Scientists’ warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis

Freshwater ecosystems provide irreplaceable services for both nature and society. The quality and quantity of freshwater affect biogeochemical processes and ecological dynamics that determine biodiversity, ecosystem productivity, and human health and welfare at local, regional and global scales. Freshwater ecosystems and their associated riparian habitats are amongst the most biologically diverse on Earth, and have inestimable economic, health, cultural, scientific and educational values. Yet human impacts to lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands and groundwater are dramatically reducing biodiversity and robbing critical natural resources and services from current and future generations. Freshwater biodiversity is declining rapidly on every continent and in every major river basin on Earth, and this degradation is occurring more rapidly than in terrestrial ecosystems. Currently, about one third of all global freshwater discharges pass through human agricultural, industrial or urban infrastructure. About one fifth of the Earth’s arable land is now already equipped for irrigation, including all the most productive lands, and this proportion is projected to surpass one third by midcentury to feed the rapidly expanding populations of humans and commensal species, especially poultry and ruminant livestock. Less than one fifth of the world’s preindustrial freshwater wetlands remain, and this proportion is projected to decline to under one tenth by midcentury, with imminent threats from water transfer megaprojects in Brazil and India, and coastal wetland drainage megaprojects in China. The Living Planet Index for freshwater vertebrate populations has declined to just one third that of 1970, and is projected to sink below one fifth by midcentury. A linear model of global economic expansion yields the chilling prediction that human utilization of critical freshwater resources will approach one half of the Earth’s total capacity by midcentury. Although the magnitude and growth of the human freshwater footprint are greater than is generally understood by policy makers, the news media, or the general public, slowing and reversing dramatic losses of freshwater species and ecosystems is still possible. We recommend a set of urgent policy actions that promote clean water, conserve watershed services, and restore freshwater ecosystems and their vital services. Effective management of freshwater resources and ecosystems must be ranked amongst humanity’s highest priorities.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01318-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Autotrophic nitrogen removal for decentralized treatment of ammonia-rich industrial textile wastewater: process assessment,stabilization and modelling

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Digital textile printing (DTP) is a game-changer technology that is rapidly expanding worldwide. On the other hand, process wastewater is rich in...     

SARS-CoV-2: a systematic review of indoor air sampling for virus detection

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In a post-pandemic scenario, indoor air monitoring may be required seeking to safeguard public health, and therefore well-defined methods, protocols,...     

Absorption and translocation of sulfometuron-methyl in sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) at different growth stages

ABSTRACT

In Brazil, weed management in sugarcane fields is mainly done with the use of selective herbicide formulations. For many years, diuron+hexazinone was one of the main herbicide mixture formulations used in sugarcane. Later, sulfometuron-methyl was included in the same mixture, which was marketed as a new herbicide formulation for residual in-season weed control in sugarcane. The mixture diuron+hexazinone+sulfometuron-methyl has been widely used in commercial sugarcane fields in Brazil. However, recent field observations have shown that sugarcane plants at different growth stages varied in their phytotoxicity levels after treatment with diuron+hexazinone+sulfometuron-methyl. Greenhouse and laboratory studies were conducted to determine ¹⁴Csulfometuron-methyl absorption and translocation, as well as ¹⁴C distribution in sugarcane at two growth stages, 2 to 3 leaves and 5 to 6 leaves. ¹⁴Csulfometuron-methyl absorption by sugarcane did not differ between the two growth stages. Different patterns of ¹⁴C accumulation were observed, which may explain variations in sulfometuron-methyl phytotoxic responses observed in the field.     

Benthic Response to Mucilaginous Aggregates in the Northern Adriatic Sea: Biochemical Indicators of Eutrophication

In summer 1997, gelatinous aggregates appeared in the Adriatic Sea, covering large areas of the northern basin. This study deals with the comparison between the biochemical composition of the sedimentary organic matter in summer, 1996 (when no aggregates appeared), and in summer, 1997 (during the appearance of aggregates). the biochemical composition of organic matter in surface sediments (determined in terms of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, phytopigments and nucleic acids) has been investigated in two areas along the coast of the NW-Adriatic Sea in order to characterize benthic processes during aggregate deposition on the sea floor. During mucilage accumulation, a significant increase of biochemical compounds was observed, and chlorophyll-a and carbohydrate concentrations doubled their concentrations. in contrast, protein concentrations decreased, so that overall biopolymeric carbon content (expressed as the sum of lipid, protein and carbohydrate carbon equivalents) did not display significant differences between sampling periods (1579.3 in June, 1996 1678.8 μgCg^-1 and June, 1997). the protein to carbohydrate ratio decreased from 4.9 in June, 1996 to 1.8 in June, 1997. Mucilage production in June, 1997, modified significantly the biochemical composition of the sedimentary OM, thus affecting the potential availability of OM to benthic consumers. We hypothesise that the production of highly refractory composition of the sedimentary OM during mucilage accumulation might have an important biogeochemical implications.     

