Biodiversity Impact Assessment Considering Land Use Intensities and Fragmentation

Land use is a major threat to terrestrial biodiversity. Life cycle assessment is a tool that can assess such threats and thereby support environmental decision-making. Within the Global Guidance for Life Cycle Impact Assessment (GLAM) project, the Life Cycle Initiative hosted by UN Environment aims to create a life cycle impact assessment method across multiple impact categories, including land use impacts on ecosystem quality represented by regional and global species richness. A working group of the GLAM project focused on such land use impacts and developed new characterization factors to combine the strengths of two separate recent advancements in the field: the consideration of land use intensities and land fragmentation. The data sets to parametrize the underlying model are also updated from previous models. The new characterization factors cover five species groups (plants, amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles) and five broad land use types (cropland, pasture, plantations, managed forests, and urban land) at three intensity levels (minimal, light, and intense). They are available at the level of terrestrial ecoregions and countries. This paper documents the development of the characterization factors, provides practical guidance for their use, and critically assesses the strengths and remaining shortcomings.

Directional turnover towards larger-ranged plants over time and across habitats

Species turnover is ubiquitous. However, it remains unknown whether certain types of species are consistently gained or lost across different habitats. Here, we analysed the trajectories of 1827 plant species over time intervals of up to 78 years at 141 sites across mountain summits, forests, and lowland grasslands in Europe. We found, albeit with relatively small effect sizes, displacements of smaller- by larger-ranged species across habitats. Communities shifted in parallel towards more nutrient-demanding species, with species from nutrient-rich habitats having larger ranges. Because these species are typically strong competitors, declines of smaller-ranged species could reflect not only abiotic drivers of global change, but also biotic pressure from increased competition. The ubiquitous component of turnover based on species range size we found here may partially reconcile findings of no net loss in local diversity with global species loss, and link community-scale turnover to macroecological processes such as biotic homogenisation.

LCIA framework and cross-cutting issues guidance within the UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative

Increasing needs for decision support and advances in scientific knowledge within life cycle assessment (LCA) led to substantial efforts to provide global guidance on environmental life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) indicators under the auspices of the UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative. As part of these efforts, a dedicated task force focused on addressing several LCIA cross-cutting issues as aspects spanning several impact categories, including spatiotemporal aspects, reference states, normalization and weighting, and uncertainty assessment. Here, findings of the cross-cutting issues task force are presented along with an update of the existing UNEP-SETAC LCIA emission-to-damage framework. Specific recommendations are provided with respect to metrics for human health (Disability Adjusted Life Years, DALY) and ecosystem quality (Potentially Disappeared Fraction of species, PDF). Additionally, we stress the importance of transparent reporting of characterization models, reference states, and assumptions, in order to facilitate cross-comparison between chosen methods and indicators. We recommend developing spatially regionalized characterization models, whenever the nature of impacts shows spatial variability and related spatial data are available. Standard formats should be used for reporting spatially differentiated models, and choices regarding spatiotemporal scales should be clearly communicated. For normalization, we recommend using external normalization references. Over the next two years, the task force will continue its effort with a focus on providing guidance for LCA practitioners on how to use the UNEP-SETAC LCIA framework as well as for method developers on how to consistently extend and further improve this framework.

How Well Does LCA Model Land Use Impacts on Biodiversity?--A Comparison with Approaches from Ecology and Conservation

The modeling of land use impacts on biodiversity is considered a priority in life cycle assessment (LCA). Many diverging approaches have been proposed in an expanding literature on the topic. The UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative is engaged in building consensus on a shared modeling framework to highlight best-practice and guide model application by practitioners. In this paper, we evaluated the performance of 31 models from both the LCA and the ecology/conservation literature (20 from LCA, 11 from non-LCA fields) according to a set of criteria reflecting (i) model completeness, (ii) biodiversity representation, (iii) impact pathway coverage, (iv) scientific quality, and (v) stakeholder acceptance. We show that LCA models tend to perform worse than those from ecology and conservation (although not significantly), implying room for improvement. We identify seven best-practice recommendations that can be implemented immediately to improve LCA models based on existing approaches in the literature. We further propose building a "consensus model" through weighted averaging of existing information, to complement future development. While our research focuses on conceptual model design, further quantitative comparison of promising models in shared case studies is an essential prerequisite for future informed model choice.

