Manufacturing pre-decisions : a comparative analysis of environmental impact statement (EIS) reviews in Brazil and Portugal.

The review of environmental impact statements (EIS), despite its relevance to impact assessment effectiveness, has received scarce scholarly attention. Few studies have gone beyond the realm of regulatory evaluations to understand the managerial meanders of the review process. This study evaluated the responsibilities, procedures, information inputs, and scope of EIS reviews within two environmental authorities: APA (Portuguese Environment Agency), in Portugal, and SEMAD (State Secretariat for Environment and Sustainable Development), in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Based on a qualitative multiple-case study methodology informed by participant observation, unstructured interviews, and content analysis of 12 EIS review reports, the study provided what is arguably one of the most detailed characterizations of EIS review to date. While following similar institutional arrangements and broad procedural steps, the EIS review has important differences in APA and SEMAD. Overall, the Portuguese agency was found to have a more structured, participative, interdisciplinary, detailed, and grounded review, thus meeting some of the good practices often cited in the literature. The EIS review reports prepared by APA reviewers were also found to provide a profoundly more complete and transparent account of the review process. The details of the review process revealed in the article can affect perceptions around the legitimacy and reliability of reviewers? recommendations

Effect of cellulose microcrystals in starch and chitosan-based films properties

Cellulose microcrystals (CMC) can be used as reinforcing material in the preparation of composite films. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of CMC in starch and chitosan-based films properties. Starch/CMC and Chitosan/CMC composite films were formulated with 1% (w/v) of biopolymer, 0.25% (w/wbiopolymer) glycerol and 0.1% or 0.2% of CMC. The solutions were prepared at 70◦C during 30 min under stirring and submitted to 45 min of ultrasonication. Afterwards were dried in an air-circulating oven at 30◦C for 24 h. The effect of CMC incorporation was evaluated in respect to the surface morphology on a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Solubility was expressed as percentage of the film dry matter solubilized after 24 h immersion in distilled water, and mechanical properties were measured using a texture analyzer following the guidelines of ASTM D 882-10. X-ray diffraction analyses (XRD) were used to evaluate the crystallinity of the samples. SEM micrographs of films with the incorporation of CMC revealed an irregular structure with high heterogeneity and that the roughness of the surface of the films increased for higher concentrations of CMC. Nevertheless, the surface of starch and chitosan films in the absence of CMC are smooth. Regarding to XRD patterns, it was observed that the addition of CMC leads to the presence of reflection peaks at 2θ=22.5° which are related to the cellulose crystalline structure. The values of solubility in water for films with 0.1% and 0.2% of MCM are statistically lower (p<0.05) than for chitosan and starch control films, thus indicating that the presence of CMC reduces the solubility of the film in water. The incorporation of CMC in films decreased the tensile strength values of starch-based films and the elongation at break (p<0.05). Regarding chitosan-based films the incorporation of CMC showed to be effective in increasing the tensile strength values, however leads to a decrease of elongation at break values. Overall, results showed that the incorporation of CMC in chitosan and starch-based films can be used to change the properties of the films and that according to the biopolymer used distinct behaviors can be obtained

Avaliação do Potencial do Impacto das Emissões Industriais nas Concentrações de Ozônio Simuladas pelo Modelo SPM-Brams sobre a Região Metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro

Results of ozone concentrations simulated by SPM-BRAMSmodel for the RMRJ were evaluated for the period between October 31and November 01, 2006. Only industrial emissions, provided by FEEMA’semission inventory, were considered. The impact of these sources wasquite significant, especially in the region near to the industrial areas ofDuque de Caxias and Santa Cruz. In these areas ozone values were higherthan the national air quality standard (160 μg.m-3).Os resultados das concentrações de ozônio simuladas pelomodelo SPM-BRAMS para a RMRJ foram avaliadas para o período entre31 de outubro e 01 de novembro de 2006. Apenas as emissões industriais,fornecidas através de um inventário realizado pela FEEMA, foramconsideradas. O impacto destas foi bastante significativo, principalmente,na região próxima às áreas industriais de Duque de Caxias e SantaCruz. Nessas áreas os valores de concentração de ozônio foram superioresao padrão nacional de qualidade do ar (160 μg.m-3)

Non-bee insects are important contributors to global crop pollination

Wild and managed bees are well documented as effective pollinators of global crops of economic importance. However, the contributions by pollinators other than bees have been little explored despite their potential to contribute to crop production and stability in the face of environmental change. Non-bee pollinators include flies, beetles, moths, butterflies, wasps, ants, birds, and bats, among others. Here we focus on non-bee insects and synthesize 39 field studies from five continents that directly measured the crop pollination services provided by non-bees, honey bees, and other bees to compare the relative contributions of these taxa. Non-bees performed 25–50% of the total number of flower visits. Although non-bees were less effective pollinators than bees per flower visit, they made more visits; thus these two factors compensated for each other, resulting in pollination services rendered by non-bees that were similar to those provided by bees. In the subset of studies that measured fruit set, fruit set increased with non-bee insect visits independently of bee visitation rates, indicating that non-bee insects provide a unique benefit that is not provided by bees. We also show that non-bee insects are not as reliant as bees on the presence of remnant natural or seminatural habitat in the surrounding landscape. These results strongly suggest that non-bee insect pollinators play a significant role in global crop production and respond differently than bees to landscape structure, probably making their crop pollination services more robust to changes in land use. Non-bee insects provide a valuable service and provide potential insurance against bee population declines

Challenges and perspectives on tackling illegal or unsustainable wildlife trade

Illegal or unsustainable wildlife trade (IUWT) currently presents one of the most high-profile conservation challenges. There is no “one-size-fits-all” strategy, and a variety of disciplines and actors are needed for any counteractive approach to work effectively. Here, we detail common challenges faced when tackling IUWT, and we describe some available tools and technologies to curb and track IUWT (e.g. bans, quotas, protected areas, certification, captive-breeding and propagation, education and awareness). We discuss gaps to be filled in regulation, enforcement, engagement and knowledge about wildlife trade, and propose practical solutions to regulate and curb IUWT, paving the road for immediate action

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