Impact of water quality on bacterioplankton assemblage along Cértima River Basin (central western Portugal) assessed by PCR–DGGE and multivariate analysis

The information on bacterial community composition (BCC) in Portuguese water bodies is very scarce. Cértima River (central western Portugal) is known to have high levels of pollution, namely organic. In the present work, the BCC from a set of 16 water samples collected from Cértima River Basin and its main tributaries was characterized using 16S rDNA–denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, a culture-independent molecular approach. Molecular data were related to environmental parameters through multivariate analysis to investigate potential impact of water pollution along the river. Principal component analysis using environmental data showed a water quality gradient from more pristine waters (at the mountain tributaries) to waters with increasingly eutrophic potential (such as Fermentelos Lake). This gradient was mainly defined by factors such as organic and inorganic nutrient sources, electrical conductivity, hydrogen carbonate concentration, and pH. Molecular results showed variations in BCC along Cértima River Basin but in the main river section, a Bacteroidetes phylotype (Flavobacterium sp.) proved to be dominant throughout the river course. Multivariate analysis suggests that spatial variation of BCC along the Cértima River Basin depended mainly on parameters such as Chl a, total suspended solid (TSS), total organic carbon, electrical conductivity, and HCO _boxclose^-_{3}^{-} levels. Bacteroidetes phylotypes were all related to higher electrical conductivity and HCO₃^-_{3}^{-} levels although some of these were also correlated with high SO₄^2-_{4}^{2-} and others with high soluble reactive phosphorus, nitrate, TN, and Kjeld-N levels. The Gammaproteobacteria occurrence was correlated with high SO₄^2-_{4}^{2-} levels. One of the Betaproteobacteria phylotypes showed to correlate with low redox potential (E_h) and high temperature, pH, TSS, and Chl a levels while another one showed a negative correlation with Chl a values.     

Determination of ametryn in sugarcane and ametryn–atrazine herbicide formulations using spectrophotometric method

A sensitive spectrophotometric method has been developed for determination of ametryn in agricultural samples. The proposed method was based on reaction with pyridine and further coupling with sulfanilic acid to form a colored product. The absorbance was measured at 400 nm with a molar absorptivity of 2.1 × 10⁵ L mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹. The method shows a linear range from 0.2–20 μg mL⁻¹ with limit of detection and limit of quantification 0.16 and 0.54 μg mL⁻¹, respectively. The method has been successfully applied to the determination of ametryn in sugarcane juice and commercial formulations after separation of ametryn from triazine herbicides based on solvent extraction. Recovery values were found to be in the range of 96.0 ± 0.2% to 98.4 ± 0.1%.     

Mixed response in bacterial and biochemical variables to simulated sand mining in placer-rich beach sediments,Ratnagiri, West coast of India

We investigated the influence on bacterial community and biochemical variables through mechanical disturbance of sediment-akin to small-scale mining in Kalbadevi beach, Ratnagiri, a placer-rich beach ecosystem which is a potential mining site. Changes were investigated by comparing three periods, namely phase I before disturbance, phase II just after disturbance, and phase III 24 h after disturbance as the bacterial generation time is ≤7 h. Cores from dune, berm, high-, mid-, and low-tide were examined for changes in distribution of total bacterial abundance, total direct viability (counts under aerobic and anaerobic conditions), culturability and biochemical parameters up to 40 cm depth. Results showed that bacterial abundance decreased by an order from 10⁶ cells g^− 1 sediment, while, viability reduced marginally. Culturability on different-strength nutrient broth increased by 155% during phase II. Changes in sedimentary proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids were marked at berm and dune and masked at other levels by tidal influence. Sedimentary ATP reduced drastically. During phase III, Pearson’s correlation between these variables evolved from non-significant to significant level. Thus, simulated disturbance had a mixed effect on bacterial and biochemical variables of the sediments. It had a negative impact on bacterial abundance, viability and ATP but positive impact on culturability. Viability, culturability, and ATP could act as important indicators reflecting the disturbance in the system at short time intervals. Culturability, which improved by an order, could perhaps be a fraction that contributes to restoration of the system at bacterial level. This baseline information about the potential mining site could help in developing rational approach towards sustainable harnessing of resources with minimum damage to the ecosystem.     

