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Hydrological response of a headwater catchment in the semi-arid Andes (30°S) to climate change
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Impacts of extreme climatic events on trophic network complexity and multidimensional stability
No full textUntangling the relationship between network complexity and ecological stability under climate change is an arduous challenge for theoretical and empirical ecology. Even more so, when considering extreme climatic events. Here, we studied the effects of extreme climatic events (heatwaves) on the complexity of realistic freshwater ecosystems using topological and quantitative trophic network metrics. Next, we linked changes in network complexity with the investigation of four stability components (temporal stability, resistance, resilience, and recovery) of community's functional, compositional, and energy flux stability. We found reduction in topological network complexity to be correlated with reduction of functional and compositional resistance. However, temperature-driven increase in link-weighted network complexity increased functional and energy flux recovery and resilience, but at the cost of increased compositional instability. Overall, we propose an overarching approach to elucidate the effects of climate change on multidimensional stability through the lens of network complexity, providing helpful insights for preserving ecosystems stability under climate change
Occurrence and environmental fate of microplastics as emerging anthropogenic pollutants
No full textDurante el siglo XX tuvo lugar el auge y crecimiento del uso de materiales plásticos que se observa en la actualidad donde, cada año, son producidos más de 400 millones de toneladas de este material. Sus propiedades han hecho que poco a poco, los plásticos hayan remplazado a materiales tradicionales poniendo a disposición de los consumidores productos con un sinfín de utilidades. Gracias a ello se produjo un crecimiento global de la economía. En paralelo a este crecimiento, la generación de residuos creció en iguales magnitudes, con mas de 8300 millones de toneladas de residuos plásticos en un siglo, de los cuales el 80% ha acabado en vertederos o dispersados por el medio ambiente. En 2004, el término Microplástico fue acuñado para materiales plásticos con una dimensión mayor entre los 5 milímetros y 1 micrómetros. Este es el caso de materiales diseñados con ese preciso tamaño para cuestiones industriales o sanitarias, los denominados microplásticos primarios. A su vez, se ha observado que, con el tiempo, los plásticos que llegan a la naturaleza son degradados por los factores climáticos y la radiación ultravioleta generando a su vez materiales más pequeños, los denominados microplásticos secundarios. Los microplásticos han sido objeto de innumerables investigaciones para evaluar su potencial efecto dañino en los organismos que habitan en los ecosistemas. Los resultados son diversos causando desde efectos mecánicos en el cuerpo cuando son ingeridos hasta “complejos” efectos fisicoquímicos cuando el polímero, los aditivos o ambos se liberan en el interior de los organismos o sus células. Para cuantificar esos daños primero se debe conocer la cantidad de microplásticos que existen en el medio ambiente. El objetivo principal de esta tesis es la evaluación de la presencia, así como de la cuantificación e identificación de microplásticos en diferentes compartimentos ambientales. El enfoque abordará el destino de la contaminación plástica desde su origen en actividades antropogénicas hasta diferentes compartimentos ambientales, a saber, la atmósfera, el suelo, el agua dulce y el agua marina. Se pretende así arrojar información que a posteriori permita a los gobiernos poner límites al aumento de esta contaminación. Gracias al gran número de artículos publicados en los últimos años, ha quedado claro uno de los problemas principales que existe con los microplásticos: la falta de estandarización en los métodos de su investigación. El uso de distintos protocolos en las mismas matrices arroja resultados difíciles de comparar. En la presente tesis doctoral, se busca establecer un método estándar que funcione para las distintas matrices y que permita su comparación además de informar acerca de las posibles transferencias existentes entre los distintos compartimentos ambientales
Geomorphological evolution and mapping of the littoral of Asturias and Cantabria (Northern Spain) in the area of El Pindal Cave: relations between coastline and karstic morphologies
No full textTowards a rational and efficient risk assessment for microplastics
No full textTo avoid confusion about the risks of microplastics in the public domain, it is crucial that differences in terminology and approach within existing risk assessment frameworks are clear to risk managers. In this article, we discuss key concepts and recent literature on the risk assessment of microplastics and provide a shortlist of crucial elements to consider. Furthermore, we compare and contrast two approaches that have been published but have not yet been compared in detail. One method uses categories of particle properties, does not include an impact assessment, and is limited to the risk of particles in a sample. The other method uses continuums of particle properties, incorporates biological properties into an impact assessment, and focuses on the risk of all particles in the system. We discuss both approaches in light of existing disciplinary scientific knowledge, risk assessment science, and their relevance to risk managers
SCHEER (Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks), Final Opinion on Draft Environmental Quality Standards for Priority Substances under the Water Framework Directive - triclosan, 16 January 2023
No full textA systematic review on metal contamination due to mining activities in the Amazon basin and associated environmental hazards
No full textTime-course biofilm formation and presence of antibiotic resistance genes on everyday plastic items deployed in river waters
No full textFluid-like cathode enhances valuable biomass production from brewery wastewater in purple phototrophic bacteria
No full textThe climate crisis requires rethinking wastewater treatment to recover resources, such as nutrients and energy. In this scenario, purple phototrophic bacteria (PPB), the most versatile microorganisms on earth, are a promising alternative to transform the wastewater treatment plant concept into a biorefinery model by producing valuable protein-enriched biomass. PPB are capable of interacting with electrodes, exchanging electrons with electrically conductive materials. In this work, we have explored for mobile-bed (either stirred or fluidized) cathodes to maximize biomass production. For this purpose, stirred-electrode reactors were operated with low-reduced (3.5 e−/C) and high-reduced (5.9 e−/C) wastewater under cathodic polarization (−0.4 V and –0.8 V vs. Ag/AgCl). We observed that cathodic polarization and IR irradiation can play a key role in microbial and phenotypic selection, promoting (at –0.4 V) or minimizing (at –0.8 V) the presence of PPB. Then, we further study how cathodic polarization modulates PPB biomass production providing a fluid-like electrode as part of a so-called photo microbial electrochemical fluidized-bed reactor (photoME-FBR). Our results revealed the impact of reduction status of carbon source in wastewater to select the PPB photoheterotrophic community and how electrodes drive microbial population shifts depending on the reduction status of such carbon source