Flavonoid wing pigments increase attractiveness of female common blue (Polyommatus icarus) butterflies to mate-searching males

 Common blue butterflies (Polyommatus icarus) sequester flavonoids from their larval host plants and allocate these UV-absorbing pigments to the wings. In field experiments using dummies constructed from female butterflies, mate-searching males inspected flavonoid-rich dummies more intensively than those with little or no flavonoids. Flavonoid content as signalled by UV-wing pattern may indicate ontogenetically determined female quality or enhance detectability to males. Received: 21 March 2000 / Accepted in revised form: 17 May 2000     

The role of daytime cues in the development of magnetic orientation in a night-migrating bird

To assess the role of celestial rotation during daytime in the development of the magnetic compass course, pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca Pallas, Muscicapidae) were handraised in Latvia under various celestial and magnetic conditions. Tests were performed during autumn migration in the local geomagnetic field (50 000 nT, 73° inclination) in the absence of celestial cues. A group of birds that had never seen the sky showed a bimodal preference for the migratory southwest-northeast axis, whereas a second group that had been exposed to the natural sky from sunrise to sunset in the local geomagnetic field showed a unimodal preference for the seasonally appropriate southwesterly direction. A third group that had also been exposed to the daytime sky, but in the absence of magnetic compass information, also oriented bimodally along a southwest-northeast axis. These findings demonstrate that observing celestial rotation during daytime enables birds to choose the right end of the migratory axis for autumn migration at the Latvian test location. This transformation of axial behavior into appropriate migratory orientation, however, requires the birds to have simultaneous access to information on both celestial rotation and the geomagnetic field. Received: 19 September 1997 / Accepted after revision: 22 November 1997     

Cost‐effectiveness of conservation payment schemes for species with different range sizes

Payments to compensate landowners for carrying out costly land‐use measures that benefit endangered biodiversity have become an important policy instrument. When designing such payments, it is important to take into account that spatially connected habitats are more valuable for many species than isolated ones. One way to incentivize provision of connected habitats is to offer landowners an agglomeration bonus, that is, a bonus on top of payments they are receiving to conserve land if the land is spatially connected. Researchers have compared the cost‐effectiveness of the agglomeration bonus with 2 alternatives: an all‐or‐nothing, agglomeration payment, where landowners receive a payment only if the conserved land parcels have a certain level of spatial connectivity, and a spatially homogeneous payment, where landowners receive a payment for conserved land parcels irrespective of their location. Their results show the agglomeration bonus is rarely the most cost‐effective option, and when it is, it is only slightly better than one of the alternatives. This suggests that the agglomeration bonus should not be given priority as a policy design option. However, this finding is based on consideration of only 1 species. We examined whether the same applied to 2 species, one for which the homogeneous payment is best and the other for which the agglomeration payment is most cost‐effective. We modified a published conceptual model so that we were able to assess the cost‐effectiveness of payment schemes for 2 species and applied it to a grassland bird and a grassland butterfly in Germany that require the same habitat but have different spatial‐connectivity needs. When conserving both species, the agglomeration bonus was more cost‐effective than the agglomeration and the homogeneous payment; thus, we showed that as a policy the agglomeration bonus is a useful conservation‐payment option.     

Quality Control for Environmental Policy Appraisal Tools: An Empirical Investigation of Relations Between Quality,Quality Control and Effectiveness

The spectre of regulatory reform carried out in a range of Western countries has generated concern amongst parts of the environmental policy community. Quality and effectiveness are said to be at stake, but empirically there is a dearth of data on the relationship between provisions for quality control and the effects on quality and effectiveness. This research addresses this lacuna by analysing the effects of different quality control provisions in the Netherlands and Denmark for a globally institutionalized environmental appraisal tool—Environmental Assessment (EA). Extensive technical provisions for quality control in the Netherlands have led to it being described as the ‘Rolls Royce’ of EA systems, while in Denmark the polity is expected to take charge of quality control. The effects of quality control are investigated through surveys and in-depth interviews with actors centrally engaged with EA implementation. The results show that quality control provisions are poorly related to the perceived quality and effectiveness of EA. Only the appropriateness of the scope of EA reports is perceived to be strongly related to quality control provisions. The findings are relevant for environmental policy communities concerned with quality control systems and effectiveness of policy appraisal tools and policy-makers contemplating regulatory reforms.     

Oxidative properties of ambient PM2.5 and elemental composition: Heterogeneous associations in 19 European cities

We assessed the extent to which constituents of PM_2.5 (transition metals, sodium, chloride) contribute to the ability to generate hydroxyl radicals (OH) in vitro in PM_2.5 sampled at 20 locations in 19 European centres participating in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey. PM_2.5 samples (n = 716) were collected on filters over one year and the oxidative activity of particle suspensions obtained from these filters was then assessed by measuring their ability to generate OH in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. Associations between OH formation and the studied PM constituents were heterogeneous. The total explained variance ranged from 85% in Norwich to only 6% in Albacete. Among the 20 centres, 15 showed positive correlations between one or more of the measured transition metals (copper, iron, manganese, lead, vanadium and titanium) and OH formation. In 9 of 20 centres OH formation was negatively associated with chloride, and in 3 centres with sodium. Across 19 European cities, elements which explained the largest variations in OH formation were chloride, iron and sodium.     

