An ecological perspective on theory, methods, and analysis in environmental psychology: Advances and challenges

Over the course of environmental psychology's brief history, there has been an interest in ecologically oriented approaches to theory and research. Based on this work, this paper identifies a set of six principles of ecological analysis that present theoretical, methodological, and analytic challenges to future research in environmental psychology. These challenges include the theoretical treatment of the multiple contexts within which human experience and behavior occurs, the need for sampling both persons and environments, the modeling of moderating and mediating processes, the issue of self-selection into and out of different settings, the necessity of considering temporal factors in environmental research, reliance on single methods (e.g., verbal report) in data generation, cross-sectional and longitudinal research designs, and the need for greater use of statistical techniques developed for contextual (multi-level) research. These issues are discussed and illustrated using recent developments in environmentally oriented research. The paper concludes with a set of 11 recommendations for the future.     

Characterization of particulate matter for three sites in Kuwait

Many studies have shown strong associations between particulate matter (PM) levels and a variety of health outcomes, leading to changes in air quality standards in many regions, especially the United States and Europe. Kuwait, a desert country located on the Persian Gulf, has a large petroleum industry with associated industrial and urban land uses. It was marked by environmental destruction from the 1990 Iraqi invasion and subsequent oil fires. A detailed particle characterization study was conducted over 12 months in 2004-2005 at three sites simultaneously with an additional 6 months at one of the sites. Two sites were in urban areas (central and southern) and one in a remote desert location (northern). This paper reports the concentrations of particles less than 10 microm in diameter (PM10) and fine PM (PM2.5), as well as fine particle nitrate, sulfate, elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), and elements measured at the three sites. Mean annual concentrations for PM10 ranged from 66 to 93 microg/m3 across the three sites, exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines for PM10 of 20 microg/m3. The arithmetic mean PM2.5 concentrations varied from 38 and 37 microg/m3 at the central and southern sites, respectively, to 31 microg/m3 at the northern site. All sites had mean PM2.5 concentrations more than double the U.S. National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for PM2.5. Coarse particles comprised 50-60% of PM10. The high levels of PM10 and large fraction of coarse particles comprising PM10 are partially explained by the resuspension of dust and soil from the desert crust. However, EC, OC, and most of the elements were significantly higher at the urbanized sites, compared with the more remote northern site, indicating significant pollutant contributions from local mobile and stationary sources. The particulate levels in this study are high enough to generate substantial health impacts and present opportunities for improving public health by reducing airborne PM.     

Assessing local knowledge use in agroforestry management with cognitive maps

Small-holder farmers often develop adaptable agroforestry management techniques to improve and diversify crop production. In the cocoa growing region of Ghana, local knowledge on such farm management holds a noteworthy role in the overall farm development. The documentation and analysis of such knowledge use in cocoa agroforests may afford an applicable framework to determine mechanisms driving farmer preference and indicators in farm management. This study employed 12 in-depth farmer interviews regarding variables in farm management as a unit of analysis and utilized cognitive mapping as a qualitative method of analysis. Our objectives were (1) to illustrate and describe agroforestry management variables and associated farm practices, (2) to determine the scope of decision making of individual farmers, and (3) to investigate the suitability of cognitive mapping as a tool for assessing local knowledge use. Results from the cognitive maps revealed an average of 16 ± 3 variables and 19 ± 3 links between management variables in the farmer cognitive maps. Farmer use of advantageous ecological processes was highly central to farm management (48% of all variables), particularly manipulation of organic matter, shade and food crop establishment, and maintenance of a tree stratum as the most common, highly linked variables. Over 85% of variables included bidirectional arrows, interpreted as farm management practices dominated by controllable factors, insofar as farmers indicated an ability to alter most farm characteristics. Local knowledge use on cocoa production revealed detailed indicators for site evaluation, thus affecting farm preparation and management. Our findings suggest that amid multisourced information under conditions of uncertainty, strategies for adaptable agroforestry management should integrate existing and localized management frameworks and that cognitive mapping provides a tool-based approach to advance such a management support system.     

Quantification of low levels of organochlorine pesticides using small volumes (<or=100 microl) of plasma of wild birds through gas chromatography negative chemical ionization mass spectrometry

A solid phase extraction and gas chromatography with negative chemical ionization mass spectrometry in scan mode (GC-NCI-MS) method was developed to identify and quantify for the first time low levels of organochlorine pesticides (OCs) in plasma samples of less than 100 microl from wild birds. The method detection limits ranged from 0.012 to 0.102 pg/microl and the method reporting limit from 0.036 to 0.307 pg/microl for alpha, gamma, beta and delta-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), heptachlor, aldrin, heptachlor epoxide, endosulfan I, 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene (p,p'-DDE), dieldrin, endrin, endosulfan-II, endrin-aldehyde and endosulfan-sulfate. Pesticide levels in small serum samples from individual Falco sparverius, Sturnella neglecta, Mimus polyglottos and Columbina passerina were quantified. Concentrations ranged from not detected (n/d) to 204.9 pg/microl for some OC pesticides. All levels in the food web in and around cultivated areas showed the presence of pesticides notwithstanding the small areas for agriculture existing in the desert of Baja California peninsula.     

Towards a sustainable food production: modelling the impacts of climate change on maize and soybean production in Ghana

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The Ghanaian economy relies heavily on maize and soybean production. The entire maize and soybean production system is low-tech, making it extremely...     

Conserving alpha and beta diversity in wood-production landscapes

International demand for wood and other forest products continues to grow rapidly, and uncertainties remain about how animal communities will respond to intensifying resource extraction associated with woody bioenergy production. We examined changes in alpha and beta diversity of bats, bees, birds, and reptiles across wood production landscapes in the southeastern United States, a biodiversity hotspot that is one of the principal sources of woody biomass globally. We sampled across a spatial gradient of paired forest land-uses (representing pre and postharvest) that allowed us to evaluate biological community changes resulting from several types of biomass harvest. Short-rotation practices and residue removal following clearcuts were associated with reduced alpha diversity (−14.1 and −13.9 species, respectively) and lower beta diversity (i.e., Jaccard dissimilarity) between land-use pairs (0.46 and 0.50, respectively), whereas midrotation thinning increased alpha (+3.5 species) and beta diversity (0.59). Over the course of a stand rotation in a single location, biomass harvesting generally led to less biodiversity. Cross-taxa responses to resource extraction were poorly predicted by alpha diversity: correlations in responses between taxonomic groups were highly variable (−0.2 to 0.4) with large uncertainties. In contrast, beta diversity patterns were highly consistent and predictable across taxa, where correlations in responses between taxonomic groups were all positive (0.05–0.4) with more narrow uncertainties. Beta diversity may, therefore, be a more reliable and information-rich indicator than alpha diversity in understanding animal community response to landscape change. Patterns in beta diversity were primarily driven by turnover instead of species loss or gain, indicating that wood extraction generates habitats that support different biological communities.