Evaluation of urban solid-waste generation and safety consciousness of waste collectors amidst COVID-19 pandemic

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - This study investigates solid-waste handling practices by municipal waste collectors during COVID-19 pandemic period in Osogbo urban areas with the...     

Biofiltration of fugitive methane emissions from landfills using scum from municipal wastewater treatment plants as alternative substrate

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Biofilters have been recognized as a key technology in the mitigation of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted by landfills. This study aimed to evaluate...     

Regional-scale meteorological characteristics of the Vento Norte phenomenon observed in Southern Brazil

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - The sudden increase in air temperature associated with strong gusty winds of northerly direction is a phenomenon occasionally observed during the cold season in the...     

Differences in feeding ecology among three co-occurring species of wrasse (Teleostei: Labridae) on rocky reefs of temperate Australia

The foraging behaviours and dietary compositions of three co-occurring labrids (Ophthalmolepis lineolatus, Notolabrus gymnogenis and Pictilabrus laticlavius), which are conspicuous on rocky reefs in temperate south-eastern Australia, were investigated between 2003 and 2005. SCUBA observations at two locations showed that the feeding intensity, and hence the associated effects of these fishes on rocky reef invertebrate prey, was temporally consistent. Relative differences in the contributions of ingested prey and use of different feeding microhabitats demonstrated that the feeding ecology differed significantly among the three species. Thus, O. lineolatus fed on proportionately higher volumes of polychaetes, polyplacophorans, marginellid gastropods (especially Austroginella sp.), bivalves and echinoids, which were sighted opportunistically in a wide selection of microhabitats, but particularly in sand/rubble. Ambush hunting was used regularly by smaller N. gymnogenis and all sizes of P. laticlavius to forage on amphipods, small decapods and small gastropods at algal bases or fronds and Diopatra dentata tubes. Amphipods were similarly important in the diet of smaller O. lineolatus. Larger N. gymnogenis foraged opportunistically over an increased reef area and made greater use of microhabitats that offered minimal prey refuge (e.g. sand/rubble, bare rock/steel) from which common prey, in particular decapods, were obtained. The significant intra- and inter-specific differences in dietary compositions, allied with differences in the use of feeding microhabitats, would facilitate co-occurrence of these three conspicuous species and contribute to maintaining high richness of labrid species in reef systems. Echinoids were regularly consumed by each species but they made a moderate contribution to the diet of only O. lineolatus, which suggests that only one of the three labrids is likely to play a significant role in regulation of echinoid densities in these rocky reef habitats. However, the broad diets and diverse forging strategies employed by these labrid species imply that they have a system-wide influence on invertebrate prey on rocky reefs.     

Monitoring and adaptive management: resolving social and organisational issues to improve information sharing in natural resource management

Adaptive, or 'learning by doing', approaches are often advocated as a means of providing increased understanding within natural resource management. However, a number of organisational and social issues need to be resolved if these approaches are to be used successfully. A case study in the South Island high country of New Zealand is used to review what is needed to support an ongoing community-based monitoring and adaptive management programme. First, the case study is described, paying attention to the social context of the resource management problem. The results of a workshop that explored this problem are then outlined, along with a proposed information flow suggested by participants. Requirements for future steps to resolve these problems (such as information protocols and a multi-stakeholder information system) are discussed. Finally, some broad lessons are drawn from this exercise that could help others developing similar approaches.     

Can we measure carrying capacity with foraging behavior?

Carrying capacity is one of the most important, yet least understood and rarely estimated, parameters in population management and modeling. A simple behavioral metric of carrying capacity would advance theory, conservation, and management of biological populations. Such a metric should be possible because behavior is finely attuned to variation in environment including population density. We connect optimal foraging theory with population dynamics and life history to develop a simple model that predicts this sort of adaptive density-dependent change in food consumption. We then confirm the model's unexpected and manifold predictions with field experiments. The theory predicts reproductive thresholds that alter the marginal value of energy as well as the value of time. Both effects cause a pronounced discontinuity in quitting-harvest rate that we revealed with foraging experiments. Red-backed voles maintained across a range of high densities foraged at a lower density-dependent rate than the same animals exposed to low-density treatments. The change in harvest rate is diagnostic of populations that exceed their carrying capacity. Ecologists, conservation biologists, and wildlife managers may thus be able to use simple and efficient foraging experiments to estimate carrying capacity and habitat quality.     

Maternal dominance rank and lifetime survivorship of male and female rhesus monkeys

Summary The longitudinal survivorship of a group of free-ranging male and female rhesus monkeys from La Parguera, Puerto Rico, was analyzed. Males had lower age-specific survivorship than females. There were no differences in the survivorship of daughters of high- and low-ranking mothers and there was no correlation between total number of offspring born and maternal rank for females. However, the sons of low-ranking mothers had lower survivorship than the sons of high-ranking females. This sex-related difference in survivorship, in conjunction with other evidence, indicates that the average lifetime reproduction of sons of low-ranking females is lower than that of daughters and vice versa for offspring of high-ranking females.     

“Egg dumping” in lace bugs (Gargaphia solani,Hemiptera: Tingidae)

Summary Data are presented which document that females of the subsocial lace bug, Gargaphia solani lay eggs in the nests of conspecifics whenever the opportunity arises. Because of an inverse relationship between time invested in maternal care and fecundity, maternal behavior in G. solani is an ecologically expensive trait that is adaptive only in the face of heavy predation on eggs and nymphs. By facultatively utilizing the maternal defensive behavior of conspecifics, it is possible for egg donors to protect their progeny from predators without limiting fecundity. Whenever possible, females oviposit in recently established egg masses of conspecifics. While guarding their own eggs, egg recipients inadvertently protect the eggs of egg donors. Egg donors need not establish and guard their own masses as long as there are females with egg masses in the vicinity. Instead, egg donors are free to lay as many eggs as physiologically possible by avoiding long periods of maternal care.Published with the approval of the Director of the Delaware Agricultural Experiment Station as Miscellaneous Paper No. 1048, Contribution No. 544 of the Department of Entomology and Applied Ecology, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA     

Investigation of contact vacuuming for remediation of fungally contaminated duct materials

Environmental fungi become a potential Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) problem when adequate moisture and nutrients are present in building materials. Because of their potential to rapidly spread contamination throughout a building, ventilation system materials are of particular significance as potential microbial contamination sources. Current recommendations are to discard fibrous glass insulation that appears to be wet or moldy. Unfortunately, this advice is not always followed. Instead, cleaning is sometimes being used in buildings to remediate fibrous glass duct liner that is already contaminated with microbial growth. The objectives of this research program were to: 1) determine, under dynamic test conditions, whether fungal spore levels on heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) duct material surfaces could be substantially reduced by thorough vacuum cleaning, 2) evaluate whether subsequent fungal growth could be limited or contained by mechanical cleaning, and 3) provide data concerning the advisability of cleaning duct materials. The constant high relative humidity (RH) environment to which the test materials were exposed during this study was selected as a favorable growth environment that is frequently found in Southeastern United States HVAC systems. The results showed that, following cleaning, the levels of the two test fungi, A. versicolor and P. chrysogenum, recovered to preclean levels within 6 weeks. Therefore, mechanical cleaning by contact vacuuming alone was able to only temporarily reduce the surface fungal load. The current guidelines to discard contaminated materials should be followed.