Air Quality Monitoring and Management in Lisbon

The environmental decision-making process is related with the interpretation of data both in spatial and temporal dimensions. This paper presents a methodology that integrates the time-space framework of air quality data to infer the temporal pattern and spatial variability that could be interpreted for environmental decision purposes. Variograms that accommodate time and space lags were used for the analysis and proved to be effective. Its environmental meaning, in particular its relationship with traffic patterns is discussed. Data from air quality monitoring stations located in the central part of Lisbon were used in this study. It describes a strategy to identify the type of vehicles responsible for certain pollutant levels, particularly for nitrogen oxides, and discusses the application of new air quality European legislation to the city of Lisbon, Portugal.     

Efficiency of a protected-area network in a Mediterranean region: a multispecies assessment with raptors

Three different systems of designating protected areas in a Mediterranean region in southeastern Spain were studied, referring to their effectiveness and efficiency for protecting both the breeding territories and the suitable habitat of a set of ten raptor species. Taking into consideration the varying degrees of endangerment of these species, a map of multispecies conservation values was also drawn up and superimposed on the three protected-area systems studied. In order to compare the levels of protection afforded by the three systems, we considered two indices that measured their relative effectiveness and efficiency. The effectiveness estimated the proportion of territories or optimal habitat protected by the networks while efficiency implicitly considered the area of each system (percentage of breeding territories or optimal habitat protected per 1% of land protected). Overall, our results showed that the most efficient system was that formed by the set of regional parks and reserves (17 protected breeding territories per 100 km²), although, given its small total area, it was by far the least effective (only protecting the 21% of the breeding territories of all species and 17% of the area of high conservation value). The systems formed by the Special Protection Areas (designated under the EU “Birds Directive”) and by the Special Conservation Areas (designated under the EU “Habitats Directive”) notably increased the percentages of protected territories of all species (61%) and area of high conservation value (57%), but their efficiency was not as high as expected in most cases. The overall level of protection was high for all species except for the Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni), an endangered falcon that inhabits pseudo-steppe and traditional agricultural habitats, which are clearly underrepresented in the protected-area network of the study region.     

Analyzing the Social Factors That Influence Willingness to Pay for Invasive Alien Species Management Under Two Different Strategies: Eradication and Prevention

Biological invasions occur worldwide, and have been the object of ecological and socio-economic research for decades. However, the manner in which different stakeholder groups identify the problems associated with invasive species and confront invasive species management under different policies remains poorly understood. In this study, we conducted an econometric analysis of the social factors influencing willingness to pay for invasive alien species management under two different regimes: eradication and prevention in the Doñana Natural Protected Area (SW Spain). Controlling for the participation of local residents, tourists and conservationists, email and face-to-face questionnaires were conducted. Results indicated that respondents were more willing to pay for eradication than prevention; and public support for invasive alien species management was influenced by an individual’s knowledge and perception of invasive alien species, active interest in nature, and socio-demographic attributes. We concluded that invasive alien species management research should confront the challenges to engage stakeholders and accept any tradeoffs necessary to modify different conservation policies to ensure effective management is implemented. Finally, our willingness to pay estimates suggest the Department of Environment of Andalusian Government has suitable social support to meet the budgetary expenditures required for invasive alien species plans and adequate resources to justify an increase in the invasive alien species management budget.     

Monitoring nitrogen loading and retention in an urban stormwater detention pond

Stormwater detention ponds have become ubiquitous in urbanized areas and have been suggested as potential hotspots of N transformation within urban watersheds. As a result, there is a great deal of interest in their use as structural best management practices to reduce the excessive N export from these watersheds. We conducted continuous monitoring of the influent and effluent N loads of a stormwater detention pond located on the Princeton University campus in Princeton, New Jersey. Our monitoring was conducted during four 21-d periods representing the four seasons of the northeastern United States. Water quality samples were collected and analyzed for nitrate (NO3-) during all four monitoring periods. During two of these periods, loads of ammonium (NH4+), dissolved organic N, and particulate N (PN) were measured. Our results show that NO3- dominated the influent N load, particularly in dry weather inflows to the detention pond. However, PN, which is often neglected in stormwater quality monitoring, made up as much as 30% of the total load and an even greater fraction during storm events. The results of our monitoring suggest that seasonal variation may play an important role in N retention within the detention pond. Although retention of NO3-, the most dominant fraction of N in the influent stormwater, was observed during the summer sampling period, no significant NO3- retention was observed during the spring or the two cold-weather sampling periods.     

