Bryophyte responses to microclimatic edge effects across riparian buffers.

Although riparian buffers are an important aspect of forest management in the boreal forest of Canada, little is known about the habitat conditions within buffers, due in part to complex edge effects in response to both the upland clearcut and the stream. We investigated microclimatic conditions and bryophyte growth and vitality in seven locations between the stream edge and 60 m into the upland undisturbed conifer forests and at the clearcut sites with riparian buffer 30 km northwest of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. We hypothesized that the growth and vitality of a pleurocarpous moss, Hylocomium splendens, and an acrocarpous moss, Polytrichum commune, would be directly related to the microclimatic gradients detected. We further hypothesized that sensitivity of the bryophytes to environmental factors will vary depending on their life form type, i.e., pleurocarpous moss will respond differently than the acrocarpous moss. Both bryophyte species were transplanted in pots and placed at 10-m intervals along 60-m transects perpendicular to the stream across the buffer and undisturbed sites. Bryophyte growth, cover, and vitality, as well as microclimatic parameters and plant cover, were measured over the summer in 2003. The riparian buffers were simultaneously affected by microclimatic gradients extending from both the clearcut edge and the riparian-upland ecotonal edge. Both bryophyte species responded to changes in the microclimatic conditions. However, vapor pressure deficit (VPD) was the most important factor influencing the growth of H. splendens, whereas for P. commune growth soil moisture was most important. Our study confirms earlier findings that interior forest bryophytes such as H. splendens can be used as indicators to monitor edge effects and biodiversity recovery following forest harvesting. We demonstrate that growth and vitality of these bryophytes reflect the prevailing near-ground microclimatic conditions at the forest edges. Abundance estimates of such bryophytes can be used to determine the depth of edge effects across both ecotonal edges (e.g., riparian-upland forest edge) and anthropogenically created edges (e.g., clearcut edge). Forest management practices must consider depth of edge in determining the appropriate width of riparian buffers that would be necessary to sustain biodiversity and associated values at the land/water interface.     

Tectonic and lithological constraints on the evolution of the Karoo graben of northern Malawi (East Africa)

The results of a lithostratigraphic, tectonic and kinematic study of the Karoo deposits of northern Malawi are reported. The objective of the lithostratigraphic study is to correlate the deposits of the Karoo basins of northern Malawi with the well-known deposits of southern Tanzania, thus establishing a stratigraphic framework through which the timing of faulting can be constrained. The kinematic analysis of faulting constrains the opening direction for the Karoo graben in this area and provides basic data to discuss the Karoo graben development within the regional tectonic framework of south-eastern Africa. The studied faults are defined by moderately to steeply dipping cataclastic zones with a width of up to 15?m and are characterized by an array of slickensided fault surfaces with different orientations and slip directions. In this study, small faults (offset <10?m) and meso-scale faults (offset >10?m, but generally not exceeding 30–40?m) have been distinguished. Methods used to analyse the kinematic data include the 'pressure tension' (PT) method, which estimates the principal axes for the bulk brittle strain, and the internal rotation axis (IRA) method, which estimates the axis of bulk internal rotation and the overall sense of slip at the faults. A mass balance calculation reveals a volume increase of up to 16% during cataclastic deformation in the fault zones. The PT method shows an approximately east trending extension direction for faults that occur only in the latest Carboniferous (?) and Early Permian strata, whereas the fault kinematics from faults that cut middle Permian to Early Triassic rocks is characterized by a ESE to SE trending extension direction. The small faults yield essentially the same kinematic results as the meso-scale faults. In a transport-parallel cross-sectional view, the principal extension axes are at an acute angle of approximately 60° to the major fault planes. Given the moderate fault density, the relatively high angle between the orientation of the principal extension axis and the fault planes suggest only a moderate amount of horizontal extension across the Karoo graben of northern Malawi. Riedel structures in the fault zones formed within two conjugate sets of localized shear zones; slip on one set was top to the W/NW and, on the other, top to the E/SE. The two conjugate sets of Riedel structures have an acute angle about the regional shortening axes, implying that no pronounced rotation of the strain axes occurred. The internal rotation axes for the Riedel structures reveal a largely bimodal distribution and inferred weakly monoclinic to orthorhombic symmetry. Therefore the overall deformation during Karoo rifting in northern Malawi is interpreted to be close to a coaxial deformation with a limited amount of horizontal extension.     

Economic Impact of Mass Production of Alternative Low Emission Automotive Power Systems

The study considers a range of possible effects on the transportation industry, satellite industries, the labor market, and the economy which may be anticipated in the event mass production of unconventional low emission automotive propulsion systems should occur, whether as a consequence of federal intervention, or not. A postulated 1 976 Otto Cycle Internal Combustion Engine equipped with a dual catalyst manifold reactor and other “conventional” emission control devices was compared in detail with a Regenerative Free Turbine Engine and a Rankine Cycle Engine, as specified by the contracting agency. Manufacturing costs, operating and ownership costs, consumer demand, inter-industry effects, employment, resource requirements, and international trade implications were analyzed in depth under a number of plausible sets of policy constraints and parametric variations. Principal conclusions are that conversion over a 10 year period is feasible, that manufacturing cost differentials are less critical than fuel consumption and cost differentials, that industry/employment impacts are minor, and that resource/trade effects are dominated by petroleum imports. Implications for federal policy are discussed.     

