Correction to: Ecological restoration as a strategy for mitigating and adapting to climate change: lessons and challenges from Brazil

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change - The original version of the article unfortunately contained an error.     

Performance of conventional remedial technology for treatment of MTBE and benzene at UST sites in Kansas

Groundwater at most underground storage tank (UST) spills sites in Kansas contains both methyl tertiary butyl ethylene (MTBE) and benzene, and both contaminants must be effectively treated to close the sites. Soil vacuum extraction, air sparging, and excavation are the most common treatment technologies in Kansas. To compare the relative performance of these conventional remedial technologies for treating MTBE as compared to benzene, 66 sites in the Kansas UST Trust Fund were identified that had initial concentrations of both MTBE and benzene above the reporting limit of 1 μg/L, and that had at least two rounds of analytical data. Sites were excluded from the comparison if the monitoring wells had free product. Of the 66 sites, 15 had met the clean‐up goal for benzene, and 50 had met the goal for MTBE. The extent of treatment for MTBE and benzene was calculated as the ratio of the highest concentration in any well at the site in the most recent round of sampling to the maximum concentration in any well at the site in the previous rounds of sampling. The extent of treatment was greater for MTBE (statistically significant at p = 0.032). The geometric mean of the extent of treatment in the 66 sites was 0.057 for MTBE, compared to 0.14 for benzene. In Kansas, conventional technologies removed MTBE from the source areas of groundwater plumes at least as effectively as they removed benzene. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Pollution in the upland environment

As part of a study on the effects of pollutants on forests, a long-term monitoring programme has been operating at two sites (602 and 275 m above sea level (a.s.l.)) in Glentress Forest, south-east Scotland, since June 1987. At these sites, equipment has been recording 20-min data for weather parameters, and cloud and rain event frequency, duration and intensity. The chemical composition of bulk cloud and rainwater has been measured. Cloudwater detection and collection has been made using passive 'Harp wire' gauges (with a cross-sectional area of 0.047 m2) strung with polypropylene filament and having a typical collection efficiency of 29% when compared with independent measurements of windspeed and liquid water content. During 1988, the annual rainfall at the upper site was 1213 mm, occurring over 1776 h. The equivalent cloudwater deposition to a forest with a drag coefficient of 0.06 was estimated to be 375 mm over 1936 h. A 'typical cloud event' lasted 4.5 h and would deposit to forests at a rate of 0.2 mm h(-1). There were significantly higher loadings of suspended particulate material (> 0.2 microm) in cloudwater (mean 18.42, max. 94.5 mg litre(-1)) compared with rainwater (mean 2.6, max. 25.6 mg litre(-1)). There were similar differences in ion concentrations, e.g. for H+ in cloudwater (mean 163, max. 1259 microm) and in rainwater (mean 33, max. 262 microM). It is concluded that cloudwater deposition represents a major pathway for pollutant transfer to the upland environment, especially where the surface vegetation is efficient at capturing cloudwater, i.e. forests. The consequences of this increased pollutant loading to forests and water catchments are yet to be assessed.     

Measurement of driving patterns of older adults using data logging devices with and without global positioning system capability

BACKGROUND: Methods to study driving patterns and exposure of older drivers have typically relied on surveys or driving diaries. Electronic data logging devices may offer a reliable, alternative method of measuring driving exposure, and global positioning system (GPS) technology may be able to provide further information about driving patterns. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare a driving diary with two electronic data logging devices, one of which had GPS capability, in order to identify which method best assesses the driving exposure and habits of older drivers as well as the method most acceptable to study participants. METHOD: In this prospective cohort study we recruited 20 participants aged 70 years or more (mean 78; range 70-85) (15 men and 5 women). The participants' driving patterns were recorded for one week with an electronic data logging device with GPS (FleetPulse), followed by recording for a further week with an electronic data logging device without GPS (CarChip). During both time periods the subjects also completed a standard driving diary. RESULTS: More comprehensive information, including braking and acceleration patterns, duration of driving time, time of day, and maximum speeds, was collected with the electronic devices than with the driving diary. There was excellent correlation between the driving diary data and those obtained with the CarChip (r = 0.9; p < 0.01). The correlation between the driving diary data and the FleetPulse data was moderate (r = 0.56; p = 0.02). The subjects clearly preferred the electronic monitoring devices over the driving diary. GPS data were able to demonstrate driving routes. CONCLUSIONS: Electronic data logging devices are a valid method for recording the driving patterns of older adults. These devices also reduce burden and improve the completeness of data.     

