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Santos JJD, Mascarenhas CS, Müller G. A new genus and new species of Cyclocoelidae (Digenea), a parasite in spotted rail, Pardirallus maculatus (Gruiformes: Rallidae), in the Pampa biome, southern Brazil. Zootaxa 2023; 5319:120-126. [PMID: 37518246 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5319.1.8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023]
Abstract
Seventeen specimens of the spotted rail, Pardirallus maculatus (Boddaert) (Gruiformes: Rallidae), from the southern Brazil were examined for helminths. Three birds were positive for specimens of Cyclocoelidae (Digenea), which were found in both nasal and abdominal cavities. Helminths were described as Nasuscoelum pampensis n. gen., n. sp. The new genus has an intertesticular ovary forming a triangle with the testis, characterizing the Cyclocoelinae. Nasuscoelum pampensis n. gen., n. sp. is similar to Cyclocoelum mutabile (Zeder, 1800), however it differs from the latter by the presence of vitelline follicles confluence in the posterior region. A revised key to the Cyclocoelinae was proposed to include the new genus.
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Affiliation(s)
- José Junior Dos Santos
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Microbiologia e Parasitologia; Laboratório de Parasitologia de Animais Silvestres (LAPASIL); Instituto de Biologia; Departamento de Microbiologia e Parasitologia; Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPel); Campus Universitário S/N; CEP 96160-000; Capão do Leão; RS; Brazil.
| | - Carolina Silveira Mascarenhas
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Microbiologia e Parasitologia; Laboratório de Parasitologia de Animais Silvestres (LAPASIL); Instituto de Biologia; Departamento de Microbiologia e Parasitologia; Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPel); Campus Universitário S/N; CEP 96160-000; Capão do Leão; RS; Brazil.
| | - Gertrud Müller
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Microbiologia e Parasitologia; Laboratório de Parasitologia de Animais Silvestres (LAPASIL); Instituto de Biologia; Departamento de Microbiologia e Parasitologia; Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPel); Campus Universitário S/N; CEP 96160-000; Capão do Leão; RS; Brazil.
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2
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Masina FM, Wasserman RJ, Wu N, Mungenge CP, Dondofema F, Keates C, Shikwambana P, Dalu T. Macroinvertebrate diversity in relation to limnochemistry in an Austral semi-arid transboundary aquifer region pan system. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 878:163161. [PMID: 37004768 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2023] [Revised: 03/15/2023] [Accepted: 03/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Pan-wetland systems are one of the world's essential and productive ecosystems and are considered important, unique and complex ecosystems. Anthropogenic activities around the temporary pans in the Khakhea Bray Transboundary Aquifer region are increasingly becoming a big issue of concern as this may affect pan biodiversity. The study specifically aimed to investigate spatial and temporal distributions of metal and nutrient concentrations within the pans in relation to land use, identify potential pollution sources in this water-scarce region, and assess macroinvertebrate diversity and distribution in relation to pan limnochemistry using a combination of multivariate analyses from 10 pans across three seasons. Environmental and anthropogenic variables influence water quality and the distribution of metals concentration in Khakhea-Bray pan systems. Anthropogenic activities such as animal grazing, infrastructure degradation, water withdrawal and littering have resulted in poor water quality within temporary pans, which may strongly influence macroinvertebrate diversity and distribution. Forty-one macroinvertebrate species from 5 insect orders (i.e., Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Odonata, Ephemeroptera, Diptera), Crustacea and Mollusca were identified. Significant differences were observed across the seasons for macroinvertebrate taxa, with high and low species richness being observed in autumn and winter, respectively. Water (i.e., temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, conductivity), physical (i.e., stone composition) and sediment (i.e., sulphur, sodium) parameters were found to have a significant impact on the macroinvertebrate communities. Therefore, understanding the relationships between macroinvertebrates and their environment is crucial in understanding how the ecosystem taxa are structured and is vital for informing conservation managers on how to properly manage and protect these systems from further degradation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fannie M Masina
- Aquatic Systems Research Group, School of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Mpumalanga, Nelspruit 1200, South Africa
| | - Ryan J Wasserman
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Makhanda 6140, South Africa; South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Makhanda 6140, South Africa
| | - Naicheng Wu
- Department of Geography and Spatial Information Techniques, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
| | - Chipo P Mungenge
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Makhanda 6140, South Africa
| | - Farai Dondofema
- Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, University of Venda, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa
| | - Chad Keates
- South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Makhanda 6140, South Africa
| | - Purvance Shikwambana
- Aquatic Systems Research Group, School of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Mpumalanga, Nelspruit 1200, South Africa
| | - Tatenda Dalu
- Aquatic Systems Research Group, School of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Mpumalanga, Nelspruit 1200, South Africa; South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Makhanda 6140, South Africa; Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, Wallenberg Research Centre at Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa.
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3
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Pierrat E, Dorber M, de Graaf I, Laurent A, Hauschild MZ, Rygaard M, Barbarossa V. Multicompartment Depletion Factors for Water Consumption on a Global Scale. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:4318-4331. [PMID: 36854446 PMCID: PMC10019336 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c04803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Revised: 01/25/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Balancing human communities' and ecosystems' need for freshwater is one of the major challenges of the 21st century as population growth and improved living conditions put increasing pressure on freshwater resources. While frameworks to assess the environmental impacts of freshwater consumption have been proposed at the regional scale, an operational method to evaluate the consequences of consumption on different compartments of the water system and account for their interdependence is missing at the global scale. Here, we develop depletion factors that simultaneously quantify the effects of water consumption on streamflow, groundwater storage, soil moisture, and evapotranspiration globally. We estimate freshwater availability and water consumption using the output of a global-scale surface water-groundwater model for the period 1960-2000. The resulting depletion factors are provided for 8,664 river basins, representing 93% of the landmass with significant water consumption, i.e., excluding Greenland, Antarctica, deserts, and permanently frozen areas. Our findings show that water consumption leads to the largest water loss in rivers, followed by aquifers and soil, while simultaneously increasing evapotranspiration. Depletion factors vary regionally with ranges of up to four orders of magnitude depending on the annual consumption level, the type of water used, aridity, and water transfers between compartments. Our depletion factors provide valuable insights into the intertwined effects of surface and groundwater consumption on several hydrological variables over a specified period. The developed depletion factors can be integrated into sustainability assessment tools to quantify the ecological impacts of water consumption and help guide sustainable water management strategies, while accounting for the performance limitations of the underlying model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleonore Pierrat
- Section
for Quantitative Sustainability Assessment, Department of Environmental
and Resource Engineering, Technical University
of Denmark (DTU), 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Martin Dorber
- Industrial
Ecology Programme, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Høgskoleringen 5, 7034 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Inge de Graaf
- Water
Systems and Global Change Group, Wageningen
University & Research, 6700 Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Alexis Laurent
- Section
for Quantitative Sustainability Assessment, Department of Environmental
and Resource Engineering, Technical University
of Denmark (DTU), 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Michael Z. Hauschild
- Section
for Quantitative Sustainability Assessment, Department of Environmental
and Resource Engineering, Technical University
of Denmark (DTU), 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Martin Rygaard
- Water
Technology and Processes, Department of Environmental and Resource
Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, ningstorvet 1152800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Valerio Barbarossa
- Institute
of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden
University, 2300 Leiden, The
Netherlands
- PBL Netherlands
Environmental Assessment Agency, 2500 The Hague, The Netherlands
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4
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Barbosa KP, Hayes KA, do V. Vilela R, Barbosa HS, Marchi CR, Thiengo SC. Phylogenetic Systematics and Distribution of Pomacea sordida (Swainson, 1823) and Pomacea intermedia (Férussac in Quoy & Gaimard, 1825) (Caenogastropoda: Ampullariidae). MALACOLOGIA 2022. [DOI: 10.4002/040.065.0101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kevin P. Barbosa
- Laboratório de Malacologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Av. Brasil 4365, Manguinhos, CEP 21040-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Kenneth A. Hayes
- Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Pacific Center for Molecular Biodiversity, 1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96817, U.S.A
| | - Roberto do V. Vilela
- Laboratório de Biologia e Parasitologia de Mamíferos Silvestres Reservatórios, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Av. Brasil 4365, Manguinhos, CEP 21040-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Helene S. Barbosa
- Laboratório de Biologia Estrutural, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Av. Brasil 4365, Manguinhos, CEP 21040-360, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Carolina R. Marchi
- Laboratório de Malacologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Av. Brasil 4365, Manguinhos, CEP 21040-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Silvana C. Thiengo
- Laboratório de Malacologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Av. Brasil 4365, Manguinhos, CEP 21040-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
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5
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Pfister S, Scherer L, Boulay AM, Motoshita M, Núñez M, Damiani M, Manzardo A, Huang J, Link A, Bunsen J, Berger M. Letter to the editor re: "The scarcity-weighted water footprint provides unreliable water sustainability scoring" by. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 825:154108. [PMID: 35240188 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2021] [Revised: 02/09/2022] [Accepted: 02/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Pfister
- Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland.
