Reaching National Kyoto Targets in Germany and Sustainable Development

Within this paper, we analyze the fulfillment of the Kyoto emissions reduction commitment particularly in Germany and its implication on the long-term paths of all macro-variables. Germany, like all other industrial or Annex-B countries, must reduce its emissions by 2010 according to what we call a Kyoto Forever scenario. We specifically investigate tradable permits as reduction measures in a national overlapping generations (OLG) model, where we change the discounting technique by using generation adjusted discounting (GAD) in comparison to conventional OLG discounting. We show that within our model framework Germany is able to develop along growing paths of, for example, gross domestic product (GDP) in sharp contrast to conventional results of OLG simulations. At the same time, current generations must share higher burdens in terms of lower GDP, per capita consumption and employment which can be initially interpreted as contemporary costs for reaching sustainable paths and, second, contributions for internalizing external effects. However, all costs in terms of lower macro-variables for current living generations are re-compensated through higher future values. This effect can be interpreted as an intergenerational application of full cost bearance, or, in other words, the polluter pays principle which is oriented towards sustainability of greenhouse gases abatement.     

Evidence of genetic damage in grass gobies and mussels from the Venice lagoon

The presence of genetic damage has been investigated in two native species of the Venice lagoon: the common mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis and the grass goby Zosterisessor ophiocephalus. Two sampling campaigns were performed in summer 1998 and 1999. Aromatic-like DNA adducts were analysed in selected tissues of gobies and mussels by using the 32P-postlabelling assay. In 1999, micronuclei and other nuclear abnormalities were additionally scored on gill cells and haemocytes of individual mussels whereas inorganic (As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sn) as well as organic contaminants (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls and other chlorinated compounds) were measured in the total mussel pulp. Compared to the lagoon inlet area, gobies and mussels from the industrial district (Marghera) showed significant DNA adduct levels and increased frequencies of cytogenetic alterations (evidence of genetic damage was absent or inconsistent in other sites). The substantial levels of aromatic and chlorinated contaminants detected in mussels from Marghera also support the exposure of native organisms to genotoxic agents.     

Roadside Measurements of Deforestation in the Amazon Area of Bolivia

This study describes the deforestation impact from three settlements, 5 de Junio, El Tigre, and 30 de Agosto, near the Madidi National Park in Bolivia. First deforestation rates along the road that connects the settlements and then deforestation within each settlement are examined. Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery from 1987, 1997, and 2000 were used to measure the deforestation. Face-to-face interviews were also used to collect detailed social and land-use information. Road-building and farming have been the major causes of deforestation in this region. The TM measurements indicate a high increase in the deforestation rate along the road in the area of study. The results also show a rapidly escalating deforestation rate in 5 de Junio, a potential high future deforestation rate in El Tigre, and a gradual deforestation increase in 30 de Agosto. The information provided by the settlers about clearing was compared with the imagery analysis. Generally, the settlers estimates were lower than the deforestation as derived from the imagery.     

WATER ALLOCATION POLICY MODELING FOR THE DONG NAI RIVER BASIN: AN INTEGRATED PERSPECTIVE1

Abstract: Recent water sector reforms and increased scarcity and vulnerability of water resources, combined with declining public funding available for large scale infrastructure investment in the sector, have led to a greater awareness by the Government of Vietnam for the need to analyze water resource allocation and use in an integrated fashion, at the basin scale, and from a perspective of economic efficiency. In this study we focus on the development, application, and selected policy analyses using an integrated economic hydrologic river basin model for the Dong Nai River Basin in southern Vietnam. The model framework depicts the sectoral structure and location of water users (agriculture, industry, hydropower, domestic, and the environment) and the institutions for water allocation in the basin. Water benefit functions are developed for the major water uses subject to physical limitations and to constraints of system control and policy. Based on this modeling framework, we will analyze policies that can affect water allocation and use at the basin level, including both basin-specific and general macroeconomic policies.     

Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) are not susceptible to stimulating effects of 6-methoxy-2-benzoxazolinone on reproductive organs

The secondary plant metabolite 6-methoxy-2-benzoxazolinone (6-MBOA) is abundant in vegetative parts of monocotyledons emerging in spring. This grazing protective has been shown to promote gonadal growth and, thus enable precise alignment of reproductive activity with favorable environmental conditions in a variety of seasonally breeding rodent species. Feeding and breeding ecology make the Djungarian hamster (Phodopus sungorus) a potential candidate using 6-MBOA as an acute environmental cue to optimize reproductive timing when photorefractoriness induces reproductive recrudescence. Therefore, four different experiments were designed to examine whether the hamsters’ reproductive organs are responsive to oral 6-MBOA administration under different photoperiodic conditions. Only under a long photoperiod, we found a slight increase in uterine weights. In a short photoperiod, 6-MBOA-treated hamsters showed a slight body weight gain without a change in uterine weights. However, these marginal effects are likely not to be of ecophysiological significance for reproductive timing. The results are in agreement with the common view that the annual changes in photoperiod length are not only the predominant environmental cue for Djungarian hamsters, but are also sufficient to synchronize reproductive efforts with favorable breeding conditions in highly predictable climates like the continental Asian steppes.     

