Coping with riverbank erosion hazard and displacement in bangladesh: survival strategies and adjustments

As a deltaic plain, Bangladesh annually experiences riverbank erosion hazard due to sudden and rapid channel shifting, particularly in the major floodplain areas of the country. Consequently, valuable cultivable land is lost; also village settlements, markets and towns are destroyed, displacing tens of thousands of people. This paper examines the magnitude of river channel migration and encroachment on land, and the nature of human adjustment systems in the Brahmaputra–Jamuna floodplain, by investigating aspects of the social and cultural dynamics of resettlement of the displaced people. Some policy measures are recommended to improve the ability of the people in the floodplain to cope with these hazards.     

Surveillance for adverse health effects following a chemical release in west virginia

On 11 August 1985, a large inadvertent release occurred from a chemical manufacturing plant in Institute, West Virginia. The emission was related to overheating of a storage tank that contained chemicals for the production of aldicarb, a cholinesterase inhibiting pesticide. As a result of this emission, 136 persons were treated in five local emergency rooms, 29 of whom were hospitalized for one or more days, mostly for observation. No fatalities resulted. Interviews with treated persons and non-treated community residents confirmed that the health effects were transient and compatible with exposure to irritating vapors rather than with exposure to methyl isocyanate (a chemical used in the process) or to aldicarb. Only 5% of the treated persons and 5% of the community residents surveyed were adequately warned of the emission by the plant siren. Because persons in the nearby community are potentially vulnerable to chemical injury, we recommend the development of an improved warning system, a formal evacuation procedure, and other measures to limit exposure of persons in this area in the event of a future release.     

Relationships between porewater nutrients and seagrasses in a subtropical carbonate environment

The feeding, diet and egg production of the copepod Acartia tonsa were dermined during ten experiments in Los Angeles Harbor, California, between November 1986 and October 1987. Copepods were incubated in situ, in quasi-natural food environments. Water temperatures ranged from 14.6 to 21.5°C. Particulate organic carbon and nitrogen (POC and PON) were high (534 to 3710 g Cl^-1, 51 to 459 Nl^-1) but dominated by small (<8 m diam) particles. Plankton (phytoplankton and microzooplankton) C-biomass composed about 10% of the total POC and was usually dominated by particles >8 m. Plankton biomass was always low. Daily ingestion rates ranged from 3 to 96% of body C; egg production ranged from 4 to 35% of body carbon. Mean ingestion and egg production rates during spring-summer were 1.9 and 1.5 times higher than average for the entire study, respectively. The average gross efficiency of egg production for the study was 80%; the spring-summer mean was 41%. Bivariate and multiple-regression analyses revealed that the ingestion rate was dependent upon both temperature and food availability, but that, below 21°C, egg production depended more upon temperature than upon food concentration. To detect dietary preferences, the composition of diet was compared with that of the food supply. Selective feeding was infrequent, but the diet was often dominated by dinoflagellates and ciliates. It would appear that within metabolic limits governed by temperature, the feeding response of A. tonsa is dependent upon food concentration, while egg production depends more on qualitative attributes of the food supply.     

Persistent “upwelling shadows” and their influence on zooplankton distributions

Physical (temperature and salinity) and biological (zooplankton) properties were sampled over a 15 mo period in 1988 and 1989 to monitor nearshore environmental variability in northern Monterey Bay, California, USA. During the upwelling seasons of 1988 and 1989, there were two distinct bodies of water along the sampling transect. The offshore water body was characterized by recently upwelled water (typically <12°C) while the nearshore body was significantly warmer (approaching 16°C). A sharp thermal gradient (=front) separated the two water bodies. This front persisted 6.5 km from shore throughout the upwelling season of 1988 and was present again in 1989. Zooplankton-assemblage analysis confirmed the presence of two distinct regions in northern Monterey Bay. We refer to this phenomenon as an upwelling shadow, which is the result of the advection of recently upwelled water bearing nutrients and larvae past coastal recesses which are equatorward of upwelling centers.     

