Environmental management policy in a coastal tourism municipality: the case study of Cervia (Italy)

The sustainability concept applied to human activities implies the need to harmonise the protection of environment with a satisfactory economic and social development. This is particularly true for tourism development: a misuse of the natural resources can cause a degradation of the tourist appeal of the destination, bringing it finally to its economic decline. This problem is particularly important in coastal tourism destinations. The implementation of an environmental management system is a powerful way for progressing towards better environmental performances. In this paper, the main results obtained in applying the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme procedure to the municipality of Cervia, a well-known tourist destination located on the Adriatic coast of Italy are described. This research puts into evidence that the main environmental pressures in the summer season are related to the supply of potable water, the production of solid wastes and wastewater air pollution and noise, etc. However, if correctly planned and managed, tourism can also contribute to environmental protection, to the conservation of biodiversity and to a sustainable use of natural resources.     

Ultrastructural aspects of the symbiosis between two species of the genus Aphanocapsa (Cyanophyceae) and Ircinia variabilis (Demospongiae)

The association between two species of the genus Aphanocapsa (Cyanophyceae) and the sponge Ircinia variabilis has been studied by electron microscopy. A. feldmanni is localized in the mesohyl or inside the cells of the sponge, while the larger A. raspaigellae is located only in an extracellular position inside cavities of the mesohyl. Both algae differ from other symbiotic Cyanophyceae in having a normal cell wall. They are able to reproduce in symbiotic condition, but also undergo, in their various extracellular and intracellular positions, a massive process of disintegration. A large amount of algal material is dispersed in the sponge tissues, which is a confirmation, at the ultrastructural level, of trophic relationships in the symbiosis Aphanocapsa-Ircinia.     

The influence of lipid and lifestyle factors upon correlations between highly prevalent organochlorine compounds in patients with exocrine pancreatic cancer

We aimed to analyse the influence of cholesterol and triglycerides, and of tobacco, coffee and alcohol consumption upon correlations between serum concentrations of organochlorine compounds (OCs) in patients with exocrine pancreatic cancer (EPC). Incident cases of EPC diagnosed in eastern Spain were prospectively identified (N=144). OCs were analysed by high-resolution gas chromatography with electron-capture detection. A strong correlation was observed between hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and beta-hexachlorocyclohexane (beta-HCH) (Spearman's rho=0.758). beta-HCH showed rho>0.4 with p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDE, PCB138 and PCB153 (all p<0.001). Some correlations among compounds were slightly affected by tobacco, coffee or alcohol consumption. We observed a striking diversity of correlation patterns by strata of cholesterol and triglycerides. Most correlations were higher in the lowest category of triglycerides than in the lowest category of cholesterol. Most coefficients above 0.7 were seen in the lowest category of triglycerides (e.g., OC pairs p,p'-DDT and HCB, p,p'-DDT and beta-HCH, p,p'-DDE and beta-HCH, or HCB and beta-HCH). Correlations among OCs may be stronger when concentrations of triglycerides are low than when they are high. This is compatible with a dilution in the early phases of cancer and with a concentration effect as triglycerides become lower in the advanced phases of the disease.     

Particulate Organic Matter Composition in A Semi-Enclosed Marine System

Spatial and temporal changes in the biochemical composition of particulate organic matter in a semi-enclosed marine system (Stagnone di Marsala, Mediterranean Sea) were studied, on a monthly basis, from January to December 1994, in order to assess nutritional value of suspended particles for benthic suspension feeders. According to previous findings, the study site displayed a strong oligotrophy. Chlorophyll-a accounted for a very low fraction of the total suspended matter pool (0.1%), whereas at least 75% of POC was of detrital/heterotrophic origin. POC: PON ratio values indicate that bacterioplankton biomass accounted for a significant fraction of the total POC pool, displaying values comparable to those of the phytoplankton biomass (phytoplankton to bacterial biomass ratio was about (1). Temporal and spatial changes in the biochemical composition of particulate organic matter were rather limited and related to its sources, the main of which is represented by detrital particles released by the Posidonia oceanica (L.) beds. the comparison between our results and those encountered in other coastal lagoons indicates that the low abundance of suspension-feeding organisms observed in the study area is related to the “quality depression” of particles due to the dilution of high quality compounds (i.e., biopolymeric carbon) in a largely inorganic matrix. This result leads us to conclude that, to reach the same amount of high quality particulate food, a suspension feeder mollusc in the Marsala lagoon would need to filter a sea water volume around 3 times higher than in other Mediterranean coastal lagoons.     

Cultivating Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus quadricauda microalgae to degrade inorganic compounds and pesticides in water

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This work evaluates the possibility of cultivating Scenedesmus quadricauda and Chlorella vulgaris microalgae in wastewater from the hydroponic...     

