Farmers,Streams, Information,and Money: Does Informing Farmers About Riparian Management Have Any Effect?

We assessed relationships between the extent to which farmers reported exposure to relevant information and their attitudes towards, knowledge about, and degree of adoption of riparian management strategies. We also examined associations between knowledge of, or receipt of, financial assistance for riparian fencing/planting and intentions for and extent of adoption of this strategy. A mail survey of 718 pastoral farmers in Otago and Southland in New Zealand [294 surveys returned (41%)] yielded 279 usable questionnaires. Indices were developed to reflect range and frequency of information use and range of practices adopted. Attitudes were measured using Likert-type responses to 11 statements, and knowledge as a score on a ten-question true/false test. Positive relationships between information and the three main response variables (attitude, knowledge, and adoption) were weak but significant and systematic. These associations remained significant when important demographic and farm characteristics were taken into account. Informed farmers were more likely to report intentions to carry out riparian fencing or planting within the next year. Farmers who were aware that funding was available were also more likely to state this intention, independent of information level. The reported extent to which waterways had been fenced to exclude stock was related to receipt of funding, but not to information level. Financial factors were the most influential barrier preventing adoption of permanent fencing. Our research shows a positive correlation between the receipt of information and funding and the adoption of specific riparian management measures.     

A Mesofilter Conservation Strategy to Complement Fine and Coarse Filters

Abstract:  Setting aside entire ecosystems in reserves is an efficient way to maintain biodiversity because large numbers of species are protected, but ecosystem conservation constitutes a coarse filter that does not address some species. A complementary, fine-filter approach is also required to provide tailored management for some species (e.g., those subject to direct exploitation). Mesofilter conservation is another complementary approach that focuses on conserving critical elements of ecosystems that are important to many species, especially those likely to be overlooked by fine-filter approaches, such as invertebrates, fungi, and nonvascular plants. Critical elements include structures such as logs, snags, pools, springs, streams, reefs, and hedgerows, and processes such as fires and floods. Mesofilter conservation is particularly appropriate for seminatural ecosystems that are managed for both biodiversity and commodity production (e.g., forests managed for timber, grasslands managed for livestock forage, and aquatic ecosystems managed for fisheries) and is relevant to managing some agricultural and urban environments for biodiversity.     

Long-Term Landscape Change and Bird Abundance in Amazonian Rainforest Fragments

Abstract:  The rainforests of the Amazon basin are being cut by humans at a rate >20,000 km²/year, leading to smaller and more isolated patches of forest, with remaining fragments often in the range of 1–100 ha. We analyzed samples of understory birds collected over 20 years from a standardized mist-netting program in 1– to 100-ha rainforest fragments in a dynamic Amazonian landscape near Manaus, Brazil. Across bird guilds, the condition of second growth immediately surrounding fragments was often as important as fragment size or local forest cover in explaining variation in abundance. Some fragments surrounded by 100 m of open pasture showed reductions in insectivorous bird abundance of over 95%, even in landscapes dominated by continuous forest and old second growth. These extreme reductions may be typical throughout Amazonia in small (≤10 ha), isolated fragments of rainforest. Abundance for some guilds returned to preisolation levels in 10- and 100-ha fragments connected to continuous forest by 20-year-old second growth. Our results show that the consequences of Amazonian forest loss cannot be accurately described without explicit consideration of vegetation dynamics in matrix habitat. Any dichotomous classification of the landscape into "forest" and "nonforest" misses essential information about the matrix.     