Reactive transport modeling of processes controlling the distribution and natural attenuation of phenolic compounds in a deep sandstone aquifer

Reactive solute transport modeling was utilized to evaluate the potential for natural attenuation of a contaminant plume containing phenolic compounds at a chemical producer in the West Midlands, UK. The reactive transport simulations consider microbially mediated biodegradation of the phenolic compounds (phenols, cresols, and xylenols) by multiple electron acceptors. Inorganic reactions including hydrolysis, aqueous complexation, dissolution of primary minerals, formation of secondary mineral phases, and ion exchange are considered. One-dimensional (1D) and three-dimensional (3D) simulations were conducted. Mass balance calculations indicate that biodegradation in the saturated zone has degraded approximately 1-5% of the organic contaminant plume over a time period of 47 years. Simulations indicate that denitrification is the most significant degradation process, accounting for approximately 50% of the organic contaminant removal, followed by sulfate reduction and fermentation reactions, each contributing 15-20%. Aerobic respiration accounts for less than 10% of the observed contaminant removal in the saturated zone. Although concentrations of Fe(III) and Mn(IV) mineral phases are high in the aquifer sediment, reductive dissolution is limited, producing only 5% of the observed mass loss. Mass balance calculations suggest that no more than 20-25% of the observed total inorganic carbon (TIC) was generated from biodegradation reactions in the saturated zone. Simulations indicate that aerobic biodegradation in the unsaturated zone, before the contaminant entered the aquifer, may have produced the majority of the TIC observed in the plume. Because long-term degradation is limited to processes within the saturated zone, use of observed TIC concentrations to predict the future natural attenuation may overestimate contaminant degradation by a factor of 4-5.     

Use of an Action‐Selection Framework for Human‐Carnivore Conflict in the Bangladesh Sundarbans

Abstract: Human–carnivore conflict is manifested in the death of humans, livestock, and carnivores. The resulting negative local attitudes and retribution killings imperil the future of many endangered carnivores. We tailored existing management tools to create a framework to facilitate the selection of actions to alleviate human–carnivore conflict and applied the framework to the human–tiger conflict in the Bangladesh Sundarbans. We identified potential actions that consider previous management efforts, local knowledge, cost‐effectiveness, fieldwork experience of authors and project staff, previous research on tiger ecology by the authors, and recommendations from human–carnivore conflict studies in other countries. Our framework includes creation of a profile to improve understanding of the nature of the conflict and its underlying causality. Identified actions include deterrents, education, direct tiger management, and response teams. We ranked actions by their potential to reduce conflict and the monetary cost of their implementation. We ranked tiger‐response teams and monitoring problem tigers as the two best actions because both had relatively high impact and cost‐effectiveness. We believe this framework could be used under a wide range of human–wildlife conflict situations because it provides a structured approach to selection of mitigating actions.     

The 210Po and 210Pb levels in surface sediment samples in the Izmir Bay (Aegean Sea-Turkey)

Bottom sediments reflect in general the relative contamination of a sea area. Therefore, a great deal of monitoring work has been dedicated to the analysis of bottom sediments. Izmir Bay is a very important pollution centre in Turkish Aegean coast region due to a densely populated community, industrial complex and maritime transportation, and there are many streams flowing into the bay that pass through a number of industrial and agricultural areas. It had received the majority of domestic and industrial wastewaters until the wastewater treatment plant was constructed. It is well known that sediments play an important role as reservoirs of a fraction of the pollution in aquatic systems. Therefore, sediment samples were collected monthly from three stations which are located in the inner part of the bay during the period January to December 2003. Temporal variations and seasonal changes on their ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb contents were examined, and the activity concentrations of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb were found to vary from 43±6 to 132±12 and 27±5 to 91±9 Bq kg^???1 dry wt, respectively. The highest values of those natural radionuclides were measured at Kar??yaka Station because of the current systems of the bay. Seasonally, the ²¹⁰Pb levels were found to increase during the winter time for all the stations.     

Molecular Transport of Xylene Through Palm Pressed Fibre Filled Low Density Polyethylene: Role of Fibre Content,Alkali Treatment and Particle Size

We report in this paper the transport of an aromatic solvent, xylene through palm pressed fibre filled low density polyethylene composites studied at three different temperatures (40, 60, and 80 °C) by conventional weight-gain method. The diffusion parameters were investigated with special reference to the effect of fibre content, temperature and particle size. The effect of alkali treatment on solvent uptake was also analyzed. The transport coefficients of diffusion, permeation and sorption were determined to evaluate the influence of interface bonding on transport properties. The van’t Hoff relationship was used to determine the thermodynamic parameters and was found that the estimated free energies of sorption were all positive, indicating non-spontaneity of the solubility of PPF/LDPE composites. The first order kinetic rate constant and swelling parameters were also evaluated.