An arsenic-contaminated field trial to assess the uptake and translocation of arsenic by genotypes of rice

Compared to other cereals, rice has particular strong As accumulation. Therefore, it is very important to understand As uptake and translocation among different genotypes. A field study in Chenzhou city, Hunan province of China, was employed to evaluate the effect of arsenic-contaminated soil on uptake and distribution in 34 genotypes of rice (including unpolished rice, husk, shoot, and root). The soil As concentrations ranged from 52.49 to 83.86 mg kg^?1, with mean As concentration 64.44 mg kg^?1. The mean As concentrations in rice plant tissues were different among the 34 rice genotypes. The highest As concentrations were accumulated in rice root (196.27–385.98 mg kg^?1 dry weight), while the lowest was in unpolished rice (0.31–0.52 mg kg^?1 dry weight). The distribution of As in rice tissue and paddy soil are as follows root ? soil > shoot > husk > unpolished rice. The ranges of concentrations of inorganic As in all of unpolished rice were from 0.26 to 0.52 mg kg^?1 dry weight. In particular, the percentage of inorganic As in the total As was more than 67 %, indicating that the inorganic As was the predominant species in unpolished rice. The daily dietary intakes of inorganic As in unpolished rice ranged from 0.10 to 0.21 mg for an adult, and from 0.075 to 0.15 mg for a child. Comparison with tolerable daily intakes established by FAO/WHO, inorganic As in most of unpolished rice samples exceeded the recommended intake values. The 34 genotypes of rice were classified into four clusters using a criteria value of rescaled distance between 5 and 10. Among the 34 genotypes, the genotypes II you 416 (II416) with the lowest enrichment of As and the lowest daily dietary intakes of inorganic As could be selected as the main cultivar in As-contaminated field.     

Quantified scenarios analysis of drivers and impacts of changing flood risk in England and Wales: 2030–2100

Flood risk to the economy, society and the environment reflects the cumulative effects of environmental and socio-economic change over decades. Long-term scenarios are therefore required in order to develop robust and sustainable flood risk management policies. Quantified national-scale flood risk analysis and expert appraisal of the mechanisms causing change in flood risk have been used to assess flood risk in England and Wales over the period 2030–2100. The assessment involved the use of socio-economic and climate change scenarios. The analysis predicts increasing flood risk unless current flood management policies, practices and investment levels are changed—up to 20-fold increase in economic risk by the 2080s in the scenario with highest economic growth. The increase is attributable to a combination of climate change (in particular increasing precipitation and relative sea level rise in parts of the UK) and increasing socio-economic vulnerability, particularly in terms of household/industrial contents and infrastructure vulnerability. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

Phytoextraction of Cr(VI) from soil using Portulaca oleracea

Cr(VI) represents an environmental challenge in both soil and water as it is soluble and bioavailable over a wide range of pH. In previous investigations, Portulaca oleracea (a plant local to the United Arab Emirates (UAE)) demonstrated particular ability for the phytoextraction of Cr(VI) from calcareous soil of the UAE. In this publication, the results of the evaluation of P. oleracea phytoextraction of Cr(VI) from UAE soil at higher concentrations are reported. P. oleracea was exposed to nine different concentrations of Cr(VI) in soil from 0 to 400 mg kg^?1. The uptake of Cr(VI) increased as its concentration in soil increased between 50 and 400 mg kg^?1, with the most efficient removal in the range from 150 to 200 mg kg^?1. The total chromium concentrations exceeded 4600 mg kg^?1 in roots and 1400 mg kg^?1 in stems, confirming the role of P. oleracea as an effective Cr(VI) accumulator. More than 95% of the accumulated Cr(VI) was reduced to the less toxic Cr(III) within the plant.     

Economic growth,public welfare and sustainability: an empirical system analysis

SUMMARY

This paper explores the relationships between economic activity and sustainability, growth, and welfare. The issues regarding the nature of the relationships were framed by Ekins in questions which are addressed empirically across countries and the states of the US. The sustainability issue is addressed by comparing nonrenewable energy throughput, a surrogate for impacts, to the renewable energy throughput in the associated ecosystem. The effect of a changing energy intensity, in developing and developed countries, on socioeconomic variables provides clues to social welfare. In developing countries a rising energy throughput (economic growth) and energy intensity is positively related to public welfare while impacts are generally moderate. The reverse appears to be true in developed countries, i.e. as energy throughput and intensity rise in developed countries and the US states, pollution and impacts also rise while socioeconomic variables worsen, so public welfare begins to decline. Economic development appears to pass through three phases which can be characterized by the nature and extent of its energy use. Each phase exhibits characteristic energy, pollution, structural and socioeconomic trends.     

Upgrade of three municipal wastewater treatment lagoons using a high surface area media

Lagoon-based municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are facing difficulties meeting the needs of rapid population growth as well as the more stringent requirements of discharge permits. Three municipal WWTPs were modified using a high surface area media with upgraded fine-bubble aeration systems. Performance data collected showed very promising results in terms of five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅), ammonia (NH₃) and total suspended solids (TSS) removal. Two-year average ammonia effluents were 4.1 mg·L^-1 for Columbia WWTP, 4 mg·L^-1 for Larchmont WWTP and 2.1 mg·L^-1 for Laurelville WWTP, respectively. Two- year average BOD₅ effluents were 6.8, 4.9 and 2.7 mg·L^-1, and TSS effluents were 15.0, 9.6 and 7.5 mg·L^-1. The systems also showed low fecal coliform (FC) levels in their effluents.     