Combined use of molecular biology taxonomy, Raman spectrometry, and ESEM imaging to study natural biofilms grown on filter materials at waterworks

DNA-based population analysis was applied in combination with Raman spectrometry and Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy for the characterisation of natural biofilms from sand and activated carbon filters operated for a long term at a municipal waterworks. Whereas the molecular biology polymerase chain reaction combined with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis approach provides a deeper insight into the bacterial biofilm diversities, Raman spectrometry analyses the chemical composition of the extracellular polymer substances (EPS), microorganisms embedded in EPS as well as other substances inside biofilm (inorganic compounds and humic substances). Microscopy images the spatial distribution of biofilms on the two different filter materials. In addition, bacterial bulk water populations were compared with biofilm consortia using the molecular fingerprint technique mentioned.Population analysis demonstrated the presence of more diverse bacterial species embedded in a matrix of EPS (polysaccharides, peptides, and nucleic acids) on the sand filter materials. In contrast to this, activated carbon granules were colonised by reduced numbers of bacterial species in biofilms. Besides α-, β-, and γ-Proteobacteria, a noticeable specific colonisation with Actinobacteria was found on activated carbon particles. Here, the reduced biofilm formation came along with a decreased EPS synthesis. The taxonomy profiles of the different biofilms revealed up to 60% similarity on the same filter materials and 32% similarity of different materials. Similarity of adherent communities from filter materials and bulk water populations from the filter effluent varied between 36% and 58% in sand filters and 6–40% in granular activated carbon filters.The biofilm investigation protocols are most crucial to subsequent acquisition of knowledge on biofilm dynamics and bacterial contributions to transformation or adsorption processes in waterworks facilities.     

Hybrid governance tensions fuelling self-reflexivity in Alternative Food Networks: the case of the Brussels GASAP (solidarity purchasing groups for peasant agriculture)

This paper applies the concept of Hybrid Governance to the analysis of the GASAP (Groupe d’Achats Solidaires de l’Agriculture Paysanne), a solidarity-based producers–consumers network established in Brussels in 2006. The Hybrid Governance concept allows to capture the role of key governance tensions in driving the self-organisation, scaling out and self-reflexive dynamics of Alternative Food Networks (AFNs). The approach provides a multifaceted and sound socio-political account of the ways AFNs arise, self-organise, associate and build networks in the pursuit of their food allocation objectives, often facing a contradictory socio-institutional environment. Three types of governance tensions, i.e. organisational, resource, and institutional, as well as the interactions among them, are analysed throughout the life-course of the GASAP network. The analysis identifies three phases in the GASAP’s life-course, showing how governance tensions and their interrelations arise and play a critical role in conditioning the overall development of the organisation through time. The paper concludes with highlighting prospective values of the hybrid governance approach for the analysis of AFNs in general. These values relate to: the role of the hybrid approach in illuminating on key drivers behind the scaling out of AFNs; the hybrid governance as a tool to conceptualise and sustain the self-reflexive capacity of local food initiatives and the ways by which this approach unravels challenges to build cooperative alliances and networks among a diversity of agents in the food arena.     

Characterization of Fine Particulate Matter Produced by Combustion of Residual Fuel Oil

ABSTRACT

Combustion experiments were carried out on four different residual fuel oils in a 732-kW boiler. PM emission samples were separated aerodynamically by a cyclone into fractions that were nominally less than and greater than 2.5 |j.m in diameter. However, examination of several of the samples by computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy (CCSEM) revealed that part of the PM_2.5 fraction consists of carbonaceous cenospheres and vesicular particles that range up to 10 |j.m in diameter. X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy data were obtained at the S, V, Ni, Fe, Cu, Zn, and As K-edges and at the Pb L-edge. Deconvolution of the X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) region of the S spectra established that the dominant molecular forms of S present were sulfate (26-84% of total S) and thiophene (13-39% of total S). Sulfate was greater in the PM_2.5 samples than in the PM₂₅₊ samples. Inorganic sulfides and elemental sulfur were present in lower percentages. The Ni XANES spectra from all of the samples agreed fairly well with that of NiSO₄, while most of the V spectra closely resembled that of vanadyl sulfate (VO?SO₄?xH₂O). The other metals investigated (i.e., Fe, Cu, Zn, and Pb) also were present predominantly as sulfates. Arsenic was present as an arsen-ate (As⁺⁵). X-ray diffraction patterns of the PM_2.5 fraction exhibit sharp lines due to sulfate compounds (Zn, V, Ni, Ca, etc.) superimposed on broad peaks due to amorphous carbons. All of the samples contain a significant organic component, with the loss on ignition (LOI) ranging from 64 to 87% for the PM_2.5 fraction and from 88 to 97% for the PM_2.5+ fraction. Based on ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis, the carbon is predominantly condensed in graphitic structures. Aliphatic structure was detected in only one of seven samples examined.     

Enhancing consultation practices on Air Quality Management in local authorities

Schedule 11 of the Environment Act 1995 underpins the requirement for consultation on air quality issues. The ongoing air quality review and assessment process represents one of the largest locally based science policy and communication initiatives ever undertaken in the UK. This paper outlines the practice of consultation and communication for Air Quality Management (AQM) and reviews the interaction between Environmental Health professionals, as the leading actor in the AQM process and other stakeholders involved in air quality consultation, including the public. Results are presented from a widespread questionnaire survey of English local authorities. Data indicate that the majority of air quality consultation has been carried out with statutory consultees (by sending the review and assessment reports) and the public (via websites and leaflets) in the form of information dissemination.