Trends of brominated diphenyl ethers in fresh and archived Great Lakes fish (1979-2005)

While few environmental measurements of brominated diphenyl ethers (BDEs) were completed prior to the mid-1990s, analysis of appropriately archived samples might enable the determination of contaminant trends back to the introduction of these chemicals. In this paper, we first investigate the stability of BDEs in archived frozen and extracted fish samples, and then characterize trends of these chemicals in rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in each of the Great Lakes between 1979 and 2005. We focus on the four most common congeners (BDE-47, 100, 99 and 153) and use a change-point analysis to detect shifts in trends. Analyses of archived fish samples yielded precise BDE concentration measurements with only small losses (0.8% per year in frozen fish tissues, 2.2% per year in refrigerated extracts). Trends in fish from all Great Lakes showed large increases in BDE concentrations that started in the early to mid-1980s with fairly consistent doubling times (generally 2-4 years except in Lake Erie smelt where levels increased very slowly), though concentrations and trends show differences by congener, fish species and lake. The most recent data show that accumulation rates are slowing, and concentrations of penta- and hexa-congeners in trout from Lakes Ontario and Michigan and smelt from Lake Ontario started to decrease in the mid-1990s. Trends in smelt and trout are evolving somewhat differently, and trout concentrations in the five lakes are now ranked as Michigan>Superior=Ontario>Huron=Erie, and smelt concentrations as Michigan>Ontario>Huron>Superior>Erie. The analysis of properly archived samples permits the reconstruction of historical trends, congener distributions, biomagnification and other information that can aid the understanding and management of these contaminants.     

Optimized acid rain abatement strategies using ecological goals

This article addresses the use of critical loads in optimized emission abatement strategies. Critical loads represent the maximum tolerable deposition possible without adverse impacts, a limit that is highly spatially variable. As deposition targets, critical loads cannot be satisfied at all receptors in Europe. Consequently, there is a need for alternative criteria that still relate to ecological indicators, yet that are feasible, consistent, and equitable. Two criteria are suggested: the relative critical load coverage and the relative deposition reduction. Deposition goals based on these criteria will guarantee that a specified fraction of ecosystems will attain target loads and thus will be protected from adverse environmental impacts. In areas that cannot achieve target loads with the best available control measures, deposition can be reduced to a specified fraction of the unabated level. Examples are presented that demonstrate their derivation and application of the two criteria. The criteria have been implemented in the European-scale Regional Acidification Information and Simulation (RAINS) model. Results obtained indicate that optimized emission strategies based on critical loads may be similar to emission strategies based on deposition reductions at certain levels of the two criteria. This suggests that it may not be necessary to utilize critical loads to formulate deposition targets. A second example shows the effect of excluding countries from European cost minimization. A country's participation can save costs with moderate deposition targets; however, significant costs can be imposed with low (stringent) deposition targets. These preliminary results have significant implications for multilateral negotiations.     

A global strategy for forest utilization: mitigating climate change without unduly constraining utilization

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change - The objective of the study was to outline a global scheme for furthering mitigation of climate change in the Managed Forest subsector of the...     

Sketching sustainable land use in Europe by 2040: a multi-stakeholder participatory approach to elicit cross-sectoral visions

The continuously growing global demands on a finite land resource will require better strategic policies and management of trade-offs to avoid conflicts between different land-use sectors. Visions of the future can support strategic planning by stimulating dialogue, building a consensus on shared priorities and providing long-term targets. We present a novel approach to elicit stakeholder visions of future desired land use, which was applied with a broad range of experts to develop cross-sectoral visions in Europe. The approach is based on (i) combination of software tools and facilitation techniques to stimulate engagement and creativity; (ii) methodical selection of stakeholders; (iii) use of land attributes to deconstruct the multifaceted sectoral visions into land-use changes that can be clustered into few cross-sectoral visions, and (iv) a rigorous iterative process. Three cross-sectoral visions of sustainable land use in Europe in 2040 emerged from applying the approach in participatory workshops involving experts in nature conservation, recreation, agriculture, forestry, settlements, energy, and water. The three visions—Best Land in Europe, Regional Connected and Local Multifunctional—shared a wish to achieve a land use that is sustainable through multifunctionality, resource use efficiency, controlled urban growth, rural renewal and widespread nature. However, they differ on the scale at which land services are provided—EU-wide, regional or local—reflecting the land-sparing versus land-sharing debate. We discuss the usefulness of the approach, as well as the challenges posed and solutions offered by the visions to support strategic land-use planning.

     

Automated Algorithms for Heuristic Base‐Flow Separation1

Abstract: The subjective nature of graphical base‐flow separation combined with the many applications of base‐flow time series derived from continuous streamflow data, motivates the development and application of automated algorithms for heuristic base‐flow separation. Base‐flow time series derived from gauged streamflow support diverse applications in engineering hydrology, catchment analysis, hydrogeologic investigations, regional low‐flow analysis, and recharge estimation. Whether based on graphical procedures for recession analysis or analytical expressions derived from fundamental equations of ground‐water flow, the variety of base‐flow separation algorithms belies the array of base‐flow definitions and interpretations that variously refer to dominant process, source, flow path, and characteristic response time. Algorithms that are invariant in their consistent – though heuristic – characterization of base‐flow response are particularly useful for interbasin comparisons of low‐flow characteristics and hydrologic regionalization. More adaptable algorithms provide application‐specific flexibility in allocating flow components like interflow to either quickflow or slowflow. Four widely used algorithms that produce consistent base‐flow time series using only gauged streamflow records are compared and contrasted with a complementary heuristic algorithm that incorporates hydrologic judgment explicitly, through manual parameterization. The utility of these inherently subjective algorithms is illustrated through a simple example of flow phase separation in a two‐component end‐member mixing model of dissolved chlorides in the Cuyahoga River.     