Effects of high temperature on larval development and metamorphosis of Arachnoides placenta (Echinodermata: Echinoidea)

Adults of the sea urchin Arachnoides placenta (L.) were induced to spawn, and eggs were fertilized at 28°C in September 1989. After 5 min, eggs were transferred to 28, 31, 34, or 37°C and reared to metamorphosis. Embryos were observed at 20-min intervals during the first 2 h; larvae were observed daily. The cleavage was higher at higher temperatures. Embryos reared at 28°C were still at the 4th cleavage (16-cell stage) after 100 min, while those at 34°C had reached the 5th cleavage (32-cell stage). All embryos reared at 37°C died on the second day. Incidence of abnormality was 20 to 30% at 28 and 31°C, 48% at 34°C, and 77% at 37°C. The 8-arm stage was reached after 4 d at 28°C, 3 d at 31°C and 2 d at 34°C. Larvae displayed decreasing body length and arm length with increasing temperature. Larvae at 31°C have relatively long arms, as a result of a decrease in body length, not because of increased arm length. Incidence of metamorphosis was 43.9±1.7% (mean/plusmn;SD) at 28°C, 24.5±1.9% at 31°C, and 5.3% at 34°C. The size of metamorphosed juveniles was significantly larger at 28°C than at 31 and 34°C. Temperatures of 31°C negatively affect larvae and juveniles of the sand dollar.     

The effect of nitrogen deficiency,methionine and inhibitors of methionine metabolism on the DMSP contents of Tetraselmis subcordiformis (Stein)

The unicellular alga Tetraselmis (Platymonas) subcordiformis (Prasinophyceae) displayed a two-phase increase in DMSP (dimethylsulfoniopropionate) contents in response to nitrogen deficiency. In the first phase, DMSP pools increased by 75% within 24 h. The second increase in DMSP was observed after 14 d and was accompanied by cyst formation. Methionine metabolism was involved in DMSP accumulation. A 2.6-fold increase of the DMSP pool could be induced by supplementing a complete ASP (artifical seawater Provasoli) medium with 100 M L-methionine. Inhibition of methionine utilization by T. subcordiformis caused by the addition of S-adenosylhomocystein, a competitive inhibitor of S-adenosylmethionine-dependent transmethylases, resulted in a 24% increase of DMSP contents after 7 h. DMSP accumulation after hyperosmotic shock was significantly delayed when methionine liberation from proteins was inhibited by a set of protease inhibitors. A model for the mechanism of DMSP accumulation is presented on the basis of these data and additional information from the literature. It is proposed that methionine availability in T. subcordiformis determines the rate of DMSP synthesis.     

The effect of selenium on fluoride — clay interactions: Possible environmental health implications

Previous epidemiological studies have shown that dental fluorosis is endemic in the lowland, dry zone of Sri Lanka, which is considered to be an area in which excessive quantities of fluorides are present in the drinking water supplies. It has been found that kaolinitic clay forms a suitable raw material in the defluoridation of water.It is shown that there is a noticeable effect of selenium and media pH on the reactions involved in the interaction of fluoride with clay. In this study, 1 mM fluoride solutions containing SeO ₃ ^2– (selenite) concentrations of 0 mM, 0.1 mM, 0.5 mM and 1 mM were used in the reactions with kaolinitic clay. The effect of pH was monitored in the range 4 to 8. It was observed that fluoride adsorption was maximum at a pH of 5.6 without either SeO ₃ ^2– or SeO ₄ ^2– , the adsorption capacity being 15.2 mol F^– g^–1 clay. However, when the SeO ₃ ^2– concentration was increased up to 0.5 mM at this optimum pH, the adsorption capacity reduced to 12.8 mol F^– g^–1 clay. Monitoring of the effect of SeO ₄ ^2– and media pH on fluoride adsorption showed that when the SeO ₄ ^2– concentration increases from zero to 0.1 mM, there is a reduction of fluoride adsorption capacity. However, when the SeO ₄ ^2– concentration is further increased from 0.1 mM to 1.0 mM, there was an increase in the fluoride adsorption capacity, indicating a more consistent effect of SeO ₃ ^2– on fluoride-kaolinitic clay interaction than SeO ₄ ^2– .Fluoride concentrations in drinking water supplies have a marked effect on dental health and the geochemistry of selenium appears to play an important role in the geochemical mobility of fluoride ions.     

