Assessing the double dividend of a third-generation environmental tax reform with resource substitution

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Taxes often face public opposition, which hinders their implementation since people envision them as costs without a return. Taxes on emissions are one...     

Mapping Adolescents’ Sense of Place and Perceptions of Change in an Urban–Rural Transition Area

Environmental Management - Landscapes are changing, with rural areas becoming increasingly urbanized. Children and adolescents are underrepresented in the sense-of-place literature. Our study aimed...     

Improving ozonation to remove carbamazepine through ozone-assisted catalysis using different NiO concentrations

The carbamazepine (CBZ) abatement is herein evaluated using catalytic ozonation at different NiO concentrations as catalyst: 100, 300, and 500 mg      

Anti-predator behavior of group-living Malagasy primates: mixed evidence for a referential alarm call system

Many mammals warn conspecifics with alarm calls about detected predators. These alarm calls are either functionally referential, urgency based, or they can have multiple functions, including predator deterrence. The taxonomic distribution of these alarm call systems is uneven, with primates providing the best-known examples for a functionally referential system and rodents most examples of an urgency-based system. Reports of different alarm call systems in lemurid primates prompted us to examine the anti-predator behavior of two additional lemur species. In an experimental field study we exposed adult redfronted lemurs (Eulemur fulvus rufus) and white sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi verreauxi) to playbacks of vocalizations of their main aerial and terrestrial predators, as well as to their own alarm calls given in response to the presentation of these predators. We scored the subjects' immediate behavioral responses, including alarm calls, from video recordings made during the first minute following a playback. We found that both species gave specific alarm calls only in response to raptor playbacks and the corresponding alarm calls, whereas calls given in response to carnivores and the corresponding alarm calls were also observed in other situations characterized by high arousal. Other behavioral responses, such as gaze and escape directions, corresponded to the hunting strategies of the two predator classes, suggesting that the corresponding vocalizations were categorized correctly. These two lemur species, which represent different families, have therefore independently evolved a mixed alarm call system, characterized by functionally referential calls for diurnal raptors, but not for carnivores. Electronic supplementary material to this paper can be obtained by using the Springer LINK server located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00265-001-0436-0 Electronic Publication     

The effects of male and female genotype on variance in male fertilization success in the red flour beetle (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Tribolium castaneum</Emphasis>)

The number of eggs fertilized by a male at any given copulation (fertilization success) is affected by a large number of factors. Male insemination and sperm competition success and various female structures and/or processes that bias paternity in favor of some males over others (cryptic female choice) are all likely to affect fertilization success. We suggest that more comprehensive measures of male fertilization success can increase our understanding of postcopulatory sexual selection. To improve our understanding of the importance of various sources of variance in male fertilization success, we conducted a series of experiments using flour beetles. Different wild-type strains were used in reciprocal double mating experiments, against a phenotypic marker strain. We assessed the relative effects of female genotype, male genotype and mating order on independent and inclusive measures of male defense ability ( P ₁), male offense ability ( P ₂), and female remating behavior. Female genotype influenced both P ₁ and P ₂, and male genotype interacted strongly with female genotype in its effect on P ₂. We also documented an interaction between female and male genotypes in the effects of mating on female remating behavior, such that females tended to remate most rapidly when mated to males of their own genotype. It is clear from our experiments that cryptic female choice influences the pattern of fertilization success in flour beetles, and we suggest that cryptic female choice may often be an important component of postcopulatory sexual selection. Future investigations would benefit from studying the multiple components of variance in male fertilization success.     

Summer dormancy in edible dormice (Glis glis) without energetic constraints

Average longevity in free-living edible dormice (Glis glis) can reach 9 years, which is extremely high for a small rodent. This remarkable life span has been related to a peculiar life history strategy and the rarity of reproductive bouts in these seed eaters. Most females (96%) reproduce only once or twice in their lifetime, predominantly during years of mast seeding of, e.g., beech, but entire populations can skip reproduction in years of low seed availability. Surprisingly, in non-reproductive years, large fractions of populations apparently vanished and were never captured above ground. Therefore, we determined the duration of above-ground activity, and body temperature profiles in a subset of animals, of dormice under semi-natural conditions in outdoor enclosures. We found that non-reproductive dormice returned to dormancy in underground burrows throughout summer after active seasons as short as <2 weeks. Thus, animals spent up to >10 months per year in dormancy. This exceeds dormancy duration of any other mammal under natural conditions. Summer dormancy was not caused by energy constraints, as it occurred in animals in good condition, fed ad libitum and without climatic stress. We suggest that almost year-round torpor has evolved as a strategy to escape birds of prey, the major predators of this arboreal mammal. This unique predator-avoidance strategy clearly helps in explaining the unusually high longevity of dormice.     

Integrated assessment of future CAP policies: land use changes,spatial patterns and targeting

The recent and upcoming reforms of the Common Agricultural Policies (CAPs) aim at strengthening the multifunctional role of agriculture, acknowledging the differences in economic, environmental and social potentials within European regions. This paper presents results from an integrated assessment of existing and future policies within the framework set up in the FP6 EU project MEA-Scope. Spatial explicit procedures allow for the MEA-Scope modelling tools to provide information related to regional, environmental and socio-economics settings. The impact of different policy scenarios on structural change, land abandonment and cropping pattern of typical farms has been assessed based on linked agent-based (ABM) and Linear Programming (LP) models at regional and farm scale for two study areas. For the German case study area Ostprignitz-Ruppin (OPR), the issue of policy targeting has been addressed by relating non-commodity outputs (NCOs) to soil quality and protection status. For the Italian case study area (Mugello), changes in landscape patterns in terms of increased fragmentation or homogeneity as affected by changes in agricultural intensity have been analysed using semivariance analysis. The spatial explicit approach highlighted the relevance of case study research in order to identifying response structures and explaining policy implementation patterns.     

Learning for social-ecological change: a qualitative review of outcomes across empirical literature in natural resource management

Learning is considered as a promising mechanism to cope with rapid environmental change. The implications of learning for natural resource management (NRM) have not been explored in-depth and the evidence on the topic is scattered across multiple sources. We provide a qualitative review of types of learning outcomes and consider their manifestations in NRM across selected empirical literature. We conducted a systematic search of the peer-reviewed literature (N = 1,223) and a qualitative meta-synthesis of included articles, with an explicit focus on learning outcomes and NRM changes (N = 53). Besides social learning, we found several learning concepts used, including policy and transformative learning, and multiple links between learning and NRM reported. We observe that the development of skills, together with a system approach involving multi-level capacities, is decisive for implications of learning for NRM. Future reviews could systematically compare how primary research applies different learning concepts and discusses links between learning and NRM changes.     

Presence of metals in drinking water distribution networks due to pipe material leaching: a review

Drinking water quality should remain constant from the drinking water treatment plant to the consumer's tap. However, water quality characteristics might be affected by interactions with pipe materials. This review describes the iron, copper, lead, zinc, aluminum, chromium, and cadmium in drinking water leached from the pipe material present in drinking water, as well as the factors and mechanisms that affect leaching processes. Data analysis suggests that monitoring the water quality in distribution systems is important for their proper management; however, the low measured concentrations highlight the need for sensitive sensors. In addition, further research is necessary to anticipate possible future effects before the installation of new materials/infrastructure or changes in water source/treatment.