Protected area downgrading,downsizing, and degazettement as a threat to iconic protected areas

Protected areas (PAs) are expected to conserve nature and provide ecosystem services in perpetuity, yet widespread protected area downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement (PADDD) may compromise these objectives. Even iconic protected areas are vulnerable to PADDD, although these PADDD events are often unrecognized. We identified 23 enacted and proposed PADDD events within World Natural Heritage Sites and examined the history, context, and consequences of PADDD events in 4 iconic PAs (Yosemite National Park, Arabian Oryx Sanctuary, Yasuní National Park, and Virunga National Park). Based on insights from published research and international workshops, these 4 cases revealed the diverse pressures brought on by competing interests to develop or exploit natural landscapes and the variety of mechanisms that enables PADDD. Knowledge gaps exist in understanding of the conditions through which development pressures translate to PADDD events and their impacts, partially due to a lack of comprehensive PADDD records. Future research priorities should include comprehensive regional and country-level profiles and analysis of risks, impacts, and contextual factors related to PADDD. Policy options to better govern PADDD include improving tracking and reporting of PADDD events, establishing transparent PADDD policy processes, coordinating among legal frameworks, and mitigating negative impacts of PADDD. To support PADDD research and policy reforms, enhanced human and financial capacities are needed to train local researchers and to host publicly accessible data. As the conservation community considers the achievements of Aichi Target 11 and moves toward new biodiversity targets beyond 2020, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers need to work together to better track, assess, and govern PADDD globally.     

Sensory cues associated with host detection in a marine parasitic isopod

Parasite population dynamics and the evolution of life history characteristics are strongly associated with the process of host infection. Parasites with free-living life stages have a narrow window to infect a host and have evolved a number of mechanisms to detect and locate a host. Cymothoa excisa is a parasitic isopod that is commonly found on the Atlantic croaker, Micropogonias undulatus, in the Gulf of Mexico. Here, we determined the infection window that constrains host-searching behavior in C. excisa and tested the behavioral response of the free-swimming larvae (mancae) to visual and chemical cues. Mancae were found to have an infection window of 7 days. Mancae were responsive to both visual and chemical cues. Our findings are the first to show that cymothoid isopods use visual and chemical cues to locate a host and that individuals display a host-locating strategy that maximizes host encounter rate, while reducing energy expenditure.     

Correction of Ozone-Altitude Data and Stratospheric-Source Implications

Earlier publications^1-4 have presented ozone-altitude data obtained from aircraft flights with different types of monitors. However, altitude-pressure corrections were either not made (or no mention of the necessity for correction was indicated) or sample pressure was maintained near one atmosphere with a pump between the sample probe and the monitor.     

Resolving local-scale emissions for modeling air quality near roadways

A large body of literature published in recent years suggests increased health risk due to exposure of people to air pollution in close proximity to roadways. As a result, there is a need to more accurately represent the spatial concentration gradients near roadways to develop mitigation strategies. In this paper, we present a practical, readily adaptable methodology, using a "bottom-up" approach to develop a detailed highway vehicle emission inventory that includes emissions for individual road links. This methodology also takes advantage of geographic information system (GIS) software to improve the spatial accuracy of the activity information obtained from a Travel Demand Model. In addition, we present an air quality modeling application of this methodology in New Haven, CT. This application uses a hybrid modeling approach, in which a regional grid-based model is used to characterize average local ambient concentrations, and a Gaussian dispersion model is used to provide texture within the modeling domain because of spatial gradients associated with highway vehicle emissions and other local sources. Modeling results show substantial heterogeneity of pollutant concentrations within the modeling domain and strong spatial gradients associated with roadways, particularly for pollutants dominated by direct emissions.     

Geochemical Associations of Sellafield-Derived Radionuclides in Saltmarsh Deposits of the Solway Firth

This paper describes a study of the geochemical associations of Sellafield waste radionuclides in saltmarsh sediments from south-west s]Scotland. The contaminant radionuclides are transported to this environment in association with particulate material and ¹³⁷Cs was found to be predominantly (80-98%) non-extractable. In the case of ^239+240Pu there was a redistribution from the oxalate extractable oxide fraction to the pyrophosphate extractable organic fraction as a consequence of on-shore transfer of contaminated sediment. The relatively aggressive nature of the chemical extractants required to remove the radionuclides from the sediments suggests that they were in a form which was unlikely to result in their being released into the aquatic environment or taken up by plants. Plutonium had a greater potential mobility or bioavailability than Cs. Values of K^D for the desorption of ¹³⁷Cs from the sediment by freshwater, groundwater and seawater were all approximately 10⁵ L kg^-1, confirming its immobility in this environment. The desorption K_D values for stable ¹³³Cs were all approximately 10⁶ L kg^-1, so the stable Cs did not have a significant influence on the radiocaesium in this sediment.     

Criteria and Air-Toxic Emissions from In-Use Automobiles in the National Low-Emission Vehicle Program

Abstract

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) implemented a program to identify tailpipe emissions of criteria and air-toxic contaminants from in-use, light-duty low-emission vehicles (LEVs). EPA recruited 25 LEVs in 2002 and measured emissions on a chassis dynamometer using the cold-start urban dynamometer driving schedule of the Federal Test Procedure. The emissions measured included regulated pollutants, particulate matter, speciated hydrocarbon compounds, and carbonyl compounds. The results provided a comparison of emissions from real-world LEVs with emission standards for criteria and air-toxic compounds. Emission measurements indicated that a portion of the in-use fleet tested exceeded standards for the criteria gases. Real-time regulated and speciated hydrocarbon measurements demonstrated that the majority of emissions occurred during the initial phases of the cold-start portion of the urban dynamometer driving schedule. Overall, the study provided updated emission factor data for real-world, in-use operation of LEVs for improved emissions modeling and mobile source inventory development.     

Studying organic matter molecular assemblage within a whole organic soil by nuclear magnetic resonance

This work shows the applicability of two-dimensional (2D) (1)H-(13)C heteronuclear correlation (HETCOR) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to the characterization of whole soils. A combination of different mixing times and cross polarization (CP) methods, namely Lee-Goldberg (LG)-CP and Ramp-CP are shown to afford, for the first time, intra- and inter- molecular connectivities, allowing for molecular assemblage information to be obtained on a whole soil. Our results show that, for the brackish marsh histosol under study, two isolated domains could be detected. The first domain consists of O-alkyl and aromatic moieties (lignocellulose material), while the second domain is comprised of alkyl type moieties (cuticular material). The role of these domains is discussed in terms of hydrophobic organic compound sorption within soil organic matter (SOM), including the possible effects of wetting and drying cycles.     

Impact of growth conditions on transport behavior of E. coli

The aim of this investigation is to determine the effect that growth solution has on the cell surface properties and transport behavior of eleven Escherichia coli isolates through saturated porous media. The two growth solutions used were a standard laboratory growth medium (LB) and a dairy manure extract solution. In general, cells grown in manure extract were more hydrophobic, had a more negative zeta potential, had lower amounts of surface macromolecules, and had lower attachment efficiencies than isolates grown in LB. An inverse relationship between the natural log of zeta potential and the attachment efficiency of the isolates for the cells grown in LB media was the only statistically significant correlation observed between transport behavior and cell characteristics of the isolates. This study shows the need to consider growth conditions when studying bacteria to better mimic the environmental stresses that bacteria undergo in the natural environment. This approach could lead to a better understanding of the behavior of manure-derived bacteria in aquatic and terrestrial environments.