Development of an integrated environmental data base

The ability to access information for use in decision making is a well-recognized need within the context of management sciences. A similar need exists in order to make effective technical decisions pertaining to environmental resource management. Data bases are the principle vehicle by which scientists, engineers, and resource managers store and access environmental information. An integrated data-base mechanism is essential in order for federal agencies to manage programs such as enforcement of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), state of the environment (SOE) reporting, and the environmental assessment and review process (EARP). A data-base structure and data dissemination mechanism under current development within Environment Canada, Conservation and Protection, Atlantic Region, is presented along with some of its operational benefits and constraints.     

Assessing Ecological Resources for Remediation and Future Land Uses on Contaminated Lands

Increasingly, the public and governmental agencies are concerned about remediating and reclaiming contaminated sites. Understanding the ecological resources on-site and valuing those resources in terms of future uses is important for determining suitable future land uses. In this article, we suggest the major categories of natural resource information required by managers, policy makers, and the general public for making initial future land-use determinations. We then use a dataset of 25 Department of Energy (DOE) sites slated for remediation to explore whether such data are readily available and whether the data can be used to assess natural resource value. Although information is available for almost all sites on federally endangered and threatened species, this information is less available for state-listed species. Biodiversity information is available only for some sites for birds (N = 17), mammals (N = 15), reptiles (N = 14), amphibians (N = 13), and plants (N = 11) and is almost nonexistent for invertebrates (N = 2). Some information is available for invasive species (N = 9). The number of available habitats is directly related to total acres and nonindustrial acres. Biodiversity of birds, mammals, and reptiles (but not amphibians) is directly related to both total acres and total nonindustrial acres of sites. These data suggest that even over a wide geographical area (from eastern to western United States), biodiversity relates to habitat size and number of habitats available. This information will be useful not only to DOE managers but also to natural resource trustees, ecologists, state and federal regulators, and the general public in the discourse over future uses of these lands.*Published online Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; Joanna Burger     

Forging new links between environmental management,information systems,and business processes

This article is excerpted from Chapter 1 of Environmental Management Information Systems, which will be published by McGraw-Hill in 1994. A central theme of the book is that all successful implementations of environmental management information systems (EMIS) are based on the appropriate alignment of goals and procedures from three enterprise domains: business processes, environmental management, and information systems. Environmental managers (EM) and information systems (IS) professionals have each been guilty of seeing their functions as primary, domains of specialized scientific expertise inaccessible to outsiders. In fact, however, the enterprise is the customer for both domains; without successful business strategies and systems the enterprise does not require either EM or IS wizards. This article shows why and how essential it is that each of the three domains understands enough of the other two domains to structure good decisions.     

Effective Control of Aquatic Invasive Species in Tropical Australia

Often ecologists and natural resource managers can easily access data on invasive species occurrence across a region. Yet, collecting species abundance data over a large area is arguably more important for decision making, but inherently costly, so methods which can provide robust information at low-cost are particularly valuable. Studies of species distribution often use occurrence data to build models of the environmental niche. Environmental suitability derived from such models may be used to predict the potential distributions of species. The ability of such models to predict spatial patterns in abundance have recently been demonstrated. Here we tested the relationship of environmental suitability with local abundance of an aquatic invasive species, olive hymenachne (Hymenachne amplexicaulis) in the Wet Tropics of Australia. Ordinary least squares and quantile regressions revealed a positive relationship between environmental suitability and local abundance of olive hymenachne. We expand on this and use the relationship between environmental suitability and local abundance to quantify the effectiveness of management (reduction in local abundance) under four different management investments. We show that the upper limit of abundance can be used to evaluate management effectiveness based on varying investments, and that ongoing management is the most effective at reducing local abundance. We discuss implications of this in addressing important problems in invasive species management.     

