Impact of storm Xynthia in 2010 on coastal agricultural areas: the Saint Laurent de la Prée research farm’s experience

Storm Xynthia crossed France’s western coast between 28th February and 1st March 2010. It hit the Vendée and Charente-Maritime departments hardest, as storm surge flooded up to 23,000 ha of coastal agricultural areas (i.e. polders), causing severe damage to farming operations. However, farm-level damage in the aftermath of seawater flooding is an issue that has rarely been explored in the literature. Here we investigated the effects of storm Xynthia on agriculture at the farm scale. We focused on the case study of Saint Laurent de la Prée research farm, a mixed crop–livestock system that was severely hit. All damages were described and economic losses were quantified for the years 2010 and 2011. The results show numerous consequences of the storm in terms of crop and fodder production losses, but also farm infrastructure repairs, crop restoration and animal health problems. Economic damage costs were high, reaching €71,720 in 2010 (€500/ha flooded) and €56,195 (€390/ha) in 2011 for the case study farm. The discussion highlights the farm-level impacts of seawater flooding and the crucial factors that can explain the damage caused to agriculture by storm events in coastal areas. The results are also discussed in the wider context of global warming which is expected to cause sea level rise and more frequent storm events in the future. The vulnerability of coastal agricultural areas to storms thus exposes broader issues of coastal flooding risk management and specifically the allied protection–remediation–adaptation measures. The conclusions underline the need for future research to address prospective scenarios and subsequent adaptive strategies.     

Treatment of organic pollutants by homogeneous and heterogeneous Fenton reaction processes

Nowadays, the water ecosystem is being polluted due to the rapid industrialization and massive use of antibiotics, fertilizers, cosmetics, paints, and other chemicals. Chemical oxidation is one of the most applied processes to degrade contaminants in water. However, chemicals are often unable to completely mineralize the pollutants. Enhanced pollutant degradation can be achieved by Fenton reaction and related processes. As a consequence, Fenton reactions have received great attention in the treatment of domestic and industrial wastewater effluents. Currently, homogeneous and heterogeneous Fenton processes are being investigated intensively and optimized for applications, either alone or in a combination of other processes. This review presents fundamental chemistry involved in various kinds of homogeneous Fenton reactions, which include classical Fenton, electro-Fenton, photo-Fenton, electro-Fenton, sono-electro-Fenton, and solar photoelectron-Fenton. In the homogeneous Fenton reaction process, the molar ratio of iron(II) and hydrogen peroxide, and the pH usually determine the effectiveness of removing target pollutants and subsequently their mineralization, monitored by a decrease in levels of total organic carbon or chemical oxygen demand. We present catalysts used in heterogeneous Fenton or Fenton-like reactions, such as H₂O₂–Fe³⁺(solid)/nano-zero-valent iron/immobilized iron and electro-Fenton-pyrite. Surface properties of heterogeneous catalysts generally control the efficiency to degrade pollutants. Examples of Fenton reactions are demonstrated to degrade and mineralize a wide range of water pollutants in real industrial wastewaters, such as dyes and phenols. Removal of various antibiotics by homogeneous and heterogeneous Fenton reactions is exemplified.     

Metacommunity dynamics over 16 years in a pyrogenic shrubland

Metacommunity theory allows predictions about the dynamics of potentially interacting species' assemblages that are linked by dispersal, but strong empirical tests of the theory are rare. We analyzed the metacommunity dynamics of Florida rosemary scrub, a patchily distributed pyrogenic community, to test predictions about turnover rates, community nestedness, and responses to patch size, arrangement, and quality. We collected occurrence data for 45 plant species from 88 rosemary scrub patches in 1989 and 2005 and used growth form, mechanism of regeneration after fire, and degree of habitat specialization to categorize species by life history. We tested whether patch size, fire history, and structural connectivity (a measure of proximity and size of surrounding patches) could be used to predict apparent extinctions and colonizations. In addition, we tested the accuracy of incidence-function models built with the patch survey data from 1989. After fire local extinction rates were higher for herbs than woody plants, higher for species that regenerated only from seed than species able to resprout, and higher for generalist than specialist species. Fewer rosemary specialists and a higher proportion of habitat generalists were extirpated on recently burned patches than on patches not burned between 1989 and 2005. Nestedness was highest for specialists among all life-history groups. Estimated model parameters from 1989 predicted the observed (1989-2005) extinction rates and the number of patches with persistent populations of individual species. These results indicate that species with different life-history strategies within the same metacommunity can have substantially different responses to patch configuration and quality. Real metacommunities may not conform to certain assumptions of simple models, but incidence-function models that consider only patch size, configuration, and quality can have significant predictive accuracy.     

