Organic contaminants in the Firth of Clyde following the cessation of sewage sludge dumping

To assess contaminant concentrations in the Firth of Clyde in relation to the former sewage sludge dump site at Garroch Head, and investigate any temporal changes, fish have been sampled annually since 1992 and sediment since 1999. In addition, a further four locations in the Clyde (Holy Loch, Hunterston, Skelmorlie and Irvine Bay) have been sampled for fish and sediment since 1999. Chlorobiphenyls (CBs) were measured in fish samples and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and CBs in sediment. Since sampling was initiated the concentration for the summation operatorICES7 CBs in fish liver has been consistently >500 microg kg(-1) lipid weight at Garroch Head and the other Clyde sites and lower at the reference sites (Pladda, Colonsay, Broad Bay). Although the lowest CB concentrations of the eleven year period in plaice liver from Garroch Head were found in 2002, CB concentrations were found not to have decreased significantly since sewage sludge dumping ceased in 1998. However, a change in CB profile was observed with fish liver collected between 1992 and 1998 from Garroch Head showing a lower proportion of the less chlorinated CBs compared to the 1999-2002 liver samples. Highest CB and PAH concentrations in sediment were found at Garroch Head and Holy Loch with concentrations at these sites being significantly higher than at all other sites.     

Environmental quality control and environmental games

Conclusion  In this paper we have considered a specific environmental game emphasizing both control-prevention efforts and the propensity to pollute by a firm which adopts a given pollution abatement technology. A random payoff game was constructed and solved under a risk neutral assumption and quadratic utilities for both the firm and the environmental controller. The game thus defined, provides a wide range of interpretations and potential approaches for selecting a control-inspection policies to prevent environmental risks. There are of course many facets to this problem, which could be considered and have not been considered in sufficient depth. For example, more complex control mechanisms and liabilities, the effects of insurance and risk sharing, the application of cooperative efforts and subvention of pollution abatement investments (through tax incentives and their like), etc. have not been considered [5,7]. These are topics for further research. The basic presumption of this paper is that it is very difficult to fully enforce pollution prevention by firms, as a result, some controls are needed to ensure that firms be controlled so that appropriate efforts are carried.     

Integrating disciplinary research into an interdisciplinary framework: A case study in sustainability research

The complexity of today’s research problems increasingly demands that scientists move beyond the confines of their own discipline. In this special issue, the basics of a transdisciplinary framework are established and problems analyzed in a specific discipline are successfully integrated in this transdisciplinary network. The intent has been to go beyond only statements about the importance of enabling early stage researchers to work across disciplinary boundaries, and to show that important discoveries are being made at the intersection of disciplines. Embedding various research projects in a more global framework can meet the demands of an interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary approach (especially for early stage researchers) and contribute significantly to sustainable research.     

A study on the orbit of air temperature movement

In this paper, we describe an air temperature movement by mapping its time series to the polar coordinates: the value of the time series is plotted on the radial coordinate and the time on the angular coordinate. In this way, both the yearly and daily air temperature movements from five different locations of China are used to demonstrate that, in an intuitionistic view, air temperature movement is neither random nor chaotic, but has its own orbit. We then propose an elliptic orbit model for the air temperature movement. Our proposed model provides quite good results when it is applied to the evaluation of yearly air temperature movements in eight locations in various parts of the world, and the evaluation of daily air temperature movements in five locations in Hunan Province of China on December 17, 2005. Results show that our approach provides a concise and helpful model for air temperature analysis.     

Assessing land use impacts on flood processes in complex terrain by using GIS and modeling approach

A distributed hydrologic modeling and GIS approach is applied for the assessment of land use impact in the Steinsel sub-basin, Alzette, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. The assessment focuses on the runoff contributions from different land use classes and the potential impact of land use changes on runoff generation. The results show that the direct runoff from urban areas is dominant for a flood event compared with runoff from other land use areas in this catchment, and tends to increase for small floods and for the dry season floods, whereas the interflow from forested, pasture and agricultural field areas contributes to the recession flow. Significant variations in flood volume, peak discharge, time to the peak, etc., are found from the model simulation based on the three hypothetical land use change scenarios.     

