Influence of a flooding event discharge on accretion in wetlands

Flooding events in wetlands transport sediment particles landwards and can increase accretion in some areas of the wetland or resuspend the sediment in other areas. In this study a flooding event with different water discharges was analyzed in a laboratory simulated wetland to determine the effect stem density has on particle trapping. The discharge that entered the simulated wetland was a particle laden barotropic current that initially produced a pulse that traveled through the wetland. After the first pulse, a baroclinic current, with a different timescale to the initial pulse, developed. Three stem densities, along with the ‘without plant case’, were considered. A semi-empirical model was formulated to explain the propagation of the water pulse. The model predicted the velocity of the pulse dampening in the presence of the simulated vegetation, by using the roughness parameter that had been found to increase with stem density. The baroclinic current propagated at a lower velocity than the pulse did, and its velocity decreased with stem density. As less sediment was found in the wetland with denser canopies, this indicates that the presence of a canopy acts as a barrier to sediment transportation. Furthermore, a greater amount of sediment was deposited in regions at the foot of the denser vegetated wetland zone and the sediment deposition also increased with the water discharge.     

Pollution,habitat loss,fishing, and climate change as critical threats to penguins

Cumulative human impacts across the world's oceans are considerable. We therefore examined a single model taxonomic group, the penguins (Spheniscidae), to explore how marine species and communities might be at risk of decline or extinction in the southern hemisphere. We sought to determine the most important threats to penguins and to suggest means to mitigate these threats. Our review has relevance to other taxonomic groups in the southern hemisphere and in northern latitudes, where human impacts are greater. Our review was based on an expert assessment and literature review of all 18 penguin species; 49 scientists contributed to the process. For each penguin species, we considered their range and distribution, population trends, and main anthropogenic threats over the past approximately 250 years. These threats were harvesting adults for oil, skin, and feathers and as bait for crab and rock lobster fisheries; harvesting of eggs; terrestrial habitat degradation; marine pollution; fisheries bycatch and resource competition; environmental variability and climate change; and toxic algal poisoning and disease. Habitat loss, pollution, and fishing, all factors humans can readily mitigate, remain the primary threats for penguin species. Their future resilience to further climate change impacts will almost certainly depend on addressing current threats to existing habitat degradation on land and at sea. We suggest protection of breeding habitat, linked to the designation of appropriately scaled marine reserves, including in the High Seas, will be critical for the future conservation of penguins. However, large‐scale conservation zones are not always practical or politically feasible and other ecosystem‐based management methods that include spatial zoning, bycatch mitigation, and robust harvest control must be developed to maintain marine biodiversity and ensure that ecosystem functioning is maintained across a variety of scales. Contaminación, Pérdida de Hábitat, Pesca y Cambio Climático como Amenazas Críticas para los Pingüinos     

Fungicides transport in runoff from vineyard plot and catchment: contribution of non-target areas

Surface runoff and erosion during the course of rainfall events are major processes of pesticides transport from agricultural land to aquatic ecosystem. These processes are generally evaluated either at the plot or the catchment scale. Here, we compared at both scales the transport and partitioning in runoff water of two widely used fungicides, i.e., kresoxim-methyl (KM) and cyazofamid (CY). The objective was to evaluate the relationship between fungicides runoff from the plot and from the vineyard catchment. The results show that seasonal exports for KM and CY at the catchment were larger than those obtained at the plot. This underlines that non-target areas within the catchment largely contribute to the overall load of runoff-associated fungicides. Estimations show that 85 and 62 % of the loads observed for KM and CY at the catchment outlet cannot be explained by the vineyard plots. However, the partitioning of KM and CY between three fractions, i.e., the suspended solids (>0.7 μm) and two dissolved fractions (i.e., between 0.22 and 0.7 µm and <0.22 µm) in runoff water was similar at both scales. KM was predominantly detected below 0.22 μm, whereas CY was mainly detected in the fraction between 0.22 and 0.7 μm. Although KM and CY have similar physicochemical properties and are expected to behave similarly, our results show that their partitioning between two fractions of the dissolved phase differs largely. It is concluded that combined observations of pesticide runoff at both the catchment and the plot scales enable to evaluate the sources areas of pesticide off-site transport.     

ANALYSIS OF A KARSTIC AQUIFER MANAGEMENT PROBLEM BY FUZZY COMPOSITE PROGRAMMING1

ABSTRACT: A multiple objective framework for water resources problems possessing uncertain or imprecise elements is provided using distance-based concepts, fuzzy set theory, and fuzzy arithmetic. The case of regional management of a karstic aquifer in Hungary in which six conflicting objectives and six alternatives have been identified illustrates the methodology The objectives are classified into three groups of two objectives each, namely: (1) environmental (aesthetics, thermal springs temperature), (2) economic (mining, tourism), and (3) water quality (nitrates, phosphates). Both environmental objectives are formulated under fuzziness, and all objectives are scaled using the extension principle. Fuzzy compromise programming (FCP-I) is then applied; here, all six objectives are entered in a single l_p norm measuring the distance between each alternative and an ideal point. Next, fuzzy composite programming (FCP-II) is developed; here, a trade off is first made within each group of objectives, and then an upper level trade-off takes place between the three groups. The fuzzy numbers describing each alternative as a result from applying these techniques are ranked to yield an ordering of the alternatives. The results of applying FCP.I, FCP-II, and two different ordering techniques are compared. The FCP-II technique appears to provide a relatively simple approach at hierarchical or multilevel multiple objective decision-making, where uncertainty is described by fuzziness. (KEY TERMS: compromise programming; fuzzy arithmetic; fuzzy sets; hierarchical criteria; karstic aquifer; l_p, norms; mining; multiple objectives; thermal springs.)     

Huntington disease–unaffected fetus diagnosed from maternal plasma using QF-PCR

The discovery of fetal DNA in maternal plasma from early pregnancies has led to new opportunities for clinical application. In the last few years there have been numerous reported applications, mainly fetal gender and RhD genotyping. The prenatal diagnosis of some inherited genetic diseases such as Huntington disease is also very frequently required in the prenatal diagnosis routine. We have successfully diagnosed, with a non-invasive procedure, an unaffected HD fetus at the 13th week of gestation using fetal DNA from maternal plasma and the quantitative fluorescent PCR method, which is one of the most sensitive ways to detect fetal DNA in maternal plasma at such an early time of gestation. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development based climate change adaptation and mitigation—conceptual issues and lessons learned in studies in developing countries

This paper discusses the conceptual basis for linking development policies and climate change adaptation and mitigation and suggests an analytical approach that can be applied to studies in developing countries. The approach is centred on a broad set of policy evaluation criteria that merge traditional economic and sectoral goals and broader social issues related to health and income distribution. The approach is inspired by institutional economics and development paradigms that emphasise human wellbeing, resource access, empowerment, and the arrived freedoms. It is outlined how indicators of wellbeing can be used to assess policies that integrate development and climate change policy objectives, and this approach is discussed in comparison with other work that rather have been inspired by sustainable development aspects of manmade, natural, and social capital. The experiences and results from case studies of development and climate that have done a first attempt to use human wellbeing indicators are reported and discussed. The studies include work from India, China, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, and Senegal. A number of policy examples in the energy-, food-, and water sectors in these studies have shown up to demonstrate numerous linkages between development policies and climate change. Various analytical tools have been used in the studies including quantitative and qualitative scenario work as well as detailed micro-based analysis. The methodological conclusion that can be drawn from these studies, is that it is possible to apply wellbeing indicators to the more detailed policy assessment, but a link to more general national and regional scenario work is not yet established.