Assessment of sediment quality in the Mediterranean Sea–Boughrara lagoon exchange areas (southeastern Tunisia): GIS approach-based chemometric methods

Concentrations of selected heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, Mn, and Fe) in surface sediments from 66 sites in both northern and eastern Mediterranean Sea–Boughrara lagoon exchange areas (southeastern Tunisia) were studied in order to understand current metal contamination due to the urbanization and economic development of nearby several coastal regions of the Gulf of Gabès. Multiple approaches were applied for the sediment quality assessment. These approaches were based on GIS coupled with chemometric methods (enrichment factors, geoaccumulation index, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis). Enrichment factors and principal component analysis revealed two distinct groups of metals. The first group corresponded to Fe and Mn derived from natural sources, and the second group contained Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu originated from man-made sources. For these latter metals, cluster analysis showed two distinct distributions in the selected areas. They were attributed to temporal and spatial variations of contaminant sources input. The geoaccumulation index (I _geo) values explained that only Cd, Pb, and Cu can be considered as moderate to extreme pollutants in the studied sediments.     

Socio-economic features of commercial fishery in the bordering upper Danube River area of Serbia

The multidisciplinary socio-economic study of fisheries in the bordering part of the Danube River between Serbia and Croatia (at the following sites: Apatin, Ba?ka Palanka, Ba?ko Novo Selo, Bezdan, and Sombor) that was performed in order to investigate various aspects of fish resource utilization (management, policy of protection and exploitation of freshwater fishery resources, present fisheries legislation, catch statistics), was realized during 2004 and 2005. Data were collected via survey with a structured interview. Socio-economic circumstances, together with ecological factors, have had an influence on the fish stock and number of commercial fishermen. Awareness of the occurring problems, both economic and ecological ones, is apparent, regardless of whether it is assessed in the field of commercial or recreational fishing. Fishery sector in Serbia is in a prolonged process of transition, with the enforcement of fishing regulations, but also the lack of control that leaves space for illegal commercial fishing. The statements, consciousness, experience and behavior of commercial fishermen represent a good basis for planning the sustainable development of fishing in this section of the Danube River.     

Simultaneous polarographic determination of 2-nitrophenol and 4-nitrophenol by differential pulse polarography method and support vector regression

A differential pulse polarography (DPP) for the simultaneous determination of 2-nitrophenol and 4-nitrophenol was proposed. It was found that under optimum experimental conditions (pH = 5, scan rate = 5 mV/s, pulse amplitude = −50 mV), 2-nitrophenol and 4-nitrophenol had well-defined polarographic reduction waves with peak potentials at −317 and −406 mV, respectively. In the mixture of two compounds overlapping polarographic peaks were observed. In this study, support vector regression (SVR) was applied to resolve the overlapped polarograms. Furthermore, a comparison was made between the performance of SVR and partial least square (PLS) on data set. The results demonstrated that SVR is a better well-performing alternative for the analysis and modeling of DPP data than the commonly applied PLS technique. The proposed method was used for the determination of 2-nitrophenol and 4-nitrophenol in industrial waste water.     

Assessment of drinking water quality using ICP-MS and microbiological methods in the Bholakpur area,Hyderabad, India

