The Effect of Military Training Activity on Eastern Lupine and the Karner Blue Butterfly at Fort McCoy,Wisconsin, USA

The US Department of Defense (DOD) manages over 10.1 million ha of land, much of which is used for training military personnel. However, vast sections receive little or no use, and military lands have become refuges for many species. At Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, USA, populations of the endangered Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) are found in oak and pine barren communities where wild lupine (Lupinus perennis), a perennial forb required by Karner blue butterfly larvae, still occurs. Oak and pine barren communities are disturbance-dependent, and the barrens ecosystems in the Midwest have declined in extent by 98% because of fire suppression, succession, and habitat fragmentation. We studied the effects of disturbance by military manuever training on the density of lupine and Karner blue butterfly at Fort McCoy. We also wanted to determine whether military training activity could enhance Karner blue butterfly habitat. At locations where tracked vehicles had driven through lupine patches, the abundance of lupine and nectar-producing plants was greater in the median strip between vehicle ruts than in vehicle ruts or 5 m outside the vehicle ruts. The proportion of lupine stems with Karner blue butterfly larvae feeding sign (the ratio of stems fed upon to stems examined) was greater in areas where military vehicles had traveled than where they had not. The proportion of lupine stems with feeding sign and lupine stem density was also positively related to the occurrence of prior bivouacs and fires caused by military munitions. Shrub and forest canopy abundance were lower in areas traveled by tracked vehicles. At the scale of the lupine patch, lupine abundance and the proportion of lupine stems with feeding sign were positively correlated with military training activities, suggesting that maintenance of lupine habitat can be achieved in concert with military training.     

Infiltrating citizen-driven initiatives for sustainability

To examine how citizen-driven initiatives for sustainability strive to bring about change and spread their practices, efforts to link social movement, grassroots innovation and green-consumption movements theory are built upon. Göteborg’s citizen-driven waste-prevention initiatives, such as food waste recovery, creating common reuse spaces in housing blocks, exchanging used toys and repairing abandoned bicycles, are considered with data from observations, workshops, documents, social media communications and in-depth interviews. Citizen-driven initiatives succeeded in mobilizing material resources, displaying and reframing various rationales, and creating collaborative local networks to develop their waste-prevention practices. These practices infiltrated the municipal administration, matching incipient institutional mandates to minimize waste. By so doing, they bring within mainstream institutions radical rationales that can become activated in the future, contributing to diachronic change.     

Main differences on European regulations in the frame of the Seveso Directive

Since the first Seveso Directive was issued 25 years ago, each Member State of the European Union developed own regulations to enforce its application. The lack of a common approach generated differences between Member States, or even between regions within a Member State, which in practical terms caused that establishments falling under the field of application of the Seveso Directive face a different level of requirements. This situation causes significantly different impact on social, technical and financial aspects.Factors like industrial background, accidental history, actual land use, social attitude towards risk, economical and political structures play an important role in how the decisions about hazardous activities are perceived and handled.Answering the question: “Is there a right methodology for the assessment of the risk of major accidents?” may be sterile or impossible. Many tools are appropriate and the main concern is to use them properly. Technically, the causes and consequences of, e.g., a fire in a port in Spain on the Mediterranean Sea or in the port of Basel (Switzerland) in the Rhine River could be assessed using the same methods and criteria, but this is not usually the case.This paper shows, with practical examples, the differences existing while applying different regulations in the field of prevention of major accidents and the potential effects that these differences may generate regarding the definition and management of emergency plans outside establishments.If the existing unequal situation is not faced, the comparative disagreements between Member States will prevail. Therefore, the application of the Seveso Directive will generate a different impact on the society, operators and regulators, and may become a factor which may cause a risk transfer between Member States. Efforts should be addressed to harmonize criteria in this subject.     

Satellite observations of Mexico City pollution outflow from the Tropospheric Emissions Spectrometer (TES)

Concurrent tropospheric O₃ and CO vertical profiles from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) during the MILAGRO/INTEX-B aircraft campaigns over the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) and its surrounding regions were used to examine Mexico City pollution outflow on a regional scale. The pollution outflow from the MCMA occurred predominantly at 600–800 hPa as evident in O₃, CO, and NO_x enhancements in the in situ aircraft observations. TES O₃ and CO are sensitive to the MCMA pollution outflow due to their relatively high sensitivities at 600–800 hPa. We examined O₃, CO, and their correlation at 600–800 hPa from TES retrievals, aircraft measurements, and GEOS-Chem model results. TES captures much of the spatial and day-to-day variability of O₃ seen in the in situ data. TES CO, however, shows much less spatial and day-to-day variability compared with the in situ observations. The ΔO₃/ΔCO slope is significantly higher in the TES data (0.43) than the in situ data (0.28) due partly to the lack of variability in TES CO. Extraordinarily high ΔO₃/ΔCO slope (0.81) from TES observations at 618 hPa over the Eastern U.S. was previously reported by Zhang et al. [Zhang, L., Jacob, D.J., Bowman, K.W., et al., 2006. Ozone–CO correlations determined by the TES satellite instrument in continental outflow regions. Geophys. Res. Lett. 33, L18804. 10.1029/2006GL026399.]. Thus the application of TES CO–O₃ correlation to map continental pollution outflow needs further examination.     

