Aspects of the biological integrity of the rivers flowing into the hyper-eutrophic Roodeplaat Dam : a comparative study

Abstract : Please refer to full text to view abstract.D.Phil. (Environmental Management

Progress on the removal of contaminants on surface and wastewater: report of case-studies

Contamination of the water sector represents a global issue known since the 1960s. However, the consequences are still not adequately known as a whole. There is insufficient information on the thousands of molecules released into the environment and, above all, their properties and the quantities produced, capable of determining the global effects of potential toxic actions on living organisms and the environment. For some time, scholars and researchers from the planet have been directing their activities to identify new integrated technologies and low energy consumption tools aimed at treating and reusing wastewater. For some time, our research group has been experimenting with removing traditional contaminants and emerging contaminants using hybrid techniques (filtration and Advanced Oxidation Processes). In this communication, we report some of our case studies, which have validated the effectiveness of the treatments

Predicting Pro-Environmental Behaviour amongst Citizens in African Countries: A Cross-National Study amongst Six African Countries

The role of pro-environmental behaviour in environmental care and mitigation of environmental problems is widely recognised. However, most studies on pro-environmental behaviour have focused on populations living in Western and high-income countries and only a few studies are available in developing countries. In this paper, we explored and compared the determinants of pro-environmental behaviour of citizens in six African countries, namely Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe. We examined the relationship between socio-demographic variables and pro-environmental behaviour of citizens within and across these countries using secondary data collected through Wave 6 of the World Value Surveys. The results showed that there were differences and some similarities in pro-environmental behaviour across the selected countries. Factors such as gender, education, social class, membership of environmental organisations and employment status positively correlated with pro-environmental behaviour among the selected respondents. Based on the study findings, recommendations are made within to improve and increase pro-environmental behaviour in the selected countries

Changes in the Bacterial Community Composition of Cultivated Soil after Digging up Operations for Laying a Pipeline

Our study aimed to evaluate the impact of the pipeline installation on the bacterial composition in cultivated soil by metagenomic analyses performed before the excavation and in the following three years. Differential abundance analysis was obtained using DESeq2 from the GAIA pipeline to verify the bacteriological diversity in soils collected after the reference year (2013). Soil samples presented a different distribution of taxa, especially in 2014, in which a further allocation at the phylum and family levels was observed compared to the previous year (2013). The phyla Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes increased significantly, while the phylum Actinobacteria, most abundant in 2013, showed reduced abundance; moreover, Chloroflexi and Planctomycetes decreased considerably, and Verrucomicrobia was absent. The significant differences in the taxonomic composition and structure of the soil microbial community were due to critical stress conditions following the soil excavations. The bacterial communities were capable of profound physiological and genetic changes, implementing different mechanisms for survival and adaptation to an environment with changed conditions. The implication of changes in microbial diversity before and after the mechanical insult of soil has been determined