探索挪威西部奈于斯特流域酸化的复原

使用一种新方法-多余度分析(RDA),检查了是否挪威西部奈于斯特流域酸化的化学复原在大型底栖动物群落结构中产生了可测的复原.RDA结果与基于使用高度专门化和区域化界定的生物酸度指数测得的变化的复原测量值作了比较.我们发现,在1989～1998年期间,奈于斯特流域生物复原即开始出现.复原是在奈于斯特河上游及其各支流发生的.多变量方法已证明是酸度指数方法的一种补充,将两者结合使用能够得到大量的生物信息.RDA方法是一种保守的方法,即不会过高地估计生物复原,而且不像酸度指数,从地理上来说不会受到约束.我们还发现,一些季节性气候因素强烈地影响着底栖生物群落,可能引起对生物复原过程检测的混淆.     

Environmental variability and fledging body mass of Common Guillemot Uria aalge chicks

To gain a better understanding of population processes and in the light of the critically endangered status of the Common Guillemot Uria aalge in Norway, we investigate which environmental factors might affect the fitness of guillemot chicks as they depart from the nest site over a 16-year period on a colony in NE Norway. Although prey composition did not seem to influence the fledging body mass of the chicks, there were significant relationships between the yearly variations in chick body mass and abundance of two important prey species (1-group herring Clupea harengus that is an important chick food item and 0-group cod Gadus morhua that is an important adult food item), population size and the sea surface temperature around the colony. The positive influence of young herring and cod on Common Guillemot chick mass occurred during a period of warming in the Barents Sea such that future recruitment into the population will depend partly on the long-term changes in ocean climate in the region.     

Cost-effective unilateral climate policy design: Size matters

Given the bleak prospects for a global agreement on mitigating climate change, pressure for unilateral abatement is increasing. A major challenge is emissions leakage. Border carbon adjustments and output-based allocation of emissions allowances can increase effectiveness of unilateral action but introduce distortions of their own. We assess antileakage measures as a function of abatement coalition size. We first develop a partial equilibrium analytical framework to see how these instruments affect emissions within and outside the coalition. We then employ a computable general equilibrium model of international trade and energy use to assess the strategies as the coalition grows. We find that full border adjustments rank first in global cost-effectiveness, followed by import tariffs and output-based rebates. The differences across measures and their overall appeal decline as the abatement coalition grows. In terms of cost, the coalition countries prefer border carbon adjustments; countries outside the coalition prefer output-based rebates.     

Sex ratio in lesser black-backed gull in relation to environmental pollutants

In birds, there is ample evidence that the mother can manipulate the sex of the young and produce more of the sex, which gives the highest fitness return. This has previously been documented in gulls, Laridae. Gulls are sexually size dimorphic with males larger than females, and there is good evidence that parents in poor body condition switch their investment to the smallest sex. In the present study, we examined the primary sex ratio and the survival of male and female chicks of lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus fuscus) in relation to their blood levels of organochlorines (OCs), perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (BDE-47). We show that females with high levels of OCs (but not PFCs and BDE-47) are likely to skew their sex ratio at hatching towards female offspring. Few females had very high levels of OCs, and the many females with low levels of OCs overproduced sons resulting in a male skew at hatching (59%). The survival of female offspring was lower than the survival of male offspring, causing an even stronger male skew in sex ratio (71%). There is evidence to conclude that circulating levels of OCs in the blood of females may have detrimental effect on the sex allocation strategy and could be of serious threat to the population. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Relationships between reproductive performance and organochlorine contaminants in great black-backed gulls (Larus marinus)

The great black-backed gull Larus marinus is a top predator in subarctic and temperate marine ecosystems, and the aim of this study was to investigate if organochlorines (OCs) were related to reproductive performance in this species at the subarctic parts of the Norwegian Coast. We measured blood levels of various OCs in 53 breeding birds. The OC levels were relatively low compared to levels found in nearby arctic areas. In females, however, there was a significant positive relationship between blood concentrations of OCs, especially hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and, p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), and egg laying date, and a positive relationship between the probability of nest predation and blood concentration of beta-hexachlorocyclohexane (beta-HCH), oxychlordane, and DDE. In females with high levels of OCs, especially persistent polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), there was also a decline in egg volume as egg laying progressed; i.e. the second and third laid egg were relatively smaller, compared to females with low OC levels. No relationships between reproductive parameters and OC levels were found in males.     

Knowledge creation and reliable decision-making in complex emergencies

This paper examines how the creation of knowledge and the location of decision-making authority within relief organisations influence coordination. Information was collected from the headquarters of international non-governmental organisations in 2003, as well as from Darfur and Khartoum, Sudan, in 2005 and 2007, respectively. Relief organisations rely on quality information dissemination between the field and headquarters. Yet, reporting from the field often is overloaded with misplaced precision, making it difficult for managers at headquarters to grasp the key issues. A high turnover rate among international field officers and a lack of inclusion of local staff and partners prevent the development of accumulated knowledge. Furthermore, most relief organisations have a centralised decision-making system. The creation of 'collective-meaning structures', based on reliable information on all decision-making levels, opens the way to the decentralisation of decision-making to field officers engaged with inter-organisational coordination structures. In sum, more efficient and reliable coordination between organisations relies on improved decision-making systems within each organisation.     

Perfluorinated and chlorinated pollutants as predictors of demographic parameters in an endangered seabird

Despite global occurrence of several perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) the potential ecological effects of such substances on natural populations are not known. In endangered lesser black-backed gulls (Larus fuscus fuscus) on the Norwegian Coast, the blood concentrations of PFCs were as high as legacy organochlorines (OCs), and here we examined whether PFCs show associations similar to those of OCs to factors potentially affecting population growth, by evaluating relationships between contaminant concentrations and demographic parameters (reproductive performance and the probability of adults returning between breeding seasons). PFCs were not adversely associated with demographic parameters, while the most persistent OCs; notably PCB and p,p′-DDE, were adversely associated with early chick survival, and adult return rate. This study thus suggests that when the concentrations of PFCs and OCs are of similar magnitude in a gull population, OCs are more likely to cause adverse ecological effects.