| | - Laura Scherer
- Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Anne-Marie Boulay
- CIRAIG, Department of Chemical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Canada
| | - Masaharu Motoshita
- Research Institute of Science for Safety and Sustainability, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Montserrat Núñez
- Sustainability in Biosystems, Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA), Caldes de Montbuí, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mattia Damiani
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Via Enrico Fermi 2749, 21027, Ispra, VA, Italy
| | - Alessandro Manzardo
- CESQA Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Jing Huang
- College of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, China
| | - Andreas Link
- Chair of Sustainable Engineerung, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
| | - Jonas Bunsen
- Chair of Sustainable Engineerung, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
| | - Markus Berger
- Chair of Multidisciplinary Water Management, University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands
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6
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Abstract
Groundwater is an important water resource that accounts for 30% of the world’s freshwater. 97% of this extracted groundwater is for drinking and human use. Due to anthropogenic activities, this resource is affected and, consequently, its life cycle is modified, changing its natural state. This paper aims to analyse the scientific production that deals with the study of groundwater’s Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), using bibliometric methods. Thus, it contributes to the evolution of knowledge of this resource in terms of its use (environmental, economic and social). The methodological process includes: (i) selection and analysis of search topics in the Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases; (ii) application of Bibliometrix and Visualisation of Similarity Viewer (VOSviewer) software to the data collected; (iii) scientific structure of the relation of the topics groundwater and life cycle, considering programme lines and relations in their sub-themes; (iv) literature review of Author keywords. A total of 780 papers were selected, 306 being from Scopus, 158 from WoS and 316 published in both databases. The time evolution of the analysed data (publications) indicates that groundwater LCA studies have seen exponential growth (between 1983 and 2021). In addition, it has three development periods: introduction (years between 1983 and 2001), growth (between 2002 and 2011) and maturation (between 2012 and 2021). At the country level (origin of contributions authors), the USA dominates the total scientific production with 24.7%, followed by Denmark with 12.8% and 10.3% for China. Among the main topics of study associated with LCA are those focused on: the proposal of remediation methods, the application and development of technologies and the use of water resources by the urban community. This study allows establishing new trends in agricultural development issues about irrigation efficiency, wastewater reuse, mining and treatment, climate change in a circular economy scheme related to sustainability and life cycle assessment.
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7
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Abstract
Wetlands are a critical part of natural environments that offer a wide range of ecosystem services. In urban areas, wetlands contribute to the livability of cities through improving the water quality, carbon sequestration, providing habitats for wildlife species, reducing the effects of urban heat islands, and creating recreation opportunities. However, maintaining wetlands in urban areas faces many challenges, such as the reduction of hydrological functions, changed water regimes due to barriers, contamination by wastewater, habitat loss due to land-use change, and loss of biodiversity due to the entry of alien species. In this article, we review the theoretical background of wetlands in urban areas through the existing studies in the literature. We provide knowledge on urban wetlands and highlight the benefits of these wetlands in urban areas. These benefits include sustainability, biodiversity, urban heat islands, social perception, and recreation values. We also summarize the objectives, methodologies, and findings of the reviewed articles in five tables. In addition, we summarize the critical research gaps addressed in the reviewed articles. Our review study addresses the research gaps by performing a rigorous analysis to identify significant open research challenges, showing the path toward future research in the field. We further discuss and highlight the role of policymakers and stakeholders in preserving wetlands and finally present our conclusions.
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8
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Genetic structure, diversity and distribution of a threatened lizard affected by widespread habitat fragmentation. CONSERV GENET 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10592-021-01408-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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9
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Damiani M, Roux P, Loiseau E, Lamouroux N, Pella H, Morel M, Rosenbaum RK. A high-resolution life cycle impact assessment model for continental freshwater habitat change due to water consumption. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 782:146664. [PMID: 33839662 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2020] [Revised: 02/24/2021] [Accepted: 03/17/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Global value chains and climate change have a significant impact on water resources and increasingly threaten freshwater ecosystems. Recent methodological proposals for life cycle impact assessment (LCIA), evaluate water use impacts on freshwater habitats based on river hydraulic parameters alterations. However, they are limited to French rivers due to lack of global data and models. On this basis, this article proposes an approach to compute regionalized characterization factors for modeling river habitat change potential (HCP) induced by water consumption, potentially applicable worldwide. A simplified model is developed for fish guilds and invertebrates. Based on French datasets, it establishes a relationship between HCP and river hydraulic parameters. A methodology to derive discharge and hydraulic geometry at the reach scale is proposed and applied to European and Middle Eastern rivers below 60°N latitude. Regionalized HCPs are calculated at the river reach scale and aggregated at watershed. Then, the impact of agricultural water use in contrasted European and Middle Eastern countries is evaluated comparing the outcomes from the HCP and the Available Water Remaining (AWARE) models at the national scale, considering water supply mix data. The same analysis is carried out on selected river basins. Finally, result consistency, uncertainty and global applicability of the overall approach are discussed. The study demonstrates the reproducibility of the impact model developed for French rivers on any hydrographic network where comparable ecological, hydrological and hydraulic conditions are met. Furthermore, it highlights the need to characterize impacts at a higher spatial resolution in areas where HCP is higher. Large scale quantification of HCP opens the way to the operationalization of mechanistic LCIA models in which the habitat preferences of freshwater species are taken into account to assess the impacts of water consumption on biodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mattia Damiani
- ITAP, Univ Montpellier, INRAE, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France; Elsa, Research Group for Environmental Lifecycle and Sustainability Assessment, Montpellier, France; Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Mestre-Venezia, Italy.
