Centre for the Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tectonics
NERC Open Research ArchiveNot a member yet
55023 research outputs found
Sort by
Differences in calculations of concentration and deposition of ammonia and nitrogen oxides at local scale: a comparison of eight atmospheric transport models
No full textEvery year, RIVM maps the amount of nitrogen in the air (concentration) and in the soil (deposition) in the Netherlands. RIVM uses models and measurements for this task. These models are also used to develop and implement policy. Models reflect the actual situation as closely as possible, but the calculation remains an approximation. The results may therefore deviate from reality. In this study, RIVM compares the results of eight models. Knowledge institutes and governments in various countries use these models to calculate the amounts of nitrogen in the air and the amounts deposited to the soil. The comparison was carried out for four different sources of nitrogen and three types of land cover. The sources were livestock housing, manure application to grassland, a tall industrial stack, and traffic on a highway. The types of land cover were deciduous forest, grassland, and a varied landscape with vegetation, buildings, and open space. The models were used to calculate the concentrations in the air and the nitrogen depositions at various distances, ranging between 50 metres and 5 kilometres from the source. This study shows that the differences between the models are usually greater for depositions than for concentrations. Furthermore, the differences in concentrations are usually greater for ammonia than for nitrogen oxides. The latter does not apply to depositions of these substances. This study also shows that weather conditions can strongly affect the outcomes. The largest differences in model outcomes occur during very stable weather conditions. Further research into these conditions could increase the accuracy of the models. This study is part of the Dutch National Nitrogen Knowledge Programme, the objectives of which include making improvements to the models. Supplementary to this study, we will compare the outcomes of these same eight models to the limited available measurement data at short distances from the sources
Mapping antibiotic pollution and tracking drivers of environmental AMR in a north Indian pharmaceutical hub
Full text link•Introduction: Antibiotic residues in the environment contribute to the escalating threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), posing significant risks to public health and ecological systems. Understanding how antibiotics enter the environment during their lifecycle is crucial for developing effective mitigation strategies. This paper maps antibiotic pollution pathways in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, highlighting the potential environmental and human health impacts of antimicrobial production, consumption, and disposal.
•Methods: A mixed-methods approach was used, combining qualitative interviews with stakeholders and community members, and quantitative analysis of sales data. Interviews with manufacturers, healthcare providers, and waste management officials provided insights into practices and perceptions related to antibiotic use and disposal. Sales data of four locally manufactured or packaged antibiotics during the COVID-19 pandemic were analyzed to trace their journey through the supply chain and identify potential points of environmental entry for antibiotic residues.
•Results: The study identified several critical points in the antibiotic supply chain where residues could enter the environment, including manufacturing discharge, disposal practices by consumers, and inadequate waste management systems. The analysis revealed an increase in antibiotic consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbating the potential environmental burden. Key areas requiring oversight and management were highlighted, such as the need for better waste treatment facilities and stricter regulatory controls.