Biogenic CO2 fluxes, changes in surface albedo and biodiversity impacts from establishment of a miscanthus plantation

Depletion in oil resources and environmental concern related to the use of fossil fuels has increased the interest in using second generation biomass as alternative feedstock for fuels and materials. However, the land use and land use change for producing second generation (2G) biomass impacts the environment in various ways, of which not all are usually considered in life cycle assessment. This study assesses the biogenic CO2 fluxes, surface albedo changes and biodiversity impacts for 100 years after changing land use from forest or fallow land to miscanthus plantation in Wisconsin, US. Climate change impacts are addressed in terms of effective forcing, a mid-point indicator which can be used to compare impacts from biogenic CO2 fluxes and albedo changes. Biodiversity impacts are assessed through elaboration on two different existing approaches, to express the change in biodiversity impact from one human influenced state to another. Concerning the impacts from biogenic CO2 fluxes, in the case of conversion from a forest to a miscanthus plantation (case A) there is a contribution to global warming, whereas when a fallow land is converted (case B), there is a climate cooling. When the effects from albedo changes are included, both scenarios show a net cooling impact, which is more pronounced in case B. Both cases reduce biodiversity in the area where the miscanthus plantation is established, though most in case A. The results illustrate the relevance of these issues when considering environmental impacts of land use and land use change. The apparent trade-offs in terms of environmental impacts further highlight the importance of including these aspects in LCA of land use and land use changes, in order to enable informed decision making.

Green procurement in Norway; a survey of practices at the municipal and county level

Consumer pressure is usually considered as one of the major drivers for more environmental friendly products. During the last decade an increasing focus on public procurement has emerged as an important contributor to that pressure. In this paper we focus on the role of municipalities and counties in green public procurement. Based on surveys we investigate to what degree green public procurement is implemented in Norwegian municipalities and counties and which capabilities are critical for successful green procurement. We both investigate to what degree environmental information is requested in call for tenders and also to what degree the information is actually used in the final selection of supplier. The information gathered from the municipalities and counties is compared with information obtained from potential suppliers to see if suppliers and purchasers agree on the importance of environmental demands in the selection of suppliers.

Eco-efficiency in extended supply chains: a case study of furniture production

This paper presents a methodology about how eco-efficiency in extended supply chains (ESCs) can be understood and measured. The extended supply chain includes all processes in the life cycle of a product and the eco-efficiency is measured as the relative environmental and value performance in one ESC compared to other ESCs. The paper is based on a case study of furniture production in Norway. Nine different environmental performance indicators are identified. These are based on suggestions from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and additional indicators that are shown to have significant impacts in the life cycle of the products. Value performance is measured as inverse life cycle costs. The eco-efficiency for six different chair models is calculated and the relative values are shown graphically in XY-diagrams. This provides information about the relative performance of the products, which is valuable in green procurement processes. The same method is also used for analysing changes in eco-efficiency when possible alterations in the ESC are introduced. Here, it is shown that a small and realistic change of end-of-life treatment significantly changes the eco-efficiency of a product.

Hemin reconstitutes proton extrusion in an H(+)-ATPase-negative mutant of Lactococcus lactis

H(+)-ATPase is considered essential for growth of Lactococcus lactis. However, media containing hemin restored the aerobic growth of an H(+)-ATPase-negative mutant, suggesting that hemin complements proton extrusion. We show that inverted membrane vesicles prepared from hemin-grown L. lactis cells are capable of coupling NADH oxidation to proton translocation.

atp Mutants of Escherichia coli fail to grow on succinate due to a transport deficiency

Escherichia coli atp mutants, which lack a functional H+-ATPase complex, are capable of growth on glucose but not on succinate or other C4-dicarboxylates (Suc- phenotype). Suc+ revertants of an atp deletion strain were isolated which were capable of growth on succinate even though they lack the entire H+-ATPase complex. Complementation in trans with the yhiF gene suppressed the growth of the Suc+ mutants on succinate, which implicates the yhiF gene product in the regulation of C4-dicarboxylate metabolism. Indeed, when the E. coli C4-dicarboxylate transporter (encoded by the dctA gene) was expressed in trans, the Suc- phenotype of the atp deletion strain reverted to Suc+, which shows that the reason why the E. coli atp mutant is unable to grow aerobically on C4-dicarboxylates is insufficient transport capacity for these substrates.

