Dioxins in the Venice lagoon

Venice is famous around the world for its uniqueness and architectural splendours, arts and the history of the “Serenissima Repubblica”, as it was known in the past, but few are aware that Venice economy is strongly dependent on the industrial activities based mainly on the adjacent Porto Marghera area. For many years, the lagoon that physically separates the city from the dry land has avoided association between the concern connected with the pollution derived from these industrial activities and the public perception of Venice. Since 1995, dioxins have appeared as a lagoon contaminant, and their presence, at such a level requiring immediate “in depth” studies and interventions, has been fully realized for decades.     

Quantification of Water, Salt and Nutrient Exchange Processes at the Mouth of A mediterranean Coastal Lagoon

Vassova lagoon is a typical Mediterranean (small, shallow, micro-tidal, well-mixed) coastal lagoon, receiving limited seasonal freshwater inflows from direct precipitation and underground seepage. An intensive study was carried out in order to quantify the mechanisms responsible for the intra-tidal and residual transport of water, salt, nutrients and chlorophyll at the mouth of this lagoon and to assess the lagoon's flushing behavior. Results indicated that although the system is micro-tidal, tidal effects appeared to be the dominant factor for the longitudinal distribution of physical and chemical parameters, while the associated residual flow is also important and serves as a baseline measure of overall circulation. However, analysis of the net longitudinal currents and fluxes of water, salt and nutrients revealed the importance of non-tidal effects (wind effect and precipitation incidents) in the mean tidal transport. It is shown that the Eulerian residual currents transported water and its properties inwards under southern winds, while a seaward transport was induced during precipitation incidents and northern winds. The Stokes drift effect was found an order of magnitude lower than the Eulerian current, directed towards the lagoon, proving the partially-progressive nature of the tide. Nutrients and chlorophyll-α loads are exported from the lagoon to the open sea during the ebb phase of the autumn and winter tidal cycles, associated with the inflow of nutrient-rich freshwater, seeped through the surrounding drainage canal. The reverse transport occurs in spring and early summer, when nutrients enter the lagoon during the flood tidal phase, from the nutrient-rich upper layer of the stratified adjacent sea. Application of a tidal prism model shows that Vassova lagoon has a mean flushing time of 7.5 days, ranging between 4 to 18 days, affected inversely by the tidal oscillation.     

Bridging biogeochemical and food web models for an End-to-End representation of marine ecosystem dynamics: The Venice lagoon case study

The simultaneous accounting of effects of natural and anthropogenic changes within a common framework calls for the development of new comprehensive tools capable of integrating biological processes that span a huge range of scales, from viruses to fishes, in addition to their interactions with physical–chemical environmental properties, i.e. End-to-End models.     

The use of GIS for the integration of traditional and scientific knowledge in supporting artisanal fisheries management in southern Brazil

The integration of local harvesters' knowledge of attitudes and practices toward the resources they harvest with scientific information is essential to natural resources management. However, the development and implementation of management policies have, in most cases, not been effective because of a failure to use all available sources of information and knowledge. In fisheries management, local knowledge is usually not collected in a systematic format and little published literature has discussed the use of local knowledge data collection and analysis methods. This paper describes the implementation of geographic information systems to systematize, analyze, and display traditional and scientific information to support fisheries management in the Patos Lagoon Estuary, southern Brazil. Artisanal fishing data were documented through a series of interviews conducted during and after fishing trips at harvest spots, and scientific data on environmental variables were obtained from different research institutions. A multi-layer GIS database integrating local fishers' and scientific knowledge information was developed with ArcGIS 8.3 ArcView tools to integrate and translate information into an accessible and interpretable format. The geo-spatial database interface allowed the selection of specific data characteristics by target species, harvest areas, fishers' communities, fishing gear, catch-per-unit of effort (CPUE), and monthly landings. The observed fishing spatial dynamics presented among the fishers' communities shows that, in most cases, artisanal fishermen tend to concentrate in shallow estuarine waters surrounding their villages.     

Assessment of farmland sediments after flooding in Ubeji Land in Niger Delta of Nigeria

A study was conducted to evaluate ten heavy metals in dry sediment samples used to assess the contamination of farmland in Niger Delta after a protracted flooding. Eighteen sediment samples in six locations were collected. Niger Delta is a major industrial area where Nigeria petrochemical company is located. These sediments were subjected to analysis using standard methods for the examination of the soil samples. Results showed a trend toward induction of environmental contamination with Zn, Cu, Fe, Hg and Pb on the farmland. Mercury and Lead are disproportionately higher than other sediment elements. Concentrations of these sediment elements are above compliance limit for Nigeria and these may have long-term adverse effects on soil and vegetation.     

