Water Transactions for Streamflow Restoration,Water Supply Reliability,and Rural Economic Vitality in the Western United States

Across the western United States, environmental water transaction programs (EWTPs) restore environmental flows by acquiring water rights and incentivizing changes in water management. These programs have evolved over several decades, expanding from relatively simple two‐party transactions to multiobjective deals that simultaneously benefit the environment and multiple water‐using sectors. Such programs now represent an important water management tool and provide an impetus for collaboration among stakeholders; yet, most evaluations of their effectiveness focus exclusively on environmental outcomes, without adequate attention to impacts on other water users or local economies. To understand how these programs affect stakeholders, a systematic, multiobjective evaluation framework is needed. To meet this need, we developed a suite of environmental and socioeconomic indicators that can guide the design and track the implementation of water transaction portfolios, and we applied them to existing EWTPs in Oregon and Nevada. Application of the indicators quantifies impacts and helps practitioners design water transaction portfolios that avoid unintended consequences and generate mutually beneficial outcomes among environmental, agricultural, and municipal interests.     

Soil organic carbon and nitrogen accumulation in plots of rhizoma perennial peanut and bahiagrass grown in elevated carbon dioxide and temperature

Carbon sequestration in soils might mitigate the increase of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Two contrasting subtropical perennial forage species, bahiagrass (BG; Paspalum notatum Flügge; C4), and rhizoma perennial peanut (PP; Arachis glabrata Benth.; C3 legume), were grown at Gainesville, Florida, in field soil plots in four temperature zones of four temperature-gradient greenhouses, two each at CO2 concentrations of 360 and 700 micromol mol(-1). The site had been cultivated with annual crops for more than 20 yr. Herbage was harvested three to four times each year. Soil samples from the top 20 cm were collected in February 1995, before plant establishment, and in December 2000 at the end of the project. Overall mean soil organic carbon (SOC) gains across 6 yr were 1.396 and 0.746 g kg(-1) in BG and PP, respectively, indicating that BG plots accumulated more SOC than PP. Mean SOC gains in BG plots at 700 and 360 micromol mol(-1) CO2 were 1.450 and 1.343 g kg(-1), respectively (not statistically different). Mean SOC gains in PP plots at 700 and 360 micromol mol(-1) CO2 were 0.949 and 0.544 g kg(-1), respectively, an increase caused by elevated CO2. Relative SON accumulations were similar to SOC increases. Overall mean annual SOC accumulation, pooled for forages and CO2 treatments, was 540 kg ha(-1) yr(-1). Eliminating elevated CO2 effects, overall mean SOC accumulation was 475 kg ha(-1) yr(-1). Conversion from cropland to forages was a greater factor in SOC accumulation than the CO2 fertilization effect.     

Using the past to contextualize anthropogenic impacts on the present and future distribution of an endemic Caribbean mammal

Island species are difficult to conserve because they face the synergy of climate change, invasive species, deforestation, and increasing human population densities in areas where land mass is shrinking. The Caribbean island of Hispaniola presents particular challenges because of geopolitical complexities that span 2 countries and hinder coordinated management of species across the island. We employed species distribution modeling to evaluate the impacts of climatic change and anthropogenic activities on the distribution of an endemic mammal of conservation concern, the Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus). We aggregated occurrence points for this poorly known species for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the present (1975–2016) based on museum collections, online biodiversity databases, and new field surveys. We quantified degree of overlap between periods and scenarios with Schoener's D. Through a conservation paleobiology lens, we found that over time humans played an increasing role in shaping the distribution of S. paradoxus, thus, providing a foundation for developing conservation strategies on appropriate spatiotemporal scales. Human population density was the single most important predictor of S. paradoxus occurrence. Densities >166 people/km² corresponded to a near-zero probability of occurrence. Models that accounted for climate but not anthropogenic variables falsely identified suitable habitat in Haiti, where on-the-ground surveys confirm habitat is unavailable. Climate-only models also significantly overestimated the potential for habitat connectivity between isolated populations. Our work highlights that alternative fates for S. paradoxus in the Anthropocene exist across the political border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti due to the fundamentally different economic and political realities of each country. Relationships in the fossil record confirm that Hispaniola's sociopolitical boundary is not biologically significant but instead represents one imposed on the island's fauna in the past 500 years by colonial activity. Our approach reveals how a paleontological perspective can contribute to concrete management insights.     

