Evolution of the anthropogenic impact in the Augusta Harbor (Eastern Sicily,Italy) in the last decades: benthic foraminifera as indicators of environmental status

The study of benthic foraminifera in sediment cores provides the opportunity to recognize environmental changes, including those due to the anthropogenic impact. The integration of these data with chemical-physical parameters provides a comprehensive quality assessment. This research was applied to a sediment core collected in the Augusta bay, where a very large commercial and military harbor and one of the largest petrochemical poles in Europe are present. Inside the petrochemical area also operated, from 1958 to 2003, a chlor-alkali plant with mercury cell technology which caused anthropic contamination of surrounding land and marine areas. The sediment core was collected in front of this plant and characterized for grain size and pollutants directly associated to chlor-alkali activity, such as mercury (Hg), barium (Ba), polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Composition of foraminiferal assemblages and faunal parameters such as specific diversity, faunal density, abundance of abnormal specimens, and foraminiferal size were investigated as potential indicators of environmental status. Statistical analysis indicated a main common origin for Hg, Ba, and PCBs and the influence of pollutants on species distribution and faunal diversity and density. Exceptionally high Hg concentrations (63–680 mg/kg d.w.) were recorded in the whole core, where the geochronological study attributed the most contaminated levels to the period of maximum activity of the chlor-alkali plant, while a decrease of contamination was recorded after the stop of the activity. Distinct foraminiferal assemblages identified different ecozones along the core, which suggested decreasing anthropogenic impact from the bottom to the top.     

Using OpenMI and a Model MAP to Integrate WaterML2 and NetCDF Data Sources into Flood Modeling of Genoa,Italy

Extreme hydrometeorological events such as flash floods have caused considerable loss of life and damage to infrastructure over recent years. Flood events in the Mediterranean region between 1990 and 2006 caused over 4,500 fatalities and cost over €29 billion in damage, with Italy one of the worst affected countries. The Distributed Computing Infrastructure for Hydro‐Meteorology (DRIHM) project is a European initiative aiming at providing an open, fully integrated eScience environment for predicting, managing, and mitigating the risks related to such extreme weather phenomena. Incorporating both modeled and observational data sources, it enables seamless access to a set of computing resources with the objective of providing a collection of services for performing experiments with numerical models in meteorology, hydrology, and hydraulics. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how this flexible modeling architecture has been constructed using a set of standards including the NetCDF and WaterML2 file formats, in‐memory coupling with OpenMI, controlled vocabularies such as CF Standard Names, ISO19139 metadata, and a Model MAP (Metadata, Adaptors, Portability) gateway concept for preparing numerical models for standardized use. Hydraulic results, including the impact to buildings and hazards to people, are given for the use cases of the severe and fatal flash floods, which occurred in Genoa, Italy in November 2011 and October 2014.     

Monitoring of the Endangered Pinna nobilis Linné, 1758 in the Mar Grande of Taranto (Ionian Sea, Italy)

Two methods were used to calculate the meteorologically adjusted ground level ozone trends in southern Taiwan. The first method utilized is a robust linear regression method. The second approach uses a multilayer perceptron (MLP) artificial neural network (ANN) method. The observations obtained from 16 monitoring stations were analyzed and divided into six groups by hierarchical divisive clustering procedure. The daily maximum 1 and 8 h ozone concentrations for each group are then calculated. The meteorologically adjusted trends obtained by linear regression and MLP methods are smaller than the unadjusted trends for all groups and average time. It indicts that the meteorological conditions in Taiwan tend to increase ambient ozone concentrations in recent years.     

Identification and Genotyping of Human Sapoviruses Collected from Sewage Water in Naples and Palermo, Italy, in 2011

Human sapoviruses were identified in 15 (12.4 %) of 121 inlet sewage samples collected from wastewater treatment plants in Naples and Palermo, Italy, in 2011. All strains, except one GI.1, were genotyped as GI.2 by sequencing a capsid gene fragment. This is the first detection of sapovirus in wastewaters in Italy.     

