Shipboard Measurements of Nitrogen Dioxide,Nitrous Acid,Nitric Acid and Ozone in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Measurements of nitrogen dioxide, nitrous and nitric acids as well as ozone were made using newly developed instrumentation onboard the research vessel Aegeon in the Aegean Sea between 25th–29th July 2000. Typical nitrogen dioxide concentrations observed aboard the boat were 4–6 ppb (v/v) with a broad maximum of 20–30 ppb (v/v). Ozone concentrations typically ranged between 40 and 80 ppb (v/v). Mixing ratios of both nitric and nitrous acids in the ambient air of the Aegean Sea were mainly below 50 ppt (v/v). The data also showed a number of short pollution episodes with rapid changes in the concentration of reactive nitrogen compounds [nitrogen dioxide maximum up to 164 ppb (v/v), nitric acid maximum up to 12 ppb (v/v), nitrous acid maximum up to 2.7 ppb (v/v)] and ozone [maximum up to 88 ppb (v/v)]. These episodes were correlated with pollution plumes originating from boats upwind, at short distance, from the R/V Aegeon. The measurements revealed the importance of nitrous and nitric acids for the transport of nitrogen to marine biota in busy ship lanes.     

Visual Perception of Habitats Adopted for Post-Mining Landscape Rehabilitation

The study presented here focuses on visual preferences expressed by respondents for five relatively natural habitat types used in land reclamation projects in the North-West Bohemian brown coal basins (Czech Republic). Respondents evaluated the perceived beauty of the habitat types using a photograph questionnaire, on the basis of the positively skewed 6-point Likert scale. The order of the habitat types, from most beautiful to least beautiful, was: managed coniferous forest, wild deciduous forest, managed deciduous forest, managed mixed forest, and managed grassland. Higher visual preferences were indicated for older forest habitats (30–40 years old) than for younger habitats (10–20 years old). In addition, respondents preferred wild deciduous forest to managed deciduous forest. Managed grasslands and non-native managed coniferous forests were preferred by older people with a lower level of education and low income living in the post-mining area. On the other hand, native, wild deciduous forest was awarded the highest perceived beauty score by younger, more educated respondents with higher income, living outside the post-mining landscapes. The study confirms differences in the perception of various forms of land reclamation by residents vs. non-residents, and its findings also confirm the need for sociological research in post-mining landscapes within the process of designing rehabilitated landscapes. From the visual standpoint, the results of our study also support the current trend toward using natural succession in the reclamation of post-mining landscapes.     

First diatomyid rodent from the Early Miocene of Arabia

The Asian family Diatomyidae is known from the Early Oligocene to the present. Among living rodents, this group comprises only the recently discovered Laonastes aenigmamus from Laos. Fossil diatomyids are known from only a few sites, in which they are often rare. The discovery of Pierremus explorator gen. nov. sp. nov. in the Lower Miocene of As-Sarrar (Saudi Arabia) raises to ten the number of extinct diatomyid species recognized. Pierremus explorator is the first record of a diatomyid from the Afro-Arabian plate. This discovery provides evidence that, together with other rodents (ctenodactylids, zapodids…), the diatomyids took advantage of the corridor that was established between Afro-Arabia and Eurasia in Early Miocene times.     

Forest Naturalness: Criterion for Decision Support in Designation and Management of Protected Forest Areas

The article analyses the possibilities of developing an integrated indicator and a model of the assessment of forests naturalness using the data from the database of mountainous spruce forests situated in the Western Carpathians of Slovakia. The article presents two variants of such a model, one based on discriminant analysis, while the second one using an additive approach. The analysis of the data from mountainous spruce forests revealed significant indicators of forest naturalness degree: the arithmetic mean of the ratio between crown length and tree height, the deadwood volume, the coverage of grasses, the coverage of mosses and lichens, and the aggregation index. In addition, the coefficient of variation of tree diameters was included in the final model, since its presence in the model had a positive influence on the correctness of the classification of the forest naturalness degree. The correctness of the classification of the proposed discriminant model was 74.5%. For the additive model, the ranges of the values of the integrated indicator were defined for every degree of forest naturalness by taking into account the error ranges of the arithmetic mean values and the percentiles of the values in individual degrees of forest naturalness. The overall correctness of the classification with the additive model was 63.4%. In the second step, the scheme how to apply the classification model of the forest naturalness degree in the decision-making process of designating as a forest protected areas was proposed. In this scheme, the degree of forest naturalness is considered as a basic criterion for the determination of nature-conservation value of forest ecosystems. As further decision-making criteria we identified the possibility to restore, or the possibility to improve the naturalness of less natural forest ecosystems, which are designated as protected; the occurrence of the endangered species; and the occurrence of other natural values.     