| | - Philippe Roux
- ITAP, Univ Montpellier, INRAE, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France; Elsa, Research Group for Environmental Lifecycle and Sustainability Assessment, Montpellier, France
| | - Eléonore Loiseau
- ITAP, Univ Montpellier, INRAE, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France; Elsa, Research Group for Environmental Lifecycle and Sustainability Assessment, Montpellier, France
| | | | - Hervé Pella
- INRAE Lyon, UR RiverLy, Villeurbanne, France
| | | | - Ralph K Rosenbaum
- ITAP, Univ Montpellier, INRAE, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France; Elsa, Research Group for Environmental Lifecycle and Sustainability Assessment, Montpellier, France; GIRO Program, Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA), Torre Marimon, 08140 Caldes de Montbui, Barcelona, Spain
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10
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Link A, Berger M, van der Ent R, Eisner S, Finkbeiner M. Considering the Fate of Evaporated Water Across Basin Boundaries-Implications for Water Footprinting. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2021; 55:10231-10242. [PMID: 34264065 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c04526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Water consumption along value chains of goods and services has increased globally and led to increased attention on water footprinting. Most global water consumption is accounted for by evaporation (E), which is connected via bridges of atmospheric moisture transport to other regions on Earth. However, the resultant source-receptor relationships between different drainage basins have not yet been considered in water footprinting. Based on a previously developed data set on the fate of land evaporation, we aim to close this gap by using comprehensive information on evaporation recycling in water footprinting for the first time. By considering both basin internal evaporation recycling (BIER; >5% in 2% of the world's basins) and basin external evaporation recycling (BEER; >50% in 37% of the world's basins), we were able to use three types of water inventories (basin internal, basin external, and transboundary inventories), which imply different evaluation perspectives in water footprinting. Drawing on recently developed impact assessment methods, we produced characterization models for assessing the impacts of blue and green water evaporation on blue water availability for all evaluation perspectives. The results show that the negative effects of evaporation in the originating basins are counteracted (and partly overcompensated) by the positive effects of reprecipitation in receiving basins. By aggregating them, combined net impacts can be determined. While we argue that these offset results should not be used as a standalone evaluation, the water footprint community should consider atmospheric moisture recycling in future standards and guidelines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Link
- Chair of Sustainable Engineering, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
| | - Markus Berger
- Chair of Sustainable Engineering, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
| | - Ruud van der Ent
- Department of Water Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5048, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands
- Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.115, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Stephanie Eisner
- Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, P.O. Box 115, NO-1431 Ås, Norway
| | - Matthias Finkbeiner
- Chair of Sustainable Engineering, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
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11
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Préat N, Lefaible N, Alvarenga RAF, Taelman SE, Dewulf J. Development of a life cycle impact assessment framework accounting for biodiversity in deep seafloor ecosystems: A case study on the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 770:144747. [PMID: 33736364 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2020] [Revised: 12/17/2020] [Accepted: 12/21/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The transformation of ecosystems is known to be a major driver of biodiversity loss. Consequently, supporting tools such as life cycle assessment methods (LCA) include this aspect in the evaluation of a product's environmental performance. Such methods consist of quantifying input and output flows to assess their specific contributions to impact categories. Therefore, land occupation and transformation are considered as inputs to assess biodiversity impacts amongst others. However, the modelling of biodiversity impact in deep seafloor ecosystems is still lacking in LCA. Most of the LCA methods focus on terrestrial biodiversity and none of them can be transposed to benthic deep sea because of knowledge gaps. This manuscript proposes a LCA framework to assess biodiversity impacts in deep seafloor ecosystems. The framework builds upon the existing methods accounting for biodiversity impacts in terrestrial and coastal habitats. A two-step approach is proposed, assessing impacts on regional and on global biodiversity. While the evaluation of regional biodiversity impacts relies only on the benthic communities' response to disturbance, the global perspective considers ecosystem vulnerability and scarcity. Those provide additional perspective for the comparison of impacts occurring in different ecosystems. The framework is operationalised to a case study for deep-sea mining in the Clarion Clipperton Fractures Zone (CCZ). Through the large variety of data sources needed to run the impact evaluation modelling, the framework shows consistency and manages the existing limitations in the understanding of deep seafloor ecosystems, although limitations for its application in the CCZ were observed mainly due to the lack of finer scaled habitat maps and data on connectivity. With growing interest for commercial activities in the deep sea and hence, increased environmental research, this work is a first attempt for the implementation of LCA methods to deep-sea products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nils Préat
- Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
| | - Nene Lefaible
- Department of Biology, Marine Biology, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281/S8, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Rodrigo A F Alvarenga
- Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Sue Ellen Taelman
- Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Jo Dewulf
- Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
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12
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Water Footprint and Life Cycle Assessment: The Complementary Strengths of Analyzing Global Freshwater Appropriation and Resulting Local Impacts. WATER 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/w13060803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Considering that 4 billion people are living in water-stressed regions and that global water consumption is predicted to increase continuously [...]
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13
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Motoshita M, Pfister S, Finkbeiner M. Regional Carrying Capacities of Freshwater Consumption-Current Pressure and Its Sources. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2020; 54:9083-9094. [PMID: 32574490 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c01544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Sustainable freshwater management is an essential target for sustainability. The concept of planetary boundaries evaluates whether the environmental loads from humans are within the carrying capacity of the environment at a global level, while the region-specific assessment of carrying capacities of freshwater consumption can complement the global-scale sustainability assessment by shedding light on regional sustainability. We show that 24% of the total freshwater consumption exceeds the regional carrying capacities based on spatially and temporally explicit analysis (monthly data for around 11 000 watersheds). Although 19% of the current total freshwater consumption is determined as "luxury consumption" beyond basic needs, approximately 60% of the exceedance is attributed to basic needs of freshwater for sustaining human life. International trade alleviates the overall pressure on carrying capacity by approximately 4.8% (18.9 billion m3) at a global level through virtual water trade; however, several producer countries demonstrate additional overconsumption beyond the regional carrying capacities, while importer countries that can do so mitigate overconsumption. Appropriate irrigation water management and the location of crop production are the keys to maintain our freshwater consumption levels within the regional carrying capacities on a global scale. However, measures that necessitate the consideration of watershed-specific environmental and economic conditions are desirable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masaharu Motoshita
- Research Institute of Science for Safety and Sustainability, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba 305-8569, Japan
| | - Stephan Pfister
- Chair of Ecological Systems Design, ETH Zurich, Zurich 98093, Switzerland
| | - Matthias Finkbeiner
- Chair of Sustainable Engineering, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin 106-23, Germany
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14
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Dorber M, Kuipers K, Verones F. Global characterization factors for terrestrial biodiversity impacts of future land inundation in Life Cycle Assessment. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 712:134582. [PMID: 31831240 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2019] [Revised: 08/26/2019] [Accepted: 09/19/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool for analyzing and comparing environmental impacts of products throughout their life cycles, facilitating shifts towards more environmentally friendly products. However, LCA does currently not address terrestrial biodiversity impacts related to the conversion of terrestrial habitat into aquatic habitat. This conversion can occur because of sea level rise, establishment of new land-based aquaculture, as well as reservoir expansion or creation. Here, we focus on land occupation and terrestrial biodiversity impacts, while transformation impacts, and habitat gain for aquatic species were beyond the scope of the study. To be able to estimate the regional and global terrestrial biodiversity impacts of future land occupation from terrestrial to aquatic habitat in LCA, we developed new characterization factors (CFs) for 781 terrestrial ecoregions, 5 land cover/use types, and 4 taxonomic groups. The basis for the development of the proposed CFs is the model concept of the currently recommended method for quantifying land use impacts on biodiversity in LCA by the Life Cycle Initiative hosted by United Nations Environmental Program. The global CFs vary between 7.44 E-20 PDF/m2 and 6.25 E-09 PDF/m2, showing that a highly variable terrestrial biodiversity impact of land inundation between land cover/use types, taxonomic groups and ecoregions exists.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Dorber
- Department of Energy and Process Engineering, NTNU, Høgskoleringen 5, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Koen Kuipers
- Department of Energy and Process Engineering, NTNU, Høgskoleringen 5, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Francesca Verones
- Department of Energy and Process Engineering, NTNU, Høgskoleringen 5, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
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Damiani M, Lamouroux N, Pella H, Roux P, Loiseau E, Rosenbaum RK. Spatialized freshwater ecosystem life cycle impact assessment of water consumption based on instream habitat change modeling. WATER RESEARCH 2019; 163:114884. [PMID: 31351350 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2019.114884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2019] [Revised: 07/16/2019] [Accepted: 07/17/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
In this article a new characterization model and factors are proposed for the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) of water consumption on instream freshwater ecosystems. Impact pathways of freshwater consumption leading to ecosystem damage are described and the alteration of instream physical habitat is identified as a critical midpoint for ecosystem quality. The LCIA characterization model aims to assess the change in habitat quantity due to consumptive water use. It is based on statistical, physical habitat simulation for benthic invertebrates, fish species and their size classes, and guilds of fish sharing common habitat preferences. A habitat change potential (HCP) midpoint, mechanistic indicator, is developed and computed on the French river network at the river reach scale (the river segment with variable length between the upstream and downstream nodes in the hydrographic network), for median annual discharges and dry seasons. Aggregated, multi-species HCPs at a river reach are proposed using various aggregation approaches. Subsequently, the characterization factors are spatially aggregated at watershed and sub-watershed scales. HCP is highly correlated with median and low flow discharges, which determine hydraulic characteristics of reaches. Aggregation of individual HCPs at reach scale is driven by the species most sensitive to water consumption. In spatially aggregated HCPs, consistently with their reduced smaller average discharge rate, small stream habitats determine the overall watershed characterization. The study is aimed primarily at life cycle assessment (LCA) practitioners and LCIA modelers. However, since it is the result of a productive cross-fertilization between the ecohydrology and LCA domains, it could be potentially useful for watershed management and risk assessment as well. At the moment, the proposed model is applicable in France. For a broader implementation, the development of global, high resolution river databases or the generalization of the model are needed. Our new factor represents nevertheless an advancement in freshwater ecosystems LCIA laying the basis for new metrics for biodiversity assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mattia Damiani
- ITAP, Univ Montpellier, Irstea, Montpellier SupAgro, ELSA Research Group and ELSA-PACT Industrial Chair, Montpellier, France.
