NATURAL REGENERATION STRATUM AS AN INDICATOR OF RESTORATION IN AREA OF ENVIRONMENTAL COMPENSATION FOR MINING LIMESTONE, MUNICIPALITY OF BARROSO, MG, BRAZIL

ABSTRACT This study was conducted in a forest under restoration process, which belongs to the company Holcim Brasil S/A, in the municipality of Barroso, state of Minas Gerais (21º00'to 22º00'S and 43º00' to 44º00'W), where 40 plots (2 x 2 m) were set, spaced at 10 m, forming eight strata parallel to the watercourse present in the area. Floristic composition and natural regeneration stratum were characterized, and the formed strata allowed evaluating whether the riparian vegetation and watercourse influence on the local regeneration. It was found 162 individuals of 13 families, 18 genera and 22 species, and 10,125 individuals/ha were estimated. Successional classes from pioneer and early secondary and zoochory dispersion syndrome prevailed among species and individuals. The watercourse and riparian vegetation did not exercise significant influence (p> 0.05) on the number of species and regenerating individuals among the different strata of the forest. The diversity index of Shannon-Wiener (H') and equability of Pielou (J') were 2.691 and 0.870, respectively. The species Psidium guajava and Myrtaceae families presented the highest VI (value of importance). Natural regeneration analysis showed the low floristic diversity in the area, suggesting that corrective management actions should be adopted.

Method of numerical correction of errors occasioned by delay of records during the monitoring of environmental variables of interest for animal production

Thermal and air conditions inside animal facilities change during the day due to the influence of the external environment. For statistical and geostatistical analyses to be representative, a large number of points spatially distributed in the facility area must be monitored. This work suggests that the time variation of environmental variables of interest for animal production, monitored within animal facility, can be modeled accurately from discrete-time records. The aim of this study was to develop a numerical method to correct the temporal variations of these environmental variables, transforming the data so that such observations are independent of the time spent during the measurement. The proposed method approached values recorded with time delays to those expected at the exact moment of interest, if the data were measured simultaneously at the moment at all points distributed spatially. The correction model for numerical environmental variables was validated for environmental air temperature parameter, and the values corrected by the method did not differ by Tukey's test at 5% significance of real values recorded by data loggers.

Reducing bumblefoot lesions in a group of captive Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) with the use of environmental enrichment

Captive penguins are prone to pododermatitis (bumblefoot) lesions due to sedentary habits, changes in normal activity patterns, prolonged time on hard and abrasive surfaces, and less time swimming in the water. Environmental enrichment allows the use of creative and ingenious techniques that aim to keep the captive animals occupied by increasing the range and the diversity of behavioral opportunities always respecting the ethological needs of the species. The main goal of this work was to use environmental enrichment techniques to reduce pododermatitis in a group of captive penguins. Five captive Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) that were showing bumblefoot lesions were followed during this project. To monitor the lesions, all animals were physically restraint 3 times a week over a period of 12 weeks. Environmental enrichment was introduced daily in the water with the goal of enhancing their time in the water for one extra hour daily. The results demonstrate that in a twelve weeks period, four animals showed significant reduction of the lesions in both feet and in two animals the lesions were completely healed. With these results we can conclude that aquatic environmental enrichment allowed this group of penguins to spend more time in the water, favoring the reduction of the bumblefoot lesions.

Effects of environmental modification on mastitis occurrence and hormonal changes in Holstein cows

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effects of evaporative cooling in freestall on mastitis occurrence, milk production, and composition, as well as cortisol, T3 (triiodothyronine), and T4 (thyroxin) levels in lactating dairy cows. Twenty-eight multiparous cows averaging 70 ± 10 day postpartum were used in four treatments from January to March 2003. The treatments were: Day (cooling from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.); Night (cooling from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.); 24-hour (cooling 24-hour); and Control (no cooling). Wired cup test was used for clinical mastitis diagnosis, and the California Mastitis Test (CMT) was used to identify subclinical mastitis. Blood and milk samples were taken weekly for microbiological and hormonal analyses. The cortisol levels were higher than normal values in all treatment groups, suggesting stress conditions, but T3 and T4 levels remained normal in all groups. The occurrence of subclinical mastitis was lower in Day and Night groups than in Control and 24-hour groups. Regarding the microbiological analyses, in all groups the isolation of Corynebacterium sp. from milk samples increased while negative coagulase staphylococci (CNS) declined as etiological agents of subclinical mastitis. However, in Day and 24-hour groups, coagulase positive staphylococci (CPS) increased mainly Staphylococcus aureus (49.8% and 47.7% respectively). The Night group showed a decrease in subclinical mastitis occurrences. Our data indicate that all animals subjected to treatments presented high levels of cortisol, indicating a stress condition. The Night treatment presented a reduction in microbial isolation, suggesting a reduced susceptibility to mastitis.

