A reflection on collaborative adaptation research in Africa and Asia

Regional Environmental Change - The reality of global climate change demands novel approaches to science that are reflective of the scales at which changes are likely to occur, and of the new forms...     

Contamination of different portions of raw and boiled specimens of Norway lobster by mercury and selenium

The aim of this study was to evaluate mercury and selenium distribution in different portions (exoskeleton, white meat and brown meat) of Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus). Some samples were also analysed as whole specimens. The same portions were also examined after boiling, in order to observe if this cooking practice could affect mercury and selenium concentrations. The highest mercury concentrations were detected in white meat, exceeding in all cases the maximum levels established by European legislation. The brown meat reported the highest selenium concentrations. In all boiled samples, mercury levels showed a statistically significant increase compared to raw portions. On the contrary, selenium concentrations detected in boiled samples of white meat, brown meat and whole specimen showed a statistically significant decrease compared to the corresponding raw samples. These results indicate that boiling modifies mercury and selenium concentrations. The high mercury levels detected represent a possible risk for consumers, and the publication and diffusion of specific advisories concerning seafood consumption is recommended.     

瓦里关气相色谱法大气CO2和CH4在线观测数据处理分析

加强我国本底站温室气体数据资源的科学管理与共享,首先应保证观测全流程的标准化和规范化,确立数据处理和质量控制方法.我国青海瓦里关全球本底站自1994年开始了气相色谱-氢火焰离子化检测器法(GC-FID)大气CO2和CH4在线观测,本文详细讨论了该系统原始资料采集、数据信息合并、时间序列检查、观测员级质量控制和专家级质量控制等流程.利用局部近似回归法对大气CO2和CH4数据进行本底值筛分,获得CO2本底数据百分比约占有效数据的72%、CH4占44%.在线观测的CO2和CH4月平均浓度与同期瓶采样分析结果基本一致,相对偏差均在±0.5%以内.经流程化处理和质控的瓦里关大气CO2和CH4本底浓度变化资料已进入全球同化数据库(Globalview-CO2、Globalview-CH4),报送世界温室气体数据中心(WDCGG)并应用于世界气象组织(WMO)温室气体公报和联合国政府间气候变化专门委员会(IPCC)评估.     

Innovative approach and design for environmental protection from arising threats

Environmental Science and Pollution Research -     

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and chlorinated pesticides in a cod liver oil reference material

A cod liver oil reference material, Standard Reference Material (SRM) 1588, which was issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 1989, has certified concentrations for five polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and ten chlorinated pesticides. Recently, this SRM has been extensively characterized by additional analyses at NIST and by analyses at the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) where the SRM was used as a control sample during routine analyses of wildlife tissue specimens. In this paper the results from NIST and CWS are compared and the concentrations for over 40 PCB congeners and 20 chlorinated hydrocarbons are reported.     

Detecting changes in insect herbivore communities along a pollution gradient

The forests surrounding the urban areas of the Los Angeles basin are impacted by ozone and nitrogen pollutants arising from urban areas. We examined changes in the herbivore communities of three prominent plant species (ponderosa pine, California black oak and bracken fern) at six sites along an air pollution gradient. Insects were extracted from foliage samples collected in spring, as foliage reached full expansion. Community differences were evaluated using total herbivore abundance, richness, Shannon-Weiner diversity, and discriminant function analysis. Even without conspicuous changes in total numbers, diversity or richness of herbivores, herbivore groups showed patterns of change that followed the air pollution gradient that were apparent through discriminant function analysis. For bracken fern and oak, chewing insects were more dominant at high pollution sites. Oak herbivore communities showed the strongest effect. These changes in herbivore communities may affect nutrient cycling in forest systems.     

Understanding multiple ecological responses to anthropogenic disturbance: rivers and potential flow regime change

Human-induced alteration of the natural flow regime is a major threat to freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity. The effects of hydrological alteration on the structural and functional attributes of riverine communities are expected to be multiple and complex, and they may not be described easily by a single model. Based on existing knowledge of key hydrological and ecological attributes, we explored potential effects of a flow-regulation scenario on macroinvertebrate assemblage composition and diversity in two river systems in Australia's relatively undeveloped wet-dry tropics. We used a single Bayesian belief network (BBN) to model potential changes in multiple assemblage attributes within each river type during dry and wet seasons given two flow scenarios: the current, near-natural flow condition, and flow regulation. We then used multidimensional scaling (MDS) ordination to visually summarize and compare the most probable attributes of assemblages and their environment under the different scenarios. The flow-regulation scenario provided less certainty in the ecological responses of one river type during the dry season, which reduced the ability to make predictions from the BBN outputs directly. However, visualizing the BBN results in an ordination highlighted similarities and differences between the scenarios that may have been otherwise difficult to ascertain. In particular, the MDS showed that flow regulation would reduce the seasonal differentiation in hydrology and assemblage characteristics that is expected under the current low level of development. Our approach may have wider application in understanding ecosystem responses to different river management practices and should be transferred easily to other ecosystems or biotic assemblages to provide researchers, managers, and decision makers an enhanced understanding of ecological responses to potential anthropogenic disturbance.     

Influence of iron,nickel and cobalt on biogas production during the anaerobic fermentation of fresh residual biomass

We have investigated the dependence of the rate of the production of biogas upon the concentration of nickel, cobalt and iron at sub-toxic concentration and monitored its composition as amount of hydrogen, methane and carbon dioxide. The distribution of the added metals between the liquid and solid phase has also been monitored.

The results of our investigations show that the addition of any of the listed metals to the sludge may cause the production of a higher amount of biogas and influence the methane or carbon dioxide percentage. Conversely, the effect on the hydrogen production depends upon the metal added, the age of the active sludge used, and its adaptation to the susbtrate. As a general feature, during the acidogenesis phase, nickel reduces, while iron increases, the percentage of dihydrogen in the biogas, while cobalt has no influence.