| | | | - Hervé Pella
- Irstea Lyon, UR RiverLy, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Philippe Roux
- ITAP, Univ Montpellier, Irstea, Montpellier SupAgro, ELSA Research Group and ELSA-PACT Industrial Chair, Montpellier, France
| | - Eléonore Loiseau
- ITAP, Univ Montpellier, Irstea, Montpellier SupAgro, ELSA Research Group and ELSA-PACT Industrial Chair, Montpellier, France
| | - Ralph K Rosenbaum
- ITAP, Univ Montpellier, Irstea, Montpellier SupAgro, ELSA Research Group and ELSA-PACT Industrial Chair, Montpellier, France
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16
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Kuipers KJJ, Hellweg S, Verones F. Potential Consequences of Regional Species Loss for Global Species Richness: A Quantitative Approach for Estimating Global Extinction Probabilities. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2019; 53:4728-4738. [PMID: 30995027 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b06173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Because the biosphere is highly heterogeneous, species diversity impacts are typically assessed at local or regional scales. Because regional species richness impact metrics refer to different species compositions, they cannot be easily compared or aggregated to global impacts. Translating regional species richness impacts into global impacts allows for comparisons between impacts and facilitates the estimation of global species extinctions. This requires a conversion (or weighting) factor that takes into account the characteristics of regionally specific species compositions. We developed a methodology for deriving such conversion factors based on species' habitat ranges, International Union for Conservation of Nature threat levels, and species richness. We call these conversion factors global extinction probabilities (GEPs) of the reference location or region. The proposed methodology allows for the calculation of GEPs for any spatial unit and species group for which data on spatial distribution are available and can be implemented in methodologies like life cycle impact assessment. Furthermore, the GEPs can be used for the identification of conservation hot spots. The results of the proposed GEPs (for various taxonomic groups) show that the risk that regional species loss may result in global species extinctions significantly differs per region and informs where irreversible biodiversity impacts are more likely to occur.
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Affiliation(s)
- Koen J J Kuipers
- Industrial Ecology Programme, Department of Energy and Process Engineering , Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU) , NO-7491 Trondheim , Norway
| | - Stefanie Hellweg
- Ecological Systems Design, Institute of Environmental Engineering (IfU) , ETH Zürich , CH-8093 Zürich , Switzerland
| | - Francesca Verones
- Industrial Ecology Programme, Department of Energy and Process Engineering , Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU) , NO-7491 Trondheim , Norway
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17
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Mutel C, Liao X, Patouillard L, Bare J, Fantke P, Frischknecht R, Hauschild M, Jolliet O, de Souza DM, Laurent A, Pfister S, Verones F. Overview and recommendations for regionalized life cycle impact assessment. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT 2019; 24:856-865. [PMID: 33122880 PMCID: PMC7592718 DOI: 10.1007/s11367-018-1539-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2018] [Accepted: 10/05/2018] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Regionalized life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) has rapidly developed in the past decade, though its widespread application, robustness, and validity still faces multiple challenges. Under the umbrella of UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative, a dedicated cross-cutting working group on regionalized LCIA aims to provides an overview of the status of regionalization in LCIA methods. We give guidance and recommendations to harmonize and support regionalization in LCIA for developers of LCIA methods, LCI databases, and LCA software. METHOD A survey of current practice among regionalized LCIA method developers was conducted. The survey included questions on chosen method spatial resolution and scale, the spatial resolution of input parameters, choice of native spatial resolution and limitations, operationalization and alignment with life cycle inventory data, methods for spatial aggregation, the assessment of uncertainty from input parameters and model structure, and variability due to spatial aggregation. Recommendations are formulated based on the survey results and extensive discussion by the authors. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Survey results indicate that majority of regionalized LCIA models have global coverage. Native spatial resolutions are generally chosen based on the availability of global input data. Annual modelled or measured elementary flow quantities are mostly used for aggregating characterization factors (CFs) to larger spatial scales, although some use proxies, such as population counts. Aggregated CFs are mostly available at the country level. Although uncertainty due to input parameter, model structure, and spatial aggregation are available for some LCIA methods, they are rarely implemented for LCA studies. So far, there is no agreement if a finer native spatial resolution is the best way to reduce overall uncertainty. When spatially differentiated models CFs are not easily available, archetype models are sometimes developed. CONCLUSIONS Regionalized LCIA methods should be provided as a transparent and consistent set of data and metadata using standardized data formats. Regionalized CFs should include both uncertainty and variability. In addition to the native-scale CFs, aggregated CFs should always be provided, and should be calculated as the weighted averages of constituent CFs using annual flow quantities as weights whenever available. This paper is an important step forward for increasing transparency, consistency and robustness in the development and application of regionalized LCIA methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris Mutel
- Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 PSI Villigen, Switzerland
| | - Xun Liao
- Industrial Process and Energy Systems Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, EPFL Valais Wallis, Rue de l'Industrie 17, CH-1951 Sion, Switzerland
- Quantis, EPFL Innovation Park (EIP-D), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Laure Patouillard
- CIRAIG, Polytechnique Montréal, P.O. Box 6079, Montréal, Québec H3C 3A7, Canada
- IFP Energies nouvelles, 1-4 avenue de Bois-Préau, 92852 Rueil-Malmaison, France
- UMR 0210 INRA-AgroParisTech Economie publique, INRA, Thiverval-Grignon, France
| | - Jane Bare
- US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA
| | - Peter Fantke
- Quantitative Sustainability Assessment Division, Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Bygningstorvet 116B, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | | | - Michael Hauschild
- Quantitative Sustainability Assessment Division, Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Bygningstorvet 116B, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Olivier Jolliet
- Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Danielle Maia de Souza
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, T6G 2P5, AB, Canada
- Département de Stratégie, Responsabilité Sociale et Environnementale, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, H3C 3P8, QC, Canada
| | - Alexis Laurent
- Quantitative Sustainability Assessment Division, Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Bygningstorvet 116B, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Stephan Pfister
- Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Francesca Verones
- Industrial Ecology Programme, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
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18
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Di Fulvio F, Forsell N, Korosuo A, Obersteiner M, Hellweg S. Spatially explicit LCA analysis of biodiversity losses due to different bioenergy policies in the European Union. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 651:1505-1516. [PMID: 30360280 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2018] [Revised: 08/27/2018] [Accepted: 08/29/2018] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
In this study, the potential global loss of species directly associated with land use in the EU and due to trade with other regions is computed over time, in order to reveal differences in impacts between the considered alternatives of plausible bioenergy policies development in the EU. The spatially explicit study combines a life cycle analysis (LCA) for biodiversity impact assessment with a global high resolution economic land use model. Both impacts of domestic land use and impacts through imports were included for estimating the biodiversity footprint of the member states of the (EU28). The analyzed scenarios assumed similar biomass demand until 2020 but differed thereafter, from keeping the growth of demand for bioenergy constant (CONST), to a strong increase of bioenergy in line with the EU target of decreasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 80% by 2050 (EMIRED) and with the baseline (BASE) scenario falling between the other two. As a general trend, the increasing demand for biomass was found to have substantial impact on biodiversity in all scenarios, while the differences between the scenarios were found to be modest. The share caused by imports was 15% of the overall biodiversity impacts detected in this study in the year 2000, and progressively increased to 24% to 26% in 2050, depending on the scenario. The most prominent future change in domestic land use in all scenarios was the expansion of perennial cultivations for energy. In the EMIRED scenario, there is a larger expansion of perennial cultivations and a smaller expansion of cropland in the EU than in the other two scenarios. As the biodiversity damage is smaller for land used for perennial cultivations than for cropland, this development decreases the internal biodiversity damage per unit of land. At the same time, however, the EMIRED scenario also features the largest outsourcing of damage, due to increased import of cropland products from outside the EU for satisfying the EU food demand. These two opposite effects even out each other, resulting in the total biodiversity damage for the EMIRED scenario being only slightly higher than the other two scenarios. The results of this study indicate that increasing cultivation of perennials for bioenergy and the consequent decrease in the availability of cropland for food production in the EU may lead to outsourcing of agricultural products supply to other regions. This development is associated with a leakage of biodiversity damages to species-rich and vulnerable regions outside the EU. In the case of a future increase in bioenergy demand, the combination of biomass supply from sustainable forest management in the EU, combined with imported wood pellets and cultivation of perennial energy crops, appears to be less detrimental to biodiversity than expansion of energy crops in the EU.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fulvio Di Fulvio
- Ecosystems Services and Management Program (ESM), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria.
