A geochemical record of the mining history of the Erme Estuary, south Devon, UK

The concentration of selected trace metals (Cu, Pb and Zn) in salt-marsh sediments from within the Erme Estuary have been measured in order to assess possible historical sources of pollution. The Erme Estuary, south Devon, UK is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has remained largely unaffected by industrialisation, although a number of small silver–lead mines were in operation in the 1800s. Five cores reveal comparable geochemical profiles. An increase of lead at 40 cm depth is observed, reaching maximum values of 427 ppm. Less distinct trends are revealed by zinc and copper, probably reflecting the lack of widespread mining for ores of these elements within the catchment and possible post-depositional mobility rendering the metal concentrations non-contemporaneous with the chemostratigraphy of lead. The geochemical analysis of the salt-marsh sediments provides a fairly robust chemostratigraphic scheme and the likely sources of mine waste can be pinpointed within the catchment. Based upon reference to the historical mining record of these mines chemostratigraphic dating of the sediments can be achieved in order to provide an estimate of salt-marsh accretion rates and sea-level rise.     

An analysis of carrier phase differential kinematic GPS positioning using DynaPos

A series of activities have been carried out at the University of New Brunswick in an effort to evaluate advances in long-range marine kinematic differential positioning. These activities involved processing and analysis of GPS carrier phase kinematic data sets. Some of the data was collected by UNB and some was provided by The XYZs of GPS Inc. Data were collected using Trimble 5700 and Ashtech Z-12 receivers. The data sets were processed using the software DynaPos provided by the The XYZs of GPS Inc. The best results obtained in our analysis indicate an agreement of 5 cm RMS for the horizontal component and 12 cm RMS for the vertical component between two ionospheric-delay free solutions, in baselines varying from 40 to 100 km.     

A case study of coping strategies and landslides in two villages of Central-Eastern Nepal

Landslides are an increasing problem in Nepal’s Middle Hills due to both natural and human phenomena: mainly increasingly intense monsoon rains and a boom in rural road construction. This problem has largely been neglected due to underreporting of losses and the dispersed nature of landslides. Understanding how populations cope with landslides is a first step toward developing more effective landslide risk management programs. The present research focuses on two villages in Central-Eastern Nepal, both affected by active landslides but with different coping strategies. Research methods are interdisciplinary, based on a geological assessment of landslide risk and a socio-economic study of the villages using household questionnaires, focus group discussions and transect walks. Community risk maps are compared with geological landslide risk maps to better understand and communicate community risk perceptions, priorities and coping strategies. A modified typology of coping strategies is presented, based on previous work by Burton, Kates, and White (1993) that is useful for decision-makers for designing more effective programs for landslide mitigation. Main findings underscore that coping strategies, mainly seeking external assistance and outmigration, are closely linked to access to resources, ethnicity/social status and levels of community organization. Conclusions include the importance of investing in organizational skills, while building on local knowledge about landslide mitigation for reducing landslide risk. There is great potential to increase coping strategies by incorporating skills training on landslide mitigation in existing agricultural outreach and community forest user group training.     

Effects of observed and experimental climate change on terrestrial ecosystems in northern Canada: results from the Canadian IPY program

Tundra and taiga ecosystems comprise nearly 40?% of the terrestrial landscapes of Canada. These permafrost ecosystems have supported humans for more than 4500?years, and are currently home to ca. 115,000 people, the majority of whom are First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The responses of these ecosystems to the regional warming over the past 30?C50?years were the focus of four Canadian IPY projects. Northern residents and researchers reported changes in climate and weather patterns and noted shifts in vegetation and other environmental variables. In forest-tundra areas tree growth and reproductive effort correlated with temperature, but seedling establishment was often hindered by other factors resulting in site-specific responses. Increased shrub cover has occurred in sites across the Arctic at the plot and landscape scale, and this was supported by results from experimental warming. Experimental warming increased vegetation cover and nutrient availability in most tundra soils; however, resistance to warming was also found. Soil microbial diversity in tundra was no different than in other biomes, although there were shifts in mycorrhizal diversity in warming experiments. All sites measured were sinks for carbon during the growing season, with expected seasonal and latitudinal patterns. Modeled responses of a mesic tundra system to climate change showed that the sink status will likely continue for the next 50?C100?years, after which these tundra systems will likely become a net source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. These IPY studies were the first comprehensive assessment of the state and change in Canadian northern terrestrial ecosystems and showed that the inherent variability in these systems is reflected in their site-specific responses to changes in climate. They also showed the importance of using local traditional knowledge and science, and provided extensive data sets, sites and researchers needed to study and manage the inevitable changes in the Canadian North.     

Inverse kinetic isotope fractionation during bacterial nitrite oxidation

Natural abundance stable isotopes in nitrate (), nitrite (), and nitrous oxide (N₂O) have been used to better understand the cycling of nitrogen in marine and terrestrial environments. However, in order to extract the greatest information from the distributions of these isotopic species, the kinetic isotope effects for each of the relevant microbial reactions are needed. To date, kinetic isotope effects for nitrite oxidation and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) have not been reported. In this study, the nitrogen isotope effect was measured for microbial nitrite oxidation to nitrate. Nitrite oxidation is the second step in the nitrification process, and it plays a key role in the regeneration of nitrate in the ocean. Surprisingly, nitrite oxidation occurred with an inverse kinetic isotope effect, such that the residual nitrite became progressively depleted in ¹⁵N as the reaction proceeded. Three potential explanations for this apparent inverse kinetic isotope effect were explored: (1) isotope exchange equilibrium between nitrite and nitrous acid prior to reaction, (2) reaction reversibility at the enzyme level, and (3) true inverse kinetic fractionation. Comparison of experimental data to ab initio calculations and theoretical predictions leads to the conclusion that the fractionation is most likely inverse at the enzyme level. Inverse kinetic isotope effects are rare, but the experimental observations reported here agree with kinetic isotope theory for this simple N-O bond-forming reaction. Nitrite oxidation is therefore fundamentally different from all other microbial processes in which N isotope fractionation has been studied. The unique kinetic isotope effect for nitrite oxidation should help to better identify its role in the cycling of nitrite in ocean suboxic zones, and other environments in which nitrite accumulates.     

