Domestic UNFCCC Kyoto Protocol Mechanisms Project Supply Coordination Through Tendering – Lessons from the New Zealand Experience

A United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Joint Implementation (JI) host country has to make sure that JI projects are additional to avoid extra costs to generate the reductions necessary to cover the deduction of Emission Reduction Units (ERUs) from the country’s Kyoto Protocol emissions budget. A tender of ERUs by the government allows to generate additional reductions beyond the ERUs issued if it thoroughly checks project additionality. The government of New Zealand is running a tender for JI projects under the title “Projects to Reduce Emissions” since 2003. In two rounds, 10 million ERUs have been awarded and several projects have already entered into contracts with European buyers. The ratio of ERUs awarded to reductions achieved was 0.8 in the second tender. However it remains to be seen whether the additionality test of this tender is sufficient to exclude clearly non-additional projects.     

Acoustic underwater signals with a probable function during competitive feeding in a tadpole

Acoustic communication is widespread among adult stages of terrestrial animals and fish and has also been observed in insect larvae. We report underwater acoustic communication in the larvae of a frog, Gephyromantis azzurrae, from Isalo, a sandstone massif in western Madagascar. According to our field data, these tadpoles live in streams and prefer habitats characterized by comparatively low temperatures, shallow water depth, and a relatively fast current. Feeding experiments indicated that the tadpoles are carnivorous and macrophagous. They consumed insect larvae and, to a lesser extent, small shrimps, and conspecific as well as heterospecific tadpoles. Calls of these tadpoles consisted either of single click notes or of irregular series of various clicks. Some complex calls have a pulsed structure with three to nine indistinct energy pulses. Production of the pulses coincided with rapid closure of the jaw sheaths and often with an upward movement of the body. Calls were emitted while attacking prey and occurred significantly more often when attacking conspecifics. Tadpoles that had not been fed for some time emitted sounds more frequently than those that had been regularly fed. The spectral frequency of the calls differed in tadpole groups of different size and was higher in groups of smaller tadpoles, suggesting that spectral frequency carries some information about tadpole size which might be important during competitive feeding to assess size and strength of competitors. This report differs from those for the larvae of South American horned frogs, Ceratophrys ornata. These are the only other tadpoles for which sound production has reliably been reported but the calls of Ceratophrys tadpoles occur mainly in a defensive context.     

Optimization of capture–recapture monitoring of elusive species illustrated with a threatened grasshopper

Information on population sizes and trends of threatened species is essential for their conservation, but obtaining reliable estimates can be challenging. We devised a method to improve the precision of estimates of population size obtained from capture–recapture studies for species with low capture and recapture probabilities and short seasonal activity, illustrated with population data of an elusive grasshopper (Prionotropis rhodanica). We used data from 5 capture–recapture studies to identify methodological and environmental factors affecting capture and recapture probabilities and estimates of population size. In a simulation, we used the population size and capture and recapture probability estimates obtained from the field studies to identify the minimum number of sampling occasions needed to obtain unbiased and robust estimates of population size. Based on these results we optimized the capture–recapture design, implemented it in 2 additional studies, and compared their precision with those of the nonoptimized studies. Additionally, we simulated scenarios based on thresholds of population size in criteria C and D of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List to investigate whether estimates of population size for elusive species can reliably inform red-list assessments. Identifying parameters that affect capture and recapture probabilities (for the grasshopper time since emergence of first adults) and optimizing field protocols based on this information reduced study effort (−6% to −27% sampling occasions) and provided more precise estimates of population size (reduced coefficient of variation) compared with nonoptimized studies. Estimates of population size from the scenarios based on the IUCN thresholds were mostly unbiased and robust (only the combination of very small populations and little study effort produced unreliable estimates), suggesting capture–recapture can be considered reliable for informing red-list assessments. Although capture–recapture remains difficult and costly for elusive species, our optimization procedure can help determine efficient protocols to increase data quality and minimize monitoring effort.     

Assessing the long-term supply risks for mineral raw materials—a combined evaluation of past and future trends

This paper develops a method for identifying and assessing long-term supply risks for mineral raw materials. The method is based on a combined evaluation of past and future supply and demand trends. By analysing raw material boom and bust cycles over the past 50 years, we have quantified indicators and defined benchmarks for identifying critical market situations. By applying the method, risks for supply shortage may be identified at an early stage. In addition, a numerical evaluation model has been developed for better comparison between various mineral raw materials. Compared to other assessment methods this method uses specific benchmarks for each raw material to better assess supply risks. The method is embedded within a systematic and comprehensive analytical approach.     

