Western Land Managers will Need all Available Tools for Adapting to Climate Change,Including Grazing: A Critique of Beschta et al.

In a previous article, Beschta et al. (Environ Manag 51(2):474–491, 2013) argue that grazing by large ungulates (both native and domestic) should be eliminated or greatly reduced on western public lands to reduce potential climate change impacts. The authors did not present a balanced synthesis of the scientific literature, and their publication is more of an opinion article. Their conclusions do not reflect the complexities associated with herbivore grazing. Because grazing is a complex ecological process, synthesis of the scientific literature can be a challenge. Legacy effects of uncontrolled grazing during the homestead era further complicate analysis of current grazing impacts. Interactions of climate change and grazing will depend on the specific situation. For example, increasing atmospheric CO₂ and temperatures may increase accumulation of fine fuels (primarily grasses) and thus increase wildfire risk. Prescribed grazing by livestock is one of the few management tools available for reducing fine fuel accumulation. While there are certainly points on the landscape where herbivore impacts can be identified, there are also vast grazed areas where impacts are minimal. Broad scale reduction of domestic and wild herbivores to help native plant communities cope with climate change will be unnecessary because over the past 20–50 years land managers have actively sought to bring populations of native and domestic herbivores in balance with the potential of vegetation and soils. To cope with a changing climate, land managers will need access to all available vegetation management tools, including grazing.     

Architectural scoring framework for the creation and evaluation of System-Aware Cyber Security solutions

As cyber security threats have evolved, system protection strategies have been forced to as well. The field of System-Aware Cyber Security has introduced a variety of protection strategies and this has prompted the need for a decision support tool set to provide guidance to the system designers. This paper outlines an architectural scoring framework that supports the design and selection of architectural candidates and provides a rigorous quantitative method for the evaluation to aid in the selection of a final architecture. Additionally, this paper outlines the recognized limitations of the proposed approach and provides a brief overview of how those areas for improvement are guiding future research.     

The effect of resuspending sediment contaminated with antifouling paint particles containing Irgarol 1051 on the marine macrophyte Ulva intestinalis

The effect of resuspending sediment contaminated with Irgarol 1051 based antifouling paint particles on the green macroalga Ulva intestinalis was examined. U. intestinalis was also exposed to sediment spiked with Irgarol 1051. The macroalga were exposed over 21 days to the resuspension of sediments containing 61.2 mg kg(-1) of antifouling paint particles containing Irgarol 1051 that provided aqueous Irgarol 1051 concentrations of approximately 0.3 microg l(-1), Irgarol 1051 and appropriate controls. The growth response was compared with that for 'clean' sediment. Resuspension of sediment was associated with reduced growth when compared to seawater alone. Resuspension of sediment spiked with Irgarol 1051 was associated with a greater reduction in growth, with growth being significantly reduced when sediment containing antifouling paint particles was resuspended. The data suggest that the prolonged disturbance of sediments containing antifouling paint particles in marinas represents a potential and as yet unquantified hazard to photosynthetic organisms.     

Soil compaction in topsoil replacement during mining reclamation

Current U.S. mining regulations require revegetation in reclaiming surface mines. Excessive soil compaction can be an impediment to successful revegetation in poor soil conditions common to Eastern U.S. coal mine sites. A field study was performed to determine the bulk densities of soils that had been spread by either bulldozers or scrapers at a strip mine site. Moisture-density relationships for the soils were determined from the field samples. These were compared with samples compacted by the Standard Proctor compaction test. The results of the study indicate that the degree of compaction, could be lessened through proper soil handling procedures.     

Insect mandibles—comparative mechanical properties and links with metal incorporation

A number of arthropod taxa contain metals in their mandibles (jaws), such as zinc, manganese, iron, and calcium. The occurrence of zinc and its co-located halogen chlorine have been studied in relation to the mechanical properties and shown to be linked in a direct fashion with increasing concentration. Hardness along with elastic modulus (stiffness) has also been linked to zinc and halogen concentration in some marine polychaete worms. The metal appears to be incorporated within the biological matrix, possibly bonding with proteins. However, the comparative advantage of metal inclusion has not been tested. It is possible that without metals, alternative mechanisms are used to achieve hardness of equal value in similar 'tools' such as mandibles. This question has direct bearing on the significance of metal hardening. In the present article, we compare across mandibles from six termite species, including samples with major zinc concentration, minor manganese, and no metals. Nanoindentation, electron microscopy, and electron microanalysis are used to assess metal concentration, form, and mechanical properties. The data demonstrate that termite mandibles lacking metals when fully developed have lower values for hardness and elastic modulus. Zinc is linked to a relative 20% increase in hardness when compared with mandibles devoid of metals. The similar transition metal, manganese, found in minor concentrations, is not linked to any significant increase in these mechanical properties. This raises the question of the function of manganese, which is as commonly found in insect mandibles as zinc and often located in the same mandibles.     

Ecotoxicological assessment of di use pollution using biomonitoring tool for sustainable land use in Thailand

As a developing country, Thailand has a significant issue with di use pollution of the soil ecosystem due to an indiscriminate use of agrichemicals and poorly regulated disposal of a wide variety of hazardous wastes. Practical risk assessment tools based on locallyoccurring species are needed to assess the e ects of di use pollutants on the soil ecosystem in Thailand because reliance on soil criteria developed for overseas conditions may provide inadequate protection. Native soil organisms in Thailand may be more or less sensitive to contaminants compared to overseas test species. This article described a biological indicator approach for ecological risk assessment of di use pollution in the soil ecosystem of Thailand from pesticide application with the aim of developing standardized protocols using native species and locally generated data to better evaluate the ecological risks of non-point source soil pollution. It was found that ecotoxicological assessment provided a better understanding of the ecological impacts that di use pollution induced on Thai environmental conditions. Thai soil biota species were more sensitive to soil contaminants than similar species overseas. Soil series also had an influence on the ecotoxicology of contaminants to soil biota. Collembolan, Cyphoderus sp., was demonstrated as a useful alternative test species to Folsomia candida (international test species) for terrestrial ecotoxicological testing of Thai soils. In addition, the soil biota activities such as soil respiration and earthworm avoidance including soil biodiversity and the litter bag decomposition technique are also good tools to assess the e ects of di use pollution by pesticides on the soil ecosystem of Thailand.     

Systematics of radon at the Wairakei geothermal region, New Zealand

222Rn and 220Rn in geothermal steam at Wairakei, NZ, range from 11 to 19, 500 Bq kg-1, and 25 to 16, 700 Bq kg-1, respectively, but do not cause toxic concentrations in air. The wide ranges are mainly due to differences in different physical conditions underground (e.g. thin silica diffusion barriers), not geochemical differences. Groundwater Rn from outside the area probably plays only a minor role. 210Po was found present in non-toxic levels in the steam. Historical records showed little change in Rn concentration over several decades, therefore potentially hazardous concentrations might be predicted from early exploration. 220Rn concentrations at Wairakei should decrease as the field becomes steam-dominated. Rock surfaces were variably leached or enriched with U, Th, Ra and 210Pb, providing a possible model for deposition in cooler regions near the field. Estimates of 222Rn permeability ranged from 2 to 77% of the maximum possible, with a median of 13%.