ALBERT

Description: Urbanized areas of the southwestern/western United States are among the fastest growing in the nation and face multiple water resource challenges. Low impact development (LID)/green infrastructure (GI) practices are increasingly popular technologies for managing stormwater; however, LID is often not as common in the southwest/west due to the lack of regulatory and/or economic drivers. There is also a lack of performance evaluation of these practices, particularly at the field scale. This study focused on investigating the hydrologic and pollutant removal performance of field-scale LID/GI systems in arid/semi-arid climates. Nine typical practices were reviewed: rainwater harvest system, detention pond, retention pond, bioretention, media filter, porous pavement, vegetated swale/buffer/strip, green roof, and infiltration trench, as well as integrated LIDs. We evaluate these practices by a cost-effectiveness analysis and also recommend best practices for the arid/semi-arid area. The analysis provides data support and insights for future implementation of LID/GI in the southwest/west.

Description: The spatial footprint of unconventional (hydraulic fracturing) and conventional oil and gas development in the Marcellus Shale region of the State of Pennsylvania was digitized from high-resolution, ortho-rectified, digital aerial photography, from 2004 to 2010. We used these data to measure the spatial extent of oil and gas development and to assess the exposure of the extant natural resources across the landscape of the watersheds in the study area. We found that either form of development: (1) occurred in ~50% of the 930 watersheds that defined the study area; (2) was closer to streams than the recommended safe distance in ~50% of the watersheds; (3) was in some places closer to impaired streams and state-defined wildland trout streams than the recommended safe distance; (4) was within 10 upstream kilometers of surface drinking water intakes in ~45% of the watersheds that had surface drinking water intakes; (5) occurred in ~10% of state-defined exceptional value watersheds; (6) occurred in ~30% of the watersheds with resident populations defined as disproportionately exposed to pollutants; (7) tended to occur at interior forest locations; and (8) had >100 residents within 3 km for ~30% of the unconventional oil and gas development sites. Further, we found that exposure to the potential effects of landscape disturbance attributable to conventional oil and gas development was more prevalent than its unconventional counterpart.

Description: Jordan is characterized as a “water scarce” country. Therefore, conserving ecosystem services such as water regulation and soil retention is challenging. In Jordan, rainwater harvesting has been adapted to meet those challenges. However, the spatial composition and configuration features of a target landscape are rarely considered when selecting a rainwater-harvesting site. This study aimed to introduce landscape spatial features into the schemes for selecting a proper water-harvesting site. Landscape metrics analysis was used to quantify 10 metrics for three potential landscapes (i.e., Watershed 104 (WS 104), Watershed 59 (WS 59), and Watershed 108 (WS 108)) located in the Jordanian Badia region. Results of the metrics analysis showed that the three non–vegetative land cover types in the three landscapes were highly suitable for serving as rainwater harvesting sites. Furthermore, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to prioritize the fitness of the three target sites by comparing their landscape metrics. Results of AHP indicate that the non-vegetative land cover in the WS 104 landscape was the most suitable site for rainwater harvesting intervention, based on its dominance, connectivity, shape, and low degree of fragmentation. Our study advances the water harvesting network design by considering its landscape spatial pattern.

Description: Global climate change is projected to adversely impact freshwater resources, and in many settings these impacts are already apparent. In Nigeria, these impacts can be especially severe because of limited adaptive capacity. Understanding the knowledge and attitudes of current and future Nigerian decision-makers is important to preparing Nigeria for climate change impacts. This paper examines the knowledge and attitudes of university students and government officials about the causes, effects, and priority given to climate change in Nigeria. Paper surveys were distributed to 379 study participants in Akwa Ibom and Lagos states of Nigeria. The findings reveal that approximately 90% of study participants believe that human activities are a significant cause of climate change, with no significant difference between ministry officials’ and students’ responses. Participants were less knowledgeable about the effects of climate change on Nigeria as a whole, but more aware of impacts relevant to Southern Nigeria, where study sites were located. Personal experience seemed to play a role in the knowledge and attitudes of respondents. Due to the varied climate of the country, campaigns to ensure comprehensive knowledge of climate change impacts to the entire country may be helpful.

Description: In sub-Saharan Africa, hydro-meteorological related disasters, such as floods, account for the majority of the total number of natural disasters. Over the past century, floods have affected 38 million people, claimed several lives and caused substantial economic losses in the region. The goal of this paper is to examine how personality disposition, social network, and socio-demographic factors mitigate the complex relationship between stressful life experiences of floods and ocean surges and the adoption of coping strategies among coastal communities in Nigeria and Tanzania. Generalized linear models (GLM) were fitted to cross-sectional survey data on 1003 and 1253 individuals in three contiguous coastal areas in Nigeria and Tanzania, respectively. Marked differences in the type of coping strategies were observed across the two countries. In Tanzania, the zero-order relationships between adoption of coping strategies and age, employment and income disappeared at the multivariate level. Only experience of floods in the past year and social network resources were significant predictors of participants’ adoption of coping strategies, unlike in Nigeria, where a plethora of factors such as experience of ocean surges in the past one year, personality disposition, age, education, experience of flood in the past one year, ethnicity, income, housing quality and employment status were still statistically significant at the multivariate level. Our findings suggest that influence of previous experience on adoption of coping strategies is spatially ubiquitous. Consequently, context-specific policies aimed at encouraging the adoption of flood-related coping strategies in vulnerable locations should be designed based on local needs and orientation.

Description: Forests are a vital resource supporting the livelihoods of rural communities in Kenya. In spite of this significant role, human activities have put increased pressure on this resource, leading to continued forest-cover decline. To address forest-cover decline, the Kenyan government introduced Participatory Forest Management (PFM) through its Forest Department in the early 2000s, enabling local communities to form and register Community Forest Associations (CFAs). This study was conducted to examine the impacts of the PFM approach on the Lembus Forest-cover change. Three Landsat satellite images (Landsat 5 TM acquired on 9 January 1985; Landsat 7 ETM+ acquired on 1 February 2002; and Landsat 8 OLI (Operational Land Imager) acquired on 1 March 2015) were used to analyse forest-cover change in the 1st period (1985–2002) and the 2nd period (2002–2015). In analysing the contribution of CFAs in conservation and management of the Lembus Forest, questionnaire sheets were distributed randomly to various residents living adjacent to the Lembus Forest; 327 valid responses were obtained from heads of households. The results of the land-cover change show a decrease in the percentage of forest-cover decline from 11.2%, registered in the 1st period, to 8.2% in the 2nd period. This led to the decrease of the annual rate of the forest-cover decline from 0.4 in the 1st period to 0.2 in the 2nd period. Three CFAs operate in this area, and 75% of the respondents participated in tree planting and 16% participated in tree pruning. This type of community participation is thought to most likely be the cause of the decline of the recent decreasing annual rate of forest-cover loss in the study area. Conversely, we found out that important initiatives, such as a forest patrol, had not been implemented due to lack of funding, and that CFAs and Kenya Forest Service had not yet signed any management agreement.

Description: Previous field research on the Horqin Sandy Land (China), which has suffered from severe desertification during recent decades, revealed how land use on a sand-dune topography affects both land degradation and restoration. This study aimed to depict the spatial distribution of local land use in order to shed more light on previous field findings regarding policies on a broader scale. We performed the following analyses with Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM) and Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2 (AVNIR-2) images of Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS): (1) object-based classification to discriminate preliminary classification of land-use types that were approximately differentiated by ordinary pixel-based analysis with spectral information; (2) digital photogrammetry to generate a digital surface model (DSM) with adequately high accuracy to represent undulating sand-dune topography; (3) geographic information system (GIS) analysis to classify major topographic types with the digital surface model (DSM); and (4) overlay of the two classification results to depict the local land-use types. The overall accuracies of the object-based and GIS-based classifications were high, at 93% (kappa statistic: 0.84) and 89% (kappa statistic: 0.81), respectively. The resultant local land-use map represents areas covered in previous field studies, showing where and how land degradation and restoration are likely to occur. This research can contribute to future environmental surveys, models, and policies in the study area.

Description: Islands present sustainable energy growth challenges due to a number of reasons such as remoteness, limited energy resources, vulnerability to external events and strong dependence on international trade agreements. In particular, the Dodecanese Islands of the Aegean Sea cover their electricity needs mostly on the basis of autonomous conventional stations, consuming significant quantities of imported oil annually. Renewable energy sources (RES) penetration increase addresses the global requirements towards a carbon neutral environment, and wind farms (WFs) are among the most well-known green electricity-production alternatives. The study explores wind power installation potential of the Dodecanese Islands and the storage or interconnection options, based on the national and European legislative framework and the international scientific literature. The major finding is that, due to the high wind potential of the area, the National policy and targets focus on the installation of great RES power at Greek islands. Hence, private interests, who are willing to carry out the electrical interconnection of islands to the mainland, serve the same objective. Both scientific and business proposals overcome the local wind power installation capacity and neglect local specifics and needs.

Description: This review of the study “Road to Dawei”, conducted by WWF Greater Mekong, seeks to assess economic, social and environmental impacts of road construction between Kanchanaburi, Thailand and Dawei, Myanmar. It also aims to identify relevant Green Economy policy interventions that would enhance the sustainable use and conservation of natural capital, which is considered to be a foundation for sustainable and inclusive economic development. In particular, the study concentrates on the identification of feedback loops, delays and nonlinearity in order to properly map the socio-economic and environmental system analysed and inform decision making. Results are presented for three different scenarios both for Myanmar and for Thailand. Simulation results show that a conventional approach to road construction is likely to have positive economic impacts in the region, especially in the short term, but also negative consequences for the integrity of the ecosystem, which in turn might also negatively impact on the investment itself and its economic outcomes in the medium and longer term. Further, results indicate that green economy interventions would mitigate environmental risks by creating synergies across sectors, systemically.

Description: This study aimed to determine the potential of naturally occurring Cretan brake fern (Pteris cretica) as a biomarker and hyperaccumulator in an abandoned mine in Southwest Japan. This species is a known hyperaccumulator of As. Total concentrations of heavy metals and As were determined in the shoots and roots of plants collected from inside and outside of the mine area. The results indicate that As and Pb in the shoots of P. cretica reached 1290 and 3840 mg/kg dry weight, respectively, which is classified as hyperaccumulation. The metal uptake intensity in the shoots indicates that P. cretica is a biomarker for As, Pb, and Zn. Furthermore, the metal concentrations, and bioconcentration and translocation factors indicate that P. cretica is a good candidate for phytoremediation of sites that are contaminated with As and Pb.

Description: Conservation agriculture (CA) is an increasingly adopted production system to meet the goals of sustainable crop production intensification in feeding a growing world population whilst conserving natural resources. Mechanization (especially power units, seeders, rippers and sprayers) is a key input for CA and smallholder farmers often have difficulties in making the necessary investments. Donors may be able to provide mechanization inputs in the short term, but this is not a sustainable solution as a machinery input supply chain needs to be built up to continue availability after external interventions cease. Local manufacture should be supported, as was the case in Brazil, but this is a slow development process, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. A more immediate solution is to equip and train CA service provision entrepreneurs. With the right equipment, selected for the needs of their local clientele, and the right technical and business management training, such entrepreneurs can make a livelihood by supplying high quality CA and other mechanization services on a fully costed basis. Elements of the required training, based on extensive field experience, are provided. To catalyse the growth of CA providers’ business, the market can be stimulated for an initial period by issuing e-vouchers for services and inputs.

Description: The formation and occurrence of urban heat island (UHI) is a result of rapid urbanization and associated concretization. Due to intensification of heat combined with high pollution levels, urban areas expose humans to unexpected health risks. In this context, the study aims at comparing the UHI in the two largest metropolitan cities of India, i.e., Delhi and Mumbai. The presence of surface UHI is analyzed using the Landsat 5 TM image of 5 May 2010 for Delhi and the 17 April 2010 image for Mumbai. The validation of the heat island is done in relation to the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) patterns. The study reveals that built-up and fallow lands record high temperatures, whereas the vegetated areas and water bodies exhibit lower temperatures. Delhi, an inland city, possesses mixed land use and the presence of substantial tree cover along roads; the Delhi Ridge forests and River Yamuna cutting across the city have a high influence in moderating the surface temperatures. The temperature reaches a maximum of 35 °C in West Delhi and a minimum of 24 °C in the east at the River Yamuna. Maximum temperature in East Delhi goes to 30 °C, except the border areas. North, Central and south Delhi have low temperatures (28 °C–31 °C), but the peripheral areas have high temperatures (36 °C–37 °C). The UHI is not very prominent in the case of Delhi. This is proven by the correlations of surface temperature with NDVI. South Delhi, New Delhi and areas close to River Yamuna have high NDVI and, therefore, record low temperatures. Mumbai, on the other hand, is a coastal city with lower tree cover than Delhi. The Borivilli National Park (BNP) is in the midst of dense horizontal and vertical growth of buildings. The UHI is much stronger where the heat is trapped that is, the built-up zones. There are four small rivers in Mumbai, which have low carrying capacity. In Mumbai suburban district, the areas adjoining the creeks, sea and the lakes act as heat sinks. The coastal areas in South Mumbai record temperatures of 28 °C–31 °C; the Bandra-Kurla Complex has a high range of temperature i.e., 31 °C–36 °C. The temperature witnessed at Chattrapati Shivaji International Airport is as high as 38 °C. The temperature is nearly 37 °C–38 °C in the Dorai region in the Mumbai suburban district. The BNP has varied vegetation density, and therefore, the temperature ranges from 27 °C–31 °C. Powai Lake, Tulsi Lake and other water bodies record the lowest temperatures (24 °C–26 °C). There exists a strong negative correlation between NDVI and UHI of Mumbai, owing to less coverage of green and vegetation areas.