| | - Nicklas Forsell
- Ecosystems Services and Management Program (ESM), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria
| | - Anu Korosuo
- Ecosystems Services and Management Program (ESM), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria
| | - Michael Obersteiner
- Ecosystems Services and Management Program (ESM), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria
| | - Stefanie Hellweg
- Ecological Systems Design, Institute of Environmental Engineering (IfU), ETH, Zurich, Switzerland
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Jeswani HK, Hellweg S, Azapagic A. Accounting for land use, biodiversity and ecosystem services in life cycle assessment: Impacts of breakfast cereals. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2018; 645:51-59. [PMID: 30015118 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2018] [Revised: 07/05/2018] [Accepted: 07/07/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
This study considers the life cycle impacts of land use on biodiversity and ecosystem services associated with the production of a ubiquitous food type: breakfast cereals. For biodiversity, the impacts on five taxonomic groups have been assessed: mammals, birds, vascular plants, amphibians and reptiles. For ecosystem services, the potential loss in the following ecosystem services of soil has been considered: biotic production, erosion resistance, groundwater regeneration, infiltration and physicochemical filtration. The findings indicate that the main hotspot for the biodiversity loss is cocoa cultivation for all taxonomic groups, with a contribution of 27-67%. Cocoa is also a major contributor (35%) to the loss of biotic production, while rice is the largest contributor to erosion (34%), reduction in groundwater replenishment (43%) and physiochemical filtration (23%). Corn is the main cause of the infiltration reduction, accounting for 44% of the impact. Unlike the biodiversity impacts, which are almost entirely caused by agricultural activities, non-agricultural land use occurring in other life cycle stages (transport, packaging and manufacturing), has significant contribution to the reductions in groundwater replenishment and infiltration. The impacts on ecosystem services are almost entirely driven by land occupation, while the biodiversity impacts are caused by both land use change and occupation. The identification of cocoa as the main hotspot is unexpected as it is used only in very small quantities (<5% by mass) in breakfast cereals. Its high contribution to the impacts is partly due to the land use change in the ecoregion of the Eastern Guinean forests, which are home to a relatively large number of endemic species. The paper also discusses the limitations of the impact assessment methods for evaluating the biodiversity and ecosystem services and highlights the need for further development of indicators and methods to assess the land use impacts in life cycle assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harish Kumar Jeswani
- Sustainable Industrial Systems, School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
| | - Stefanie Hellweg
- Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Adisa Azapagic
- Sustainable Industrial Systems, School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
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20
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Berger M, Eisner S, van der Ent R, Flörke M, Link A, Poligkeit J, Bach V, Finkbeiner M. Enhancing the Water Accounting and Vulnerability Evaluation Model: WAVE. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2018; 52:10757-10766. [PMID: 30028944 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b05164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Due to the increasing relevance of analyzing water consumption along product life cycles, the water accounting and vulnerability evaluation model (WAVE) has been updated and methodologically enhanced. Recent data from the atmospheric moisture tracking model WAM2-layers is used to update the basin internal evaporation recycling (BIER) ratio, which denotes atmospheric moisture recycling within drainage basins. Potential local impacts resulting from water consumption are quantified by means of the water deprivation index (WDI). Based on the hydrological model WaterGAP3, WDI is updated and methodologically refined to express a basin's vulnerability to freshwater deprivation resulting from the relative scarcity and absolute shortage of water. Compared to the predecessor version, BIER and WDI are provided on an increased spatial and temporal (monthly) resolution. Differences compared to annual averages are relevant in semiarid and arid basins characterized by a high seasonal variation of water consumption and availability. In order to support applicability in water footprinting and life cycle assessment, BIER and WDI are combined to an integrated WAVE+ factor, which is provided on different temporal and spatial resolutions. The applicability of the WAVE+ method is proven in a case study on sugar cane, and results are compared to those obtained by other impact assessment methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Berger
- Chair of Sustainable Engineering , Technische Universität Berlin , Straße des 17. Juni 135 , 10623 Berlin , Germany
| | - Stephanie Eisner
- Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, P.O. Box 115, NO-1431 Ås , Norway
| | - Ruud van der Ent
- Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Geosciences , Utrecht University , P.O. 80.115, 3508 TC Utrecht , The Netherlands
| | - Martina Flörke
- Center for Environmental Systems Research , University of Kassel , Wilhelmshöher Allee 47 , 34109 Kassel , Germany
| | - Andreas Link
- Chair of Sustainable Engineering , Technische Universität Berlin , Straße des 17. Juni 135 , 10623 Berlin , Germany
| | - Joseph Poligkeit
- Chair of Sustainable Engineering , Technische Universität Berlin , Straße des 17. Juni 135 , 10623 Berlin , Germany
| | - Vanessa Bach
- Chair of Sustainable Engineering , Technische Universität Berlin , Straße des 17. Juni 135 , 10623 Berlin , Germany
| | - Matthias Finkbeiner
- Chair of Sustainable Engineering , Technische Universität Berlin , Straße des 17. Juni 135 , 10623 Berlin , Germany
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21
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Pezzati L, Verones F, Curran M, Baustert P, Hellweg S. Biodiversity Recovery and Transformation Impacts for Wetland Biodiversity. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2018; 52:8479-8487. [PMID: 29985598 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b01501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods for land use take both occupation and transformation impacts into account. However, for wetlands and impacts from water consumption, it is so far not possible to account for transformation impacts. It is our goal to close this research gap, by determining wetland recovery times and developing characterization factors for transformation. To do this, we conducted a meta-analysis of 59 studies analyzing biodiversity recovery in wetlands subject to passive and active restoration. Generalized linear models were fitted to the biodiversity data and age, along with other wetland characteristics (such as elevation, latitude, or climate class), and were used as predictor variables. The results indicate that elevation, latitude, type of wetland, and restoration method have the strongest effect on recovery speed. Recovery times vary from less than one year to a maximum of 107 years with passive restoration and 105 years with active restoration. Corresponding transformation characterization factors vary between 10-14 and 10-2 species-eq·year2/m3. Finally, recognizing the relevance of this work to real-world policy issues beyond LCA, we discuss the implications of our estimated restoration times on the feasibility of "biodiversity offsetting". Offsetting utilizes restoration to replace biodiversity value lost due to development impacts. Our work can help stakeholders make informed decisions on whether offsetting represents a legitimate policy option in a particular context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo Pezzati
- Institute of Environmental Engineering (IfU), ETH Zürich, John-von-Neumann-Weg 9 , CH-8093 Zurich , Switzerland
| | - Francesca Verones
- Industrial Ecology Programme, Department of Energy and Process Engineering , NTNU , Sem Sælands vei 7 , 7491 Trondheim , Norway
| | - Michael Curran
- Socioeconomics Department , Research Institute for Organic Agriculture (FiBL) , Ackerstrasse 113 , CH-5070 Frick , Switzerland
| | - Paul Baustert
- Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), 5, Avenue des Hauts-Fourneaux , L-4362 Esch-sur-Alzette , Luxembourg
- Department of the Built Environment , Eindhoven University of Technology , 5612 AZ Eindhoven , The Netherlands
| | - Stefanie Hellweg
- Institute of Environmental Engineering (IfU), ETH Zürich, John-von-Neumann-Weg 9 , CH-8093 Zurich , Switzerland
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Núñez M, Rosenbaum RK, Karimpour S, Boulay AM, Lathuillière MJ, Margni M, Scherer L, Verones F, Pfister S. A Multimedia Hydrological Fate Modeling Framework To Assess Water Consumption Impacts in Life Cycle Assessment. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2018; 52:4658-4667. [PMID: 29565125 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b05207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Many new methods have recently been developed to address environmental consequences of water consumption in life cycle assessment (LCA). However, such methods can only partially be compared and combined, because their modeling structure and metrics are inconsistent. Moreover, they focus on specific water sources (e.g., river) and miss description of transport flows between water compartments (e.g., from river to atmosphere via evaporation) and regions (e.g., atmospheric advection). Consequently, they provide a partial regard of the local and global hydrological cycle and derived impacts on the environment. This paper proposes consensus-based guidelines for a harmonized development of the next generation of water consumption LCA indicators, with a focus on consequences of water consumption on ecosystem quality. To include the consideration of the multimedia water fate between compartments of the water cycle, we provide spatial regionalization and temporal specification guidance. The principles and recommendations of the paper are applied to an illustrative case study. The guidelines set the basis of a more accurate, novel way of modeling water consumption impacts in LCA. The environmental relevance of this LCA impact category will improve, yet much research is needed to make the guidelines operational.
