Patterns and changes of land use and land-use efficiency in Africa 1980–2005: an analysis based on the human appropriation of net primary production framework

Regional Environmental Change - African land systems play a decisive role in addressing future sustainability challenges for food and energy supply—in Africa and potentially elsewhere....     

Changes in the spatial patterns of human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) in Europe 1990–2006

Understanding patterns, dynamics, and drivers of land use is crucial for improving our ability to cope with sustainability challenges. The human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) framework provides a set of integrated socio-ecological indicators that quantify how land use alters energy flows in ecosystems via land conversions and biomass harvest. Thus, HANPP enables researchers to systematically and consistently assess the outcome of changes in land cover and land-use intensity across spatio-temporal scales. Yet, fine-scale HANPP assessments are so far missing, an information important to address site-specific ecological implications of land use. Here, we provide such an assessment for Europe at a 1-km scale for the years 1990, 2000, and 2006. The assessment was based on a consistent land-use/biomass flow dataset derived from statistical data, remote sensing maps, and a dynamic global vegetation model. We find that HANPP in Europe amounted to ~43 % of potential productivity, well above the global average of ~25 %, with little variation in the European average since 1990. HANPP was highest in Central Europe and lower in Northern and Southern Europe. At the regional level, distinct changes in land-use intensity were observed, most importantly the decline of cropland areas and yields following the breakdown of socialism in Eastern Europe and the subsequent recovery after 2000, or strong dynamics related to storm events that resulted in massive salvage loggings. In sum, however, these local dynamics cancelled each other out at the aggregate level. We conclude that this finding warrants further research into aspects of the scale-dependency of dynamics and stability of land use.     

Fish pollution with anthropogenic 137Cs in the southern Baltic Sea

This paper presents the results of a study on changes in ¹³⁷Cs activity concentrations in three fish species from the southern Baltic Sea: cod (Gadus morhua), herring (Clupea harengus) and flounder (Platichtys flesus), in the period 2000–2010. During the study period a marked decline in cesium activity concentration in fish muscle tissue was observed, which reflected changes in radionuclide activity concentration in seawater. No statistically significant temporal trends were determined in changes of concentration factors (CF_{fish/seawater}) calculated for the examined fish species. The analysis of ¹³⁷Cs activity as a function of ichthyological parameters revealed the lack of a relationship between radionuclide activity concentrations in herring muscle tissue and the fish age in an narrow age range (2–4 years). However, a reverse proportionality of total fish mass, as well as body length, against ¹³⁷Cs activity concentrations in muscles was well documented. The latter observation can be the direct result of the dilution effect related to the increase of fish body weight. ¹³⁷Cs activity concentration in muscle tissue of the five fish species forms a declining sequence: Gadus morhua, Platichthys flesus, Clupea harengus, Perca fluviatilis and Neogobius melanostomus.     

Traditional Farming Landscapes for Sustainable Living in Scandinavia and Japan: Global Revival Through the Satoyama Initiative

Traditional, pre-industrial farming was adapted to the natural environment—topography, geology, hydrology, climate, and biota. Traditional land use systems are still to be traced in Scandinavia as an “infield/outland landscape”, and in Japan as a “Satoyama landscape.” There are obvious similarities and differences in land use—the main difference being that pasturing of cattle and sheep has been less important in Japan. These land use systems can be traced back to early sedentary settlements 1500–2500 years ago. In both regions, traditional management almost ceased in the mid-twentieth century leading to afforestation and decreased biological diversity. Today, there is in Japan a growing movement for landscape restoration and promotion of a sustainable living countryside based on local agrarian and forestry production, local energy, tourism, etc. With this background, the so-called Satoyama Initiative has been organized and introduced as a global socio-ecological project with ecosystem services for human well-being.     

Metabolic signatures associated with environmental pollution by metals in Doñana National Park using P. clarkii as bioindicator

Bioindicators can reflect the effects of pollutants on their metabolism, being widely used to assess environmental stress. In this sense, the crab Procambarus clarkii has been previously proposed to monitor the contamination in Doñana National Park (southwest Spain) using conventional biomarkers. In this work, a metabolomic approach based on direct infusion mass spectrometry, which allows an easy and quick study of a large number of metabolites in a single run, was used for pollution assessment of this area, considering the biological response of this organism to contamination. In addition, metal accumulation in crab tissues was determined. Thus, the integrated analysis of metabolomic and metallomic data enabled the study of metabolic response of the organism against pollution. Several metabolites were discovered as potential biomarkers of pollution, such as decreased levels of carnosine, alanine, niacinamide, acetoacetate, pantothenic acid, ascorbate, glucose-6-phosphate, arginine, glucose, lactate, phospholipids, and tryglicerides, as well as elevated levels of acetyl carnitine, phosphocholine, choline, and uric acid. In this way, metal-induced toxicity could be related to metabolic impairments, principally oxidative stress, metabolic dysfunction, and dyslipidemia.     

Denitrification in alluvial wetlands in an urban landscape

Riparian wetlands have been shown to be effective "sinks" for nitrate N (NO3-), minimizing the downstream export of N to streams and coastal water bodies. However, the vast majority of riparian denitrification research has been in agricultural and forested watersheds, with relatively little work on riparian wetland function in urban watersheds. We investigated the variation and magnitude of denitrification in three constructed and two relict oxbow urban wetlands, and in two forested reference wetlands in the Baltimore metropolitan area. Denitrification rates in wetland sediments were measured with a 15N-enriched NO3- "push-pull" groundwater tracer method during the summer and winter of 2008. Mean denitrification rates did not differ among the wetland types and ranged from 147 +/- 29 microg N kg soil(-1) d(-1) in constructed stormwater wetlands to 100 +/- 11 microg N kg soil(-1) d(-1) in relict oxbows to 106 +/- 32 microg N kg soil(-1) d(-1) in forested reference wetlands. High denitrification rates were observed in both summer and winter, suggesting that these wetlands are sinks for NO3- year round. Comparison of denitrification rates with NO3- standing stocks in the wetland water column and stream NO3- loads indicated that mass removal of NO3- in urban wetland sediments by denitrification could be substantial. Our results suggest that urban wetlands have the potential to reduce NO3- in urban landscapes and should be considered as a means to manage N in urban watersheds.     

Juvenile hormone–dopamine systems for the promotion of flight activity in males of the large carpenter bee Xylocopa appendiculata

The reproductive roles of dopamine and dopamine regulation systems are known in social hymenopterans, but the knowledge on the regulation systems in solitary species is still needed. To test the possibility that juvenile hormone (JH) and brain dopamine interact to trigger territorial flight behavior in males of a solitary bee species, the effects on biogenic amines of JH analog treatments and behavioral assays with dopamine injections in males of the large carpenter bee Xylocopa appendiculata were quantified. Brain dopamine levels were significantly higher in methoprene-treated males than in control males 4 days after treatment, but were not significantly different after 7 days. Brain octopamine and serotonin levels did not differ between methoprene-treated and control males at 4 and 7 days after treatment. Injection of dopamine caused significantly higher locomotor activities and a shorter duration for flight initiation in experimental versus control males. These results suggest that brain dopamine can be regulated by JH and enhances flight activities in males. The JH–dopamine system in males of this solitary bee species is similar to that of males of the highly eusocial honeybee Apis mellifera.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Chitosan-Acrylic Acid Based Hydrogels and Investigation the Properties of Bilayered Design with Incorporated Alginate Beads

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - The paper presents the synthesis of hydrogels via free-radical polymerization, based on Chitosan (CS) grafted with Acrylic acid (AA), using a two-step...