The aggregation pheromone ofIps duplicatus and its role in competitive interactions withI. typographus (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)

Summary Ips duplicatus withI. typographus co-inhabiting Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) would benefit from a pheromone blend distinct from that of the larger competitorI. typographus. GC-MS analysis showed thatI. duplicatus males feeding in the host produced ipsdienol (Id),cis-verbenol (cV),trans-verbenol (tV), myrtenol (Mt), andE-myrcenol (EM) and traces of 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol (MB).I. duplicatus produced Id in approximately racemic form (48.9-54.5% (+)-(S)-isomer). The amounts of Id and EM released over a 9 day period had a maximum of 250 and 5 ng/h/male, respectively, on day 2. Exposure ofI. duplicatus males to myrcene and -pinene resulted in the production of small amounts of Id, cV, tV, Mt, andtrans-pinocarveol, but not of EM. In laboratory bioassays with walking beetles, the pheromone component Id alone was weakly attractive while EM was inactive, but in binary combination with Id strongly synergized attraction. A combination of EM and Id at a release rate equivalent to 100–200 males was more attractive in the field than 70 unmated males in a spruce log. The addition of myrcene ( a suggested pheromone precursor of Id) to Id did not enhance trap caches, while addition of EM increased catches > 10-fold. Subtracting EM from a blend of Id, EM, cV and MB drastically reduced trap catches while subtraction of cV or MB or both had no significant effect. Addition of EM over a wide concentration range to the synthetic pheromone ofI. typographus did not reduce the attraction of females of this species in the laboratory. A two-species pheromone interaction field test releasingI. typographus pheromone components (MB + cV) at 10–1000 male equivalents (ME) andI. duplicatus pheromone (Id + EM) at 0, 10–1000 ME in all possible combinations showed both positive intraspecific dose-response effects and an interspecific inhibition. Higher release rates of EM appeared to inhibitI. typographus, especially males. In a tree colonization model, the response of the two competing species to their respective pheromones show a good separation during the mass-attack with a small initial cross-attraction. It remains to be shown whether either of the two pheromone systems have in fact evolved in the present sympatry, or if they are an incidental effect of ancestry of these phylogenetically distantIps.     

Orientation ofRhizophagus grandis (Coleoptera: Rhizophagidae) to oxygenated monoterpenes in a species-specific predator-prey relationship

Summary The predator,Rhizophagus grandis, is linked to its specific prey,Dendroctonus micans, by semiochemical signals regulating oviposition and long range orientation. A mixture of simple oxygenated monoterpenes [(–)—fenchone, (–)—pinocamphone, rac. camphor, terpinene-4-ol, borneol, fenchol and verbenone], identified from the frass ofD. micans has been found to be extremely active in a flight windtunnel as a long—range attractant for the predator. The mixture elicited 84 % of the response to larval frass of the prey. Excluding pinocamphone from the mixture did not influence its activity. Also, changing the absolute configurations of some of the components (fenchol, terpinene-4-ol and borneol) did not influence the predators' response. However, the addition of (–)—-terpineol increased the attractivity of the synthetic blend to almost that of larval frass of the prey. Ecological implications of the identified semiochemicals and their use in pest management are discussed.     

Seasonal trend of fog water chemical composition in the Po Valley

Fog frequency in the Po Valley, Northern Italy, can be as high as 30% of the time in the fall-winter season. High pollutant concentrations have been measured in fog water samples collected in this area over the past few years. The combined effects of high fog occurrence and high pollutant loading of the fog droplets can determine, in this area, appreciable chemical deposition rates. An automated station for fog water collection was developed, and deployed at the field station of S. Pietro Capofiume, in the eastern part of the Po Valley for an extended period: from the beginning of November 1989 to the end of April 1990. Time-resolved sampling of fog droplets was carried out during all fog events occurring in this period, and chemical analyses were performed on the collected samples. Statistical information on fog occurrence and fog water chemical composition is reported in this paper, and a tentative seasonal deposition budget is calculated for H+, NH4+, NO3- and SO4(2-) ions. The problems connected with fog droplet sampling in sub-freezing conditions are also addressed in the paper.