THE LOUISIANA ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND ITS UTILITY IN WATER RESOURCE PLANNING1

ABSTRACT: The Louisiana Environmental Management System (LEMS) is a data processing program developed to aid the Louisiana Joint Legislative Committee on Environmental Quality in decisions leading to resources legislation. Serving as a central data collection and retrieval point for various agencies, the LEMS will maintain assembled information on the location of monitoring stations and coordinate the files of user agencies with data on: land use; air and water quality; meteorological, climatological, and hydrological phenomena; vegetation; fish and wildlife conservation; population; and economics. This data is geographically stored in relation to the state plane coordinate system. For decision making, all pertinent hydrologic, topographic, engineering, cadastral, and other information from separate sources can be automatically mapped as a combined overlay to one of three chosen scales. Land-use patterns are the input data for iterative analyses of present conditions and simulated future human activities for assessing the environmental impact of proposed multiple-purpose water resource developments.     

A focus group study of factors that promote and constrain the use of satellite-derived fire products by resource managers in southern Africa

Semi-structured focus group interviews were employed to examine factors that affect the likelihood that resource managers in southern Africa will use information on vegetation fires provided by two satellite-derived products: an active fire product and a burned area product. The two products are updated regularly and aim to deliver the state-of-the-art in the global monitoring of fires from satellite remote-sensing. Both products are derived from data transmitted by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors carried onboard NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites. The active fire product can be accessed for free via the internet and on media by users working anywhere in the world; the burned area product will be accessible in a similar manner in 2006. The MODIS fire products provide systematic, near-global coverage and are freely available; as such, they give resource managers new opportunities to obtain or supplement information they need to manage vegetation fires effectively. However, the availability of these products does not mean that resource managers will use them, and many other factors are involved. To understand factors that affect whether southern African resource managers will use the two products, two focus groups were held with members of the Southern African Fire Network (SAFNet) in Malawi, Africa, August 2004. Analysis of the group discussions reveals a number of factors that influence whether they will use the products. The qualitative, in depth nature of the group discussions revealed 12 main factors that influence product use; not least the low international internet bandwidths for African countries outside of South Africa. Analysis of the group discussions also suggests how the uptake of MODIS fire products by resource managers in southern Africa might be enhanced by affecting specific changes to how MODIS products are packaged and delivered.     

Effects of Place Identity,Place Dependence,and Experience-Use History on Perceptions of Recreation Impacts in a Natural Setting

It is generally accepted that recreation use in natural environments results in some degree of negative social and environmental impact. Environmental managers are tasked with mitigating the impact while providing beneficial recreation opportunities. Research on the factors that influence visitors' perceptions of environmental and social conditions is necessary to inform sound environmental management of protected natural areas. This study examines the effect of prior experience with the setting and two dimensions of place attachment (i.e., place identity and place dependence) on visitors' perceptions of three types of recreation impacts (i.e., depreciative behavior, environmental impacts, and recreation conflict). Principal components analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling were used to test the study hypotheses using data collected from 351 visitors through on-site questionnaires (response rate of 93 percent). The results show that prior experience exhibited a moderate and significant direct positive effect on place identity, place dependence, and visitors' perceptions of recreation impacts. Contrary to study hypotheses and prior research, neither place dependence nor place identity exhibited a significant effect on the dependent variables. The results show that prior experience causes visitors to be more sensitive to depreciative behaviors, environmental impacts, and recreation conflict. These findings raise concerns over potential visitor displacement and deterioration of site conditions. Implications for resource managers are discussed, which include education, modifying visitor use patterns, and site design strategies.     

Reduced complexity models for regional aquatic habitat suitability assessment

Generalizable methods that identify suitable aquatic habitat across large river basins and regions are needed to inform resource management. Habitat suitability models intersect environmental variables to predict species occurrence, but are often data intensive and thus are typically developed at small spatial scales. This study estimated mean monthly aquatic habitat suitability throughout Utah (USA) for Bonneville Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii utah) and Bluehead Sucker (Catostomus discobolus) with publicly available, geospatial datasets. We evaluated 15 habitat suitability models using unique combinations of percent of mean annual discharge, velocity, gradient, and stream temperature. Environmental variables were validated with observed conditions and species presence observations to verify habitat suitability estimates. Stream temperature, gradient, and discharge best predicted Bonneville Cutthroat Trout presence, and gradient and discharge best predicted Bluehead Sucker presence. Simple aquatic habitat suitability models outperformed models that used only streamflow to estimate habitat for both species, and are useful for conservation planning and water resources decision-making. This modeling approach could enable resource managers to prioritize stream restoration across vast regions within their management domain, and is potentially compatible with water management modeling to improve ecological objectives in management models.     

