Intensification of the ultrafiltration of real oil-contaminated (produced) water with pre-ozonation and/or with TiO2, TiO2/CNT nanomaterial-coated membrane surfaces

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In the present study, commercial PES, PVDF, PTFE ultrafilter membranes, and two different nanomaterial (TiO2 and TiO2/CNT composite)-covered PVDF...     

Community engagement in the Transition movement: views and practices in Portuguese initiatives

As the need to address climate change is ever more urgent, many have emphasised the importance of community-level responses. The Transition movement has advanced community-based action to increase resilience for over a decade and has expanded significantly. Thus, it is a critical setting for examining community engagement towards climate change in practice. Our study is based on 39 interviews with facilitators of Transition initiatives in Portugal, coupled with observational data, and is guided by two main research questions: how do Transition initiatives promote community engagement at the local level? What are the factors constraining or facilitating community engagement within Portuguese Transition initiatives? We identify several aspects of Transition’s constructions of community resilience and engagement that indicate ambivalence towards, or avoidance of, certain issues. They relate do agency, structure, power and inclusion, as well as to the modes of engagement and the communication practices of Transition initiatives. We argue that strategies for community engagement should be specific to social contexts rather than internationally uniform and be based on participatory approaches. Drawing on an extensive empirical analysis, the article contributes to theory building on the Transition movement beyond the Anglo-Saxon context and to the wider field of community-based environment initiatives.     

Assessment of National Parks affected by naturbanization processes in Southern Europe

This paper assesses land-use changes related to naturbanization processes on three biosphere reserves in Southern Europe. A comparative analysis has been done on the National Parks in Peneda-Gerês in North Portugal, Cévennes in South France and Sierra Nevada in South Spain, using Corine Land Cover data from 1990 until 2006. Results indicate that the process of land-use intensification is taking place in the frame of naturbanization dynamics that could jeopardize the role of Protected Areas. Focusing on the trends faced by National Parks and their surrounding territories, the analysis demonstrates, both in quantitative and spatial terms, the intensification processes of land-use changes and how it is important to know them for coping with increasing threats. The article concludes that in the current context of increasing stresses, a broader focus on nature protection, encompassing the wider countryside, is needed if the initiatives for biodiversity protection are to be effective.     

Effect of the pesticide lindane on the biomass of the microalgae Nannochloris oculata

This study assesses the growth of the microalgae Nannochloris oculata in the presence of lindane and the ability of N. oculata to remove lindane from media. Algal biomass increased with 0.1 and 0.5 mg L^?1 of lindane, and lindane concentrations in the media decreased. N. oculata removed 73% and 68.2% of lindane in the 0.1 and 0.5 mg L^?1 media concentrations, respectively. Algal biomass decreased to the level of the control at lindane concentrations greater than 2.5 mg L^?1, probably due to toxicity. N. oculata removed lindane from the media at concentrations lower than 1.0 mg L^?1. Thus, N. oculata may be useful for lindane bioremediation in contaminated aquatic systems.     

Resolving the Conflict Between Ecosystem Protection and Land Use in Protected Areas of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas,Mexico

Livelihoods of people living in many protected areas (PAs) around the world are in conflict with biodiversity conservation. In Mexico, the decrees of creation of biosphere reserves state that rural communities with the right to use buffer zones must avoid deforestation and their land uses must become sustainable, a task which is not easily accomplished. The objectives of this paper are: (a) to analyze the conflict between people’s livelihoods and ecosystem protection in the PAs of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas (SMC), paying special attention to the rates and causes of deforestation and (b) to review policy options to ensure forest and ecosystem conservation in these PAs, including the existing payments for environmental services system and improvements thereof as well as options for sustainable land management. We found that the three largest PAs in the SMC are still largely forested, and deforestation rates have decreased since 2000. Cases of forest conversion are located in specific zones and are related to agrarian and political conflicts as well as growing economic inequality and population numbers. These problems could cause an increase in forest loss in the near future. Payments for environmental services and access to carbon markets are identified as options to ensure forest permanence but still face problems. Challenges for the future are to integrate these incentive mechanisms with sustainable land management and a stronger involvement of land holders in conservation.     

