Life Cycle Assessment of Water Supply Plans in Mediterranean Spain

Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to compare the current water supply planning in Mediterranean Spain, the so‐called AGUA Programme, with its predecessor, the Ebro river water transfer (ERWT). Whereas the ERWT was based on a single interbasin transfer, the AGUA Programme excludes new transfers and focuses instead on different types of resources, including seawater and brackish water desalination and wastewater reuse, among others. The study includes not only water supply but the whole anthropic cycle of water, from water abstraction to wastewater treatment. In addition to standard LCA impact categories, a specific impact category focusing on freshwater resources is included, which takes into account freshwater scarcity in the affected water catchments. In most impact categories the AGUA Programme obtains similar or even lower impact scores than ERWT. Concerning impacts on freshwater resources, the AGUA Programme obtains an impact score 49% lower than the ERWT. Although the current water planning appears to perform better in many impact categories than its predecessor, this study shows that water supply in Spanish Mediterranean regions is substantially increasing its energy intensity and that Mediterranean basins suffer a very high level of water stress due to increasing demand and limited resources.     

Evaluation of the usefulness of a new direct immunofluorescence assay (ScanVIT‐Legionella™) for monitoring hospital water systems contaminated with Legionella spp.

Aims: To compare the efficiency of the ScanVIT‐Legionella^? test (Vermicon, Munich, Germany) vs a conventional culture method for the quantification of Legionella spp. in hospital water samples in daily hospital practice. Methods and Results: The detection of Legionella spp. takes place on a cultivated filter brought into contact with dye‐marked gene probes. The results are analysed under fluorescence microscopy. Bacteria that light up green belong to the genus Legionella; those that light up both green and red belong to the species Legionella pneumophila. Our results showed that the ScanVIT test has a sensitivity of 90%; agreement between the two methods was 82%. In the 48 samples that tested positive with both methods, the Legionella concentration detected by the culture method was consistently higher. A statistically significant difference between the results obtained with the two test methods emerged at the Wilcoxon test (P < 0·001). Conclusion: The ScanVIT test may be recommended for investigating the presence of Legionella by qualitative testing. Significance and Impact of the Study: Given the simplicity of colony identification by fluorescence, the ScanVIT test can be used in laboratories where staffs are not experienced in identifying typical colonies of Legionella.     

Y‐chromosomal variation confirms independent domestications of swamp and river buffalo

Y‐chromosomal variation in the water buffalo was analysed by sequencing of DBY, ZFY and SRY gene segments. A clear separation of the paternal lineages of the river and swamp types parallels the differences between their maternal lineages and nuclear DNA. Sequence divergence was found to be comparable to the divergence of taurine cattle and zebu, and this divergence predated domestication, confirming that river and swamp buffalo originated from different wild populations. Within a sample of 23 Thai swamp buffaloes, we identified four haplotypes with different geographical distributions, two of which were shared by Thai wild buffaloes.     

The experience in the water maze task can affect the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity

Wistar rats maintained in cages with running wheels and submitted to a skeleton photoperiod or to a light - dark cycle were tested in the Morris water maze. Half of the animals were exposed to the task during their active phase while the other half was exposed during their inactive phase. The effect of the experience in the water maze, a strong arousing event, on the rhythm of wheel-running activity was evaluated. In the first experiment, a group of animals submitted to a skeleton photoperiod was trained every day in the reference memory version of the task. The novel experience in the water maze had a strong phase-dependent masking effect: it produced an intense post-training bout of activity in the animals tested during their inactive phase. Another experiment was run using single working memory sessions in the water maze and with animals submitted to a light - dark cycle. The circadian rhythm of locomotor activity was evaluated on undisturbed days and compared with testing days. The experience in the water maze produced a significant increase in variability of activity onset during both circadian phases. Taken together, the data suggest that there is a modulating effect of the arousing experience in the pool on the overt circadian rhythm of locomotor activity.     

Recipient Environment More Important than Community Composition in Determining the Success of an Experimental Sponge Transplant

Human activities have inflicted profound damage upon many ecosystems, and ecologists are now seeking effective means of restoring ecosystems to their natural state. Industrial ports and harbors are highly modified and often depauperate in native fauna. They are typically characterized by poor water quality and modified community composition, both of which may hinder attempts to reintroduce native species. Here, we conducted a field experiment to separate the effects of the recipient environment and community composition on the success of endemic sponge explants in Port Kembla Harbor, NSW, Australia. A reciprocal transplant was conducted between communities originating from six sites that varied in water quality and community composition, enabling us to assess the relative factors simultaneously. A colony of the endemic sponge Tedania anhelans was then inserted into the center of each community, and we quantified the survival, growth, and metal bioaccumulation of sponges over three months. Endemic sponges consistently performed better against resident assemblages when water quality was good. Sponges transplanted to cleaner sites had over double the survivorship and approximately three times the surface area of sponges transplanted to disturbed sites. These patterns were independent of community composition. Bioaccumulation of metals in sponges was correlated with survival; however, other factors such as turbidity may be required to explain sponge mortality at some sites. This study adds to evidence that remediation of the physical and chemical environments may be a prerequisite for biological remediation and demonstrates the value of experimental transplants in assessing restoration potential.     

Episodic global dispersal in shallow water marine organisms: the case history of the European shore crabs Carcinus maenas and C. aestuarii

Aim This paper evaluates global collection records, evidence of anthropogenic transport methods, and experimental and distributional data relative to temperature requirements to understand the historical and potential dispersal of a well‐known genus of estuarine crab. Location The records analysed are from temperate and tropical coastal ocean areas. Methods The study is based primarily on literature analysis and examination of museum specimens. Results The human‐mediated successful global dispersal of the European shore crabs Carcinus maenas (Linnaeus, 1758) and C. aestuarii (Nardo, 1847) occurred in three major episodes: around 1800, in the 1850s–70s, and in the 1980s–90s. The nineteenth century introductions occurred through transport by ships (probably in hull fouling or in solid ballast), while the introductions in the 1980s could have occurred through a greater variety of dispersal mechanisms (ships’ hull fouling and seawater system fouling; fouling on semisubmersible drilling platforms; ballast water; transport with fisheries products intended for food or bait; scientific research; releases from aquaria maintained for educational or scientific purposes; or intentional non‐governmental releases for human food production). These introductions have resulted in Carcinus’ establishment in five temperate regions outside of its native Europe in Atlantic North America, Australia, South Africa, Japan and Pacific North America, while releases into tropical regions have not established populations. C. maenas’ range in both its native and introduced regions appears to be regulated by similar temperature parameters, enabling an assessment of its potential distribution. Main conclusions The second episode of Carcinus’ global dispersal, the period from the 1850s to 1870s, may be part of a broader surge of world‐wide invasions caused by an increase in shipping.     

Rapid and transient response of soil respiration to rain

The influence of rainstorm on soil respiration of a mixed forest in southern New England, USA was investigated with eddy covariance, rain simulation and laboratory incubation. Soil respiration is shown to respond rapidly and instantaneously to the onset of rain and return to the prerain rate shortly after the rain stops. The pulse‐like flux, most likely caused by the decomposition of active carbon compounds in the litter layer, can amount to a loss of 0.18 t C ha^?1 to the atmosphere in a single intensive storm, or 5–10% of the annual net ecosystem production of midlatitude forests. If precipitation becomes more variable in a future warmer world, the rain pulse should play an important part in the transient response of the ecosystem carbon balance to climate, particularly for ecosystems on ridge‐tops with rapid water drainage.