Interaction webs in arctic ecosystems: Determinants of arctic change?

How species interact modulate their dynamics, their response to environmental change, and ultimately the functioning and stability of entire communities. Work conducted at Zackenberg, Northeast Greenland, has changed our view on how networks of arctic biotic interactions are structured, how they vary in time, and how they are changing with current environmental change: firstly, the high arctic interaction webs are much more complex than previously envisaged, and with a structure mainly dictated by its arthropod component. Secondly, the dynamics of species within these webs reflect changes in environmental conditions. Thirdly, biotic interactions within a trophic level may affect other trophic levels, in some cases ultimately affecting land–atmosphere feedbacks. Finally, differential responses to environmental change may decouple interacting species. These insights form Zackenberg emphasize that the combination of long-term, ecosystem-based monitoring, and targeted research projects offers the most fruitful basis for understanding and predicting the future of arctic ecosystems.     

Two decades of experimental manipulations of heaths and forest understory in the subarctic

Current atmospheric warming due to increase of greenhouse gases will have severe consequences for the structure and functioning of arctic ecosystems with changes that, in turn, may feed back on the global-scale composition of the atmosphere. During more than two decades, environmental controls on biological and biogeochemical processes and possible atmospheric feedbacks have been intensely investigated at Abisko, Sweden, by long-term ecosystem manipulations. The research has addressed questions like environmental regulation of plant and microbial community structure and biomass, carbon and nutrient pools and element cycling, including exchange of greenhouse gases and volatile organic compounds, with focus on fundamental processes in the interface between plants, soil and root-associated and free-living soil microorganisms. The ultimate goal has been to infer from these multi-decadal experiments how subarctic and arctic ecosystems will respond to likely environmental changes in the future. Here we give an overview of some of the experiments and main results.     

Whole effluent toxicity assessment at a wastewater treatment plant upgraded with a full-scale post-ozonation using aquatic key species

Ozonation as final wastewater (WW) polishing step, following conventional activated sludge treatment is increasingly implemented in sewage treatment for contaminant degradation to prevent surface water pollution. While the oxidative degradation of chemicals has been extensively investigated, the in vivo toxicological characteristics of ozonated whole effluents are rarely a matter of research.In the present study, whole effluents were toxicologically evaluated with an in vivo test battery before and after full-scale ozonation and subsequent sand filtration on site at a treatment plant. One aquatic plant (duckweed, Lemna minor) and five invertebrate species of different systematic groups (Lumbriculus variegatus, Chironomus riparius, Potamopyrgus antipodarum, Daphnia magna) were exposed to the effluents in a flow-through-designed test system with a test duration of 7-28 d.None of the considered toxicity endpoints correlated with the pollutant elimination. A tendency towards an increased toxicity after ozonation was apparent in three of the test systems showing [statistically] significant adverse effects in the L. variegatus toxicity test (decrease in reproduction and biomass). After sand filtration, adverse effects were reduced to a similar level like after conventional treatment. Solely the Daphnia reproduction test revealed beneficial effects after ozonation in combination with sand filtration.Results of the test battery indicate the formation of adverse oxidation products during WW ozonation. L. variegatus appeared to be the most sensitive of the five test species. Sand filtration effectively removes or detoxifies toxic oxidation products, as toxic effects were subsequently reduced to the level after conventional treatment.     

Petrophysical analysis to investigate the effects of carbon dioxide storage in a subsurface saline aquifer at Ketzin, Germany (CO2SINK)

To test the injection behaviour of CO₂ into brine-saturated rock and to evaluate the dependence of geophysical properties on CO₂ injection, flow and exposure experiments with brine and CO₂ were performed on sandstone samples of the Stuttgart Formation representing potential reservoir rocks for CO₂ storage. The sandstone samples studied are generally fine-grained with porosities between 17 and 32% and permeabilities between 1 and 100 mD.Additional batch experiments were performed to predict the long-term behaviour of geological CO₂ storage. Reservoir rock samples were exposed over a period of several months to CO₂-saturated reservoir fluid in high-pressure vessels under in situ temperature and pressure conditions. Petrophysical parameters, porosity and the pore radius distribution were investigated before and after the experiments by NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) relaxation and mercury injection. Most of the NMR measurements of the tested samples showed a slight increase of porosity and a higher proportion of large pores.