Harmonization of Environmental Costs and Investments Reporting

The objective of this Master’s Thesis is to examine the current state of environmental costs and investments reporting at Stora Enso in the Business Area of Printing and Reading. Differences and the factors causing the differences in environmental costs and investments reporting are examined in order to further harmonize the reporting between the mills. Research method is a case study, which comprises 11 paper mills. Environmental costs are studied from year 2012 and environmental investments from year 2011 or from 2012 depending on the mill. The results show that there are two types of differences such as actual and harmonisable affecting to environmental costs reporting. Actual differences result from factors such as location and technical features of the mill. Harmonisable differences represent differences, which distort the actual differences. Factors that cause harmonisable differences are identification and traceability of environmental costs as well as interpretation of the instructions. Estimation of the environmental share of indirect environmental investments causes differences between the mills in environmental investments reporting, as it has to be done case-by-case judgments. A further research could consider a detailed examination of the data registering process in order to further improve traceability of environmental costs. Furthermore, identification and reporting of potential savings could be studied from environmental point of view as resource efficiency is an increasing interest.

Floristic surveys of aquatic macrophytes in reservoirs in the Agreste zone of Pernambuco State, Brazil

We surveyed the aquatic macrophytes in reservoirs in Camocim de São Félix in the Agreste zone of Pernambuco State, Brazil. Plants were collected on a bimonthly schedule from November/2008 to May/2009 in four reservoirs, and 33 taxa distributed among 23 families were encountered. The family Cyperaceae had the greatest number of species, followed by Lemnaceae. The predominant biologic form was emergent (33.3%) reflecting the extensive shorelines around the reservoirs analyzed.

Diel patterns and tissue-specificity of environmental responses in fish

Humans are profoundly changing aquatic environments through climate change and the release of nutrients and chemicals. To understand the effects of these changes on natural populations, knowledge on individuals’ environmental responses is needed. At the molecular level, the environmental responses are partly mediated by chances in messenger RNA and protein levels. In this thesis I study messenger RNA and protein responses to an assortment of environmental stressors in fish. As daily (diel) rhythms are known to be ubiquitous in different tissues, I particularly focus on diel patterns in the responses. The studied species are the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) and the Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus L.), both of which have circumpolar distribution in the Northern hemisphere. In the first two studies, three-spined sticklebacks were exposed to both the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac and low-oxygen conditions (hypoxia), and their responses measured at separate time points in the liver and gills. The results show how the seemingly unrelated environmental stressors, hypoxia and anti-inflammatory drugs, can have harmful combined effects that differ from the effects of each stressor alone. Moreover, both stressors disturbed natural diel patterns in gene expression. In the third study, I studied the responses of three-spined sticklebacks to two test chemicals: one used in hormonal medicine (17α-ethinyl-oestradiol) and one used as a plasticizer and solvent chemical (di-n-butyl phthalate). The results suggest that the phthalate can affect genes related to spermatogenesis in fish testes, while estrogen-mimicking compounds can lead to numerous disturbances in the endocrine system. In the final study, the temperature-dependence of diel rhythms in messenger RNA levels were evaluated in the liver tissue of the Arctic char, a cold-adapted salmonid. The results show that cold acclimation repressed diel rhythms in gene expression compared to warm-acclimated fish, in which the expression of hundreds of genes was rhythmic, suggesting the circadian clock of the Arctic fish species can be sensitive to temperature. Overall, the results of the thesis indicate that fishes’ responses to abiotic factors interact with their diel rhythms, and more studies on the consequences of these interactions are needed to comprehensively understand human impacts on ecosystems.

The relationship between stem-form, stand-closure and site -conditions : the influence of environmental conditions on tree allometry and forest structure in west-central Alberta

Changes in the configuration of a tree stern result insignificant differences in its total volume and in the proportion of that volume that is merchantable timber. Tree allometry, as represented by stem-fo~, is the result of the vertical force of gravity and the horizontal force of wind. The effect of wind force is demonstrated in the relationship between stem-form, standclosure and site-conditions. An increase in wind force on the individual tree due to a decrease in stand density should produce a more tapered tree. The density of the stand is determined by the conditions that the trees are growing under. The ability of the tree to respond to increased wind force may also be a function of these conditions . This stem-form/stand-closure/site-conditions relationship was examined using a pre-existing database from westcentral Alberta. This database consisted of environmental, vegetation, soils and timber data covering a wide range of sites. There were 653 sample trees with 82 variables that formed the basis of the analysis. There were eight tree species consisting of Pinus contorta, Picea mariana, Picea engelmannii x glauca, Abies lasiocarpa, Larix laricina, Populus tremuloides, Betula papyrifera and Populus balsamifera plus a comprehensive all-species data set. As the actual conformation of the stern is very individual, stem-fo~was represented by the diameter at breast height to total height r~tio. The four stand-closure variables, crown closure, total basal area, total volume and total number of stems were reduced to total basal area and total number of stems utilizing a bivariate correlation matrix by species. Site-conditions were subdivided into macro, meso and micro variables and reduced in number 3 using cross-tabulations, bivariate correlation and principal components analysis as screening tools. The stem-fo~/stand-closure relationship was examined using bivariate correlation coefficients for stem-fo~ with total number of stems and stem-fo~ with total basal area. The stem-fo~/site-conditions and the stand-closure/site- conditions relationships were examined using multiple correlation coefficients. The stem-form/stand-closure/site-conditions relationship was examined using multiple correlation coefficients in separate analyses for both total number of stems and total basal area. An increase in stand-closure produced a decrease in stem-form for both total number of stems and total basal area for most species. There was a significant relationship between stem-form and site-conditions and between stand-closure and site-conditions for both total number of stems and total basal area for most species. There was a significant relationship between the stemform and site-conditions, including the stand-closure, for most species; total number of stems was involved independently of the site-conditions in the prediction of stem-form and total basal area was not. Larix laricina and Betula papyrifera were the exceptions to the trends observed with most species. The influence of both stand-closure (total number of stems in particular) and site-conditions (elevation in particular) suggest that forest management practices should include these- ecological parameters in determining appropriate restocking levels.