Experimental determination of control by the H(+)-ATPase in Escherichia coli

Strains carrying deletions in the atp genes, encoding the H(+)-ATPase, were unable to grow on nonfermentable substrates such as succinate, whereas with glucose as the substrate the growth rate of an atp deletion mutant was surprisingly high (some 75-80% of wild-type growth rate). The rate of glucose and oxygen consumption of these mutants was increased compared to the wild-type rates. In order to analyze the importance of the H(+)-ATPase at its physiological level, the cellular concentration of H(+)-ATPase was modulated around the wild-type level, using genetically manipulated strains. The control coefficient by the H(+)-ATPase with respect to growth rate and catabolic fluxes was measured. Control on growth rate was absent at the wild-type concentration of H(+)-ATPase, independent of whether the substrate for growth was glucose or succinate. Control by the H(+)-ATPase on the catabolic fluxes, including respiration, was negative at the wild-type H(+)-ATPase level. Moreover, the turnover number of the individual H(+)-ATPase enzymes increased as the H(+)-ATPase concentration was lowered. The negative control by the H(+)-ATPase on catabolism may thus be involved in a homeostatic control of ATP synthesis and, to some extent, explain the zero control by the H(+)-ATPase on E. coli growth rate.

Limited differential mRNA inactivation in the atp (unc) operon of Escherichia coli

Individual subunits of ATP synthase, encoded by the eight genes of the atp operon (atpA through atpH), have been found to be synthesized at a 10-fold range in molar amounts (D.L. Foster and R.H. Fillingame, J. Biol. Chem. 257:2009-2015, 1982; K. von Meyenburg, B.B. Jorgensen, J. Nielsen, F.G. Hansen, and O. Michelsen. Tokai J. Exp. Clin. Med. 7:23-31, 1982). We have determined the functional half-lives at 30 degrees C of mRNAs transcribed from these genes either during constitutive expression in a partial diploid strain or after induced expression from a plasmid. Accurate decay kinetics of the relative mRNA levels were determined by monitoring the rates of synthesis of the individual ATP synthase subunits by radioactive pulse labeling at different times after blocking transcription initiation with rifampin. The mRNA transcribed from the atp operon was found to be inactivated about twice as fast as the bulk mRNA in E. coli. Exceptions are the mRNA from the promoter-proximal atpB gene, which was inactivated about three times as fast as the bulk mRNA, and atpC mRNA, the inactivation rate of which was comparable to that of the bulk mRNA. These moderate differences in the kinetics of functional decay explain only a minor part of the differences in expression levels of the atp genes. We conclude, therefore, that the individual atp mRNAs must be translated with widely different efficiencies. The present analysis further revealed that mRNA degradation is sensitive to heat shock; i.e., after incubation at 39 degrees C for 5 min followed by a shift back to 30 degrees C, the decay rate of the bulk mRNA was decreased by 30%.

Control analysis of the dependence of Escherichia coli physiology on the H(+)-ATPase