•Discussion: This research emphasizes the urgent need for a coordinated response at both the state and national levels to enhance environmental monitoring, improve waste management practices, and strengthen regulatory frameworks in India. Addressing these issues is essential to mitigate the growing threat of AMR and protect both environmental and human health. The findings advocate for comprehensive strategies involving multiple stakeholders to ensure sustainable management of antibiotics throughout their lifecycle
Citizen scientists as butterfly predators: using foraging theory to understand individual recorder behaviour
Full text linkCitizen science is increasingly important in the collection of biological data. However, to understand the broader utility of the growing number of citizen-derived records, we need to understand exactly how recorder behaviour affects the geographic distribution of records made. Here, we apply an optimal foraging model to citizen science data from the UK to determine how likely a recorder (predator) is to visit any given kilometre square and record a butterfly (prey). By defining the square with the highest density of an individual’s records as their ‘origin’, we show that the probability of visiting a given site depends on its distance from the origin and the rarity-weighted species richness of the species thought to be present. This pattern of behaviour differs between recorders visiting more than or fewer than five squares, termed broad and narrow-range foragers. The model shows that recorder behaviour is driven, in part, by a simple trade-off between distance travelled and the rarity-weighted species richness. This collective behaviour helps explain over-recording by broad-ranging foragers in protected areas at distance and under-recording, by narrow-range foragers, in the wider countryside. It also implies that estimating parameters describing rare species’ distributions (e.g. mean occupancy) will be challenging, since sample inclusion depends on occupancy itself. Mapping rare species’ distributions should be simpler, since the sites at which they can be found tend to be well-sampled, but the same is unlikely to be true of common species, which also occupy areas that are unlikely to be sampled. More work is needed to understand how widely our results can be generalised beyond the UK and the dataset considered
Sulphur-coated urea reduces greenhouse gas intensity and enhances soil quality in rice cultivation
Full text linkThe Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) faces significant challenges related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and declining soil health due to intensive rice-based cultivation systems. This study evaluated the efficacy of enhanced efficiency fertilizers (EEF), including slow-release fertilizer (Sulphur-coated urea, SCU), and nitrification inhibitors (Neem-coated urea, NCU; Karanj-coated urea, KCU) in reducing GHG intensity and improving soil biological activity in rice systems in the IGP. Field experiments conducted over two years assessed yield parameters, GHG emissions, and indicators of soil microbial biomass, nutrient content, and enzymatic activity. NCU reduced CH4 emissions by 11 % and N2O emissions by 16.5 % relative to prilled urea (PU), while SCU and KCU also demonstrated notable emission reductions. Sulphur coated urea demonstrated the lowest greenhouse gas intensity (GHGi) (0.128 kg CO2-eq kg−1 grain yield), followed by NCU and KCU. All EEFs significantly improved rice grain yield compared to PU, with SCU and KCU recording the highest mean yields (∼5600 and ∼5560 kg ha−1, respectively) versus 5010 kg ha−1 under PU. Additionally, EEFs improved microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, dehydrogenase activity, and reduced nitrate reductase and urease activity compared to conventional prilled urea (PU), with KCU and SCU showing the greatest improvements and highest net returns. Among the EEFs, SCU consistently achieved the highest yield, lowest GHGi, and overall improvements in soil health, making it a promising alternative for sustainable rice production. Projections indicate that while application of NCU in the IGP region during rice cultivation could reduce the GHGi by 12.2 % while adopting SCU may achieve a 25.8 % reduction, supporting India's commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement and promoting sustainable agricultural practices in the IGP
Analysis of the uncertainties in tidal constants obtained from short tide gauge records and their value for tidal studies
Full text linkWe conduct a study to estimate uncertainties in tidal constants from M2, S2, N2, K1, O1, Q1 and related K2, P1, 2N2 constituents from 35-day tide gauge records in the northern Australia and Papua New Guinea regions. The motivation for this study stems from the availability of ∼300 short tide gauge records (most ∼ 30 days long) in these regions, but their accuracy for tidal studies is not clear. We simulate the 35-day uncertainties by dividing a selected set of 14 long tide gauge records (19-years where available) from the GESLA3 data set into consecutive 35-day sections. Amplitudes and phase lags computed from each long record are treated as the ‘true’ values, from which we compute and analyse inference information for the short records. Comparison of empirical amplitude ratios and phase lag differences with the relationships from the Equilibrium tide show significant differences in both amplitude and phase lag in some constituents and locations. We also compare inference information derived from the FES2022b ocean tide model, which suggests that such models could be used in this way in some instances. Empirical uncertainties in the 35-day records were no more than 0.045 m with maximum errors reaching 0.093 m. The largest 35-day errors appeared in the K1 constituent, mostly in the Torres Strait and northwest Australia. Empirical inference information showed improvement on the Equilibrium assumption for S2 and K1 reference constituents and related constituents K2, 2N2 and P1, demonstrating that the latter can be accurately derived from short records with accurate inference information