Gradient modeling: A new approach to fire modeling and wilderness resource management

Managers of wilderness resources must maintain, preserve, and sometimes restore pristine ecosystems while providing for public use and enjoyment of these areas. These managers require a resource information system that can store, retrieve and integrate basic data, synthesize components to solve particular problems, and provide simulations and predictions of natural processes and management actions. Traditional information systems based on land classification and type-mapping do not provide these capabilities.Gradient modeling, a new approach to resource management and forest fire simulation, has been developed to meet these needs in Glacier National Park. The method links four major components: (1) a terrestrial site inventory coded from aerial photographs that offers 10-m resolution; (2) gradient models of vegetation and fuel that derive quantitative stand compositional data from the parameters stored in the coded inventory; (3) a fuel moisture and microclimate model that extrapolates basestation weather data to remote sites using the parameters stored in the inventory; and (4) fire behavior and fire ecology models that integrate the data from the inventory and models to calculate real-time fire behavior and ecological succession following a fire.     

Justifying the cost of EMIS: Piloting lessons from Rhone-Poulenc

Two worlds are colliding as many companies are integrating environmental management with business management. Nowhere is this more evident than in the hundreds of companies that are now working to upgrade their environmental management information systems (EMIS), which are a critical component of business integration. Building a business case for EMIS requires crossing many disciplinary boundaries—knowing the language of information systems, accounting, business management, and environmental management. Hence, it is a very valuable skill for environmental managers to develop in order to build their function and their own careers. Some environmental and information systems professionals are attempting to develop a general set of guidelines for justifying the cost of EMIS—in particular, the useful emerging work of the Environmental Health and Safety Software Development Group. This article relates the experience of an EMIS development effort at Rhone-Poulenc, Inc.     

Ecological planning: A review

Beginning with the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act in 1969, the federal government of the United States has enacted numerous pieces of legislation intended to protect or conserve the environment. Other national governments have also enacted environmental legislation during the past two decades. State and local governments have also adopted policies concerned with environmental planning and management. Multiple laws and overlapping governmental agency responsibilities have confused development and resource management efforts. A comprehensive methodology that integrates the legal mandates and the agency missions into a common and unified framework is needed. Ecological planning offers such a method. Application of the method allows planners and resource managers to better understand the nature and character of the land and/or resource and therefore make better decisions about its appropriate use or management. The steps taken in an ecological planning process—1) goal setting, 2) inventory and analysis of data, 3) suitability analysis, 4) developing alternatives, 5) implementation, 6) administration, and 7) evaluation—are outlined and explained. Hand-drawn overlays and computer programs as techniques for handling ecological planning information are compared. Observations and suggestions for further research are offered.     

Integrated Resource Management: Moving from Rhetoric to Practice in Australian Agriculture

/ Implementing the concept of sustainability through integrated approaches to natural resource management poses enormous challenges for both the rural communities and government agencies concerned. This paper reviews the underlying rhetoric of sustainable agricultural systems and the integrated resource management paradigm and identifies some of the challenges being experienced in translating this rhetoric into practice. A relatively recently implemented community-based integrated catchment management (ICM) process in a rural community in northeast Australia is examined in terms of some of the lessons learned that may be relevant to other similar integrated resource management (IRM) processes. It reveals a pragmatic, opportunistic, and evolving implementation process based on adaptive learning rather than a more traditional "rational" planning approach. Some essential characteristics of a community-based IRM process are identified, including fostering communication; providing a structure that fosters cooperation and facilities coordination among community, industry, and government agencies; the integration of IRM principles into local government planning schemes; and an emergent strategic approach to IRM program implementation. We conclude by identifying some essential characteristics of an IRM process that can assist a community to adapt to, and manage change for, sustainable resource use.     

