Demonstrating the In Situ Biodegradation Potential of Phenol Using Bio‐Sep® Bio‐Traps® and Stable Isotope Probing

The effect of phenol concentration on phenol biodegradation at an industrial site in the south of Wales, United Kingdom, was investigated using standard Bio‐Sep^® Bio‐Traps^® and Bio‐Traps^® coupled with stable isotope probing (SIP). Unlike many ¹³C‐amendments used in SIP studies (such as hydrocarbons) that physically and reversibly adsorb to the activated carbon component of the Bio‐Sep^® beads, phenol is known to irreversibly chemisorb to activated carbon. Bio‐Traps^® were deployed for 32 days in nine site groundwater monitoring wells representing a wide range of phenol concentrations. Bio‐Traps^® amended with ¹³C‐phenol were deployed together with non‐amended Bio‐Traps® in three wells. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis of Bio‐Traps^® post‐deployment indicated an inhibitory effect of increasing phenol concentration on both total eubacteria and aerobic phenol‐utilizing bacteria as represented by the concentration of phenol hydroxylase gene. Despite the chemisorption of phenol to the Bio‐Sep^® beads, activated carbon stable isotope analysis showed incorporation of ¹³C into biomass and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in each SIP Bio‐Trap^® indicating that chemisorbed amendments are bioavailable. However, there was a clear effect of phenol concentration on ¹³C incorporation in both biomass and DIC confirming phenol inhibition. These results suggest that physical reductions of the phenol concentrations in some areas of the plume will be required before biodegradation of phenol can proceed at a reasonable rate. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Development and calibration of a passive sampler for N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) in water

N-Nitrosamines such as N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) are organic compounds of environmental concern in groundwater, wastewater and potable water due to their potent carcinogenicity in laboratory animal studies and probable human carcinogenicity. While passive sampling techniques have become a widely used tool for providing time-averaged estimates of trace pollutant concentration, for chemicals such as NDMA that have relatively high water solubility, the selection of a suitable sorbent is difficult. This work is a proof of principle study that investigated for the first time the use of coconut charcoal as a passive sampler sorbent. Apparent charcoal/water sorption coefficients for NDMA were >551 mL g⁻¹ at environmentally relevant aqueous concentrations of less than 1 μg L⁻¹. Under the experimental conditions employed, a sampling rate of 0.45 L d⁻¹ was determined and for an aqueous concentration of 1000 ng L⁻¹, it is predicted that the sampler remains in the linear uptake stage for approximately 4 d, while equilibrium attainment would require about 26 d. The presence of humic acid, used as a surrogate for DOC, enhanced NDMA sorption on the coconut charcoal.     

Earth stewardship: Shaping a sustainable future through interacting policy and norm shifts

Transformation toward a sustainable future requires an earth stewardship approach to shift society from its current goal of increasing material wealth to a vision of sustaining built, natural, human, and social capital—equitably distributed across society, within and among nations. Widespread concern about earth’s current trajectory and support for actions that would foster more sustainable pathways suggests potential social tipping points in public demand for an earth stewardship vision. Here, we draw on empirical studies and theory to show that movement toward a stewardship vision can be facilitated by changes in either policy incentives or social norms. Our novel contribution is to point out that both norms and incentives must change and can do so interactively. This can be facilitated through leverage points and complementarities across policy areas, based on values, system design, and agency. Potential catalysts include novel democratic institutions and engagement of non-governmental actors, such as businesses, civic leaders, and social movements as agents for redistribution of power. Because no single intervention will transform the world, a key challenge is to align actions to be synergistic, persistent, and scalable.     

Oceanic variability and coastal topography shape genetic structure in a long-dispersing sea urchin

Understanding the scale of marine population connectivity is critical for the conservation and sustainable management of marine resources. For many marine species adults are benthic and relatively immobile, so patterns of larval dispersal and recruitment provide the key to understanding marine population connectivity. Contrary to previous expectations, recent studies have often detected unexpectedly low dispersal and fine-scale population structure in the sea, leading to a paradigm shift in how marine systems are viewed. Nonetheless, the link between fine-scale marine population structure and the underlying physical and biological processes has not been made. Here we show that patterns of genetic structure and population connectivity in the broadcast-spawning and long-distance dispersing sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii are influenced by physical oceanographic and geographic variables. Despite weak genetic differentiation and no isolation-by-distance over thousands of kilometers among samples from eastern Australia and northern New Zealand, fine-scale genetic structure was associated with sea surface temperature (SST) variability and geography along the southeastern Australian coast. The zone of high SST variability is characterized by periodic shedding of eddies from the East Australian Current, and we suggest that ocean current circulation may, through its influence on larval transport and recruitment, interact with the genetic consequences of large variance in individual reproductive success to generate patterns of fine-scale patchy genetic structure. If proven consistent across species, our findings suggest that the optimal scale for fisheries management and reserve design should vary among localities in relation to regional oceanographic variability and coastal geography.     

A theory of scaling for community-based fisheries management

Community-based approaches to fisheries management has emerged as a mainstream strategy to govern dispersed, diverse and dynamic small scale fisheries. However, amplifying local community led sustainability outcomes remains an enduring challenge. We seek to fill a theoretical gap in the conceptualization of ‘scaling up community-based fisheries management’. We draw on literature of agriculture innovations to provide a framework that takes into account process-driven and structural change occurring across multiple levels of governance, as well as different phases of scaling. We hypothesize that successful scaling requires engagement with all aspects of a governing regime, coalescing a range of actors, and therefore, is an enterprise that is larger than its parts. To demonstrate where the framework offers value, we illustrate the development of community-based fisheries management in Vanuatu according to the framework’s main scaling dimensions.     