Nanoremediation and International Environmental Restoration Markets

Nanoscale zero‐valent iron (nZVI) is the most commonly used nanoremediation material. While there has been a reasonable level of application of nZVI technologies for in situ remediation in the United States, its utilization across Europe has been much more limited. There has been significant uncertainty about the balance between deployment risks and benefits for nanoparticles (NPs), which has affected the regulatory position in several countries. Some member states of the European Union (EU) take a strong precautionary view of the risks from the deployment of NPs into the subsurface, preventing the adoption of the technology. This article provides a risk–benefit assessment for nZVI based on published information and describes the steps that will be taken by a major European research project (NanoRem), as part of its work to provide a basis for better informed decision making in European environmental restoration markets. A key part of this process is dialogue between practitioners and researchers. NanoRem therefore has an active process of communication with different stakeholder networks (regulators, service providers, and site owners). NanoRem hopes to stimulate a consensus on appropriate use of nanoremediation and thereby stimulate effective technology transfer to the European remediation market. ©2015 The Authors     

A travel cost study to estimate recreational value for a bird refuge at Lake Manyas, Turkey

This paper investigates the recreational economic value of bird watching in the Ku?cenneti National Park (KNP) at Lake Manyas, one of the Ramsar sites of Turkey and an important endangered species habitat. The lake and KNP provide considerable benefits for the region, although they have faced many environmental conflicts due to diverse stakeholders’ needs. An economic valuation for the benefits provided by the KNP is important data for stakeholders and local authorities. The travel cost method is used to estimate recreational demand for the KNP. The recreational value of the KNP is 103,320,074 USD annually. Results shed light on important policy issues and help to resolve conflicts among stakeholders. This calculated value is considerably higher than the annual investment and operation expenditures of the KNP. Sustainability of the important species around the lake could be achieved if the region's inhabitants are compensated by KNP visitors.     

Love You to Death: Tale of Two Japanese Seals

The recent two cases related to seals in Japan illustrate the nature of the “values” created for animals in today’s societies: one that appeared in a river in Tokyo and gained a national pop star fame, the other supposedly extinct Japanese seal re-gaining an endangered status. This paper argues that the contrast of these cases exemplifies the images and values of nature are created, and the “wilderness” becomes over-romanticised and idealised as societies become further removed from the biosphere. This questions the meaning of the intrinsic value of nature—can it be totally free from our social needs and vested interest; is a truly bio-centric perspective possible? The paper suggests the irrelevance of the eco-centric- anthropocentric dichotomy to today’s social contexts where complex socio-cultural, economic, political issues are interwoven.     

Bio-economic evaluation of implementing trawl fishing gear with different selectivity

The paper develops a biological-economic evaluation tool to analyse the consequences for trawl fishers of implementing more selective fishing technologies. This is done by merging a dynamic biological population model and an economic cost–benefit evaluation framework to describe the consequences for the fish stocks, fishermen and society. The bio-economic evaluation is applied to the case of the Danish trawl fishery in Kattegat and Skagerrak, which experiences a high level of discards and bycatches of several species. Four different kinds of selectivity scenarios are evaluated in comparison with a baseline. The results from the evaluation are indicators for the consequences on ecological and economic levels. The results show that implementation of different selective fishing gear in the Kattegat and Skagerrak mixed trawl fisheries generally implies a trade off over time between rebuilding the stocks and economic loss. Moreover, the analysis shows that implementation of more selective gear is not always beneficial.