The Impact of Winter Relocation and Depuration on Norovirus Concentrations in Pacific Oysters Harvested from a Commercial Production Site

Oysters contaminated with norovirus present a significant public health risk when consumed raw. In this study, norovirus genome copy concentrations were determined in Pacific oysters (Magallana gigas) harvested from a sewage-impacted production site and then subjected to site-specific management procedures. These procedures consisted of relocation of oysters to an alternative production area during the norovirus high-risk winter periods (November to March) followed by an extended depuration (self-purification) under controlled temperature conditions. Significant differences in norovirus RNA concentrations were demonstrated at each point in the management process. Thirty-one percent of oyster samples from the main harvest area (Site 1) contained norovirus concentrations >?500 genome copies/g and 29% contained norovirus concentrations <?100 genome copies/g. By contrast, no oyster sample from the alternative harvest area (Site 2) or following depuration contained norovirus concentrations >?500 genome copies/g. In addition, 60 and 88% of oysters samples contained norovirus concentrations <?100 genome copies/g in oysters sampled from Site 2 and following depuration, respectively. These data demonstrate that site-specific management processes, supported by norovirus monitoring, can be an effective strategy to reduce, but not eliminate, consumer exposure to norovirus genome copies.     

Disclosure of climate risk information by the world’s largest companies

The risks related to global climate change are seen as threats to companies, taking into consideration their impact on the return on investment. In order to mitigate climate risk and introduce new opportunities to financiers, companies need to identify, manage, and report climate risks. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the climate risks disclosed by the 100 largest companies in the world, according to the Bloomberg and Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC 2015) classification, and identify some characteristics of these companies that explain the disclosure level of such information. Preliminary results revealed that of the companies investigated, 14% did not disclose any climate risk information in the Carbon Disclosure Program (CDP) report. Also, from the companies that disclosed information according to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), 9.9% did not provide information regarding policies, actions, and strategies for mitigating the risks related to climate change. The results shown by the content analysis suggested that, in general, there is still a low level of disclosure about climate risks by these companies. The final results through econometric instruments and statistical tests indicate that the size of the company or the fact that corporations are from developed countries do not necessarily explain the level of information disclosed. However, the activity sector, the continent, and the efficiency of the Board of Directors are factors that strongly explain the level of climate risk disclosure. We conclude that more effort is needed to encourage an engaging attitude from corporations to develop actions, policies, and strategies to mitigate climate change risks and threats. In addition, the world’s largest companies should make a greater investment in climate risk disclosure.     

Somatic Coliphage Profiles of Produce and Environmental Samples from Farms in Northern México

Somatic coliphages were quantified in 459 produce and environmental samples from 11 farms in Northern Mexico to compare amounts of somatic coliphages among different types of fresh produce and environmental samples across the production steps on farms. Rinsates from cantaloupe melons, jalapeño peppers, tomatoes, and the hands of workers, soil, and water were collected during 2011–2012 at four successive steps on each farm, from the field before harvest through the packing facility, and assayed by FastPhage MPN Quanti-tray method. Cantaloupe farm samples contained more coliphages than jalapeño or tomato (p range <0.01–0.03). Across production steps, jalapeños had higher coliphage percentages before harvest than during packing (p = 0.03), while tomatoes had higher coliphage concentrations at packing than all preceding production steps (p range <0.01–0.02). These findings support the use of targeted produce-specific interventions at multiple points in the process of growing and packing produce to reduce the risk of enteric virus contamination and improve food safety during fruit and vegetable production.     

Alveolar Macrophage (AM) Mobility Reduction as a Result of Long-Term Exposure to High Dust Concentration in Inhaled Air

The influence of high concentration of insoluble particles in inhaled air on the alveolar macrophage (AM) mobility is analyzed. Kinetics of phagocytosis and the mobility of AM as a function of overloading is proposed. Three patterns of AM displacement on the surface of alveolus are distinguished depending on the loading of the surface with insoluble deposits, namely, directional being a result of surfactant activity, directional with a chemotactic bias, and purely random. The exit time of AM from alveolus under overloading is calculated.