Description: The dinoflagellate genus Alexandrium is one of the major harmful algal bloom (HAB) genera with respect to the diversity, magnitude and consequences of blooms. The ability of Alexandrium to colonize multiple habitats and to persist over large regions through time is testimony to the adaptability and resilience of this group of species. Three different families of toxins, as well as an as yet incompletely characterized suite of allelochemicals are produced among Alexandrium species. Nutritional strategies are equally diverse, including the ability to utilize a range of inorganic and organic nutrient sources, and feeding by ingestion of other organisms. Many Alexandrium species have complex life histories that include sexuality and often, but not always, cyst formation, which is characteristic of a meroplanktonic life strategy and offers considerable ecological advantages. Due to the public health and ecosystem impacts of Alexandrium blooms, the genus has been extensively studied, and there exists a broad knowledge base that ranges from taxonomy and phylogeny through genomics and toxin biosynthesis to bloom dynamics and modeling. Here we present a review of the genus Alexandrium, focusing on the major toxic and otherwise harmful species.

Description: Freshwater lenses below barrier islands are dynamic systems affected by changes in morphodynamic patterns, groundwater recharge and discharge. They are also vulnerable to pollution and overabstraction of groundwater. Basic knowledge on hydrogeological and hydrochemical processes of freshwater lenses is important to ensure a sustainable water management, especially when taking into account possible effects of climate change. This is the first study which gives a compact overview on the age distribution, recharge conditions and hydrochemical evolution of a barrier island freshwater lens in the southern North Sea (Spiekeroog Island, Eastfrisian Wadden Sea). Two ground- and surface water sampling campaigns were carried out in May and July 2011, supplemented by monthly precipitation sampling from July to October. 3H–3He ages, stable oxygen and hydrogen isotopes and major ion concentrations show that the freshwater lens reaches a depth of 44 mbsl, where an aquitard constrains further expansion in vertical direction. Groundwater ages are increasing from 4.4 years in 12 mbsl up to 〉70 years at the freshwater– saltwater interface. Stable isotope signatures reflect average local precipitation signatures. An annual recharge rate of 300–400 mm was calculated with 3H–3He data. Freshwater is primarily of Na–Ca–Mg–HCO3– and Ca–Na–HCO3–Cl type, while lowly mineralized precipitation and saltwater are of Na–Cl types. A trend towards heavier stable isotope signatures and higher electric conductivities in the shallower, younger groundwater within the freshwater lens may indicate increasing atmospheric temperatures in the last 30 years.

Description: In recent years, policies to promote renewable energy have become increasingly popular among municipalities in different parts of the world. This article examines the case of Germany. It argues that municipalities, compared to other state and private actors, already have the potential to play a key role in German renewable energy governance. Although both private actors and the European Union have gained importance in the past 20 years, German municipalities still play a crucial role and can apply five distinct and important modes of governance in the field of renewable energy policy. In this regard, the notion of a general development towards a "cooperating and ensuring state", which increasingly delegates its tasks and thus becomes less important, cannot be confirmed in the field of municipal renewable energy governance in Germany.

Description: Another summit of change, known as Rio+20, has passed in summer 2012, nourishing the rumours of a green economy. Building up a green economy seems to be the all over recipe for different crises of capitalism, among them climate change and resource scarcity. Yet efficiency and consistency, as their main strategies, do not suffice to reach sustainable levels, as they cause rebound effects and keep stimulating economy growth. Obviously, there are limits to green growth, too. Can we conceive an economy, and respective economic institutions, that serve human needs and wealth without a built-in necessity to grow? What kind of political, mental, and individual changes does a sufficiency economy require? And what are perspectives and policies to actually start implementing it? Just before Rio +20 the symposium "Economy of Sufficiency", devoted to Wolfgang Sachs on the occasion of his 65th birthday in 2011, examined these questions in three dimensions. Accordingly this selection of contributions to the symposium follows the chapters "Wealth in diversity" (Ashok Khosla, Marianne Gronemeyer, Vandana Shiva), "Enjoyable limits" (Richard B. Norgaard, Tim Jackson) and "Creating commons" (Ezio Manzini, Silke Helfrich). The essays indicate the historical development of the ideas on a sufficiency economy. Wandering through discourses of sustainable development for several decades, the authors map the range of perspectives, practices as well as barriers and bridge them between cultures, agencies and schools.

