Case Study Comparing Multiple Irrigated Land Datasets in Arizona and Colorado,USA

While there are currently a number of irrigated land datasets available for the western United States (U.S.), there is uncertainty regarding in how they relate to each other. To help understand the characteristics of available irrigated datasets, we compared (1) the Cropland Data Layer (CDL), (2) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Irrigated Agriculture Dataset (IAD), (3) Digitized Irrigated Land (DIL), and (4) Consumptive Use for Irrigation (CUI) data in Arizona and Colorado, U.S. These datasets were derived from multiple sources at various spatial resolutions and temporal scales. We found spatial and temporal trends among all of them. The datasets showed decreases in irrigated land area in Arizona during the 2000–2010 time period. The change ranges and ratios were similar in all Arizona datasets. Irrigated land in Colorado decreased in DIL and CUI but increased in IAD and CDL. The agreement within the same type of dataset during different time periods was from 60% to 80% (R² from 0.35 to 0.72) in Arizona and from 50% to 80% (R² from 0.23 to 0.68) in Colorado. DIL had the highest agreement (80%) in both states. The agreement among different datasets acquired at approximately the same time frame ranged from 51% to 63% (R² from 0.14 to 0.31) in Arizona and from 47% to 69% (R² from 0.32 to 0.40) in Colorado. The results from this study support a greater understanding of the multiresolution and multitemporal nature of these datasets for various applications.     

Nutritional geometry and macronutrient variation in the diets of gannets: the challenges in marine field studies

Foraging theory proposes that the nutritional driver of food choice and foraging in carnivores is energy gain. In contrast, recent laboratory experiments have shown that several species of carnivore select prey that provides a diet with a specific balance of macronutrients, rather than the highest energy content. It remains, however, to be determined how nutritionally variable the foods of predators in the wild are, and whether they feed selectively from available prey to balance their diet. Here, we used a geometric method named the right-angled mixture triangle (RMT) for examining nutritional variability in the prey and selected diets of a group of wild carnivores and marine top predators, the gannets (Morus spp.). A prey-level diet analysis was performed on Australasian gannets (M. serrator) from two New Zealand locations, and the macronutrient composition of their chosen prey species was measured. We use RMT to extend the comparison in the compositions of foods and diets from Australasian gannets from Australia as well as Northern gannets (M. bassanus) and Cape gannets (M. capensis). We found nutritional variability at multiple scales: intra- and interspecific variability in the pelagic fish and squid prey themselves; and intra- and interspecific variability in the diets consumed by geographically disparate populations of gannets. This nutritional variability potentially presents these predatory seabirds with both opportunity to select an optimal diet, and constraint if prevented from securing an optimal diet.     

Bayesian nonparametric inference for the overlap of daily animal activity patterns

The study of the interaction among species is an active area of research in Ecology. In particular, it is of interest to evaluate the overlap of their ecological niches. Temporal activity is one of the niche’s axes most commonly used to explore ecological segregation among animal species, and many contributions focus on the overlap of this variable. Once the information of the temporal activity is obtained in the wild, the data is treated as a random sample. There exist different methods to estimate the overlap. Specifically, in the case of two species, one possibility is to estimate the density of the temporal activity of each species and then evaluate the overlap between these density functions. This leads naturally to the analysis of circular data. Most of the procedures currently in use impose some rather restrictive assumptions on the probabilistic models used to describe the phenomena, and only provide approximate measures of the uncertainty involved in the process. In this article, we propose a Bayesian nonparametric approach which incorporates a well-defined noninformative prior. We take advantage of the data structure to define such a prior in terms of the predictive distribution. To the best of our knowledge, this is a novel approach. Our procedure is compared with a well-known method using simulated data, and applied to the analysis of real camera-trap data concerning two mammalian species from the El Triunfo biosphere reserve (Chiapas, Mexico).     

Recycling glass-polishing sludge and aluminum anodising sludge in polyurethane and cement composites: fire performance and mechanical properties

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - This article aims to study the mechanical strength and fire resistance of polyurethane/cement (PuCem) composites containing glass sludge and sludge...     

The BG Measurement System for Hazardous Substances (BGMG) and the Exposure Database of Hazardous Substances (MEGA)

German employers ‘ liability insurance associations or Berufsgenossenschaften (BGs)—institutions for statutoryaccident insurance—maintain a measurement system for hazardous substances, the so-called BGMG. The aimof the BGMG is to determine and document valid results of measurements of exposure primarily for preventionpurposes. The data are collected systematically, in parallel to the sampling in a company. Parameters which aresupposed to have a visible effect on exposure levels are documented. The MEGA database (documentation ofmeasurement data relating to workplace exposure to hazardous substances) holds 1,629 million measurementvalues, which have been compiled in since 1972. The database offers a host of selection possibilities forassessments depending on the evaluation strategy.     

Mechanical Evaluation of Solvent Casted Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) Films Derived from the Storage Polyesters Produced by Halomonas elongata DSM 2581T

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) is a natural and biodegradable polyester which represents an alternative to replace conventional plastics in the packaging...     

Seasonal and spatial occurrence and distribution of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in rural and urban areas of the North Chinese Plain

Passive air sampling (PAS) was employed to study the occurrence of gaseous and particle-bound PAHs in the North Chinese Plain. The averaged concentrations of gaseous and particle-bound PAHs were 485 ± 209 ng/m³ and 267 ± 161 ng/m³, respectively. The PAHs concentrations at urban sites were generally higher than those at rural ones with ratios <1.5 in spring, summer and fall, but differences between them were not significant for the wintertime and annually averaged concentrations. This urban-rural distribution pattern was related to the PAHs emission sources. PAHs spatial variation can be partially (49%) explained by emission with a simple linear regression method. Both the gaseous and particle-bound PAHs were highest in winter and lowest in summer, with winter/summer ratios of 1.8 and 8, respectively. Emission strength was the most important factor for the seasonality.