Assessing Land-Use Impacts on Natural Resources

/ Much information is available on changes that occur in natural resources from both spatially-explicit data on environmental conditions and models of the interactions of these conditions and resources with human activities. The strategy for assessing land-use impacts on natural resources developed in this paper provides a framework for using relevant data and models to address questions of how management practices can promote both use and protection of resources. This assessment strategy integrates spatially explicit environmental data using geographic information systems (GIS) with computer models that simulate changes in land cover in response to land-use impacts. The computer models also simulate susceptibility of species to changes in habitat suitability and landscape patterns. The approach is applied to management of limestone barrens on the Oak Ridge Reservation in East Tennessee. Potential limestone barrens habitats are identified by overlaying appropriate soils, geology, slope, and land-use/land-cover conditions. Their validity is tested against known sites containing rare species that occur in these habitats. The location of habitats at risk in the aftermath of human activities is determined by using an available area model that identifies the size and proximity of sites that particular types of species can no longer use as habitat. The resulting risk map can be used in land management planning. The approach uses readily available in situ and remotely sensed data and is applicable to a wide range of locations and land-use scenarios. This approach can be refined based on needs identified by land managers and on the sensitivity of the results to the resolution of available resource information.KEY WORDS: Land management; Assessment; Habitat characterization; Limestone barrens; Ecological modeling; Geographic information systems     

Off-site consequences: Life after risk management plans,Part I—public response

Many environmental and facility managers view the submittal and public availability of their facilities' risk management plans (RMPs) as discrete events and give little thought about how RMP information may influence their future relations with plant communities and other stakeholders. In fact, the public availability of RMPs will have some significant and lasting consequences that have the potential to alter RMP sources' relations with a wide variety of stakeholders. This article is the first of two installments that will explore some of the likely outcomes of the risk management program, with a particular emphasis on those consequences tied to the public availability of the RMPs themselves. This installment considers likely responses at the community level and from both national and local environmental advocacy groups. The second installment will look at likely responses to RMP information in land use planning, by the financial services sector, by regulatory agencies, and by the senior management of RMP sources' owners and operators. Although the responses of individual communities to RMPs will be governed by a number of variables, including the nature of existing relations with individual RMP sources, proximity (or perceived proximity) of residences or other public and environmental receptors to RMP sources, and stakeholders' attitudes toward chemicals and chemical use, there are certain potential responses that managers should look for in their communities. These RMP-driven responses and expectations are discussed in the first installment of this article.© 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Degradation Model: A Quantitative EIA Instrument,Acting as a Decision Support System (DSS) for Environmental Management

Environmental assessment of alternative development plans, programs, and policies may bring conflict among decision-makers, particularly when some quantitative measures for decision-making are needed and where cumulative impacts are neglected. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environmental economics theories, despite their usefulness, are not capable of addressing those issues and problems alone. In recent years, the decision support system (DSS) has provided some solutions, but mathematical analysis of the system to show the internal structure of the problem is not always possible. To addres the above shortcomings and ongoing problems of decision-making in Iran, a degradation model (DM) was introduced as an instrument of EIA, to act as a DSS for managers. The model is a compromise between knowledge-based decision support systems, detailed models, digested information models, and the basic theorem of environmental economics. In the present study (1996–2000), the model was applied in three provinces of Iran, representing three of four biogeographical regions of Iran. The study area was divided into a set of grids (100 km²). The degradation coefficient (H) was computed for all grids (1333), representing the degree of degradation in the grid. It is obvious that the higher the coefficient the more area is degraded and less prone to further development, and vice versa. In order to provide decision-makers with a set of quantitative measures to observe impacted areas (critical and noncritical) for resource allocation and further development, the degradation coefficients of all grids were classified into categories and criteria, using a fuzzy set theoretic approach. Accordingly, only 24% of study areas are prone to further development. The degradation model as a knowledge-based decision support system has its strengths and weaknesses, but it has solved managers' ongoing problems in Iran and it could be used elsewhere.     

