Barn Owls,Bumble Bees and Beetles: UK Agriculture,Biodiversity and Biodiversity Action Planning

Agriculture is a key land user implicated in the causes of, and solutions to, the problem of biodiversity decline. The development, in the late 1990s, of farm biodiversity action plans (farm BAPs) represents an important step towards achieving greater farmer involvement in biodiversity and is the first specific attempt to devise a practical mechanism for meeting biodiversity targets at the farm level. In this paper the processes surrounding the design and implementation of farm BAPs are used to explore how farmers are responding to the biodiversity issue and to highlight challenges and opportunities being faced by the organizations delivering biodiversity to the farming community. It describes the formulation and operation of farm BAPs, and then moves on to present two conceptual domains, governance and ecological modernization, which provide a framework for interpreting the emergence of farm BAPs. Following a brief elaboration of methodology, the paper presents and discusses selected findings from empirical research into farm BAPs across the UK.     

Management of domoic acid monitoring in shellfish from the Catalan coast

Monitoring of amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP) toxins in shellfish from the Catalan coast started in 2001. No ASP toxins were detected in any of the analyses performed before 2008. On 22 January 2008, domoic acid (DA) was detected in Donax trunculus (0.5 mg?kg^?1) and confirmed by rapid resolution liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (0.6 mg?kg^?1). A total of 974 shellfish samples were analyzed from January 2008 to December 2011, covering all the Catalan production areas and the most important marketed species. DA was detected in 23.8 % of the samples and was recorded every month in all areas and all species, except Ostrea edulis, although the percentage of samples with DA and DA content varied widely among samples. DA exceeded the regulatory level of 20 mg?kg^?1 twice: in Callista chione sampled on February 2008 and in D. trunculus sampled on April 2010. DA content in Bolinus brandaris appeared constant and close to 4.5 mg?kg^?1 for months in 2009. Mytilus galloprovincialis, Crassostrea gigas, and Ruditapes sp. presented very low concentrations of DA in the Ebro Delta bays, despite 113 alert situations according to Pseudo-nitzschia spp. abundances and the high number of shellfish samples analyzed. The origin of DA in Catalan shellfish remains unknown.     

Integrating GIS and high resolution orthophoto images for the development of a geomorphic shoreline classification and risk assessment—a case study of cliff/bluff erosion along the Bulgarian coast

This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of integrating GIS and modern spatial data for the development of a detailed geomorphic classification of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. This classification is important for the precise measurement of various natural and technogenous (engineered) coastline types and serves as a basis for identification of the areas with high exposure to different coastal hazards. To illustrate potential uses of this simple methodology, a map of the potential coastal erosion/cliff retreat hazard for the Bulgarian coast was produced from this GIS database. Several types of data were used: high resolution orthophoto, topographical maps in 1:5,000 scale and geological maps. Geomorphic classification utilized both geomorphological and engineering criteria. A total of 867 segments were delineated along the coast. Four hundred sixty five were classified as natural landforms (cliffs, beaches, river mouths) with a total length of 362,62 km and 402 were indicated as technogenous segments (port and coast-protection structures, artificial beaches) with a total length of 70 km. Based on the geologic materials present at each segment and cliff height, the cliffed portions of the Bulgarian coast were classified for expected erosion rates, and therefore, hazard vulnerability: low hazard (volcanic type cliff); moderate hazard (limestone type cliff) and high hazard (loess and clayey types cliff). This “predictive model” was then compared to a previously published field study of coastal erosion rates to validate the model. As a result, a new high quality, but qualitative data for Bulgarian coastal bluff/cliff erosion were obtained, incorporated and analyzed in GIS.     

Distance from the queen affects workers’ selfish behaviour in the honeybee (A. mellifera) colony

It has been postulated that spatial organization of the colony, in addition to biological and social factors, influences colony life in honeybees. In this study, we examine the influence of workers’ distance from the queen on their reproductive, pheromonal and behavioural characteristics. Our results demonstrate that with increasing distance from the queen, workers increasingly develop behavioural and reproductive traits characteristic of queenlessness, which are presumably the result of significant impairment in queen pheromone transmission. Having contemplated the alternative possibilities of inadequate transmission of queen signal and voluntary escape from queen control, we concluded, based on the behavioural and physiological data, that the former is far more probable than the latter. The dose-dependent manner of the queen pheromone action and its differential influence on various worker characteristics are discussed.     

