Smart regulation for water innovation – the case of decentralized rainwater technology

“Lead-markets”, “environmental innovations”, and “low-carbon technologies” are some of the modern buzz-words surrounding environmental regulation. But how can governments set the stage for industrial innovation, new and improved products, and the implementation of new, cleaner processes, products and services? The article explores this question with reference to sustainable water technologies, specifically the purchase of decentralized rainwater facilities. It is more ecologically sustainable to process rainwater locally than expanding drainage into the centralized system. However, the market for decentralized water technologies is still a niche one compared to centralized infrastructure. The article therefore evaluates regulative instruments in “smart” support of decentralized technologies.     

Occurrence of Norovirus GIV in Environmental Water Samples from Belém City,Amazon Region,Brazil

Noroviruses are the major cause of non-bacterial acute gastroenteritis outbreaks in humans, with few reports about the occurrence of the norovirus GIV strain. We investigated the presence of norovirus GIV in surface water (river, bay, and stream) and untreated sewage, and we determined a positivity rate of 9.4 % (9/96). The strains genotyped were GIV.1. To our knowledge, this is the first report of GIV in Brazil.     

Reproductive strategy and singing activity: blue tit and great tit compared

The costs and benefits of bird song are likely to vary among species, and different singing patterns may reflect differences in reproductive strategies. We compared temporal patterns of singing activity in two songbird species, the blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) and the great tit (Parus major). The two species live side by side year round, and they have similar breeding ecology and similar rates of extra-pair paternity. However, they differ in two aspects of reproductive strategy that may have an influence on song output: blue tits are facultatively polygynous and have a fairly short breeding season with almost no second broods, whereas great tits are socially monogamous but more commonly raise second broods. We found that great tit males continued singing at high levels during the egg-laying and incubation periods, while monogamously paired blue tit males strongly reduced singing activity after the first days of egg-laying by their female. Since males of both species sang much more intensely shortly before sunrise than after sunrise, at midday or in the evening, this difference was most conspicuous at dawn. No differences in singing activity were found within species when testing for male age. We suggest that in contrast to blue tits, great tit males continued singing after egg-laying to defend the territory and to encourage the female for a possible second brood.     

The uptake and translocation of selected elements by cole (Brassica) grown using oasis soils in pot experiments

Pot experiments were conducted on cole (Brassica) grown in soils jointly treated with traces of two heavy metals cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn). As the concentration of heavy metals in the soil increased, the uptake of these metals by the plants rose. However, the ratio of heavy metal concentration in soil to uptake by plants increased at a slower rate. Bioavailability of heavy metals considered between the roots and soil using non-linear regressions was shown to be statistically significant. Similarly, the bioavailability of these two heavy metals between leaves and roots using a linear regression was also statistically significant. The bioconcentration factors (BCFs) for Cd and Zn were 0.282 and 4.289, respectively. Significant variation of BCF with the heavy metal bioavailability in soil was noted from non-linear models. The transfer factors (TFs) were 4.49 for Cd and 1.39 for Zn. The Zn concentration in leaves under all treatments did not exceed threshold set standards, but Cd levels exceeded these standards when the concentration of Cd in the soil was more than 1.92 mg kg^?1 dry weight (dw). Data indicate that cole (Brassica) is not a suitable crop for oasis soils because of plant contamination with heavy metals, especially Cd.     

Functional divergence in heat shock response following rapid speciation of Fucus spp. in the Baltic Sea

In the Baltic Sea, the broadly distributed brown alga Fucus vesiculosus coexists in sympatry over part of its range (south west Gulf of Bothnia) with the Baltic endemic F. radicans sp. nov, while further north in colder and lower-salinity areas of the Baltic F. radicans occurs alone (north west Gulf of Bothnia). F. radicans appears to have arisen via rapid speciation from F. vesiculosus within the recent history of the Baltic (ca. 7500 BP). Possible functional divergence between the two species was investigated by comparing stress-responsive gene expression in a common-garden experiment. The experiment used two allopatric populations of Fucus vesiculosus from the Skagerrak (North Sea) and Central Baltic, as well as F. radicans from the same Central Baltic site. The two species in sympatry displayed divergent heat shock responses, while F. vesiculosus populations from allopatric sites did not. F. radicans was more sensitive to heat shock at 25°C, either alone or together with high irradiance and desiccation, than Baltic or Skagerrak F. vesiculosus. The results indicate that rapid functional divergence in the inducible heat shock response has occurred between sympatric species on a timescale of thousands of years.     