Occurrence of currently used pesticides in ambient air of Centre Region (France)

Ambient air samples were collected, from 2006 to 2008 at three rural and two urban sites in Centre Region (France) and analyzed for 56 currently used pesticides (CUPs), of which 41 were detected. The four CUPs most frequently detected were the herbicides trifluralin, acetochlor and pendimethalin and the fungicide chlorothalonil, which were found with frequencies ranging between 52 and 78%, and with average concentrations of 1.93, 1.32, 1.84 and 12.15 ng m^?3, respectively. Among the detected pesticides, concentrations of eight fungicides (spiroxamine, fenpropimorph, cyprodinil, tolyfluanid, epoxiconazole, vinchlozolin, fluazinam, fludioxinil), two insecticides (propargite, ethoprophos), and one herbicide (oxyfluorfen) are, to our knowledge, reported for the first time in the literature.The majority of the CUPs showed a seasonal trend, with most of the detections and the highest concentrations occurring during the spring and early summer. The most important pesticides detected were related to arable crops and fruit orchards, the main cultures in this region, highlighting the fact that the main sources come from local applications. Minor differences were found in the profiles of pesticides within rural areas and between rural and urban areas.     

Let’s play transformations! Performative methods for sustainability

Coping with global environmental change demands new forms of civic engagement and interaction able to transform passive audiences attending to the drama of unsustainability into committed actors for sustainability. This entails linking diverse sources of scientific knowledge with personal experiences, emotion and ethical judgments. In this paper, we assess the potential as well as the limitations of innovative theatre-based participatory tools and methods aimed at supporting sustainability learning and agent transformation. To this aim, we first review a series of experiences using theatrical performance and introduce the notion of performative methods. Second, we assess to what extent these new approaches can be of relevance in environmental action research and sustainability science, practice and learning. Finally, we list a series of key research questions to further guide methodological innovation in this promising area of sustainability science and practice. Our findings show a growing and successful use of such methodologies worldwide, both in academia and in implementation-oriented approaches. An increasing number of topics and complexity is being embraced by these methods, offering a fertile ground for innovation in participatory sustainability science.     

Effect-Directed Analysis of Key Toxicants in European River Basins. A Review (9 pp)

Background, Aim and Scope Extensive monitoring programs on chemical contamination are run in many European river basins. With respect to the implementation of the European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive (WFD), these programs are increasingly accompanied by monitoring the ecological status of the river basins. Assuming an impact of chemical contamination on the ecological status, the assignment of effects in aquatic ecosystems to those stressors that cause the effects is a prerequisite for taking political or technical measures to achieve the goals of the WFD. Thus, one focus of present European research is on toxicant identification in European river basins in order to allow for a reduction of toxic pressure on aquatic ecosystems according to the WFD. Main Features: An overview is presented on studies that were performed to link chemical pollution in European river basins to measurable ecotoxic effects. This includes correlation-based approaches as well as investigations that apply effect-directed analysis (EDA) integrating toxicity testing, fractionation and non-target chemical analysis. Effect-based key toxicants that were identified in European surface waters are compiled and compared to EU priority pollutants. Further needs for research are identified. Results: Studies on the identification of effect-based key toxicants focused on mutagenicity, aryl hydrocarbon receptor-mediated effects, endocrine disruption, green algae, and invertebrates. The identified pollutants include priority pollutants and other well-known environmental pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, furans, and biphenyls, nonylphenol, some pesticides and tributyltin, but also other compounds that were neither considered as environmental pollutants before nor regulated such as substituted phenols, natural or synthetic estrogens and androgens, dinaphthofurans, 2-(2-naphthalenyl)benzothiophene, and N-phenyl-2-naphthylamine. Discussion: Individual studies at specific sites in a European river basin demonstrated the power of combined biological and chemical analytical approaches and, particularly, of effect-directed analysis. However, the available information on effect-based key toxicants is very limited with respect to the entirety of rivers possibly at risk due to chemical contamination and with respect to toxicological endpoints considered at a specific site. A relatively broad basis of information exists only for estrogenicity and aryl hydrocarbon, receptor-mediated effects. Conclusions: The development of tools and strategies for an identification of key toxicants on a broader scale are a challenging task for the next years. Since investigations dealing with toxicant identification are too labor and cost-intensive for monitoring purposes, they have to be focused on the key sites in a river basin. These should include hot spots of contamination, particularly if there is evidence that they might pose a risk for downstream areas, but may also involve accumulation zones in the lower reach of a river in order to get an integrated picture on the contamination of the basin. Perspectives: While EDA is almost exclusively based on measurable effects in in vitro and in vivo biotests to date, an increasing focus in the future should be on the integration of EDA into Ecological Risk Assessment and on the development of tools to confirm EDA-determined key toxicants as stressors in populations, communities and ecosystems. Considering these requirements and applied in a focused way, toxicant identification may significantly help to implement the Water Framework Directive by providing evidence on the main stressors and possible mitigation measures in order to improve the ecological status of a river ecosystem.     

Tipping Elements in the Arctic Marine Ecosystem

The Arctic marine ecosystem contains multiple elements that present alternative states. The most obvious of which is an Arctic Ocean largely covered by an ice sheet in summer versus one largely devoid of such cover. Ecosystems under pressure typically shift between such alternative states in an abrupt, rather than smooth manner, with the level of forcing required for shifting this status termed threshold or tipping point. Loss of Arctic ice due to anthropogenic climate change is accelerating, with the extent of Arctic sea ice displaying increased variance at present, a leading indicator of the proximity of a possible tipping point. Reduced ice extent is expected, in turn, to trigger a number of additional tipping elements, physical, chemical, and biological, in motion, with potentially large impacts on the Arctic marine ecosystem.