Mapping Adolescents’ Sense of Place and Perceptions of Change in an Urban–Rural Transition Area

Environmental Management - Landscapes are changing, with rural areas becoming increasingly urbanized. Children and adolescents are underrepresented in the sense-of-place literature. Our study aimed...     

A scoping review into the impact of animal imagery on pro-environmental outcomes

With the recognition that most global environmental problems are a result of human actions, there is an increasing interest in approaches which have the potential to influence human behaviour. Images have a powerful role in shaping persuasive messages, yet research on the impacts of visual representations of nature is a neglected area in biodiversity conservation. We systematically screened existing studies on the use of animal imagery in conservation, identifying 37 articles. Although there is clear evidence that images of animals can have positive effects on people’s attitudes to animals, overall there is currently a dearth of accessible and comparable published data demonstrating the efficacy of animal imagery. Most existing studies are place and context-specific, limiting the generalisable conclusions that can be drawn. Transdisciplinary research is needed to develop a robust understanding of the contextual and cultural factors that affect how animal images can be used effectively for conservation purposes.

     

Cadmium behavior in a karst environment hydrological cycle

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Karst regions are important water providers, supplying approximately 25% of the world population. These areas present higher vulnerability to...     

Development of an activated carbon impregnation process with iron oxide nanoparticles by green synthesis for diclofenac adsorption

The objective of this study was to impregnate the surface of palm coconut activated carbon with nanoparticles of iron compounds using Moringa oleifera leaf extracts and pomegranate leaf by a green synthesis method and to evaluate its adsorption capacity for sodium diclofenac. The adsorbent material was characterized by zeta potential, X-ray diffraction (XRD), N₂ adsorption/desorption (BET method), transmission electronic microscopy (TEM), and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) coupled to dispersive energy spectrometry X-ray (EDX) methods. To evaluate the adsorption capacity of sodium diclofenac, the influence of pH, kinetics, isotherms, and thermodynamic properties were analysed. The impregnated adsorbents showed efficiency in the adsorption of sodium diclofenac. The kinetic model that best fit the experimental data was the pseudo-second-order model, and the equilibrium model was the Langmuir model. As for the thermodynamic study, it was verified that the adsorption reaction for all adsorbents occurs in a spontaneous, favourable way, and it is endothermic by physisorption. Therefore, this process is promising because it is a clean and non-toxic method when compared with chemical methods for the synthesis of nanoparticles.

     

“Modern agriculture” transfers many pesticides to watercourses: a case study of a representative rural catchment of southern Brazil

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The total cultivated area in Brazil reached to 62 million ha in 2018, with the predominance of genetically modified soybean and corn (36 and 17...     

Effects of acidic attack on chemical,mineralogical, and morphological properties of geomaterials

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Exposure of geomaterials to acidic leachates may compromise their structure and functionality due to changes in physicochemical, mineralogical, and...     

Waterborne agrichemicals compromise the anti-predatory behavior of zebrafish

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Due to human activities, there is an increasing presence of agrochemicals residues in water bodies, which could be attributed to an increased use of...     

The Influence of Linear Elements on Plant Species Diversity of Mediterranean Rural Landscapes: Assessment of Different Indices and Statistical Approaches

This paper mainly aims to study the linear element influence on the estimation of vascular plant species diversity in five Mediterranean landscapes modeled as land cover patch mosaics. These landscapes have several core habitats and a different set of linear elements -habitat edges or ecotones, roads or railways, rivers, streams and hedgerows on farm land- whose plant composition were examined. Secondly, it aims to check plant diversity estimation in Mediterranean landscapes using parametric and non-parametric procedures, with two indices: Species richness and Shannon index.Land cover types and landscape linear elements were identified from aerial photographs. Their spatial information was processed using GIS techniques. Field plots were selected using a stratified sampling design according to relieve and tree density of each habitat type. A 50×20 m² multi-scale sampling plot was designed for the core habitats and across the main landscape linear elements. Richness and diversity of plant species were estimated by comparing the observed field data to ICE (Incidence-based Coverage Estimator) and ACE (Abundance-based Coverage Estimator) non-parametric estimators.The species density, percentage of unique species, and alpha diversity per plot were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in linear elements than in core habitats. ICE estimate of number of species was 32% higher than of ACE estimate, which did not differ significantly from the observed values. Accumulated species richness in core habitats together with linear elements, were significantly higher than those recorded only in the core habitats in all the landscapes. Conversely, Shannon diversity index did not show significant differences.     

The use of bioaccumulation, biomarkers and histopathology diseases in shape Procambarus clarkii to establish bioavailability of Cd and Zn after a mining spill

Individuals of the crayfish Procambarus clarkii (males and females) were exposed simultaneously to cadmium and zinc during 21 days. Exposure concentrations were those determined at the Guadiamar river after the Aznalcóllar mining spill (SW, Spain): 10 and 30 μg L⁻¹ of cadmium and 1000 and 3000 μg L⁻¹ of zinc. Three biomarkers (MT: metallothioneins like proteins, VTG: vitellogenin/vitellin like proteins and histopathology) together with heavy metal bioaccumulation were determined in soft tissues of male and female P. clarkii. At the concentrations tested, increasing cadmium exposure resulted in increasing cadmium bioaccumulation and increasing subletal effects (induction of MT, VTG and histopathological damage in tissues). Nevertheless, although increasing zinc exposure showed increasing VTG induction and histopathological damages, not a positive relationship was determined with MT induction. Concerning to responses determined in male and female crayfishes only differences were found between sexes at the highest cadmium exposure concentration related to bioaccumulation in hepatopancreas tissues. Biomarkers responses to heavy metal contamination in this crayfish, even VTG induction not before tested in heavy metal contamination assessment in crustaceans resulted potential tools for the monitoring of heavy metal environmental contamination.     

An Analysis of Secondary Pollutants in Buenos Aires City

Air pollutant concentrations from a monitoring campaign in Buenos Aires City, Argentina, are used to investigate the relationships between ambient levels of ozone (O₃), nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) as a function of NO _x (=NO + NO₂). This campaign undertaken by the electricity sector was aimed at elucidating the apportionment of thermal power plants to air quality deterioration. Concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) and sulphur dioxide (SO₂) were also registered. Photo stationary state (PSS) of the NO, NO₂, O₃ and peroxy radicals species has been analysed. The ‘oxidant’ level concept has been introduced, OX (=O₃ + NO₂), which varies with the level of NO _x . It is shown that this level is made up of NO _x -independent and NO _x -dependent contributions. The former is a regional contribution that equates the background O₃ level, whereas the latter is a local contribution that correlates with the level of primary pollution. Furthermore, the anticorrelation between NO₂ and O₃ levels, which is a characteristic of the atmospheric photo stationary cycle has been verified.The analysis of the concentration of the primary pollutants CO and NO strongly suggests that the vehicle traffic is the principal source of them. Levels of continuous measurements of SO₂ for Buenos Aires City are reported in this work as a complement of previously published results.