Applicability of Montreal Process Criterion 4 — soil and water conservation — to rangeland sustainability

SUMMARY

Criterion 4 of the Montreal Process addresses the conservation of soil and water resources as a way to assess the sustainability of a nation's forests. For the most part, the indicators under this criterion are relevant to rangelands. The area and percent of rangeland with significant soil erosion apply equally well to both biomes. Percent of streams with flow rates and timing outside its range of historical variation is also equally important, although a measure of proper functioning and condition may provide a better measure of the indicator. The area and percent of rangeland with diminished soil productive capability because of a loss of reduced organic matter or changed physical characteristics can be useful indicators locally and regionally.     

Novel molecular fingerprinting of marine avian diet provides a tool for gaining insights into feeding ecology

C₂₅ highly branched isoprenoids (HBIs) are produced by a relatively small number of diatom species, yet are common constituents of almost all marine environments. Previously, detection of HBIs in a few aquatic Arctic animals has indicated the potential use of these lipids for providing novel ecological information. In the current study, analysis of lipid extracts of livers from Leach’s storm petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa) and Brunnich’s guillemot (Uria lomvia) facilitated identification and quantification of HBI isomers. HBIs were found in the tissues of all specimens with clear differences in the abundances and distributions of individual HBI isomers both between Atlantic as well as Arctic birds. These differences are consistent with contrasting oceanographic regimes and suggests that regional differences in HBIs are reflected in the tissues of consumers. Tissue-specific assessment of HBI distributions has also revealed the presence of these lipids in muscle for the first time. This study represents the first report of HBI lipids in birds and provides evidence that these lipids are transferred across trophic levels and extends their potential use as chemical tracers beyond the ecology of aquatic organisms.     

Telomere dynamics in the Sydney rock oyster (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccostrea glomerata</Emphasis>): an investigation into the effects of age,tissue type,location and time of sampling

Telomere length has been purported as a biomarker for age and could offer a non-lethal method for determining the age of wild-caught individuals. Molluscs, including oysters and abalone, are the basis of important fisheries globally and have been problematic to accurately age. To determine whether telomere length could provide an alternative means of ageing molluscs, we evaluated the relationship between telomere length and age using the commercially important Sydney rock oyster (Saccostrea glomerata). Telomere lengths were estimated from tissues of known age individuals from different age classes, locations and at different sampling times. Telomere length tended to decrease with age only in young oysters less than 18 months old, but no decrease was observed in older oysters aged 2–4 years. Regional and temporal differences in telomere attrition rates were also observed. The relationship between telomere length and age was weak, however, with individuals of identical age varying significantly in their telomere length making it an imprecise age biomarker in oysters.     

Halton iterative partitioning: spatially balanced sampling via partitioning

A new spatially balanced sampling design for environmental surveys is introduced, called Halton iterative partitioning (HIP). The design draws sample locations that are well spread over the study area. Spatially balanced designs are known to be efficient when surveying natural resources because nearby locations tend to be similar. The HIP design uses structural properties of the Halton sequence to partition a resource into nested boxes. Sample locations are then drawn from specific boxes in the partition to ensure spatial diversity. The method is conceptually simple and computationally efficient, draws spatially balanced samples in two or more dimensions and uses standard design-based estimators. Furthermore, HIP samples have an implicit ordering that can be used to define spatially balanced over-samples. This feature is particularly useful when sampling natural resources because we can dynamically add spatially balanced units from the over-sample to the sample as non-target or inaccessible units are discovered. We use several populations to show that HIP sampling draws spatially balanced samples and gives precise estimates of population totals.     

Business recovery: an assessment framework

This paper presents a Business Recovery Assessment Framework (BRAF) to help researchers and practitioners design robust, repeatable, and comparable studies of business recovery in various post‐disruption contexts. Studies assessing business recovery without adequately considering the research aims, recovery definitions, and indicators can produce misleading findings. The BRAF is composed of a series of steps that guide the decisions that researchers need to make to ensure: (i) that recovery is indeed being measured; (ii) that the indicators of recovery that are selected align with the objectives of the study and the definition of recovery; and, where necessary, (iii) that appropriate comparative control variables are in place. The paper draws on a large dataset of business surveys collected following the earthquakes in Canterbury, New Zealand, on 4 September 2010 and 22 February 2011 to demonstrate the varied conclusions that different recovery indicators can produce and to justify the need for a systematic approach to business recovery assessments.     

