Greenhouse impacts of anthropogenic CH4 and N2O emissions in Finland

The Finnish anthropogenic CH₄ emissions in 1990 are estimated to be about 250 Gg, with an uncertainty range extending from 160 to 440 Gg. The most important sources are landfills and animal husbandry. The N₂O emissions, which come mainly from agriculture and the nitric acid industry are about 20 Gg in 1990 (uncertainty range 10–30 Gg). The development of the emissions to the year 2010 is reviewed in two scenarios: the base and the reduction scenarios.According to the base scenario, the Finnish CH₄ emissions will decrease in the near future. Emissions from landfills, energy production, and transportation will decrease because of already decided and partly realized volume and technical changes in these sectors. The average reduction potential of 50%, as assumed in the reduction scenario, is considered achievable.N₂O emissions, on the other hand, are expected to increase as emissions from energy production and transportation will grow due to an increasing use of fluidized bed boilers and catalytic converters in cars. The average reduction potential of 50%, as assumed in the reduction scenario, is optimistic.Anthropogenic CH₄ and N₂O emissions presently cause about 30% of the direct radiative forcing due to Finnish anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. This share would be even larger if the indirect impacts of CH₄ were included. The contribution of CH₄ can be controlled due to its relatively short atmospheric lifetime and due to the existing emission reduction potential. Nitrous oxide has a long atmospheric lifetime and its emission control possiblities are limited consequently, the greenhouse impact of N₂O seems to be increasing even if the emissions were limited somehow.     

Diseases and motor vehicle fatalities in Finland in 2001 and 2002

OBJECTIVES: The possible connection between diseases among drivers and traffic accidents was examined for traffic safety purposes. METHODS: We studied medical conditions of drivers and passengers in all motor vehicle crashes with fatalities in Finland in 2001 and 2002 by using reports of road accident investigation teams, including autopsy reports. We analyzed a total of 542 crashes with 640 fatalities. Findings were also compared with available epidemiological data in Finland. RESULTS: An insignificant difference in the number of reported diseases was present between the different parties involved in crashes. However, among killed key drivers, so-called A-parties, psychiatric diseases, especially alcoholism, depression, and unspecific mental disorders, were diagnosed more often than in the groups of other drivers or passengers. In addition, A-parties were reported to more frequently suffer from cerebral arteriosclerosis and arterial hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: Drivers' diseases can be a risk factor for traffic accidents. Fitness to drive should therefore be considered in medical practice, particularly in patients with alcoholism and other psychiatric disorders.     

Benefits of applying X-ray computed tomography in bentonite based material research focussed on geological disposal of radioactive waste

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Bentonite-based geomaterials are included in the designs of geological repository planning in most countries, especially in high-level radioactive...     

Variable emissions of microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) from root-associated fungi isolated from Scots pine

Soils emit a large variety of volatile organic compounds. In natural ecosystems, measurements of microbial volatile organic compound (MVOC) exchange rates between soil and atmosphere are difficult due to e.g. the spatial heterogeneity of the belowground organisms, and due to the many potential sources for the same compounds. We measured in laboratory conditions the MVOC emission rates and spectra of eight typical fungi occurring in boreal forest soils. The studied species are decomposers (Gymnopilus penetrans, Ophiostoma abietinum), ectomycorrhizal (Cenococcum geophilum, Piloderma olivaceum, Suillus variegatus, Tomentellopsis submollis) and endophytic fungi (Meliniomyces variabilis, Phialocephala fortinii). The MVOC emissions contained altogether 21 known and 6 unidentified compounds whose emission rates were >0.1 μg g(DW)^?1 h^?1. The most abundant compounds were the short-chain carbonyl compounds (acetone and acetaldehyde). The greatest carbonyl emissions were measured from P. olivaceum (1.9 mg acetone g(DW)^?1 h^?1) and P. fortinii (0.114 mg acetaldehyde g(DW)^?1 h^?1). Terpenoid emissions (isoprene, mono- and sesquiterpenes) were detected from some fungal cultures, but in relatively small amounts. We conclude that soil micro-organisms can potentially be responsible for significant emissions of volatiles, especially short-chain oxygenated compounds, to the below-canopy atmosphere.     

