Mean annual (222)Rn concentration in homes located in different geological regions of Poland: first approach to whole country area

The paper presents the results of year-long measurements of radon (²²²Rn) concentration inside 129 buildings in Poland in relation to the geological conditions of their foundation. The authors took into account the division of the country into tectonic units, as well as the lithology of the rocks forming the bedrock of these buildings. As expected, the highest value of mean annual ²²²Rn concentration (845 Bq/m³) was recorded in a building situated in the area of the Sudetes, while the highest geometric mean (characteristic of the expected log-normal data distribution) was calculated based on measurements from buildings located within the East-European craton, in the area of Mazury-Podlasie monocline, where it reached 231 Bq/m³. Such results reflect geological conditions - the occurrence of crystalline rocks (especially U- and Ra-enriched granites and orthogneisses) on the surface in the Sudetes, and of young post-glacial sediments containing fragments of Scandinavian crystalline rocks, also enriched with U and Ra, in the area of Mazury-Podlasie monocline. However, the least expected result of the investigations was finding out that, contrary to the hitherto widespread belief, none of the major tectonic units of Poland can be excluded from the list of those containing buildings with mean annual ²²²Rn concentration exceeding 200 Bq/m³. The mean annual concentration of radon for all the buildings were much higher than the mean concentration value (49.1 Bq/m³) of indoor radon in Poland quoted so far. These results cast a completely new light on the necessity to perform measurements of radon concentration in residential buildings in Poland, no more with reference to small areas with outcrops of crystalline rocks (especially the Sudetes, being the Polish fragment of the European Variscan belt), but for all the major tectonic units within Poland.     

A roadmap for ladybird conservation and recovery

Ladybirds (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) provide services that are critical to food production, and they fulfill an ecological role as a food source for predators. The richness, abundance, and distribution of ladybirds, however, are compromised by many anthropogenic threats. Meanwhile, a lack of knowledge of the conservation status of most species and the factors driving their population dynamics hinders the development and implementation of conservation strategies for ladybirds. We conducted a review of the literature on the ecology, diversity, and conservation of ladybirds to identify their key ecological threats. Ladybird populations are most affected by climate factors, landscape composition, and biological invasions. We suggest mitigating actions for ladybird conservation and recovery. Short-term actions include citizen science programs and education, protective measures for habitat recovery and threatened species, prevention of the introduction of non-native species, and the maintenance and restoration of natural areas and landscape heterogeneity. Mid-term actions involve the analysis of data from monitoring programs and insect collections to disentangle the effect of different threats to ladybird populations, understand habitat use by taxa on which there is limited knowledge, and quantify temporal trends of abundance, diversity, and biomass along a management-intensity gradient. Long-term actions include the development of a worldwide monitoring program based on standardized sampling to fill data gaps, increase explanatory power, streamline analyses, and facilitate global collaborations.     

A roadmap for the conservation of freshwater mussels in Europe

Europe has a long history of human pressure on freshwater ecosystems. As pressure continues to grow and new threats emerge, there is an urgent need for conservation of freshwater biodiversity and its ecosystem services. However, whilst some taxonomic groups, mainly vertebrates, have received a disproportionate amount of attention and funds, other groups remain largely off the public and scientific radar. Freshwater mussels (Bivalvia, Unionida) are an alarming example of this conservation bias and here we point out six conceptual areas that need immediate and long-term attention: knowledge, threats, socioeconomics, conservation, governance and education. The proposed roadmap aims to advance research, policy and education by identifying the most pressing priorities for the short- and long-term conservation of freshwater mussels across Europe.     

Rapid liquid–liquid extraction for the reliable GC/MS analysis of volatile priority pollutants

Mass spectrometry is a powerful tool for the analysis of organic pollutants in the environment. Nevertheless, sample preparation for GC/MS analysis is often criticized for being too laborious and requiring expensive equipment. Thus, purge-and-trap or headspace devices are the most popular nowadays to investigate volatile organic pollutants. At the same time, modern commercial high-resolution mass spectrometers allow for the significant simplification of the sample preparation procedures due to better acquisition rate, accurate mass measurements, and improved sensitivity. Here, we used a time-of-flight high-resolution mass spectrometer Pegasus GC-HRT (LECO, USA) to identify and quantify 47 volatile priority organic pollutants in water. The developed accelerated water sample preparation approach requires just 1 mL of water and 1 mL of dichloromethane. The detection limits of the analytes are about 1 μg L^?1, while the quantification limits are approximately 5 μg L^?1. These limits correspond to those required by Method 8260C of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Here, we demonstrate that sample preparation for the reliable and sensitive GC/MS analysis of volatile organic priority pollutants may be achieved in 5 min in 5-mL vials in the field or just prior to GC/MS analysis in the laboratory without the use of any expensive equipment.     