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Affiliation(s)
- Montserrat Núñez
- ITAP, Irstea, Montpellier SupAgro, Univ Montpellier, ELSA Research group and ELSA-PACT Industrial Chair, Montpellier , France
| | - Ralph K Rosenbaum
- ITAP, Irstea, Montpellier SupAgro, Univ Montpellier, ELSA Research group and ELSA-PACT Industrial Chair, Montpellier , France
| | - Shooka Karimpour
- CIRAIG, Ecole des Sciences de la Gestion , Universite du Quebec A Montreal , Montreal , QC , Canada
| | - Anne-Marie Boulay
- CIRAIG , Polytechnique Montréal , Montreal , QC , Canada
- LIRIDE , Sherbrooke University , Sherbrooke , QC , Canada
| | - Michael J Lathuillière
- Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability , University of British Columbia , 2202 Main Mall , Vancouver , BC V6T 1Z4 , Canada
| | - Manuele Margni
- CIRAIG , Polytechnique Montréal , Montreal , QC , Canada
| | - Laura Scherer
- Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) , Leiden University , 2300 RA Leiden , The Netherlands
| | - Francesca Verones
- Industrial Ecology Programme, Department for Energy and Process Engineering , Norwegian University of Science and Technology , 7491 Trondheim , Norway
| | - Stephan Pfister
- ETH Zurich , Institute of Environmental Engineering , 8093 Zürich , Switzerland
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23
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Woods JS, Damiani M, Fantke P, Henderson AD, Johnston JM, Bare J, Sala S, de Souza DM, Pfister S, Posthuma L, Rosenbaum RK, Verones F. Ecosystem quality in LCIA: status quo, harmonization, and suggestions for the way forward. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT 2018; 23:1995-2006. [PMID: 31097881 PMCID: PMC6516497 DOI: 10.1007/s11367-017-1422-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) results are used to assess potential environmental impacts of different products and services. As part of the UNEP-SETAC life cycle initiative flagship project that aims to harmonize indicators of potential environmental impacts, we provide a consensus viewpoint and recommendations for future developments in LCIA related to the ecosystem quality area of protection (AoP). Through our recommendations, we aim to encourage LCIA developments that improve the usefulness and global acceptability of LCIA results. METHODS We analyze current ecosystem quality metrics and provide recommendations to the LCIA research community for achieving further developments towards comparable and more ecologically relevant metrics addressing ecosystem quality. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION We recommend that LCIA development for ecosystem quality should tend towards species-richnessrelated metrics, with efforts made towards improved inclusion of ecosystem complexity. Impact indicators-which result from a range of modeling approaches that differ, for example, according to spatial and temporal scale, taxonomic coverage, and whether the indicator produces a relative or absolute measure of loss-should be framed to facilitate their final expression in a single, aggregated metric. This would also improve comparability with other LCIA damage-level indicators. Furthermore, to allow for a broader inclusion of ecosystem quality perspectives, the development of an additional indicator related to ecosystem function is recommended. Having two complementary metrics would give a broader coverage of ecosystem attributes while remaining simple enough to enable an intuitive interpretation of the results. CONCLUSIONS We call for the LCIA research community to make progress towards enabling harmonization of damage-level indicators within the ecosystem quality AoP and, further, to improve the ecological relevance of impact indicators.
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Affiliation(s)
- John S Woods
- Industrial Ecology Programme, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Sem Sælands vei 7, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Mattia Damiani
- ITAP, Irstea, Montpellier SupAgro, Univ Montpellier, ELSA Research Group and ELSA-PACT Industrial Chair, 361 rue Jean-François Breton, BP 5095, F-34196 Montpellier, France
| | - Peter Fantke
- Division for Quantitative Sustainability Assessment, Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Bygningstorvet 116, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Andrew D Henderson
- University of Texas School of Public Health, Austin, TX 78701, USA
- Noblis, Inc., San Antonio, TX 78232, USA
| | - John M Johnston
- US EPA, Office of Research and Development, National Exposure Research Laboratory, 960 College Station Rd, Athens, GA 30605, USA
| | - Jane Bare
- US EPA, Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, 26 West MLK Dr, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA
| | - Serenella Sala
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Directorate D: Sustainable Resource, Bioeconomy unit, Via E. Fermi, 2749 Ispra, VA, Italy
| | - Danielle Maia de Souza
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, T6G 2P5, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Stephan Pfister
- ETH Zurich, Institute of Environmental Engineering, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Leo Posthuma
- RIVM (Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment), Centre for Sustainability, Environment and Health, P.O. Box 1, 3720, BA Bilthoven, the Netherlands
- Department of Environmental Science, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525, AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Ralph K Rosenbaum
- ITAP, Irstea, Montpellier SupAgro, Univ Montpellier, ELSA Research Group and ELSA-PACT Industrial Chair, 361 rue Jean-François Breton, BP 5095, F-34196 Montpellier, France
| | - Francesca Verones
- Industrial Ecology Programme, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Sem Sælands vei 7, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
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Raptis CE, Boucher JM, Pfister S. Assessing the environmental impacts of freshwater thermal pollution from global power generation in LCA. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2017; 580:1014-1026. [PMID: 28024751 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.12.056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2016] [Revised: 12/07/2016] [Accepted: 12/08/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Freshwater heat emissions from power plants with once-through cooling systems constitute one of many environmental pressures related to the thermoelectric power industry. The objective of this work was to obtain high resolution, operational characterization factors (CF) for the impact of heat emissions on ecosystem quality, and carry out a comprehensive, spatially, temporally and technologically differentiated damage-based environmental assessment of global freshwater thermal pollution. The aggregation of CFs on a watershed level results in 12.5% lower annual impacts globally and even smaller differences for the most crucial watersheds and months, so watershed level CFs are recommended when the exact emission site within the basin is unknown. Long-range impacts account for almost 90% of the total global impacts. The Great Lakes, several Mississippi subbasins, the Danube, and the Yangtze are among the most thermally impacted watersheds globally, receiving heat emissions from predominantly coal-fuelled and nuclear power plants. Globally, over 80% of the global annual impacts come from power plants constructed during or before the 1980s. While the impact-weighted mean age of the power plants in the Mississippi ranges from 38 to 51years, in Chinese watersheds including the Yangtze, the equivalent range is only 15 to 22years, reflecting a stark contrast in thermal pollution mitigation approaches. With relatively high shares of total capacity from power plants with once-through freshwater cooling, and tracing a large part of the Danube, 1kWh of net electricity mix is the most impactful in Hungary, Bulgaria and Serbia. Monthly CFs are provided on a grid cell level and on a watershed level for use in Life Cycle Assessment. The impacts per generating unit are also provided, as part of our effort to make available a global dataset of thermoelectric power plant emissions and impacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine E Raptis
- Ecological Systems Design Group, Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, Zurich 8093, Switzerland.
