Exploring the role of local community perceptions in sustainability measurements

Measuring sustainability is an integral part of decision-making processes in order to promote sustainable development. The present paper focuses on sustainability indicators as these are measured on local level and explores two main issues: firstly, the subjective measurement of indicators focusing especially on social dimensions of sustainability, secondly, the incorporation of local perceptions in sustainability assessments. These two issues are explored in the Asopos River basin in Greece, an area where significant environmental degradation has been observed in the past decades and is also under financial pressure due to the ongoing national recession. A large-scale research study was conducted measuring environmental, economic and social indicators while, at a second stage, a model was developed, estimating new indicators that incorporate local communities’ perceptions on what they considered as important for their area. The results of the study reveal that the most important indicators for the sustainable development of the area, according to locals’ perceptions, are environmental quality as well as quality of life. By contrast, trust in local and central institutions and also local enterprises were not considered as important by locals. These results illustrate the importance of combining global and national scale assessment with locally focused social measurements of sustainability in order to better understand what is important for local communities prior to embarking on public policy planning.     

The identification of phytoextraction potential of Melilotus officinalis and Amaranthus retroflexus growing on copper- and molybdenum-polluted soils

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - The contamination of soils by heavy metals from the mining industry nowadays is one of the greatest threats to environment and human health. The cleaning of...     

Wastewater management for hazardous chemicals ‐ disposal of ammonium perchlorate wastes from propellant production for space vehicles

An attempt to depict the wastewater treatment system for the production of ammonium perchlorate, a component of solid propellant used in space vehicles, has been made. The waste‐water management system uses solar ponds and seawater dilution for the retention and disposal of the undesirable constituents of the wastewater. The details of the wastewater generation and its treatment are highlighted in this paper.     

Influence of temperature and pH on the effects of zinc and copper on proteolytic activities of the intestinal mucosa of planktivorous and benthophagous fishes and their potential preys

Influences of temperature (0 and 20°C) and pH (3.0, 5.0, and 7.4) on the effect of zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) on proteolytic activities of intestinal mucosa in planktivorous (blue bream, bleak), bentophagous (bream, roach) fishes and their potential preys (pond snail Limnaea stagnalis, planorbid Planorbarius purpura, dreissena Dreissena polymorpha, midge larvae Chironomus sp., water flea Daphnia longispina and total zooplankton) are revealed in this article. Cu decreases the caseinolytic and hemoglobinolytic activities in both fish and their preys more than Zn at temperature 20°C and pH 7.4. Low temperature intensifies the negative effect of the metals on the protease activity in fish (in the case of Zn 5–10 times, in the case of Cu 5–30 times). In fish prey species, the negative effect of the metals on the proteinase activity may be more significant. The influence of pH on Zn and Cu effects is less pronounced than that of low temperature. Maximum reduction of enzyme activities is observed for the combined action of low temperature and pH as well as of the studied metals.     

Atypical plant–herbivore association of algal food and a kleptoplastic sea slug (Elysia clarki) revealed by DNA barcoding and field surveys

The identity of food sources and feeding preferences of specialist herbivores have been commonly inferred from spatial associations between consumer and food items. However, such basic information for well-known marine herbivores, sacoglossans (sea slugs), and their algal diets remains disappointingly lacking, especially from field studies. The sacoglossan, Elysia clarki (Pierce et al. in Molluscan Res 26:23–38, 2006), is kleptoplastic and sequesters chloroplasts from algal food to photosynthesize, so DNA identification of sequestered chloroplasts was employed to verify the algal species fed upon by the slug across its geographic range. The molecular information on the algae consumed by E. clarki was combined with field surveys of slugs and algae in slug habitats in the Florida Keys in July and August of 2008 in order to evaluate whether the diet of this herbivore could be predicted based on its spatial association with algae in the field. A considerable mismatch between food availability and kleptoplast identity was recorded. E. clarki commonly occupied areas devoid of potential food and often contained symbiotic plastids from algal species different from those most frequently found in the surveyed habitats. In three of the four study sites, algal species present were poor predictors of slug diet. These findings suggest that the photosynthetic capability of E. clarki may release the slug from the constraint of requiring proximity to its food sources and may allow for the potential lack of spatial coupling between this herbivore and its algal food. This combination of field surveys and DNA barcoding provided critical and previously unavailable information on herbivore feeding in this marine system.     

Incidence of kyphosis deformities in natural population of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Atherina lagunae</Emphasis> (Trabelsi et al. 2002) from the Tunis North Lake,Tunisia

Vertebral abnormalities are common among fish and this constitutes a problem of quality and cost-efficiency in aquaculture and in fisheries. Information is presented on the occurrence of spinal deformities in natural population of Atherina lagunae (Teleostei, Atherinidae) in Tunis North Lake (Tunisia). This species is euryhaline and lives in most Mediterranean lagoons. A total of 2,175 fish were caught, in monthly samples, from October 2004 to August 2005. Deformed fishes were counted, photographed and radiographed. According to X-ray radiographies, kyphosis were the most common externally visible vertebral deformities. This abnormality was observed in 212 atherines (140 males and 72 females). The spinal deformity levels varied between 5.34% in December 2004 and 15.85% in June 2005, and averaged 9.75%. The rate of deformed fish varied considerably according to sex and size. The possible reasons of this deformity are also discussed.     

Coordinated mechanics of feeding,swimming, and eye movements in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tautoga onitis</Emphasis>, and implications for the evolution of trophic strategies in fishes

Fish feeding behavior results from successful coordination of the fins, jaws, and sensory systems, and the organization of this behavior may affect the fish’s foraging abilities and trophic ecology. Using quantitative kinematic methods, movements of the jaws, fins and eyes of Tautoga onitis (Teleostei: Labridae) were analyzed during feeding events. Tautog feeding events consisted of three phases: approach, strike, and recovery, each defined by a combination of kinematic events. The approach was characterized by changes in fin movements and in body position, with the eyes directed forward at the food item. The strike began with the onset of jaw opening and protrusion, then cranial elevation, with the eyes no longer looking at the food item. The end of the strike and the beginning of the recovery involved a braking maneuver with the pectoral fins; the fish turns and swims away from the original food location item after prey capture. The coordination performance variables of tautog were quantitatively compared to published data from closely related cheiline wrasses and parrotfishes, which represent different feeding ecologies within a monophyletic assemblage. Fishes feeding on molluscs and benthic invertebrates (Cheilinus fasciatus and Tautoga onitis) represented an intermediate coordination condition, with herbivores (the parrotfishes, Scarus quoyi and Sparisoma radians) at one extreme, and fishes feeding on elusive prey (Epibulus insidiator and Oxycheilinus digrammus) at the other extreme. The analysis suggests that the biomechanical demands of coordination for feeding on benthic invertebrates may represent a generalized, and perhaps ancestral behavior in the wrasses, whereas more specialized trophic niches have evolved divergent, more specialized demands. Examining the movement and coordination of the jaws, fins, and eyes during fish feeding provides a detailed mechanistic basis for behavior, and comparison of coordination patterns during feeding among different taxa can measure how these trophic strategies differ. Understanding the evolution of feeding ecologies in these demersal fishes may have implications for understanding their role within their shallow water reef community.