Rethinking assessment of success of mitigation strategies for elephant-induced crop damage

Crop damage is the most common impact of negative interactions between people and elephants and poses a significant threat to rural livelihoods and conservation efforts. Numerous approaches to mitigate and prevent crop damage have been implemented throughout Africa and Asia. Despite the documented high efficacy of many approaches, losses remain common, and in many areas, damage is intensifying. We examined the literature on effectiveness of crop-damage-mitigation strategies and identified key gaps in evaluations. We determined there is a need to better understand existing solutions within affected communities and to extend evaluations of effectiveness beyond measurement of efficacy to include rates of and barriers to adoption. We devised a conceptual framework for evaluating effectiveness that incorporates the need for increased emphasis on adoption and can be used to inform the design of future crop-damage mitigation assessments for elephants and conflict species more widely. The ability to prevent crop loss in practice is affected by both the efficacy of a given approach and rates of uptake among target users. We identified the primary factors that influence uptake as local attitudes, sustainability, and scalability and examined each of these factors in detail. We argue that even moderately efficacious interventions may make significant progress in preventing damage if widely employed and recommend that wherever possible scientists and practitioners engage with communities to build on and strengthen existing solutions and expertise. When new approaches are required, they should align with local attitudes and fit within limitations on labor, financial requirements, and technical capacity.     

Mainstreaming human and large carnivore coexistence through institutional collaboration

Achieving coexistence between large carnivores and humans in human-dominated landscapes (HDLs) is a key challenge for societies globally. This challenge cannot be adequately met with the current sectoral approaches to HDL governance and an academic community largely dominated by disciplinary sectors. Academia (universities and other research institutions and organizations) should take a more active role in embracing societal challenges around conservation of large carnivores in HDLs by facilitating cross-sectoral cooperation to mainstream coexistence of humans and large carnivores. Drawing on lessons from populated regions of Europe, Asia, and South America with substantial densities of large carnivores, we suggest academia should better embrace the principles and methods of sustainability sciences and create institutional spaces for the implementation of transdisciplinary curricula and projects; reflect on research approaches (i.e., disciplinary, interdisciplinary, or transdisciplinary) they apply and how their outcomes could aid leveraging institutional transformations for mainstreaming; and engage with various institutions and stakeholder groups to create novel institutional structures that can respond to multiple challenges of HDL management and human–large carnivore coexistence. Success in mainstreaming this coexistence in HDL will rest on the ability to think and act cooperatively. Such a conservation achievement, if realized, stands to have far-reaching benefits for people and biodiversity.     

珠江口表层水中多环芳烃的分布特征及健康风险评估

分别于2015年2、5、8、11月在珠江八大入海口采集表层水体样品,应用固相萃取富集法对该区域表层水体中16种USEPA优控多环芳烃(PAHs)的时空分布特征进行分析,并利用终生致癌风险增量模型(ILCR)对该区域的饮水健康风险进行评价。结果表明:珠江口4个季度所采集的水样中,∑15PAHs的浓度范围为18.0~50.3 ng/L,含量处于中等水平。其中7种强致癌性∑7PAHs的浓度范围为1.53~3.73 ng/L,占∑15PAHs的5.89%~11.1%,∑15PAHs和∑7PAHs在枯水期(2、11月)样品中明显高于丰水期(5、8月)。就组成特征而言,各采样点PAHs以3、4环为主。珠江口表层水中非致癌类PAHs的危害商数值为0.99×10~(-5)~2.73×10~(-5),远低于USEPA规定的阈值(1);致癌类PAHs产生的健康风险为6.50×10~(-8)~2.37×10~(-7),其中Ba P导致的饮水途径健康风险最高,所有点位致癌类PAHs的健康风险均低于USEPA推荐的对致癌物质最大可接受风险水平(10~(-6)),表明珠江口表层水中PAHs尚不具备严重的致癌风险,但是仍然存在潜在的健康风险,需要重点控制和管理。     

室内空气和灰尘中全(多)氟烷基化合物的研究进展

全(多)氟烷基化合物(per(poly)fluoroalkyl substances,PFASs)在环境各个介质及人体样品中广泛被检出,近年,在室内空气和灰尘中也普遍发现PFASs.研究表明,室内空气中PFASs的含量普遍高于室外空气,室内空气和灰尘中的PFASs可能是室外空气的污染来源及人体暴露源,因此室内环境中PFASs成为环境领域的又一个研究热点.但目前为止,我国还没有开展室内空气中PFASs的相关研究,室内灰尘中PFASs的研究也相对较少.本文就室内空气和灰尘中PFASs的采样与分析方法、污染现状、来源分析及人体暴露等4个方面进行了综合阐述,以期为我国室内环境中PFASs的研究提供参考.     