A total of 16 people died and over 500 people were hospitalized due to diarrhoeal illness in the Bholakpur area of Hyderabad, India on 6th May 2009. A study was conducted with immediate effect to evaluate the quality of municipal tap water of the Bholakpur locality. The study consists of the determination of physico-chemical properties, trace metals, heavy metals, rare earth elements and microbiological quality of drinking water. The data showed the variation of the investigated parameters in samples as follows: pH 7.14 to 8.72, EC 455 to 769 μS/cm, TDS 303.51 to 515.23 ppm and DO 1.01 to 6.83 mg/L which are within WHO guidelines for drinking water quality. The water samples were analyzed for 27 elements (Li, Be, B, Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Co, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sb, Ba and Pb) using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The concentrations of Fe (0.12 to 1.13 mg/L), Pb (0.01 to 0.07 mg/L), Cu (0.01 to 0.19 mg/L), Ni (0.01 to 0.15 mg/L), Al (0.16 to 0.49 mg/L), and Na (38.36 to 68.69 mg/L) were obtained, which exceed the permissible limits of the World Health Organization (WHO) for drinking water quality guidelines. The remaining elements were within the permissible limits. The microbiological quality of water was tested using standard plate count, membrane filtration technique, thermotolerant coliform (TTC), and most probable number (MPN) methods. The total heterotrophic bacteria ranged from 1.0 × 10⁵ to 18 × 10⁷ cfu/ml. Total viable bacteria in all the water samples were found to be too numerable to count and total number of coliform bacteria in all water samples were found to be of order of 1,100 to >2,400 MPN index/100 ml. TTC tested positive for coliform bacteria at 44.2°C. All the water samples of the study area exceeded the permissible counts of WHO and that (zero and minimal counts) of the control site (National Geophysical Research Institute) water samples. Excessively high colony numbers indicate that the water is highly contaminated with microorganisms and is hazardous for drinking purposes. Bacteriological pollution of drinking water supplies caused diarrhoeal illness in Bholakpur, which is due to the infiltration of contaminated water (sewage) through cross connection, leakage points, and back siphoning.     

Occurrence of estrogen hormones in biosolids,animal manure and mushroom compost

The presence of natural estrogen hormones as trace concentrations in the environment has been reported by many researchers and is of growing concern due to its possible adverse effects on the ecosystem. In this study, municipal biosolids, poultry manure (PM) and cow manure (CM), and spent mushroom compost (SMC) were analyzed for the presence of seven estrogen hormones. 17α-estradiol, 17β-estradiol, 17α-dihydroequilin, and estrone were detected in the sampled biosolids and manures at concentrations ranging from 6 to 462 ng/g of dry solids. 17α-estradiol, 17β-estradiol, and estrone were also detected in SMC at concentrations ranging from 4 to 28 ng/g of dry solids. Desorption experiments were simulated in the laboratory using deionized water (milli-Q), and the aqueous phase was examined for the presence of estrogen hormones to determine their desorption potential. Very low desorption of 0.4% and 0.2% estrogen hormones was observed from municipal biosolids and SMC, respectively. An estimate of total estrogen contribution from different solid waste sources is reported. Animal manures (PM and CM) contribute to a significant load of estrogen hormones in the natural environment.     

Occurrence and characterization of selected organochlorine contaminants in outdoor dust collected from Xinxiang,a fast developing city in North China

As facile “environmental media”, the outdoor dust may reflect the changes of contaminants in environment more promptly. In the present study, selected organochlorine contaminants (OCs) include hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and pentachlorobenzene (PeCB) were detected in 20 outdoor dust samples collected from Xinxiang City. The concentrations of ΣHCHs, ΣDDTs, HCB, and PeCB in dust were in the range of 0.18–5.05 ng/g dry weight, 0.44–13.50 ng/g dry weight, 0.13–51.61 ng/g dry weight and ND-0.74 ng/g dry weight, respectively. Long-range transport, historical use, and recent impact of impure pesticides might be the main sources of OCs in the outdoor dust. The results of this study indicated that impure pesticide application maybe an important source of DDTs and HCB in the environment.     

The role of environmental and socio-demographic indicators in the analysis of land use changes in a protected area of the Natura 2000 Network: the case study of Lake Trasimeno,Umbria, Central Italy

This article sets out to analyse how and to what degree land use is linked to the physical characteristics of the territory itself, and the way in which changes in land use are determined by agricultural and socio-demographic dynamics. The study was conducted within the territorial boundaries of five municipalities surrounding Lake Trasimeno and refers to the periods 1977–2000 for land use and 1971–2001 for socio-demography data. The use of environmental, social, economic and agricultural indicators demonstrates how a mix of various indicators are useful for monitoring the changes which took place. It also shows the powerful influence that socio-demographic factors exert upon land use and landscape change.