Olgerts Nikodemus

Bio: Olgerts Nikodemus is an academic researcher from University of Latvia. The author has contributed to research in topics: Soil horizon & Tilia. The author has an hindex of 12, co-authored 21 publications receiving 653 citations. Previous affiliations of Olgerts Nikodemus include Edinburgh College of Art.

The Monitoring and Risk Assessment of Zn Deposition Around a Metal Smelter in Latvia

Abstract: Heavy metal concentrations in Hylocomium splendens collected around a metal smelter in Latvia showed very high concentrations of Zn (>200 μg/g), and elevated concentrations of Pb (38.3 μg/g) and Cu (18.3 μg/g). In an attempt to better evaluate the potential toxicity of the high Zn concentrations, a serial elution method was used to determine the concentrations of zinc in intercellular, extracellular exchangeable cell wall, intracellular, and particle fractions. The intercellular Zn concentrations represent the water soluble component of the total concentrations, and were low with no clear trends. Zn concentrations in the extra- and intracellular and particle fractions decreased exponentially from the pollutant source. Intracellular Zn concentrations in moss close to the emission source are within the range considered to be potentially toxic, from other single element exposure studies. The proportion of Zn in the relatively insoluble particle fraction, which is least associated with environmental risk, was greater closer to the pollution source, reaching > 30% in the oldest Hylocomium splendens segments.

Rewilding Abandoned Landscapes in Europe

Abstract: For millennia, mankind has shaped landscapes, particularly through agriculture. In Europe, the age-old interaction between humans and ecosystems strongly influenced the cultural heritage. Yet European farmland is now being abandoned, especially in remote areas. The loss of the traditional agricultural landscapes and its consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem services is generating concerns in both the scientific community and the public. Here we ask to what extent farmland abandonment can be considered as an opportunity for rewilding ecosystems. We analyze the perceptions of traditional agriculture in Europe and their influence in land management policies. We argue that, contrary to the common perception, traditional agriculture practices were not environmentally friendly and that the standards of living of rural populations were low. We suggest that current policies to maintain extensive farming landscapes underestimate the human labor needed to sustain these landscapes and the recent and future dynamics of the socio-economic drivers behind abandonment. We examine the potential benefits for ecosystems and people from rewilding. We identify species that could benefit from land abandonment and forest regeneration and the ecosystem services that could be provided such as carbon sequestration and recreation. Finally, we discuss the challenges associated with rewilding, including the need to maintain open areas, the fire risks, and the conflicts between people and wildlife. Despite these challenges, we argue that rewilding should be recognized by policy-makers as one of the possible land management options in Europe, particularly on marginal areas.

Multiphase chemistry at the atmosphere-biosphere interface influencing climate and public health in the anthropocene.

Abstract: This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited. Review pubs.acs.org/CR Multiphase Chemistry at the Atmosphere−Biosphere Interface Influencing Climate and Public Health in the Anthropocene Ulrich Po schl* and Manabu Shiraiwa* Multiphase Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128 Mainz, Germany air contaminants (SHCC) and their multiphase chemical interactions at the atmosphere−biosphere interface, including human lungs and skin, plant leaves, cryptogamic covers, soil, and aquatic surfaces. After an overview of different groups of SHCC, we address the chemical interactions of reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species (ROS, RNS), primary biological and secondary organic aerosols (PBA, SOA), as well as carbonaceous combustion aerosols (CCA) including soot, black/elemental carbon, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and related compounds (PAH, PAC). ROS and RNS interact strongly with other SHCC and are central to both atmospheric and physiological processes and their coupling through the atmosphere−biosphere interface, for example, in the formation and aging of biogenic and combustion aerosols as well as in CONTENTS inflammatory and allergic immune responses triggered by air pollution. Deposition of atmospheric ROS/RNS and aerosols 1. Introduction and Motivation can damage biological tissues, modify surface microbiomes, and 2. Health- and Climate-Relevant Air Contaminants induce oxidative stress through Fenton-like reactions and 2.1. Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species immune responses. The chemical mechanisms and kinetics are 2.2. Primary Biological Aerosols not yet fully elucidated, but the available evidence suggests that 2.3. Secondary Organic Aerosols multiphase processes are crucial for the assessment, prediction, 2.4. Carbonaceous Combustion Aerosols and handling of air quality, climate, and public health. Caution 2.5. Other Air Contaminants Linking Atmospher- should be taken to avoid that human activities shaping the ic and Physiological Chemistry Anthropocene create a hazardous or pathogenic atmosphere 3. Multiphase Chemical Reactions at Specific Bio- overloaded with allergenic, corrosive, toxic, or infectious logical Interfaces contaminants. 3.1. Lung Lining Fluid Multiphase chemistry deals with chemical reactions, trans- 3.2. Human Skin port processes, and transformations between gaseous, liquid, 3.3. Plant Surfaces and Cryptogamic Covers and solid matter. These processes are essential for Earth system 3.4. Soil and Aquatic Surfaces science and climate research as well as for life and health 4. Conclusions and Outlook sciences on molecular and global levels, bridging a wide range Author Information of spatial and temporal scales from below nanometers to Corresponding Authors thousands of kilometers and from less than nanoseconds to Notes years and millennia as illustrated in Figure 1. Biographies From a chemical perspective, life and the metabolism of most Acknowledgments living organisms can be regarded as multiphase processes References involving gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide; liquids like water, blood, lymph, and plant sap; and solid or semisolid substances like bone, tissue, skin, wood, and cellular 1. INTRODUCTION AND MOTIVATION membranes. Even primitive forms of life and metabolic activity Multiphase chemistry plays a vital role in the Earth system, under anaerobic conditions generally involve multiple liquid climate, and health. Chemical reactions, mass transport, and and solid or semisolid phases structured by cells, organelles, and phase transitions between gases, liquids, and solids are essential membranes. 2 On global scales, the biogeochemical cycling of for the interaction and coevolution of life and climate. chemical compounds and elements, which can be regarded as Knowledge of the mechanisms and kinetics of these processes the metabolism of planet Earth, also involves chemical is also required to address societally relevant questions of global reactions, mass transport, and phase transitions within and environmental change and public health in the Anthropocene, that is, in the present era of globally pervasive and steeply Special Issue: 2015 Chemistry in Climate increasing human influence on planet Earth. 1 In this work, we review the current scientific understanding and recent advances Received: September 1, 2014 in the investigation of short-lived health- and climate-relevant Published: April 9, 2015 © 2015 American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/cr500487s Chem. Rev. 2015, 115, 4440−4475