Crop Biotechnology for the Environment?

In public debates, agricultural biotechnology is almost invariably discussed as a potential threat to the environment and to human health. Without downplaying the risks associated with this technology we emphasize that if properly regulated, it can be a forceful tool to solve environmental problems and promote human health. Agricultural biotechnology can reduce environmental problems in at least three ways: it can diminish the need for environmentally damaging agricultural practices such as pesticides, fertilizers, tillage, and irrigation. It can reduce the land area needed for agriculture, thus reducing the CO₂ effect of agriculture and improving biodiversity. It can produce energy in a CO₂-neutral way (especially if new technologies involving the cultivation of microalgae become successful). Furthermore, agricultural biotechnology can have positive effects on human health by decreasing occupational and dietary exposure to pesticides, improving the nutritional value of food, and producing pharmaceuticals more efficiently. We argue that those who wish to give high priority to environmental goals cannot afford any longer to be mere onlookers while others decide the future directions of agricultural biotechnology.     

Identifying management opportunities to combat climate,land, and marine threats across less climate exposed coral reefs

Conserving coral reefs is critical for maintaining marine biodiversity, protecting coastlines, and supporting livelihoods in many coastal communities. Climate change threatens coral reefs globally, but researchers have identified a portfolio of coral reefs (bioclimatic units [BCUs]) that are relatively less exposed to climate impacts and strongly connected to other coral reef systems. These reefs provide a proactive opportunity to secure a long-term future for coral reefs under climate change. To help guide local management efforts, we quantified marine cumulative human impact (CHI) from climate, marine, and land pressures (2013 and from 2008 to 2013) in BCUs and across countries tasked with BCU management. Additionally, we created a management index based on common management measures and policies for each pressure source (climate, marine, and land) to identify a country's intent and commitment to effectively manage these pressures. Twenty-two countries (79%) had increases in CHI from 2008 to 2013. Climate change pressures had the highest proportional contribution to CHI across all reefs and in all but one country (Singapore), but 18 BCUs (35%) and nine countries containing BCUs (32%) had relatively high land and marine impacts. There was a significant positive relationship between climate impact and the climate management index across countries (R² = 0.43, p = 0.02), potentially signifying that countries with greater climate impacts are more committed to managing them. However, this trend was driven by climate management intent in Fiji and Bangladesh. Our results can be used to guide future fine-scale analyses, national policies, and local management decisions, and our management indices reveal areas where management components can be improved. Cost-effectively managing local pressures (e.g., fishing and nutrients) in BCUs is essential for building a climate-ready future that benefits coral reefs and people.     

Environmental pollutants in endangered vs. increasing subspecies of the lesser black-backed gull on the Norwegian Coast

Organochlorine (OC) residues were measured in eggs and blood of different subspecies of the lesser black-backed gull, Larus fuscus, on the Norwegian coast: a) increasing L. f. intermedius in the North Sea; b) endangered L. f. fuscus near the Arctic Circle; c) L. f. fuscus and greyish-mantled gulls, with a L. f. intermedius appearance, in the Barents Sea region. The dominating OCs in lesser black-backed gulls were polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE). DDE and beta-hexachlorocyclohexane (beta-HCH) residues were higher in L. f. fuscus compared to L. f. intermedius and greyish-mantled birds in the Barents Sea region. In the latter area, blood residues of PCB and DDE in lesser black-backed gulls were as high as in great black-backed gulls, Larus marinus, while in the other regions they were lower. The higher DDE residues in endangered L. f. fuscus compared to increasing L. f. intermedius and greyish-mantled birds, which are invading northern Norway, suggest that OCs may have played a role in the population decline of L. f. fuscus, possibly in combination with nutrient stress.     