Description: Smallholders in Asia and Africa require low-cost seed drills for minimal soil disturbance while establishing various crops. A seed drill that can be drawn by the widely-available two-wheel tractor (2WT) is an attractive option for mechanization of no-till in small-sized fields. The Versatile Strip Seed Drill (VSSD) was designed with the capacity to make up to 40 mm wide and 60 mm deep strips in untilled land along with seed and basal fertilizer application in a single-pass operation, while powered by the 8.95 to 11.93 kW 2WT. An important innovation of the VSSD was to fit the seed box with both fluted roller-type seed meters for delivery of sufficient small-size seeds to achieve adequate plant density per unit row length; and vertical disk-type seed meters for precision and spaced row planting of larger seeds. Both incessant seed dropping by fluted roller seed meters and spaced planting by vertical disk type seed meters provided optimum plant populations that were generally higher than in conventional, full-tillage plots with the same rate of hand broadcasted seed and fertilizers. Time required for crop establishment by VSSD ranged from 0.13 to 0.18 ha·h−1. When the VSSD was attached to the 2WT for crop establishment, the diesel fuel consumption varied from 4.4 to 6.1 L·ha−1, which was lower than for most 2WT-based planters previously used in Bangladesh. In on-farm multi-locations trials, wheat crops established with the VSSD had statistically similar grain yield compared to conventional tillage; however, significantly higher grain yield was obtained from mustard and lentil, by 14% and 19%, respectively. The VSSD is a unique, minimum-soil-disturbance multi-crop planter, and can be a platform on which to build conservation agriculture systems for small farms in Asia and Africa.

Description: Using a logistic regression model, this paper examines key factors that influence individual support for communal conservancies in Namibia. It tests the hypothesis that if individuals are compensated for their wildlife related losses, they are more likely to support community based wildlife management projects. Data for this study were collected from 472 members of five conservancies in the Caprivi Region of Namibia. Respondents were selected through convenience sampling. The key findings are that receiving meat, activity during the Annual General Meeting (AGM), and being a member of a specific conservancy are the key predictors of satisfaction with the conservancy among the respondents. On the other hand, cash and jobs have no significant impact on individual attitudes toward communal conservancies. Based on these findings, the paper argues that the focus on incentives omits broader factors that motivate individuals to participate in community-based conservation.

Description: Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems (GDEs) are increasingly threatened by humans’ rising demand for water resources. Consequently, it is imperative to identify the location of GDEs to protect them. This paper develops a methodology to identify the probability of an ecosystem to be groundwater dependent. Probabilities are obtained by modeling the relationship between the known locations of GDEs and factors influencing groundwater dependence, namely water table depth and climatic aridity index. Probabilities are derived for the state of Nevada, USA, using modeled water table depth and aridity index values obtained from the Global Aridity database. The model selected results from the performance comparison of classification trees (CT) and random forests (RF). Based on a threshold-independent accuracy measure, RF has a better ability to generate probability estimates. Considering a threshold that minimizes the misclassification rate for each model, RF also proves to be more accurate. Regarding training accuracy, performance measures such as accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity are higher for RF. For the test set, higher values of accuracy and kappa for CT highlight the fact that these measures are greatly affected by low prevalence. As shown for RF, the choice of the cutoff probability value has important consequences on model accuracy and the overall proportion of locations where GDEs are found.

Description: Cyclospora cayetanensis is an emerging foodborne protozoan pathogen. Similar to other gastrointestinal illnesses, cyclosporiasis causes prolonged diarrhea. Unlike Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora oocysts are not infective when they are shed by infected individuals. Oocysts mature in the environment for 7–10 days before sporulating. Little is known about how C. cayetanensis is transported in the environment and which factors inhibit or promote sporulation. Water and fresh produce, such as leafy greens and berries, are common sources of infection. Contact with soil has also been correlated with Cyclospora infection. In addition to acting as a vector to transport oocysts from the environment to the body, water and soil may be important reservoirs to not only allow C. cayetanensis to persist, but also transport the oocysts from one location to another. This study examined a snapshot of an urban area near Chicago where human waste sporadically enters the environment via combined sewer outfalls (CSO). A total of 61 samples were collected from three CSO discharge events. Most of the 21 positive samples were wildlife feces (n = 13), and a few were soil (n = 7). There was one positive water sample. PCR analysis of soil, water, and wildlife feces indicated the presence of C. cayetanensis in the environment, suggesting likely transport of oocysts by wildlife. Given the emerging threat of cyclosporiasis, additional studies are needed to confirm and expand this case study.

Description: Since 1973 the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified asbestos as a certain carcinogen, but today it is still used in several countries. To date, mesothelioma risk is certainly linked not only to occupational exposures but also to environmental exposures. The incidence and mortality are increasing worldwide, especially in developing countries where asbestos is still often used without adequate measures for worker safety. The epidemiological surveillance systems of related asbestos diseases are instruments of public health adopted internationally. The experience and the operating methodology of the Italian mesothelioma registry and the data produced from 1996 to 2015 highlight how in countries where the asbestos ban has been active for over 20 years the risk of asbestos remains present, especially in the construction sector as well as for the environmental exposures of the resident population near companies that used asbestos in their production cycle. Worldwide, it is necessary to introduce the ban on the extraction, processing, and marketing of asbestos as claimed by the international scientific community.

Description: With growing tourism in natural areas, monitoring recreational impacts is becoming increasingly important. This paper aims to evaluate how different trampling intensities affect some common Icelandic plant communities by using digital photographs to analyze and quantify vegetation in experimental plots and to monitor vegetation recovery rates over a consecutive three-year period. Additionally, it seeks to evaluate the use of image analysis for monitoring recreational impact in natural areas. Experimental trampling was conducted in two different sites representing the lowlands and the highlands in 2014, and the experimental plots were revisited in 2015, 2016, and 2017. The results show that moss has the highest sensitivity to trampling, and furthermore has a slow recovery rate. Moss-heaths in the highlands also show higher sensitivity and slower recovery rates than moss-heaths in the lowlands, and grasslands show the highest resistance to trampling. Both methods tested, i.e., Green Chromatic Coordinate (GCC) and Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC), showed significant correlation with the trampling impact. Using image analysis to quantify the status and define limits of use will likely be a valuable and vital element in managing recreational areas. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will add a robust way to collect photographic data that can be processed into vegetation parameters to monitor recreational impacts in natural areas.

Description: High concentrations of negative air ions (NAIs) and low concentrations of positive air ions (PAI), along with a low monopole coefficient (PAI/NAI), are likely to provide physiological and psychological benefits to the humans. A water body produces NAIs through the Lenard effect. This concept can be applied in designing garden waterscapes in residential buildings to provide fresh and healthy air for urban residents. In this study, we conducted several experiments to assess the effectiveness of different waterscape designs in producing air ions. The results revealed that increasing waterfall tiers, slopes, impact points, widths, and heights increased the NAI concentrations and reduced the values of monopole coefficients, thus providing health benefits to humans. In particular, increasing waterfall tiers and slopes increased the NAI concentrations most substantially. Moreover, we established a composite waterscape and determined that it produced fewer NAIs along with a less favorable monopole coefficient compared with the data observed at the experimentally adjusted tiers and slopes. Therefore, we suggest that simple waterscapes with multiple waterfall tiers or steep waterfall slopes should be favored over complex waterscapes. Such simple designs can help construct a garden that provides health benefits.

Description: In transition to a low-carbon economy, the adoption of renewable energy (RE) technologies by energy investors, power utilities and energy consumers is critical. In developing countries like Kenya with a high rate of urbanization, this transition requires urban and rural residents’ proactive responses to using renewable energy sources. In this regard, a better understanding of residents’ perceptions about renewable energy investment, RE sources availability, climate change, environmental conservation and other factors can lead to more efficient and sustainable implementation of renewable energy policies. This study investigates the role Kenya’s household energy consumers in urban and rural areas can play in adopting renewable energy technologies. To achieve this, a questionnaire survey was administered among 250 household consumers in Nairobi County, Makueni County, and Uasin Gishu County. Our survey analysis shows that about 84% of the respondents were interested in adopting renewable energy for their entire energy consumption mostly because of solving frequent power outages and high energy cost from the grid system. This perception did not have any correlations with income levels or any other socio-economic factors we identified. Furthermore, about 72% of the respondents showed their interests in producing and selling renewable energy to the national or local grids if government subsidies were readily available. Rural residents showed strong interests in adopting renewable energy technologies, especially solar PV solutions. However, the main impediment to their investment in renewable energy was the high cost of equipment (49%) and the intermittent nature of renewable energy (27%) resources.

Description: In this study, the economic feasibility of producing ethanol from gasification followed by syngas fermentation via commercially available technologies was theoretically evaluated using a set of selected livestock and agricultural and forest residuals ranging from low valued feedstocks (i.e., wood, wheat straw, wheat straws blended with dewatered swine manure, and corn stover) to high valued oilseed rape meal. A preliminary cost analysis of an integrated commercial system was made for two cases, a regional scale 50 million gallon (189,271 m3) per year facility (MGY) and a co-op scale 1–2 MGY facility. The estimates for the minimum ethanol selling prices (MESP) depend heavily on the facility size and feedstock costs. For the 1–2 MGY (3785–7571 m3/y) facility, the MESP ranged from $5.61–$7.39 per gallon ($1.48–$1.95 per liter) for the four low-value feedstocks. These high costs suggest that the co-op scale even for the low-value feedstocks may not be economically sustainable. However, the MESP for the 50 MGY facility were significantly lower and comparable to gasoline prices ($2.24–$2.96 per gallon or $0.59–$0.78 per liter) for these low-value feedstocks, clearly showing the benefits of scale-up on construction costs and MESP.

Description: The success of nature-based tourism destinations depends on the sustainable use of common pool resources (CPRs). More often than not, tourism demands compete for these resources, exerting pressure on them, resulting in decline of the CPRs. Managing tourism and environmental resources has become extremely important, but also more complex, as the interests of different stakeholders are intertwined across international, national, and local levels. Hence, this study aimed to investigate how stakeholder groups perceive the issues relating to the environment using Yakushima Island, Japan for a case study. Quantitative data were collected by administering a questionnaire to residents and tourism practitioners, while qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews conducted with organizations involved with tourism and environmental management in Yakushima. The study reveals that the underlying environmental issues in Yakushima result from an increase in tourists and controversial management of deer populations. Both residents and tourism practitioners indicated that more trash in the community was the most significant impact of tourism on the environment. Some perceptions were contradictory. Management authorities noted an increase in the deer population, which needs to be controlled to prevent damage to natural vegetation. Most tour guides reported a decrease in the sighting of deer along hiking trails, frustrating the genuine expectations of the tourist. The connection of the deer issue to tourism turned out to be very complex, as an overabundance of deer endangers parts of the vegetation tourists come to enjoy, while at the same time deer are an important part of the tourists’ experience. Different perceptions on deer by different stakeholders add to this complexity, which needs to be taken into consideration for proper management of tourists and deer in the future.

Description: Anaerobic lagoons are a critical component of confined swine feeding operations. These structures can be modified, using a synthetic cover, to enhance their ability to capture the emission of ammonia and other malodorous compounds. Very little has been done to assess the potential of these covers to alter lagoon biological properties. Alterations in the physicochemical makeup can impact the biological properties, most notably, the pathogenic populations. To this aim, we performed a seasonal study of two commercial swine operations, one with a conventional open lagoon, the other which employed a permeable, synthetic cover. Results indicated that lagoon fecal coliforms, and Escherichia coli were significantly influenced by sampling location (lagoon vs house) and lagoon type (open vs. covered), while Enterococcus sp. were influenced by sampling location only. Comparisons against environmental variables revealed that fecal coliforms (r2 = 0.40), E. coli (r2 = 0.58), and Enterococcus sp. (r2 = 0.25) significantly responded to changes in pH. Deep 16S sequencing of lagoon and house bacterial and archaeal communities demonstrated grouping by both sampling location and lagoon type, with several environmental variables correlating to microbial community differences. Overall, these results demonstrate that permeable synthetic covers play a role in changing the lagoon microclimate, impacting lagoon physicochemical and biological properties.

Description: In Mexico, residents of low income housing mainly achieve thermal comfort through mechanical ventilation and electrical air conditioning systems. Though government and private efforts have risen to meet an increasing demand for social housing, the average construction quality and thermal comfort of new housing stock has decreased over the years. Various programs and regulations have been implemented to address these concerns, including the 2011 residential building standard NOM-020-ENER-2011. This standard attempts to limit heat gains in residential buildings, in order to reduce the energy consumption required from cooling systems, and was intended to be applied throughout Mexico. NOM-020-ENER-2011, however, divides the country into just four climatic zones and only considers the energy use of cooling systems, disregarding heating costs. The recommendations of this policy are thus inadequate for the many regions in Mexico that have mild to moderate winters. This study discusses the assumptions and calculations that underlie NOM-020-ENER-2011, identifying several problems and recommending specific changes to the standard that would lead to greater comfort and lower energy use throughout Mexico.