The H(+)-ATPase plays a central role in Escherichia coli free-energy transduction and hence in E. coli physiology. We here investigate the extent to which this enzyme also controls the growth rate, growth yield, and respiratory rate of E. coli. We modulate the expression of the atp operon and determine the effect on said properties. When quantified in terms of control coefficients, we find that, in the wild-type cell growing on glucose in minimal medium, this key enzyme (H(+)-ATPase) exerts virtually no control on growth rate (magnitude of C < 0.01), a minor positive control on growth yield (C = 0.15), and a small but negative control on respiration rate (C = -0.25). The control the enzyme exerts on the consumption rate of the carbon and free-energy substrate is negative (C = -0.15). We also studied how the control coefficients themselves vary with the expression of the atp operon. As the level of expression of the atp operon was reduced, the control exerted by the H(+)-ATPase on growth rate and growth yield increased slightly; the control on growth rate passed through a maximum (C = 0.1) and disappeared when the atp operon was not expressed at all, reflecting that with this substrate there are alternative routes for ATP synthesis. At elevated levels of the H(+)-ATPase compared to the wild type, the control exerted by the enzyme on growth rate became negative. The evolutionary context of the absence of control by the atp operon on growth rate is discussed.

Excess capacity of H(+)-ATPase and inverse respiratory control in Escherichia coli

With succinate as free-energy source, Escherichia coli generating virtually all ATP by oxidative phosphorylation might be expected heavily to tax its ATP generating capacity. To examine this the H(+)-ATPase (ATP synthase) was modulated over a 30-fold range. Decreasing the amount of H(+)-ATPase reduced the growth rate much less than proportionally; the H(+)-ATPase controlled growth rate by < 10%. This lack of control reflected excess capacity: the rate of ATP synthesis per H(+)-ATPase (the turnover number) increased by 60% when the number of enzymes was decreased by 40%. At 15% H(+)-ATPase, the enzyme became limiting and its turnover was increased even further, due to an increased driving force caused by a reduction in the total flux through the enzymes. At smaller reductions of [H(+)-ATPase] the total flux was not reduced, revealing a second cause for increased turnover number through increased membrane potential: respiration was increased, showing that in E.coli, respiration and ATP synthesis are, in part, inversely coupled. Indeed, growth yield per O2 decreased, suggesting significant leakage or slip at the high respiration rates and membrane potential found at low H(+)-ATPase concentrations, and explaining that growth yield may be increased by activating the H(+)-ATPase.

The use of lac-type promoters in control analysis

For control analysis, it is necessary to modulate the activity of an enzyme around its normal level and measure the changes in steady-state fluxes or concentrations. We describe an improved method for effecting the modulation, as elaborated for Escherichia coli. The chromosomal gene, encoding the enzyme of interest, is put under the control of a lacUV5 or a tacI promoter. The alternative use of the two promoters leads to an expression range which should make it suitable for the use in control analysis of many enzymes. The lacUV5 promoter should be used when the wild-type expression level is low, the tacI promoter when the latter is high. The endogenous lac operon is placed under the control of a second copy of the lacUV5 promoter and a lacY7am mutation (eliminating lactose permease, the transport system for the inducer isopropyl-thio-beta-D- galactoside) is introduced. The method was demonstrated experimentally by constructing E. coli strains, in which the chromosomal atp operon is transcribed from the lacUV5 and the tacI promoter. We measured the concentration of the c subunit of H(+)-ATPase, and found that the expression of this enzyme could be modulated between non-detectable levels and up to five times the wild-type level. Thus, in the absence of inducer, no expression of atp genes could be detected when the atp operon was controlled by the lacUV5 promoter, and we estimate that the expression was less than 0.0025 times the wild-type level. We show that the introduction of a lacY mutation facilitated the attainment of steady induction levels of partially induced cells. The mutation also reduced positive cooperativity in the dependence of expression on the concentration of isopropyl-thio-beta-D-galactoside (the inducer) and shifted the concentration of inducer needed for half maximum induction to higher values. These properties should facilitate the experimental modulation of the enzyme activity by varying the concentration of the inducer.