An automated system to control and manipulate the flight activity of captive birds

Biologists have long been interested in the behavioural and physiological mechanisms that regulate flight. The manipulation of physical activity of birds under captive conditions, however, faces the experimenter with some technical problems. In this article, we describe a simple automated system that allows control and manipulation of the flight activity of captive birds and use it for the first time to induce blood oxidative stress in male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). Finches subjected to a short-term flight effort regime had an increase of plasma oxidative damage and a decrease of thiol concentration in red blood cells and of body mass, respectively. However, no change in red blood cell glutathione peroxidase was observed. This simple experiment shows that our automated system may be successfully used to induce changes in the physiological state of small birds.     

The Challenges of Incorporating Cultural Ecosystem Services into Environmental Assessment

The ecosystem services concept is used to make explicit the diverse benefits ecosystems provide to people, with the goal of improving assessment and, ultimately, decision-making. Alongside material benefits such as natural resources (e.g., clean water, timber), this concept includes—through the ‘cultural’ category of ecosystem services—diverse non-material benefits that people obtain through interactions with ecosystems (e.g., spiritual inspiration, cultural identity, recreation). Despite the longstanding focus of ecosystem services research on measurement, most cultural ecosystem services have defined measurement and inclusion alongside other more ‘material’ services. This gap in measurement of cultural ecosystem services is a product of several perceived problems, some of which are not real problems and some of which can be mitigated or even solved without undue difficulty. Because of the fractured nature of the literature, these problems continue to plague the discussion of cultural services. In this paper we discuss several such problems, which although they have been addressed singly, have not been brought together in a single discussion. There is a need for a single, accessible treatment of the importance and feasibility of integrating cultural ecosystem services alongside others.     

Improving arsenopyrite oxidation rate laws: implications for arsenic mobilization during aquifer storage and recovery (ASR)

Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) and aquifer recharge (AR) provide technical solutions to address water supply deficits and growing future water demands. Unfortunately, the mobilization of naturally present arsenic due to ASR/AR operations has undermined its application on a larger scale. Predicting arsenic mobility in the subsurface during ASR/AR is further complicated by site-specific factors, including the arsenic mobilization mechanisms, groundwater flow conditions, and multi-phase geochemical interactions. In order to ensure safe and sustainable ASR/AR operation, a better understanding of these factors is needed. The current study thus aims to better characterize and model arsenic remobilization at ASR/AR sites by compiling and analyzing available kinetic data on arsenic mobilization from arsenopyrite under different aqueous conditions. More robust and widely applicable rate laws are developed for geochemical conditions relevant to ASR/AR. Sensitivity analysis of these new rate laws gives further insight into the controlling geochemical factors for arsenic mobilization. When improved rate laws are incorporated as the inputs for reactive transport modeling, arsenic mobilization in ASR/AR operations can be predicted with an improved accuracy. The outcomes will be used to guide groundwater monitoring and specify ASR/AR operational parameters, including water pretreatment requirements prior to injection.     

采用大气压电喷雾(API-ESI)质谱和液体样品直接大体积进样技术检测饮用和地下水中的苯基脲类和三嗪类除草剂

本文介绍了大体积进样技术分析一组苯基脲类和三嗪类除草剂多残留的简便方法.     

Simulating Unstressed Crop Development and Growth Using the Unified Plant Growth Model (UPGM)

Since initial development of the EPIC model in 1989, the EPIC plant growth component has been incorporated into other erosion and crop management models (e.g., WEPS, WEPP, SWAT, ALMANAC, and GPFARM) and subsequently modified to meet research objectives of the model developers. This has resulted in different versions of the same base plant growth component. The objectives of this study are the following: (1) describe the standalone Unified Plant Growth Model (UPGM), initially derived from the WEPS plant growth model, to be used for merging enhancements from other EPIC-based plant growth models; and (2) describe and evaluate new phenology, seedling emergence, and canopy height sub-models derived from the Phenology Modular Modeling System (PhenologyMMS V1.2) and incorporated into UPGM. A 6-year (2005–2010) irrigated maize (Zea mays L.) study from northeast Colorado was used to calibrate and evaluate UPGM running both the original (i.e., based on WEPS) and new phenology, seedling emergence, and canopy height sub-models. Model statistics indicated the new sub-models usually resulted in better simulation results than the original sub-models. For example when comparing original and new sub-models, respectively, for predicting canopy height, the root mean square error (RMSE) was 53.7 and 40.7 cm, index of agreement (d) was 0.84 and 0.92, relative error (RE) was 26.0 and ?1.26 %, and normalized objective function (NOF) was 0.47 and 0.33. The new sub-models predict leaf number (old sub-models do not), with mean values for 4 years of 2.43 leaves (RMSE), 0.78 (d), 18.38 % (RE), and 0.27 (NOF). Simulating grain yield, final above ground biomass, and harvest index showed little difference when running the original or new sub-models. Both the new phenology and seedling emergence sub-models respond to varying water deficits, increasing the robustness of UPGM for more diverse environmental conditions. Future research will continue working to incorporate existing enhancements from other EPIC-based plant growth models to unify them into one model such as multispecies competition and N cycling.