Wind Farms and Blanket Peat - a report on the Derrybrien bog slide

The Derrybrien Bog Slide of October 2003 occurred during construction of a 71-turbine wind farm. As well as examining some wider issues, this report examines key areas of the project, the bog slide event and issues arising from it, including: the nature of the area within the windfarm site; the likely environmental impact; the planning process; events leading up to, and possibly causing, the slide; an assessment of the geotechnical reports and some future scenarios

Strategy and Action Plan for Mire and Peatland Conservation in Central Europe: Central European Peatland Project (CEPP)

Peatlands are vital economic and ecological resources which contribute to biological, landscape and cultural diversity. They comprise characteristic assemblages of species which can exhibit intense patterning of plant and animal communities. Peatlands are also the best ecosystem for sequestering carbon (with current stores far exceeding those held in rainforests). Guidelines for Global Action on Peatlands were agreed at the last Conference of Parties to the Ramsar Convention. These guidelines note that “There is a wide range of threats to peatlands that require urgent national and/or international action”. To help counter these threats, the Ramsar Convention is working with its sister conventions, on biodiversity and climate change. The Ramsar Secretariat is pleased to see this report, which provides a significant step forward by presenting a summary of current knowledge and a Strategy and an Action Plan for Central Europe; a region that still harbours large peatland areas and types which are virtually extinct elsewhere. But changes in land management, ownership and the nature of economic exploitation are now placing peatland in this region under increasing threat. This present publication will help inform all concerned to achieve better governance, and thereby management and conservation, for Peatlands in Central Europe

Towards ecosystem-based restoration of peatland biodiversity

Natural peatlands support rich biological diversity at the genetic, species, ecosystem and landscape levels. However, because the character of this diversity differs from that of other ecosystem types, the value of peatlands for biodiversity has often been overlooked. Fundamentally, this arises because peatland ecosystems direct part of the energy captured by primary production into long-term storage within a peat layer, and thus establish a structural and functional basis for biodiversity maintenance that is not found elsewhere. This article examines the far-reaching implications for the assessment of peatland biodiversity as well as for the drivers, methods and targets of peatland conservation and restoration initiatives. It becomes clear that a robust framework for the management and restoration of peatland biodiversity must be founded in structural-functional ecosystem analysis, and such a framework is developed. The authors draw on a broad base of historical and contemporary literature and experience, including important Russian contributions that have previously had little international exposure

Poster Abstract:Deploying a 6LoWPAN, CoAP, low power, wireless sensor network

In order to integrate equipment from different vendors, wireless sensor networks need to become more standardized. Using IP as the basis of low power radio networks, together with application layer standards designed for this purpose is one way forward. This research focuses on implementing and deploying a system using Contiki, 6LoWPAN over an 868 MHz radio network, together with CoAP as a standard application layer protocol. A system was deployed in the Cairngorm mountains in Scotland as an environmental sensor network, measuring streams, temperature profiles in peat and periglacial features. It was found that RPL provided an effective routing algorithm, and that the use of UDP packets with CoAP proved to be an energy efficient application layer. This combination of technologies can be very effective in large area sensor networks

Britain’s highest bog: can we unlock its secrets?

The Glenfeshie Mòine Mhór (Great Moss) is Britain’s highest bog, the largest bog in the Cairngorm Mountains (Scotland) and a water source area for the River Spey. The area was managed primarily for sport hunting for about two centuries, but deer numbers have been heavily reduced in the last decade to allow regeneration of natural woodland and the return to more natural condition of all ecosystems including peatland. However, it may not be realistic to expect spontaneous improvement in peatland condition and ecosystem services provision in the harsh environment of the Mòine Mhór, which retains snow cover for more than half the year and differs floristically from lower-altitude bogs. To understand whether and where management intervention may be required, we need first to understand how the system works at scales ranging from microform to macrotope, and from sub-catchment to whole-system level. Multi-disciplinary condition and process studies (involving various collaborators) are in progress, with a current emphasis on streamflow generation and fluvial carbon loads. This presentation develops two sub-themes. First, ground survey and GIS analysis are used to address the questions: what are the special features of this bog; what is the nature and extent of degradation; and what are the implications for water delivered to the outflow streams? Secondly, a striking feature is the bare peat patches which were favourite resting places for deer on warm, dry summer days. The occurrence of seasonally extreme surface conditions seems a likely factor in preventing their recolonisation by bog plants now. Information about these conditions that cannot readily be accessed through direct observation, originating from temperature sensors and delivered at 60-minute intervals via a low power internet link, is explored in this context. Finally, we discuss aspects of the suitability of our investigation methods for remote and intermittently accessible field sites such as the Mòine Mhór

