| 1. |
- Adem Esmail, Blal, Dr, 1982-, et al.
(author)
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Boundary work for implementing adaptive management : A water sector application
- 2017
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In: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 593-594, s. 274-285
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Boundary work, defined as effort to mediate between knowledge and action, is a promising approach for facilitating knowledge co-production for sustainable development. Here, we investigate a case study of knowledge co-production, to assess the applicability of boundary work as a conceptual framework to support implementing adaptive management in the water sector. We refer to a boundary work classification recently proposed by Clark et al., (2016), based on three types of knowledge uses, i.e. enlightenment, decision-, and negotiation-support, and three types of sources, i.e. personal expertise, single, and multiple communities of expertise. Our empirical results confirm boundary work has been crucial for the three types of knowledge use. For enlightenment and decision support, effective interaction among knowledge producers and users was achieved through diverse boundary work practices, including joint agenda setting, and sharing of data and expertise. This initial boundary work eased subsequent knowledge co-production for decision-support and negotiations, in combination with stepping up of cooperation between relevant actors, suitable legislation and pressure for problem solving. Our analysis highlighted the temporal dimension matters-building trust around enlightenment first, and then using this as a basis for managing knowledge co-production for decision-, and negotiation support. We reconfirmed that boundary work is not a single time achievement, rather is a dynamic process, and we emphasized the importance of key actors driving the process, such as water utilities. Our results provide a rich case study of how strategic boundary work can facilitate knowledge co-production for adaptive management in the water sector. The boundary work practices employed here could also be transferred to other cases. Water utilities, as intermediaries between providers and beneficiaries of the important water-related ecosystem service of clean water provision, can indeed serve as key actors for initiating such boundary work practices. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
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| 2. |
- Adyari, Bob, et al.
(author)
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Strong impact of micropollutants on prokaryotic communities at the horizontal but not vertical scales in a subtropical reservoir, China
- 2020
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In: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 721
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Micropollutants have become of great concern, because of their disrupting effects on the structure and function of microbial communities. However, little is known about the relative importance of trace micropollutants on the aquatic prokaryotic communities as compared to the traditional physico-chemical characteristics, especially at different spatial dimensions. Here, we investigated free-living (FL) and particle-associated (PA) prokaryotic communities in a subtropical water reservoir, China, across seasons at horizontal (surface water) and vertical (depth-profile) scales by using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Our results showed that the shared variances of physico-chemicals and micropollutants explained majority of the spatial variations in prokaryotic communities, suggesting a strong joint effect of the two abiotic categories on reservoir prokaryotic communities. Micropollutants appeared to exert strong independent influence on the core sub-communities (i.e., abundant and wide-spread taxa) than on the satellite (i.e., less abundant and narrow-range taxa) counterparts. The pure effect of micropollutants on both core and satellite sub-communities from FL and PA fractions was similar to 1.5 folds greater than that of physico-chemical factors at the horizontal scale, whereas an opposite effect was observed at the vertical scale. Moreover, eight micropollutants including anti-fungal agents, antibiotics, bisphenol analogues, stimulant and UV-filter were identified as the major disrupting compounds with strong associations with core taxa of typical freshwater prokaryotes. Altogether, we concluded that the ecological disrupting effects of micropollutants on prokaryotic communities may vary along horizontal and vertical dimensions in freshwater ecosystems.
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| 3. |
- Ahlstrom, Christina A., et al.
(author)
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Evidence for continental-scale dispersal of antimicrobial resistant bacteria by landfill-foraging gulls
- 2021
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In: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 764, s. 1-10
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Anthropogenic inputs into the environment may serve as sources of antimicrobial resistant bacteria and alter the ecology and population dynamics of synanthropic wild animals by providing supplemental forage. In this study, we used a combination of phenotypic and genomic approaches to characterize antimicrobial resistant indicator bacteria, animal telemetry to describe host movement patterns, and a novel modeling approach to combine information from these diverse data streams to investigate the acquisition and long-distance dispersal of antimicrobial resistant bacteria by landfill-foraging gulls. Our results provide evidence that gulls acquire antimicrobial resistant bacteria from anthropogenic sources, which they may subsequently disperse across and between continents via migratory movements. Furthermore, we introduce a flexible modeling framework to estimate the relative dispersal risk of antimicrobial resistant bacteria in western North America and adjacent areas within East Asia, which may be adapted to provide information on the risk of dissemination of other organisms and pathogens maintained by wildlife through space and time. Published by Elsevier B.V.
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| 4. |
- Ahlstrom, Christina A., et al.