Assessing the Vulnerability of a Deltaic Environment due to Climate Change Impact on Surface and Coastal Waters: The Case of Nestos River (Greece)

Environmental Modeling & Assessment - In deltaic areas, riverine and coastal waters interact; hence, these highly dynamic environments are particularly sensitive to climate change. This adds to...     

Reclamation of high-elevation,acidic mine waste with organic amendments and topsoil

The Summitville Mine was a high-elevation (3500 m) gold mine in southwestern Colorado. The mine was abandoned in 1992, leaving approximately 200 ha of disturbance comprised partially of an open pit, a cyanide heap leach pad, and two large waste rock piles. Reclamation of these mine facilities is challenging due to extreme climatic conditions in conjunction with high acid-production potential and low organic matter content of waste materials on site. In addition, stockpiled topsoil at the site is acidic and biologically inactive due to long-term storage, and may not be suitable for plant growth. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of organic amendments (mushroom compost vs. biosolids) and topsoil (stockpiled vs. nonstockpiled) on aboveground biomass and plant trace element uptake. An on-site field study was established in 1995 to identify the most effective combination of treatments for successful reclamation of on-site waste rock materials. Incorporation of organic matter significantly increased aboveground biomass, with mushroom compost being more effective than biosolids, but did not significantly influence trace element uptake. Conversely, the use of topsoil did not affect aboveground biomass, but did influence trace element uptake. Treatments that received topsoil supported plant growth with significantly higher trace element tissue concentrations than treatments that did not receive topsoil. In general, it was found that waste rock could be directly revegetated when properly neutralized, fertilized, and amended with organic matter. Additionally, stockpiled topsoil, when neutralized with lime, supported plant growth equivalent to that on nonstockpiled topsoil.     

Vertical and horizontal distribution of sub-littoral meiofauna in Algoa Bay,South Africa

Meiofauna was sampled using SCUBA along 4 transects from 5 to 30 m depth in Algoa Bay, South Africa. Substrates were well-sorted medium to fine sands with traces of sewage pollution in some areas. Meiofauna numbers recorded in the upper 10 cm of sediment were 55 to 584 10 cm^-2, but total numbers, including deeper-living animals, were 680 to 2090 10 cm^-2 at 6 stations. Longer cores showed meiofauna to be abundant down to at least 35 cm, and samples of interstitial water taken from this depth in the sediment were 7% saturated with oxygen. This is the first detailed record of meiofauna penetration into sub-littoral sand and stresses the need for long cores for quantitative work. Nematode numbers were found to be significantly related to nitrogen in the sand while interstitial harpacticoid numbers were related to median particle diameters, which determine pore space. Effects of sewage were slight and only one station showed notable enrichment, increased meiofaunal numbers and extreme dominance by nematodes.     

Minimum specific cost control of technological processes realized in a living objects-containing microenvironment

The purpose of the present work is to work out an approach for the development of software and the choice of hardware structures when designing subsystems for automatic control of technological processes realized in living objects containing limited space (microenvironment). The subsystems for automatic control of the microenvironment (SACME) under development use the Devices for Air Prophylactic Treatment, Aeroionization, and Purification (DAPTAP) as execution units for increasing the level of safety and quality of agricultural raw material and foodstuffs, for reducing the losses of agricultural produce during storage and cultivation, as well as for intensifying the processes of activation of agricultural produce and industrial microorganisms. A set of interconnected SACMEs works within the framework of a general microenvironmental system (MES). In this research, the population of baker's yeast is chosen as a basic object of control under the industrial fed-batch cultivation in a bubbling bioreactor. This project is an example of a minimum cost automation approach. The microenvironment optimal control problem for baker's yeast cultivation is reduced from a profit maximum to the maximization of overall yield by the reason that the material flow-oriented specific cost correlates closely with the reciprocal value of the overall yield. Implementation of the project partially solves a local sustainability problem and supports a balance of microeconomical, microecological and microsocial systems within a technological subsystem realized in a microenvironment maintaining an optimal value of economical criterion (e.g. minimum material, flow-oriented specific cost) and ensuring: (a) economical growth (profit increase, raw material saving); (b) high security, safety and quality of agricultural raw material during storage process and of food produce during a technological process; elimination of the contact of gaseous harmful substances with a subproduct during various technological stages; (c) improvement of labour conditions for industrial personnel from an ecological point of view (positive effect of air aeroionization and purification on human organism promoting strengthened health and an increase in life duration, pulverent and gaseous chemical and biological impurity removal). An alternative aspect of a controlled living microenvironment forming is considered.