Science communication is integral to attracting widespread participation in bushfire recovery citizen science

The 2019/20 bushfire season was a catastrophic event affecting large areas of Australia. Due to the devastating impact on biodiversity, the Australian public wanted to contribute towards assessing the impact of this disaster. To address this, three citizen science projects were established to engage citizen scientists in various aspects of environmental recovery. The projects offered different ways of participating, ranging from online, through to community field events, including those requiring specialised localised knowledge. As a result, communication approaches targeting different audiences were required. Here, we detail the communication strategies employed to promote and engage a diverse national and global audience in bushfire recovery projects. We provide metrics and analysis on how and where we promoted projects, including a breakdown of participation numbers for each project. We detail lessons learnt, and how we would improve our communication approach for future disaster recovery events to increase awareness at a community level and more broadly. Despite numerous challenges, including organising public-facing events during a global pandemic, the program serves as an exemplar of how to successfully partner with communities, research teams and government to enable citizen scientists to make meaningful, valuable and timely contributions to research. Ultimately, the program enabled widespread community involvement in bushfire recovery and filled gaps in baseline and post-fire data

Volatile sulfur compounds in coastal acid sulfate soils, northern N.S.W.

The cycling of biogenic volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) within marine and terrestrial ecosystems has been shown to play an integral role in atmospheric chemistry; by influencing global climate change through the creation of cloud condensation nuclei and controlling acid-base chemistry; as well as influencing sediment chemistry including the interactions with trace metals, particularly regarding iron sulfide formation. Despite this, the examination of VSCs within Australian coastal acid sulfate soils (ASS) is an unexplored area of research. As ASS in Australia occupy an area in excess of 9 M ha, there is a clear need for a greater understanding of the cycling of these compounds within such systems.This thesis looks at the concentrations of several VSCs within agricultural and undisturbed ASS on the east coast of Australia. Initial measurements of sulfur dioxide (SO2) were made using passive diffusion samplers, which were followed by two detailed field-based studies looking at the concentrations and fluxes of both SO2 and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) using flux-gradient micrometeorological techniques. These novel results indicated that this agricultural ASS was a substantial source of atmospheric H2S (0.036-0.056 gSm-2yr-1), and SO2 (0.095-0.31 gSm-2yr-1), with flux values equating to many other salt- and freshwater marshes and swamps. The flux data also suggested that the ASS could be a continual source of H2S which is photo-oxidised during the daytime to SO2. Measurements of both compounds showed separate, inverse correlations to temperature and moisture meteorological parameters indicating possible contributing and / or causal release factors. Further identification of these and other VSCs within ASS samplers was undertaken in the laboratory using gas chromatography in combination with solid-phase microextraction. Although SO2 and H2S were not discovered within the headspace samples, two other VSCs important in atmospheric sulfur cycling and trace metal geochemistry were quantified; dimethylsulfide (DMS; &gt 300µg/L) and ethanethiol (ESH &gt 4µg/L).The measurements of H2S, DMS and ESH are the first quantifications with Australian ASS, and they may be important for refining regional or local atmospheric sulfur budgets, as well as interpreting previous SO2 emissions from ASS. Ultimately this thesis further enhances our understanding of the cycling of VSCs within acid sulfate systems

Physico-chemical controls on phosphorus cycling in two lowland streams. Part 1 - the water column

This paper investigates phosphorus (P) transport and transformation dynamics in two contrasting sub-catchments of the River Kennel, England. Samples were collected daily under baseflow and hourly under stormflow conditions using autosamplers for 2 years and analysed for a range of determinands (full P fractionation, suspended sediment (SS), cations, pH, alkalinity, temperature and oxygen). Concentrations of SRP, SUP, PP and SS were higher in the flashy River Enborne (means of 0.186, 0.071, 0.101 and 34 mg l(-1), respectively) than the groundwater-fed River Lambourn (0.079, 0.057, 0.028 and 9 mg l(-1), respectively). A seasonal trend in the daily P dataset was evident, with lower concentrations during intermediate flows and the spring (caused by a dilution effect and macrophyte uptake) than during baseflow conditions. However, in the hourly P dataset, highest concentrations were observed during storm events in the autumn and winter (reflecting higher scour with increased capacity to entrain particles). Storm events were more significant in contributing to the total P load in the River Enborne than the River Lambourn, especially during August to October, when dry antecedent conditions were observed in the catchment. Re-suspension of P-rich sediment that accumulated within the channel during summer low flows might account for these observations. It is suggested that a P-calcite co-precipitation mechanism was operating during summer in the River Lambourn, while adsorption by metal oxyhydroxide groups was an important mechanism controlling P fractionation in the River Enborne. The influence of flow conditions and channel storage/release mechanisms on P dynamics in these two lowland rivers is assessed. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Field-based measurements of sulfur gas emissions from an agricultural coastal acid sulfate soil, eastern Australia

The emissions of biogenic hydrogen sulfide (H 2S) and sulfur dioxide (SO 2) play important roles in the global atmospheric sulfur (S) cycle. Field-based investigations using ultraviolet fluorescence spectroscopy show that drained acid sulfate soils (ASS

Diversité bactérienne dans quatre réseaux de distribution d’eau potable en Croatie : impacts des pratiques de gestion de l’eau et des sous-produits de désinfection

International audienceAbstract Several factors may impact bacterial diversity in drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs) including the origin of the raw water, the water treatment technologies, and the disinfection practices applied. 16S rRNA metabarcoding was used for the in-depth characterization of bacterial communities in the four studied Croatian DWDSs (A, B, C, D) two of which had residual disinfectant (A, B) and two were without (C, D), while only B utilized the conventional water treatment technology. Significantly higher diversity and species richness were evidenced in non-disinfected DWDSs (P<0.05) compared to disinfected DWDSs. The phylum Proteobacteria was the most abundant in all the DWDSs, being proportionately higher in non-disinfected systems (P<0.05). The most abundant genera in DWDS-A Mycobacterium and Sphingomonas both positively correlated, whereas Lactobacillus negatively correlated with the concentration of disinfection by-products (DBPs) as a sum of haloacetic acids (HAAs). Conversely, the genus Ralstonia positively correlated with the individual DBP dichloroacetic acid. These results indicate that genera Sphingomonas, Mycobacterium, Lactobacillus, and Ralstonia could have an effect on promoting the formation of DBPs, in a similar manner to how negatively correlated taxa may influence their degradation

Tracing the Outputs from Drained Acid Sulphate Flood Plains to Minimize Threats to Coastal Lakes

Drainage of acid sulphate flood plains for agriculture and urban development has led to the acidification of coastal waterbodies, major fish kills and other environmental effects in the subtropical areas of eastern Australia. These have produced problem