Conversion or conservation? Understanding wetland change in northwest Costa Rica.

Wetlands are more threatened than any other ecosystem type, with losses exceeding 50% of their original extent worldwide. Despite the small portion of the Earth's surface that they comprise, wetlands contribute significantly to global ecosystem services. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the location and rate of change in wetland amount in the Tempisque Basin of northwest Costa Rica is predictable from landscape setting. Our results demonstrate that a strong potential exists for developing predictive models of wetland conversion based on an understanding of wetland location and surrounding trends of land use. We found that topography was the single most important predictor of wetland conversion in this area, entraining other conversion processes, and that spatial patterns of wetland loss could consistently be predicted from landscape-level variables. Areas with highest probabilities of conversion were found in the most accessible, non-protected regions of the landscape. While Palo Verde National Park made a substantial contribution to wetland conservation, our results highlight the dependence of lower-lying protected areas on upland processes, adding a little-addressed dimension of complexity to the dialogue about protected area management. Conservation strategies aimed at reducing wetland loss in tropical habitats will benefit from careful analysis of the dominant land use system(s) at a relatively broad scale, and the subsequent development of management and policy responses that take into account dynamic opportunities and constraints in the landscape.     

Black and Smelly Waters: how citizen-generated transparency is addressing gaps in China’s environmental management

ABSTRACT

Information communication technologies (ICTs) generate new forums for transparency via governance-by-disclosure initiatives designed to improve environmental management and policy. Data generated by these programs are a means to empower citizens, narrowing the accountability gap between governments and people and enhancing public service. There is little empirical evidence, however, that supports the theory that citizen-generated data can be used to improve the accountability of local government officials. Citizen-led transparency efforts are emerging in China, as the country undergoes an information revolution that has brought ICTs to near ubiquity. We evaluate the transformative potential of a new ICT initiative, the ‘Black and Smelly Waters’ program, which China’s government launched to help enforce local government water remediation efforts. Many examples of citizen-generated transparency are grassroots initiatives, yet the Black and Smelly Waters program is distinct in its top-down structure. An empirical evaluation of preliminary data illuminates Black and Smelly Waters’s early successes and challenges as a means to generate transparency and accountability. We discuss these findings and propose a broad application of this new type of disclosure to reshape environmental management in China.     

PREDICTION OF STREAM TEMPERATURE IN FORESTED WATERSHEDS1

ABSTRACT: Removal of streamside vegetation changes the energy balance of a stream, and hence its temperature. A common approach to mitigating the effects of logging on stream temperature is to require establishment of buffer zones along stream corridors. A simple energy balance model is described for prediction of stream temperature in forested headwater watersheds that allows evaluation of the performance of such measures. The model is designed for application to “worst case” or maximum annual stream temperature, under low flow conditions with maximum annual solar radiation and air temperature. Low flows are estimated via a regional regression equation with independent variables readily accessible from GIS databases. Testing of the energy balance model was performed using field data for mostly forested basins on both the west and east slopes of the Cascade Mountains, and was then evaluated using the regional equations for low flow and observed maximum reach temperatures in three different east slope Cascades catchments. A series of sensitivity analyses showed that increasing the buffer width beyond 30 meters did not significantly decrease stream temperatures, and that other vegetation parameters such as leaf area index, average tree height, and to a lesser extent streamside vegetation buffer width, more strongly affected maximum stream temperatures.