Microhabitat Selection by Three Common Bird Species of Montane Farmlands in Northern Greece

Common farmland birds are declining throughout Europe; however, marginal farmlands that escaped intensification or land abandonment remain a haven for farmland species in some Mediterranean mountains. The purpose of this study is to identify the most important anthropogenic microhabitat characteristics for Red-Backed Shrike (Lanius collurio), Corn Bunting (Miliaria calandra) and Common Whitethroat (Sylvia communis) in three such areas within the newly established Northern Pindos National Park. We compare land use structural and physiognomic characteristics of the habitat within 133 plots containing birds paired with randomly selected “non-bird” plots. Using logistic regression and classification-tree models we identify the specific habitat requirements for each of the three birds. The three species show a preference for agricultural mosaics dominated by rangelands with scattered shrub or short trees mixed with arable land. Areas with dikes and dirt roads are preferred by all three species, while the presence of fences and periodically burned bushes and hedges are of particular importance for Red-Backed Shrike. Across the gradient of vegetation density and height, M. calandra is mostly found in grasslands with few dwarf shrubs and short trees, S. communis in places with more dense and tall vegetation of shrub, trees and hedges, and L. collurio, being a typical bird of ecotones, occurs in both habitats and in intermediate situations. In all cases those requirements are associated with habitat features maintained either directly or indirectly by the traditional agricultural activities in the area and particularly by the long established extensive controlled grazing that prevent shrub expansion.     

Consensus Building and Sustainability: Some Lessons From an Adverse Local Experience in Greece

The paper focuses on the example of a local island community in Greece, to illustrate the difficulties of effective consensus building, in support of sustainable policies. In the first section the issue of sustainability and the importance of participation are discussed, before moving to a brief outline of the nature of participation and its sources since the 1960s. It follows an analysis of the epistemological framework of consensus building process which is considered as the most integrated and sophisticated version of participatory planning. This analysis serves as a background for judging the appropriateness of consensus building for the resolution of an environmental problem harassing a Greek island community. It is about the problem of water availability and management in the small Aegean island of Leros. The paper shows how illegal practices in the use of water, administrative fragmentation and confusion over knowledge of the problem and its solutions lead to divisions in the stakeholder groups and to obstacles in the way of participation. The intrinsic problems embedded in Greek (and probably not alone) society and political culture, which prevent collective action and participation, account in part for the anticipated risk of unwelcome, illegitimate outcomes of a potential consensus building process. Nevertheless, if communicative planning is to gain universal acceptance, it should first resolve some critical theoretical and practical shortcomings related to its normative, ethical and philosophical assumptions. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Solidification/stabilization of ash from medical waste incineration into geopolymers

In the present work, bottom and fly ash, generated from incinerated medical waste, was used as a raw material for the production of geopolymers. The stabilization (S/S) process studied in this paper has been evaluated by means of the leaching and mechanical properties of the S/S solids obtained. Hospital waste ash, sodium hydroxide, sodium silicate solution and metakaolin were mixed. Geopolymers were cured at 50 °C for 24 h. After a certain aging time of 7 and 28 days, the strength of the geopolymer specimens, the leachability of heavy metals and the mineralogical phase of the produced geopolymers were studied. The effects of the additions of fly ash and calcium compounds were also investigated. The results showed that hospital waste ash can be utilized as source material for the production of geopolymers. The addition of fly ash and calcium compounds considerably improves the strength of the geopolymer specimens (2–8 MPa). Finally, the solidified matrices indicated that geopolymerization process is able to reduce the amount of the heavy metals found in the leachate of the hospital waste ash.     

Adsorption of Cu(II) ions from aqueous solutions on biochars prepared from agricultural by-products

In this study, the adsorption of Cu(II) from aqueous solutions by agricultural by-products, such as rice husks, olive pomace and orange waste, as well as compost, was evaluated. The aim was to obtain sorbent materials (biochars) through hydrothermal treatment (300?°C) and pyrolysis (300?°C and 600?°C). The effect of adsorbent dose, pH, contact time and initial Cu(II) concentration in batch-mode experiments was investigated. The optimum Cu(II) adsorption conditions was found to occur at 5-12?g/L adsorbent dose, initial pH 5-6, and reaction time 2-4?h. Furthermore, the adsorption kinetics were best described by the pseudo-second order model for all the tested materials, while the adsorption equilibrium best fitted by the linear and Freundlich isotherms. Comparing rice husks and olive pomace, the higher adsorption capacity resulted after pyrolysis at 300?°C. With respect to the orange waste and compost, the highest adsorption capacity was observed using biochars obtained after hydrothermal treatment and pyrolysis at 300?°C.     

Coping with seismic vulnerability: small manufacturing firms in western Athens

This paper attempts to contribute to international discourse on the responsibility of macro structures (economic and political) and private agencies for the production and distribution of vulnerability. It does so by focusing on an individual economic entity, small manufacturing firms (SMFs), in a specific location, western Athens, Greece. By evaluating the losses that SMFs sustained in the earthquake of 7 September 1999, the paper points to variations in vulnerability levels among such firms and highlights the 'sources' of vulnerability they confront. Furthermore, the SMF recovery cycle is systematically monitored in parallel with relevant public policies and state reactions to private recovery methods. The analysis illustrates processes that externalise recovery costs, alter the relationship between physical and socio-economic vulnerability and shift the vulnerability load from macro structures to individual agencies or vice versa. It is based on two methodological approaches: the division of vulnerability into three constituent components (exposure, resistance and resilience); and the conceptual split between producers and carriers of vulnerability.