| | - Justin M Boucher
- Ecological Systems Design Group, Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, Zurich 8093, Switzerland
| | - Stephan Pfister
- Ecological Systems Design Group, Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, Zurich 8093, Switzerland
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Verones F, Moran D, Stadler K, Kanemoto K, Wood R. Resource footprints and their ecosystem consequences. Sci Rep 2017; 7:40743. [PMID: 28112168 PMCID: PMC5256307 DOI: 10.1038/srep40743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2016] [Accepted: 12/09/2016] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
A meaningful environmental impact analysis should go beyond the accounting of pressures from resource use and actually assess how resource demand affects ecosystems. The various currently available footprints of nations report the environmental pressures e.g. water use or pollutant emissions, driven by consumption. However, there have been limited attempts to assess the environmental consequences of these pressures. Ultimately, consequences, not pressures, should guide environmental policymaking. The newly released LC-Impact method demonstrates progress on the path to providing this missing link. Here we present “ecosystem impact footprints” in terms of the consequences for biodiversity and assess the differences in impact footprint results from MRIO-based pressure footprints. The new perspective reveals major changes in the relative contribution of nations to global footprints. Wealthy countries have high pressure footprints in lower-income countries but their impact footprints often have their origin in higher-income countries. This shift in perspective provides a different insight on where to focus policy responses to preserve biodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Daniel Moran
- Industrial Ecology Programme, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
| | | | | | - Richard Wood
- Industrial Ecology Programme, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
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26
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Sandström V, Kauppi PE, Scherer L, Kastner T. Linking country level food supply to global land and water use and biodiversity impacts: The case of Finland. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2017; 575:33-40. [PMID: 27728843 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2016] [Revised: 09/30/2016] [Accepted: 10/02/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The agricultural products consumed in Finland are increasingly grown on foreign farms. We analyze the Finnish imports of food and feed crops from 1986 to 2011 by products and by their geographic origin drawing a link to environmental impacts. The share of foreign crops consumed in Finland nearly doubled in the study period. The imports increased especially with commodities that could also be produced domestically. While the production of food increasingly shifted abroad, also the exports from Finland increased. >90% of the blue water of the Finnish crop supply came from foreign water resources. We map the results of land and water use together with their impacts on global biodiversity, and show that most of the land and water use related biodiversity impacts (>93%) associated with the Finnish food consumption are related to the imports and therefore taken place outside the Finnish borders. The use of multiple environmental indicators can help identifying products and spatial hotspots associated with the most severe environmental impacts of the Finnish crop imports contributing to a more holistic decision-making and the promoting of sustainable food consumption both domestically and globally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vilma Sandström
- University of Helsinki, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Department of Environmental Sciences, P.O. Box 65, Viikinkaari 2a, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Pekka E Kauppi
- University of Helsinki, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Department of Environmental Sciences, P.O. Box 65, Viikinkaari 2a, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Laura Scherer
- Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, John-von-Neumann-Weg 9, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Thomas Kastner
- Institute of Social Ecology Vienna, Alpen-Adria Universität Klagenfurt, Wien, Graz, Schottenfeldgasse 29, A-1070 Vienna, Austria
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Pfister S, Boulay AM, Berger M, Hadjikakou M, Motoshita M, Hess T, Ridoutt B, Weinzettel J, Scherer L, Döll P, Manzardo A, Núñez M, Verones F, Humbert S, Buxmann K, Harding K, Benini L, Oki T, Finkbeiner M, Henderson A. Understanding the LCA and ISO water footprint: A response to Hoekstra (2016) "A critique on the water-scarcity weighted water footprint in LCA". ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS 2017; 72:352-359. [PMID: 30344449 PMCID: PMC6192425 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.07.051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Water footprinting has emerged as an important approach to assess water use related effects from consumption of goods and services. Assessment methods are proposed by two different communities, the Water Footprint Network (WFN) and the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) community. The proposed methods are broadly similar and encompass both the computation of water use and its impacts, but differ in communication of a water footprint result. In this paper, we explain the role and goal of LCA and ISO-compatible water footprinting and resolve the six issues raised by Hoekstra (2016) in "A critique on the water-scarcity weighted water footprint in LCA". By clarifying the concerns, we identify both the overlapping goals in the WFN and LCA water footprint assessments and discrepancies between them. The main differing perspective between the WFN and LCA-based approach seems to relate to the fact that LCA aims to account for environmental impacts, while the WFN aims to account for water productivity of global fresh water as a limited resource. We conclude that there is potential to use synergies in research for the two approaches and highlight the need for proper declaration of the methods applied.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Pfister
- Institute of Environmental Engineering, Chair of Ecological System Design, ETH Zurich, 8039 Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | - Markus Berger
- Technische Universität Berlin, Chair of Sustainable Engineering, Office Z1, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
| | - Michalis Hadjikakou
- Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Masaharu Motoshita
- Research Institute of Science for Safety and Sustainability, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Japan;
| | - Tim Hess
- Cranfield Water Science Institute, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedford, MK43 0AL, UK.
| | - Brad Ridoutt
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Agriculture, Private Bag 10, Clayton South, Victoria 3169, Australia; and University of the Free State, Department of Agricultural Economics, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa;
| | - Jan Weinzettel
- Charles University in Prague, Environment Center, José Martího 2, 162 00 Praha 6, Czech Republic and Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Department of Electrotechnology, Technická 2, 166 27 Praha 6, Czech Republic; phone: 00420 220 199 476, e-mail:
| | - Laura Scherer
- Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Petra Döll
- Institute of Physical Geography, Goethe University Frankfurt, Altenhöferallee 1, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany;
| | | | - Montserrat Núñez
- Irstea, UMR ITAP, ELSA Research Group & ELSA-PACT Industrial Chair for Environmental and Social Sustainability Assessment, 34196 Montpellier, France
| | - Francesca Verones
- Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Industrial Ecology Programme, NTNU Trondheim
| | - Sebastien Humbert
- Quantis, PSE D, EPFL, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland, 0041 79 754 75 66,
| | | | - Kevin Harding
- Industrial and Mining Water Research Unit (IMWaRU), School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, university of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Private Bag 3, WITS, 2050, South Africa, e-mail :
| | - Lorenzo Benini
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Directorate of Sustainable Resources, via Enrico Fermi 2749 T.P. 270, 21027 Ispra, VA, Italy
| | - Taikan Oki
- Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, 1-4-6 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan
| | - Matthias Finkbeiner
- Technische Universität Berlin, Chair of Sustainable Engineering, Office Z1, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
| | - Andrew Henderson
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Sustainable Technology Division, Systems Analysis Branch, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA
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Lathuillière MJ, Bulle C, Johnson MS. Land Use in LCA: Including Regionally Altered Precipitation to Quantify Ecosystem Damage. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2016; 50:11769-11778. [PMID: 27715019 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b02311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The incorporation of soil moisture regenerated by precipitation, or green water, into life cycle assessment has been of growing interest given the global importance of this resource for terrestrial ecosystems and food production. This paper proposes a new impact assessment model to relate land and water use in seasonally dry, semiarid, and arid regions where precipitation and evapotranspiration are closely coupled. We introduce the Precipitation Reduction Potential midpoint impact representing the change in downwind precipitation as a result of a land transformation and occupation activity. Then, our end-point impact model quantifies terrestrial ecosystem damage as a function of precipitation loss using a relationship between woody plant species richness, water and energy regimes. We then apply the midpoint and end-point models to the production of soybean in Southeastern Amazonia which has resulted from the expansion of cropland into tropical forest, with noted effects on local precipitation. Our proposed cause-effect chain represents a complementary approach to previous contributions which have focused on water consumption impacts and/or have represented evapotranspiration as a loss to the water cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Lathuillière
- Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia , 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Cécile Bulle
- Département de stratégie, responsabilité sociale et environnementale, École des Sciences de la Gestion, Université du Québec à Montréal , CIRAIG, 315, rue Sainte-Catherine Est, Montreal, Quebec H2X 3X2, Canada
| | - Mark S Johnson
- Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia , 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada
- Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia , 2207 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada
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Steinmann ZJN, Schipper AM, Hauck M, Huijbregts MAJ. How Many Environmental Impact Indicators Are Needed in the Evaluation of Product Life Cycles? ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2016; 50:3913-9. [PMID: 26963880 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b05179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Numerous indicators are currently available for environmental impact assessments, especially in the field of Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA). Because decision-making on the basis of hundreds of indicators simultaneously is unfeasible, a nonredundant key set of indicators representative of the overall environmental impact is needed. We aimed to find such a nonredundant set of indicators based on their mutual correlations. We have used Principal Component Analysis (PCA) in combination with an optimization algorithm to find an optimal set of indicators out of 135 impact indicators calculated for 976 products from the ecoinvent database. The first four principal components covered 92% of the variance in product rankings, showing the potential for indicator reduction. The same amount of variance (92%) could be covered by a minimal set of six indicators, related to climate change, ozone depletion, the combined effects of acidification and eutrophication, terrestrial ecotoxicity, marine ecotoxicity, and land use. In comparison, four commonly used resource footprints (energy, water, land, materials) together accounted for 84% of the variance in product rankings. We conclude that the plethora of environmental indicators can be reduced to a small key set, representing the major part of the variation in environmental impacts between product life cycles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoran J N Steinmann
- Department of Environmental Science, IWWR, Radboud University , 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Aafke M Schipper
- Department of Environmental Science, IWWR, Radboud University , 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Mara Hauck
- Climate, Air and Sustainability, TNO, Princetonlaan 6, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Mark A J Huijbregts
- Department of Environmental Science, IWWR, Radboud University , 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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30