Carbon and energy metabolism of atp mutants of Escherichia coli

The membrane-bound H(+)-ATPase plays a key role in free-energy transduction of biological systems. We report how the carbon and energy metabolism of Escherichia coli changes in response to deletion of the atp operon that encodes this enzyme. Compared with the isogenic wild-type strain, the growth rate and growth yield were decreased less than expected for a shift from oxidative phosphorylation to glycolysis alone as a source of ATP. Moreover, the respiration rate of a atp deletion strain was increased by 40% compared with the wild-type strain. This result is surprising, since the atp deletion strain is not able to utilize the resulting proton motive force for ATP synthesis. Indeed, the ratio of ATP concentration to ADP concentration was decreased from 19 in the wild type to 7 in the atp mutant, and the membrane potential of the atp deletion strain was increased by 20%, confirming that the respiration rate was not controlled by the magnitude of the opposing membrane potential. The level of type b cytochromes in the mutant cells was 80% higher than the level in the wild-type cells, suggesting that the increased respiration was caused by an increase in the expression of the respiratory genes. The atp deletion strain produced twice as much by-product (acetate) and exhibited increased flow through the tricarboxylic acid cycle and the glycolytic pathway. These three changes all lead to an increase in substrate level phosphorylation; the first two changes also lead to increased production of reducing equivalents. We interpret these data as indicating that E. coli makes use of its ability to respire even if it cannot directly couple this ability to ATP synthesis; by respiring away excess reducing equivalents E. coli enhances substrate level ATP synthesis.

Uncoupler resistance in E. coli Tuv and Cuv is due to the exclusion of uncoupler by the outer membrane

The uncoupler resistant bacterial strains E. coli Tuv and Cuv share the high deoxycholate sensitivity of the parent strain, Doc S. However, both Tuv and Cuv show greater resistance than Doc S to other detergents. Measurement of the periplasmic volume indicates that the outer membrane of Doc S is freely permeable to both TPP+ and hydroxymethylinulin. Tuv and Cuv are able to exclude these compounds. EDTA treatment was necessary prior to measuring membrane potential in Tuv and Cuv. Under conditions where delta phi could be measured, uncouplers acted to dissipate delta phi with equal potency in all strains. Uncoupler resistant proline uptake in Tuv and Cuv was abolished by EDTA treatment. Transduction experiments with phage P1 showed that uncoupler resistance could be transferred from Tuv to Doc S. Such transductants were no longer sensitive to novabiocin. The gene for uncoupler resistance cotransduced with the gene pyrE (82 min). Plating efficiency experiments with P1 suggests that detergent sensitivity in Doc S arises from an rfa (81 min) mutation. This mutation is no longer present in Tuv.

The transmembrane topology of the a [corrected] subunit from the ATPase in Escherichia coli analyzed by PhoA protein fusions

The atpB encodes the a [corrected] subunit of the H(+)-ATPase of E. coli. The topology of this membrane protein has been analyzed by PhoA fusions. The results support an eight transmembrane segment model that is consistent with the hydropathic profile.

Vegetarian lifestyle and bone mineral density

The amount and type of dietary protein affect bone mineral loss after the menopause. This observation was substantiated in 10 y of studies by direct photon absorptiometry, four results of which follow. 1) Studies of 1600 women in southwestern Michigan revealed that those who had followed the lactoovovegetarian diet for at least 20 y had only 18% less bone mineral by age 80 whereas closely paired omnivores had 35% less bone mineral. 2) A study of self-selected weighed food intake showed no statistical difference in nutrient intakes but a difference in Ca:P ratio and acid-base formation of diet, each significant to p less than 0.001. 3) When sulfur intake of a fixed diet was increased, the titratable acidity of the urine increased proportionately. 4) Bone mineral densities of 304 older women from the continental United States closely paralleled those from earlier Michigan studies.

Proton conduction by subunit a of the membrane-bound ATP synthase of Escherichia coli revealed after induced overproduction

Transcriptional fusions between the phage lambda promotor pR and ATP synthase genes, atp, on plasmid pBR322 were constructed in order to study the effects upon growth and physiology of Escherichia coli of induced overproduction of H+-ATPase subunits. Constitutive overproduction of the complete enzyme had earlier been found to result in decreased growth rate and cytological defects. When a 15-fold overproduction of subunit a alone, or together with subunit c, or with all other ATP synthase subunits was suddenly induced, the following effects were observed. Inhibition of growth and protein synthesis within 10 min of induction, which effect was suppressed by N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, also when the chromosomal atp genes coding for the Fo subunits a, b and c were deleted. Partial collapse of the membrane potential delta psi at 4-6 min after induction paralleled by inhibition of thiomethylgalactoside and guanosine transport. Respiration and alpha-methylglucoside transport was not affected. The partial collapse of delta psi, and the specific inhibition of proton-driven transport systems is taken to show that the subunit a has--when suddenly overproduced and inserted into the membrane--a protonophoric activity. It is suggested that this protonophoric activity of subunit a is related to the function of this subunit in the Fo sector in H+-ATPases.

