Assessing the capacity of local ecosystems to meet industrial demand for ecosystem services

Despite the importance of ecosystems, engineering activities continue to ignore or greatly undervalue their role. Consequently, engineered systems often overshoot nature's capacity to support them, causing ecological degradation. Such systems tend to be inherently unsustainable, and they often fail to benefit from nature's ability to provide essential goods and services. This work explores the idea of including ecosystems in chemical processes, and assesses whether such a techno-ecological synergistic system can operate within ecological constraints. The demand for ecosystem services is quantified by emissions and resources used, while the supply is provided by ecosystems on the manufacturing site. Application to a biodiesel manufacturing site demonstrates that ecosystems can be economically and environmentally superior to conventional technologies for making progress toward zero emissions and net positive impact manufacturing. These results highlight the need for shifting the paradigm of engineering from that of dominating nature to embracing nature and respecting its limits

Effekte von umweltrelevanten Konzentrationen von Silbernanomaterialien auf die Struktur und Funktion der mikrobiellen Bodengemeinschaft

Silbernanomaterialien (AgNM) finden sich aktuell in häuslichen, industriellen und landwirtschaftlichen Produkten, wie Waschmaschinen, Farben, Wundverbänden und in Pflanzenwachstum fördernden Sprays. Insbesondere durch die kommerzielle Verbreitung von AgNM enthaltenden Produkten wird die Freisetzung von AgNM in die Umwelt immer wahrscheinlicher, doch ist das genaue Ausmaß derzeit noch unbekannt. Verschiedene Studien schätzen den Eintrag der AgNM in unterschiedliche Umweltkompartimente. Für Sedimente und Böden gilt eine jährliche Zunahme von 1.2 ng kg-1 Jahr-1bis zu 2.3 μg kg-1 Jahr-1als wahrscheinlich. Im Rahmen des BMBF-Verbundvorhabens "NanoUmwelt" wurden mögliche Effekte von umweltrelevanten (im Niedrigdosisbereich), unterschiedlich funktionalisierten AgNM in drei verschiedenen Böden untersucht. Über einen Zeitraum von bis zu 365 Tagen wurden die Effekte der AgNMs auf die Struktur und Funktion mikrobieller Gemeinschaften des Bodens untersucht. Der Fokus lag hierbei auf höheren Bakterientaxa sowie auf Mikroorganismen, die an der Umsetzung von Stickstoff beteiligt sind. Im Beitrag werden die Ergebnisse mehrerer Langzeitversuche mit AgNM dargestellt sowie die unterschiedlichen Auswirkungen der AgNM-Funktionalisierung und der unterschiedlichen Böden auf die Effektausprägung fokussiert

Efeito das variáveis abióticas e do fitoplâncton sobre a comunidade zooplanctônica em um reservatório do Nordeste brasileiro

O zooplâncton do reservatório de Mundaú, Pernambuco, nordeste do Brasil foi estudado quanto a variabilidade temporal (entre os horários e períodos seco chuvoso) e espacial (nas regiões pelágica e litorânea em diferentes profundidades) correlacionando-as com as variáveis ambientais e com o fitoplâncton. Vinte e três táxons infragenéricos e cinco subgenéricos de zooplâncton foram encontrados. De forma geral, Rotifera foi o grupo dominante em todo o estudo. O fitoplâncton foi dominado pelas cianobactérias. No período seco, as variáveis físicas certamente controlaram o desenvolvimento do zooplâncton, favorecendo o estabelecimento de elevadas densidades algais. No período chuvoso, a correlação do zooplâncton com os níveis de nutrientes do sistema na região pelágica provavelmente conduziu a uma competição de recursos entre o fitoplâncton e o zooplâncton, controlando as densidades algais.Zooplankton from Mundaú reservoir, State of Pernambuco, northeast Brazil was studied concerning temporal (hours and seasonal period) and spatial (pelagic and coastal regions in different depths) variabilities, correlating them to the environmental variables and the phytoplankton. Twenty-three infrageneric and five subgeneric zooplankton taxa were observed. On the whole, Rotifera was the dominant group during this study, especially influenced by the oxygen concentrations. Phytoplankton was dominated by Cyanobacteria. On the dry period, physical variables certainly controlled the zooplankton's development, allowing elevated algal densities. On the rainy period, zooplankton correlation with the system's nutrients levels on pelagic region probably conduced to a resources competition between phytoplankton and zooplankton, controlling algal densities