Reproductive cycle of Centrostephanus rodgersii (Echinoidea), with recommendations for the establishment of a sea urchin fishery in New South Wales

The reproductive cycle of the sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii (Agassiz) was investigated in two populations, at Clovelly and Little Bay, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. C. rodgersii were collected at monthly intervals from February 1992 through January 1993. The reproductive cycle was determined by histological examination of oogenesis and spermatogenesis, monthly measurements of gonad index (GI), and induction of spawning by KCl injection. C. rodgersii has an annual reproductive cycle that was highly synchronous in both populations. From February to June, gametogenesis was accompanied by a decline in the amount of nutritive tissue in the gonads. The urchins were mature from June to September, with peak spawning between July and August, as indicated by a significant drop in GI. The breeding season of C. rodgersii therefore coincides with the lowest sea temperatures and the shortest days of the year. The gonads returned to the recovering condition within a month of spawning, with a substantial thickening of the nutritive layer along the gonad wall, and the GI returned to near pre-spawning levels. As a result, the spent phase was rarely found in C. rodgersii. With the exception of a significant decrease in the GI following spawning of urchins from the Clovelly population, the GI measurements did not show any distinct pattern through time. Specimens spawned in response to KCl injection from mid-May to early October, with the maximum response in July. Although all individuals sampled were at a similar stage of maturity at any one time, inter-site differences were seen with all of the methods used. Gonad indices from Little Bay were consistently higher and less variable than those from Clovelly for most of the year. The Little Bay population could also be induced to spawn for a longer period of time than could the Clovelly population. The breeding season of the Little Bay population appears to be longer than that of the Clovelly population. The relationship between size and sexual maturity was also examined. All C. rodgersii with a test diameter of >60 mm could be induced to spawn and produced viable gametes. C. rodgersii has been nominated for commercial exploitation in New South Wales, and the results of this investigation are used to make recommendations on the timing and size limits for a fishery utilising this species.     

以科学为基础的化学品管理战略

针对欧洲化学品管理系统REACH的数据要求,本文提出许多改进建议.要实施根据物质的有害作用进行分类的当前标准,这些数据要求显得不足.在数据收集中以产量作为优先制定的标准,这是成问题的.提出了优先制定机制的三项替代建议:物质的化学性质:低层次检测的结果;对自动检测的激励.一个新的分类办法(未充分研究)亦被提出.在这个办法里,物质将根据警示标识予以鉴别.     

Managers’ attitudes towards safety measures in the commercial road transport sector

Safety measures and related costs and benefits have been widely discussed and analysed in academic circles and by the authorities and industrial sectors. The study reported in this paper addresses these aspects from a cognitive based perspective. Risk management is about dealing with the conflict between production and safety. Enterprises which spend too much on safety will meet bankruptcy, and those not concerned with safety measures will meet with severe accidents and related damage. Inspired by James Reason’s theoretical framework, managers (n = 106) of commercial transport enterprises were asked about their attitudes towards safety management, what factors have contributed and their belief that further effort and investments in health, environment and safety (HES) measures will pay off. One half of the managers perceive HES work as too expensive and approximately one quarter assess mandatory HES work as compromising their competitiveness. One third of the managers do not find further safety measures than those already implemented necessary or remunerative. They claim that there are no other alternative ways of doing their activities and that there are no technical measures available that could meet outstanding safety challenges. Managers do acknowledge HES work as important for the reputation of the enterprise. The factor analysis gave five HES attitude factors: (I) concerned with formalities, (II) HES work improves health, environment and safety, (III) HES work is ineffective, (IV) HES regulation is appropriate, and (V) HES work can be improved.     