Description: Identification of the pre-glacial, transitional and full glacial components in the deep-sea sedimentary record is necessary to understand the ice sheet development of Antarctica and to build circum-Antarctic sediment thickness grids for palaeotopography/-bathymetry reconstructions, which constrain palaeoclimate models. A ~3300 km long Weddell Sea to Scotia Sea multichannel seismic reflection data transect was constructed to define the first basin-wide seismostratigraphy and to identify the pre-glacial to glacial components. Seven main seismic units were mapped: Of these, WS-S1, WS-S2 and WS-S3 comprise the inferred Cretaceous– Palaeocene pre-glacial regime (〉27 Ma in our age model), WS-S4 the Eocene–Oligocene transitional regime (27–11 Ma) and WS-S5, WS-S6, WS-S7 the Miocene–Pleistocene full glacial climate regime (11–1 Ma). Sparse borehole data from ODP Leg 113 and SHALDRIL constrain the ages of the upper three seismic units and seafloor spreading magnetic anomalies compiled from literature constrain the basement ages in the presented age model. The new horizons and stratigraphy often contradict local studies and show an increase in age from southeast to the northwest. The up to 1130 m thick pre-glacial seismic units form a mound in the central Weddell Sea basin and in conjunction with the eroded flank geometry, allow the interpretation of a Cretaceous proto-Weddell Gyre bottom current. The base reflector of the transitional seismic unit has a model age of 26.6–15.5 Ma from southeast to northwest, suggesting similar southeast to northwest initial ice sheet propagation to the outer shelf. We interpret an Eocene East Antarctic Ice Sheet expansion, Oligocene grounding of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and Early Miocene grounding of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet. The transitional regime sedimentation rates in the central and northwestern Weddell Sea (6–10 cm/ky) are higher than in the pre-glacial (1–3 cm/ky) and full glacial regimes (4–8 cm/ky). The pre-glacial to glacial rates are highest in the Jane- and Powell Basins (10–12 cm/ky). Total sediment volume in the Weddell Sea deep-sea basin is estimated at 3.3–3.9×10^6 km3.

Description: This brochure summarises key findings on energy solutions for the preparation and processing of food using local and renewable energy resources. More data, examples and information are available on the internet platform: www.wisions.net

Description: The trophic structure of the German Bight soft-bottom benthic community was evaluated for potential changes after cessation of bottom trawling. Species were collected with van-Veen grabs and beam trawls. Trophic position (i.e. nitrogen stable isotope ratios, δ15N) and energy flow (i.e. species metabolism approximated by body mass scaled abundance) of dominant species were compared in trawled areas and an area protected from fisheries for 14 months in order to detect trawling cessation effects by trophic characteristics. At the community level, energy flow was lower in the protected area, but we were unable to detect significant changes in trophic position. At the species level energy flow in the protected area was lower for predating/scavenging species but higher for interface feeders. Species trophic positions of small predators/scavengers were lower and of deposit feeders higher in the protected area. Major reasons for trophic changes after trawling cessation may be the absence of artificial and additional food sources from trawling likely to attract predators and scavengers, and the absence of physical sediment disturbance impacting settlement/survival of less mobile species and causing a gradual shift in food availability and quality. Our results provide evidence that species or community energy flow is a good indicator to detect trawling induced energy-flow alterations in the benthic system, and that in particular species trophic properties are suitable to capture subtle and short-term changes in the benthos following trawling cessation.

Description: Our perception of design is changing, for design today is no longer concerned only with aesthetics. Now the key factors are interdisciplinary competence and approaches to problem solving. Both politicians as well as businesses recognise design's hybridity and increasingly implement it as a driver of sustainable development (see Chap. 2: Design as a Key Management Factor for Sustainability). But what exactly does "sustainability" mean? What does it mean in this specific context? People must make use of natural resources to meet their basic needs. In this process, resources are transferred into commercial circulation and usually transformed into products with a particular function. Yet the environment is limited and humanity uses more resources than the Earth can sustainably provide. It is time to rethink and generate the same usage while consuming fewer resources (see Chap. 3: Environmental Space - Challenging Transitions). Most countries have incorporated sustainability strategies into their political agendas in order to counteract the threats of climate change caused by the overuse of natural resources, high CO2 emissions, and other factors. The indicators for these strategies vary greatly from country to country (see Chap. 4: Sustainability - Challenges, Politics, Indicators). These indicators need to be taken into account if we are to successfully implement a product or service within a specific context. A concept can only be successful when country-specific indicators are taken into account and the societal context is incorporated into the plan right from the start. The goal is to develop services that support national sustainability targets in production and consumption systems (see Chap. 5: Managing Sustainable Development). When it comes to companies, these changes can simply be introduced in the form of services or products. In the end, it is the users who decide on the success or failure of innovative solutions by either integrating them into their daily lives or ignoring them. Solutions will only be integrated into users' lives when their role within the social framework remains unchallenged by behavioural transformations caused by use of the solution. In order for users to be able to adopt innovations, sustainable development must take place simultaneously on many different levels. These multi-levelled transitions allow for the transformation of society as a whole. Designers can act as agents of change by providing the needed innovations (see Chap. 6: Transition Requires Change Agents for Sustainability). If we are to develop suitable solutions and new approaches, the real needs have to be analysed at the beginning of the development process. New physical products, which frequently result in auxiliary products, are often developed without taking into account the overall context, whereas the development of service-orientated solutions is ignored. A physical product is not absolutely necessary. A service (which is naturally dependent on physical products) can usually fulfil the need just as well - or perhaps even better and at a lower cost – while using fewer or no resources (see Chap. 7: Needs & Services - An Approach). There are a variety of possible approaches to integrate sustainability into the design process (see Chap. 8: Design Process). Precisely which solution is "most or more sustainable" (this is dependent on the defined targets and the indicators used) is often not immediately obvious, and we must turn to a set of methods for a transparent and tangible assessment (see Chap. 9: Sustainability Assessment in Design - Overview and Integration of Methods).