Sustainability of wastewater treatment technologies

A set of indicators that incorporate environmental, societal, and economic sustainability were developed and used to investigate the sustainability of different wastewater treatment technologies, for plant capacities of <5 million gallons per day (MGD) or 18.9 x 10(3) cubic meters (m(3)/day). The technologies evaluated were mechanical (i.e., activated sludge with secondary treatment), lagoon (facultative, anaerobic, and aerobic), and land treatment systems (e.g., slow rate irrigation, rapid infiltration, and overland flow). The economic indicators selected were capital, operation and management, and user costs because they determine the economic affordability of a particular technology to a community. Environmental indicators include energy use, because it indirectly measures resource utilization, and performance of the technology in removing conventional wastewater constituents such as biochemical oxygen demand, ammonia nitrogen, phosphorus, and pathogens. These indicators also determine the reuse potential of the treated wastewater. Societal indicators capture cultural acceptance of the technology through public participation and also measure whether there is improvement in the community from the specific technology through increased job opportunities, better education, or an improved local environment. While selection of a set of indicators is dependent on the geographic and demographic context of a particular community, the overall results of this study show that there are varying degrees of sustainability with each treatment technology.     

Application of a Random Forest algorithm to predict spatial distribution of the potential yield of Ruditapes philippinarum in the Venice lagoon, Italy

We present a modelling framework that combines machine learning techniques and Geographic Information Systems to support the management of an important aquaculture species, Manila clam (Ruditapes philippinarum). We use the Venice lagoon (Italy), the first site in Europe for the production of R. philippinarum, to illustrate the potential of this modelling approach. To investigate the relationship between the yield of R. philippinarum and a set of environmental factors, we used a Random Forest (RF) algorithm. The RF model was tuned with a large data set (n = 1698) and validated by an independent data set (n = 841). Overall, the model provided good predictions of site-specific yields and the analysis of marginal effect of predictors showed substantial agreement among the modelled responses and available ecological knowledge for R. philippinarum. The most influent environmental factors for yield estimation were percentage of sand in the sediment, salinity, and water depth. Our results agree with findings from other North Adriatic lagoons. The application of the fitted RF model to continuous maps of all the environmental variables allowed estimates of the potential yield for the whole basin. Such a spatial representation enabled site-specific estimates of yield in different farming areas within the lagoon. We present a possible management application of our model by estimating the potential yield under the current farming distribution and comparing it to a proposed re-organization of the farming areas. Our analysis suggests a reduction of total yield is likely to result from the proposed re-organization.     

厦门筼筜湖表层沉积物金属元素赋存形态及污染评价

用ICP-MS测定了厦门筼筜湖表层沉积物中15种金属元素的含量,分析了金属元素的分布特征,并用改进的BCR提取法分析其赋存形态.结果表明,Cd、Cu、Sr、Pb、Zn和U在不同湖区的含量表现为:外湖干渠内湖;Cr、Co、Ni、V、Fe、Li、Rb和Mn的含量表现为:内湖外湖干渠.Cu、Zn和Pb主要存在于可还原态;Cd元素主要存在于弱酸溶态和可还原态;Co、Ni、U、Fe和Mn元素主要存在于可还原态和残渣态;Li、V、Cr、Rb和Ba主要存在于残渣态.潜在生态风险评价结果表明,元素V、Cr、Co、Ni、Zn、Cu、Cd和Pb等处于轻微潜在生态风险水平.次生相与原生相分布比值法评价结果显示,Cu、Cd和Zn表现出重度污染;Pb表现出中度污染;Co、Mn、Sr和U表现出轻度污染;Ni、Fe、Cr、V、Li、Ba和Rb表现出无污染.筼筜湖表层沉积物已受轻微的金属元素污染,处于轻微生态风险水平.     

Gas and Organic Matter in Last Glacial and Holocenic Sediments of Venice Lagoon

Two drills (MBM1* and MBM2) provided at “Bocca di Malamocco” gave environmental and palaeo-environmental information on sedimentation for the last 50,000 years. the MBM2 supplies textural, gas and organic matter studies of sediment and principal ion content of pore water. Two main palaeo-environments, divided in six cycles, are recognized. Marine environment characterizes the sediment above 12.80 metres below sea level (mbsl) and continental environment dominates the sediments below.

The concentration/depth profiles of dissolved ammonia, phosphates and gases are related to the occurrence of a relatively high organic content in the sediment core. Carbon dioxide to methane ratio shows a constant value below 20 mbsl, while above that level only carbon dioxide was detected. A sulphate gradient in the transition zone between the marine to fresh water interval suggests a methane oxidation. These findings indicate that diffusive transport of methane from marine sediments to the atmosphere may be considered minimal. the sedimentary cycles are related to the oxygen isotopic stages. They suggest a variable hydraulic regime occurred during the last Glacial time in the palaeo-plain corresponding to the present Venice lagoon.     

Water-Quality Monitoring and Biological Integrity Assessment in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida: Status, Trends, and Loadings (1988–1994)

a production in the central, south central, and the south segments of the lagoon. In a system as large and complex as the lagoon, N and P limitations are potentially subject to significant spatial and temporal variability. Total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TN) was higher in the north (1.25 mg/liter) and lower in the south (0.89 mg/liter). The reverse pattern was observed for total P (TP), i.e., lowest in the north (0.03 mg/liter) and highest at the south (0.14 mg/liter) ends of the IRL. This increased P concentration in the SIRL appears to have a significantly large effect on chlorophyll a production compared with the other segments, as indicated by stepwise regression statistics. This relationship can be expressed as follows: South IRL [chlorophyll a] =−8.52 + 162.41 [orthophosphate] + 7.86 [total nitrogen] + 0.38 [turbidity]; R ²= 0.98**.