Description: In this paper, the smart management of buildings energy use by means of an innovative renewable micro-cogeneration system is investigated. The system consists of a concentrated linear Fresnel reflectors solar field coupled with a phase change material thermal energy storage tank and a 2 kWe/18 kWth organic Rankine cycle (ORC) system. The microsolar ORC was designed to supply both electricity and thermal energy demand to residential dwellings to reduce their primary energy use. In this analysis, the achievable energy and operational cost savings through the proposed plant with respect to traditional technologies (i.e., condensing boilers and electricity grid) were assessed by means of simulations. The influence of the climate and latitude of the installation was taken into account to assess the performance and the potential of such system across Europe and specifically in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, U.K., and Sweden. Results show that the proposed plant can satisfy about 80% of the overall energy demand of a 100 m2 dwelling in southern Europe, while the energy demand coverage drops to 34% in the worst scenario in northern Europe. The corresponding operational cost savings amount to 87% for a dwelling in the south and at 33% for one in the north.

Description: The emission of toxic compounds by increasing anthropogenic activities affects human health and the environment. Heavy road traffic and mining activities are the major anthropogenic activities contributing to the presence of metals in the environment. The release of palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), and rhodium (Rh) into the environment increases the levels of contamination in soils, road sediments, airborne particles, and plants. These Pd, Pt, and Rh in road dusts can be soluble and enter aquatic environment posing a risk to environment and human health. The aim of this study is to determine the levels of Pd, Pt, and Rh with spectroscopy and voltammetric methods. Potential interferences by other metal ions (Na(I), Fe(III), Ni(II), Co(II)) in voltammetric methods have also been investigated in this study. At all the sampling sites very low concentrations of Pd, Pt, and Rh were found at levels that range from 0.48 ± 0.05 to 5.44 ± 0.11 ng/g (dry weight (d.wt)) for Pd(II), with 17.28 ± 3.12 to 81.44 ± 3.07 pg/g (d.wt) for Pt(II), and 14.34 ± 3.08 to 53.35 ± 4.07 pg/g (d.wt) for Rh(III). The instrumental limit of detection for Pd, Pt, and Rh for Inductively Coupled Plasma Quadrupole-based Mass Spectrometry (ICP-QMS) analysis was found to be 3 × 10−6 µg/g, 3 × 10−6 µg/g and 1 × 10−6 µg/g, respectively. In the case of voltammetric analysis the instrumental limit of detection for Pd(II), Pt(II), and Rh(III) for differential pulse adsorptive stripping voltammetry was found to be 7 × 10−8 µg/g, 6 × 10−8 µg/g, and 2 × 10−7 µg/g, respectively. For the sensor application, good precision was obtained due to consistently reproduced the measurements with a reproducibility of 6.31% for Pt(II), 7.58% for Pd(II), and 5.37% for Rh(III) (n = 10). The reproducibility for ICP-QMS analysis were 1.58% for Pd(II), 1.12% for Pt(II), and 1.37% for Rh(III) (n = 5). In the case of repeatability for differential pulse adsorptive stripping voltammetry (DPAdSV) and ICP-QMS, good standard deviations of 0.01 for Pd(II); 0.02 for Pt(II), 0.009 for Rh(III) and 0.011 for Pd, 0.019 for Pt and 0.013 for Rh, respectively.

Description: Aquifer vulnerability maps can improve groundwater management for sustainable anthropogenic development. The latest update of karst aquifer vulnerability mapping is named: the Protection of Aquifers base on Protection, Rock type, Infiltration and KArstification (PaPRIKa). This multi-criteria assessment method is based on a weighting system whose criteria are selected according to the aquifer under study. In this study, the PaPRIKa method has been applied in the Fontaine de Vaucluse karst aquifer using the novel plugin for Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS) software. The Fontaine de Vaucluse karst aquifer is the largest European karst hydrosystem with a catchment area that measures approximately 1162 km 2 . Four thematic maps were produced according to the criteria of protection, rock type, infiltration, and karst development. The plugin expedites the weighting system test and generates the final vulnerability map. At a large scale the vulnerability map is globally linked with primary geomorphological units and at the local scale is mostly affected by karst features that drive hydrodynamics. In conclusion, the novel QGIS plugin standardizes the application of the PaPRIKa method, saves time and prevents user omissions. The final vulnerability map provides useful contributions that are most relevant to groundwater managers and decision-makers. We highlight the sensibility of the vulnerability map to the weighting system and validation issues of the vulnerability map are raised.

Description: In the light of recent developments regarding electric vehicle market share, we assess the carbon footprint and water footprint of electric vehicles and provide a comparative analysis of energy use from the grid to charge electric vehicle batteries in the Czech Republic. The analysis builds on the electricity generation forecast for the Czech Republic for 2015–2050. The impact of different sources of electricity supply on carbon and water footprints were analyzed based on electricity generation by source for the period. Within the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), the carbon footprint was calculated using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) method, while the water footprint was determined by the Water Scarcity method. The computational LCA model was provided by the SimaPro v. 8.5 package with the Ecoinvent v. 3 database. The functional unit of study was running an electric vehicle over 100 km. The system boundary covered an electric vehicle life cycle from cradle to grave. For the analysis, we chose a vehicle powered by a lithium-ion battery with assumed consumption 19.9 kWh/100 km. The results show that electricity generated to charge electric vehicle batteries is the main determinant of carbon and water footprints related to electric vehicles in the Czech Republic. Another important factor is passenger car production. Nuclear power is the main determinant of the water footprint for the current and future electric vehicle charging, while, currently, lignite and hard coal are the main determinants of carbon footprint.

Description: New solar energy facilities on public lands in the deserts of southern California are being monitored long-term to detect environmental impacts. For this purpose, we have developed a framework for detecting changes in vegetation cover region-wide using greenness index data sets from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite sensor. This study focused on three sites, Joshua Tree National Park (JOTR), Mojave National Preserve (MOJA), and a proximal group of solar energy Development Focus Areas (DFAs). Three MODIS vegetation indices (VIs), the normalized difference (NDVI), enhanced (EVI), and soil-adjusted (SAVI), all at 250-m spatial resolution, were evaluated using the Breaks for Additive Season and Trend (BFAST) methodology to estimate significant time series shifts (“breakpoints”) in green vegetation cover, from February 2000 to May 2018. The sample cross-correlation function with local precipitation records and comparison with timing of wildfires near the study sites for breakpoint density (proportion of area with a breakpoint) showed that NDVI had the strongest response and hence greatest sensitivity to these major disturbances compared to EVI and SAVI, supporting its use over the other VIs for subsequent analysis. Time series of NDVI breakpoint change densities for individual solar energy DFAs did not have a consistent vegetation response following construction. Bootstrap-derived 95% confidence intervals show that the DFAs have significantly larger kurtosis and standard deviation in positive NDVI breakpoint distribution than protected National Park System (NPS) sites, but no significant difference appeared in the negative distribution among all sites. The inconsistent postconstruction NDVI signal and the large number of detected breakpoints across all three sites suggested that the largest shifts in greenness are tied to seasonal and total annual precipitation amounts. Further results indicated that existing site-specific conditions are the main control on vegetation response, mostly driven by the history of human disturbances in DFAs. Although the results do not support persistent breakpoints in solar energy DFAs, future work should seek to establish links between statistical significance and physical significance through ground-based studies to provide a more robust interpretation.

Description: One of the most common treatment methods for spent ion exchange resins is their immobilization in cement, which reduces the release of radionuclides into the environment. Although this method is efficient, it considerably increases the final volume of the waste due to its low incorporation capacity. This work aims to evaluate the degradation of ion exchange resins by the Fenton process (H2O2/Fe2+). The resin evaluated was a mixture of cationic and anionic resins, both non-radioactive. The reactions were conducted by varying the catalyst concentration (25, 50, 100, and 150 mmol L−1) and the volume of hydrogen peroxide. Three different temperatures were evaluated by varying the flow of reactants, which were 50, 60, and 70 °C. Cement specimens were prepared from the treated solutions and two parameters were assessed—namely, final setting time and axial compressive strength. The results showed that the experimental conditions were suitable to dissolve the resins, and the Fe3+ produced as precipitate during the experiments increased the resistance of the final product. The immobilized product complied with the limits established by regulation.

Description: Analysis of the hourly Canadian Prairie data for the past 60 years has transformed our quantitative understanding of land–atmosphere–cloud coupling. The key reason is that trained observers made hourly estimates of the opaque cloud fraction that obscures the sun, moon, or stars, following the same protocol for 60 years at all stations. These 24 daily estimates of opaque cloud data are of sufficient quality such that they can be calibrated against Baseline Surface Radiation Network data to yield the climatology of the daily short-wave, long-wave, and total cloud forcing (SWCF, LWCF and CF, respectively). This key radiative forcing has not been available previously for climate datasets. Net cloud radiative forcing changes sign from negative in the warm season, to positive in the cold season, when reflective snow reduces the negative SWCF below the positive LWCF. This in turn leads to a large climate discontinuity with snow cover, with a systematic cooling of 10 °C or more with snow cover. In addition, snow cover transforms the coupling between cloud cover and the diurnal range of temperature. In the warm season, maximum temperature increases with decreasing cloud, while minimum temperature barely changes; while in the cold season with snow cover, maximum temperature decreases with decreasing cloud, and minimum temperature decreases even more. In the warm season, the diurnal ranges of temperature, relative humidity, equivalent potential temperature, and the pressure height of the lifting condensation level are all tightly coupled to the opaque cloud cover. Given over 600 station-years of hourly data, we are able to extract, perhaps for the first time, the coupling between the cloud forcing and the warm season imbalance of the diurnal cycle, which changes monotonically from a warming and drying under clear skies to a cooling and moistening under cloudy skies with precipitation. Because we have the daily cloud radiative forcing, which is large, we are able to show that the memory of water storage anomalies, from precipitation and the snowpack, goes back many months. The spring climatology shows the memory of snowfall back through the entire winter, and the memory in summer, goes back to the months of snowmelt. Lagged precipitation anomalies modify the thermodynamic coupling of the diurnal cycle to the cloud forcing, and shift the diurnal cycle of the mixing ratio, which has a double peak. The seasonal extraction of the surface total water storage is a large damping of the interannual variability of precipitation anomalies in the growing season. The large land-use change from summer fallow to intensive cropping, which peaked in the early 1990s, has led to a coupled climate response that has cooled and moistened the growing season, lowering cloud-base, increasing equivalent potential temperature, and increasing precipitation. We show a simplified energy balance of the Prairies during the growing season, and its dependence on reflective cloud.

Description: Trace metals (TMs) have a central role in the functioning of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. [...]

Description: The Community Fish Refuge (CFR) is a fish conservation measure that is intended to improve the productivity of rice field fisheries and provide safe refuges for fish during the dry season. Cambodia’s Fisheries Administration aims to develop one well-working CFR in every 1200 communes by 2019. This study assesses the current situation of the rice field fisheries in the Srey Snam district, Siem Reap province, examines community members’ awareness of fish refuge management; and examines the socioeconomic impacts of the CFR among its beneficiaries. Data collected by interviewing 120 households reveal that 85 percent of respondents pursued rice field fishery as part-time work, catching on average 5.2 kg of fish daily during the ten-month harvest period. Most fish products were used for home consumption. Total household saving and income from fish production significantly increased after community members joined CFRs. Respondents’ expenditures, savings and assets also increased after CFR intervention, indicating improvements in livelihood. Illegal fishing and budgetary constraint to implementing CFR interventions are the pressing problems facing the users. The paper ends by outlining measures that could help strengthen and sustain CFRs.

Description: The search for a sustainable land management has become a universal issue. It is especially necessary to discuss sustainable land management and to secure a site with enough feed supply to improve the lives of the farmers in the Ethiopian Highlands. This research studied the Adi Zaboy watershed in Tigray in order to reveal the changes in land management, assess how the different forms of land management affected the vegetation through unsupervised classification and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) analysis with geographic information system (GIS) 10.5 using a WorldView-2 satellite image taken in September 2016 and field investigation, and consider how to allow both environmental preservation and sustainable use of feed resources. The land management types at the research site were classified as “seasonally-closed grazing land”, “prohibited grazing and protected forest land”, and “free grazing land”. On comparing the NDVI of each type of land management, it was found that the seasonally-closed grazing land makes it highly possible to secure and supply feed resources by limiting the grazing period. The expansion of the prohibited grazing and protected forest land is likely to tighten the restriction on the use of resources. Therefore, sustainable land management to secure feed resources may be possible by securing and actively using seasonally-closed grazing land, securing feed by a cut-and-carry, and using satellite images and GIS.

