In a joint Brazilian-German case study, distribution patterns of microorganisms were compared with environmental variables in the tropical coastal Manguaba lagoon in northeast Brazil, which is situated downstream of several sugar cane processing plants . 16S rDNA and 16S rRNA single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) gene fingerprinting were used to follow the composition and distribution ...

The purpose of this report is to compare odor dispersion at swine facilities that use alternative waste technologies (as well as a waste processing center) with odor dispersion at two control farms that use conventional lagoon technology. The goal was to determine if these alternative technologies reduce or substantially eliminate the emission of odor that is detectable beyond the boundaries of...

In a recent study of the mesotidal Ria Formosa, a coastal lagoon in southern Portugal, water temperature in the channels ranged from 12 C in winter to 27 C in summer and salinity from 13 to 36.5, although much higher values were observed in saltpans. Conditions in the Ria Formosa were not homogeneous despite a large tidal exchange of water; the inner channels of the Ria Formosa were brackish in...

The goal of this study was to evaluate methanogen diversity in animal hosts to develop a swine-specific archaeal molecular marker for fecal source tracking in surface waters. Phylogenetic analysis of swine mcrA sequences compared to mcrA sequences from the feces of five animals (cow, deer, sheep, horse, and chicken) and sewage showed four distinct swine clusters, with three swine-specific clade...

The Lagos lagoon is a depository of last resort for over 70% of the surface runoffs, drainage channels and important rivers flowing from interior Nigeria to the Atlantic Ocean. The surrounding densely populated and industrialized areas often result in the introduction of potential harmful materials into the Lagoon. This work is aimed at providing reference data for the quality assessment of the...

Diuron is a herbicide commonly used in agricultural areas where excess application causes it to leach into rivers, reach sensitive marine environments like the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) lagoon and pose risks to marine life. To investigate the impact of diuron on whole prokaryotic communities that underpin the marine food web and are integral to coral reef health, GBR lagoon water was incubated w...

A short term solution for the treatment of dairy waste water is discussed. Discharge rate'is 500 m3lday with a high organic load (2,750 Kg CODlday). Low capital investment (US $ 330,000) and operational (US$ 0.55lm3) costs were required which ought to be competitive with current market prices but within the official environmental norms imposed by the national agency SEDESOL. The problem was sol...

The exotic Indo-West-Pacific species, Ficopomatus uschakovi (Polychaeta, Serpulidae) is recorded for the first time in the Tropical Eastern Pacific from two sites in La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve, Chiapas, a coastal lagoon in the Pacific south of Mexico. The means of dispersal of this serpulid species still remains unclear, as the nearest port (Puerto Chiapas) is 70 km to the south, and ther...

A high resolution seismic survey was conducted in the Patos Lagoon, southern Brazil, aboard of the research vessel LARUS of the Fundação Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG). Around 400 km of 3.5 kHz seismic profiles were collected, which provided acoustic signals of good penetration depth and resolution. Seismic anomalies, including turbidity and pocket gas, revealed that gas-charged sedi...

A short term solution for the treatment of dairy waste water is discussed. Discharge rate'is 500 m3lday with a high organic load (2,750 Kg CODlday). Low capital investment (US $ 330,000) and operational (US$ 0.55lm3) costs were required which ought to be competitive with current market prices but within the official environmental norms imposed by the national agency SEDESOL. The problem was sol...