate to test for sensitivity to opportunity cost specification. The average benefit across all visitor cluster groups was estimated at between $235 and $276 per person per trip. However, per trip benefits varied substantially across clusters; from $90 to $103 for the “value picnickers,” to $185–$263 for the “backcountry enthusiasts,” $189–$278 for the “do it all adventurists,” $204–$303 for the “windshield tourists,” and $323–$714 for the “creature comfort” cluster group.