Description: Ecosystem services and their role in alleviating poverty are centered on a set of gendered social relations. The understanding of these relations between men and women in aquatic ecosystems can unveil gender-based opportunities and constraints along the value chains of the ecosystem services. A gender discourse perspective on participation of actors of an ecosystem can further facilitate the understanding of the complex and subtle ways in which gender is represented, constructed, and contested. This paper analyses the barriers to the participation of women in the fishing industry. The analysis is based on a study conducted in five fishing villages of Lake Malawi through a structured questionnaire, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and observations. First, it looks at gender and participation from a theoretical perspective to explain how gender manifests itself in participation and interrogates why women have limited benefits from the fishing industry. Second, it highlights the barriers that seem to preclude women from participating, which include institutional embedded norms, financial, socio-cultural, and reproduction roles. In general, women had little influence on the type of fishing sites, markets, and access to financing of their businesses. A gender transformative agenda is therefore required to proactively facilitate changes of some entrenched institutional norms as well as having greater access to financial services and new technologies in order to enhance women’s full participation and equal benefits from ecosystem services.

Description: The Espírito SantoBay is located in Espírito Santo state in the eastern part of Brazil. It is surrounded by the city of Vitória on one side and by the Atlantic Ocean on the other. Superficial sediments of Espírito Santo Bay were analyzed at 12 (western shallow silt sediments) + 8 (eastern sandy sediments and relatively deep sampling stations) = 20 uniformly distributed sampling points, where geochemical analysis was performed. Nineteen elements were analyzed: Mo, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag, Ni, Mn, Fe, As, U, Th, Sr, Cd, Sb, Bi, V, Cr, Ba, and Al. This selection was made based on the most representative heavy metals present in this area and according to the results obtained from the geochemical analysis. Their concentrations were compared with metal contamination benchmarks such asscreening quick reference tables (SQuiRTs), effects rangelow (ERL), effects range median (ERM), threshold effects levels (TELs), probable effects levels (PELs), and apparent effects thresholds (AETs). The results indicated that there was no particular pollution condition able to alter the condition of any part of this water body. The authors conclude that the Espírito Santo Bay is only moderately polluted, and some elements are virtually absent.

Description: The promotion of the development of co-digestion power plants will be intensified in many European Union member states as the main target of the Union concerning energy generation is complete decarbonisation by 2050. This potential expansion prompts the need for optimal resources allocation according to several techno-economical parameters, highlighting energy costs, power infrastructures access, and social and environmental aspects and restrictions. In Spain, agricultural and livestock biogas production trough co-digestion power plants is still poorly deployed, although the EU Directive 2009/28/EU stipulates that energy from bio-fuels and bio-liquids should contribute to a reduction of at least 35% of greenhouse gas emissions in order to be taken into account, and many authors agree that biogas produced from energy crops and livestock waste fulfils this criterion. Moreover, biogas can be used to upgrade gas pipelines and may have other efficient thermal uses. In this paper, through a Geographical Information System approach, eight different co-digestion mixtures have been evaluated and the most profitable ones have been optimized for the Spanish Iberian Peninsula according to the geographical distribution of the resources. Furthermore, the best locations for co-digestion power plants siting have been calculated, minimizing transport costs and considering technical, environmental and social restrictions. In contrast with other studies, this proposed approach is focused on a holistic optimization. Results show that in Spain the most feasible co-digestion mixtures are based on slurry, glycerine and animal meals, and four areas arise with an outstanding energetic potential up to 208 MW exploitable in large electrical power plants, while 347 MW can be reserved for distributed generation based on this technology.

Description: Leisure noise is a continual source of complaints from residents of affected areas, and its management poses a difficult challenge for local authorities, especially in tourist destinations, such as Málaga. The city council of this city has set a goal of mitigating the noise produced by leisure activities. In 2015, it began mitigation actions, starting with the assessment of the noise through a temporal monitoring campaign in two specific areas of the city where leisure activities are prevalent. Beyond the objective assessment of the noise levels through measurements, the research team programmed several communication actions (a) to improve the trust, visibility, and reliability of the noise-monitoring process through press and social networks and (b) to gather the subjective response to noise from residents in the affected areas. The results obtained were very helpful to raise awareness among stakeholders and to support the planning and prioritization of further noise mitigation actions. Furthermore, the research team aimed to analyze the long-term noise indicators and the time-based patterns of noise in different areas, trying to establish conclusions that can be helpful for other areas of the city and testing the applicability of previous leisure noise models for the city of Málaga. The results showed that the noise levels in the leisure areas in Málaga are quite high at night (Ln over 60 dBA in almost every location), especially during weekend nights, where we observed locations with noise levels over 75–80 dBA until late hours of the night. We also made an analysis of the leisure noise models proposed in previous investigations and their performance in the case of Málaga.

Description: The study of land use/land cover (LULC) has become an increasingly important stage in the development of forest ecosystems strategies. Hence, the main goal of this study was to describe the vegetation change of Azrou Forest in the Middle Atlas, Morocco, between 1987 and 2017. To achieve this, a set of Landsat images, including one Multispectral Scanner (MSS) scene from 1987; one Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) scene from 2000; two Thematic Mapper (TM) scenes from 1995 and 2011; and one Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) scene from 2017; were acquired and processed. Ground-based survey data and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were used to identify and to improve the discrimination between LULC categories. Then, the maximum likelihood (ML) classification method was applied was applied, in order to produce land cover maps for each year. Three classes were considered by the classification of NDVI value: low-density vegetation; moderate-density vegetation, and high-density vegetation. Our study achieved classification accuracies of 66.8% (1987), 99.9% (1995), 99.8% (2000), 99.9% (2011), and 99.9% (2017). The results from the Landsat-based image analysis show that the area of low-density vegetation was decreased from 27.4% to 2.1% over the past 30 years. While, in 2017, the class of high-density vegetation was increased to 64.6% of the total area of study area. The results of this study show that the total forest cover remained stable. The present study highlights the importance of the image classification algorithms combined with NDVI index for better understanding the changes that have occurred in this forest. Therefore, the findings of this study could assist planners and decision-makers to guide, in a good manner, the sustainable land development of areas with similar backgrounds.

Description: The application of seawater desalination technology using a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane has been expanding because it requires less energy compared with other distillation methods. Even in Middle Eastern countries where energy costs are lower such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait, almost all desalination plants where only water production is required have adopted the RO method. However, large plants in excess of half mega-ton size are required, and Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) operation lacks reliability due to heavy biofouling and large amounts of briny discharge contaminated with chemicals. For reliable desalination systems with lower environmental impact, membrane-processing technology, including biotechnology (such as marine bacteria), has been examined as national research in Japan in the “Mega-ton Water System” project. We examined the influence of chlorination on marine bacteria using the fluorescence microscopic observation method and found that the effect of chlorination is limited. Chlorination sterilization triggers biofouling and sodium bisulfate (SBS) addition as a de-chlorinating agent also triggers biofouling, so a process with no chlorine or SBS addition would reduce biofouling. As polyamide SWRO membranes have low chlorine resistivity, such a process would enable longer membrane life in real plants. We used a biofouling monitoring technology, the Membrane Biofilm Formation Rate (mBFR), to design a process that involves no chlorine or SBS addition and verified it in the Arabian Gulf Sea, of Saudi Arabia, which is one of the most difficult and challenging seawaters in which to control biofouling. Furthermore, by minimizing the addition of a sterilizer, the desalination system became more environmentally friendly.

Description: Tourism is growing rapidly throughout the world, including nature-based tourism, but natural habitats are shrinking [...]

Description: Soil columns have been utilized in hydrology to study vertical solute transfer through porous material for decades. Soil columns are typically designed as open tubes with soil held in place with meshing. While this open design is sufficient for non-hazardous particles, it is not ideal for hazardous biological contaminants that may be harmful to humans. The design of this study features a closed soil column system for use with potentially hazardous biological components. The apparatus is comprised of a mist nozzle, flow-reducing cap, and meshing to simulate rainfall on each soil column. After percolating through the soil, water and contaminants pass through a funnel coupling and discharge tube into a collection container. For additional safety, the soil column design fits within a standard biosafety cabinet for use with hazardous contaminants. Its modular design allows for simple maintenance, water flowrate adjustment, and versatility that encourages use in multiple applications. These soil columns were created to study the vertical flow of pathogens, pesticides, and other biological agents. Further experimentation with various hazardous components will develop a better understanding of their fate and transport in soil. This paper details the construction processes and testing methods to validate the system’s ability to replicate a desired flowrate, which is a precursor to studying the vertical transport of pathogens and other agents through soil.

Description: Gas-permeable membrane technology is a new strategy to minimize ammonia losses from manure, reducing pollution and recovering N in the form of an ammonium salt fertilizer. In this work, a new operational configuration to recover N using the gas-permeable membrane technology from swine manure was tested in a semi-continuous mode. It treated swine manure with a total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) concentration of 3451 mg L−1. The system was operated with low aeration rate (to raise pH), and with hydraulic retention times (HRT) of seven days (Period I) and five days (Period II) that provided total ammonia nitrogen loading rate (ALR) treatments of 491 and 696 mg TAN per L of reactor per day, respectively. Results showed a uniform TAN recovery rate of 27 g per m2 of membrane surface per day regardless of the ALR applied and the manure TAN concentration in the reactor. TAN removal reached 79% for Period I and 56% for Period II, with 90% of recovery by the membrane in both periods. Water capture in the acidic solution was also uniform during the experimental period. An increase in temperature of 3 °C of the acidic solution relative to the wastewater reduced 34% the osmotic distillation and water dilution of the product. These results suggested that the gas-permeable membrane technology operating in a semi-continuous mode has a great potential for TAN recovery from manure.

Description: The authors would like to correct the published article [...]

Description: Forest areas in Portugal are often affected by fires. The objective of this work was to analyze the most fire-affected areas in Portugal in the summer of 2016 for two municipalities considering data from Landsat 8 OLI and Sentinel 2A MSI (prefire and postfire data). Different remote sensed data-derived indices, such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR), could be used to identify burnt areas and estimate the burn severity. In this work, NDVI was used to evaluate the area burned, and NBR was used to estimate the burn severity. The results showed that the NDVI decreased considerably after the fire event (2017 images), indicating a substantial decrease in the photosynthesis activity in these areas. The results also indicate that the NDVI differences (dNDVI) assumes the highest values in the burned areas. The results achieved for both sensors regarding the area burned presented differences from the field data no higher than 13.3% (for Sentinel 2A, less than 7.8%). We conclude that the area burned estimated using the Sentinel 2A data is more accurate, which can be justified by the higher spatial resolution of this data.

Description: The Kuro-dake Campsite in Daisetsuzan National Park is situated in a fragile alpine setting. Since it opened in 1992, it has not been under formal management. With camping increasingly affecting the Kuro-dake Campsite, this study aims to gain deeper insights into the soil erosion and overcrowding at the campsite and to suggest a corresponding strategy for future management. A detailed topographic map was created using pole photogrammetry to understand the ground surface condition of the campsite in 2017. Aerial photographs taken in 2012 and 2017 were used to understand the long-term changes in the ground surface. Furthermore, questionnaire surveys with campers, interview surveys with organizations related to the park management and secondary data collection were conducted. Two gullies were identified on the topographic map of the campsite. From 2012 to 2017, the campsite size increased by 48 m2. The daily-use level on busy days is nearly seven times the mean daily-use level for the year. Some campers illegally pitch tents on nearby trails on such busy days. The questionnaire surveys in 2017 and 2018 (n = 346) show that most respondents oppose a future closure of the campsite and two-thirds oppose a use limit. The 2018 survey (n = 210) shows that 71% of respondents were not aware of the reservation system in national parks elsewhere; however, 76% agreed to a reservation system to secure their tent space. Introducing formal management oversight, along with a reservation system, is urgently needed.

Description: The occupational exposure to airborne fine and ultrafine particles (UFPs) and noise in aircraft personnel employed in airport taxiway was investigated. Stationary samplings and multiple personal sampling sites and job tasks were considered. Size distribution, particle number concentrations, lung dose surface area were measured by personal particle counters and by means of an electric low pressure impactor (ELPI+TM). Morphological and chemical characterization of UFPs were performed by transmission and scanning electron microscopy, the latter together with energy dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy based spatially resolved compositional mapping. A-weighted noise exposure level A-weighted noise exposure level normalized to an 8 h working day and Peak Sound C-weighted Pressure Level was calculated for single worker and for homogeneous exposure groups. Our study provides evidence on the impact of aviation-related emissions on occupational exposure to ultrafine particles and noise exposure of workers operating in an airport taxiway. Main exposure peaks are related to pre-flight operations of engine aircrafts. Although exposure to ultrafine particles and noise appears to not be critical if compared with other occupational scenarios, the coincidence in time of high peaks of exposure to ultrafine particles and noise suggest that further investigations are warranted in order to assess possible subclinical and clinical adverse health effects in exposed workers, especially for cardiovascular apparatus.

Description: Chemical modifications of clay to remove methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions at room temperature were compared. Natural bentonite (NC) was modified by cation exchange with hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (HC), bencyltriethylammonium chloride (BC), and tetramethylammonium chloride (TC) to reverse the surface polarity of the hydrophilic bentonite. The adsorption of MB was studied and fitted by the adsorption theories of Langmuir, Freundlich, Dubinin-Radushkevich, and Temkin. Equilibrium parameters were calculated, indicating that chemical modification did not improve the adsorption, due to the electrostatic adsorption mechanism. Specific surface area was determined, reporting the following trend: NC > TC > BC > HC. Isotherms show that TC is the best modified clay for the adsorption of MB with a capacity of 217 mg/g. Adsorbents were characterized by SEM and the determination of their point zero charge, indicating a charge reversal at pH 9.5 and a heterogeneous surface that is optimum for the adsorption of molecules and ions onto their surfaces.

