Search results for "Environmental Monitoring"
showing 10 items of 609 documents
A fugacity model assessment of ibuprofen, diclofenac, carbamazepine, and their transformation product concentrations in an aquatic environment
2018
An updated version of FATEMOD, a multimedia fugacity model for environmental fate of organic chemicals, was set up to assess environmental behaviour of three pharmaceuticals in northern Lake Päijänne, Finland. Concentrations of ibuprofen, diclofenac, and carbamazepine were estimated at various depths at two sites: near a wastewater treatment plant and 3.5 km downstream the plant. When compared with environmental sampling data from corresponding depths and sites, the predicted concentrations, ranging from nanograms to hundreds of nanograms per litre, were found to be in good agreement. Weather data were utilised with the model to rationalise the effects of various environmental parameters on…
Developing and Integrating Advanced Movement Features Improves Automated Classification of Ciliate Species
2015
Recent advances in tracking technologies such as GPS or video tracking systems describe the movement paths of individuals in unprecedented details and are increasingly used in different fields, including ecology. However, extracting information from raw movement data requires advanced analysis techniques, for instance to infer behaviors expressed during a certain period of the recorded trajectory, or gender or species identity in case data is obtained from remote tracking. In this paper, we address how different movement features affect the ability to automatically classify the species identity, using a dataset of unicellular microbes (i.e., ciliates). Previously, morphological attributes a…
A European Multi Lake Survey dataset of environmental variables, phytoplankton pigments and cyanotoxins
2018
Under ongoing climate change and increasing anthropogenic activity, which continuously challenge ecosystem resilience, an in-depth understanding of ecological processes is urgently needed. Lakes, as providers of numerous ecosystem services, face multiple stressors that threaten their functioning. Harmful cyanobacterial blooms are a persistent problem resulting from nutrient pollution and climate-change induced stressors, like poor transparency, increased water temperature and enhanced stratification. Consistency in data collection and analysis methods is necessary to achieve fully comparable datasets and for statistical validity, avoiding issues linked to disparate data sources. The Europea…
Quantifying the Indicator Power of an Indicator Species
2009
Biodiversity indicator species are needed for classifying biotopes and sites for conservation, and a number of methods have been developed for determining indicator species for this purpose. Nevertheless, in addition to site classification, there is sometimes a need to define an indicator species that indicates the occurrence of another species. For example, when a species of interest (target species) is difficult to detect or identify, a reliable indicator species can function as a tool that saves time and money. We derived a method that provides a quantitative measure of the indicator power (IP) of an indicator species for the target species or any species assemblage. We calculated the me…
Caging techniques for field exposures of fish to chemical contaminants
2005
The article reviews current state-of-the-art to conduct fish caging as an assessment and monitoring technique in aquatic toxicology. A multitude of scientific, practical and management factors influence and may restrict how field research is carried out. For many purposes the advantages of transplant fish caging outweigh the alternative methodologies of impact studies of xenobiotics. However, besides mortality, virtually no study has evaluated the physiological consequences of caging fish. It is not known how caging itself affects the responses of fishes to chemical pollution. The used caging densities are commonly too high. However, with the aid of variables describing physiological stress…
Do small marinas drive habitat specific impacts? A case study from Mediterranean Sea.
2011
Many human activities add new structures to the marine landscape. Despite the fact that human structures cause some inevitable impacts, surprisingly little information exists on the effects of marina on natural marine assemblages. The aim of this paper is to assess habitat-specific response of benthic sessile organisms of rocky shores in relation to the presence of a small marina. Sampling was carried out at three coastal habitats (midshore, lowshore and subtidal) by means of visual censuses adopting an after-control-impact (ACI) experimental design. It appears that the marina affects the structure and composition of benthic communities of both the midshore and the lowshore. Little effect w…
Characterization of the Etna volcanic emissions through an active biomonitoring technique (moss-bags): Part 2 – Morphological and mineralogical featu…
2013
Volcanic emissions were studied at Mount Etna (Italy) by using moss-bags technique. Mosses were exposed around the volcano at different distances from the active vents to evaluate the impact of volcanic emissions in the atmosphere. Morphology and mineralogy of volcanic particulate intercepted by mosses were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). Particles emitted during passive degassing activity from the two active vents, Bocca Nuova and North East Crater (BNC and NEC), were identified as silicates, sulfates and halide compounds. In addition to volcanic particles, we found evidences also of geogenic, anthropogenic and marin…
History and Environmental Impact of Mining Activity in Celtic Aeduan Territory Recorded in a Peat Bog (Morvan, France)
2003
The present study aims to document historical mining and smelting activities by means of geochemical and pollen analyses performed in a peat bog core collected around the Bibracte oppidum (Morvan, France), the largest settlement of the great Aeduan Celtic tribe (ca. 180 B.C. to 25 A.D.). The anthropogenic Pb profile indicates local mining operations starting from the Late Bronze Age, ca. cal. 1300 B.C. Lead inputs peaked at the height of Aeduan civilization and then decreased after the Roman conquest of Gaul, when the site was abandoned. Other phases of mining are recognized from the 11th century to modern times. They have all led to modifications in plant cover, probably related in part to…
Environmental externalities and efficiency measurement.
2009
Production of desirable outputs often produces by-products that have harmful effects on the environment. This paper investigates technologies where the biggest good output producer is not the greatest polluter, i.e. technologies located on the downward-sloping segment of the frontier depicted in Fare et al. (1989). Directional distance functions and Data Envelopment Analysis techniques are used to define an algorithm that allows them to be identified empirically. Furthermore, we show that in such situations producers can contribute social goods, i.e. reducing polluting wastes, without limiting their capacity to maximise production of marketable output. Finally, we illustrate our methodology…
Status of hormones and painkillers in wastewater effluents across several European states-considerations for the EU watch list concerning estradiols …
2016
Present technologies for wastewater treatment do not sufficiently address the increasing pollution situation of receiving water bodies, especially with the growing use of personal care products and pharmaceuticals (PPCP) in the private household and health sector. The relevance of addressing this problem of organic pollutants was taken into account by the Directive 2013/39/EU that introduced (i) the quality evaluation of aquatic compartments, (ii) the polluter pays principle, (iii) the need for innovative and affordable wastewater treatment technologies, and (iv) the identification of pollution causes including a list of principal compounds to be monitored. In addition, a watch list of 10 o…