Influence of peatland and land cover distribution on fire regimes in insular Southeast Asia

Anthropogenic biomass burning in insular Southeast Asia facilitates conversion and degradation of ecosystems and emits high amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. We analyzed the influence of peat soil and land cover distribution on the occurrence and characteristics of vegetation fires. Two years of satellite-based active fire detections over Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo and Java were examined together with land cover and peatland maps. Our results showed that fire occurrence nearly tripled (23,000 → 68,000) from a wet La Niña year (2008) to a drier El Niño year (2009). In both years, fires were concentrated in peatlands (in 2009 41% of fires vs. 10% of land area), and the majority of large-scale burning took place in peatlands. Variation in peatland land cover within the study area was noticed to create remarkable different fire regimes. Biomass burning in the intensely managed Sumatran peatlands was characterized by large-scale land clearance fires that took place annually to varying extent. The largely unmanaged degraded peatland ecosystems of Borneo, on the other hand, experienced very little fire activity in a wet year but were ravaged by large-scale wildfires when El Niño conditions arose. We conclude that fire regime characteristics in insular Southeast Asia are strongly connected to occurrence of peat soil and land management status. This leads to high variation of fire activity within this region both annually (depending on weather patters) and over longer time range (depending on land cover/management issues) and greatly complicates estimation of the effects of fires.     

Size-exclusion chromatographic study of ECF and TCF softwood kraft pulp bleaching liquors

Background, aims, and scope  

Currently, elemental chlorine-free (ECF) and totally chlorine-free (TCF) bleaching systems are widely used for pulp production. Low and medium molecular weight lignin break-down products are known to have harmful effects on the environment. According to some recent results, also high molecular weight (HMW) material consisting mainly of lignin and carbohydrates may cause toxic effects to the environment. For these reasons, toxicity and structure studies of HMW materials are of great importance. This investigation is a part of a larger project to obtain more structure information of HMW materials and toxicity of ECF and TCF bleaching effluents. Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) has been commonly used for the characterization of organic macromolecules such as lignin, but to our knowledge, no reports have appeared dealing with the comparison of SEC of ECF and TCF bleaching liquors. The aim of the present study was to get more information about the molecular weight distribution (MWD) of HMW fractions of waste liquors from ECF and TCF bleaching sequences by SEC.     

Oligogyny by unrelated queens in the carpenter ant, Camponotus ligniperdus

Multilocus DNA fingerprinting and microsatellite analysis were used to determine the number of queens and their mating frequencies in colonies of the carpenter ant, Camponotus ligniperdus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Only 1 of 61 analyzed queens was found to be double-mated and the population-wide effective mating frequency was therefore 1.02. In the studied population, 8 of 21 mature field colonies (38%) contained worker, male, or virgin queen genotypes which were not compatible with presumed monogyny and therefore suggested oligogyny, i.e., the cooccurrence of several mutually intolerant queens within one colony. Estimated queen numbers in oligogynous colonies ranged between two and five. According to the results of the genetic analysis, most of the queens coexisting in oligogynous colonies were not closely related. Pleometrosis is very rare and queenless colonies adopt mated queens both in the laboratory and field. Therefore, the most plausible explanation for the origin of oligogynous colonies in C. ligniperdus is the adoption of unrelated queens by orphaned mature colonies. The coexistence of unrelated, but mutually intolerant queens in C. ligniperdus colonies demonstrates that oligogyny should be considered as a phenomenon distinct from polygyny. Received: 18 December 1997 / Accepted after revision: 20 June 1998     

Using Multicriteria Methods in Environmental Planning and Management

In environmental planning and decision processes several alternatives are analyzed in terms of multiple noncommensurate criteria, and many different stakeholders with conflicting preferences are involved. Based on our experience in real-life applications, we discuss how multicriteria decision aid (MCDA) methods can be used successfully in such processes. MCDA methods support these processes by providing a framework for collecting, storing, and processing all relevant information, thus making the decision process traceable and transparent. It is therefore possible to understand and explain why, under several conflicting preferences, a particular decision was made. The MCDA framework also makes the requirements for new information explicit, thus supporting the allocation of resources for the process.     

Population Persistence and Offspring Fitness in the Rare Bellflower Campanula cervicaria in Relation to Population Size and Habitat Quality

Abstract: Data from several animal species and a few plant species indicate that small populations face an elevated risk of extinction. Plants are still underrepresented in these studies concerning the relation between population size and persistence. We studied the effect of population size on persistence among natural populations of the rare bellflower Campanula cervicaria in Finland. We monitored 52 bellflower populations for 8 years and found that the mean population size decreased from 24 to 14 during this period. Small populations with ≤5 individuals were more prone to losing all fertile plants than were larger ones. Reduction in population size was nevertheless unrelated to the degree of population isolation, measured as the distance to the nearest known population. To test the hypothesis that offspring fitness is lower in small populations, we germinated bellflower seeds from different-sized populations in a laboratory and found that seed germination ability was independent of population size. The seedlings raised from seeds of small populations grew faster than those taken from larger populations. Population size was negatively related to the amount of shade in the habitats. In conclusion, decreasing population sizes of C. cervicaria seemed not to be caused by lowered germination ability or growth rate in small populations; rather, population size reductions appeared to be due to closing of vegetation in the habitats.