Different compensatory mechanisms in two metal-accumulating aquatic macrophytes exposed to acute cadmium stress in outdoor artificial lakes

Mechanisms underlying cadmium (Cd) detoxification were compared in two aquatic macrophytes commonly used in phytoremediation, namely Pistia stratiotes L. and Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms. To simulate Cd pollution in the open environment, plants growing in outdoor artificial lakes were exposed for 21d to either 25 or 100microM Cd, in two consecutive years. Toxicity symptoms were absent or mild in both species. Metal accumulation was much higher in the roots of P. stratiotes, whereas in E. crassipes a comparatively higher fraction was translocated to the leaves. In both species, Cd was neither included in phenolic polymers or Ca-oxalate crystals, nor altered the levels of Cd-complexing organic acids. Glutathione levels were constitutively remarkably higher and much more responsive to Cd exposure in P. stratiotes than in E. crassipes. Abundant phytochelatin synthesis occurred only in P. stratiotes, both in roots and in leaves. In E. crassipes, on the other side, the constitutive levels of some antioxidant enzymes and ascorbate were higher and more responsive to Cd than in P. stratiotes. Thus, in these two aquatic plants grown in the open, different detoxification mechanisms might come into play to counterbalance Cd acute stress.     

Herbicide losses in runoff events from a field with a low slope: role of a vegetative filter strip

Herbicide runoff and the effects of a narrow vegetative filter strip (VFS) were studied on an arable field in the low-lying plains of the Veneto Region (north-east Italy). Cultivated plots were compared with and without a 6m wide VFS composed of trees, shrubs and grass. Natural and simulated runoff were monitored during 2000 and 2001. Herbicides applied on the field were: metolachlor (2184-2254 g ha(-1)), terbuthylazine (1000-1127 g ha(-1)) and isoproturon (1000 g ha(-1)). The VFS reduced both runoff depth (10.2-91.2%) and herbicide losses (85.7-97.9%) in the monitored rainfall events. Total herbicide loss with runoff was low (0.69-3.98 g ha(-1) without VFS, less than 0.27 g ha(-1) with VFS), but concentrations were sometimes very high, especially of terbuthylazine and isoproturon during the first events after treatment. In these events there was a high probability of exceeding the ecotoxicological endpoint for algae, but the VFS helped to reduce the potential risk. Two VFS effectiveness mechanisms were identified: (i) dilution, and (ii) a "sponge-like" effect, which temporarily trapped chemicals inside the VFS before releasing them.     

Towards a framework for assessment and management of cumulative human impacts on marine food webs

Effective ecosystem‐based management requires understanding ecosystem responses to multiple human threats, rather than focusing on single threats. To understand ecosystem responses to anthropogenic threats holistically, it is necessary to know how threats affect different components within ecosystems and ultimately alter ecosystem functioning. We used a case study of a Mediterranean seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) food web and expert knowledge elicitation in an application of the initial steps of a framework for assessment of cumulative human impacts on food webs. We produced a conceptual seagrass food web model, determined the main trophic relationships, identified the main threats to the food web components, and assessed the components’ vulnerability to those threats. Some threats had high (e.g., coastal infrastructure) or low impacts (e.g., agricultural runoff) on all food web components, whereas others (e.g., introduced carnivores) had very different impacts on each component. Partitioning the ecosystem into its components enabled us to identify threats previously overlooked and to reevaluate the importance of threats commonly perceived as major. By incorporating this understanding of system vulnerability with data on changes in the state of each threat (e.g., decreasing domestic pollution and increasing fishing) into a food web model, managers may be better able to estimate and predict cumulative human impacts on ecosystems and to prioritize conservation actions.     

A knowledge network to promote the use and valorization of wild food plants in the Pantanal and Cerrado,Brazil

Regional Environmental Change - The conservation and use of wild food plants should include local people in the decision-making process, and many countries have done so. However, interacting with...     

Acute exposition to Roundup Transorb® induces systemic oxidative stress and alterations in the expression of newly sequenced genes in silverside fish (Odontesthes humensis)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Roundup Transorb® (RDT) is a glyphosate-based herbicide commonly used in agricultural practices worldwide. This herbicide exerts negative effects...