How Useful are the Concepts of Familiarity, Biological Integrity, and Ecosystem Health for Evaluating Damages by GM Crops?

In the discussion about consequences of the release of genetically modified (GM) crops, the meaning of the term “environmental damage” is difficult to pin down. We discuss some established concepts and criteria for understanding and evaluating such damages. Focusing on the concepts of familiarity, biological integrity, and ecosystem health, we argue that, for the most part, these concepts are highly ambiguous. While environmental damage is mostly understood as significant adverse effects on conservation resources, these concepts may not relate directly to effects on tangible natural resources but rather to parameters of land use or ecological processes (e.g., the concept of biological integrity). We stress the importance of disclosing the normative assumptions underlying damage concepts and procedures for the evaluation of damages by GM crops. A conceptualization of environmental damage should precede its operationalization. We recommend an unambiguous definition for damage developed earlier and recommend that evaluation criteria be based on this. However, a general damage definition cannot replace case-specific operationalization of damage, which remains an important future challenge.     

Assessing the suitability of Norway spruce wood as an environmental archive for sulphur

The aim of this study was to assess the suitability of Norway spruces (Picea abies L. Karst.) as an environmental archive for sulphur. For this purpose spruce trees were sampled in two distinct regions of Switzerland: the Alps and the Swiss Plateau, which differ significantly with respect to S immission. Wood samples were measured using two methods: LASER Ablation high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-HR-ICP-MS) and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) after acid digestion. Independently corroborated by previous measurements of sulphur in peat bogs, the rise and fall of sulphur dioxide pollution in Switzerland appears to be reflected in spruce wood sulphur content. While the wood sulphur content profile of trees sampled in the Alps is relatively flat, the profiles of trees located on the Swiss Plateau display a characteristic sulphur peak. This corresponds to air pollution data in the different regions and indicates that the trees reacted on the changing S supply and recorded a pollution signal in the wood.     

Bepflanzung einer Tankstelle mit Weiden

In Axelved, Denmark, an abandoned gas filling station serves as a test field for phytoremediation. Laboratory studies accompany the project. The toxicity of fresh and weathered gasoline and diesel to willow and poplar trees was studied by use of a tree transpiration toxicity test. The correlation between diesel content in soil and decrease in willow tree transpiration (Salix viminalis x schwerinii) was highly significant (r ²=0.81, n=19). the EC₅₀ (50% inhibition of transpiration) for the sum of hydrocarbons (HC) was determined to be 3910 mg/kg (95% confidence interval from 2900 to 5270 mg/kg). The EC₁₀ was 810 mg/kg (95% confidence interval 396 to 1660 mg/kg). The results were verified with artificially mixed diesel and gasolinecontaminated soils and two willow and one poplar species (S. viminalis, S. alba andPopulus nigra). The degradation of radiolabeledm-xylene was studied with and without willows. The compound was readily degraded. Willow trees accelerated the elimination, but mainly due to the volatilization ofm-xylene. Model studies provided the result that biodegradation in soil is the fastest elimination process at the site, but it is limited by the availability of electron acceptors. The pollutants are almost persistent in the groundwater, but in aerated soil, 10000 mg/kg hydrocarbons at 1 m depth are degraded within 13 years. The main effect of willows on the pollutants’ persistence is that willows transpire water, lower the groundwater level and aerate the soil, hereby speeding up biodegradation.     

Erprobung und Erfolgskontrolle eines Phytoremediations-verfahrens zur Sanierung Sprengstoff-kontaminierter Böden

Results of a field experiment (please refer to Warrelmann et al. 2000a) document TNT-degradation and regeneration after the establishment of a phytoremediation. Various approaches are included in a complex monitoring system, which are conducted in the field (nitroaromatics in soil, seepage water, and plants; soil fauna; soil fungi; decomposition) as well as in the lab (a battery of 6 biotests). The data document a high heterogeneity of the TNT-contamination, a rapid initial decrease and a mediocre displacement of nitroaromatics in plants and seepage water. The initial rapid transformation of TNT to aminodinitrotoluenes ceases significantly after 3 months. Results of the biotest battery allow a sophisticated assessment of soil toxicity; the results from the soil ecological field investigations make the long-term effects of TNT-contamination likely. In a third part of the series of articles, a synopsis and judgement of the project will be delivered.     

River habitat monitoring and assessment in Germany

Whereas assessing the biological and chemical quality of water is a standard environmental procedure in many countries, the use of habitat survey methods that assess the ecomorphological quality of rivers is relatively new. In Europe, the EC Water Framework Directive requires such assessment from all EU Member States. In Germany, the first river habitat assessments were introduced in the late 1990 s. Each federal state develops its own river habitat map using the 'On-site Survey' and/or the 'Overview Survey'. The assessment describes the difference of the actual condition from a previously defined reference condition. In practice, a defined 'potential for restoration', a more realistic condition, makes restoration activities much easier and more successful. In Germany, the first River Habitat Map 2001 was published in 2002. The survey covered 33,000 km of river length, which equates to 10% of all rivers. A wide range from 'Undisturbed' (class 1) to 'Totally Disturbed' (class 7) river units exists; 77% of them are 'Clearly Disturbed' (class 4) or in worse condition. These result reflects extensive anthropogenic impact on the environment in general, but also past intense technical river 'improvements' that focused on the protection of settlements and traffic routes from flooding, better shipping conditions, the use of water power, and drainage of floodplains for agriculture and urban development. For comparability of survey results between EU Member States, a harmonization of national survey methods is in progress. A crucial point here is the definition of the reference condition for each river (near-natural conditions), since it influences the survey results.     

Ozone and forests in South-Western Europe--What have we learned?

Monitoring of forest condition and ozone (O3) at 83 sites in France, Italy, Luxenbourg, Spain and Switzerland resulted in a number of findings in relation to the knowledge of O3 exposure (concentration and cumulative AOT40), feasibility of the assessment of stomatal O3 flux and relationships between O3 and crown defoliation of beech and visible symptoms on native vegetation. However, the project provides evidence of issues to be addressed within the current monitoring system (data quality, validation sites and response indicators) and indications as to how the monitoring of O3 risk in the context of an effect-oriented monitoring program can be improved.     

Ozone and forests in South-Western Europe

The paper provides basic information about background, objectives and structure of O3SWE (Ozone at the permanent monitoring plots in South-Western Europe), an international co-operative project aimed at evaluating O3 concentrations, cumulative exposure, uptake and effects on forest vegetation in four countries of South-Western Europe (France, Italy, Luxenbourg, Spain and Switzerland). The project covers a total of 83 permanent plots of the EU and UN/ECE intensive forest monitoring programme and span over three years of investigation (2000-2002). The O3SWE project aims to demonstrate how, using data collected routinely in an intensive forest monitoring network, O3 exposure, flux and effects can be assessed and exceedances critically evaluated.