Earth and Environmental Sciences

Natural radioactivity levels in soils, rocks and water at a mining concession of Perseus gold mine and surrounding towns in Central Region of Ghana

Levels of naturally occurring radioactive materials prior to processing of gold ore within and around the new eastern concession area of Perseus Mining (Ghana) Limited were carried out to ascertain the baseli...

Authors: A. Faanu, O. K. Adukpo, L. Tettey-Larbi, H. Lawluvi, D. O. Kpeglo, E. O. Darko, G. Emi-Reynolds, R. A. Awudu, C. Kansaana, P. A. Amoah, A. O. Efa, A. D. Ibrahim, B. Agyeman, R. Kpodzro and L. Agyeman

Green Campus initiative and its impacts on quality of life of stakeholders in Green and Non-Green Campus universities

In 2010, Universitas Indonesia (UI) developed the UI GreenMetric World University Ranking for universities to share information about their sustainability practices. This ranking system was well aligned with ...

Authors: Ronnachai Tiyarattanachai and Nicholas M. Hollmann

Contaminant release history identification in 2-D heterogeneous aquifers through a minimum relative entropy approach

The minimum relative entropy (MRE) method has been applied in a wide variety of fields since it was first introduced. Woodbury and Ulrych (Water Resour Res 29(8): 2847–2860, 1993, Water Resour Res 32(9): 2671–268...

Authors: Fausto Cupola, Maria Giovanna Tanda and Andrea Zanini

Opportunities and challenges of indigenous biotic weather forecasting among the Borena herders of southern Ethiopia

The practical utilization of available modern as well as traditional weather forecasting systems builds herders’ resiliency capacity to climatic shocks. The precision and reliability of the forecasting system ...

Authors: Desalegn Yayeh Ayal, Solomon Desta, Getachew Gebru, James Kinyangi, John Recha and Maren Radeny

Psychrophilic pseudomonas in antarctic freshwater lake at stornes peninsula, larsemann hills over east Antarctica

The Larsemann Hills is an ice-free area of approximately 50 km², located halfway between the Vestfold Hills and the Amery Ice Shelf on the south-eastern coast of Prydz Bay, Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarcti...

Authors: Abhishek Chauhan, Pawan K. Bharti, Pankaj Goyal, Ajit Varma and Tanu Jindal

Seasonal population density and winter survival strategies of endangered Kashmir gray langur (Semnopithecus ajax) in Dachigam National Park, Kashmir, India

The population density of Kashmir gray langurs (Semnopithecus ajax) was studied in Dachigam National Park (DNP), Kashmir using distance sampling method. A total of 13 transects (1.5–2.5 km in length) were surveye...

Authors: Zaffar Rais Mir, Athar Noor, Bilal Habib and Gopi Govindan Veeraswami

Bioremediation of heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons in diesel contaminated soil with the earthworm: Eudrilus eugeniae

A laboratory study on the bioremediation of diesel contaminated soil with the earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae (Kingberg) was conducted. 5 ml of diesel was contaminated into soils in replicates and inoculated with E. ...

Authors: Ogheneruemu Abraham Ekperusi and Iruobe Felix Aigbodion

Ecological assessment of coal mine and metal mine drainage in South Korea using Daphnia magna bioassay

In order to assess the ecological effect of acid mine drainage, metal mine (Dalsung) and coal mine (Samtan) drainage in South Korea were collected. The each mine drainage then investigated by whole effluent to...

Authors: Sang-Ho Lee, Injeong Kim, Kyoung-Woong Kim and Byung-Tae Lee

Effects of copper and cadmium on development and superoxide dismutase levels in horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) embryos

Pollution by metals may adversely affect organisms through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study, we examined the sublethal effects of two metals, copper and cadmium, on horseshoe crab (L...