Application of a checklist for quality assistance in environmental modelling to an energy model

Large, complex energy models present considerable challenges to develop and test. Uncertainty assessments of such models provide only partial guidance on the quality of the results. We have developed a model quality assistance checklist to aid in this purpose. The model checklist provides diagnostic output in the form of a set of pitfalls for the model application. The checklist is applied here to an energy model for the problem of assessing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Use of the checklist suggests that results on this issue are contingent on a number of assumptions that are highly value-laden. When these assumptions are held fixed, the model is deemed capable of producing moderately robust results of relevance to climate policy over the longer term. Checklist responses also indicate that a number of details critical to policy choices or outcomes on this issue are not captured in the model, and model results should therefore be supplemented with alternative analyses.     

Utility of dynamics as indicators of stress in population models

The relationships between the dynamics of environmentally and chemically stressed populations and indicators of the effects of the stressor are explored in a model framework. The physiologically structured population, represented by a system of McKendrick–von Foerster hyperbolic partial differential equations, includes the dynamics of numerous individuals distinguished by ecotype. Chemical uptake of nonpolar narcotics is modeled by first order kinetics. Classical methodologies, frequency analysis and phase space reconstruction, are explored in a search for indicators of magnitude of stress. When these techniques proved generally unsuccessful for the objective of indicator selection in our model setting, summary statistics, as related to bifurcation diagrams, were constructed and appear more useful as indicators. It is concluded that physiological structures generally lead to more feasible measurable indicators of magnitude of stress than do specifics of population dynamics.     

Public participation in environmental monitoring: A means of attaining network capability

In the Puget Sound region of the United States a task force of community volunteers using bees monitored environmental pollution. This paper discusses advantages and limitations of public involvement in the assessment of regional environmental problems, particularly with respect to biological monitoring. This approach not only yielded extensive information about pollution levels but also was very cost effective.Work supported by Cooperative Agreement CR-810035-01-0 with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Research Laboratory, Corvallis, Oregon, U.S.A.     

Trisomy 7 in chorionic villi: Follow-up studies of pregnancy,normal child,and placental clonal anomalies

Cytogenetic study of chorionic villi sampled because of advanced maternal age revealed, after overnight culture, an apparently non-mosaic trisomy 7. Amniocentesis showed exclusively normal mitoses, and the pregnancy continued normally. One hundred mitoses from cord blood of the normal newborn revealed a non-mosaic 46,XX complement. No cells with a proven trisomy 7 were found in cultures from either of two biopsies of the morphologically normal placenta, but the peripheral biopsy showed in multiple cultures an abnormal clone: 47,XX, + 20,-2,-21, + t(2;21)(p13;q22). To our knowledge, this is the first case of non-mosaic trisomy 7 detected on CVS which has had follow-up studies of amniotic fluid, cord blood, and term placenta.     

A Simulation of Temporal and Spatial Variations in Carbon at Landscape Level: A Case Study for Lake Abitibi Model Forest in Ontario,Canada

Using a case study of the Lake Abitibi Model Forest (LAMF), this study aims to assess the temporal and spatial variability in carbon storage during 1990–2000, and to present a comprehensive estimation of the carbon budget for LAMF's ecosystems. As well, it provided the information needed by local forest managers to develop ecological and carbon-based indicators and monitor the sustainability of forest ecosystems. Temporal and spatial carbon dynamics were simulated at the landscape level using ecosystem model TRIPLEX1.0 and Geographical Information System (GIS). The simulated net primary productivity (NPP) and carbon storage in forest biomass and soil were compared with field data and results from other studies for Canada's boreal forests. The results show that simulated NPP ranged from 3.26 to 3.34 tC ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ in the 1990s and was consistent with the range measured during the Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Studies (BOREAS) in central Canada. Modeled NPP was also compared with the estimation from remote sensing data. The density of total above-and belowground biomass was 125.3, 111.8, and 106.5 tC ha⁻¹ for black spruce, trembling aspen, and jack pine in the LAMF ecosystem, respectively. The total carbon density of forested land was estimated at 154.4 tC ha⁻¹ with the proportion of 4:6 for total biomass and soil. The analysis of net carbon balance of ecosystem suggested that the LAMF forest ecosystem was acting as a carbon sink with an allowable harvest in the 1990s.