Description: A two-year study was conducted to assess how mulch influences weed dynamics following imposition of different fertilization treatments under three crop establishment options: (i) conventional; (ii) ripping; and (iii) basin, in a two-year maize-legume rotation. Eight treatments were imposed within each crop establishment option and received maize stover mulch applied at 0% or 30% cover before planting  maize (Zea mays) or cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) as test crops. Maize received nitrogen (N) at 35, 90, or 120 kg·ha−1 and phosphorus (P) at 14 or 26 kg·ha−1 applied alone or in combination with 4 or 7 t cattle manure·ha−1, while cowpea received 8 or 17 N·kg·ha−1 and similar P rates to maize. Results indicated that both weed biomass and diversity were influenced more by fertilization than method of crop establishment. On treatments under high fertilizer application rates, or previously planted to cowpea weed biomass ranged between 220 and 400 g·m−2 under mulch and 370–510 g·m−2 (no mulch). Here species richness ranged between 7–16 and was dominated by dicotyledons. This was in contrast to biomass ranges of 75–200 g·m−2 in the low fertilized and control plots, where only one or two grass types dominated. Overall, weed densities were 6% to 51% higher under conventional tillage compared to the two conservation agriculture (CA) options, although the data indicated that mulch significantly (p 〈 0.05) depressed weed density by up to 70%. We concluded that mulching could be a potential mechanism for reducing weeding labor costs for smallholders and the general environmental and health concerns associated with the use of herbicides in CA systems.

Description: This study explores the relationships between forest cover change and the village resettlement and land planning policies implemented in Laos, which have led to the relocation of remote and dispersed populations into clustered villages with easier access to state services and market facilities. We used the Global Forest Cover Change (2000–2012) and the most recent Lao Agricultural Census (2011) datasets to assess forest cover change in resettled and non-resettled villages throughout the country. We also reviewed a set of six case studies and performed an original case study in two villages of Luang Prabang province with 55 households, inquiring about relocation, land losses and intensification options. Our results show that resettled villages have greater baseline forest cover and total forest loss than most villages in Laos but not significant forest loss relative to that baseline. Resettled villages are consistently associated with forested areas, minority groups, and intermediate accessibility. The case studies highlight that resettlement coupled with land use planning does not necessarily lead to the abandonment of shifting cultivation or affect forest loss but lead to a re-spatialization of land use. This includes clustering of forest clearings, which might lead to fallow shortening and land degradation while limited intensification options exist in the resettled villages. This study provides a contribution to studying relationships between migration, forest cover change, livelihood strategies, land governance and agricultural practices in tropical forest environments.

Description: Land-use and land-cover changes are driving unprecedented changes in ecosystems and environmental processes at different scales. This study was aimed at identifying the potential land-use drivers in the Jedeb catchment of the Abbay basin by combining statistical analysis, field investigation and remote sensing. To do so, a land-use change model was calibrated and evaluated using the SITE (SImulation of Terrestrial Environment) modelling framework. SITE is cellular automata based multi-criteria decision analysis framework for simulating land-use conversion based on socio-economic and environmental factors. Past land-use trajectories (1986–2009) were evaluated using a reference Landsat-derived map (agreement of 84%). Results show that major land-use change drivers in the study area were population, slope, livestock and distances from various infrastructures (roads, markets and water). It was also found that farmers seem to increasingly prefer plantations of trees such as Eucalyptus by replacing croplands perhaps mainly due to declining crop yield, soil fertility and climate variability. Potential future trajectory of land-use change was also predicted under a business-as-usual scenario (2009–2025). Results show that agricultural land will continue to expand from 69.5% in 2009 to 77.5% in 2025 in the catchment albeit at a declining rate when compared with the period from 1986 to 2009. Plantation forest will also increase at a much higher rate, mainly at the expense of natural vegetation, agricultural land and grasslands. This study provides critical information to land-use planners and policy makers for a more effective and proactive management in this highland catchment.

Description: Environments was launched two years ago, in March 2014.[...]

Description: Understanding and predicting Taste and Odour events is as difficult as critical for drinking water treatment plants. Following a number of events in recent years, a comprehensive statistical analysis of data from Lake Tingalpa (Queensland, Australia) was conducted. Historical manual sampling data, as well as data remotely collected by a vertical profiler, were collected; regression analysis and self-organising maps were the used to determine correlations between Taste and Odour compounds and potential input variables. Results showed that the predominant Taste and Odour compound was geosmin. Although one of the main predictors was the occurrence of cyanobacteria blooms, it was noticed that the cyanobacteria species was also critical. Additionally, water temperature, reservoir volume and oxidised nitrogen availability, were key inputs determining the occurrence and magnitude of the geosmin peak events. Based on the results of the statistical analysis, a predictive regression model was developed to provide indications on the potential occurrence, and magnitude, of peaks in geosmin concentration. Additionally, it was found that the blue green algae probe of the lake’s vertical profiler has the potential to be used as one of the inputs for an automated geosmin early warning system.

Description: The “Santa Catarina Rural” is a Program co-funded by The World Bank for improvements on 1300 km of low volume rural roads on Southern Brazil. The pioneer project under the program was on the municipality of Santa Rosa de Lima, where the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from the road improvement activities as well as the regular traffic were assessed on an experimental basis using the CarbonROAD software application. Here, we show details of the CarbonROAD software application and the construction emissions assessment procedure as well as the mitigating effect of the plants used for compensation. It was found that most of the emissions come from the road improvement work. This includes earthworks, fuel for motor graders, bulldozers and other machines, and materials and gravel extraction, industrialization and transportation, etc. Only a smaller portion comprises regular road traffic. The accumulated emission balance shows that the carbon absorption is larger than construction emissions after just 15 months. The potential for price appraisal of the generated carbon credits is explored.

Description: Despite their importance, available information on the dynamics of forest protected areas and their management in the Niger delta are insufficient. We present results showing the distribution and structure of forest landscapes across protected areas in two states (Cross River and Delta) within the Niger Delta using multi-temporal remote sensing. Satellite images were classified and validated using ground data, existing maps, Google Earth, and historic aerial photographs over 1986, 2000 and 2014. The total area of forest landscape for 1986, 2000 and 2014 across the identified protected areas were 535,671 ha, 494,009 ha and 469,684 ha (Cross River) and 74,631 ha, 68,470 ha and 58,824 ha (Delta) respectively. The study showed annual deforestation rates for protected areas across both states from 1986 to 2000 were 0.8%. However, the overall annual deforestation rate between 2000 and 2014 was higher in Delta (1.9%) compared to Cross River (0.7%). This study shows accelerated levels of forest fragmentation across protected areas in both states as a side effect of the prevalence of agricultural practices and unsupervised urbanisation. The results show the need for government intervention and policy implementation, in addition to efforts by local communities and conservation organisations in protected area management across ecologically fragile areas of Nigeria.

Description: Dealing with large-scale Food and Biodegradable Waste (FBW) often results in many logistical problems and environmental impacts to be considered. These can become great hindrances when the integration of solid waste management is concerned. Extra care is needed to plan such waste disposal or treatment services and facilities, especially with respect to the ecological impact. Decision-making with regards to the sustainable use of these facilities also involves tradeoffs between a number of conflicting objectives, since increasing one benefit may decrease the others. In this study a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) is presented to evaluate different waste management options and their applicability in Japan. The analytical process aims at selecting the most suitable waste treatment option, using pairwise comparisons conducted within a decision hierarchy that was developed through the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The results of this study show that anaerobic digestion should be chosen as the best FBW treatment option with regards to resource recovery. The study also presents some conditions and recommendations that can enhance the suitability of other options like incineration and composting.

Description: Nostoc flagelliforme, a filamentous nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium, is widely distributed in arid steppes of the west and northwestern parts of China. However, as a food delicacy this species has been overexploited from 1970 to 2000. Moreover, overgrazing, land reclamation and the removal of medicinal herbs have caused severely reduced vegetation coverage there. In this communication, a badly damaged but slowly rehabilitating N. flagelliforme-inhibiting steppe is described, and the rehabilitation of desertified steppes by the renewed growth of N. flagelliforme is proposed. The restoration of this dominant nitrogen supplier would be an ecologically sustainable solution for supplementing current measures already taken in the desertified regions. In addition, a goal of 50%–60% vegetation coverage is proposed by the N. flagelliforme restoration.

Description: This paper discusses the driving forces (DFs) of informal urbanization (IU) in the greater Cairo metropolitan region (GCMR) using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The IU patterns in the GCMR have been extremely influenced by seven DFs: geographical characteristics, availability of life facilities, economic incentives, land demand and supply, population increase, administrative function, and development plans. This research found that these forces vary significantly in how they influence urban growth in the three study sectors, namely, the middle, north, and south areas in the western part of the GCMR. The forces with the highest influence were economic incentives in the middle sector, population increase in the north sector, and the administrative function in the south sector. Due to the lower availability of buildable land in the middle sector, the land demand and supply force had a lesser influence in this sector compared to in the north and south sectors. The development plans force had medium influence in all sectors. The geographical characteristics force had little influence in both the middle and the north sectors, but higher influence than economic incentives, availability of life facilities, and development plans in the south sector. Because of the spatial variances in life facilities organizations in the GCMR, the life facilities availability force had little effect on IU in the south sector.

Description: In the past decades, hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), so-called air toxics or toxic air pollutants, have been detected in the atmospheric air at low concentration levels, causing public concern about the adverse effect of long-term exposure to HAPs on human health. Most HAPs belong to volatile organic compounds (VOCs). More seriously, most of them are known carcinogens or probably carcinogenic to humans. The objectives of this paper were to report the regulatory aspects and environmental monitoring management of toxic VOCs designated by Japan and Korea under the Air Pollution Control Act, and the Clean Air Conservation Act, respectively. It can be found that the environmental quality standards and environmental monitoring of priority VOCs (i.e., benzene, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, and dichloromethane) have been set and taken by the state and local governments of Japan since the early 2000, but not completely established in Korea. On the other hand, the significant progress in reducing the emissions of some toxic VOCs, including acrylonitrile, benzene, 1,3-butadiene, 1,2-dichloroethane, dichloromethane, chloroform, tetrachloroethylene, and trichloroethylene in Japan was also described as a case study in the brief report paper.

Description: The global atmospheric concentration of anthropogenic gases, such as carbon dioxide, has increased substantially over the past few decades due to the high level of industrialization and urbanization that is occurring in developing countries, like South Africa. This has escalated the challenges of global warming. In South Africa, carbon capture and storage (CCS) from coal-fired power plants is attracting increasing attention as an alternative approach towards the mitigation of carbon dioxide emission. Therefore, innovative strategies and process optimization of CCS systems is essential in order to improve the process efficiency of this technology in South Africa. This review assesses the potential of CCS as an alternative approach to reducing the amount CO2 emitted from the South African coal-fired power plants. It examines the various CCS processes that could be used for capturing the emitted CO2. Finally, it proposes the use of new adsorbents that could be incorporated towards the improvement of CCS technology.

Description: This study evaluates the levels of aluminum (Al), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn) in tap water samples of forty localities from around the Maltese Islands together with their corresponding service supply reservoirs. The heavy metal concentrations obtained indicated that concentrations of the elements were generally below the maximum allowed concentration established by the Maltese legislation. In terms of the Maltese and EU water quality regulations, 17.5% of the localities sampled yielded water that failed the acceptance criteria for a single metal in drinking water. Higher concentrations of some metals were observed in samples obtained at the end of the distribution network, when compared to the concentrations at the source. The observed changes in metal concentrations between the localities’ samples and the corresponding supply reservoirs were significant. The higher metal concentrations obtained in the samples from the localities can be attributed to leaching in the distribution network.

Description: Managing grasslands for forage and ground-nesting bird habitat requires appropriate defoliation strategies. Subsequent early-summer species composition in mixed stands of native warm-season grasses (Indiangrass (IG, Sorghastrum nutans), big bluestem (BB, Andropogon gerardii) and little bluestem (LB, Schizachyrium scoparium)) responding to harvest intervals (treatments, 30, 40, 60, 90 or 120 d) and durations (years in production) was assessed. Over three years, phased May harvestings were initiated on sets of randomized plots, ≥90 cm apart, in five replications (blocks) to produce one-, two- and three-year-old stands. Two weeks after harvest, the frequencies of occurrence of plant species, litter and bare ground, diagonally across each plot (line intercept), were compared. Harvest intervals did not influence proportions of dominant plant species, occurrence of major plant types or litter, but increased that of bare ground patches. Harvest duration increased the occurrence of herbaceous forbs and bare ground patches, decreased that of tall-growing forbs and litter, but without affecting that of perennial grasses, following a year with more September rainfall. Data suggest that one- or two-year full-season forage harvesting may not compromise subsequent breeding habitat for bobwhites and other ground-nesting birds in similar stands. It may take longer than a year’s rest for similar stands to recover from such changes in species composition.