Images of war: using satellite images for human rights monitoring in Turkish Kurdistan

In areas of war and armed conflict it is difficult to get trustworthy and coherent information. Civil society and human rights groups often face problems of dealing with fragmented witness reports, disinformation of war propaganda, and difficult direct access to these areas. Turkish Kurdistan was used as a case study of armed conflict to evaluate the potential use of satellite images for verification of witness reports collected by human rights groups. The Turkish army was reported to be burning forests, fields and villages as a strategy in the conflict against guerrilla uprising. This paper concludes that satellite images are useful to validate witness reports of forest fires. Even though the use of this technology for human rights groups will depend on some feasibility factors such as prices, access and expertise, the images proved to be key for analysis of spatial aspects of conflict and valuable for reconstructing a more trustworthy picture.     

ARSENIC CONSUMPTION AND HEALTH RISK PERCEPTIONS IN A RURAL WESTERN U.S. AREA1

ABSTRACT: Churchill County, Nevada, has approximately 23,000 residents, among whom an estimated 13,500 relied on private wells for water supply in 2002. This study examined exposure to arsenic in water supplies among residents with private domestic wells and factors related to householder choice to consume tap water. It compared opinions and concerns about water quality with consumption habits and observed concentrations from tap water samples. The results from 351 households indicated that a majority (75 percent) of respondents consumed tap water and that a minority (38 percent) applied treatment. Approximately 66 percent of those who consumed tap water were exposed to concentrations of arsenic that exceeded 10 ppb. Water consumption was related to application of treatment. Among 98 respondents who were not at all concerned about the health effects of aqueous arsenic, 59 (60 percent) reported consuming tap water with concentrations of arsenic exceeding 10 ppb. Conversely, among 86 respondents who were highly concerned about arsenic, 33 (37 percent) consumed tap water with concentrations of arsenic exceeding 10 ppb. Results from a national sampling effort showed that 620 of 5,304 private wells sampled (11.7 percent) had arsenic concentrations above 10 ppb. The paradox of awareness of arsenic in water supplies coupled with consumption of aqueous arsenic in concentrations greater than 10 ppb may be common in other parts of the nation. Enhanced educational efforts, especially related to tap water sampling and explanations of efficacy of available treatment, may be useful means of reducing exposure through private water supplies.     

人类活动对长江河口硝酸盐输入通量的影响

利用长江口枯季潮区界大通站近 4 0年来的水文化学观测资料 ,求得长江径流来源的硝酸盐通量 ,并以此作为长江河口硝酸盐的输入通量。结合历年长江流域的社会经济统计资料和降水量资料等分析 ,发现长江河口硝酸盐的输入通量与流域的人口密度、农业氮肥施用量、灌溉面积以及降水量等显著正相关。随着人口的增长 ,流域内的人类活动不断加剧 ,直接或间接地对长江河口硝酸盐的输入通量产生影响。而降水及灌溉等活动促进了土壤中氮素向河流流失的过程 ,并经长江径流向河口、海洋输送。 90年代后期 ,由人类因素造成的硝酸盐通量的增加占长江河口硝酸盐输入通量的95 %以上。降水引起的水土流失和大气氮氧化物的沉降是硝酸盐通量增加的直接原因 ,而农业活动、燃料燃烧和污水排放等人类活动是该通量变化的主要控制因素     

The Use of Remote Sensing and GIS in the Sustainable Management of Tropical Coastal Ecosystems

The sustainable use and management of important tropical coastal ecosystems (mangrove forests, seagrass beds and coral reefs) cannot be done without understanding the direct and indirect impacts of man. The ecosystem's resilience and recovery capacity following such impacts must be determined. The efficacy of mitigation measures must also be considered. Remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) are excellent tools to use in such studies. This paper reviews the state of the art and application of these tools in tropical coastal zones, and illustrates their relevance in sustainable development. It highlights a selected number of remote sensing case-studies on land cover patterns, population structure and dynamics, and stand characteristics from South-East Asia, Africa and South-America, with a particular emphasis on mangroves. It further shows how remote sensing technology and other scientific tools can be integrated in long-term studies, both retrospective and predictive, in order to anticipate degradation and to take mitigating measures at an early stage. The paper also highlights the guidelines for sustainable management that can result from remote sensing and GIS studies, and identifies existent gaps and research priorities.There is a need for more comprehensive approaches that deal with new remote sensing technologies and analysis in a GIS-environment, and that integrate findings collected over longer periods with the aim of prediction. It is also imperative to collect and integrate data from different disciplines. These are essential in the spirit of sustainable development and management, particularly in developing countries, which are often more vulnerable to environmental degradation.