Remediation – envirobites

Leaving a Legacy: Plants leave “memories” in the soil that can affect future generations

July 28, 2020July 28, 2020 Sienna Wessel 0 Comments environmental health, fungi, plant communities, plant-microbe association, Restoration, soil microbes

It’s easy to drive by grasslands, forests, and deserts without thinking too deeply about how and why they have developed to be unique from one another. Still, most of us have an intuition of how community drivers work, such as recognizing that sandy soils and very hot climates encourage the growth of cacti instead of oaks. As an ecologist that has done a lot of work with restoration projects, I am particularly interested in thinking about all of the environmental “ingredients” that go into the recipe for each unique plant community. The day that I found out that plants can leave “memories” in soil which change communities long term, I immediately began thinking about how we could harness this knowledge for good and whether or not humans play a role in the development of these legacies.

Human Exposure and Public Health Remediation

Clear Air, Calm Hospitals

February 27, 2020February 23, 2020 Kristen Brown 0 Comments air quality, coal, electricity, health, regulations

Air quality is important for health. As we learn more about their relationship, we can make better decisions about how to clean the air.

Environmental Science Remediation

Junk food fit for the bugs

February 17, 2020February 19, 2020 Mary Davis 0 Comments insects, plastic, Pollution

Some “food” doesn’t have much nutritional value… and this is certainly true of plastic! Some bug larvae seem to be eating plastic, but they don’t live very long as a result. In a recent study, researchers experimented with different diet supplements to improve larvae’s ability to live off of plastic.

Ecosystems Environmental Science Remediation

Pollution in Polish Rivers, and the Cucumber Solution

December 27, 2019December 23, 2019 Abigail Bezrutczyk 0 Comments Ecology, ecosystems, environmental science, Pollution, Wastewater, water, water quality

Pollution is dangerous, both to humans and the ecosystems we care about. But researchers in Poland have studied the sources and dynamic movement of pollutants in rivers, and may have found potential in cucumbers to help improve the system.

Ecosystems Environmental Science Remediation

What is “dark diversity” and how can we use it to guide conservation and restoration?

October 28, 2019October 28, 2019 Aleksandra Dolezal 0 Comments Conservation planning, species diversity

The core of ecology is devoted to studying the interactions among species and their environment. But why are some species present and others absent in an environment? Think of a region of forest that has been converted to an agricultural field. The species that were thriving in the forest now have become absent because they are not tolerant of the new environmental conditions imposed upon them in the agricultural field.

Only a subset of all species in a region can tolerate the ecological conditions of a given site (the site-specific species pool). Of those, not all are realized in the local species pool. These absent species form what is called the dark diversity of a community. Authors Lewis et al. (2017) believe that the dark diversity concept can be used to complement and further develop conservation prioritization and management decision

Case Studies Environmental Science Remediation

Can shellfish farming clean our coastal waters?

August 29, 2019August 30, 2019 Lindsay Green-Gavrielidis 0 Comments coastal management, eutrophication, nitrogen loading, nutrient extraction, shellfish farming

Coastal waters throughout the United States and the globe are suffering from an excess of nitrogen due to human activities. Excess nitrogen comes from a variety of sources such as wastewater treatment plants and can impact the health of coastal habitats. Coastal managers are adopting a variety of practices to limit the nitrogen inputs to coastal waters including improved stormwater and wastewater treatments, but could shellfish farming help clean our coastal waters? A study from Cape Cod, Massachusetts sought to quantify how much nitrogen can be removed from coastal waters through oyster and quahog farming.

Cities Climate Environmental Science Remediation

My Chemical Romance

August 13, 2019August 9, 2019 Kristen Brown 0 Comments

Did your chemistry teacher tell you that chemistry is all around you? It very literally is! You can find chemistry in many places, and the air around you is one of those places. Scientists use chemistry to figure out how to keep our air clean so we can stay healthy.

Environmental Science Remediation

What can sea turtles tell us about the plastics in our oceans?

April 25, 2019April 26, 2019 Mary Davis 0 Comments microplastics, plastic, plastic ocean pollution, plastic pollution, recycling, turtles, wildlife impacts

Some of our best insight into the types of plastic litter in the ocean comes from examining what is ingested by sea turtles. Recent research looks at how the composition of plastic waste changes with ocean depth, as informed by the eating patterns of sea turtles.

Remediation

Waste not, want not. Stop Food Waste.

April 24, 2019April 24, 2019 Kristen Brown 0 Comments food, food waste, Waste

We waste almost one third of our food. This wastes money and energy and hurts the environment. Learn what causes this problem and what you can do to fix it.

Environmental Science Remediation

Disposal Method Matters: The Truth Behind Biodegradable Plastics

March 13, 2019March 15, 2019 Mary Davis 0 Comments biodegradable plastic, Compost, plastic pollution, polymers, recycling, Waste

Biodegradable plastics are being introduced as a solution to the buildup of plastics in the environment, and they are often touted as being an environmentally-friendly option. However, they come with their own complications. Researchers have investigated how specific biodegradable plastics break down (or don’t) in different environments, showing that how they are disposed of makes a big difference in how environmentally-friendly they are.

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