Membrane integration and function of the three F0 subunits of the ATP synthase of Escherichia coli K12

Integration into the cytoplasmic membrane and function of the three F0 subunits, a, b and c, of the membrane-bound ATP synthase of Escherichia coli K12 were analysed in situations where synthesis of only one or two types of subunits was possible. This was achieved by combined use of atp mutations and plasmids carrying and expressing one or two of the atp genes coding for ATP synthase subunits. AU three F0 subunits were found to be required for the establishment of efficient H+ conduction. Subunits a and b individually as well as together were found to bind F1 ATPase to the membrane while subunit c did not. The ATPase activity bound to either of these single subunits, or in pairwise combinations, was not inhibited by N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. Also ATP-dependent H+ translocation was not catalysed unless all three F0 subunits were present in the membrane. The integration into the membrane of the subunits a and b was independent of the presence of other ATP synthase subunits.

Regulation of PRPP and nucleoside tri and tetraphosphate pools in Escherichia coli under conditions of nitrogen starvation

The ribonucleoside triphosphate, deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate, 3' -diphosphate guanosine 5' -diphosphate (ppGpp), and 5-phosphoribosyl 1-pyrophosphate (PRPP) pools in Escherichia coli B were determined by thin-layer chromatography during changing conditions to ammonium starvation. The intracellular concentrations of all nucleotides were found to change in a well-defined order several minutes before andy observed change in the optical density of the culture. The levels of purine nucleoside triphosphates (adenosine 5' -triphosphate [CTP], dCTP) and uridine nucleotides (uridine 5' -triphosphate, deoxythymidine 5'-triphosphate). The deoxyribonucleotides thus behaved as the ribonucleotides. The levels of ppGpp increased 11-fold after the decrease in uridine nucleotides, when the accumulation of stable ribonucleic acid (RNA) stopped. The level of the nucleotide pool did not stabilize until 30 min after the change in optical density. The pool of dGTP dropped concomitantly with the pool of CTP. The nucleotide precursor PRPP exhibited a transient increase, wtih maximum value of four times the exponential levels at the onset of starvation. Apparently the cell adjusts early to starvation by reducing either the phosphorylating activity or the nucleotide biosynthetic activity. As in other downshift systems, the accumulation of stable RNA stopped before the break in optical density and before the stop in protein accumulation. Cell divisions were quite insensitive to the control mechanisms operating on RNA and protein accumulation under ammonium starvation, since the cells continued to divide for 21 min without any net accumulation of RNA.

Synthesis of Cortical Proteins in Tetrahymena

The synthesis of proteins of the oral apparatus in the ciliate Tetrahymena pyriformis has been studied in relation to the development of this organelle system within the cell. Oral proteins were labelled in both logarithmic phase and synchronized cells by growing the cells in the presence of tritiated amino acids. Estimates of the relative amounts of radioactive protein within the old and developing oral structures under various experimental conditions were made by radioautography of the structures after isolation from the cells. Evidence is presented that (i) mature oral structures undergo constant protein turnover; (ii) new oral organelle systems are constructed largely from proteins which are made prior to organelle differentiation and which are contained within a cytoplasmic pool and possibly also in pre-existing oral apparatuses; (iii) there are regular features in the label incorporation and conservation data which correlate well with morphological changes known to occur in the anterior (old) oral apparatus just prior to division; (iv) incorporation of labelled amino acids into the protein of oral structures does not occur during the synchronizing heat shocks; and (v) incorporation of label into the developing oral primordium does occur during primordium development, although it is not known whether these structural proteins are those demonstrated by other studies for which synthesis during development is an absolute requirement.