Authors: Mary G. Hamilton, Christopher Esposito, Mia Malin, Lucas R. Cusumano and Mark L. Botton

Assessing developmental toxicity of caffeine and sweeteners in medaka (Oryzias latipes)

The use of artificial sweeteners (ASWs) has increased and become more widespread, and consequently ASWs have appeared in aquatic environments around the world. However, their safety to the health of humans and...

Authors: Wenjau Lee and Yun-Chi Wang

Seasonal and inter-annual variation in the chlorophyll content of three co-existing Sphagnum species exceeds the effect of solar UV reduction in a subarctic peatland

We measured chlorophyll (chl) concentration and chl a/b ratio in Sphagnum balticum, S. jensenii, and S. lindbergii, sampled after 7 and 8 years of ultraviolet-B (UVB) and temperature manipulation in an open fiel...

Authors: Anna Hyyryläinen, Pasi Rautio, Minna Turunen and Satu Huttunen

Environmental impacts of cage culture in Lake Victoria: the case of Shirati Bay-Sota, Tanzania

The experimental cage culture was conducted at Shirati bay, Lake Victoria from February to August 2013, to investigate the impacts of the small scale cage culture on the environment. Three locations along the ...

Authors: Benedicto Boniphace Kashindye, P. Nsinda, R. Kayanda, G. W. Ngupula, C. A. Mashafi and C. N. Ezekiel

Use of ROV for assessing marine litter on the seafloor of Saronikos Gulf (Greece): a way to fill data gaps and deliver environmental education

A visual census of marine litter on the seafloor of the Saronikos Gulf (Greece) is presented in the current work. The abundance and qualitative composition of benthic marine litter were investigated in two se...

Authors: C. Ioakeimidis, G. Papatheodorou, G. Fermeli, N. Streftaris and E. Papathanassiou

Changing rainfall and humidity within Southeast Texas

Southeast Texas houses a precipitation transition zone between drier conditions to the North and West and some of the wettest parts of the continental U.S. to the East. The Region has seen an increase in its r...

Authors: Robert Kennedy Smith

Application of variance components estimation to calibrate geoid error models

The method of using Global Positioning System-leveling data to obtain orthometric heights has been well studied. A simple formulation for the weighted least squares problem has been presented in an earlier wo...

Authors: Dong-Mei Guo and Hou-Ze Xu

Can cell proliferation of umbilical cord blood cells reflect environmental exposures?

Environmental hazards were shown to have an impact on cell proliferation (CP). We investigated CP of lymphocytes in umbilical cord blood in relation to prenatal environmental exposures in a sample of 346 Arab-...

Authors: Lena Novack, Esther Manor, Elena Gurevich, Maayan Yitshak-Sade, Daniella Landau, Batia Sarov, Reli Hershkovitz, Doron Dukler, Tali Vodonos and Isabella Karakis

Phytotoxicity of Alachlor, Bromacil and Diuron as single or mixed herbicides applied to wheat, melon, and molokhia

This study investigated the phytotoxicity of herbicides applied singly or as mixtures to different crops under greenhouse conditions. Growth inhibition of the crops was taken as an indicator of phytotoxicity. ...

Authors: Yasser El-Nahhal and Nisreen Hamdona

Vertical distribution of dioxins in soil of Bien Hoa airbase, Vietnam

Bien Hoa airbase is a known dioxin-contaminated hotspot in Vietnam. The contamination occurred during the Vietnam War at the site where dioxins were transported, stored, sprayed, and spilled in the area. Dioxi...

Authors: Dang Thuong Huyen, Toshifumi Igarashi and Takuya Shiraiwa

Effects of elevated root zone CO₂ on xerophytic shrubs in re-vegetated sandy dunes at smaller spatial and temporal scales

The below-ground CO₂ concentration in some crusted soils or flooded fields is usually ten or hundred times larger than the normal levels. Recently, a large number of studies have focused on elevated CO₂ in the at...

Authors: Huang Lei and Zhang Zhishan

Snails from heavy-metal polluted environments have reduced sensitivity to carbon dioxide-induced acidity

Anthropogenic atmospheric CO₂ reacts with water to form carbonic acid (H₂CO₃) which increases water acidity. While marine acidification has received recent consideration, less attention has been paid to the effec...

