Oak decline analyzed using intraannual radial growth indices, δ13C series and climate data from a rural hemiboreal landscape in southwesternmost Finland

Decline of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) was studied in SW Finland. This is a region where the species is growing near its northern distributional limit globally and a recent decline of mature trees has been described regionally. Tree rings of declining oaks were compared to the chronologies of healthy and oaks that died, climate series and stable isotope discrimination of carbon (δ¹³C) of comparable mature trees. The radial growth (earlywood, latewood, and annual ring width) of declining oaks was clearly deteriorated in comparison to healthy oaks, but recuperated, compared to oaks that died, through all index types. Comparison of climate relationships between growth and δ¹³C, expected to reflect oaks’ intrinsic water use efficiency, indicated enhancing resistance to droughts through the growing season. The growth and the climatic growth response was differentiated in declining oaks as compared with the healthy and oaks that died revealing that: (1) declining oaks exhibited decreasing competitive strength as indicated by reduced overall growth relative to healthy oaks, (2) the growth of declining oaks was more sensitive to winter conditions, but less restricted by summer droughts than the growth of other oaks, and (3) healthy oaks were seen having benefitted from the ongoing lengthening of the growing season. Lack of correlativity between growth and δ¹³C became evident as their responses to temperature and precipitation variations deviated drastically during the other but summer months. Our results indicate that several different ecological factors, rather than a single climatic factor (e.g., drought), are controlling the oak decline in the studied environment.     

Correction to: Estimating the urban environmental impact of gasoline-ethanol blended fuels in a passenger vehicle engine

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org10.1007/s11356-021-13920-8     

Leaching characteristics of the fine fraction from an excavated landfill: physico-chemical characterization

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Leaching of fine fraction (<10 mm) obtained from landfill mining activities in an Estonian landfill was done. On-site excavation...     

Evaluation of the available strategies to control the emission of microplastics into the aquatic environment

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - No effective strategy has been found so far to control the emission of microplastics. The purpose of this article is to review the available control...     

Intergroup conflict,ostracism, and the evolution of cooperation under free migration

Theoretical investigations and quasi-experimental evidence from modern conflict areas suggest that intergroup conflict and ostracism play a pivotal role in the evolution of cooperation. However, there is little direct evidence about the influence of intergroup conflict on human social behavior in the presence of endogenous group formation and unrestricted migration. This study introduces an experiment to examine the impact of intergroup conflict and ostracism on group formation, and human cooperation in a dynamic environment where group size, the occurrence of intergroup hostility and the threat of ostracism are endogenously determined. Here, we show that intergroup conflict may inhibit merging into single large human coalitions. The threat of ostracism is shown to increase the average group size and cooperation within the society. In addition, we find that competitive pressure between groups decreases the likelihood of social exclusion. Our results suggest that free migration between groups suppresses the impact of between-group competition on within-group cooperation. Moreover, our results stress the role of ostracism as a means to repress competition within groups and enhance group success in competition against other groups.     

Green synthesis,activation and functionalization of adsorbents for dye sequestration

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The release of recalcitrant dyes into the biosphere is a threat because of pollution and environmental health issues. Adsorption using commercial activated carbon...     

The use of low-cost adsorbents for wastewater purification in mining industries

Recently, great attention has been paid to the environmental problems in mining industry. At present there are different ways of mineral processing, as well as various methods of wastewater treatment, most of them are expensive. Work is ongoing to find low-cost treatments. In this article, low-cost adsorbents, potentially useful for wastewater treatment on mining and metallurgical plants, are reviewed; their characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of their application are compared. Also adsorption of different metals and radioactive compounds from acidic environment similar to composition of mining and metallurgical wastewaters is considered.     

Analysis of moisture findings in the interior spaces of Finnish housing stock

A grading system was developed to rate the moisture damage profile of dwellings and to study the relationship between moisture-induced indoor air problems and occupant health. A total of 630 randomly selected houses and apartments, built between 1950 and 1989, were visually inspected. Moisture observations were standardized into three damage levels. Thus, a system to classify the homes into three grades was devised. The two grades of homes associated with the highest levels of damage were graded as index homes. Overall, 51% of the sample had some kind of moisture fault in them and one in every three homes (33%) was classified as an index home. The mean number of damage incidents in the index dwellings varied from 1.4 to 2.6. The mean number of damage incidents in the reference homes was 0.28. Prevalence of index dwellings was significantly higher (p < 0.01) in houses (38%) than in apartments (26%). There was no major difference in the prevalence of index buildings in houses built in any particular decade (30-35%). Moisture was observed in 28% of bathrooms, in 10% of kitchens, and in 17% of other spaces. Indoor relative humidity (RH) levels were low in most homes.     

Variation in ozone sensitivity among clones of Betula pendula and Betula pubescens

Forty clones of Betula pendula and 6 clones of Betula pubescens, originating from southern and central Finland, were ranked in order of ozone sensitivity according to visible injuries, growth and leaf senescense under low ozone exposure. The plants were fumigated in natural climatic conditions using an open-air exposure system during two growing seasons. Control plants were grown under ambient air, and the elevated-ozone exposures were 1.6x the ambient in 1994 and 1.7x the ambient in 1995. The differences in ozone sensitivity among clones were large. Ozone tolerance was related to thicker leaves and higher stomatal density as compared to sensitive clones. Ultrastructural ozone-induced symptoms were found in chloroplasts of sensitive clones. Increased number of visibly injured leaves on fumigated plants was correlated with reduced leaf formation, foliage area, shoot dry wt and number of stomata, and increased yellowing of leaves. The results suggest that a considerable proportion of birch trees, showing high sensitivity to ozone, are at risk if ambient ozone exposures increase.     

Air concentrations and urinary metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons among paving and remixing workers

The exposure of paving workers to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) during stone mastic asphalt (SMA) paving and remixing was evaluated. The effects on the workers' PAH exposure were also evaluated during the use of an industrial by-product, coal fly ash (CFA), instead of limestone as the filler in the SMA. The PAH exposure was measured by personal air sampling and by analysing the levels of urinary naphthols, phenanthrols and 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) in the workers' pre- and post-shift urine samples. The respiratory PAH exposure of the paving workers (geometric mean (GM) 5.7 microg m(-3)) was about ten-fold that of the traffic controllers (GM 0.43 microg m(-3)). The levels of PAH metabolites were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the post-shift urine samples than in the pre-shift urine samples, and the levels of metabolites in the post-shift urine of paving workers were significantly higher than in that of the controls (p < 0.01). Urinary 1-naphthol correlated well with the airborne concentrations of the two- to three-ring PAHs (r = 0.544, p = 0.003) and naphthalene (r = 0.655, p < 0.001), when non-smoking paving workers were tested. A good correlation was observed between urinary 1-OHP and the airborne concentrations of the four- to six-ring PAHs (r = 0.524, p = 0.003) as well as total PAHs (r = 0.575, p = 0.001). The concentrations of 1-OHP and phenanthrols in the urine of the pavers were significantly higher (p < 0.01) during remixing than during SMA paving. The CFA in the asphalt had no effect on the airborne PAH exposure or on the concentrations of the PAH metabolites in the paving workers' urine.