Changes in toxicity and Ah receptor agonist activity of suspended particulate matter during flood events at the rivers Neckar and Rhine — a mass balance approach using in vitro methods and chemical analysis

Background, aim, and scope  

As a consequence of flood events, runoff and remobilized sediments may cause an increase of ecotoxicologically relevant effects from contaminant reservoirs. Aquatic and terrestrial organisms as well as cattle and areas of settlement are exposed to dislocated contaminants during and after flood events. In this study, the impacts of two flood events triggered by intense rain at the rivers Neckar and Rhine (Southern Germany) were studied. Effects in correlation to flood flow were assessed at the river Neckar using samples collected at frequent intervals. River Rhine suspended particulate matter (SPM) was sampled over a longer period at normal flow and during a flood event. Three cell lines (H4L1.1c4, GPC.2D.Luc, RTL-W1) were used to compare Ah receptor agonist activity in different biotest systems. Multilayer fractionation was performed to identify causative compounds, focusing on persistent organic contaminants.     

云南某冶炼废渣堆渗滤液产生及其影响因素研究

渗滤液作为渣堆对周边水土的主要污染源,是污染场地原位风险管控的关键对象。云南某历史遗留冶炼废渣堆出现了渗滤液产生量少、空间分布位置有限的特殊现象。为研究该冶炼废渣堆渗滤液产生的控制条件和影响因素,基于详细勘察和野外现场调查试验结果,构建了渣体包气带水文地质概念模型,并结合HYDRUS软件分析了不同条件下渣体包气带的水分变化。结果表明：该厚层渣体包气带水分运移深度有限,正常降雨条件下该渣体产生渗滤液的临界深度为8.8 m;暴雨条件下熔炼渣相较于石膏渣和生活垃圾更易产生渗滤液;渣体包气带越厚、初始体积含水率越低、渣体物质组成及其结构越复杂、覆土层越厚的条件下,渣体越难产生渗滤液。该研究结果对我国类似冶炼废渣堆原位风险管控处置具有重要的参考价值。     

Digital technology and the conservation of nature

Digital technology is changing nature conservation in increasingly profound ways. We describe this impact and its significance through the concept of ‘digital conservation’, which we found to comprise five pivotal dimensions: data on nature, data on people, data integration and analysis, communication and experience, and participatory governance. Examining digital innovation in nature conservation and addressing how its development, implementation and diffusion may be steered, we warn against hypes, techno-fix thinking, good news narratives and unverified assumptions. We identify a need for rigorous evaluation, more comprehensive consideration of social exclusion, frameworks for regulation and increased multi-sector as well as multi-discipline awareness and cooperation. Along the way, digital technology may best be reconceptualised by conservationists from something that is either good or bad, to a dual-faced force in need of guidance.     

A synthesis of the arctic terrestrial and marine carbon cycles under pressure from a dwindling cryosphere

The current downturn of the arctic cryosphere, such as the strong loss of sea ice, melting of ice sheets and glaciers, and permafrost thaw, affects the marine and terrestrial carbon cycles in numerous interconnected ways. Nonetheless, processes in the ocean and on land have been too often considered in isolation while it has become increasingly clear that the two environments are strongly connected: Sea ice decline is one of the main causes of the rapid warming of the Arctic, and the flow of carbon from rivers into the Arctic Ocean affects marine processes and the air–sea exchange of CO₂. This review, therefore, provides an overview of the current state of knowledge of the arctic terrestrial and marine carbon cycle, connections in between, and how this complex system is affected by climate change and a declining cryosphere. Ultimately, better knowledge of biogeochemical processes combined with improved model representations of ocean–land interactions are essential to accurately predict the development of arctic ecosystems and associated climate feedbacks.     

Water quality status and trends in agriculture-dominated headwaters; a national monitoring network for assessing the effectiveness of national and European manure legislation in The Netherlands

Large nutrient losses to groundwater and surface waters are a major drawback of the highly productive agricultural sector in The Netherlands. The resulting high nutrient concentrations in water resources threaten their ecological, industrial, and recreational functions. To mitigate eutrophication problems, legislation on nutrient application in agriculture was enforced in 1986 in The Netherlands. The objective of this study was to evaluate this manure policy by assessing the water quality status and trends in agriculture-dominated headwaters. We used datasets from 5 agricultural test catchments and from 167 existing monitoring locations in agricultural headwaters. Trend analysis for these locations showed a fast reduction of nutrient concentrations after the enforcement of the manure legislation (median slopes of ?0.55 mg/l per decade for total nitrogen (N-tot) and ?0.020 mg/l per decade for total phosphorus (P-tot)). Still, up to 76 % of the selected locations currently do not comply with either the environmental quality standards (EQSs) for nitrogen (N-tot) or phosphorus (P-tot). This indicates that further improvement of agricultural water quality is needed. We observed that weather-related variations in nutrient concentrations strongly influence the compliance testing results, both for individual locations and for the aggregated results at the national scale. Another important finding is that testing compliance for nutrients based on summer average concentrations may underestimate the agricultural impact on ecosystem health. The focus on summer concentrations does not account for the environmental impact of high winter loads from agricultural headwaters towards downstream water bodies.     

Flexibility in water management planning as an intra-organisational issue

This paper is a case study of a team of Dutch water managers who saw that to achieve flexibility in planning they needed to engage with organisational control requirements. Rather than approaching flexibility normatively, as much planning literature does, this paper presents a case of flexibility empirically – as something actors negotiate through their strategising within planning practice, within their organisational context. The analysis shows the importance of approaching flexibility in planning as an intra-organisational issue, presents insights on the strategies actors employ in negotiating flexibility and control intra-organisationally, and points to the political nature of dynamics between flexibility and control.