Description: A study based on the physicochemical parameters and dissolved metals levels from three main rivers around Dhaka City, Bangladesh, was conducted in order to determine the present pollution status and their alteration trends with the seasonal change of discharge amount. The water samples were collected from the rivers Buriganga, Turag, and Shitalakkhya during both dry and monsoon seasons. Physicochemical analyses revealed that most of the water quality parameters exceeded the recommended levels set by the Department of Environment (DoE), Bangladesh, during both the dry and monsoon seasons. A very strong positive correlation was found between biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) in all sampling points. Both BOD and COD values had a strong negative correlation with dissolved oxygen (DO) in the Shitalakkhya River. Most of the dissolved metals concentrations in the water samples were similar. However, the concentrations of different physicochemical properties varied with the seasons. The dry season had significantly higher contamination loads, which were decreased during the monsoon season. Anthropogenic activities, as well as the variation in river water flow during different seasons were the main reasons for this high degree of water pollution.

Description: The Río Tinto drains the eastern part of the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB), an area with a huge amount of massive sulphide deposits that has been mined for the last 4500 years. This river presents extreme conditions, with very high concentrations in solution of metals and metalloids and low pH values. Mining activities in the upper part of the watershed of the Río Tinto have been documented since historical times and a huge amount of widespread acid-producing mine residues exist in this area. Nevertheless, there is no consensus among the scientific community as to whether the extreme conditions of the Río Tinto are the result of natural processes or the intense mining activity in the region. Here we show, using numerous geological, archaeological and historical records, that the present quality of the Río Tinto is the result of mining activities, especially during the period 1850–2001, while natural processes of formation of acid rock drainage can be considered negligible.

Description: Since the paper by Giller et al. (2009), the debate surrounding the suitability of conservation agriculture (CA) for African smallholders has remained polarized between proponents and opponents. The debate also gave rise to a few studies that attempted to identify the “niche” where CA would fit in the region, but the insight offered by these studies has been limited. In this paper, we first analyze the rationale of adoption where it occurred globally to define “drivers” of adoption. Our analysis suggests that CA has first and foremost been adopted under the premises of being energy-saving (time and/or power), erosion-controlling, and water-use efficient, but rarely to increase yield. We then define the niche where CA fits, based on these drivers of adoption, as systems where (1) the energy available for crop establishment is limited and/or costly (including labor and draft power); (2) delayed planting results in a significant yield decline; (3) yield is limited or co-limited by water; and/or (4) severe erosion problems threaten the short- to medium-term productivity of farmland. In Eastern and Southern Africa, this niche appears rather large and likely to expand in the near future. When implemented within this niche, CA may still be limited by “performance challenges” that do not constitute drivers or barriers to adoption, but limitations to the performance of CA. We argue that most of these performance challenges can (and should) be addressed by agronomic and socio-economic research, and provide four examples where the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and its partners have been successfully alleviating four very different challenges through research and development (R&D) in Eastern and Southern Africa. Finally, we describe an iterative and multi-scale R&D approach currently used by CIMMYT in Eastern and Southern Africa to overcome challenges associated with the implementation of CA by African smallholders. This approach could also be useful for other complex combinations of technologies aiming at sustainable intensification.

Description: Soil microbial communities perform critical functions in ecosystem processes. These functions can be used to assess the impact of agricultural practices on sustainable crop production. In this five-year study, the effect of various agricultural practices on soil microbial diversity and activity was investigated in a summer rainfall area under South African dryland conditions. Microbial diversity and activity were measured in the 0–15 cm layer of a field trial consisting of two fertilizer levels, three cropping systems, and two tillage systems. Using the Shannon–Weaver and Evenness diversity indices, soil microbial species richness and abundance were measured. Microbial enzymatic activities: β-glucosidase, phosphatase and urease, were used to evaluate ecosystem functioning. Cluster analysis revealed a shift in soil microbial community diversity and activity over time. Microbial diversity and activity were higher under no-till than conventional tillage. Fertilizer levels seemed to play a minor role in determining microbial diversity and activity, whereas the cropping systems played a more important role in determining the activity of soil microbial communities. Conservation agriculture yielded the highest soil microbial diversity and activity in diversified cropping systems under no-till.

Description: A long-term study was carried out in the Zidyana Extension Planning Area (EPA), Malawi and in the Zimuto Communal Area, Zimbabwe, to evaluate the effect of different conservation agriculture (CA) systems on crop productivity, soil quality and economic performance. Maize productivity results from Zidyana showed that CA systems out-yielded the conventional system in seven out of nine cropping seasons. Labour savings relative to the conventional control ranged from 34–42 labour days ha−1 due to reduced time needed to make manual ridges and for weed control, leading to higher net benefits of 193–444 USD·ha−1. In Zimuto, yield benefits were apparent from the second season onwards and there was a much clearer trend of increased yields of CA over time. Greater net benefits (in USD·ha−1) were achieved on CA systems in Zimuto compared with conventional control treatments due to overall higher yields from CA systems. In Zimuto, both increased infiltration and a gradual increase in soil carbon were recorded, which may have contributed to the greater yield response of CA in this area. In Zidyana, yield increases were attributed primarily to enhanced water infiltration since no increases in soil carbon levels were measured. Farmers highlighted critical challenges to the adoption of CA. These will have to be addressed in future research and extension to provide effective solutions to farmers.

Description: Cabbage (Brassicaceae) is one of the most frequently consumed exotic vegetables in Benin and also the most affected by insects. To meet growing food demand, farmers rely heavily on synthetic pesticides that are harmful for themselves, consumers and the environment. Integrated pest management has been proposed as the means to improve vegetable productivity and quality in many developing countries. One approach is to substitute pesticides with physical barriers to insects, like nets. Here, we assess consumers’ perceptions about cabbage and their purchasing behavior towards cabbage that was produced using these nets in two major cities in Benin. Results indicate that consumers are aware of the health risks associated with intensive use of pesticides but were not able to recognize the quality difference between cabbage produced under nets from those using pesticides. All consumers were willing to pay a price premium for cabbage with minimized pesticides residues compared with conventionally produced cabbage, the average premium being 38%. Women, older, highly educated consumers and those able to distinguish cabbage qualities were willing to pay the most. We suggest that farmers will obtain higher prices if their production of cabbage with preferred characteristics is accompanied by an improved marketing strategy.

Description: The editors of Environments would like to express their sincere gratitude to the following reviewers for assessing manuscripts in 2015. [...]

Description: Various approaches to flue gas desulfurization by low-grade manganese and high efficiency desulfurization in sintering enterprises were investigated, and the predominance areas of the Mn/Fe-S-O system were constructed in this paper. Additionally, the areas in different temperatures were established based on the thermodynamic properties achieved from manuals. From the view of thermodynamics, manganese oxides were suitable and feasible for desulfurization at an appropriate temperature range from 393 K to 453 K (120 °C to 180 °C), which means that the SO2 of sintering flue gas could be removed directly without further cooling or heating. The analysis often showed that there was an overlap area of the Mn-S-O and Fe-S-O system, indicating that it would be a coexistence stability region of MnSO4 and Fe2O3, which provided a possibility of desulfurization by selective salvation without the sulfate and sulfide of iron forming. More importantly, the predominance areas of Mn/Fe-S-O would offer an attractive way of determining optimum experimental conditions for dry desulfurization by low-grade manganese resources.

Description: Reedbeds across the UK are amongst the most important habitats for rare and endangered birds, wildlife and organisms. However, over the past century, this valued wetland habitat has experienced a drastic reduction in quality and spatial coverage due to pressures from human related activities. To this end, conservation organisations across the UK have been charged with the task of conserving and expanding this threatened habitat. With this backdrop, the study aimed to develop a methodology for accurate reedbed mapping through the combined use of multi-seasonal texture measures and spectral information contained in high resolution QuickBird satellite imagery. The key objectives were to determine the most effective single-date (autumn or summer) and multi-seasonal QuickBird imagery suitable for reedbed mapping over the study area; to evaluate the effectiveness of combining multi-seasonal texture measures and spectral information for reedbed mapping using a variety of combinations; and to evaluate the most suitable classification technique for reedbed mapping from three selected classification techniques, namely maximum likelihood classifier, spectral angular mapper and artificial neural network. Using two selected grey-level co-occurrence textural measures (entropy and angular second moment), a series of experiments were conducted using varied combinations of single-date and multi-seasonal QuickBird imagery. Overall, the results indicate the multi-seasonal pansharpened multispectral bands (eight layers) combined with all eight grey level co-occurrence matrix texture measures (entropy and angular second moment computed using windows 3 × 3 and 7 × 7) produced the optimal reedbed (76.5%) and overall classification (78.1%) accuracies using the maximum likelihood classifier technique. Using the optimal 16 layer multi-seasonal pansharpened multispectral and texture combined image dataset, a total reedbed area of 9.8 hectares was successfully mapped over the three study sites. In conclusion, the study has demonstrated the value of utilizing multi-seasonal texture measures and pansharpened multispectral data for reedbed mapping.

Description: The paper reports a field investigation on a reach of the lower Zambezi River about 230–240 km downstream of the Cahora Bassa dam in the Republic of Mozambique. In the framework of a wider research program, bathymetric measures of the riverbed were performed on a 10 km stretch of the river using an echo sounder, a GPS receiver, and an integrated navigation-acquisition system. Field observations and measures revealed a general agreement with macro-features of river morphology reported in early literature, dealing with the morphological response of the river to the construction of large dams, in the second half of the 20th century. Results hereby reported are some of the few examples of direct field measures in the lower Zambezi reported in literature, and could be used by researchers and practitioners either as a knowledge base for further surveys or as input data for validation and calibration of mathematical models and remote sensing observations.

Description: The present review summarizes the literature on the effects of oil spill on the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coastal vegetation including freshwater-, brackish-, and salt-marshes. When in contact with plant tissues, oil may have adverse impacts via physical and chemical effects. Oil may also become detrimental to plants by covering soil surfaces, leading to root oxygen stress and/or penetrate into the soil where it becomes in contact with the roots. The affected vegetation may survive the impact by producing new leaves, however, an episode of oil spill may impose severe stress. Oil spills may lead to partial or complete plant death but in many situations plants recover by regenerating new shoots. Plant sensitivity to oil varies among species; plants from salt marshes appear to be more sensitive than freshwater species. In addition, sensitivity appears to be dependent on the oil characteristics and the quantity of oil being spilled, repeated oiling events, season of spill, greenhouse vs. field conditions, and plant age are among the many factors that interact simultaneously. Many aspects of coastal plant responses to oiling remain in need of additional research, including the possibility that differences in oil sensitivity may interact with changes in the environment, and contribution to additional wetland losses through coastal erosion. Environmental stressors such as drought and salinity may also interact with oil, leading to the observed changes in plant species community composition following an oil spill.

Description: Aqueous mixtures of glycerol and 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (CD), two non-toxic eco-friendly substances, were used as a means of extracting antioxidant polyphenols from oak acorn (Quercur robur) husks. The process was optimized by implementing a central composite (Box-Behnken) experimental design and response surface methodology, taking into consideration the critical parameters (independent variables) of glycerol concentration (Cgl), CD concentration (CCD) and temperature (T). The assessment of the extraction model was based on three responses: the total polyphenol yield (YTP), the antiradical activity (AAR) and the reducing power (PR). The model illustrated that YTP depended significantly on Cgl and CCD, but not on T, whereas both antioxidant properties considered (AAR and PR) were temperature-dependent. The maximum predicted YTP was 122.19 mg GAE per g dry husk weight, while the extract obtained under optimized conditions displayed strong antioxidant activity.

Description: Wetlands are complex ecosystems that play multiple roles. ‘Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park’ (TDNP) undoubtedly plays a role in several ecosystem services and provides a connection between nature, farmers, scientists, residents, and other stakeholders. The state of degradation and/or vulnerability of this ecosystem (with a series of socio-economic implications) have led the publication of numerous articles. The work reported here provides a description of the growing importance of this wetland within the rural landscapes of La Mancha and emphasizes its state of degradation, mainly since pedological point of view. In this way, particular attention is required to assure the conservation of the Tablas of Daimiel Wetland; thus, several measures are proposed to improve the conservation of this area as to control and prohibit any dumping of any type of waste in the park or in its vicinity.

Description: Nunavik (Northern Quebec, Canada) is experiencing a mining boom. While several studies have been conducted in the region in relation to climate change, the effects of mining have received much less attention. In this study, we explored the use of biofilms in natural streams as an indicator of potential stress on living organisms caused by metal contamination from nickel mining activities. More specifically, we assessed diatom assemblages and the presence of teratologies (morphologic abnormalities) as a response to metals in streams located in close proximity to mining sites. Metal concentrations (as well as other cations), anions and pH values varied markedly among stations. Different diatom assemblage structures (four biotypes, i.e., groups of samples with similar diatom species composition) were observed depending on the level and the type of contamination. The frequency of diatom teratologies was higher in metal contaminated sites. The present study lays the foundation for bioassessment of metal contamination in low Arctic streams using diatom-based approaches, and will serve as a point in time reference for future evaluation of ecosystems degradation or recovery in Nunavik.