Physiological and immunological conditions of wild populations of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Farfantepenaeus duorarum </Emphasis>from the campeche sound (Crustacea,Penaeidae)

To assess the health status of aquatic ecosystems, specialized tools and strategies are needed to study the changes induced in oceanic systems by human activity. The Gulf of Mexico has a tremendous ecological importance because of its biological diversity. The present paper defines baseline levels of blood metabolites and immune components for wild tropical populations of F. duorarum: an important shrimp species of the Gulf of Mexico. Osmotic pressure (OP), osmotic capability (OC), oxy hemocyanin (OxyHc), glucose, digestive gland glycogen, proteins, cholesterol, lactate, acylglycerols (AG) were used as indicators of physiological and nutritional status; phenoloxidase activity, quantification of hemocytes, as well as respiratory burst, were used to assess the immunological status. There were no differences between sexes in either live weight or physiological and nutritional conditions. Only total blood protein, oxy hemocyanin, and digestive gland glycogen showed normally distributed data. All the remaining blood parameters were right- or left-skewed. A median live weight of 9.5 g was registered for the sampled population. Median values of 955 and −91.85 mOsm/kg (OP and OC, respectively) were obtained, indicating that shrimp were slightly hypo-osmotic in relation to sea water. A proportion of 27% of OxyHc of the total protein (OxyHc/Prot) was calculated for the F. duorarum population. ProPO and PO showed no normal distribution and were not different between sexes. A right-skewed distribution was observed. Total hemocytes, hyaline (HC) and granular cells (GC) showed differences between sexes, with higher values in females than males. A similar proportion of HC (69%) and GC (30%) of total cells were observed between sexes. Basal and activated respiratory burst showed differences between sexes with higher values for females than for males. The current results provide indicators of the nutritional and immune status of F. duorarum that can be used to detect changes in trophic relations and health at a population level.     

Analysis of PCB levels in snow from the Aconcagua Mountain (Southern Andes) using the stir bar sorptive extraction

This paper presents a first result of an investigation of the presence of anthropogenic pollutants named polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, sum of 25 congeners) in snow samples in the Aconcagua Mountains in the Andean Range, along an altitudinal gradient. Samples were taken during an expedition in 2003 and analysed by using a specific technique of thermodesorption and GC-MS adapted to small amount of sample. Mountain ecosystems could be efficient natural trap of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) transported by the atmosphere, and it is shown in this note that PCBs are also present in snow samples but at low concentrations, levels ranged from 0.02 to 0.190 ng/L. The detected congeners were those more persistent (PCB 138, PCB180) and compared to other mountain and cold areas around the world, detected levels are in the low range indicating that pollution levels are lower in the southern hemisphere. This results points out the need of investigating with some more detail the role of mountains in the trapping of POPs and the associated risks including the climate change.     

Prenatal diagnosis of ventricular aneurysm: a report of two cases and a review

Ventricular aneurysms have rarely been reported prenatally. Their prognosis is variable depending on factors such as early detection, their relative size in comparison to the ventricular cavity, growth on follow-up, and signs of cardiac failure. In view of the fact that it may be useful to report on additional cases in order to make available further information on aetiology, prognosis and neonatal management, we hereby report on two cases of ventricular aneurysm with good mid-term prognosis. One case of apical aneurysm of the left ventricle was associated with a muscular ventricular septal defect, the features of which are compatible with a fetal myocardial infarction and ventricular septal rupture in absence of coronary artery anomalies as demonstrated by catheterisation. Another case of sub-tricuspidal aneurysm of the right ventricle associated with mitral prolapse appears to be a component of diffuse connective dysplasia. Despite the early gestational age at diagnosis, the large size of the aneurysm and the associated defect, both the infants were asymptomatic in infancy prompting a conservative management. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.