England’s changing flora: a summary of the results of Plant Atlas 2020. A report to Natural England, February 2025
Full text linkA report funded by Natural England (Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment) summarising vascular plant trends in England published in Plant Atlas 2020 in relation to expert attribution to drivers and interpretation
Influence of Indian Summer Monsoon on Marine Biological Productivity Across the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene
Full text linkThe Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) significantly impacts the lives of billions of people through rainfall patterns and ocean biological productivity. However, its stability both in the near future and distant past is disputed, particularly its response to changing temperatures and global ice volume. Here, we present a comprehensive multiproxy reconstruction of ISM-induced runoff and marine biological productivity from the Late Pliocene to the Early Pleistocene (3.5–2.3 Ma), using high-resolution deep-sea sediment records from the northern Bay of Bengal (BoB). This critical interval is characterized by high but falling atmospheric CO2 levels and the establishment of Northern Hemisphere glaciation, but with a similar paleogeography to the modern. Our orbitally-tuned records, based on bulk sediment X-Ray fluorescence-elemental data and diatom and planktic foraminiferal assemblages, reveal that periods of diminished marine biological productivity coincide with elevated ISM runoff, reflecting the interplay between freshwater input, turbidity, and nutrient availability off northeastern India. Moreover, our analysis highlights the sensitivity of the ISM strength and BoB ecosystem to orbital forcing. We observe the presence of eccentricity, obliquity, and precession cyclicities in the runoff and productivity records, with multiple transitions in the dominant orbital frequency during the study interval, pointing to unique sensitivities of ISM rainfall/runoff to Earth's orbital forcing. These findings underscore the importance of considering both orbital forcing and internal climate dynamics in understanding ISM variability and its implications for marine ecosystems
A global database of soil microbial phospholipid fatty acids and enzyme activities
Full text linkSoil microbes drive ecosystem function and play a critical role in how ecosystems respond to global change. Research surrounding soil microbial communities has rapidly increased in recent decades, and substantial data relating to phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) and potential enzyme activity have been collected and analysed. However, studies have mostly been restricted to local and regional scales, and their accuracy and usefulness are limited by the extent of accessible data. Here we aim to improve data availability by collating a global database of soil PLFA and potential enzyme activity measurements from 12,258 georeferenced samples located across all continents, 5.1% of which have not previously been published. The database contains data relating to 113 PLFAs and 26 enzyme activities, and includes metadata such as sampling date, sample depth, and soil pH, total carbon, and total nitrogen. This database will help researchers in conducting both global- and local-scale studies to better understand soil microbial biomass and function
The genome sequence of the drinker, Euthrix potatoria (Linnaeus, 1758) (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae)
Full text linkWe present a genome assembly from an individual female Euthrix potatoria (Drinker; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Lasiocampidae). The assembly contains two haplotypes with total lengths of 487.86 megabases and 466.06 megabases. Most of haplotype 1 (99.97%) is scaffolded into 31 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the Z sex chromosome. Haplotype 2 was assembled to scaffold level. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled, with a length of 15.43 kilobases. This assembly was generated as part of the Darwin Tree of Life project, which produces reference genomes for eukaryotic species found in Britain and Ireland
WORK IN THE FALKLAND ISLANDS AND DEPENDENCIES BY THE ARTIST WILLIAM CUTHBERTSON DURING THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION, 1902–1904
Full text linkThe ‘heroic era’ Antarctic expeditions led by the likes of Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton at the beginning of the 20th century commonly included a competent artist in the team. Black and white photography was well advanced by then, epitomised by the Antarctic work of Herbert Ponting with Scott and Frank Hurley with Shackleton, but colour photography was still in its infancy and not readily available. It was the artists’ job to fill that gap in the expedition’s records, painting in colour both Antarctic landscapes and the fine detail of zoological specimens before they suffered post-mortem fading or discolouration. Of course, the artists’ sketch books were also filled with more informal pencil or pen-and-ink drawings of their surroundings. Famous from that period are the artworks by Edward Wilson (1872–1912), who accompanied both Scott’s Discovery and Terra Nova expeditions (and died with Scott on the fatal retreat from the South Pole) and George Marston (1882–1940), who took part in Shackleton’s Nimrod and Endurance expeditions. The Scottish National Antarctic (Scotia) Expedition (SNAE), led by William Speirs Bruce (1867–1921) was no exception and included an artist amongst its scientific staff, William Alexander Cuthbertson (1882–1968)
Data sources:
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage NERC Open Research Archive? Access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard!