Ambient air and deposition samples were collected in the period of July 2004-May 2005 in an industrial district of Bursa, Turkey and analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds. The overall average of fourteen bulk deposition fluxes for PAHs was 3300 ± 5100 ng m-2 d-1. PAH depositions showed a seasonal variation and they were higher in winter months. This was probably due to increases in residential heating activities and decreases in atmospheric mixing layer levels. Ambient air samples, measured with a high volume air sampler, were collected from the same site. The average total concentration including gas and particulate phase was about 300 ± 420 ng m-3 and it was in the range of previously reported values. Some of the ambient air and bulk deposition samples were collected simultaneously in dry periods. Both concurrently measured values were used to calculate the dry deposition velocities whose overall average value was 0.45 ± 0.35 cm s-1. Bulk deposition fluxes of PAHs were measured in an industrial area and deposition velocities of PAHs were reported.

Accumulation of mercury in wetland ecosystems has raised concerns about impacts on wetland food webs. This study measured concentrations of mercury in invertebrates of the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia, focusing on levels in amphipods, odonates, and crayfish. We collected and analyzed total mercury levels in these invertebrates from 32 sampling stations across commonly occurring sub-habitats. Sampling was conducted in December, May, and August over a two-year period. The highest levels of mercury were detected in amphipods, with total mercury levels often in excess of 20 ppm. Bioaccumulation pathways of mercury in invertebrates of the Okefenokee are probably complex; despite being larger and higher in the food chain, levels in odonates and crayfish were much lower than in amphipods. Mercury levels in invertebrates varied temporally with the highest levels detected in May. There was a lack of spatial variation in mercury levels which is consistent with aerial deposition of mercury. This study measured mercury levels in invertebrates and found the highest levels in amphipods.

A field intercomparison experiment of the disjunct eddy covariance (DEC) and the conventional eddy covariance (EC) techniques was conducted over a grass field. The half-hourly water vapor fluxes measured by the DEC were within the estimated uncertainty from the fluxes measured by the EC. On the average there was a slight overestimation (<10%) of the fluxes measured by the DEC during the day and underestimation during the night as compared to the fluxes measured by the EC. As this bias does not appear in the simulated DEC measurements it is likely to be due to instrumental problems. The insensitivity of the quality of the fluxes measured by the DEC method to the deficiencies in the gas analysis shows the robustness of this new approach for measuring the surface-atmosphere exchange of trace gases. Results from the first field intercomparison between a new state-of-the-art trace gas flux measurement technique and the direct eddy covariance measurements are reported in this paper.

Two types of polar organic chemical integrative samplers (pharmaceutical POCIS and pesticide POCIS) were examined for their sampling efficiency of selected endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs). Laboratory-based calibration of POCISs was conducted by exposing them at high and low concentrations of 14 EDCs (4-alkyl-phenols, their ethoxylate oligomers, bisphenol A, selected estrogens and synthetic steroids) for different time periods. The kinetic studies showed an integrative uptake up to 28 days. The sampling rates for the individual compounds were obtained. The use of POCISs could result in an integrative approach to the quality status of the aquatic systems especially in the case of high variation of water concentrations of EDCs. The sampling efficiency of POCISs under various field conditions was assessed after their deployment in different aquatic environments. Calibration and field performance of polar organic integrative samplers for monitoring EDCs in aquatic environments.

An analytical procedure for the determination of Hg in otter (Lontra longicaudis) feces was developed, to separate fish scales for the identification of the animal diet. Samples were washed with ultra-pure water and the suspension was sampled and transferred for digestion. The solubilization was performed with nitric-perchloric acid mixture, and detection carried out by the atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS). The quality of the analytical procedure was assessed by analyzing in-house standard solutions and certified reference materials. Total Hg concentrations were in the range of 7.6-156 ng g-1 (July 2004), 25.6-277 ng g-1 (January 2005) and 14.6-744 ng g-1 (May 2005) that is approximately the same order of magnitude for all samples collected in two reservoirs at the Tiete River, Brazil. Although Hg concentrations varied with sampling periods and diet, high levels were correlated to the percentage of carnivorous fish scales present in the otter feces. The importance of otter feces preparation for Hg analysis, focusing the food web.