Biological reduction of perchlorate in ion exchange regenerant solutions containing high salinity and ammonium levels

The most promising technologies to remove perchlorate from water are ion exchange and biological reduction. Although successful, ion exchange only separates perchlorate from water; it does not eliminate it from the environment. The waste streams from these systems contain the caustic or saline regenerant solutions used in the process as well as high levels of perchlorate. Biological reduction could be used to treat the regenerant waste solutions from the ion exchange process. A treatment scheme, combining ion exchange and biodegradation, is proposed to completely remove perchlorate from the environment. Perchlorate-laden resins generate brines containing salt concentrations up to 6% or caustic solutions containing up to 0.5% ammonium. Both, high salt and ammonium hydroxide concentrations are potentially toxic to microorganisms. Therefore, the challenge of the proposed system is to find perchlorate reducing microorganisms that are effective under such stressful conditions. Preliminary results have shown that salt concentrations as low as 0.5% reduced the perchlorate biodegradation rate by 30%; salt concentrations greater than 1% decreased this rate to 40%. Although biodegradation was seen in ammonium levels of 0.4%, 0.6% and 1%, the perchlorate biodegradation rate was 90% of that at 0% ammonium hydroxide. Further research will focus on the isolation and/or acclimation of microorganisms that are able to biodegrade perchlorate under these stressful conditions.     

Trisomy 16 fetus surviving into the second trimester

A 27-year-old gravida 4, para 3 was found to have anhydramnios at 14 weeks' gestation following a size/date discrepancy noted at her routine prenatal visit. A detailed ultrasound revealed multiple fetal anomalies including congenital heart defect, chest hypoplasia, and bilateral dysplastic kidneys. Karyotype revealed trisomy 16 in 15/15 cells from a tissue specimen obtained from the fetal cord insertion site following elective pregnancy termination.     

Detection of presumed genes encoding beta-lactamases by sequence based screening of metagenomes derived from Antarctic microbial mats

• Beta-lactamase genes were found in all samples from distant places in Antarctica. • Class C beta-lactamase coding genes were the most frequently found. • Diversity of sequences exceeds that of the beta-lactamases from clinical environment. Analysis of environmental samples for bacterial antibiotic resistance genes may have different objectives and analysis strategies. In some cases, the purpose was to study diversity and evolution of genes that could be grouped within a mechanism of antibiotic resistance. Different protocols have been designed for detection and confirmation that a functional gene was found. In this study, we present a sequence-based screening of candidate genes encoding beta-lactamases in 14 metagenomes of Antarctic microbial mats. The samples were obtained from different sites, representing diverse biogeographic regions of maritime and continental Antarctica. A protocol was designed based on generation of Hidden Markov Models from the four beta-lactamase classes by Ambler classification, using sequences from the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD). The models were used as queries for metagenome analysis and recovered contigs were subsequently annotated using RAST. According to our analysis, 14 metagenomes analyzed contain A, B and C beta-lactamase genes. Class D genes, however, were identified in 11 metagenomes. The most abundant was class C (46.8%), followed by classes B (35.5%), A (14.2%) and D (3.5%). A considerable number of sequences formed clusters which included, in some cases, contigs from different metagenomes. These assemblies are clearly separated from reference clusters, previously identified using CARD beta-lactamase sequences. While bacterial antibiotic resistance is a major challenge of public health worldwide, our results suggest that environmental diversity of beta-lactamase genes is higher than that currently reported, although this should be complemented with gene function analysis.     

Why Economics Matters for Endangered Species Protection

Abstract: We offer three reasons why economics matters more to species protection than many people think and what this implies for the ongoing debate over the reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Economics matters because (1) human behavior generally, and economic parameters in particular, help determine the degree of risk to a species; (2) in a world of scarce resources, the opportunity cost of species protection—the costs of reduced resources for other worthwhile causes—must be taken into account in decision making; and (3) economic incentives are critical in shaping human behavior, and consequently the recovery of species. Endangered species protection that explicitly addresses these basic principles can avoid wasting valuable resources that yield no gain in species protection.     

Statistical analysis in estimating probable concentrations of representative chemical species in leachate: a solution for the source term of new or unmonitored landfills

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Leakage modeling can be crucial for environmental management and control of waste landfills. However, defining boundary conditions for these models...