Resolution A.542(13) : Procedures for the contraol of ships and discharges under Annex I of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (1973), as modified by the Protocol of 1978 = Rezolucija A.542(13) : Postupak za kontrolu brodova i izljeva prema Prilogu I. Međunarodne konvencije o sprečavanju zagađivanja mora s brodova (1973.), kako je izmijenjena Protokolom iz 1978. : [translation, parallel texts]

Prijevod dokumenta A.542(13, od 17. studenoga 1983., na hrvatski jezik, uz engleski tekst izvornika.Translation of A.542(13), adopted on 17 November 1983

Hydrobia ulvae imposex levels at Ria de Aveiro (NW Portugal) between 1998 and 2007: a counter-current bioindicator?

Imposex expression in prosobranch gastropods has been widely used as a biomarker of tributyltin (TBT) pollution. Estuaries have been described as the most affected areas by this problem since they usually enclose the main TBT sources—ports, dockyards and marinas—resulting from the compound’s application as a biocide in antifouling paints on ships. Using Hydrobia ulvae as a bioindicator, the current work addresses the most reliable methods to reduce the influence of critical variables, such as the animals’ size, on imposex levels assessment for TBT pollution monitoring and presents its temporal trends from 1998 to 2007 in Ria de Aveiro (NW Portugal) to evaluate the effectiveness of recent legislation applied to reduce TBT environmental levels. H. ulvae imposex levels did not decrease in this estuarine system during the last decade despite the implementation of the EU Regulation No. 782/2003. Instead, there was a global significant increase in the percentage of females affected by imposex and a slight increase of the vas deferens sequence index (VDSI), contrasting with what has been described for other bioindicators in the same study area. These results show that different biology/ecology traits determine distinct routes of TBT uptake and/or bioaccumulation, pointing the importance of choosing the bioindicator depending on the compartment that is being monitored (sediment vs. water). Sediment ingestion as feeding habit is discussed and pointed as a reason to choose H. ulvae as a bioindicator of TBT pollution persistence in sediment. It is therefore predicted that the response of different prosobranch species around the world may diverge according to the compartment that is being monitored and that female masculinisation may not be completely eradicated in the near future due to TBT persistence in sediments

Are climate warming and enhanced atmospheric deposition of sulfur and nitrogen threatening tufa landscapes in Jiuzhaigou National Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China?

Massive deposition of calcium carbonate in ambient temperature waters (tufa) can form magnificent tufa landscapes, many of which are designated as protected areas. However, tufa landscapes in many areas are threatened by both local anthropogenic activities and climate change. This study, for the first time, posed the question whether the tufa landscape degradation (characterized by tufa degradation and increased biomass of green algae) in Jiuzhaigou National Nature Reserve of China is partially caused by regional air pollution and climate warming. The results indicate that wet deposition (including rain and snow) polluted by anthropogenic SO2, NOx, and NH3 emissions dissolves exposed tufa and may considerably reduce tufa deposition rate and even cause tufa dissolution within shallow waters. These effects of wet deposition on tufa enhanced as pH of wet deposition decreased from 8.01 to 5.06. Annual Volume Weighted Mean concentration of reactive nitrogen (including NH4+ and NO3-) in wet deposition (26.1 μmol L-1) was 1.8 times of the corresponding value of runoff (14.8 μmol L-1) and exceeded China's national standard of total nitrogen in runoff for nature reserves (14.3 μmol L-1), indicating a direct nitrogen fertilization effect of wet deposition on green algae. As water temperature is the major limiting factor of algal growth in Jiuzhaigou and temperature in the top layer (0-5 cm) of runoff (depth < 1 m, no canopy coverage of trees and shrubs) was significantly higher at the sites with increased biomass of green algae (p < 0.05), climate warming in this region would favor algal growth. In sum, this study suggests that climate warming and enhanced sulfur and nitrogen deposition have contributed to the current degradation of tufa landscape in Jiuzhaigou, but in order to quantify the contributions, further studies are needed, as many other anthropogenic and natural processes also influence tufa landscape evolution

Model development for the assessment of terrestrial and aquatic habitat quality in conservation planning

There is a growing pressure of human activities on natural habitats, which leads to biodiversity losses. To mitigate the impact of human activities, environmental policies are developed and implemented, but their effects are commonly not well understood because of the lack of tools to predict the effects of conservation policies on habitat quality and/or diversity. We present a straightforward model for the simultaneous assessment of terrestrial and aquatic habitat quality in river basins as a function of land use and anthropogenic threats to habitat that could be applied under different management scenarios to help understand the trade-offs of conservation actions. We modify the InVEST model for the assessment of terrestrial habitat quality and extend it to freshwater habitats. We assess the reliability of the model in a severely impaired basin by comparing modeled results to observed terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity data. Estimated habitat quality is significantly correlated with observed terrestrial vascular plant richness (R 2 =0.76) and diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates (R 2 =0.34), as well as with ecosystem functions such as in-stream phosphorus retention (R 2 =0.45). After that, we analyze different scenarios to assess the suitability of the model to inform changes in habitat quality under different conservation strategies. We believe that the developed model can be useful to assess potential levels of biodiversity, and to support conservation planning given its capacity to forecast the effects of management actions in river basins

Risk Analysis Of Collision Between Passenger Ferry And Chemical Tanker In The Western Zone Of The Baltic Sea

This paper presents assumptions and process of the forming of a risk assessment model for collision between a passenger ferry departing from or approaching port of Świnoujście and a chemical tanker carrying a dangerous cargo. In order to assess navigational safety on the basis of data obtained from AIS system, were prepared probabilistic domains of ships, which made it possible to estimate number of navigational incidents as well as their spatial distribution , that consequently allowed to determine potentially dangerous areas. The next phase was formulation of a simulative model intended for the calculating of probability of collision between the ferry and chemical tanker as well as the determining of characteristic scenarios for such collision. This paper presents also an analysis of consequences of the collision with taking into consideration a damage of cargo tanks