Sustainability and New Models of Consumption: The Solidarity Purchasing Groups in Sicily

European society, with its steadily increasing welfare levels, is not only concerned with food (safety, prices), but also with other aspects such as biodiversity loss, landscape degradation, and pollution of water, soil, and atmosphere. To a great extent these concerns can be translated into a larger concept named sustainable development, which can be defined as a normative concept by). Sustainability in the food chain means creating a new sustainable agro-food system while taking the institutional element into account. While different concepts of sustainability abound, in recent years, spontaneous groups of consumers called solidarity purchase groups (SPG) have been developing. In short, they are characterized by an economy that is not necessarily local, but ethical and equitable, where social and economic territorial relations tend to develop districts and networks. One of the main characteristics of a SPG is the direct relationships between small farms and their customers; a relationship that is characterized by consumer participation and farmer specialization. This study aims to address issues related to organizational frameworks, at farm and chain level, and to assess those elements that lead to consumer choice and satisfaction.     

Brazilian Amazonia: Industrial development and environmental monitoring

After a critical analysis of the strategies for conservation of the environment in Latin America and of large-scale development projects (agriculture and livestock raising, mining and electrical power plants) in the Amazon region of Brazil, this paper deals with the use of high-resolution satellite imagery for environmental monitoring. Two areas were considered in the study, Tucurui and Altamira. Spot/XS and Landsat/TM multispectral images were used, together with color aerial photographs of these areas. A computer-assisted visual interpretation procedure was employed to analyze images, and linear multispectral transformation was applied in selected subscenes in order to improve information extraction. The results indicate that high-resolution satellite imagery is generally compatible with the scale of the environmental problems in Amazonia and is a very efficient source of detailed information at a local scale on many aspects of the environment, in particular for monitoring changes over time in selected areas. Therefore, commercial satellite imagery, processed by specialized software, can accommodate a variety of analysis needs for decision makers and can also be an effective means of verification of international agreements on conservation of the environment in Amazonia.     

Assessment, validation and intercomparison of operational models for predicting tritium migration from routine discharges of nuclear power plants: the case of Loire River

During last decades, a number of projects have been launched to validate models for predicting the behaviour of radioactive substances in the environment. The project of the "Aquatic" working group of the project EMRAS (Environmental Modelling for Radiation Safety) organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was based on the validation and assessment of models for predicting the behaviour of radionuclides in the aquatic ecosystems. The present paper describes a blind test of models aimed at assessing the dispersion of tritium releases in the Loire River (France), on a large domain ( approximately 350km) and on a period of six months, by comparing the results obtained by operational-to-experimental values of tritium concentration at Angers, a city along the Loire River. The common conclusion is that the models used by the different participants namely 1D models and models based on a schematic hydraulic (box models) are reliable tools for tritium transport modelling. Nevertheless, the importance of proper and detailed hydrological data for the appropriate prediction of pollutant migration in water is demonstrated by the example provided during this study.     

REGIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TOTAL DISSOLVED MINERALS IN STREAM WATERS OF ILLINOIS1

ABSTRACT Using water analyses from 67 gaging stations, discharge-frequency-weighted mean concentrations (QFC) and average annual yield (AAY) per unit area were determined for the total dissolved mineral content of Illinois streams. The resultant data indicates that total dissolved mineral contents are controlled by regional rather than local factors. In most cases plausible explanation for the magnitudes can be found in regional patterns of natural and demographic conditions. Although the data suggest that total dissolved minerals are increasing, the relative contributions of natural versus anthropogenic phenomena are difficult to delimit at this level of investigation.     

The cost of success: reproductive effort in male southern elephant seals (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Mirounga leonina</Emphasis>)

Reproductive effort is a key parameter of life history because it measures the resources allocated to reproduction at the expense of growth and maintenance. Male reproductive effort always had a minor role with respect to female effort both in the development of theories and in field research. Elephant seals are an ideal subject for reproductive effort studies because they fast during the breeding season, splitting the phase of energy acquisition from the phase of energy use for breeding. In this paper, we present results on male reproductive effort (weight loss estimated by photogrammetry) in southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina), the most dimorphic and polygynous of all mammal species. We show that total reproductive effort increases with age, with no sign of late decrease or senescence. Male reproductive effort in this species depends mostly on behavioral factors, i.e., the success in competition with other males, and the intensity of interaction with females. A large effort results in large gains in both mating success and fertilizations. The large reproductive success that a few males are able to achieve come at a big cost in terms of energy expenditure, but this cost does not seem to affect the likelihood of survival to the following breeding season.     

Erratum to: Patterns of spatial variability of seagrass epiphytes in the north-west Mediterranean Sea

This study aimed to gain insight on patterns of spatial variability of seagrass epiphytes of both leaves and of rhizomes in three different habitats, continental coasts, offshore banks and islands. Moreover, we tried to discriminate between habitat-dependant variability and scale-dependant variability of Posidonia oceanica epiphytic assemblages. Results showed the absence of significant differences in the structure of assemblages of epiphytes both on leaves and on rhizomes among continental coasts, offshore banks and islands, even if the patterns of spatial variability changed among habitats. In fact, although a high variability at small scales appeared a constant pattern in epiphytic assemblages, large-scale variability resulted higher in continental coasts and offshore banks than in islands. In conclusion, epiphytic assemblages of Posidonia oceanica appear homogeneous among habitats, showing a similar structure and species composition in the same geographic area. On the contrary, differences between meadows appeared linked to local differences in environmental factors that are more evident in habitats influenced by human disturbance. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Validation and global uncertainty of a gas chromatographic with mass spectrometry method for fenamidone analysis in grapes and wines

Fenamidone is an imidazolinone fungicide recently introduced in viticulture practices. This work reports the validation and assessment of global uncertainty of a gas chromatographic with mass spectrometry method to analyze fenamidone in grapes and wines. This method consists in a simple and fast liquid-liquid extraction step followed by chromatographic determination. Limits of detection for fenamidone in grapes and wines were, respectively, 0.05 mg/kg and 0.06 mg/L, precision was below 9.4% and average recovery was 89 ± 5%. In the concentration range from 0.05 to 1.00 mg/kg (or mg/L) of fenamidone, global uncertainty calculated following the EURACHEM/CITAC rules, and also by the Horwitz function, was below 25%. The EURACHEM/CITAC global uncertainty budget used gave lower estimates than those obtained from the Horwitz function.