Corporate and Product Carbon Footprint under Compound Hybrid Analysis: Application to a Spanish Timber Company

The European Union (EU) is advancing steadily toward the stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. Various sectors are now obliged to make reductions, and new policies based on the carbon footprint are being encouraged. However, voluntary reporting of so‐called scope 3 emissions is hindering successful implementation of these policies. In this study, we present a tiered hybrid analysis to report emissions according to the ISO/TR 14069 standards and to obtain complete measures of scope 3 emissions. A process analysis for scope 1 and scope 2 emissions is complemented with a multiregional input‐output analysis for upstream scope 3 emissions. This novel approach is applied to the case study of a Spanish timber company. Its total carbon footprint in 2011 was 783,660 kilograms of carbon‐dioxide equivalent, of which 88% correspond to scope 3 emissions. These emissions are globally distributed; 71% are from European countries, followed by 8% from emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, Australia, and Turkey), 5% from China, and, finally, 16% from the rest of the world. We identify and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this novel approach, the European implementation of which could be highly effective in reducing global carbon emissions.     

Impacts of natural history and exhibit factors on carnivore welfare

To improve the welfare of nonhuman animals under professional care, zoological institutions are continuously utilizing new methods to identify factors that lead to optimal welfare. Comparative methods have historically been used in the field of evolutionary biology but are increasingly being applied in the field of animal welfare. In the current study, data were obtained from direct behavioral observation and institutional records representing 80 individual animals from 34 different species of the order Carnivora. Data were examined to determine if a variety of natural history and animal management factors impacted the welfare of animals in zoological institutions. Output variables indicating welfare status included behavioral diversity, pacing, offspring production, and infant mortality. Results suggested that generalist species have higher behavioral diversity and offspring production in zoos compared with their specialist counterparts. In addition, increased minimum distance from the public decreased pacing and increased offspring production, while increased maximum distance from the public and large enclosure size decreased infant mortality. These results have implications for future exhibit design or renovation, as well as management practices and priorities for future research.     

Morphological and functional seed traits of the wild medicinal plant Dioscorea strydomiana,the most threatened yam in the world

• Morphological and functional seed traits have important roles in characterising the species regeneration niche and help to understand the reproductive biology of rare and threatened plants, which can thus support appropriate plant conservation measures.
• Seed morphometric and dispersal kinetics of the critically endangered Dioscorea strydomiana were measured and compared with those of four other Dioscorea species, and seed germination response under constant temperatures (5–35 °C) was compared with that of the congeneric and widespread D. sylvatica.
• Seed mass of D. strydomiana (ca. 14 mg) was twice that of D. sylvatica, but similar to or smaller than the other species examined. Seeds of D. strydomiana have the lowest speed of descent and lowest variability in most of the morphological traits considered, suggesting lower phenotypic plasticity but higher variance in the wing‐loading value. Seeds of D. strydomiana reached maximum germination at 15 °C (ca. 47%), which decreased slightly to ca. 37% at 25 °C and was completely inhibited at 35 °C. D. sylvatica seeds started to germinate at 10 °C (ca. 3%), reached 75–80% germination at 15–20 °C and maximum (ca. 90%) at 25–30 °C. Base temperatures for germination (T_b) were 9.3 and 5.7 °C, for D. strydomiana and D. sylvatica, respectively. Due to the higher germination percentages of D. sylvatica, ceiling and optimum temperatures could also be modelled for this species, suggesting higher sensitivity to high temperature for seeds of D. strydomiana.
• The detected poor seed lot quality of D. strydomiana suggests difficulties in reproduction from seed, highlighting the need for further investigation and conservation actions for this threatened yam species.

     

Investigating seed dormancy in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.): understanding the physiological changes in embryo during after‐ripening and germination

• The dormancy of seeds of upland cotton can be broken during dry after‐ripening, but the mechanism of its dormancy release remains unclear.
• Freshly harvested cotton seeds were subjected to after‐ripening for 180 days. Cotton seeds from different days of after‐ripening (DAR) were sampled for dynamic physiological determination and germination tests. The intact seeds and isolated embryos were germinated to assess effects of the seed coat on embryo germination. Content of H₂O₂ and phytohormones and activities of antioxidant enzymes and glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase were measured during after‐ripening and germination.
• Germination of intact seeds increased from 7% upon harvest to 96% at 30 DAR, while embryo germination improved from an initial rate of 82% to 100% after 14 DAR. Based on T₅₀ (time when 50% of seeds germinate) and germination index, the intact seed and isolated embryo needed 30 and 21 DAR, respectively, to acquire relatively stable germination. The content of H₂O₂ increased during after‐ripening and continued to increase within the first few hours of imbibition, along with a decrease in abscisic acid (ABA) content. A noticeable increase was observed in gibberellic acid content during germination when ABA content decreased to a lower level. Coat removal treatment accelerated embryo absorption of water, which further improved the accumulation of H₂O₂ and changed peroxidase content during germination.
• For cotton seed, the alleviation of coat‐imposed dormancy required 30 days of after‐ripening, accompanied by rapid dormancy release (within 21 DAR) in naked embryos. H₂O₂ acted as a core link between the response to environmental changes and induction of other physiological changes for breaking seed dormancy.

