Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Inventory and evolution of glacial lakes since the Little Ice Age: Lessons from the case of Switzerland

Retreating glaciers give way to new landscapes with lakes as an important element. In this study, we combined available data on lake outlines with historical orthoimagery and glacier outlines for six time periods since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA; ~1850). We generated a glacial lake inventory for modern times (2016) and traced the evolution of glacial lakes that formed in the deglaciated area since the LIA. In this deglaciated area, a total of 1192 lakes formed over the period of almost 170 years, 987 of them still in existence in 2016. Their total water surface in 2016 was 6.22 ± 0.25 km2. The largest lakes are > 0.4 km2 (40 ha) in size, while the majority (> 90%) are smaller than 0.01 km2. Annual increase rates in area and number peaked in 1946–1973, decreased towards the end of the 20th century, and reached a new high in the latest period 2006–2016. For a period of 43 years (1973–2016), we compared modelled overdeepenings from previous studies to actual lake genesis. For a better prioritization of formation probability, we included glacier-morphological criteria such as glacier width and visible crevassing. About 40% of the modelled overdeepened area actually got covered by lakes. The inclusion of morphological aspects clearly aided in defining a lake formation probability to be linked to each modelled overdeepening. Additional morphological variables, namely dam material and type, surface runoff, and freeboard, were compiled for a subset of larger and ice-contact lakes in 2016, constituting a basis for future hazard assessment

Künstliche Grundwasseranreicherung für die Trinkwassergewinnung : Untersuchungen zur Nachhaltigkeit der Reinigungsleistung bei der Bodenpassage am Standort "Lange Erlen" (Basel)

In der Trinkwassergewinnungsanlage Lange Erlen in Basel wurden der Rückhalt von organischen Verbindungen und die zugrunde liegenden Prozesse sowie der Einfluss der Mikroorganismen und der Bodenfauna untersucht. In modellhaften Säulenversuchen und in Feldstudien erwies sich das System als sehr leistungsfähig und nachhaltig. Die Reinigungsleistung beruht nur zum Teil auf Verdünnung, einen wesentlichen Anteil haben biologische Prozesse. Das Wässerungsregime beeinflusst auch die Mikroorganismen (Artenzusammensetzung, Biomasse, Aktivität) und die Regenwurmfauna (Artenzusammensetzung, Biomasse, Dichte)

Betriebsstrukturen und Geschaeftspolitik im Direktabsatz: Ergebnisse einer Umfrage bei Endverkaufsbetrieben

Available from Bibliothek des Instituts fuer Weltwirtschaft, ZBW, Duesternbrook Weg 120, D-24105 Kiel W 262 (75) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Repeated detection of polystyrene microbeads in the Lower Rhine River

Microplastics are emerging pollutants in water bodies worldwide. The environmental entry areas must be studied to localise their sources and develop preventative and remedial solutions. Rivers are major contributors to the marine microplastics load. Here, we focus on a specific type of plastic microbead (diameter 286-954 pm, predominantly opaque, white beige) that was repeatedly identified in substantial numbers between kilometres 677 and 944 of the Rhine River, one of Europe's main waterways. Specifically, we aimed (i) to confirm the reported abrupt increase in microbead concentrations between the cities of Leverkusen and Duisburg and (ii) to assess the concentration gradient of these particles along this stretch at higher resolution. Furthermore, we set out (iii) to narrow down the putative entry stretch from 81.3 km, as reported in an earlier study, to less than 20 km according to our research design, and (iv) to identify the chemical composition of the particles and possibly reveal their original purpose. Surface water filtration (mesh: 300 mu m, n = 9) at regular intervals along the focal river stretch indicated the concentration of these spherules increased from 0.05 to 8.3 particles m(-3) over 20 km. This spot sampling approach was supported by nine suspended solid samples taken between 2014 and 2017. encompassing the river stretch between Leverkusen and Duisburg. Ninety-five percent of microbeads analysed (202/212) were chemically identified as crosslinked polystyrene-divinylbenzene (PS-DVB, 146/212) or polystyrene (PS. 56/212) via Raman or Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Based on interpretation of polymer composition, surface structure, shape, size and colour, the PS(-DVB) microbeads are likely to be used ion-exchange resins, which are commonly applied in water softening and various industrial purification processes. The reported beads contribute considerably to the surface microplastic load of the Rhine River and their potential riverine entry area was geographically narrowed down

A Medical Wireless Measurement System for Hip Prosthesis Loosening Detection Based on Vibration Analysis

Vibration analysis is a promising approach in order to detect early hip prosthesis loosening, with the potential to extend the range of diagnostic tools currently available in clinical routine. Ongoing research efforts and developments in the area of multi-functional implants, which integrate sensors, wireless power supply, communication and signal processing, provide means to obtain valuable in vivo information otherwise not available. In the current work a medical wireless measurement system is presented, which is integrated in the femoral head of a hip prosthesis. The passive miniaturized system includes a 3-axis acceleration sensor and signal pre-processing based on a lock-in amplifier circuit. Bidirectional data communication and power supply is reached through inductive coupling with an operating frequency of 125 kHz in accordance with the ISO 18000-2 protocol standard. The system allows the acquisition of the acceleration frequency response of the femur-prosthesis system between 500 to 2500 Hz. Applied laboratory measurements with system prototypes on artificial bones and integrated prostheses demonstrate the feasibility of the measurement system approach, clearly showing differences in the vibration behavior due to an implant loosening. In addition a possibility to evaluate the non-linear mechanic system behavior is presented

Correlation of six anthropogenic markers in wastewater, surface water, bank filtrate, and soil aquifer treatment

Six trace contaminants (acesulfame (ACE), sucralose (SUC), carbamazepine (CBZ), diatrizoic acid (DTA), 1H-benzotriazole (BTZ) and its 4-methyl analogue (4-TTri)) were traced from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to receiving waters and further to riverbank filtration (RBF) wells to evaluate their prediction power as potential wastewater markers. Furthermore, the persistence of some compounds was investigated in advanced wastewater treatment by soil aquifer treatment (SAT). During wastewater treatment in four conventional activated sludge WWTPs ACE, SUC, and CBZ showed a pronounced stability expressed by stable concentration ratios in influent (in) and effluent (out) (ACE/CBZ: in45, out40; SUC/CBZ: in1.8, out1.7; and ACE/SUC: in24, out24). In a fifth WWTP, additional treatment with powdered activated carbon led to a strong elimination of CBZ, BTZ, and 4-TTri of about 80% and consequently to a distinctive shift of their ratios with unaffected compounds. Data from a seven month monitoring program at seven sampling locations at the rivers Rhine and Main in Germany revealed the best concentration correlation for ACE and CBZ (r(2) = 0.94) and also a good correlation of ACE and CBZ concentrations to BTZ and 4-TTri levels (r(2) = 0.66 to 0.82). The comparison of ratios at different sampling sites allowed for the identification of a CBZ point source. Furthermore, in Switzerland a higher consumption of SUC compared to Germany can be assumed, as a steadily increasing ACE/SUC ratio along the river Rhine was observed. In RBF wells a good correlation (r(2) = 0.85) was again observed for ACE and CBZ. Both also showed the highest stability at a prolonged residence time in the subsurface of a SAT field. In the most peripheral wells ACE and CBZ were still detected with mean values higher than 36 mu g L(-1) and 1.3 mu g L(-1), respectively. Although SUC concentrations in wastewater used for SAT decreased by more than 80% from about 18 mu g L(-1) to 2.1 mu gL(-1) and 3.5 mu g L(-1) in these outlying wells, the compound was still adequate to indicate a wastewater impact in a qualitative way