Interactions between scientific uncertainty and flood management decisions: Two case studies in Colorado

Flood management policies in the United States rely on scientific information about the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation and runoff. Yet, the available information is inherently uncertain because of the complexity of meteorological and hydrological processes. In mountainous areas, flood risk can vary greatly even within short distances depending on local climate, topography, soil characteristics, and land use. This paper describes two Colorado cases in which policy makers were presented with conflicting scientific estimates: revision of the Fort Collins floodplain map and modification of the Cherry Creek Dam. The case studies demonstrate that uncertainty can have substantial impacts on regulatory processes, public safety, and costs. The analysis considers the differing perspectives of various participants in the flood management processes, illustrating the interplay between uncertainties attributable to scientific issues and values issues. It suggests that attempts to provide a single “best” estimate do not necessarily meet the decision needs of all stakeholders. Conclusions indicate a need to improve communication about uncertainty when scientific estimates areprovided to decision makers. Furthermore, in highly controversial decisions, it may be necessary to reframe the discussion to consider the values issues raised by scientific uncertainty.     

Social actors’ perceptions of wildlife: Insights for the conservation of species in Mediterranean protected areas

AbstractIn the current Anthropocene Era, with numerous escalating challenges for biodiversity conservation, the inclusion of the social dimension into management decisions regarding wildlife and protected areas is critical to their success. By conducting 354 questionnaires in a Mediterranean protected area (the Biosphere Reserve of Bardenas Reales, Northern Spain), we aim to determine sociodemographic factors influencing knowledge levels and perceptions of species and functional groups as, emblematic and threatened. We found that hunters and animal husbandry workers knew more species than other social actors. Additionally, the perception of functional groups as threatened or emblematic differed between social actor groups, with statistically significant associations between perceptions and the characteristics of respondents. Interestingly, we found that although elusive steppe species are globally considered as endangered, these species were the least known by all social actor groups and rarely perceived as emblematic. This research is a novel approach and provides a better understanding of how perceptions can facilitate conservation decisions, particularly regarding endangered speciesGraphic abstract Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01546-6.     

Influence of the composition of the initial mixtures on the chemical composition,physicochemical properties and humic-like substances content of composts

The influence of the proportion of C- and N-rich raw materials (initial C/N ratio) and bulking agent on the chemical functional groups composition, humic-like substances (HS-like) content and physicochemical properties of composts was assessed. To achieve these goals, seven initial mixtures (BA1–6 and C1) of dog food (N-rich raw material) were composted with wheat flour (C-rich raw material). Composts were analyzed in terms of chemical functional groups, physicochemical, maturity and stability parameters.The C-rich raw material favored the formation of oxidized organic matter (OM) during the composting process, as suggested by the variation of the ratios of the peaks intensity of FT-IR spectra, corresponding to a decrease of the polysaccharides and an increase of aromatic and carboxyl-containing compounds. However, although with high proportion of C-rich raw material, mixtures with low initial C/N seems to have favored the accumulation of partially oxidized OM, which may have contributed to high electrical conductivity values in the final composts. Therefore, although favoring the partial transformation of OM into stabilized HS-like, initial mixtures with high proportion of C-rich raw material but with low initial C/N led to unstable composts.On the other hand, as long as a high percentage of bulking agent was used to promote the structure of biomass and consequently improve of the aeration conditions, low initial C/N was not a limiting factor of OM oxidation into extractable stabilized humic-like acids.     

Genome-wide abnormalities in embryos: Origins and clinical consequences

Ploidy or genome-wide chromosomal anomalies such as triploidy, diploid/triploid mixoploidy, chimerism, and genome-wide uniparental disomy are the cause of molar pregnancies, embryonic lethality, and developmental disorders. While triploidy and genome-wide uniparental disomy can be ascribed to fertilization or meiotic errors, the mechanisms causing mixoploidy and chimerism remain shrouded in mystery. Different models have been proposed, but all remain hypothetical and controversial, are deduced from the developmental persistent genomic constitutions present in the sample studied and lack direct evidence. New single-cell genomic methodologies, such as single-cell genome-wide haplotyping, provide an extended view of the constitution of normal and abnormal embryos and have further pinpointed the existence of mixoploidy in cleavage-stage embryos. Based on those recent findings, we suggest that genome-wide anomalies, which persist in fetuses and patients, can for a large majority be explained by a noncanonical first zygotic cleavage event, during which maternal and paternal genomes in a single zygote, segregate to different blastomeres. This process, termed heterogoneic division, provides an overarching theoretical basis for the different presentations of mixoploidy and chimerism.