Arctic Climate Impacts: Environmental Injustice in Canada and the United States

The current and projected future physical impacts of climate change are most extreme in the northern latitudes. The indigenous peoples in the North American arctic and sub-arctic rely on the availability of natural resources in mixed subsistence economies for nutritional and cultural survival and thus experience disproportionate burdens with respect to our changing climate. Arctic climate impacts exemplify how global phenomena and activities can significantly affect people locally in remote regions. These impacts are largely consistent throughout the region, irrespective of national boarders; however, indigenous peoples in Canada are better positioned than those in the United States to shape policy in a way that would ensure their adaptation to climate change. Political and industrial activity on national and global scales can have significant environmental, social and cultural repercussions on the local scale in remote areas. Remedies for environmental injustice will thus require strong cross-scale political and institutional linkages.     

An investigation of adsorption at the air-water and soil-water interfaces for non-micellizing ethylene oxide-propylene oxide surfactants

Adsorption at the air–water interface and soil sorption from aqueous solution have been investigated for a group of ethylene oxide (EO)–propylene oxide (PO) block copolymeric surfactants. The group which have a common structural formula of EO_m PO_n EO_m is distinguished by the fact that they have large critical micelle concentration (CMC) values and therefore do not readily form micelles at common environmental concentrations and temperatures. Adsorption at the air–water interface is readily shown to be driven by the size of the hydrophobic PO block. The size of the reduction in surface tension produced by a common concentration of 10⁻⁵ mol dm⁻³ linearly increases with the size of the PO block as does the efficiency of adsorption at the air–water interface as measured by pC₂₀ – the negative logarithm of the surfactant concentration that produces a reduction in surface tension of 20 mN m⁻¹. Soil sorption data have also been captured for these compounds and the data are readily fitted to the Freundlich adsorption isotherm. However soil sorption is shown to be inversely related to the molecular mass of the molecules and appears to be related to the size of the hydrophilic EO blocks in the molecule.     

The predicted environmental distribution of some PCB replacements

Physical and chemical properties which control the environmental distribution of five PCB replacement chemicals (di-isopropylnaphthalenes, phenylxylylethanes, butylated monochlorodiphenyl ethers, isopropylbiphenyls and tetrachloroethylene) have been obtained. These data are used to predict the distribution of these chemicals, a pentachlorobiphenyl and $\text{p,p′}$-DDE in an evaluative environment using a fugacity approach. This simple model gives no information about reactivity or persistence. More complex fugacity models are used to compare these additional features of a di-isopropylnaphthalene PCB replacement with those of a PCB.     

Book reviews

Land and Leisure — Concepts and Methods in Outdoor Recreation

Second Edition — edited by C. S. Von Doren, G. B. Priddle and J. E. Lewis.

Methuen & Co., £5.95. 1979.

Countryside Planning — The First Three Decades, 1945–76

Andrew W. Gilg.

Methuen & Co. £3.50. 1979.

Social Problems and the City

D. T. Herbert and D. M. Smith

Oxford University Press. £8.50. 271 pp.

Slum Housing and Residential Renewal — The Case of Urban Britain

D. A. Kirby

Topics in Applied Geography Series. Longmans. £2.95. 1979.

From Blacksmiths to White Elephants: Benwell's Changing Shops

Benwell Community Project Final Report, Series No. 7, Newcastle upon Tyne 1979. 72 pp. 80p.

The Debate on Urban Policy — Decentralisation versus Improvement

Robert Coursey

Retailing and Planning Associates 1977. 93 pp.

Urban Deprivation and Government Initiatives

Paul Lawless

Faber. £8.95 (hard‐back), 251 pp.

A Guide to Historic Buildings Law Fourth Edition

Peace, D., and Purdy, I. M.

Cambridgeshire County Council, County Planning Department, 1979.

98 pp. (paperback), £5.35 post paid.

Research and Intelligence

Papers delivered at the Annual Conference 1978, Inlogov University of Birmingham Edited by E. M. Davies

£4.30. 257 pp.

Geography and the Urban Environment : Progress in Research and Applications

Vol. II. Edited by D. T. Herbert, R. J. Johnston.

Wiley, London. 308 pp.

Facts about the New Towns : A Socio‐Economic Digest

A. G. Champion, K. Clegg and R. L. Davies

R.P.A., Corbridge, 1978.

Physical Planning in the Member States of the E.E.C.

C. Wood and N. Lee, Occasional Paper No. 2.

Department of Town and Country Planning, University of Manchester, 1978. 59pp.