High-resolution spatial distribution of greenhouse gas emissions in the residential sector

The development of high-resolution greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories is an important step towards emission reduction in different sectors. However, most of the spatially explicit approaches that have been developed to date produce outputs at a coarse resolution or do not disaggregate the data by sector. In this study, we present a methodology for assessing GHG emissions from the residential sector by settlements at a fine spatial resolution. In many countries, statistical data about fossil fuel consumption is only available at the regional or country levels. For this reason, we assess energy demand for cooking and water and space heating for each settlement, which we use as a proxy to disaggregate regional fossil fuel consumption data. As energy demand for space heating depends heavily on climatic conditions, we use the heating degree day method to account for this phenomenon. We also take the availability of energy sources and differences in consumption patterns between urban and rural areas into account. Based on the disaggregated data, we assess GHG emissions at the settlement level using country and regional specific coefficients for Poland and Ukraine, two neighboring countries with different energy usage patterns. In addition, we estimate uncertainties in the results using a Monte Carlo method, which takes uncertainties in the statistical data, calorific values, and emission factors into account. We use detailed data on natural gas consumption in Poland and biomass consumption for several regions in Ukraine to validate our approach. We also compare our results to data from the EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research), which shows high agreement in places but also demonstrates the advantage of a higher resolution GHG inventory. Overall, the results show that the approach developed here is universal and can be applied to other countries using their statistical information.

     

A binational, supply-side evaluation for managing water quality and invasive fouling species on California's coastal boats

Integrated solutions are needed for sustainable management of risks posed by recreational boats to coastal water quality and ecosystems. Fouling organisms roughen vessel hull surfaces, creating friction that slows sailboats and increases fuel consumption by powerboats. Hull fouling control strategies for recreational boats that are stored in the water may include antifouling hull paints, newer alternative hull coatings, periodic in-water hull cleaning, and excluding propagules by surrounding the boat with a slip liner or raising it above water on a lift. Copper discharged to harbor waters from antifouling paints via passive leaching and in-water hull cleaning may elevate dissolved copper levels above government standards. Invasive species carried among boat-hull fouling organisms may be introduced as boats move among coastal areas. Some of these species tolerate copper in antifouling paints and copper-polluted harbor waters. Policy development must consider supply-side capacity, as well as economic and environmental sustainability, in managing these issues. This paper presents a supply-side evaluation useful in developing policies to co-manage water quality and invasive species risks for recreational boats navigating along the coasts of California, the Baja California peninsula and California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Supply-side perspectives on services, materials, costs, and boat owner behaviors, such as residence and travel patterns, awareness of hull-coating choices and selection of hull coatings, are determined. Analyses include evaluation of risks, risk management capacity and costs, and role of education in risk management. The issues raised are broadly applicable, as they are appearing on research and policy agendas in diverse coastal areas.     

European Farmland Bird Distribution Explained by Remotely Sensed Phenological Indices

Birds are important components of biodiversity conservation since they are capable of indicating changes in the general status of wildlife and of the countryside. The Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme (PECBM) has been launched by the BirdLife Partnership in Europe, where the European Bird Census Council has been collecting data from 20 independent breeding bird survey programs across Europe over the last 25 years. These data show dramatic declines in European farmland birds. We suggest that seasonal characteristics of vegetation cover derived from high temporal resolution remote sensing images could facilitate the monitoring the suitability of farmland bird habitats, and that these indicators may be a better choice for monitoring than climate data. We used redundancy analysis to link the PECBM data of the estimated number of farmland birds in Europe to a set of phenological and climatic indicators and to the biogeographic regions of Europe. Variance partitioning was used to account for the variation explained by the phenological and climate variables and by the area of the environmental strata individually, to define the pure effect of the variables, and to extract the total explained variance. The analysis revealed high statistical significance (p < 0.001) of the correlations between species and environment. Phenological indices explained 38% of the variance in community composition of the 23 farmland bird species, whereas climate explained 30% of the variance. After partitioning the other variables as covariables, the pure effect of phenology, climate, and environmental strata were 16%, 8%, and 16%, respectively. Based on the probability results, we suggest that phenological indicators derived from remote sensing may supply better indicators for continental scale biodiversity studies than climate only. In addition, these indicators are cost and time effective, are on continuous scale, and are readily repeatable on a large spatial coverage while supplying standardized results.     

Ambient concentrations of airborne endotoxin in two cities in the interior of British Columbia, Canada

This study measured and analyzed the outdoor airborne endotoxin concentration, on particulate matter (PM2·? and PM1?), for two cities in the interior of British Columbia, Canada. Samples were collected throughout one seasonal cycle, from October 2005 to September 2006. It was found that concentrations were generally highest in the summer and fall, and lowest in the winter and spring. Temperature and relative humidity were found to be most influential, with highest endotoxin concentrations recorded during warm periods and moderate relative humidity (35 to 75 percent). No clear association of concentration with wind direction was observed. Results were comparable between the two cities considered in this study, and concentrations were similar to or slightly higher than those reported by other studies considering urban locations. Endotoxin concentration was also found to be positively associated with agricultural dust sources identified by a source apportionment study conducted at one of the sampling locations.     