Emergy analysis applied to the estimation of the recovery of costs for water services under the European Water Framework Directive

In this paper, the European Union's Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (WFD) that is intended to foster protection of water resources is examined, focusing on the improvement of ecological and chemical quality of surface and groundwater. The WFD includes the concept of full cost recovery (FCR) in accordance with the Polluter-Pays Principle, as one of the tools of an adequate and sustainable water resource management system. The WFD defines three different costs associated with water: resource costs (RC), financial costs (FC), and environmental costs (ECs).The FCR of water is examined from a biophysical perspective using emergy evaluation to: (1) establish resource values of water from different sources, (2) establish the full economic costs associated with supplying water, and (3) the societal costs of water that is used incorrectly; from which the resource costs, financial costs, and environmental costs, respectively, can be computed. Financial costs are the costs associated with providing water including energy, materials, labor and infrastructure. The emergy based monetary values vary between 0.15 and 1.73 €/m³ depending on technology. The emergy based, global average resource value (from which resource costs can be computed) is derived from two aspects of water: its chemical potential and its geopotential. The chemical potential monetary value of different sources such as rain, groundwater, and surface water derived from global averages of emergy inputs varies from 0.03 to 0.18 €/m³, depending on source, and the geopotential values vary from 0.03 to 2.40 €/m³, depending on location in the watershed. The environmental costs of water were averaged for the county of Spain and were 1.42 €/m³.Time of year and spatial location within the watershed ultimately influence the resource costs (computed from emergy value of chemical potential and geopotential energy) of water. To demonstrate this spatial and temporal variability, a case study is presented using the Foix watershed in northeastern Spain. Throughout the year, the resource value of water varies from 0.21 to 3.17 €/m³, depending on location within the watershed. It is concluded that FCR would benefit from the evaluation of resource costs using spatially and temporally explicit emergy accounting.     

Evaluation of a fast response pressure solver for flow around an isolated cube

This work describes and evaluates a pressure solver that has been incorporated into a fast response three-dimensional building-resolving diagnostic wind modeling system. The solver computes the three-dimensional pressure field around buildings and on exterior walls in terms of a coefficient of pressure by solving a simplified pressure Poisson equation (that neglects turbulence stresses in the Navier-Stokes) for incompressible flow. The input to the solver is the three-dimensional mean wind field obtained from a fast response empirical-diagnostic urban wind model. The present study is an evaluation of the pressure solver using wind-tunnel data for flow normal to and at a 45° angle to an isolated cubical building. Results for the normal incident wind angle case indicate that the model satisfactorily reproduces the general spatial patterns and the magnitude of the pressure difference around much of the cube. Details of the flow field that are not satisfactorily predicted include the spatial distribution of pressure on the roof and the lower half of the front side of the building and the magnitude along the sidewalls where pressures are over predicted. The results for the 45° case show reasonable agreement between the model and experiments on the front and the back walls, but over predict pressures on the leading edge of the rooftop. Regions with poor pressure predictions appear to be a result of unsatisfactory mean wind modeling.     

Protection Against Dust by Respirators

This article is a brief review of the mechanism of action of fibrous filters and of the performance of respirators; it neglects many of the complications discussed in longer and more detailed articles. An expression is given for the pressure drop across a filter in terms of fibre diameter and filtration velocity. The particle capture mechanisms of interception and diffusional deposition are introduced and the way in which filtration efficiency varies with particle size is discussed. Filters with fibres of small diameter are shown to be the most efficient, but their use can cause problems. Electrically charged materials are widely used in respirators because of their high efficiency and low pressure drop. Types of material, their means of charging, and their method of action are described. An account is given of respirator leakage, the protection factor, and of the way that these may vary in a period of use. The leakage of air and particles through face seal leaks and leaky valves is discussed. The frequent discrepancy in the protection given by respirators in the workplace, on the one hand, and that suggested by laboratory measurements, on the other, is reviewed, and the article ends with an account of the combined effect of aerosol penetration through a filter and through a leak.     

Radionuclide contamination of sediment deposits in the Ob and Yenisey estuaries and areas of the Kara Sea

The Ob and Yenisey rivers are major contributors to total riverine discharge to the Arctic Ocean. Several large nuclear facilities discharge into these rivers, which could affect actual and potential discharges of radionuclides to the Arctic region. This article presents new radionuclide concentration and grain-size data resulting from analyses of several sediment samples collected during research cruises in the Ob and Yenisey estuaries and adjacent areas during 2000 and 2001. Results indicate that discharges from the main nuclear facilities do not constitute a major contribution to the level of radioactive contamination in the marine areas studied, though Co-60 was detected at low concentrations in some sediment horizons. However, the aggregate contamination from different sources is not radioecologically significant in sediments within the study area, maximum Cs-137 levels being approximately 80 Bq kg(-1) dry weight.