Regaining the traditional use of wildlife in wetlands on the coastal plain of Veracruz,Mexico: ensuring food security in the face of global climate change

Regional Environmental Change - Wetlands play important roles that benefit social-ecological systems. They are threatened by climate change and human activities, i.e., raising livestock and...     

Gendered medicinal plant knowledge contributions to adaptive capacity and health sovereignty in Amazonia

Local medical systems are key elements of social-ecological systems as they provide culturally appropriate and locally accessible health care options, especially for populations with scarce access to biomedicine. The adaptive capacity of local medical systems generally rests on two pillars: species diversity and a robust local knowledge system, both threatened by local and global environmental change. We first present a conceptual framework to guide the assessment of knowledge diversity and redundancy in local medicinal knowledge systems through a gender lens. Then, we apply this conceptual framework to our research on the local medicinal plant knowledge of the Tsimane’ Amerindians. Our results suggest that Tsimane’ medicinal plant knowledge is gendered and that the frequency of reported ailments and the redundancy of knowledge used to treat them are positively associated. We discuss the implications of knowledge diversity and redundancy for local knowledge systems’ adaptive capacity, resilience, and health sovereignty.     

Analysis of lipid peroxidation in animal and plant tissues as field-based biomarker in Mediterranean irrigated agroecosystems (Extremadura,Spain)

ABSTRACT

The development of field-based biomarkers can allow for a more reliable assessment of the exposure of organisms to pollutants. Different sampling sites, along two streams running through an irrigable agricultural area, were selected to evaluate the effect of agrochemical load on the measured endpoints. The levels of lipid peroxidation were evaluated in several organs of Procambarus clarkii. The same method was applied to leaves of two woody species. Determining levels of MDA (malonaldehyde) by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances assay allows measuring the levels of lipid peroxidation. Differences in lipid peroxidation levels were observed in P. clarkii individuals collected at different sites; however, the patterns varied depending on the organ (when accounting for variations due to sex). The use of a MDA-gills/MDA-hepatopancreas index allowed for discrimination between reference and polluted sites. Significant differences in oxidative damage between sites were found in the leaves of Quercus rotundifolia but not in Salix sp. The lipid peroxidation of crayfish organs and holm oak leaves as a suitable biomarker of environmental pollution deserves further investigation.     

Canopy leaching of nutrients and metals in a mountain spruce forest

Precipitation and throughfall fluxes of major ions, nutrients (C, N, P), and metals (Al, Fe, Mn), and the chemical composition of litter fall and living plant tissue in Norway spruce stands (the Bohemian Forest; Czech Republic), were used to evaluate how microbial processes and decay of plant tissue in canopies influence canopy leaching (CL) of elements. Proton exchange for Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, and K⁺ in decaying biomass and co-transport of Ca²⁺ and K⁺ out of plant cells with organic acid anions were the most likely processes contributing to CL of base cations. The CL of total P and N (and also NO₃^?) was minor. Important proportions of the N and P mineral forms were transformed to organic forms by microbial processes (primary and bacterial production), with the respective CL of ?13.9 and 16.4 mmol m^?2 yr^?1 for NH₄⁺ and organic N, and ?0.33 and 0.22 mmol m^?2 yr^?1 for dissolved reactive P (DRP) and organic P. Most of particulate P and N in throughfall (～90%) originated from microbial DRP and NH₄⁺ transformations, but particulate C mostly came from the fragmentation of plant tissue (58%). Among metals, CL was not observed for Al, was small for Fe (0.3 mmol m^?2 yr^?1), and greatest for Mn (0.9 mmol m^?2 yr^?1) due to leaching from decaying tissue by acidic precipitation.     

Dissipation of fenoxycarb and pyriproxyfen in fresh and canned peach

The objective of this work was to determine the dissipation of fenoxycarb and pyriproxyfen in fresh and canned peaches in order to know the levels of residues that can reach consumers in real circumstances. Two field dissipation studies were carried out, one of them at the pre-harvest interval (PHI) with good agricultural practice (GAP) and the other one in a situation of critical agricultural practice (CAP). Two canning dissipation studies were carried out for samples from both agricultural situations in an industrial pilot plant and the dissipation was determined in each relevant step. An analytical methodology was used including acetone-dichloromethane extraction, purification and analysis by liquid chromatography and diode array detection (LC-DAD) with a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 0.05 mg/kg. It was validated under SANCO/10232/2006 Guidelines. These pesticides complied with the official maximum residue limits (MRLs) in peaches at the PHI with good agricultural practices. In hypothetical situation of a second application at the PHI, fenoxycarb and pyriproxyfen residues were above the MRLs in peaches. The canning study reduced the residues to no detectable levels in the cans for consumers.     

Investigation of chloramine-T impact on crayfish Astacus leptodactylus (Esch., 1823) cardiac activity

The crayfish play an essential role in the biomonitoring and may reflect ambient water quality through the biochemical, behavioural and physiological reactions. To assess whether narrow-clawed crayfish Astacus leptodactylus can respond by heart rate changes to presence in water of such biocide as chloramine-T, adult males were exposed to its low (2 and 5 mg L^?1), moderate (10 mg L^?1, commonly used in industry and aquaculture) and exceeded (20 and 50 mg L^?1) concentrations. In addition, a physical stress test evaluated energy expenditure following the chemical trials. Three key reactions (cardiac initial, first-hour and daily prolonged exposure) were discussed with particular focus on crayfish initial reaction as the most meaningful in on-line water quality biomonitoring. After short-term exposure to both chloramine-T concentrations, crayfish were found to respond rapidly, within 2–5 min. According to heart rate changes, the 1-h exposure did not adversely affect crayfish at either concentration, as well as during daily exposure to 10 mg L^?1. As assessed by the heart rate, the 24-h exposure to 50 mg L^?1 of chloramine-T was toxic for crayfish and led to substantial loss of energy that became apparent during subsequently conducted physical stress. The results supported a hypothesis that crayfish vital functions are connected with environment they inhabit closely enough to serve as biological monitors. Crayfish were tolerant to short-term chloramine-T exposure, while rapid crayfish reaction to an increased chemical level indicated their high sensitivity, an essential attribute of real-time environmental assessment.     

Identification of best available techniques in the seafood industry: a case study

A Best Available Techniques (BAT) analysis of a mussel canning processing facility in northwest Spain was undertaken to investigate potential cleaner production and efficiency improvements. Potential techniques were identified from the literature and from our experience in the seafood sector. BATs were then assessed for possible implementation in a mussel canning facility. This work describes, in considerable detail, the advantages and disadvantages of the techniques discussed.     

Emergy,nutrients balance,and economic assessment of soybean production and industrialization in Brazil

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the soybean production and industrial processing stages in Brazil using the emergy accounting methodology and economic cost and revenue estimation in order to assess the environmental and economic inputs to the soybean chain and to evaluate the amount of emergy and nutrients exported to European countries. The main findings of this work were that the agricultural stage uses the highest amount of resources. The emergy exchange ratio shows that farmers are delivering around six times more emergy in the soybean that is being sold than the emergy they are receiving with the money paid for it. Results demonstrate that producing raw soybean and soy meal for international markets makes Brazil lose a great amount of emergy and nutrients. Besides that, soybean production is nowadays providing low profitability to farmers because of low prices for soybean products and high prices for the chemicals used in soybean farming. Therefore, at present conditions, exporting soybean as a commodity results in low profit per unit of area.