Can Volunteers Collect Data that are Comparable to Professional Scientists? A Study of Variables Used in Monitoring the Outcomes of Ecosystem Rehabilitation

Having volunteers collect data can be a cost-effective strategy to complement or replace those collected by scientists. The quality of these data is essential where field-collected data are used to monitor progress against predetermined standards because they provide decision makers with confidence that choices they make will not cause more harm than good. The integrity of volunteer-collected data is often doubted. In this study, we made estimates of seven vegetation attributes and a composite measure of six of those seven, to simulate benchmark values. These attributes are routinely recorded as part of rehabilitation projects in Australia and elsewhere in the world. The degree of agreement in data collected by volunteers was compared with those recorded by professional scientists. Combined results showed that scientists collected data that was in closer agreement with benchmarks than those of volunteers, but when data collected by individuals were analyzed, some volunteers collected data that were in similar or closer agreement, than scientists. Both groups’ estimates were in closer agreement for particular attributes than others, suggesting that some attributes are more difficult to estimate than others, or that some are more subjective than others. There are a number of ways in which higher degrees of agreement could be achieved and introducing these will no doubt result in better, more effective programs, to monitor rehabilitation activities. Alternatively, less subjective measures should be sought when developing monitoring protocols. Quality assurance should be part of developing monitoring methods and explicitly budgeted for in project planning to prevent misleading declarations of rehabilitation success.     

An energy–distance trade-off in a central-place forager,the Antarctic fur seal (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Arctocephalus gazella</Emphasis>)

We tested the prediction that lactating fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) at South Georgia will take prey of greater energy density with increasing distance of foraging from the colony. The study investigated the differences in diet of fur seals foraging within two regions, one near the breeding colony and the other at greater distance. Diet varied significantly in relation to foraging location. Dietary items of low quality were eaten in both regions but more food items with a high-energy content appeared in the diet of seals travelling to distant oceanic waters. We conclude that there is likely to be a trade-off between energy gain and distance travelled which enables female fur seals to maintain a relatively constant rate of energy delivery to their offspring irrespective of the distance travelled to find food.     

Estimating aquatic phosphorus concentrations 30 metres down-current from a rainbow trout cage array

Aquatic total phosphorus (Tot-P) is measured 30 m distant from rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) cages, for regulatory compliance on the Canadian side of Lake Huron. The ability to predict changes in near-field Tot-P concentrations from changes in production, or to explain near-field concentrations in the event of compromised reference sites, would be very useful for managers and farmers. A logical first step in the development of a near-field model is the estimation of down-current Tot-P concentrations. A nutritional mass balance approach was used to calculate the amount of non-settleable Tot-P which was divided by the corresponding flushing volume over four separate production periods. Despite a number of uncertainties, such as cage effects on flushing volume, the contribution of particulate phosphorus, fish distribution, feed conversion ratio, and ingestion-excretion time; accuracy (slope = 1.06) and precision (r(2) = 0.75) of modelled estimates fit well with empirical results. It was concluded that 30 m down-current Tot-P concentrations could be modelled under a diverse set of culture and environmental conditions, suggesting typical 'near-field' concentrations of Tot-P can be explained on the basis of farm activities.     

Improvements to lawn and garden equipment emissions estimates for Baltimore, Maryland

Lawn and garden equipment are a significant source of emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other pollutants in suburban and urban areas. Emission estimates for this source category are typically prepared using default equipment populations and activity data contained in emissions models such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) NONROAD model or the California Air Resources Board's (CARB) OFFROAD model. Although such default data may represent national or state averages, these data are unlikely to reflect regional or local differences in equipment usage patterns because of variations in climate, lot sizes, and other variables. To assess potential errors in lawn and garden equipment emission estimates produced by the NONROAD model and to demonstrate methods that can be used by local planning agencies to improve those emission estimates, this study used bottom-up data collection techniques in the Baltimore metropolitan area to develop local equipment population, activity, and temporal data for lawn and garden equipment in the area. Results of this study show that emission estimates of VOCs, particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), and nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) for the Baltimore area that are based on local data collected through surveys of residential and commercial lawn and garden equipment users are 24-56% lower than estimates produced using NONROAD default data, largely because of a difference in equipment populations for high-usage commercial applications. Survey-derived emission estimates of PM and VOCs are 24 and 26% lower than NONROAD default estimates, respectively, whereas survey-derived emission estimates for CO, CO2, and NO(x) are more than 40% lower than NONROAD default estimates. In addition, study results show that the temporal allocation factors applied to residential lawn and garden equipment in the NONROAD model underestimated weekend activity levels by 30% compared with survey-derived temporal profiles.     