Effects of mussel shell addition on the chemical and biological properties of a Cambisol

The use of a by-product of the fisheries industry (mussel shell) combined with cattle slurry was evaluated as soil amendment, with special attention to the biological component of soil. A wide number of properties related to soil quality were measured: microbial biomass, soil respiration, net N mineralization, dissolved organic carbon, dissolved organic nitrogen, dissolved inorganic nitrogen, dehydrogenase, β-glucosidase, urease and phosphomonoesterase activities. The amendments showed an enhancement of soil biological activity and a decrease of aluminium held in the cation exchange complex. No adverse effects were observed on soil properties. Given that mussel shells are produced in coastal areas as a by-product and have to be managed as a waste and the fertility constraints in the local soils due to their low pH, our research suggest that there is an opportunity for disposing a residue into the soil and improving soil fertility.     

Fate of β-blockers in aquifer material under nitrate reducing conditions: Batch experiments

The fate of the three environmentally relevant β-blockers atenolol, metoprolol and propranolol has been studied in batch experiments involving aquifer material and nitrate reducing conditions. Results from the about 90 d long tests indicate that abiotic processes, most likely sorption, jointly with biotransformation to atenololic acid were responsible for the 65% overall removal observed for atenolol. Zero order kinetics, typical of enzyme-limited reactions, controlled the transformation of this beta blocker to its corresponding carboxylic acid. The mass balance evidences that no mineralization of atenolol occurs in the biotic experiment and that atenololic acid is more stable than its parent compound under the studied conditions. This finding stresses the importance of considering atenololic acid as target compound in the environmental studies on the fate of atenolol. For metoprolol and propranolol the results from the experiment suggest a slower sorption to be the dominant removal process, which led to final decreases in concentrations of 25-30% and 40-45%, respectively. Overall, the removals observed in the experiments suggest that subsurface processes potentially constitute an alternative water treatment for the target beta-blockers, when compared to the removals reported for conventional wastewater treatment plants.     

A Quantitative Climate-Match Score for Risk-Assessment Screening of Reptile and Amphibian Introductions

Assessing climatic suitability provides a good preliminary estimate of the invasive potential of a species to inform risk assessment. We examined two approaches for bioclimatic modeling for 67 reptile and amphibian species introduced to California and Florida. First, we modeled the worldwide distribution of the biomes found in the introduced range to highlight similar areas worldwide from which invaders might arise. Second, we modeled potentially suitable environments for species based on climatic factors in their native ranges, using three sources of distribution data. Performance of the three datasets and both approaches were compared for each species. Climate match was positively correlated with species establishment success (maximum predicted suitability in the introduced range was more strongly correlated with establishment success than mean suitability). Data assembled from the Global Amphibian Assessment through NatureServe provided the most accurate models for amphibians, while ecoregion data compiled by the World Wide Fund for Nature yielded models which described reptile climatic suitability better than available point-locality data. We present three methods of assigning a climate-match score for use in risk assessment using both the mean and maximum climatic suitabilities. Managers may choose to use different methods depending on the stringency of the assessment and the available data, facilitating higher resolution and accuracy for herpetofaunal risk assessment. Climate-matching has inherent limitations and other factors pertaining to ecological interactions and life-history traits must also be considered for thorough risk assessment. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Spatial variation of DDT and its metabolites in fish and sediment from Cinca River, a tributary of Ebro River (Spain)

The Cinca River is a tributary of Ebro River in the NE of Spain which receives input from different activities. One of the most important is related to an industry where DDT is used as an intermediate in the production of dicofol. This study evaluated the DDT contamination along the Cinca River. Sampling sites were selected up- and downstream from this industry. Sediments and fishes (59 bleaks (Alburnus alburnus) and 23 barbels (Barbus graellsi)) were collected in 2002 and analyzed using a new and rapid selective pressurized liquid extraction (SPLE) method. DDT and its metabolites were found in sediments and fishes at levels ranging from 9 to 94microg kg(-1) dry weight (d.w.) and from not detected to 2098microg kg(-1) wet weight (w.w.), respectively. The highest values corresponded to samples collected just downstream the industry. Thirty kilometers downstream from the factory, levels were clearly lower, showing a weakening of the impact. p,p'-DDE isomer comprised up to 50% and 70% of total DDT measured in sediment and fish, respectively. When compared with values obtained in a previous study in 1999, a generalized drop of the levels in all matrixes (77-97%), was observed. No meaningful differences were found between the two fish species studied neither between the two tissues (muscle and liver) analyzed.