Space industrialization

Environmental Chemistry Letters -     

Synthesis and application of titanium dioxide photocatalysis for energy,decontamination and viral disinfection: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Global pollution is calling for advanced methods to remove contaminants from water and wastewater, such as TiO2-assisted photocatalysis.  The...     

Interfacial solar steam generation by wood-based devices to produce drinking water: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Freshwater supply is declining in the context of climate change, pollution, and soil salinization, calling for sustainable methods to produce drinking water. For...     

Synthesis and applications of carbon quantum dots derived from biomass waste: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - In the context of the circular economy and decreasing earth resources, waste should be converted into value-added materials such as carbon quantum dots, which are...     

Metal distribution and stability in constructed wetland sediment

The A-01 wetland treatment system (WTS) is a surface flow wetland planted with giant bulrush [Schoenoplectus californicus (C.A. Mey.) Palla] that is designed to remove Cu and other metals from the A-01 National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) effluent at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, SC. Copper, Zn, and Pb concentrations in water were usually reduced 60 to 80% by passage through the treatment system. The Cu concentrations in the wetland sediments increased from about 4 to 205 and 796 mg kg(-1), respectively, in the organic and floc sediment layers in cell 4A over a 5-yr period. Metal concentrations were higher in the two top layers of sediment (i.e., the floc and organic layers) than in the deeper inorganic layers. Sequential extraction was used to evaluate remobilization and retention of Cu, Pb, Zn, Mn, and Fe in the wetland sediment. Metal remobilization was determined by the potentially mobile fraction (PMF) and metal retention by the recalcitrant factor (RF). The PMF values were high in the floc layer but comparatively low in the organic and inorganic layers. High RF values for Cu, Zn, and Pb in the organic and inorganic layers indicated that these metals were strongly bound in the sediment. The RF values for Mn were lower than for the other elements especially in the floc layer, indicating low retention or binding capacity. Retention of contaminants was also evaluated by distribution coefficient (Kd) values. Distribution coefficient (Kd) values were lower for Cu and Zn than for Pb, indicating a smaller exchangeable fraction for Pb.     

Linking linear programming and spatial simulation models to predict landscape effects of forest management alternatives

Forest management planners require analytical tools to assess the effects of alternative strategies on the sometimes disparate benefits from forests such as timber production and wildlife habitat. We assessed the spatial patterns of alternative management strategies by linking two models that were developed for different purposes. We used a linear programming model (Spectrum) to optimize timber harvest schedules, then a simulation model (HARVEST) to project those schedules in a spatially explicit way and produce maps from which the spatial pattern of habitat could be calculated. We demonstrated the power of this approach by evaluating alternative plans developed for a national forest plan revision in Wisconsin, USA. The amount of forest interior habitat was inversely related to the amount of timber cut, and increased under the alternatives compared to the current plan. The amount of edge habitat was positively related to the amount of timber cut, and increased under all alternatives. The amount of mature northern hardwood interior and edge habitat increased for all alternatives, but mature pine habitat area varied. Mature age classes of all forest types increased, and young classes decreased under all alternatives. The average size of patches (defined by age class) generally decreased. These results are consistent with the design goals of each of the alternatives, but reveal that the spatial differences among the alternatives are modest. These complementary models are valuable for quantifying and comparing the spatial effects of alternative management strategies.