     

The US National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration: progress and prospects

The National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration was developed by a partnership of 12 federal agencies and over 300 non‐federal cooperators in the United States and launched in 2015. Implementation aims to ensure the availability of genetically appropriate native seed for ecological restoration across the country. Ecological restoration is required in response to a wide range of human impacts. The four main goals of the strategy are: identification of seed needs and availability of genetically appropriate seed; research to improve seed production and ecosystem restoration; development of decision support tools for ecological restoration; and communication and outreach. With the increasing occurrence and intensity of extreme weather events including drought and related wild fires, hurricanes and flooding, native seed is increasingly required in large quantities to build ecological resilience. Acceptance of this need will be crucial to implementation of the National Seed Strategy.     

Seed germination and dormancy traits of forbs and shrubs important for restoration of North American dryland ecosystems

• In degraded dryland systems, native plant community re‐establishment following disturbance is almost exclusively carried out using seeds, but these efforts commonly fail. Much of this failure can be attributed to the limited understanding of seed dormancy and germination traits.
• We undertook a systematic classification of seed dormancy of 26 species of annual and perennial forbs and shrubs that represent key, dominant genera used in restoration of the Great Basin ecosystem in the western United States. We examined germination across a wide thermal profile to depict species‐specific characteristics and assessed the potential of gibberellic acid (GA₃) and karrikinolide (KAR₁) to expand the thermal germination envelope of fresh seeds.
• Of the tested species, 81% produce seeds that are dormant at maturity. The largest proportion (62%) exhibited physiological (PD), followed by physical (PY, 8%), combinational (PY + PD, 8%) and morphophysiological (MPD, 4%) dormancy classes. The effects of chemical stimulants were temperature‐ and species‐mediated. In general, mean germination across the thermal profile was improved by GA₃ and KAR₁ for 11 and five species, respectively. We detected a strong germination response to temperature in freshly collected seeds of 20 species. Temperatures below 10 °C limited the germination of all except Agoseris heterophylla, suggesting that in their dormant state, the majority of these species are thermally restricted.
• Our findings demonstrate the utility of dormancy classification as a foundation for understanding the critical regenerative traits in these ecologically important species and highlight its importance in restoration planning.

     

Message in a bottle: Inadvertent loss of seeds of native grassland species as a result of rudimentary long‐term storage

Many practitioners are likely to have collected seeds with the intention of using that seed for conservation and/or restoration plantings, but have not got around to using the seed, sometimes for many years. Currently, it is not clear what species have short‐lived or long‐lived seed when stored under rudimentary conditions such as in paper bags or in a refrigerator. We report the germinability of 12 temperate native grassland species, comprising 16 populations, whose seeds were collected with the purpose of raising seedlings to plant into the wild, but whose seeds were subsequently stored at ~2–4°C for 25+ years. We conclude that most of the grassland species that we assessed do not have viable seed after 25 years when stored in such conditions; only two species germinated despite evidence that seed germinates well for most species when first collected. Inadvertent loss of seeds of as a result of long‐term storage is most likely in readily germinable species (e.g. members of the Asteraceae). The ways in which seeds are stored by practitioners deserves consideration given the risk of seed mortality with long‐term storage under rudimentary conditions.     

2006—2017年长白山阔叶红松林木本植物种子雨的时空动态

种子是森林更新的基础.为研究长白山阔叶红松林种子雨组成及时空变化,在长白山阔叶红松林25 hm²样地内设置150个面积为0.5 m²的收集器.自2006年5月至2017年12月收集252次,共收集到成熟、未成熟种子764299粒,隶属12科17属27种,其中,主林层树种13种704231粒,占总数的90%以上.种子最多的4个树种依次为紫椴、水曲柳、色木槭、假色槭,每年各个收集器都收集到这4个树种的种子;种子雨大爆发现象在各林层树种均存在,次林层和林下层较主林层树种滞后1~2年;各林层树种集中在秋季产生种子,各树种的种子雨都存在较大的时空变异性,相对而言,多数树种的空间变异性大于时间变异性;与科罗拉多岛(BCI)热带森林样地和浙江古田山亚热带常绿林样地种子产量的年际变异系数相比,长白山阔叶红松林种子产量年际变异系数较大,支持高纬度地区种子产量变异性高于低纬度地区的假说.