Ordering effects and choice set awareness in repeat-response stated preference studies

We present an experiment designed to investigate the presence and nature of ordering effects within repeat-response stated preference (SP) studies. Our experiment takes the form of a large sample, full-factorial, discrete choice SP exercise investigating preferences for tap water quality improvements. Our study simultaneously investigates a variety of different forms of position-dependent and precedent-dependent ordering effect in preferences for attributes and options and in response randomness. We also examine whether advanced disclosure of the choice tasks impacts on the probability of exhibiting ordering effects of those different types. We analyze our data both non-parametrically and parametrically and find robust evidence for ordering effects. We also find that the patterns of order effect in respondents' preferences are significantly changed but not eradicated by the advanced disclosure of choice tasks a finding that offers insights into the choice behaviors underpinning order effects.     

Genes and song: genetic and social connections in fragmented habitat in a woodland bird with limited dispersal

Understanding the processes leading to population declines in fragmented landscapes is essential for successful conservation management. However, isolating the influence of disparate processes, and dispersal in particular, is challenging. The Grey Shrike-thrush, Colluricincla harmonica, is a sedentary woodland-dependent songbird, with learned vocalizations whose incidence in suitable habitat patches falls disproportionally with decline in tree cover in the landscape. Although it has been suggested that gaps in tree cover might act as barriers to its dispersal, the species remains in many remnants of native vegetation in agricultural landscapes, suggesting that it may have responded to habitat removal and fragmentation by maintaining or even increasing dispersal distances. We quantified population connectivity of the Grey Shrike-thrush in a system fragmented over more than 120 years using genetic (microsatellites) and acoustic (song types) data. First, we tested for population genetic and acoustic structure at regional and local scales in search of barriers to dispersal or gene flow and signals of local spatial structuring indicative of restricted dispersal or localized acoustic similarity. Then we tested for effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on genetic and acoustic connectivity by fitting alternative models of mobility (isolation-by-distance [the null model] and reduced and increased movement models) across treeless vs. treed areas. Birds within -5 km of each other had more similar genotypes and song types than those farther away, suggesting that dispersal and song matching are limited in the region. Despite restricted dispersal detected for females (but not males), populations appeared to be connected by gene flow and displayed some cultural (acoustic) connectivity across the region. Fragmentation did not appear to impact greatly the dispersal of the Grey Shrike-thrush: none of the mobility models fit the genetic distances of males, whereas for females, an isolation-by-distance model could not be rejected in favor of the models of reduced or increased movement through treeless gaps. However, dissimilarities of the song types were more consistent with the model of reduced cultural connectivity through treeless areas, suggesting that fragmentation impedes song type sharing in the Grey Shrike-thrush. Our paper demonstrates that habitat fragmentation hinders important population processes in an Australian woodland bird even though its dispersal is not detectably impacted.     

Landscape-level influences of terrestrial snake occupancy within the southeastern United States

Habitat loss and degradation are thought to be the primary drivers of species extirpations, but for many species we have little information regarding specific habitats that influence occupancy. Snakes are of conservation concern throughout North America, but effective management and conservation are hindered by a lack of basic natural history information and the small number of large-scale studies designed to assess general population trends. To address this information gap, we compiled detection/nondetection data for 13 large terrestrial species from 449 traps located across the southeastern United States, and we characterized the land cover surrounding each trap at multiple spatial scales (250-, 500-, and 1000-m buffers). We used occupancy modeling, while accounting for heterogeneity in detection probability, to identify habitat variables that were influential in determining the presence of a particular species. We evaluated 12 competing models for each species, representing various hypotheses pertaining to important habitat features for terrestrial snakes. Overall, considerable interspecific variation existed in important habitat variables and relevant spatial scales. For example, kingsnakes (Lampropeltis getula) were negatively associated with evergreen forests, whereas Louisiana pinesnake (Pituophis ruthveni) occupancy increased with increasing coverage of this forest type. Some species were positively associated with grassland and scrub/shrub (e.g., Slowinski's cornsnake, Elaphe slowinskii) whereas others, (e.g., copperhead, Agkistrodon contortrix, and eastern diamond-backed rattlesnake, Crotalus adamanteus) were positively associated with forested habitats. Although the species that we studied may persist in varied landscapes other than those we identified as important, our data were collected in relatively undeveloped areas. Thus, our findings may be relevant when generating conservation plans or restoration goals. Maintaining or restoring landscapes that are most consistent with the ancestral habitat preferences of terrestrial snake assemblages will require a diverse habitat matrix over large spatial scales.     

Prevention in the chemical and process industries: Future directions

This paper presents the current trends of future-oriented prevention management in the chemical-using industry. Two concepts leading to the next generation of managing prevention within chemical industrial areas are explained and discussed. The first concept concerns integrated design-based safety and security; the second concerns the collaboration of several chemical plants to increase sustainable development of their activities and their environment.