Stewardship of Natural Resources: Definition, Ethical and Practical Aspects

Stewardship is potentially a usefulconcept in modernizing management philosophies. Use ofthe term has increased markedly in recent years, yetthe term is used loosely and rarely defined in landmanagement literature. The connections between thispractical usage and the ethical basis of stewardshipare currently poorly developed. The followingdefinition is proposed: ``Stewardship is theresponsible use (including conservation) of naturalresources in a way that takes full and balancedaccount of the interests of society, futuregenerations, and other species, as well as of privateneeds, and accepts significant answerability tosociety.' A religious interpretation would require thephrase ``and ultimately to God' to be added.Stewardship has both secular and religiousinterpretations and it will be desirable to developboth of these aspects in parallel. A task forphilosophers is to establish whether the ethical basisof stewardship is sufficient to address environmentalconcerns or whether it is necessary to embrace widerethical approaches. Stewardship occupies similarground to several other concepts of use and managementof resources, particularly sustainability. It canbuild on sustainability by encouraging a broader viewof who and what should benefit from managementactivity. In particular, it focuses attention on therole of managers in providing public benefit and onenvisaging other species as a form of ``stakeholder' inmanagement decisions. Stewardship is applicable acrossthe widest range of fields of resource use and alsohas relevance to aspects of land tenure and propertyrights. Application of stewardship will require someadjustments in the roles of private managers/ownersvis-à-vis government. It might providemanagers with an expanded role and, importantly, amore positive image, both of themselves and in theeyes of the public. Stewardship could alsobe developed in a way that has relevance to citizensin general (as opposed to managers and owners ofresources), through their interactions with naturalresources as consumers.     

吉林省环境数据中心管理系统建设初探

本文简述建立环境数据中心的必要性及其在信息化建设中的地位与作用,论证了吉林省环境数据中心管理系统建立的环境基础及可行性并提出了设想和建议。     

Developing a collaborative model for environmental planning and management

Methods for involving the public in natural resource management are changing as agencies adjust to an increasingly turbulent social and political environment. There is growing interest among managers and scholars in collaborative approaches to public involvement. Collaboration is conceptually defined and elaborated using examples from the natural resource management field. This paper then examines how collaboration theory from the organizational behavior field can help environmental managers to better understand those factors that facilitate and inhibit collaborative solutions to resource problems. A process-oriented model is presented that proposes that collaboration emerges out of an environmental context and then proceeds sequentially through a problem-setting, direction-setting, and structuring phase. Factors constraining collaboration are also specified, including organizational culture and power differentials. Designs for managing collaboration are identified, which include appreciative planning, joint agreements, dialogues, and negotiated settlements. Environmental managers need new skills to manage collaboration within a dynamic social and political environment. Further research is needed to test the propositions outlined here.     

Assessment of the critical factors in ımplementing ISO 14001:2015 environmental management systems for developing countries: A case study for Sri Lanka

ISO 14001:2015 is an international standard that specifies the requirements of environmental management systems (EMS). This study assessed the influence of top management commitment, applications of compliance and other requirements, operational control, monitoring and measurements, resource management and improvements as critical factors on successful implementation and the operation of the ISO 14001:2015, by considering organizations in Sri Lanka as a case study. A data collection was conducted via questionnaires and structured interviews from stakeholders who are directly responsible for the EMS such as environmental managers, quality mangers and general managers of the organizations, who are certified with ISO 14001:2015, and comparisons were undertaken. The statistical analysis of the critical factors has shown a significant positive effect on both large‐scale organizations and export‐oriented organizations on EMS implementation. Furthermore, the results indicate that the EMS adoption has created significant positive impacts on efficient energy and resource consumption within organizations.