Barriers and opportunities for adapting to climate change on the North Coast of São Paulo,Brazil

Regional Environmental Change - This paper examines barriers and opportunities for climate change adaptation in an urban coastal setting where adaptation is in its infancy. It draws on a diagnostic...     

Exploring adaptation choices for grapevine regions in Spain

Our aim was to explore the adaptation choices to climate change in the grapevine regions of Spain from two points of view. First, what are the main reasons for concern? Second, how large is the adaptation effort in each region? We address the first question by measuring sensitivity to climate change with Huglin, Cold Night and Dryness Indices over the entire territory, providing information on the adaptation type (e.g. varieties, zoning, water allocation). We then estimate probabilistic projections across scenario, zone and sensitivity indices in the 56 Protected Designation of Origin areas to inform on the magnitude of the adaptation effort. Second, we propose an adaptation effort measure that is framed according to the local environmental context. Results suggest that most areas urgently need an adaptation plan due to the deterioration of production and quality indices as a result of climate change. Potential opportunities in many climate regions might be limited by current policy. The production objectives of quality and quantity trade-offs will probably need to be revised by analysing the sustainability of grapevine production.     

Risk Analysis and Occurrence of Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) in Domestic Swine in Northeast Brazil

Anti-HEV antibodies were detected in animals from abattoir and in farms from northeast Brazil. Our results suggest that HEV is highly disseminated in the swine population and might present a great risk to animal handlers and for consumption of raw or undercooked meat and meat products in northeast Brazil.     

Molecular biodiversity. Case study: Porifera (sponges)

Biological diversity--or biodiversity--is the term given to the variety of life on Earth and the natural patterns it forms. The biodiversity we see today is the fruit of billions of years of evolution, shaped by natural processes and, increasingly, by the influence of humans. It forms the web of life of which we are an integral part and upon which we so fully depend. The research on molecular biodiversity tries to lay the scientific foundation of a rational conservation policy that has its roots in various disciplines including systematics/taxonomy (species richness), present day ecology (diversity of ecological systems), and functional genetics (genetic diversity). The results of ongoing genome analyses (genome projects and expressed sequence tag projects) and the achievements of molecular evolution may allow us not only to quantitate the diversity of the present biota but also to extrapolate to their diversification in the future. A link between biodiversity and genomics/molecular evolution will create a platform which we hope may facilitate a sustainable management of organismic life and ensure its exploitation for human benefit. In the present review we outline possible strategies, using the Porifera (sponges) as a prominent example. On the basis of solid taxonomy and ecological data, the high value of this phylum for human application becomes obvious, especially with regard to the field of chemical ecology and the desire to find novel potential drugs for clinical use. In addition, the benefit of trying to make sense of molecular biodiversity using sponges as an example can be seen in the fact that the study of these animals, which are "living fossils", gives us a good insight into the history of our planet, especially with respect to the evolution of Metazoa.     

Cloacal erection promotes vent apposition during forced copulation in the New Zealand stitchbird (hihi): implications for copulation efficiency in other species

Cloacal protuberances (CP) in male birds result from spermatic engorgement of storage tubules around the cloaca during the breeding season. We examined seasonal changes in the volume and orientation of the CP in the New Zealand stitchbird Notiomystis cincta. The male stitchbird has one of the largest recorded CPs for any species (max = 1,570 mm³), with CP volume increasing by almost 400% between the non-breeding and breeding seasons. While sperm competition has been positively correlated with the magnitude of CP storage in other species, no evidence previously existed for the CP improving copulation efficiency. By measuring the relative orientation of the CP throughout the year, we show that not only does the CP increase in size as males become sexually active, it also changes its orientation by approximately 60°. This results in it shifting from facing posteriorly to becoming almost perpendicular to the abdomen. This cloacal erection improves the apposition of the male and female cloacal openings during face-to-face forced copulation in this species. This provides the first reported evidence supporting the copulation efficiency hypothesis of the avian CP. While the magnitude of seasonal changes in female cloacal volume was similar to males, female cloacal orientation remained virtually unchanged across seasons. This difference between the sexes is likely to reflect differing selection pressures for optimizing sperm transfer. In females, a posterior-facing cloaca is ideal for both waste evacuation and sperm reception, whereas, for the male, a posterior-facing cloaca is well suited for waste evacuation, but possibly hinders sperm delivery. Changes in male cloacal orientation from the non-breeding to the breeding season are a likely reflection of conflict in this dual function. Evidence of changes in CP orientation in another passerine species suggests this phenomenon is widespread and also important for understanding related fields such as sperm competition, forced copulation and constraints on the evolution of the avian intromittent organ.     