Leaves of six main tree species from the Pearl River Delta (PRD) in Southern China were collected to identify the interspecific variability, the spatial variability and the seasonal variations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons' (PAHs) concentrations, and to calculate the amount of PAHs removed by leaves. PAHs concentrations in pine needles were much higher than in broad-leaves and leaves from urban/industrial areas (Baiyunshan and Heshan) exhibited two times greater concentrations than leaves from the rural area (Dinghushan). Seasonal variations of PAHs in leaves occurred with lesser concentrations in September. Leaves in PRD scavenged 3.7 ± 0.9 t PAHs y−1, accounting for about 10% of the total amount emitted in this region. This result suggests that forests play an important role in the fate of PAHs. Our results suggest that forests perform an important step for the fate of PAHs in the atmosphere.

To evaluate plant and herbivore responses to nitrogen we conducted a fertilization study at a low and high pollution site in the mixed conifer forests surrounding Los Angeles, California. Contrary to expectations, discriminant function analysis of oak herbivore communities showed significant response to N fertilization when atmospheric deposition was high, but not when atmospheric deposition was low. We hypothesize that longer-term fertilization treatments are needed at the low pollution site before foliar N nutrition increases sufficiently to affect herbivore communities. At the high pollution site, fertilization was also associated with increased catkin production and higher densities of a byturid beetle that feeds on the catkins of oak. Leaf nitrogen and nitrate were significantly higher at the high pollution site compared to the low pollution site. Foliar nitrate concentrations were positively correlated with abundance of sucking insects, leafrollers and plutellids in all three years of the study.

Estimates of forest soil organic carbon (SOC) have applications in carbon science, soil quality studies, carbon sequestration technologies, and carbon trading. Forest SOC has been modeled using a regression coefficient methodology that applies mean SOC densities (mass/area) to broad forest regions. A higher resolution model is based on an approach that employs a geographic information system (GIS) with soil databases and satellite-derived landcover images. Despite this advancement, the regression approach remains the basis of current state and federal level greenhouse gas inventories. Both approaches are analyzed in detail for Wisconsin forest soils from 1983 to 2001, applying rigorous error-fixing algorithms to soil databases. Resulting SOC stock estimates are 20% larger when determined using the GIS method rather than the regression approach. Average annual rates of increase in SOC stocks are 3.6 and 1.0 million metric tons of carbon per year for the GIS and regression approaches respectively. Large differences in estimates of soil organic carbon stocks and annual changes in stocks for Wisconsin forestlands indicate a need for validation from forthcoming forest surveys.

The relative abundance and variation of Cr, Co, Cd and Pb in Ascophyllum nodosum and intertidal surface sediments from six locations around the coast were assessed over six seasons. Higher Cd and Pb levels in Galway Docks and Cork Harbour were attributed to localised inputs of these metals from municipal and domestic waste, while at a reference site (Ballyconneely), high algal Cr concentrations were considered a function of geological setting rather than anthropogenic loading. Little seasonal variation was observed, with the exception of higher Co levels in plants in winter, associated with growth dynamics and increased fluvial inputs. In comparison with previously published data for metals in A. nodosum from the North Atlantic, with the exception of localised hot spots, the Irish coastline is still a relatively pristine environment. A. nodosum may be successfully and easily used as a biomonitor of metal contamination in coastal waters. This paper provides details of an easily applicable, cost-effective and ecologically relevant approach to assessing the degree of metal contamination in coastal environments.

Laboratory tests of fipronil and its degradation products have revealed acute lethal toxicity at very low concentrations (LC50) of <0.5 μg/L to selected aquatic macroinvertebrates. In streams draining basins with intensive rice cultivation in southwestern Louisiana, USA, concentrations of fipronil compounds were an order of magnitude larger than the LC50. The abundance (ρ = -0.64; p = 0.015) and taxa richness (r2 = 0.515, p < 0.005) of macroinvertebrate communities declined significantly with increases in concentrations of fipronil compounds and rice-cultivation land-use intensity. Macroinvertebrate community tolerance scores increased linearly (r2 = 0.442, p < 0.005) with increases in the percentage of rice cultivation in the basins, indicating increasingly degraded stream conditions. Similarly, macroinvertebrate community-tolerance scores increased rapidly as fipronil concentrations approached about 1 μg/L. Pesticide toxicity index determinations indicated that aquatic macroinvertebrates respond to a gradient of fipronil compounds in water although stream size and habitat cannot be ruled out as contributing influences. Aquatic macroinvertebrate commmunities in southwestern Louisiana streams respond to a gradient of fipronil compounds in water.