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The Effect of Land Use on Availability of Japanese Freshwater Resources and Its Significance for Water Footprinting. SUSTAINABILITY 2016. [DOI: 10.3390/su8010086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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31
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Chaudhary A, Verones F, de Baan L, Hellweg S. Quantifying Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity: Combining Species-Area Models and Vulnerability Indicators. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2015. [PMID: 26197362 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b02507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Habitat degradation and subsequent biodiversity damage often take place far from the place of consumption because of globalization and the increasing level of international trade. Informing consumers and policy makers about the biodiversity impacts "hidden" in the life cycle of imported products is an important step toward achieving sustainable consumption patterns. Spatially explicit methods are needed in life cycle assessment to accurately quantify biodiversity impacts of products and processes. We use the Countryside species-area relationship (SAR) to quantify regional species loss due to land occupation and transformation for five taxa and six land use types in 804 terrestrial ecoregions. Further, we calculate vulnerability scores for each ecoregion based on the fraction of each species' geographic range (endemic richness) hosted by the ecoregion and the IUCN assigned threat level of each species. Vulnerability scores are multiplied with SAR-predicted regional species loss to estimate potential global extinctions per unit of land use. As a case study, we assess the land use biodiversity impacts of 1 kg of bioethanol produced using six different feed stocks in different parts of the world. Results show that the regions with highest biodiversity impacts differed markedly when the vulnerability of species was included.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhishek Chaudhary
- †Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Francesca Verones
- ‡Industrial Ecology Programme, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, NTNU, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Laura de Baan
- †Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Stefanie Hellweg
- †Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
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32
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Why Include Impacts on Biodiversity from Land Use in LCIA and How to Select Useful Indicators? SUSTAINABILITY 2015. [DOI: 10.3390/su7056278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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33
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Verones F, Huijbregts MAJ, Chaudhary A, de Baan L, Koellner T, Hellweg S. Harmonizing the assessment of biodiversity effects from land and water use within LCA. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2015; 49:3584-92. [PMID: 25719255 DOI: 10.1021/es504995r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Addressing biodiversity impacts in life cycle assessment (LCA) has recently been significantly improved. Advances include the consideration of several taxa, consideration of vulnerability of species and ecosystems, global coverage and spatial differentiation. To allow a comparison of biodiversity impacts of different stressors (e.g., land and water use), consistent approaches for assessing and aggregating biodiversity impacts across taxa are needed. We propose four different options for aggregating impacts across taxa and stressors: equal weight for species, equal weight for taxa and two options with special consideration of species' vulnerability. We apply the aggregation options to a case study of coffee, tea and sugarcane production in Kenya for the production of 1 kg of crop. The ranking between stressors (land vs water use) within each crop and also of the overall impact between crops (coffee>sugarcane>tea) remained the same when applying the different aggregation options. Inclusion of the vulnerability of species had significant influence on the magnitude of results, and potentially also on the spatial distribution of impacts, and should be considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Verones
- †Industrial Ecology Programme, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Mark A J Huijbregts
- ‡Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Department of Environmental Science, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6500 GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Abhishek Chaudhary
- §Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Laura de Baan
- §Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Thomas Koellner
- ⊥Professorship of Ecological Services, Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences, University of Bayreuth (BayCEER), 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Stefanie Hellweg
- §Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
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34
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de Baan L, Curran M, Rondinini C, Visconti P, Hellweg S, Koellner T. High-resolution assessment of land use impacts on biodiversity in life cycle assessment using species habitat suitability models. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2015; 49:2237-44. [PMID: 25584628 DOI: 10.1021/es504380t] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Agricultural land use is a main driver of global biodiversity loss. The assessment of land use impacts in decision-support tools such as life cycle assessment (LCA) requires spatially explicit models, but existing approaches are either not spatially differentiated or modeled at very coarse scales (e.g., biomes or ecoregions). In this paper, we develop a high-resolution (900 m) assessment method for land use impacts on biodiversity based on habitat suitability models (HSM) of mammal species. This method considers potential land use effects on individual species, and impacts are weighted by the species' conservation status and global rarity. We illustrate the method using a case study of crop production in East Africa, but the underlying HSMs developed by the Global Mammals Assessment are available globally. We calculate impacts of three major export crops and compare the results to two previously developed methods (focusing on local and regional impacts, respectively) to assess the relevance of the methodological innovations proposed in this paper. The results highlight hotspots of product-related biodiversity impacts that help characterize the links among agricultural production, consumption, and biodiversity loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura de Baan
- Institute for Environmental Decisions, ETH Zurich , Universitaetsstrasse 22, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
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35
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Antón A, Torrellas M, Núñez M, Sevigné E, Amores MJ, Muñoz P, Montero JI. Improvement of agricultural life cycle assessment studies through spatial differentiation and new impact categories: case study on greenhouse tomato production. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2014; 48:9454-62. [PMID: 25032800 DOI: 10.1021/es501474y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
This paper presents the inclusion of new, relevant impact categories for agriculture life cycle assessments. We performed a specific case study with a focus on the applicability of spatially explicit characterization factors. The main goals were to provide a detailed evaluation of these new impact category methods, compare the results with commonly used methods (ReCiPe and USEtox) and demonstrate how these new methods can help improve environmental assessment in agriculture. As an overall conclusion, the newly developed impact categories helped fill the most important gaps related to land use, water consumption, pesticide toxicity, and nontoxic emissions linked to fertilizer use. We also found that including biodiversity damage due to land use and the effect of water consumption on wetlands represented a scientific advance toward more realistic environmental assessment of agricultural practices. Likewise, the dynamic crop model for assessing human toxicity from pesticide residue in food can lead to better practice in pesticide application. In further life cycle assessment (LCA) method developments, common end point units and normalization units should be agreed upon to make it possible to compare different impacts and methods. In addition, the application of site-specific characterization factors allowed us to be more accurate regarding inventory data and to identify precisely where background flows acquire high relevance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Assumpció Antón
- Institute for Food and Agricultural Research and Technology (IRTA) , Carretera de Cabrils, km 2, Cabrils, Barcelona, 08348, Spain
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36
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Hellweg S, Milà i Canals L. Emerging approaches, challenges and opportunities in life cycle assessment. Science 2014; 344:1109-13. [PMID: 24904154 DOI: 10.1126/science.1248361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 258] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
In the modern economy, international value chains--production, use, and disposal of goods--have global environmental impacts. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) aims to track these impacts and assess them from a systems perspective, identifying strategies for improvement without burden shifting. We review recent developments in LCA, including existing and emerging applications aimed at supporting environmentally informed decisions in policy-making, product development and procurement, and consumer choices. LCA constitutes a viable screening tool that can pinpoint environmental hotspots in complex value chains, but we also caution that completeness in scope comes at the price of simplifications and uncertainties. Future advances of LCA in enhancing regional detail and accuracy as well as broadening the assessment to economic and social aspects will make it more relevant for producers and consumers alike.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefanie Hellweg
- Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zurich, Institute of Environmental Engineering, Ecological Systems Design, HPZ E 31.2, John-von-Neumann-Weg 9, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland.Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zurich, Institute of Environmental Engineering, Ecological Systems Design, HPZ E 31.2, John-von-Neumann-Weg 9, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Llorenç Milà i Canals
- Sustainable Consumption and Production, Division for Technology, Industry and Economics, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 15 Rue de Milan, 75009 Paris, France
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37
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Tendall DM, Hellweg S, Pfister S, Huijbregts MAJ, Gaillard G. Impacts of river water consumption on aquatic biodiversity in life cycle assessment--a proposed method, and a case study for Europe. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2014; 48:3236-44. [PMID: 24506171 DOI: 10.1021/es4048686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
In the context of climate change and food provisioning for a growing global population, the impacts of water consumption on aquatic biodiversity (e.g., river water consumption for irrigation) should be considered in Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA). A previous LCIA method quantifying the potential impacts of river water consumption on fish biodiversity, using a species-discharge relationship (SDR), constituted an essential first step. This method is however limited in terms of regionalization and taxa considered, and predicts the potential risk of local species loss only. Here, we address these shortcomings by developing region-specific SDRs for Europe at various scales (continent, country, and eco-region), and including macro-invertebrate biodiversity. SDR exponents vary from 0.06 to 0.45 between regions, underlining the importance of such regionalization. Furthermore, we provide a new regionalized method which considers the location of water consumption within a river basin, by integrating the concept of longitudinal river zonation. This involves the use of a novel measure of potential loss of species richness, standardizing local species loss to an equivalent of global extinction and reflecting species vulnerability. The new method is applied in a Swiss case-study. The consideration of the location of water consumption within a basin was found to be of high importance in the assessment: potential species loss varied between 4.22 × 10(-3) and 3.95 × 10(-1) species (2 orders of magnitude) depending on location. This work thus provides enhancements in the assessment of potential impacts of river water consumption on aquatic biodiversity and contributes to the ecological relevance of the method.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle M Tendall
- Biodiversity and Environmental Management, Research Station Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon ART , 8046 Zürich, Switzerland
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