Authors: Hugh Lefcort, David A Cleary, Aaron M Marble, Morgan V Phillips, Timothy J Stoddard, Lara M Tuthill and James R Winslow

Endophytic bacterial diversity in the phyllosphere of Amazon Paullinia cupana associated with asymptomatic and symptomatic anthracnose

Endophytes colonize an ecological niche similar to that of phytopathogens, which make them candidate for disease suppression. Anthracnose is a disease caused by Colletotrichum spp., a phytopathogen that can infec...

Authors: Andréa Cristina Bogas, Almir José Ferreira, Welington Luiz Araújo, Spartaco Astolfi-Filho, Elliot Watanabe Kitajima, Paulo Teixeira Lacava and João Lúcio Azevedo

Symbiotic effectiveness of inoculation with Bradyrhizobium isolates on soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] genotypes with different maturities

The influence of soybean genotypes with different maturity groups on the symbiotic effectiveness of Bradyrhizobium spp under high native soil N is not well known. Therefore, the objective of this work was to eval...

Authors: Anteneh Argaw

S-wave attenuation in northeastern Sonora, Mexico, near the faults that ruptured during the earthquake of 3 May 1887 Mw 7.5

We used a new data set of relocated earthquakes recorded by the Seismic Network of Northeastern Sonora, Mexico (RESNES) to characterize the attenuation of S-waves in the fault zone of the 1887 Sonora earthquake (

Authors: Gina P Villalobos-Escobar and Raúl R Castro

Dynamics of natural populations of the dertitivorous mudsnail Potamopyrgus antipodarum (Gray) (Hydrobiidae) in two interconnected Lakes differing in trophic state

Here we investigate the allocation of resources between growth and reproduction by surveying the dynamics of natural populations of the aquatic detritivorous mudsnail Potamopyrgus antipodarum from two interconnec...

Authors: Jaap Dorgelo, Harm G van der Geest and Ellard R Hunting

Erratum to: El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) impact on tuna fisheries in Indian Ocean

Authors: Palanisamy Satheesh Kumar, N Gopalakrishna Pillai and Ushadevi Manjusha

Factors affecting branch failures in open-grown trees during a snowstorm in Massachusetts, USA

In October 2011, a snowstorm in the northeastern USA caused many branch failures of many tree species commonly planted in urbanized settings. Immediately following the storm, we assessed 1,764 trees for possib...

Authors: Brian Kane and John T Finn

Land cover transformation in two post-mining landscapes subjected to different ages of reclamation since dumping of spoils

Transformation of natural land cover (LC) into modified LC has become inevitable due to growing human needs. Nevertheless, landscape transformational patterns during reclamation of mine damaged lands remain va...

Authors: Effah K Antwi, John Boakye-Danquah, Stephen B Asabere, Kazuhiko Takeuchi and Gerhard Wiegleb

Expression of a manganese peroxidase isozyme 2 transgene in the ethanologenic white rot fungus Phlebia sp. strain MG-60

The white-rot fungus Phlebia sp. strain MG-60 was proposed as a candidate for integrated fungal fermentation process (IFFP), which unifies aerobic delignification and semi-aerobic consolidated biological processi...

Authors: Yumi Yamasaki, Megumi Yamaguchi, Kenji Yamagishi, Hirofumi Hirai, Ryuichiro Kondo, Ichiro Kamei and Sadatoshi Meguro

HAV in fresh vegetables: a hidden health risk in district Mardan, Pakistan

Hepatitis A is an acute inflammation of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV) in human. The path of entry of HAV to the bloodstream is the epithelium of the intestine. Liver inflammation occurs when ...