Description: China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the largest infrastructure scheme in our lifetime, bringing unprecedented geopolitical and economic shifts far larger than previous rising powers. Concerns about its environmental impacts are legitimate and threaten to thwart China’s ambitions, especially since there is little precedent for analysing and planning for environmental impacts of massive infrastructure development at the scale of BRI. In this paper, we review infrastructure development under BRI to characterise the nature and types of environmental impacts and demonstrate how social, economic and political factors can shape these impacts. We first address the ambiguity around how BRI is defined. Then we describe our interdisciplinary framework for considering the nature of its environmental impacts, showing how impacts interact and aggregate across multiple spatiotemporal scales creating cumulative impacts. We also propose a typology of BRI infrastructure, and describe how economic and socio-political drivers influence BRI infrastructure and the nature of its environmental impacts. Increasingly, environmental policies associated with BRI are being designed and implemented, although there are concerns about how these will translate effectively into practice. Planning and addressing environmental issues associated with the BRI is immensely complex and multi-scaled. Understanding BRI and its environment impacts is the first step for China and countries along the routes to ensure the assumed positive socio-economic impacts associated with BRI are sustainable.

Description: During recent decade, the pavement sustainability has received much attention by road agencies, companies, governments and research institutes. The aim of this paper is to introduce and evaluate the sustainability of the technologies developed or underdeveloped to address environmental issues of asphalt mixtures, and the waste materials and by-products that can be recycled and reused in asphalt production. Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) technology, the most popular waste materials to substitute neat binder (crumb rubber modifier (CRM), recycled plastic (RP), vacuum tower bottoms (VTB)) and/or virgin aggregates (reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), reclaimed asphalt shingles (RAs), construction and demolition (C and D) wastes, steel and copper slags), and bio-binders were evaluated with respect to their environmental and economic benefits and engineering performance as the main components of pavement sustainability. The performance evaluation was carried out by examining rutting, moisture susceptibility, thermal and fatigue cracking resistance. Two main environmental impacts, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, and energy consumption were considered to study the environmental effects of these technologies and materials. Additionally, the economic effect was investigated considering initial cost and long-term benefit. Results of investigation illustrated that although each individual technology and waste material is valuable in terms of performance and/or the environment, specific combinations such as WMA + RAP, WMA + CRM, RAP + CRM, and WMA + CRM + RAP lead to further benefits. Notably, these combinations suffer from a lack of comprehensive economic analysis, thus, their sustainability cannot be fully assessed and is prone to future studies.

Description: Dengue fever (DF) is a national health problem in Pakistan. It has become endemic in Lahore after its recent reemergence in 2016. This study investigates the impacts of climatic factors (temperature and rainfall) on DF transmission in the district of Lahore through statistical approaches. Initially, the climatic variability was explored using a time series analysis on climatic factors from 1970 to 2012. Furthermore, ordinary and multiple linear regression analyses were used to measure the simulating effect of climatic factors on dengue incidence from 2007 to 2012. The time series analysis revealed significant annual and monthly variability in climatic factors, which shaped a dengue-supporting environment. It also showed a positive temporal relationship between climatic factors and DF. Moreover, the regression analyses revealed a substantial monthly relationship between climatic factors and dengue incidence. The ordinary linear regression of rainfall versus dengue showed monthly R2 = 34.2%, whereas temperature versus dengue presented R2 = 38.0%. The multiple regression analysis showed a monthly significance of R2 = 44.6%. Consequently, our study shows a substantial synergism between dengue and climatic factors in Lahore. The present study could help in unveiling new ways for health prediction modeling of dengue and might be applicable in other subtropical and temperate climates.

Description: Ozone (O3) pollution has become one of the most challenging problems in China, and high O3 concentrations have been a major air quality issue in Changchun. Based on continuous observation data of surface ozone concentrations from ten automatic air monitoring stations and meteorological data from the meteorological bureau in Changchun, the temporal and spatial variations of the O3 concentration and its relationships with meteorological factors were analyzed by correlation analysis during the period of 2013–2017. The results showed the following: A single apex model of the annual mean O3 concentrations of the daily maximum 8 h average (MDA8) was found from the data for 2013 to 2017 in Changchun, with the highest MDA8 O3 concentrations in 2015 and a slight decline from then until 2017. The O3 concentrations in the suburban areas and the south of Changchun were higher than those downtown and north of the city. The seasonal variation of O3 concentrations was obvious, following the order summer 〉 spring 〉 autumn 〉 winter, which was similar to the results of neighboring cities and provinces in Changchun. The days on which O3 concentrations exceeded the standard were concentrated in summer and spring, and the total number of ozone excess days was 91 days; the maximum number of ozone excess days was in 2015. The O3 concentration exceeded the standard in Changchun mainly in March–August, and its monthly mean value curve showed a bimodal type in which the highest values appeared in May and July, while the lowest values appeared in December. The diurnal pattern of ozone showed a single peak mode, and the peak value usually appeared at 14:00–16:00 while the minimum value appeared at 07:00–08:00. O3 concentrations in Changchun and the six selected pollutants CO, NO, NO2, NOx, PM10, and PM2.5 were negatively correlated. Higher temperature is a necessary synoptic condition for ozone pollution in Changchun: when the temperature rose, O3 concentrations increased significantly; further, O3 concentrations were negatively correlated with relative humidity and atmospheric pressure and were positively correlated with temperature and solar radiation. The O3 concentrations were highest when the wind scale approached 14~20 km/h and the wind direction was S. Combined with the research results in the surrounding areas of Changchun, it is indicated that there may be an ozone contribution from south of Changchun through long-range pollution transport and tropospheric subsidence.

Description: There is little information in the literature about the impacts of mineral exploration drilling on natural waters. A copper-gold-molybdenum mining deposit in Alaska was heavily explored until 2012 and partially reclaimed; however, full reclamation of drill sites remained incomplete in 2016. Copper is sub-lethally toxic to salmon, a highly-valued resource in this area. Of 109 sites inspected, 9 sites had confirmed impacts due to un-reclaimed drill-holes or drill waste disposal practices. At seven sites artesian waters at the drill stem resulted in surface water or sediment elevated in aluminum, iron, copper, or zinc with neutral pH. Copper concentrations at artesian sites were 〈0.4, 0.7, 2, 7, 15, 76, and 215 µg/L; the latter four exceed water quality criteria. Drilling waste is known to have been disposed of in ponds and unlined sumps. At one of five ponds sampled, copper declined from 51 to 8 µg/L over nine years. At the one sump area with historical data, copper increased from 0.3 to 1.8 µg/L at a downgradient wetland spring over five years. This research identifies contaminant types and sources and can be used to guide future ecotoxicity studies and improve regulatory oversight.

Description: The research on marine chlorophyll concentrations, as indicators of phytoplankton abundance, their relations with environmental parameters, and their trends is of global interest. It is also crucial when referring to oligotrophic environments where maintenance or increase in primary production is vital. The present study focuses on the Eastern Mediterranean Sea that is in general oligotrophic. Its primary goal is to explore possible relations between surface chlorophyll-a concentrations and environmental factors. The involved parameters are the sea surface temperature, the wind speed, the wave height, the precipitation, and the mean sea level pressure; their relation with chlorophyll is assessed through the calculation of the relevant correlation coefficients, based on monthly satellite-derived and numerical model data for the period 1998–2016. The results show that chlorophyll relates inversely with sea surface temperature; in general positively with wind speed and wave height; positively, although weaker, with precipitation; and negatively, but area and season limited, with mean sea level pressure. These correlations are stronger over the open southern part of the study area and strongly dependent on the season. A secondary aim of the study is the estimation of chlorophyll trends for the same time interval, which is performed separately for the low and the high production periods. The statistically significant results reveal only increasing local chlorophyll trends that, for each period, mainly characterize the eastern and the western part of the area, respectively.

Description: Low-phosphorus (P) litter, a manure treatment byproduct, can be used as an organic soil amendment and nitrogen (N) source but its effect on N mineralization is unknown. A laboratory incubation study was conducted to compare the effect of adding untreated (fine or pelletized) broiler litter (FUL or PUL) versus extracted, low-P treated (fine or pelletized) broiler litter (FLP or PLP) on N dynamics in a sandy soil. All four litter materials were surface applied at 157 kg N ha−1. The soil accumulation of ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3−) were used to estimate available mineralized N. The evolution of carbon dioxide (CO2), ammonia (NH3), and nitrous oxide (N2O) was used to evaluate gaseous losses during soil incubation. Untreated litter materials provided high levels of mineralized N, 71% of the total N applied for FUL and 64% for PUL, while NH3 losses were 24% to 35% and N2O losses were 3.3% to 7.4% of the total applied N, respectively. Soil application of low-P treated litter provided lower levels of mineralized N, 42% for FLP and 29% for PLP of the total applied N with NH3 losses of 5.7% for FLP for and 4.1% for PLP, and very low N2O losses (0.5%). Differences in mineralized N between untreated and treated broiler litter materials were attributed to contrasting C:N ratios and acidity of the low-P litter byproducts. Soil application of treated low-P litter appears as an option for slow mineral N release and abatement of NH3 and N2O soil losses.

Description: The distance between theory and practice in the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) process is particularly noticeable. The development of an integrated, comprehensive and systematic approach guided by the related literature is considered to be an ideal condition for enhancing the value of SEA and increasing its effectiveness. The aim of the present paper was to develop a methodological approach of the most technical and critical stages of SEA for onshore wind farm (OWF) siting. The methodological framework included the proposal of the SEA objectives along with the indicators’ development, the identification of alternatives, the selection of a ‘most viable or sustainable’ alternative, the identification of potential impacts, their assessment, and finally, the proposal of a SEA monitoring system using both qualitative and quantitative methods, tools, and techniques. OWF siting within low and/or moderate sensitivity areas was considered as the most viable/sustainable alternative. SEA highlighted that OWF siting caused moderately to highly significant negative impacts on the thematic section of biodiversity and extremely significant positive impacts on the thematic sections of renewable energy sources, economy, and society. Although the proposed methodology was applied on SEA of OWF siting in Greece, it can be used universally to identify the impacts of OWF siting planning.

Description: Hongze Lake is the first natural sink for transferring drinking water along the east route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in China. Thus, the assessment of health risk associated with sediment and soil in Hongze Lake is of vital importance in terms of protecting public health. This study surveyed the distribution of sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in different types of bank soils and sediments at the estuary area of Hongze Lake. The total concentrations of PAHs range between 562.4 and 1585.8 ng/g, and 3- and 4-ring PAHs are the majority in all samples, accounting for 78.2% to 92.3% of the total PAHs. Source analysis was conducted, and the results showed that PAHs in the estuary area mainly come from the burning of fossil fuels, leakage of oil products, low temperature combustion, biomass fuel, and transportation. The risk assessment of the study area showed that the K values of all the points were between 0.1~3, indicating that there was a low ecological risk. This study indicates that further policies for controlling pollution sources of PAHs are needed for reducing health risks associated with fresh water in Hongze Lake.

Description: Global increase of urban population has brought about a growing demand for more dwelling space, resulting in various negative impacts, such as accelerated urbanization, urban sprawl and higher carbon footprints. To cope with these growth dynamics, city authorities are urged to consider alternative planning strategies aiming at mitigating the negative implications of urbanization. In this context, the present contribution investigates the potential of urban densification to mitigate the heat island effects and to improve outdoor thermal conditions. Focusing on a quite densely urbanized district in Vienna, Austria, we carried out a set of simulations of urban microclimate for pre- and post-densification scenarios using the parametric modelling environment Rhinoceros 3D and a set of built-in algorithms in the Rhino’s plug-in Grasshopper. The study was conducted for a hot summer period. The results revealed a notable solar shielding effect of newly introduced vertical extensions of existing buildings, promoting temperature decrease and improved thermal conditions within more shaded urban canyons and courtyards. However, a slight warming effect was noted during the night-time due to the higher thermal storage and lower sky view factor.

Description: Modern humans, and other hominins before them, have walked across the landscapes of most continents for many millennia. They shared these landscapes with other large animals, especially mammalian herbivores and their predators, whose footsteps defined trails through the vegetation. Most of the diversity in the wild species is now concentrated in protected areas and visited by large numbers of tourists who may walk amongst them. This review examines the literature about medium-large animal and tourist trampling impacts to uncover any marriage between animal ecology and nature-based tourism research. Methodology is comparable. Animal ecology has focused on the propagation of grazing and trampling effects from a point source (usually water). Tourism research has focused on trail structure (formal/informal, hardened, wide/narrow) and the propagation of effects (especially weeds) into the hinterland and along the trail. There is little research to substantiate an evolutionary view of trampling impacts. At least tourists venturing off formed trails may reduce impacts by following animal trails with caveats, such as risk of encounters with dangerous animals and disruption of animal behavior. This is an under-studied topic but a fertile ground for research, aided by modern tools like trail cameras and geographically enabled devices borne by tourists.

Description: Recreational ecology is an internationally evolving research field addressing the high demand for nature-based tourism and recreation, and its environmental impacts. This review aimed to analyze the research effort of recreational ecology studies published in four renowned journals in the field, the Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Tourism Management, the Journal of Environmental Management, and Environmental Management. Between 1976 and 2017, this review identified 145 papers focused on recreational ecology. The majority of research investigated the direct impacts of terrestrial activities in protected areas, in particular the impacts of walking and hiking on vegetation and trail conditions, and the impacts of wildlife viewing. A conceptual model was developed to describe the varied relationships between nature-based tourists and recreationists and the environment. Future research in recreational ecology should broaden its agenda to increase knowledge on indirect and long-term impacts; including on cryptic or less popular species; establish more specifically how the intensity of impacts depends on the amount of use other than in trampling studies; extend to other geographic areas such as developing countries, and nature-based spaces that are less protected and exposed to high visitation such as urban environments. Importantly, a much stronger focus needs to be on interdisciplinary approaches incorporating both environmental and social science techniques to determine ways of how visitor experiential needs can be reconciled with environmental conservation concerns in a rapidly increasing tourism and recreation economy.