A Strategy for Prioritizing Threats and Recovery Actions for At-Risk Species

Ensuring the persistence of at-risk species depends on implementing conservation actions that ameliorate threats. We developed and implemented a method to quantify the relative importance of threats and to prioritize recovery actions based on their potential to affect risk to Mojave desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii). We used assessments of threat importance and elasticities of demographic rates from population matrix models to estimate the relative contributions of threats to overall increase in risk to the population. We found that urbanization, human access, military operations, disease, and illegal use of off highway vehicles are the most serious threats to the desert tortoise range-wide. These results suggest that, overall, recovery actions that decrease habitat loss, predation, and crushing will be most effective for recovery; specifically, we found that habitat restoration, topic-specific environmental education, and land acquisition are most likely to result in the greatest decrease in risk to the desert tortoise across its range. In addition, we have developed an application that manages the conceptual model and all supporting information and calculates threat severity and potential effectiveness of recovery actions. Our analytical approach provides an objective process for quantifying threats, prioritizing recovery actions, and developing monitoring metrics for those actions for adaptive management of any at-risk species.     

An Assessment of U.S. Stream Compensatory Mitigation Policy: Necessary Changes to Protect Ecosystem Functions and Services

Compensatory mitigation of impacted streams and wetlands has increased over the past two decades, with the associated industry spending over US$2.9 billion in aquatic restoration annually. Despite these expenditures, evaluations by the National Research Council and U.S. Government Accountability Office have provided evidence that compensatory mitigation practices are failing to protect aquatic resource functions and services, and vague federal policy and inadequate evaluation of compensatory mitigation projects are to blame. To address these weaknesses, an update to federal regulations on compensatory mitigation was released in 2008. Additionally, the 2012 Reissuance of Nationwide Permits, some of which affects compensatory stream mitigation, was recently published. Current policy, as reflected in these documents, still uses nonspecific language to direct compensatory stream mitigation leaving most implementation decisions to the local U.S. Army Corps of Engineers district. The majority of federal mitigation policy has focused on wetland compensation, with other aquatic resources receiving less attention (e.g., streams). In this article, weaknesses of current policy are discussed, as are suggested policy changes to minimize the loss of stream ecosystem functions and services. Compensatory mitigation policy should clearly define key terms, incorporate adaptive management procedures, and provide guidelines for determining mitigation costs and compensation ratio requirements.     

Photocatalytic Production of Methane and Hydrogen Through Reduction of Carbon Dioxide with Water Using Titania Pellets

This paper presents an experimental study on employing a pellet form of catalyst in photo-reduction of carbon dioxide with water. Water was first absorbed into titania pellets. Highly purified carbon dioxide gas was then discharged into a reactor containing the wet pellets, which were then illuminated continuously for 65 hours using UVC lamps. Analysing the products accumulated in the reactor confirmed that methane and hydrogen were produced through photo-reduction of carbon dioxide with water. No other hydrocarbons were detected. Increasing the temperature in the reactor has showed little change on the amount of methane produced.     

Detection and enumeration of colonic mucosal cells in amniotic fluid using a colon epithelial-specific monoclonal antibody

Since its introduction, prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal and metabolic disorder by mid-trimester amniocentesis has relied upon the use of a mixture of fetal cells obtained from amniotic fluid. Little knowledge has been gained in the sorting of these cells for diagnosis of tissue-specific disorders. In an attempt to determine the contribution of fetal colonic mucosal cells to the overall amniocyte population, we used the colonic epithelial-specific monoclonal antibody (MC-Ab) 7E₁₂H₁₂, IgM isotype. Specimens of the small intestine, colon, buccal mucosa, kidney, urinary bladder, and umbilical cord were obtained from electively aborted normal fetuses of 12–28 weeks' gestation. All of these specimens were examined with 7E₁₂H₁₂ by the immunoperoxidase technique. The MC-Ab reacted with the colonic epithelial cells but not with any of the other tissues. In addition, 40 amniotic fluid samples obtained from women between 16 and 18 weeks of gestation, who underwent amniocentesis because of advanced maternal age, were tested using a fluorescent activated cell sorter. Among the amniotic fluid specimens examined, 18·4 ± 10·3 percent cells reacted with 7E₁₂H₁₂. Double immunofluorescence studies revealed that all Mc-Ab-stained cells contained secretory component, confirming that they were epithelial in origin. All fetuses whose amniotic fluid was analysed had normal karyotypes and amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprctein levels that were also normal. This study demonstrates that cell-specific Mc-Ab can be used to detect colon cells in the amniotic fluid and that colon cells contribute significant numbers in the mixture of amniotic fluid cells. This technique could be helpful in the prenatal diagnosis of disorders in which the flow of amniotic fluid through the fetal intestine is impaired, such as cystic fibrosis, imperforate anus, Hirschsprung aganglionic megacolon, and intestinal atresia.