Authors: Waleed Khan, Muhammad Irshad, Gauhar Rehman and Anwar Hussain

Effect of idol immersion on water quality and Tilapia fish in Futala, Gandhisagar and Ambazari lakes of Nagpur, India

Idol immersion activity is one of the sources of heavy metal pollution in the lakes of India. Futala, Gandhisagar and Ambazari lakes of Nagpur city are highly involved with idol immersion activity.

Authors: Manisha D Giripunje, Abhay B Fulke and Pravin U Meshram

Arylamine N-acetyl Transferase (NAT) in the blue secretion of Telescopium telescopium: xenobiotic metabolizing enzyme as a biomarker for detection of environmental pollution

Telescopium telescopium, a marine mollusc collected from Sundarban mangrove, belongs to the largest mollusca phylum in the world and exudes a blue secretion when stimulated mechanically. The blue secretion was fo...

Authors: Bapi Gorain, Sumon Chakraborty, Murari Mohan Pal, Ratul Sarkar, Samir Kumar Samanta, Sanmoy Karmakar and Tuhinadri Sen

Ecotone analysis: assessing the impact of vehicle transit on saltmarsh crab population and ecosystem

The frequent transit of vehicles (recreational or not) through saltpans and saltmarsh fields has been recorded as one of the major causes of physical and ecological damage for these environments. While several...

Authors: Claudia Trave and Marcus Sheaves

Seismic tomography of the area of the 2010 Beni-Ilmane earthquake sequence, north-central Algeria

The region of Beni-Ilmane (District of M’sila, north-central Algeria) was the site of an earthquake sequence that started on 14 May 2010. This sequence, which lasted several months, was triggered by conjugate ...

Authors: Issam Abacha, Ivan Koulakov, Fethi Semmane and Abd Karim Yelles-Chaouche

Spatial-temporal distribution of salinity and temperature in the Oued Loukkos estuary, Morocco: using vertical salinity gradient for estuary classification

Several different classifications to characterize estuarine systems have been proposed. In this present paper, one of the most important estuaries in North Africa, the Oued Loukkos (Morocco), forms a case-stud...

Authors: Mohamed Ali Geawhari, Lloyd Huff, Nadia Mhammdi, Athena Trakadas and Abdellah Ammar

Bioremoval of the synthetic dye malachite green by marine Trichoderma sp

In the present study, a marine strain of Trichoderma sp was used for degradation of a synthetic dye, malachite green. Individual and interaction effects of the physical and chemical factors that influenced the pe...

Authors: Kandasamy Saravanakumar and Kandasamy Kathiresan

Porosity and distribution of water in perlite from the island of Milos, Greece

A perlite sample representative of an operating mine in Milos was investigated with respect to the type and spatial distribution of water. A set of different methods was used which finally provided a consisten...

Authors: Stephan Kaufhold, Anke Reese, Werner Schwiebacher, Reiner Dohrmann, Georg H Grathoff, Laurence N Warr, Matthias Halisch, Cornelia Müller, Ulrich Schwarz-Schampera and Kristian Ufer

An assessment of the predictors of the dynamics in arable production per capita index, arable production and permanent cropland and forest area based on structural equation models

This study sets out to verify the key predictors of the dynamics of the arable production per capita index, the arable production and permanent crop land and forest area at a national scale in Cameroon. To ach...

Authors: Epule Terence Epule, Christopher Robin Bryant, Cherine Akkari, Mamadou Adama Sarr and Changhui Peng

Effect of confinement pressure on bearing capacity of two samples of square and strip footing (numerical study)

This paper presents the results of modeling tests of the Effect of Confinement Pressure on footing bearing capacity of two kinds of square and strip footing. Footings bearing capacity depends upon many factors...

Authors: Aarash Hosseini

El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) impact on tuna fisheries in Indian Ocean

El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is an important driver of interannual variations in climate and ecosystem productivity in tropical regions. However, detailed information about this important phenomenon of ...

Authors: Palanisamy Satheesh Kumar, Gopalakrishna N Pillai and Ushadevi Manjusha

An approach for aggregating upstream catchment information to support research and management of fluvial systems across large landscapes

The growing quality and availability of spatial map layers (e.g., climate, geology, and land use) allow stream studies, which historically have occurred over small areas like a single watershed or stream reach...