(author)
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Genomically diverse carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae from wild birds provide insight into global patterns of spatiotemporal dissemination
- 2022
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In: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 824
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are a threat to public health globally, yet the role of the environment in the epidemiology of CRE remains elusive. Given that wild birds can acquire CRE, likely from foraging in anthropogenically impacted areas, and may aid in the maintenance and dissemination of CRE in the environment, a spatiotemporal comparison of isolates from different regions and timepoints may be useful for elucidating epidemiological information. Thus, we characterized the genomic diversity of CRE from fecal samples opportunistically collected from gulls (Larus spp.) inhabiting Alaska (USA), Chile, Spain, Turkey, and Ukraine and from black kites (Milvus migrans) sampled in Pakistan and assessed evidence for spatiotemporal patterns of dissemination. Within and among sampling locations, a high diversity of carbapenemases was found, including Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC), New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM), oxacillinase (OXA), and Verona integron Metallo beta-lactamase (VIM). Although the majority of genomic comparisons among samples did not provide evidence for spatial dissemination, we did find strong evidence for dissemination among Alaska, Spain, and Turkey. We also found strong evidence for temporal dissemination among samples collected in Alaska and Pakistan, though the majority of CRE clones were transitory and were not repeatedly detected among locations where samples were collected longitudinally. Carbapenemase-producing hypervirulent K. pneumoniae was isolated from gulls in Spain and Ukraine and some isolates harbored antimicrobial resistance genes conferring resistance to up to 10 different antibiotic classes, including colistin. Our results are consistent with local acquisition of CRE by wild birds with spatial dissemination influenced by intermediary transmission routes, likely involving humans. Furthermore, our results support the premise that anthropogenicallyassociated wild birds may be good sentinels for understanding the burden of clinically-relevant antimicrobial resistance in the local human population.
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| 5. |
- Ahmed, Firoz, et al.
(author)
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First detection of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in the vicinity of COVID-19 isolation Centre in Bangladesh : Variation along the sewer network
- 2021
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In: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 776
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We made the first and successful attempt to detect SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in the vicinity wastewaters of an isolation centre i.e. Shaheed Bhulu Stadium, situated at Noakhali, Southeastern Bangladesh. Owing to the fact that isolation centre, in general, always contained a constant number of 200 COVID-19 patients, the prime objective of the study was to check if several drains carrying RNA of coronavirus are actually getting diluted or accumulated along with the sewage network. Our finding suggested that while the temporal variation of the genetic load decreased in small drains over the span of 50 days, the main sewer exhibited accumulation of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Other interesting finding displays that probably distance of sampling location in meters is not likely to have a significant impact on the detected gene concentration, although the quantity of the RNA extracted in the downstream of the drain was higher. These findings are of immense value from the perspective of wastewater surveillance of COVID-19, as they largely imply that we do not need to monitor every wastewater system, and probably major drains monitoring may illustrate the city health. Perhaps, we are reporting the accumulation of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material along with the sewer network i.e. from primary to tertiary drains. The study sought further data collection in this line to simulate conditions prevailed in most of the developing countries and to shed further light on decay/accumulation processes of the genetic load of the SARS-COV-2.
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| 6. |
- Ahmed, Mukhtar
(author)
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Introduction to Modern Climate Change. Andrew E. Dessler: Cambridge University Press, 2011, 252 pp, ISBN-10: 0521173159
- 2020
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In: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 734
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Climate change is the variability of the climate system that includes the atmosphere, the biogeochemical cycles (Carbon cycle, Nitrogen cycle and Hydrological cycle), the land surface, ice and the biotic and abiotic components of the planet earth. Significant impact of climate change is seen in the form of rise in temperature called as global warming. Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) are the primary greenhouse gases (GHGs) mainly responsible for the global warming and climate change. These GHGs have drawn lot of attention due to their significant role in the global warming potential Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggested to stop global warming at 1.5oC above preindustrial levels as warming beyond this level might lead to heat extremes, alter insect and plant phenology (Phenological shifts) and more occurrence of vector borne diseases. Climate change is the topic of interest in all fields of life starting from social science and going to the applied science. Global climate cycles and world food production systems are under threat due to the recent climate extreme events. These events include heat waves and change in the rainfall patterns. Thus, risk reduction intervention in the form of mitigation and adaptation is required to minimize the impacts of climate change. Mitigation option includes understanding the present and future components of the climate system and interaction among them through coupled modeling systemic. Global Circulation Model (GCM), finally, global issue of climate change could be addressed by taking worldwide cooperation and action and adopting sustainable measures like use of alternative energy sources. The visible benefit on recovery of climate has been seen recently through global lockdown against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. (C) 2020 Elsevier BM. All rights reserved.
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| 7. |
- Ahmed, Mukhtar
(author)
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Phenotyping for drought resistance in bread wheat using physiological and biochemical traits
- 2020
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In: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 729
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Drought is one of the most prominent limiting factors that negatively affect crop productivity by manipulating its physiological pathway. One hundred twenty diverse bread wheat genotypes were used in a pot experiment to explore the relationship among their fifteen physio-biochemical traits (PBT) by using multivariate analysis, heatmapping and stress tolerance index (STI) for grain yield as a marker trait to identify high yielding genotype with maximum stress tolerance capability. Increased proline and sugar accumulation were observed from control to moisture deficient environments by 159% and 122%, respectively. Moreover, leaf membrane stability index (LMSI), leaf relative water content (LRWC), relative dry weight (RDW), chlorophyll content, leaf surface area (LSA), Leaf succulence (LS), canopy temperature depression (CTD), relative excised leaf water loss (RELWL) and leaf osmotic potential (LOP) showed significantly decreasing trend in drought stress treatment as compared to well-watered plants by −21%, −21%, −34%, −22%, −38%, −37%, −46%, −18% and −35% respectively. Additionally, principal component analysis and genotype by trait biplot analysis showed that initial 7 principal components (PC1 to PC7) represented 77.27% and 79.02% of total cumulative variation under control and drought stress respectively. Genotypic-Phenotypic correlation revealed that most of the attributes were higher in case of genotypic correlation component (rg) as compared to the phenotypic correlation component (rp) indicating more genetic association between traits. The darker and lighter colour scale produced by heatmap exhibited contrasting nature of genotypes, as positive side with higher values represented drought resistance while values on the negative side with lower values showed susceptible performance of genotypes. Our results concluded that the studied PBT associated with STI for grain yield are the main factors which may contribute in improved productivity of wheat crop and if these traits show appropriate performance under stress condition the crop will show the more productive returns under changing climate.