First complete sauropod dinosaur skull from the Cretaceous of the Americas and the evolution of sauropod dentition

Sauropod dinosaur bones are common in Mesozoic terrestrial sediments, but sauropod skulls are exceedingly rare—cranial materials are known for less than one third of sauropod genera and even fewer are known from complete skulls. Here we describe the first complete sauropod skull from the Cretaceous of the Americas, Abydosaurus mcintoshi, n. gen., n. sp., known from 104.46 ± 0.95 Ma (megannum) sediments from Dinosaur National Monument, USA. Abydosaurus shares close ancestry with Brachiosaurus, which appeared in the fossil record ca. 45 million years earlier and had substantially broader teeth. A survey of tooth shape in sauropodomorphs demonstrates that sauropods evolved broad crowns during the Early Jurassic but did not evolve narrow crowns until the Late Jurassic, when they occupied their greatest range of crown breadths. During the Cretaceous, brachiosaurids and other lineages independently underwent a marked diminution in tooth breadth, and before the latest Cretaceous broad-crowned sauropods were extinct on all continental landmasses. Differential survival and diversification of narrow-crowned sauropods in the Late Cretaceous appears to be a directed trend that was not correlated with changes in plant diversity or abundance, but may signal a shift towards elevated tooth replacement rates and high-wear dentition. Sauropods lacked many of the complex herbivorous adaptations present within contemporaneous ornithischian herbivores, such as beaks, cheeks, kinesis, and heterodonty. The spartan design of sauropod skulls may be related to their remarkably small size—sauropod skulls account for only 1/200th of total body volume compared to 1/30th body volume in ornithopod dinosaurs.     

Carbon emissions and management scenarios for consumer-owned utilities

An important subset of the utility sector has been scarcely explored for its ability to reduce carbon dioxide emissions: consumer-owned electric utilities significantly contribute to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, but are often excluded from energy efficiency and renewable energy policies. They sell a quarter of the nation's electricity, yet the carbon impact of these sales is not well understood, due to their small size, unique ownership models, and high percentage of purchased power for distribution. This paper situates consumer-owned utilities in the context of emerging U.S. climate policy, quantifying for the first time the state-by-state carbon impact of electricity sales by consumer-owned utilities. We estimate that total retail sales by consumer-owned utilities account for roughly 568 million metric tons of CO₂ annually, making this sector the 7th largest CO₂ emitter globally, and examine state-level carbon intensities of the sector in light of the current policy environment and the share of COU distribution in the states. Based on efficiency and fuel mix pathways under conceivable regulations, carbon scenarios for 2030 are developed.     

Capacity for Environmental Action in Slovakia

Capacity for environmental protection is important in developed and transitional countries, but the latter sometimes present a paradox where capacity has been created at the same time as public pressure and awareness has diminished. Slovakia presents a particular paradox, as its new democratic institutions have proved especially fragile. This paper adopts a framework developed by Janicke and Weidner in crossnational studies which implies that the use made of environmental capacity is a function of institutional, informational and structural conditions. By analysing the key features of the Slovakian environmental policy process in the context of these conditions, the paper confirms the utility of the model, and points to the prospects for future policy implementation.     