Influence of field-based nutrient enrichment on the photobiology of the giant clam Tridacna maxima

Nutrients were added to 12 microatolls in One Tree Island lagoon every low tide for 13 mo to an initial concentration of 10 μM (ammonium, N) and 2 M (phosphate, P). These concentrations remained above background for 2 to 3 h after addition. The addition of ammonium (N and N+P but not P alone) significantly increased P _g (gross photosynthesis) P _n (net photosynthesis) and R (respiration) per unit wet-tissue weight and α (photosynthetic efficiency) in Tridacna maxima after 3 mo nutrient enrichment. These responses to small and transient changes in ammonium concentrations suggest that symbiotic clams are not nutrient-replete, and that even subtle changes in nutrients can have a measurable effect on photosynthesis. The same clams did not show significant differences in photosynthetic parameters 6 mo after the beginning of nutrient enrichment, suggesting that their previous responses had either been seasonal or that symbiotic clams such as T. maxima are able to adjust their photophysiology following external changes in nutrient concentrations. Received: 26 August 1997 / Accepted: 11 December 1998     

Amino acid synthesis in the symbiotic sea anemone Aiptasia pulchella

Symbiotic Aiptasia pulchella and freshly isolated zooxanthellae were incubated in NaH¹⁴CO₃ and NH₄Cl for 1 to 240 min, and samples were analysed by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and an online radiochemical detector. NH₄ ⁺ was first assimilated into ¹⁴C-glutamate and ¹⁴C-glutamine in the zooxanthellae residing in A. pulchella. The specific activities (dpm nmol⁻¹) of ¹⁴C-glutamate and ¹⁴C-glutamine in vivo, were far greater in the zooxanthellae than in the host tissue, indicating that NH₄ ⁺ was principally incorporated into the glutamate and glutamine pools of the zooxanthellae. ¹⁴C-α-ketoglutarate was taken up from the medium by intact A. pulchella and assimilated into a small amount of ¹⁴C-glutamate in the host tissue, but no ¹⁴C-glutamine was detected in the host fraction. The ¹⁴C-glutamate that was synthesized was most likely produced from transamination reactions as opposed to the direct assimilation of NH₄ ⁺. The free amino acid composition of the host tissue and zooxanthellae of A. pulchella was also measured. The results presented here demonstrate that NH₄ ⁺ was initially assimilated by the zooxanthellae of A. pulchella. Received: 3 February 1997 / Accepted: 24 October 1997     

A first evaluation of the usefulness of feathers of nestling predatory birds for non-destructive biomonitoring of persistent organic pollutants

In previous studies, feathers of adult predatory birds have been evaluated as valid non-destructive biomonitor matrices for persistent organic pollutants (POPs). In this study, we assessed for the first time the usefulness of nestling raptor feathers for non-destructive biomonitoring of POPs. For this purpose, we collected body feathers and blood of nestlings from three avian top predators from northern Norway: northern goshawks (Accipiter gentilis), white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos). We were able to detect a broad spectrum of legacy POPs in the nestling feathers of all three species (Σ PCBs: 6.78-140ng g(-1); DDE: 3.15-145ng g(-1); Σ PBDEs: 0.538-7.56ng g(-1)). However, these concentrations were lower compared to other studies on raptor species, probably due to the aspect of monitoring of nestlings instead of adults. Besides their analytical suitability, nestling feathers also appear to be biologically informative: concentrations of most POPs in nestling feathers showed strong and significant correlations with blood plasma concentrations in all species (p<0.050; 0.775相似文献   

Semi-natural habitats in the European boreal region: Caught in the socio-ecological extinction vortex?

We propose to consider semi-natural habitats—hotspots for biodiversity—being caught in a socio-ecological extinction vortex, similar to the phenomenon described for species threatened with extinction. These habitats are essentially socioecological systems, in which socioeconomic drivers are interlinked with ecological processes. We identify four highly interlinked and mutually reinforcing socio-economic processes, pertaining to the importance of semi-natural habitats for (i) agricultural production, (ii) policy, research and development; (iii) vocational education in the fields of agricultural sciences and (iv) public’s experiences with semi-natural habitats. Evidence from six countries in the boreal region demonstrates that recent slowing down or even reversal of two processes are insufficient to stop the extinction vortex phenomenon. We suggest research directions to ascertain the phenomenon, monitor its development and develop proactive actions to weaken the vortex. It is highly plausible that interventions directed at most, if not all, of the key vortex processes are needed to reverse the overall deteriorating trends of a socio-ecological system.