Description: This case study used exploratory and descriptive research to look into how stakeholders involved in the organization and practice of adventure races in Brazil perceive impacts related to this outdoor activity. Additionally, questions were posed about whether such impacts have been taken into consideration when planning these sporting events. Finally, the research aimed to understand why racers and adventure race organizers choose a certain time of year and venue to partake and organize a race: whether for more logistical purposes or also considering conservation. Online surveys were set up to target adventure race organizers, racers, and national park managers. Overall, there seems to be very little knowledge among racers and race organizers about social and environmental impacts associated with adventure races. This has led to the organization of events with very few or no specific concerns to the environment. Moreover, racers and adventure race organizers seem to perceive certain ecological issues—i.e., erosion—as challenges to the sport and not a problem to be addressed or avoided. National park managers were the group surveyed with more knowledge about the negative impacts adventure races might have on the environment.

Description: Animal production is one of the largest contributors to ammonia emissions. A project, “Ammonia Trapping”, was designed to recover gaseous ammonia from animal barns in Spain. Laboratory experiments were conducted to select a type of membrane most suitable for gaseous ammonia trapping. Three types of gas-permeable membranes (GPM), all made of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE), but with different diameter (3.0 to 8.6 mm), polymer density (0.45 to 1.09), air permeability (2 to 40 L·min−1·cm2), and porosity (5.6 to 21.8%) were evaluated for their effectiveness to recover gas phase ammonia. The ammonia evolved from a synthetic solution (NH4Cl + NaHCO3 + allylthiourea), and an acidic solution (1 N H2SO4) was used as the ammonia trapping solution. Replicated tests were performed simultaneously during a period of 7 days with a constant flow of acidic solution circulating through the lumen of the tubular membrane. The ammonia recovery yields were higher with the use of membranes of greater diameter and corresponding surface area, but they were not affected by the large differences in material density, porosity, air permeability, and wall thickness in the range evaluated. A higher fluid velocity of the acidic solution significantly increased—approximately 3 times—the mass NH3–N recovered per unit of membrane surface area and time (N-flux), from 1.7 to 5.8 mg N·cm−2·d−1. Therefore, to optimize the effectiveness of GPM system to capture gaseous ammonia, the appropriate velocity of the circulating acidic solution should be an important design consideration.

Description: The purpose of this research was to examine the performance of agrivoltaic systems, which produce crops and electricity simultaneously, by installing stilt-mounted photovoltaic (PV) panels on farmland. As PV power stations enjoy remarkable growth, land occupation with the purpose of establishing solar farms will intensify the competition for land resources between food and clean energy production. The results of this research showed, however, that the stilt-mounted agrivoltaic system can mitigate the trade-off between crop production and clean energy generation even when applied to corn, a typical shade-intolerant crop. The research was conducted at a 100-m2 experimental farm with three sub-configurations: no modules (control), low module density, and high module density. In each configuration, 9 stalks/m2 were planted 0.5 m apart. The biomass of corn stover grown in the low-density configuration was larger than that of the control configuration by 4.9%. Also, the corn yield per square meter of the low-density configuration was larger than that of the control by 5.6%. The results of this research should encourage more conventional farmers, clean energy producers, and policy makers to consider adopting stilt-mounted PV systems, particularly in areas where land resources are relatively scarce.

Description: Due to global warming, a reduction in available water will occur in many watersheds and conflicts concerning water use will take place. This situation is already typical in semi-arid areas, where many reservoirs have been constructed for water storage. Increased energy demands and climate change have led to severe and increasing pressure on aquatic systems. Today, the environmental policies of many countries, such as Brazil, give priority to constructing new reservoirs for hydropower use, and an adopted reservoir and river basin management plan must minimize environmental impacts. Moreover, the production of energy plants will promote more requirements for new dam projects. The Itaparica reservoir is 30 years old, located in the São Francisco river in Northeast Brazil, and is the focus of an environmental study. The article focus of investigations is on the environmental and social impacts after the construction of Itaparica reservoir, governance difficulties, and adopted actions to minimize those impacts. Significant environmental impacts are recognizable, such as increased sedimentation in the inflow area, damage to the lakeshore zone by operational water level variation, water losses by evaporation and infiltration, and degradation of inundated vegetation. Furthermore, a trophic upsurge has been registered with severe eutrophication processes, such as the occurrence of cyanobacteria, oxygen deficit in the hypolimnion, and mass development of macrophytes (Egeria densa). With the creation of the dam there was compulsory displacement of the population of the municipalities around Itaparica reservoir with consequent difficulties of adaptation in the new spaces. Furthermore, there was de-structuring of social relation networks, loss of arable land and improvements, and small and insufficient indemnities for land. In this context, concepts for an advanced reservoir management under consideration of water scarcity are presented and discussed. This study aims to contribute to sustainable reservoir management

Description: There are mixed reports for biochars’ ability to increase corn grain and biomass yields. The objectives of this experiment were to conduct a three-year corn (Zea mays L.) grain and biomass production evaluation to determine soil fertility characteristics after designer biochars were applied to a highly weathered Ultisol. The amendments, which consisted of biochars and compost, were produced from 100% pine chips (PC); 100% poultry litter (PL); PC:PL 2:1 blend; PC mixed 2:1 with raw switchgrass (Panicum virgatum; rSG) compost; and 100% rSG compost. All treatments were applied at 30,000 kg/ha to a Goldsboro loam sandy (Fine-loamy, siliceous, sub-active, thermic Aquic Paleudult). Annual topsoil samples were collected in 5-cm depth increments (0 to 15-cm deep) and pH was measured along with Mehlich 1 phosphorus (M1 P) and potassium (M1 K) contents. After three years of corn production, there was no significant improvement in the annual mean corn grain or biomass yields. Biochar, which was applied from PL and PC:PL 2:1 blend, significantly increased M1 P and M1 K concentrations down to 10-cm deep, while the other biochar and compost treatments showed mixed results when the soil pH was modified. Our results demonstrated that designer biochar additions did not accompany higher corn grain and biomass productivity.

Description: A water quality study was carried out at the Adolfo López Mateos (ALM) reservoir, one of the largest tropical reservoirs in Mexico, located within an intensive agricultural region. In this study, the seasonal and spatial variations of nine water quality parameters were evaluated at four different sites along the reservoir semiannually over a period of seven years (2012–2018), considering the spring (dry) and fall (rainy) seasons. An analysis of variance was performed to compare the mean values of the water quality parameters for the different sampling sites. Then, a multiparametric classification analysis was carried out to estimate the spatial density of the sampling points by using a probabilistic neural network (PNN) classifier. The observations (seasonal and spatial) of the water quality parameters at the ALM reservoir revealed no significant influence. The trophic status was evaluated using the Carlson Modified Trophic State Index, finding the trophic state of the reservoir at the mesotrophic level, with nitrogen being the limiting nutrient. The PNN revealed neural interactions between total suspended solids (TSS) and the other four parameters, indicating that the concentration ranges of five parameters are equally distributed and classified.

Description: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data have become a widely used global dataset for evaluating the variability in groundwater storage for the different major aquifers. Moreover, the application of GRACE has been constrained to the local scale due to lower spatial resolution. The current study proposes Random Forest (RF), a recently developed unsupervised machine learning method, to downscale a GRACE-derived groundwater storage anomaly (GWSA) from 1° × 1° to 0.25° × 0.25° in the Northern High Plains aquifer. The RF algorithm integrated GRACE to other satellite-based geospatial and hydro-climatological variables, obtained from the Noah land surface model, to generate a high-resolution GWSA map for the period 2009 to 2016. This RF approach replicates local groundwater variability (the combined effect of climatic and human impacts) with acceptable Pearson correlation (0.58 ~ 0.84), percentage bias (−14.67 ~ 2.85), root mean square error (15.53 ~ 46.69 mm), and Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (0.58 ~ 0.84). This developed RF model has significant potential to generate finer scale GWSA maps for managing groundwater at both local and regional scales, especially for areas with sparse groundwater monitoring wells.

Description: Land Use Regression (LUR) modeling is a widely used technique to model the spatial variability of air pollutants in epidemiology. In this study, we explore whether a LUR model can predict home-to-school commuting exposure to black carbon (BC). During January and February 2019, 43 children walking to school were involved in a personal monitoring campaign measuring exposure to BC and tracking their home-to-school routes. At the same time, a previously developed LUR model for the study area was applied to estimate BC exposure on points along the route. Personal BC exposure varied widely with mean ± SD of 9003 ± 4864 ng/m3. The comparison between the two methods showed good agreement (Pearson’s r = 0.74, Lin’s Concordance Correlation Coefficient = 0.6), suggesting that LUR estimates are capable of catching differences among routes and predicting the cleanest route. However, the model tends to underestimate absolute concentrations by 29% on average. A LUR model can be useful in predicting personal exposure and can help urban planners in Milan to build a healthier city for schoolchildren by promoting less polluted home-to-school routes.

Description: Although photocatalysis is an extraordinary and tremendously explored topic, there is a need to find new ways to encourage the production of composite materials that are economical, efficient and with limited environmental impact. Nanocatalysts may benefit from appropriate support material for many reasons. In this study, TiO2 was deposited on SiO2, so that the silica not only provides the macroscopic structure on which the TiO2 is formed, but it positively affects the photocatalytic activity as well. This is because of the greater specific surface area which favors the adsorption of pollutants near the photocatalyst, the higher amount of surface-adsorbed water and hydroxyl groups and the inhibition of the photogenerated electron-hole recombination. The choice of preparing the Ti-precursor starting from titanium shavings and to directly deposit TiO2 on micrometric-sized silica by a simple hydrothermal method highlights the process sustainability. The results showed that it is possible to produce a photocatalytic composite from secondary materials, exhibiting excellent photocatalytic properties, comparable to the pristine one, and opening the possibility for large-scale production.

Description: Malodorous compounds arise at practically every stage of wastewater management, starting from the sewer network, via the technological sewage-treatment system, through to the sludge-management stage. The formation of hydrogen sulphide is a significant problem even while sewage remains in sewers, as anaerobic conditions prevalent in the network are conducive to wastewater putrefaction, and therefore contribute to increased malodorous emissions. The development of such anaerobic conditions is favoured by the oversizing of conduits or designs that feature inadequate gradients, causing wastewater in the network to stagnate. Where emissions to the air from wastewater occur, they are found to constitute a complex mixture of perhaps even 1000 different substances, produced under varying process conditions. Among those present are compounds of sulphur and nitrogen, chlorinated compounds, and other organics. In Poland, the issue of odour annoyance has not yet been subject to standardisation in either legal or methodological terms. Indeed, as only 11 EU Member States have regulations in place regarding air-quality standards, it is likely that such a law will soon be developed to try and resolve problems with odour annoyance, including those originating in the systems dealing with wastewater. This denotes a need to develop methods of counteracting the formation of odours, and those of a chemical nature are regarded as among the most effective, hence their growing popularity. They also abide by green-technology principles. Against that background, this article seeks to consider the process by which malodorous substances arise in sewer and wastewater-treatment systems, as well as to discuss methods of odour abatement. The work also presents the current legal regulations of relevance to the issue.

Description: Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CHABs) have been a concern for aquatic systems, especially those used for water supply and recreation. Thus, the monitoring of CHABs is essential for the establishment of water governance policies. Recently, remote sensing has been used as a tool to monitor CHABs worldwide. Remote monitoring of CHABs relies on the optical properties of pigments, especially the phycocyanin (PC) and chlorophyll-a (chl-a). The goal of this study is to evaluate the potential of recent launch the Ocean and Land Color Instrument (OLCI) on-board the Sentinel-3 satellite to identify PC and chl-a. To do this, OLCI images were collected over the Western part of Lake Erie (U.S.A.) during the summer of 2016, 2017, and 2018. When comparing the use of traditional remote sensing algorithms to estimate PC and chl-a, none was able to accurately estimate both pigments. However, when single and band ratios were used to estimate these pigments, stronger correlations were found. These results indicate that spectral band selection should be re-evaluated for the development of new algorithms for OLCI images. Overall, Sentinel 3/OLCI has the potential to be used to identify PC and chl-a. However, algorithm development is needed.

Description: Integrating the concept of ecosystem services (ES) into spatial planning is an opportunity to make land use and management choices that maximize the delivery of multiple ES. The assessment of social demand can be useful for the identification of priority areas or potential conflicts among stakeholders. We used Q-methodology to understand stakeholder perspectives on ES to facilitate their integration into spatial planning in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. Three perspectives, utilitarian, cultural and protective, were analyzed and used to discuss potential implications for spatial planning. First, ecosystem multifunctionality and synergies among ES should be emphasized. Second, the food production system should move away from a productive-only approach, to a system that protects soils and their functions. Providing a paradigm change, arable land could be protected to the same level as forests and farmers could be incentivized further to change their practices. Finally, our findings show a potential over-interpretation of the importance of cultural ES in current planning policies, as most participants would be ready to change their behaviors to preserve biological functions. It would be useful to conduct a similar study in other cantons to ensure that the results are fully representative of the current situation in Switzerland.