European monitoring for raptors and owls: state of the art and future needs

Sixty-four percent of the 56 raptor and owl species that occur in Europe have an unfavorable conservation status. As well as requiring conservation measures in their own right, raptors and owls function as useful sentinels of wider environmental "health," because they are widespread top predators, relatively easy to monitor, and sensitive to environmental changes at a range of geographical scales. At a time of global acknowledgment of an increasing speed of biodiversity loss, and new, forward-looking and related European Union biodiversity policy, there is an urgent need to improve coordination at a pan-European scale of national initiatives that seek to monitor raptor populations. Here we describe current initiatives that make a contribution to this aim, particularly the current "MEROS" program, the results of a questionnaire survey on the current state of national raptor monitoring across 22 BirdLife Partners in Europe, the challenges faced by any enhanced pan-European monitoring scheme for raptors, and some suggested pathways for efficiently tapping expertise to contribute to such an initiative.     

Tillage and field scale controls on greenhouse gas emissions

There is a lack of understanding of how associations among soil properties and management-induced changes control the variability of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from soil. We performed a laboratory investigation to quantify relationships between GHG emissions and soil indicators in an irrigated agricultural field under standard tillage (ST) and a field recently converted (2 yr) to no-tillage (NT). Soil cores (15-cm depth) were incubated at 25 degrees C at field moisture content and 75% water holding capacity. Principal component analysis (PCA) identified that most of the variation of the measured soil properties was related to differences in soil C and N and soil water conditions under ST, but soil texture and bulk density under NT. This trend became more apparent after irrigation. However, principal component regression (PCR) suggested that soil physical properties or total C and N were less important in controlling GHG emissions across tillage systems. The CO2 flux was more strongly determined by microbial biomass under ST and inorganic N content under NT than soil physical properties. Similarly, N2O and CH4 fluxes were predominantly controlled by NO3- content and labile C and N availability in both ST and NT soils at field moisture content, and NH4+ content after irrigation. Our study indicates that the field-scale variability of GHG emissions is controlled primarily by biochemical parameters rather than physical parameters. Differences in the availability and type of C and N sources for microbial activity as affected by tillage and irrigation develop different levels and combinations of field-scale controls on GHG emissions.     

The Use of Geographic Information Systems for Resource Evaluation: A New Zealand Example

Over the last decade, New Zealand has implemented innovative reforms in respect of natural resource and environmental management. These include the Resource ManagementAct 1991 (RMA), a notable feature of which is the adoption of 'sustainable management' as the key principle guiding resource allocation and use. This and other features of the new administrative context for resource management strongly suggest a prominent role for geographicinformation systems (GIS) and related spatial information technology. In this paper we present an outline of the Regional Resource Evaluation Project (RREP), a project that has been established to explore and demonstrate the capabilities of GIS and related spatial information technology in the context of resource analysis and decision making. To date, the RREP has achieved important outcomes in terms of database design and development. An extensive information base which incorporates data on the physical and natural environment, patterns of human activity, and on social and demographic characteristics has been assembled. We describe the information systems, as well as some of the technical issues that attend to database design and development.We also provide brief reviews of two applications of the GIS to resource evaluation. One relates to the evaluation of changes in regional land use, with a focus on natural habitats. The other is concerned with land suitability assessment for plantation forestry.     

Preparing future engineers for challenges of the 21st century: Sustainable engineering

The field of engineering is changing rapidly as the growing global population puts added demands on the earth's resources: engineering decisions must now account for limitations in materials and energy as well as the need to reduce discharges of wastes. This means educators must revise courses and curricula so engineering graduates are prepared for the new challenges as practicing engineers. The Center for Sustainable Engineering has been established to help faculty members accommodate such changes through workshops and new educational materials, including a free access website with peer-reviewed materials.     

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.     

Implementation of resource management plans: identifying keys to success

One of the primary challenges in resource and environmental planning is successful implementation of plans. Plan implementation is a complex process influenced by many factors. This study identifies 19 criteria affecting implementation success and tests the impact of these criteria through a case study of collaborative plan implementation in British Columbia, Canada. The significance of criteria and degree to which they are met is assessed by a survey of senior officials responsible for plan implementation. An implementation evaluation index (IEI) is constructed to assess the quality of plan implementation systems and best practices for effective implementation are identified.     

Mercury volatilisation and phytoextraction from base-metal mine tailings

Experiments were carried out in plant growth chambers and in the field to investigate plant-mercury accumulation and volatilisation in the presence of thiosulphate (S2O3)-containing solutions. Brassica juncea (Indian mustard) plants grown in Hg-contaminated Tui mine tailings (New Zealand) were enclosed in gastight volatilisation chambers to investigate the effect of ammonium thiosulphate ([NH4]2 S2O3) on the plant-Hg volatilisation process. Application of (NH4)2 S2O3 to substrates increased up to 6 times the Hg concentration in shoots and roots of B. juncea relative to controls. Volatilisation rates were significantly higher in plants irrigated only with water (control) when compared to plants treated with (NH4)2 S2O3. Volatilisation from barren pots (without plants) indicated that Hg in tailings is subject to biological and photochemical reactions. Addition of sodium thiosulphate (Na2S2O3) at 5 g/kg of substrate to B. juncea plants grown at the Tui mine site confirmed the plant growth chambers studies showing the effectiveness of thio-solutions at enhancing shoot Hg concentrations. Mercury extraction from the field plots yielded a maximum value of 25 g/ha. Mass balance studies revealed that volatilisation is a dominant pathway for Hg removal from the Tui mine site. A preliminary assessment of the risks of volatilisation indicated that enhanced Hg emissions by plants would not harm the local population and the regional environment.     

Organizational and behavioural consequences of uncertainty: A case study

This paper examines some of the organizational and behavioural consequences of uncertainty through consideration of a case study. An industrial firm and its problems are described and an attempt is made to understand the origins of the situation using a systems analysis which draws on constructs from the structural, the behavioural and the ‘bureaucratic’ traditions within organization theory. The analysis demonstrates: that the problems are interrelated and stem from the structural arrangements in the firm which are unable to cope with the prevailing uncertainties; that the behavioural difficulties may be seen as manifestations of the underlying structural/environmental mismatch; and, that the problems are exacerbated by apparently logical but paradoxically inappropriate managerial choices and responses. The implications of this study for theory, practice and method are discussed.     

Release of persistent organic contaminants from carcasses of Lake Ontario Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

About 20,000 Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) from Lake Ontario enter the Credit River, Ontario, Canada every fall to spawn and die. In this study, samples of muscle and eggs collected from female Chinook salmon entering the Credit River contained total PCBs, DDT compounds and other organochlorine (OC) compounds at mug/kg concentrations. Semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) were deployed at a reference site above the spawning grounds and at two downstream sites at intervals over a 14-month period that spanned two spawning runs. There was an increase in the concentrations of total PCBs, total DDT and other classes of OCs in the SPMDs deployed at the two downstream sites during and after both spawning runs; indicating that the decay of salmon releases contaminants into the river. Based upon the concentrations of contaminants in the salmon tissues, approximately 75 g of total PCBs and 35 g of total DDT compounds would be transported annually into the Credit River from this source.