Authors: Yin-Phan Tsang, Daniel Wieferich, Kuolin Fung, Dana M Infante and Arthur R Cooper

Characterization of change in the Harike wetland, a Ramsar site in India, using landsat satellite data

The increasing population in the developing countries has rendered wetlands vulnerable to land use changes. Remote sensing offers a rapid and efficient means of data acquisition of ecosystems in time and space...

Authors: Samson Okongo Mabwoga and Ashwani Kumar Thukral

Zr-Y-Nb-REE mineralization associated with microgranite and basic dykes at EL Sela shear zone, South Eastern Desert, Egypt

El Sela shear zone occurs in the younger granite rock of Gabal El Sela area, south Eastern Desert, Egypt near the Sudan Frontier. It comprises lines–arranged intrusions trending ENE-WSW and extend for about 1....

Authors: Hassan Abd El-Razek Aly Shahin

Complete larval development of the Monkey River Prawn Macrobrachium lar (Palaemonidae) using a novel greenwater technique

This study documents the complete larval development of the Monkey River Prawn Macrobrachium lar using a new greenwater rearing technique. Approximately 6,000 larvae were reared for 110 days at an initial stockin...

Authors: Monal M. Lal, Johnson Seeto and Timothy D. Pickering

Reproductive biology and genetic diversity of the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) in Vamizi island, Mozambique

Vamizi, an Island located in the Western Indian Ocean, is visited by a small and not fully characterized green turtle (Chelonia mydas (L.)) population. This population is threatened by natural hazards and several...

Authors: Rita Anastácio, Camila Santos, Cardoso Lopes, Helena Moreira, Luis Souto, Jorge Ferrão, Julie Garnier and Mário J. Pereira

Penicillium sp. as an organism that degrades endosulfan and reduces its genotoxic effects

Endosulfan is an organochloride and persistent pesticide that has caused concern because of its impact in the environment and its toxicity to and bioaccumulation in living organisms. In this study, we isolated...

Authors: Mariana Romero-Aguilar, Efrain Tovar-Sánchez, Enrique Sánchez-Salinas, Patricia Mussali-Galante, Juan Carlos Sánchez-Meza, María Luisa Castrejón-Godínez, Edgar Dantán-González, Miguel Ángel Trujillo-Vera and Ma Laura Ortiz-Hernández

Do we protect freshwater eels or do we drive them to extinction?

Freshwater eels are important animals because they have a unique catadromous life history and are used as food resources. European, American and Japanese eel populations now are considered to be outside the sa...

Authors: Takaomi Arai

Implications of a novel Pseudomonas species on low density polyethylene biodegradation: an in vitro to in silico approach

Degradation of Petroleum-plastics like Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) is a budding challenge due to increasing white pollution. The present investigation has focused the aspect through microbial assisted biod...

Authors: Mayuri Bhatia, Amandeep Girdhar, Archana Tiwari and Anuraj Nayarisseri

Greenhouse gas emissions from sub-tropical agricultural soils after addition of organic by-products

As the cost of mineral fertilisers increases globally, organic soil amendments (OAs) from agricultural sources are increasingly being used as substitutes for nitrogen. However, the impact of OAs on the product...

Authors: Dai H Nguyen, Johannes Biala, Peter R Grace, Clemens Scheer and David W Rowlings

Radioactive cesium accumulation in freshwater fishes after the Fukushima nuclear accident

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (F1NPP) accident released large amounts of radioactive substances into the environment and contaminated the terrestrial and marine ecosystems in East Japan. The unpred...

Authors: Takaomi Arai

Review of interdisciplinary devices for detecting the quality of ship ballast water

The results of the ship ballast water treatment systems neutralization need to be verified in a transparent and trustful way before the ship enters a port. Some researches and results, explained in this articl...

Authors: Goran Bakalar