Scales, networks and uncertainty : an examination of environmental policy-making in Ontario

Through a case-study analysis of Ontario's ethanol policy, this thesis addresses a number of themes that are consequential to policy and policy-making: spatiality, democracy and uncertainty. First, I address the 'spatial debate' in Geography pertaining to the relevance and affordances of a 'scalar' versus a 'flat' ontoepistemology. I argue that policy is guided by prior arrangements, but is by no means inevitable or predetermined. As such, scale and network are pragmatic geographical concepts that can effectively address the issue of the spatiality of policy and policy-making. Second, I discuss the democratic nature of policy-making in Ontario through an examination of the spaces of engagement that facilitate deliberative democracy. I analyze to what extent these spaces fit into Ontario's environmental policy-making process, and to what extent they were used by various stakeholders. Last, I take seriously the fact that uncertainty and unavoidable injustice are central to policy, and examine the ways in which this uncertainty shaped the specifics of Ontario's ethanol policy. Ultimately, this thesis is an exercise in understanding sub-national environmental policy-making in Canada, with an emphasis on how policy-makers tackle the issues they are faced with in the context of environmental change, political-economic integration, local priorities, individual goals, and irreducible uncertainty.

The interpretation of environmental sustainability (ES) by the IOC/Olympic Games 1994-2008

The purpose of this qualitative multi-case study was to examine the interpretation of environmental sustainability (ES) within the Olympic 11 Movement. Two research questions guided the inquiry - first, how has the concept of ES been defined by the International Olympic Committee (lOC), and second, how has the concept of ES been defined and enacted by the Organizing Committees ofthe Olympic Games (OCOGs)? During the past two decades, the International Olympic Committee (lOC) established several policies and programs related to ES. Its actions reflect a broader trend of environmentalism within economic and social spheres around the world (Milton-Smith, 2002). Despite the numerous initiatives, the Olympic Games continue to cause significant environmental damage. Frey, et al. (2007) argued that the Olympic Movement contradicts the fundamental premises of ES because the Games are hosted in a two week time period, are situated in a confined area, and accumulate operating and infrastructure costs in the billions of dollars. Further, Etzion (2007) stated "there is positive and significant correlation between firm siz~ and environmental performance" (p. 642) and in the context of the Olympics the sizeimpact relation is striking. Since 1972, the year the UN launched its international environmental awareness efforts, the Summer Olympics grew to 201 nations (39% increase), 10,500 athletes (32% increase), 28 sports (30% increase), and 302 events (43% increase) (Johnson, 2004; Girginov & Parry, 2005; Upegui, 2008). The proliferation of Games activities counters the ES principles that exist within many of the IOC declarations, policies and programs.

Non-pollen palynomorphs and thecamoebians as proxies of environmental and anthropogenic change: a case study from Lake Simcoe, Ontario, Canada

The distribution of aquatic microfossils and pollen in the long core from Lake Simcoe (LS07PC5) shows synchronous response since deglaciation, highlighting the potential of little-known non-pollen palynomorphs (NPP) as paleolimnological indicators. Upcore variations in NPP, thecamoebians and pollen reflect hydrological and climatic variations: onset of the Main Lake Algonquin, the draining of Lake Algonquin, the early Holocene drought, the midto late Holocene climate shifts including mid-Holocene drought and the Little Ice Age, and human settlement. The distribution of microfossils in the short cores (CB1 and SB1) shows the level of eutrophication decreasing gradually from Cook’s Bay to the Atherley Narrows outflow due to differences in the extent of anthropogenic impact and cumulative retention of phosphorous within sediments. Changes in assemblages and concentration of NPP within the cores reflect the history of settlement within Lake Simcoe basin, recording temporal differences in eutrophication.