Mother really knows best: host choice of adult phytophagous insect females reflects a within-host variation in suitability as larval food

Non-random distribution patterns of specialized phytophagous insects on their hosts may depend on intraspecific differences in plant tissue quality, including nutrients and secondary compounds. Secondary compounds are involved in plant resistance, but are also important for the recognition and acceptability of plants as resources by specialized insects. If individuals within a plant species vary in their content of such secondary substances, there may also be qualitative differences between them. In such cases, natural selection will favor insects with the ability to distinguish and prefer the more suitable plants. In Sweden, the leaf beetle Gonioctena linnaeana Schrank (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) is highly specialized on one host, the native willow Salix triandra L (Salicaceae). Field observations reveal that some host plants in a population harbor many feeding larvae, causing severe defoliation, whereas neighboring plants may have few or no feeding larvae. Our hypothesis is that the distribution pattern of G. linnaeana larvae in this population results from qualitative differences between individual host plants in combination with the ability of G. linnaeana females to distinguish between plants that are suitable and not suitable for offspring performance. We examine whether larval survival differs depending on diet and whether the content of secondary chemical compounds explains female preference. Based on the higher survival rate of larvae reared on leaves from preferred hosts, we conclude that G. linnaeana females have evolved a behavior that maximizes offspring performance and thus positively affects female fitness. A chemical survey of the plants indicates that luteolin-7-glucoside and an unidentified flavonoid are important for separating the preferred from the non-preferred plants.     

Arsenic accumulation in the hyperaccumulator Chinese brake and its utilization potential for phytoremediation

The unique property of arsenic hyperaccumulation by the newly discovered Chinese brake (Pteris vittata L.) fern is of great significance in the phytoremediation of arsenic-contaminated soils. The objectives of this study were to (i) examine arsenic accumulation characterized by its distribution pattern in Chinese brake, and (ii) assess the phytoextraction potential of the plant. Young ferns with five or six fronds were transferred to an arsenic-contaminated soil containing 98 mg As kg-1 and grown for 20 wk in a greenhouse. At harvest, the Chinese brake produced a total dry biomass of 18 g plant-1. Arsenic concentration in the fronds was 6000 mg kg-1 dry mass after 8 wk of transplanting, and it increased to 7230 mg kg-1 after 20 wk with a bioconcentration factor (ratio of plant arsenic concentration to water-soluble arsenic in soil) of 1450 and a translocation factor (ratio of arsenic concentration in shoot to that in root) of 24. The arsenic concentrations increased as the fronds aged, with the old fronds accumulating as much as 13,800 mg As kg-1. Most (approximately 90%) of the arsenic taken up by the Chinese brake was transported to the fronds, with the lowest arsenic concentrations in roots. About 26% of the initial soil arsenic was removed by the plant after 20 wk of transplanting. Our data suggest that the arsenic hyperaccumulating property of the Chinese brake could be exploited on a large scale to remediate arsenic contaminated soils.     

Low molecular weight thiols in arsenic hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata upon exposure to arsenic and other trace elements

Low molecular weight thiol-containing compounds have been reported to play an important role in metal detoxification and accumulation in some higher plants. The formation of these low molecular weight thiols in the recently discovered arsenic hyperaccumulator, Chinese Brake fern (Pteris vittata) upon exposure to arsenic and other trace metals was investigated. In addition to cysteine and glutathione, an unidentified thiol was observed in the plants exposed to arsenic, which was not found in the control. The concentration of the unidentified thiol showed a very strong and positive correlation with arsenic concentration in the leaflets. The unidentified thiol was low in rachises and undetectable in the roots for As-treated plants. Total and acid-soluble thiols were also measured and the results indicated that arsenic mainly stimulated the synthesis of acid-soluble thiol in Chinese Brake. The investigations of other trace elements (Cd, Cu, Cr, Zn, Pb, Hg, and Se) showed that these elements were not accumulated in Chinese Brake to high levels and the synthesis of the unidentified thiol in the plant was not observed. Our study suggests that the unidentified thiol was induced specifically by arsenic and the distribution patterns of the unidentified thiol and arsenic in the plant were consistent, indicating that the synthesis of this compound was related to As exposure.