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| 8. |
- Ahrens, Lutz, et al.
(author)
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Concentrations, fluxes and field calibration of passive water samplers for pesticides and hazard-based risk assessment
- 2018
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In: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 637, s. 835-843
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Three passive sampler types including Chemcatcher (R) C-18, polar organic chemical integrative sampler-hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (POCIS-HLB) and silicone rubber (SR) based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) were evaluated for 124 legacy and current used pesticides at two sampling locations in southern Sweden over a period of 6weeks and compared to time-proportional composite active sampling. In addition, an in situ calibration was performed resulting in median in situ sampling rates (R-S, Lday(-1)) of 0.01 for Chemcatcher (R) C-18, 0.03 for POCIS-HLB, and 0.18 for SR, and median in situ passive sampler-water partition coefficients (log K-PW, Lkg(-1)) of 2.76 for Chemcatcher (R) C-18, 3.87 for POCIS-HLB, and 2.64 for SR. Deisopropylatrazine D-5 showed to be suitable as a performance reference compound (PRC) for SR. There was a good agreement between the pesticide concentrations using passive and active sampling. However, the three passive samplers detected 38 pesticides (including 9 priority substances from the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and 2 pyrethriods) which were not detected by the active sampler. The most frequently detected pesticides with a detection frequency of >90% for both sites were atrazine, 2,6-dichlorobenzamide, bentazone, chloridazon, isoproturon, and propiconazole. The annual average environmental quality standard (AA-EQS) for inland surface waters of the EU WFD and the risk quotient (RQ) of 1 was exceeded on a number of occasions indicating potential risk for the aquatic environment. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 9. |
- Ahrens, Lutz, et al.
(author)
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Microcosm experiment to test bacterial responses to perfluorooctanoate exposure
- 2023
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In: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 857
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The impact of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances on microbial communities is challenging to investigate in situ because of the complexity and dynamics of natural ecosystems. In the present study, four microcosms were estab-lished to explore the impact of perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) on bacterial communities in riverine and marine settings. PFOA distribution between the aqueous and sedimentary phases fluctuated in both PFOA-amended and unamended control systems. PFOA was more rapidly partitioned into the sediment in marine than in riverine microcosms. Differ-ences in iron concentration and salinity may influence PFOA exchange between water and sediment. In marine micro-cosms, the alpha diversity of bacterial communities was significantly correlated to PFOA concentration. PFOA tended to correlate more strongly with bacterial community composition in water than in sediment. At the whole system level, Lefse's analysis indicated Algoriphagus halophilus as biomarkers for PFOA exposure in both riverine and marine systems, and the family Flavobacteriaceae were also more abundant in the exposed systems. In terms of temporal variation (comparison between three time points in the systems), metastat analysis showed great variability of potential PFOA-sensitive bacteria at the genus level. As such, most PFOA-sensitive genera were transitory and variable and existed for a short term in different systems (river, sea, blank, and experiment) and phases. Compared with other PFOA-sensitive genera, we suggest that further research is carried out to explore the use of Limnobacter as a bioindicator for temporal monitoring of PFOA pollution.
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| 10. |
- Akselsson, Cecilia, et al.
(author)
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Acidification trends in south Swedish forest soils 1986-2008 : Slow recovery and high sensitivity to sea-salt episodes.
- 2013
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In: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 1879-1026 .- 0048-9697. ; 444, s. 271-287
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Soil water chemistry in forest soils over 20years was studied at nine sites in southern Sweden. The aim was to investigate the recovery from acidification and the influence of strong sea salt episodes that occur in the region. All sites but one showed signs of recovery from acidification along with the reduced sulphur deposition, but the recovery progress was slow and the soil water was in most cases still highly acidic at the end of the period. In several cases the recovery was delayed by episodes of sea salt deposition, leading to transient acidification. The less marked decrease of sulphur concentrations in soil water than of sulphur deposition, highlighted the importance of sulphur adsorption/desorption in the acidification and recovery process. Nitrogen retention capacity was exceeded on one site, leading to nitrate leaching and extremely low pH. Storm fellings on two sites in the end of the period led to effects similar to those of regeneration fellings. It was concluded that the soils in the region are in an early stage of recovery. The future progress of recovery strongly depends on future nitrogen retention of forest soils and the frequency of sea salt episodes.
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