Isolation,biodegradation ability and molecular detection of hydrocarbon degrading bacteria in petroleum samples from a Brazilian offshore basin

The detection of microorganisms with potential for biodeterioration and biodegradation in petroleum fields is of great relevance, since these organisms may be related to a decrease in petroleum quality in the reservoirs or damage in the production facilities. In this sense, petroleum formation water and oil samples were collected from the Campos Basin, Brazil, with the aim of isolating microorganisms and evaluating their ability to degrade distinct classes of hydrocarbon biomarkers (9,10-dihydrophenanthrene, phytane, nonadecanoic acid and 5α-cholestane). Twenty eight bacterial isolates were recovered and identified by sequencing their 16S rRNA genes. Biodegradation assays revealed that bacterial metabolism of hydrocarbons occurred through reactions based on oxidation, carbon–carbon bond cleavage and generation of new bonds or by the physical incorporation of hydrocarbons into microbial cell walls. Based on the biodegradation results, selective PCR-based systems were developed for direct detection in petroleum samples of bacterial groups of interest, namely Bacillus spp., Micrococcus spp., Achromobacter xylosoxidans, Dietzia spp. and Bacillus pumilus. Primer sets targeting 16S rRNA genes were designed and their specificity was confirmed in silico (i.e. computational analysis) and in PCR reactions using DNA from reference strains as positive and negative controls. Total DNA from oil was purified and the amplification tests revealed the presence of the target bacteria in the samples, unraveling a significant potential for petroleum deterioration in the reservoirs sampled, once proper conditions are present for hydrocarbon degradation. The application of molecular methods for rapid detection of specific microorganisms in environmental samples would be valuable as a supporting tool for the evaluation of oil quality in production reservoirs.     

Dynamo coefficients from local simulations of the turbulent ISM

Observations in polarized emission reveal the existence of large‐scale coherent magnetic fields in a wide range of spiral galaxies. Radio‐polarization data show that these fields are strongly inclined towards the radial direction, with pitch angles up to 35° and thus cannot be explained by differential rotation alone. Global dynamo models describe the generation of the radial magnetic field from the underlying turbulence via the so called α ‐effect. However, these global models still rely on crude assumptions about the small‐scale turbulence. To overcome these restrictions we perform fully dynamical MHD simulations of interstellar turbulence driven by supernova explosions. From our simulations we extract profiles of the contributing diagonal elements of the dynamo α ‐tensor as functions of galactic height. We also measure the coefficients describing vertical pumping and find that the ratio between these two effects has been overestimated in earlier analytical work, where dynamo action seemed impossible. In contradiction to these models based on isolated remnants we always find the pumping to be directed inward. In addition we observe that depends on whether clustering in terms of superbubbles is taken into account. Finally, we apply a test field method to derive a quantitative measure of the turbulent magnetic diffusivity which we determine to be ∼2 kpckms^–1. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Climate-smart agriculture: perspectives and framings

This paper offers a systematic analysis of the concepts and contexts that frame the climate-smart agriculture (CSA) discourse in the academic and policy literature. Documents (n?=?113) related to CSA and published in peer-reviewed journals, books, working papers, and scientific reports from 2004 to 2016 were reviewed. Three key trends emerged from the analysis: studies are biased towards global policy agendas; research focuses on scientific and technical issues; and the integration of mitigation, adaptation, and food security (the three pillars of CSA) is becoming a popular scholarly solution. Findings suggest that CSA is a fairly new concept used to describe a range of adaptation and mitigation practices without a specific set of criteria. Although CSA is often framed around the three pillars, the underlying issues constructing the discourse differ at global, developing, and developed country scales. Although there is increasing research on developing countries, particularly in relation to how CSA can transform smallholder agriculture, there is a paucity of research documenting the experiences from developed countries. The findings suggest that research on CSA needs to move beyond solely focussing on scientific approaches and only in certain geographical contexts. If CSA is to be applicable for farmers across the globe, then cross-disciplinary research that is underpinned by broad socio-economic and political contexts is essential to understand how differences in narratives might affect implementation on-the-ground in both developing and developed countries.

POLICY RELEVANCE

Although policy makers are increasingly supportive of the climate-smart agriculture (CSA) approach, the rhetoric has largely been developed on the basis of scientific and technical arguments. The political implications of varying perspectives have resulted in a growing divide between how developing and developed countries frame solutions to the impacts of climate change on agriculture under the 2015 Paris Agreement. Different framings are part of the explanation for why the scope of CSA is being rethought, with the scientific community redirecting attention to seeking a separate work programme under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The current policy framing of CSA will give no new policy direction unless it grounds itself in the smallholder farmer and civil society contexts.