Stalled regime transition in the upper Tisza River Basin: the dynamics of linked action situations

In river basins transformation from traditions of reactive flood defense to more adaptive management regimes is difficult. How regime components reinforce each other to set its development path may induce inertia and path dependency. Transformation may require profound shifts in the institutions, technologies, and personnel as well as the ecological, economic and social processes they influence in setting the basin's trajectory. Regime change has become an issue in Hungary following repeated failures of conventional management policies to handle a series of floods on the Tisza river starting in 1997. Increasing public participation pushed water policy debate toward more experimentation with alternatives, but implementation appears stalled. In this paper we review hypotheses about what factors are bridges or barriers to transformation and then use the Management Transition Framework to examine how the interactions linking action situations, operational outcomes, knowledge and institutions influenced the river management policy debate in Hungary from 1997 to 2009. Specifically we examined which factors characteristic of conventional Control vs. progressive Adaptive management regimes influenced these interactions in ways that contributed to or hindered transformation. We found that governance and social learning issues predominated, with lesser roles played by factors related to integration of sectors and different levels in the science and policy of river management.     

A Water Yield‐Oriented Practical Approach for Multifunctional Forest Management and its Application in Dryland Regions of China

Mountainous forest areas are vitally important for water supply in dryland regions which suffer from high erosion risk and severe water shortage. Massive afforestation, mainly for erosion control, may reduce the water yield and threaten local water supply security. Moreover, many over‐dense forests due to a strict logging ban policy have produced remarkably negative impacts for both forests (e.g., low timber quality, restricted natural regeneration, and high stand instability) and water yield. To satisfy the rapidly increasing demands on water supply and other services, a practical approach for managing forest stands in a multifunctional way, which particularly addresses water yielding, is urgently required. For this purpose, we integrated the existing knowledge and experience, designed an “ideal” stand structure to represent multifunctional forest (MFF) and determined its key parameters (a ground coverage of >0.7, a canopy density around 0.7, and an H/DBH ratio (tree height [m] to the diameter at breast height [cm]) of <0.7). Moreover, a decision process for MFF stand management was recommended as: (1) investigating the site quality; (2) identifying the site‐specific main forest functions; (3) quantifying the stand structure; (4) diagnosing the stand structure by comparing with the “ideal” one; and (5) arranging the functions/structure‐oriented management measures. In this way, the water‐yielding function can be improved and meanwhile other forest functions can be promoted.     

Biochar and hydrochar effects on greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane) fluxes from soils

With a growing world population and global warming, we are challenged to increase food production while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We studied the effects of biochar (BC) and hydrochar (HC) produced via pyrolysis or hydrothermal carbonization, respectively, on GHG fluxes in three laboratory incubation studies. In the first experiment, ryegrass was grown in sandy loam mixed with equal amounts of a nitrogen-rich peanut hull BC, compost, BC+compost, double compost, or no addition (control); wetting-drying cycles and N fertilization were applied. Biochar with or without compost significantly reduced NO emissions and did not change the CH uptake, whereas ryegrass yield was significantly increased. In the second experiment, 0% (control) or 8% (w/w) of BC (peanut hull, maize, wood chip, or charcoal) or 8% HC (beet chips or bark) was mixed into a soil and incubated at 65% water-holding capacity (WHC) for 140 d. Treatments included simulated plowing and N fertilization. All BCs reduced NO emissions by ～60%. Hydrochars reduced NO emissions only initially but significantly increased them after N fertilization to 302% (HC-beet) and 155% (HC-bark) of the control emissions, respectively. Large HC-associated CO emissions suggested that microbial activity was stimulated and that HC was less stable than BC. In the third experiment, nutrient-rich peanut hull BC addition and incubation over 1.5 yr at high WHCs did not promote NO emissions. However, NO emissions were significantly increased with BC after NHNO addition. In conclusion, BC reduced NO emissions and improved the GHG-to-yield ratio under field-relevant conditions. However, the risk of increased NO emissions with HC addition must be carefully evaluated.     

Dynamics of the head of gravity currents

The present work experimentally investigates the dynamics of unsteady gravity currents produced by lock-release of a saline mixture into a fresh water tank. Seven different experimental runs were performed by varying the density of the saline mixture in the lock and the bed roughness. Experiments were conducted in a Perspex flume, of horizontal bed and rectangular cross section, and recorded with a CCD camera. An image analysis technique was applied to visualize and characterize the current allowing thus the understanding of its general dynamics and, more specifically, of the current head dynamics. The temporal evolution of both head length and mass shows repeated stretching and breaking cycles: during the stretching phase, the head length and mass grow until reaching a limit, then the head becomes unstable and breaks. In the instants of break, the head aspect ratio shows a limit of 0.2 and the mass of the head is of the order of the initial mass in the lock. The average period of the herein called breaking events is seen to increase with bed roughness and the spatial periodicity of these events is seen to be approximately constant between runs. The rate of growth of the mass at the head is taken as a measure to assess entrainment and it is observed to occur at all stages of the current development. Entrainment rate at the head decreases in time suggesting this as a phenomenon ruled by local buoyancy and the similarity between runs shows independence from the initial reduced gravity and bed roughness.     

Passive air sampling for persistent organic pollutants: introductory remarks to the special issue

There have been a number of developments in the need, design and use of passive air samplers (PAS) for persistent organic pollutants (POPs). This article is the first in a Special Issue of the journal to review these developments and some of the data arising from them. We explain the need and benefit of developing PAS for POPs, the different approaches that can be used, and highlight future developments and needs.