FIA-coupled spectrophotometric method for determination of Cr (VI) traces in natural waters: application of in-line dissolution of 1,5-diphenylcarbazide after heat treatment and activated alumina as adsorbent for preconcentration

This work proposes the quantification of Cr (VI) ions in natural waters in trace level, using activated alumina (Al₂O₃) as preconcentration support, controlled in-line dissolution of the solidified chromophore diphenylcarbazide after heat treatment and spectrophotometric detection. The manifold ensures high sensitivity of analytical response, good repeatability, and stability. In this work, optimization of experimental conditions of a flow injection system was chosen as the parameters for greater sensitivity and better selectivity. The selected optimized conditions were 0.30 mol L^?1 for H₂SO₄ concentration, system flow rate as 0.40 mL min^?1, sample injection volume of 192.50 μL, 2 min for preconcentration time, and 0.10 mol L^?1 for eluent concentration. The analytical curves obtained for real sample analysis show linear range from 0.192 to 0.961 μM, linear correlation coefficient R?=?0.9997 and LOD?=?0.024 μM. The preconcentration factor of about four times was obtained through the passage of 800 μL of a standard solution containing 0.961 μM of Cr (VI) through mini-column of preconcentration followed by elution at 192.5 μL of NH₄OH 0.1 mol L^?1 solution. The solid chromogenic reagent presented high durability (weeks in daily use with mass of 0.0993 g) and good reproducibility in analytical signal. The reactivation of the mini-column of alumina should be executed after ten injections of eluent, using 800 μL of HCl 0.02 mol L^?1 solution in flow through the same. Each cycle of injection and elution of the sample takes about 5 min on the proposed terms. Despite the length of each cycle still be high, low concentrations can be detected using a technique of relatively low cost. This is due in part, the association dissolution of the chromogenic reagent directly in the line and the preconcentration step. Another important factor is the economy of reagent chromogenic, low generation of reject contributing to better quality of the environment, and the high potential for applications to work in field.     

Physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling of perfluoroalkyl substances in the human body

Currently, there are limited data on the levels of perfluoroalkyl substances other than perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and perfluorooctanoic acid in the human body. Most of this information has been extracted from biological monitoring of plasma while the occurrence of perfluoroalkyl substances in other human tissues is rarely studied. The objective of the present study was to develop a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model to assess the concentration of perfluoroalkyl substances in human tissues, based on an existing model previously validated for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and perfluorooctanoic acid. Experimental data on concentrations of perfluoroalkyl substances in human tissues from individuals in Tarragona County (Catalonia, Spain) were used to estimate the values of some distribution and elimination parameters needed for the simulation. No significant correlations were found between these parameters and the chain lengths. The model was finally validated for five perfluoroalkyl substances.     

Effectiveness of Panama as an intercontinental land bridge for large mammals

Habitat fragmentation is a primary driver of wildlife loss, and establishment of biological corridors is a common strategy to mitigate this problem. A flagship example is the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC), which aims to connect protected forest areas between Mexico and Panama to allow dispersal and gene flow of forest organisms. Because forests across Central America have continued to degrade, the functioning of the MBC has been questioned, but reliable estimates of species occurrence were unavailable. Large mammals are suitable indicators of forest functioning, so we assessed their conservation status across the Isthmus of Panama, the narrowest section of the MBC. We used large-scale camera-trap surveys and hierarchical multispecies occupancy models in a Bayesian framework to estimate the occupancy of 9 medium to large mammals and developed an occupancy-weighted connectivity metric to evaluate species-specific functional connectivity. White-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), jaguar (Panthera onca), giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and tapir (Tapirus bairdii) had low expected occupancy along the MBC in Panama. Puma (Puma concolor), red brocket deer (Mazama temama), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), and collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), which are more adaptable, had higher occupancy, even in areas with low forest cover near infrastructure. However, the majority of species were subject to ≥1 gap that was larger than their known dispersal distances, suggesting poor connectivity along the MBC in Panama. Based on our results, forests in Darien, Donoso–Santa Fe, and La Amistad International Park are critical for survival of large terrestrial mammals in Panama and 2 areas need restoration.