Content analysis of targeted food and beverage advertisements in a Chinese-American neighbourhood

Abstract Objectives: The current descriptive study aimed to: (i) quantify the number and type of advertisements (ads) located in a Chinese-American neighbourhood in a large, urban city; and (ii) catalogue the targeted marketing themes used in the food/beverage ads. Design: Ten pairs of trained research assistants photographed all outdoor ads in a 0·6 mile2 (1·6km2) area where more than 60·0% of residents identify as Chinese American. We used content analysis to assess the marketing themes of ads, including references to: Asian cultures; health; various languages; children; food or beverage type (e.g. sugar-sweetened soda). Setting: Lower East Side, a neighbourhood located in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, USA. Subjects: Ads (n 1366) in the designated neighbourhood. Results: Food/beverage ads were the largest ad category (29·7%,n 407), followed by services (e.g. mobile phone services; 21·0%, n 288). Sixty-seven per cent (66·9%) of beverages featured were sugar-sweetened, and 50·8% of food ads promoted fast food. Fifty-five per cent (54·9%) of food/beverage ads targeted Asian Americans through language, ethnicity of person(s) in the ad or inclusion of culturally relevant images. Fifty per cent (50·2%) of ads were associated with local/small brands. Conclusions: Food/beverage marketing practices are known to promote unhealthy food and beverage products. Research shows that increased exposure leads to excessive short-term consumption among consumers and influences children’s food preferences and purchase requests. Given the frequency of racially targeted ads for unhealthy products in the current study and increasing rates of obesity-related diseases among Asian Americans, research and policies should address the implications of food and beverage ads on healt

Supermarket retailers’ perspectives on healthy food retail strategies: in-depth interviews

Background Excess calorie consumption and poor diet are major contributors to the obesity epidemic. Food retailers, in particular at supermarkets, are key shapers of the food environment which influences consumers’ diets. This study seeks to understand the decision-making processes of supermarket retailers—including motivators for and barriers to promoting more healthy products—and to catalogue elements of the complex relationships between customers, suppliers, and, supermarket retailers. Methods We recruited 20 supermarket retailers from a convenience sample of full service supermarkets and national supermarket chain headquarters serving low- and high-income consumers in urban and non-urban areas of New York. Individuals responsible for making in-store decisions about retail practices engaged in online surveys and semi-structured interviews. We employed thematic analysis to analyze the transcripts. Results Supermarket retailers, mostly representing independent stores, perceived customer demand and suppliers’ product availability and deals as key factors influencing their in-store practices around product selection, placement, pricing, and promotion. Unexpectedly, retailers expressed a high level of autonomy when making decisions about food retail strategies. Overall, retailers described a willingness to engage in healthy food retail and a desire for greater support from healthy food retail initiatives. Conclusions Understanding retailers’ in-store decision making will allow development of targeted healthy food retail policy approaches and interventions, and provide important insights into how to improve the food environment

Utilizing UV-LED pulse width modulation on TiO2 advanced oxidation processes to enhance the decomposition efficiency of pharmaceutical micropollutants

The final publication is available at Elsevier via https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2018.12.065. © 2018 This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/The presence of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) in aquatic systems has been a growing cause for concern. Advanced oxidation processes such as UV/TiO2 (ultraviolet light/titanium dioxide) can break down PPCPs into smaller constituents, reducing the pharmaceutical activity. However, this process is limited by low photonic efficiency under UV systems. Controlled periodic illumination (CPI) is a promising solution to overcome the issues concerning low photonic efficiencies. Using a CPI controlled UV-LED/TiO2 process, a mixture of eighteen PPCP compounds were analyzed for their degradation removal on porous titanium – titanium dioxide (PTT) substrates. The kinetic rate constants of PPCPs may be analyzed using multiple regression analysis with parameters such as net charge at experimental pH, solubility, and molecular weight. Negatively charged PPCP compounds were found to have the highest removal compared to neutral and positively charged compounds due to electrostatic attraction forces. Decreasing the duty cycle under CPI or the UV-LED illumination period did not significantly change the individual and cumulative PPCP compound removal, suggesting that the CPI controlled UV-LED/TiO2 processes using PTT substrates were effective in reducing energy requirements without sacrificing removal performance.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council [STPGP430654-12]Schwartz-Resiman FoundationWaterloo-Technion Research Co-operation Progra