Littoral diatoms as indicators of recent water and sediment contamination by metals in lakes

We studied the response of benthic diatoms to recent metal contamination in littoral cores collected at 25 sites in 11 lakes situated at different distances from a smelter in the Rouyn-Noranda mining region (Quebec). Diatom response was described in terms of density, diversity, and taxonomic composition of the entire assemblages and as abundance of individual indicator taxa. Metal concentrations were measured in sediment and in the overlying water (as total dissolved and as free-ions). Sediment metal contamination was significantly higher in lakes located <10 km from the smelters than in lakes farther away. Such difference was not significant when metal concentrations in the overlying water were considered. Metal contamination did not affect diatom density, which indeed was highest in the most contaminated lake. Diversity (either measured as number of taxa or as Shannon and evenness indices) was instead significantly higher in lakes close to the smelter than elsewhere. Redundancy analysis indicated that diatom composition changed along a gradient in alkalinity (CO?) and one in sediment metal contamination (Cd, Hg, Cu). We identified three diatom taxa (Fragilaria construens var. venter, F. construens var. pumila, and Brachysira vitrea) that increased in relative and absolute abundance with metal contamination. Benthic diatom responses at the community (density, diversity, assemblage composition) and population levels (abundance of selected benthic taxa) were stronger to the sediment metal contamination than to the contamination of overlying water. Comparisons with available literature indicated that, for monitoring recent sediment contamination, diatoms in littoral sediments are preferable to invertebrates that mostly respond to overlying water. Diatoms in littoral cores are therefore unique as tools for monitoring recent contamination of lake sediments.     

Kin discriminators in the eusocial sweat bee <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lasioglossum malachurum</Emphasis>: the reliability of cuticular and Dufour’s gland odours

The ability to discriminate degrees of relatedness may be expected to evolve if it allows unreciprocated altruism to be preferentially directed towards kin (Hamilton in J Theor Biol 7:1–16, 1964). We explored the possibility of kin recognition in the primitively eusocial halictid bee Lasioglossum malachurum by investigating the reliability of worker odour cues that can be perceived by workers to act as indicators of either nest membership or kinship. Cuticular and Dufour’s gland compounds varied significantly among colonies of L. malachurum, providing the potential for nestmate discrimination. A significant, though weak, negative correlation between chemical distance and genetic relatedness (r = −0.055, p < 0.001) suggests a genetic component to variation in cuticular bouquet, but odour cues were not informative enough to discriminate between different degrees of relatedness within nests. This pattern of variation was similar for Dufour’s gland bouquets. The presence of unrelated individuals within nests that are not chemically different from their nestmates suggests that the discrimination system of L. malachurum is prone to acceptance errors. Compounds produced by colony members are likely combined to generate a gestalt colony chemical signature such that all nestmates have a similar smell. The correlation between odour cues and nest membership was greater for perceived compounds than for non-perceived compounds, suggesting that variability in perceived compounds is a result of positive selection for nestmate recognition despite potentially stabilising selection to reduce variability in odour differences and thereby to reduce costs derived from excessive intracolony nepotistic behaviour.     

Sixteen-year air quality data analysis of a high environmental risk area in Southern Italy

The Brindisi area is characterized by the presence of industries with high environmental impact, located along its eastern border. Epidemiological studies have revealed several critical situations: two short-term (2003-2005) epidemiological studies have shown that PM(10) and NO(2) are adversely associated with daily hospital admissions: one of the two pointed to the associations with wind blowing from the southern, eastern and western sectors. This study aims to expand the time span of available air quality data in order to provide a more complete and extensive epidemiological study. Multi-year series (from 1992 to 2007) of SO(2), NO(2), and TSP concentration data are presented and analyzed. Data show a significant downward trend of SO(2) from 1992 to 2007, while for the TSP series, the downward trend is limited to the period 1992-1994. Marked seasonal trends are evident for all three pollutants, especially for NO(2) and TSP. The NO(2) series shows higher levels in winter. Inversely, the TSP series shows its maximum values during the summer months, associated with a moderate correlation with temperature and a poor correlation with other pollutants. Analysis of the series for wind sectors revealed the influence of the industrial site and of the harbor. The concentration series exhibit high concentration values and stronger correlations between them and with meteorology for wind blowing from the eastern sectors. Overall analysis supports the hypothesis of a different origin for TSP during the year and for different wind regimes and therefore possible size and chemical differences in TSP, which should be further investigated due to their health implications.     

TENORM employed as inert material for house building: a model for evaluating the radon activity enhancement

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Radon exhalation from soil and ores is among the most dangerous risks for the public health care. The impact becomes even more powerful when...