Interaction Between Scientists and Nonscientists in Community-Based Watershed Management: Emergence of the Concept of Stream Naturalization

The authors' personal experience in watershed planning and decision making in the agricultural Midwest is described to illustrate how: (1) formalization of the process of community-based management is not sufficient to guarantee that local people will meaningfully consider scientific information and opinion when making decisions about watersheds, and (2) genuine social interaction between scientists and nonscientists requires a considerable investment of time and energy on the part of the scientist to develop personal relationships with nonscientists based on trust and mutual exchange of information. This experience provides the basis for developing a general conceptual model of the interaction between scientists and nonscientists in community-based watershed management in the agricultural Midwest. An important aspect of integrating science effectively into community-based decision making is the need to revise existing concepts to accommodate place-based contexts. Stream naturalization is introduced as an alternative to stream restoration and rehabilitation, which are viewed as inappropriate management strategies in human-dominated environments. Stream naturalization seeks to establish sustainable, morphologically and hydraulically varied, yet dynamically stable fluvial systems that are capable of supporting healthy, biologically diverse aquatic ecosystems. This general goal is consistent with the types of stream-management practices emerging from community-based decision making in human-dominated, agricultural landscapes. Further research on the linkages between geomorphological and ecological dynamics of human-modified agricultural streams over multiple spatial and temporal scales is needed to provide a sound scientific framework for stream naturalization.     

Branchial and intestinal osmoregulatory acclimation in the four-eyed sleeper, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bostrychus sinensis</Emphasis> (Lacepède), exposed to seawater

Bostrychus sinensis is a facultative air breather that inhabits waters of a wide range of salinities. This study aimed to elucidate whether branchial and intestinal osmoregulatory acclimation occurred in B. sinensis transferred from 5‰ water through a progressive increase in salinities to seawater. Our results indicate that B. sinensis acted as a hyperosmotic regulator in 5‰ water, but exhibited hypoosmotic hypoionic regulation in seawater. During short- (1 day) and medium- (10 days) term acclimation to seawater, there were only minor perturbations in plasma osmolality and [Na⁺], which returned to control levels after 45 days of exposure to seawater. Branchial Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase activity was unaffected by 1, 10 or 45 days of exposure to seawater. However, prolonged (45 days) acclimation to seawater led to a significant increase in Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase α-subunit protein abundance. Taken together, these results indicate that there could be changes in the expression of Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase isoforms and/or post-translational modification of Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase in the gills of fish exposed to seawater. Immunofluorescence microscopy revealed that acclimation to seawater for 10 days only resulted in no change in branchial Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase protein expression, but there were increases in protein expression of cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR)-like chloride channel and Na⁺:K⁺:2Cl⁻ cotransporter (NKCC; probably NKCC1). Indeed, NKCC was undetectable in gills of fish kept in 5‰ water by Western blotting, but it became weakly detectable in fish exposed to seawater for 10 days and prominently expressed in fish exposed to seawater for 45 days. Therefore, our results indicate that branchial CFTR-like chloride channel and NKCC1 were the determining factors in the transition between hyperosmotic regulation and hypoosmotic hypoionic regulation in B. sinensis. Furthermore, the intestine of B. sinensis also served as an important osmoregulatory organ, since there were significant increases in both the activity and protein abundance of intestinal Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase in fish acclimated to seawater for 45 days. The effectiveness of branchial and intestinal osmoregulatory acclimation in B. sinensis during seawater acclimation led to only a minor increase in plasma osmolality, and thus resulted in relatively unchanged free amino acid contents in muscle and liver.     

Manipulating the perceived opportunity to cheat: an experimental test of the active roles of male and female zebra finches in mate guarding behavior

Birds are commonly sexually promiscuous, which can lead to conflict between the sexes and the evolution of paternity assurance strategies, such as mate guarding. Adaptive explanations for mate guarding have tended to focus on fitness consequences for males, but mate guarding and participation in being guarded is also likely adaptive for females in certain contexts. To better understand the adaptive explanations for mate guarding as well as the observed variation in paternity patterns, it is necessary to explore the relative costs and benefits of guarding (and being guarded) from both the male and female perspective. To investigate these costs and benefits, we conducted an experiment with the Australian zebra finch (Teniopygia guttata) in which we independently varied the perceived opportunity for each member of a captive breeding pair to engage in extra-pair copulation (EPC) solicitation behavior; as an individual’s EPC opportunity increased, the partner’s EPC opportunity remained constant. Our results indicate that, for males, mate guarding intensity increases when their female’s EPC opportunity increases but decreases when their own (i.e., male) EPC opportunity increases. We did not find evidence of flexible female guarding behavior, but we found that females do not evade their partners more as female EPC opportunity increases.