Degradation of some biorecalcitrant pesticides by homogeneous and heterogeneous photocatalytic ozonation

Photo-Fenton/ozone (PhFO) and TiO2-photocatalysis/ozone (PhCO) coupled systems are used as advanced oxidation processes for the degradation of the following biorecalcitrant pesticides: alachlor, atrazine, chlorfenvinfos, diuron, isoproturon and pentachlorophenol. These organic compounds are considered Priority Hazardous Substances by the Water Framework Directive of the European Commission. The degradation process of the different pesticides, that occurs through oxidation of the organic molecules by means of their reaction with generated OH radical, follows a first and zero-order kinetics, when PhFO and PhCO are applied, respectively. These two Advanced Oxidation Processes, together with the traditional ozone+UV, have been used to investigate TOC reduction of the different pesticide aqueous solutions. The best results of pesticide mineralization are obtained when PhFO is applied; with the use of this advanced oxidation process the aqueous pesticide solutions become detoxyfied except in the case of atrazine and alachlor aqueous solutions for which no detoxification is achieved at the experimental conditions used in the work, at least after 2 and 3 h of treatment, respectively.     

Sustainability indicators for tourism destinations: bibliometric analysis and proposed research agenda

Environment, Development and Sustainability - This study aims to provide various maps of the evolution, current situation and future lines of sustainability indicators for tourism destinations...     

Study of some explanatory factors in the opportunities arising from climate change

The purpose of this research is to analyze different factors behind the disclosure of corporate information on issues related to opportunities arising from climate change worldwide.To achieve that purpose we formulated a dependency model in which the dependent variable corresponds to the creation of a disclosure index on greenhouse gas emissions based on the opportunities arising from climate change and disclosed by companies on their websites. The sample used comprises companies from different countries and activity sectors considered as the most sensitive to greenhouse gas emissions.The results obtained point out that companies with higher environmental performance disclose a larger volume of information on opportunities arising from climate change on their websites, compared to companies with lower environmental performance. Likewise, companies from countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol disclose a higher volume of information on greenhouse gas emissions on their websites, compared to companies from countries which have not ratified it.     

Spatio-temporal variability in fatty acid trophic biomarkers in stomach contents and muscle of Iberian sardine (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Sardina pilchardus</Emphasis>) and its relationship with spawning

Temporal variation in the fatty acid (FA) composition of stomach contents of Iberian sardines was compared to the relative contribution to dietary carbon made by different prey types for fish from two areas off Portugal. The effect of the FA content of the diet on sardine muscle FA composition was also studied, aiming at (1) analysing if FA biomarkers can be used as a complementary technique for the study of sardine diet and (2) to relate spatial and temporal variations of prey FA content with sardine condition and reproduction. Significant spatial differences in the FA composition of sardine diet occurred with concentrations of n-3 polyunsaturated FA, namely eicosapentaenoic acid [EPA, 20:5n-3] and linolenic acid 18:3n-3, being significantly higher in the diet of sardines from the west coast, whilst the diet of sardines from the south coast was richer in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), namely the carnivory biomarker oleic acid 18:1n-9. These results are in agreement with the higher contribution made by diatoms and dinoflagellates to the diet of sardines off the west coast. Spatial variation in sardine dietary FA was also detected in their muscle composition, specifically for EPA, and the eicosapentaenoic/docosahexaenoic acid and (n-3)/(n-6) ratios, which were higher in sardines from the west coast. No difference in FA composition was detected between sexes, and the seasonal variability in sardine total FA concentration was primarily related to the seasonality of spawning. Sardines accumulate high concentrations of FAs during the resting stage of reproduction when the feeding intensity is similar or lower to that observed during the spawning season. Additionally, sardines show a high selective retention of MUFA and polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) throughout the year except at the beginning of the spawning season, when these FAs are largely invested in the formation of the gonads. Therefore, temporal and regional differences of prey environments are strong enough to be reflected in fish body composition, namely on the accumulation of essential FAs, which can have a strong impact on reproduction success for this species.