Principles and processes for effecting change in environmental management in New Zealand

In New Zealand environmental management is essentially the responsibility of land managers. Management decisions affect both production/productivity and the environment. However, responsibility for ensuring positive environmental outcomes falls on both local (Regional) and Central Government, and both they and international agencies such as the OECD would wish to monitor and report on changes. In terms of policy, strong links have been established via Central and Regional Government to land managers. Consumers in the market place are also, increasingly, requiring responsibility for positive environmental outcomes of those who purchase and process primary products. Strong links for responsibility have been established between our international markets and processing businesses and there is a noticeable strengthening of the links from the processors to the land manager/producer. In New Zealand a range of initiatives has been developed and implemented over recent times, whereby land managers are taking increasing responsibility for accounting for the environmental outcomes of their production activities. The range covers the spectrum from voluntary to compulsory (e.g., in order to meet market requirements) and from those initiated by customers to processor and/or producer initiatives. This paper follows the evolution of the principles that drove the predominant activities of the period and the processes that initiated the changes in environmental management. As the focus of agriculturalists changed from pioneering in a new world, to establishing a production base, to economic reality, and finally to environmental responsibility, the processes of extension adapted to meet the new challenge.     

Growth of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba at South Georgia

 Antarctic krill Euphausia superba has a central role in the ecosystem of the Southern Ocean and knowledge of its growth rate is central to determining the factors influencing population dynamics. The length of Antarctic krill in the diet of Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella at South Georgia revealed a consistent increase in size between ca. 42 and ca. 54 mm over the period October–March, indicating growth rates much higher than predicted by existing models. Geographical variation in growth rate may result in 2-year-old krill at South Georgia attaining the same size as 3-year-old krill in the Antarctic Peninsula region. The effect of geographical variation in growth rate on the population structure of krill has important implications for comparing the fate of individual cohorts over large scales and in the interpretation of krill life-cycles. Received: 20 May 2000 / Accepted: 11 August 2000     

Larval and post-larval morphogenesis in the gutless protobranch bivalve Solemya reidi (Cryptodonta: Solemyidae)

Structural changes occurring in the alimentary tract, perivisceral cavity, foot, hypobranchial gland, and gills of larval and post-larval Solemya reidi, a gutless protobranch bivalve, were examined using both light and electron microscopy at 1, 3, 5, 18, 34 and 42 d after fertilization. A fully developed mouth, esophagus, and anus, together with the rudiments of a stomach and rectum are present before metamorphosis. At metamorphosis, the cells making up the dorsal and lateral walls of the stomach dissociate, and by 18 d the mouth and anus are the only remaining portions of the alimentary tract. The larval test is ingested into the perivisceral cavity at metamorphosis and its autolysis continues through at least the 42nd day after fertilization. The foot, gills, and hypobranchial gland, poorly developed at metamorphosis, develop slowly and are still undergoing extensive morphogenesis at 42 d.Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution Contribution No. 601.     

The importance of investigating for uniparental disomy in prenatally identified balanced acrocentric rearrangements

We report the finding of paternal isodisomy for chromosome 14 in a fetus found to have a der(14;14)(q10;q10) by amniocentesis. The pregnancy was complicated by severe polyhydramnios and elevated amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). The infant showed features consistent with paternal uniparental disomy (UPD) including postnatal growth retardation, poor respiratory function, feeding difficulties, and evidence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The present case, in addition to other reported cases of UPD involving balanced acrocentric rearrangements, supports testing for UPD in prenatally detected Robertsonian translocations and isochromosomes. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mass encystment of a planktonic oligotrich ciliate

Sediment traps were deployed in a 60 m water column near the Eddystone Lighthouse on the south west coast of England for one year from March 1984. In April, the traps collected the cysts of a planktonic ciliate with a flux of almost 35 000 m^-2 d^-1. The cysts were attributed to a planktonic oligotrich [provisionally identified as Strombidium crassulum (Leegard) Kahl], which was common in the water at the time. Identification was achieved through the discovery of the incipient formation of the cysts in preserved water samples and by the similarity of the morphology of the cysts with that of other oligotrichid ciliates. Attempts to prove the relationship by incubation have so far failed. The production of the cysts followed the main spring bloom of diatoms and coincided with a small bloom of autotrophic oligotrichs. In the traps, the total number and percentage of cysts with contents decreased rapidly after the encystment event. However, potentially viable cysts were still recorded in the plankton eleven months later, with minimum fluxes of 200 cysts m^-2 d^-1. Resuspension of bottom sediments by tides and storms ensured that a large population of cysts was always present in the water column during the winter, awaiting the right conditions to stimulate excystment and the initiation of a new motile population.