Lethal and sublethal effects of the natural and healthy spinosad-based formulation Tracer™ on tadpoles of two neotropical species

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This paper presents the first acute toxicity data of the natural insecticide spinosad in amphibians. The sensitivity of two neotropical sympatric...     

Fire hazard after prescribed burning in a gorse shrubland: implications for fuel management

Prescribed burning is commonly used to prevent accumulation of biomass in fire-prone shrubland in NW Spain. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the efficacy of the technique in reducing fire hazard in these ecosystems. Fire hazard in burned shrubland areas will depend on the initial capacity of woody vegetation to recover and on the fine ground fuels existing after fire. To explore the effect that time since burning has on fire hazard, experimental tests were performed with two fuel complexes (fine ground fuels and regenerated shrubs) resulting from previous prescribed burnings conducted in a gorse shrubland (Ulex europaeus L.) one, three and five years earlier. A point-ignition source was used in burning experiments to assess ignition and initial propagation success separately for each fuel complex. The effect of wind speed was also studied for shrub fuels, and several flammability parameters were measured. Results showed that both ignition and initial propagation success of fine ground fuels mainly depended on fuel depth and were independent of time since burning, although flammability parameters indicated higher fire hazard three years after burning. In contrast, time since burning increased ignition and initial propagation success of regenerated shrub fuels, as well as the flammability parameters assessed, but wind speed had no significant effect. The combination of results of fire hazard for fine ground fuels and regenerated shrubs according to the variation in relative coverage of each fuel type after prescribed burning enabled an assessment of integrated fire hazard in treated areas. The present results suggest that prescribed burning is a very effective technique to reduce fire hazard in the study area, but that fire hazard will be significantly increased by the third year after burning. These results are valuable for fire prevention and fuel management planning in gorse shrubland areas.     

ON THE CAPACITY-EXPANSION OF DESALINATION PLANTS AND STORAGE TANKS1

ABSTRACT A mathematical programming model is structured to find the optimal time and capacity expansion path of desalination plants and storage tanks for a hypothetical community which depends on desalination as its sole, or major, water supply source. The objective is to determine the least costly combination of sues and times of installation (of both desalting plants and storage tanks) which can meet a rising water demand over a finite planning horizon. The optimality criterion used in the model is based on two major economic elements: the economies of scale inherent in such facilities and the time-value of money represented by the interest rate, the former favoring large capacities and the latter small capacities. The model is applied using three population growth patterns and two interest rates. The water demand components for every year in the planning period are computed using empirical formulas which are based on population and other basic data. The model is solved for each of the above cases with the aid of a computer program based on the method of feasible conjugate directions. The results clearly reflect the balance between the economies of scale and the time-value of money under every demand growth function.     

Chemical characteristics of organic aerosol in Bab-Ezzouar (Algiers). Contribution of bituminous product manufacture

The organic compositions of atmospheric particulate matter from Bab-Ezzouar (Algiers) have been investigated to assess the air pollution levels suspected to be caused by asphalt product and yeast manufactures. After a medium-volume air sampling, soxhlet extraction, alumina elution and HPLC separation, the extracts were analysed by high-resolution gas chromatography (HRGC) and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The composition of n-alkane and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) fractions reflected the petrogenic origin from the emission of asphalt materials production in addition to vascular plant wax emissions. In contrast, microbial activities seemed to play the main role for the presence of n-alkanoic acids at Bab-Ezzouar. The sole nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAH) observed, i.e., 2-nitrofluoranthene (2NFA), was very likely to arise from gas-phase photochemical reaction of parent PAH in the atmosphere. The total aerial levels ranged from 75 to 206 ng m(-3) for n-alkanes, from 153 to 345 ng m(-3) for n-alkanoic acids and from 44 to 100 ng m(-3) for PAH and NPAH. Although the samples were collected during the hot season, the levels of these pollutants seemed to be important and of environmental concern, especially for PAH species.     

Eucalyptus ESTs related to genes for oxidative stress

Oxidative stress generating active oxygen species has been proved to be one of the underlying agents causing tissue injury after the exposure of Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.) plants to a wide variety of stress conditions. The objective of this study was to perform data mining to identify favorable genes and alleles associated with the enzyme systems superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxidases, and glutathione S-transferase that are related to tolerance for environmental stresses and damage caused by pests, diseases, herbicides, and by weeds themselves. This was undertaken by using the eucalyptus expressed-sequence database (https//forests.esalq.usp.br). The alignment results between amino acid and nucleotide sequences indicated that the studied enzymes were adequately represented in the ESTs database of the FORESTs project.     

Taxing overexploited open-access fisheries: the role of demand elasticity

The paper aims at identifying the effects exerted by a tax levy on an overexploited and previously unregulated fishery. The analysis is carried out by means of a dynamic model that includes fish stock and harvesting effort as state variables. Attention is focused on the role played by demand elasticity which is shown to affect both transients and equilibria.According to the analysis, a levy induces a contraction in effort, which is sharper in the short term. As a consequence, the fish population recovers and ultimately settles at a higher equilibrium level. Therefore, a larger amount of fish is caught in the long run and sold at a lower price than in the unregulated setting. The more inelastic the demand, the smaller both the equilibrium price for fish and the tax imposed.