Drivers influencing adaptive management: a retrospective evaluation of water quality decisions in South East Queensland (Australia)

This article analyzes interviews with natural resource managers in South East Queensland (SEQ), Australia. The objectives of the research are (i) to apply and test deductive/inductive text analysis methods for constructing a conceptual model of water quality decision-making in SEQ, (ii) to understand the role of information in the decision-making process, and (iii) to understand how to improve adaptive management in SEQ. Our methodology provided the means to quickly and objectively explore interview data and also reduce potential subjective bias normally associated with deductive text analysis methods. At a more practical level, our methodology indicates potential intervention points if one is to influence the decision-making process in the region. Results indicate that relevant information is often ignored in SEQ, with significant consequences for adaptive management. Contextual factors (political, social, and environmental) together with effective communication or lobbying strategies often prevent evidence-based decisions. We propose that in addition to generating information to support decisions, adaptive management also requires an appraisal of the true character of the decision-making process, which includes how stakeholders interact, what information is relevant and salient to management, and how the available information should be communicated to stakeholders and decision-making bodies.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-014-0537-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Multi-objective design optimization of sustainable commercial a-ircraft: performance and costs

The present work deals with a multi-objective optimisation approach to incorporate up-to-date financial models in the multidisciplinary conceptual design of a commercial aircraft. Design optimisations based on financial objective functions are compared to standard performance-based optimal solutions. The main novelty is in the extension of the financial models to the long-term investments of a wider group of stakeholders. The rationale underlying this research stems from two considerations: (i) the environmentally sustainable development of the air transportation system in the next 20 years is subordinate to breakthrough technologies, since the consolidated ones have reached their saturation point; (ii) the economic impacts of highly innovative concepts on the stakeholders chain is still uncertain. The problem is addressed at the conceptual design level and the analysis is performed within a comprehensive multidisciplinary framework, adopting all the technical constraints required in aeronautical design. The Pareto fronts obtained using performance and financial merit factors, reveal that the proposed financial model yields highly efficient, technically sound concepts. The design space point corresponding to the negative cash flows minimum turned out to be very close to the one corresponding to minimum acoustic emissions, confirming that the financial model drives the optimiser towards environment-friendly designs.     

A data-based model to locate mass movements triggered by seismic events in Sichuan, China

Earthquakes affect the entire world and have catastrophic consequences. On May 12, 2008, an earthquake of magnitude 7.9 on the Richter scale occurred in the Wenchuan area of Sichuan province in China. This event, together with subsequent aftershocks, caused many avalanches, landslides, debris flows, collapses, and quake lakes and induced numerous unstable slopes. This work proposes a methodology that uses a data mining approach and geographic information systems to predict these mass movements based on their association with the main and aftershock epicenters, geologic faults, riverbeds, and topography. A dataset comprising 3,883 mass movements is analyzed, and some models to predict the location of these mass movements are developed. These predictive models could be used by the Chinese authorities as an important tool for identifying risk areas and rescuing survivors during similar events in the future.     

Effects of a temporary HDPE cover on landfill gas emissions: multiyear evaluation with the static chamber approach at an Italian landfill

According to the European Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC and the related Italian Legislation (“D. Lgs. No. 36/2003”), monitoring and control procedures of landfill gas emissions, migration and external dispersions are clearly requested. These procedures could be particularly interesting in the operational circumstance of implementing a temporary cover, as for instance permitted by the Italian legislation over worked-out landfill sections, awaiting the evaluation of expected waste settlements.A possible quantitative approach for field measurement and consequential evaluation of landfill CO₂, CH₄ emission rates in pairs consists of the static, non-stationary accumulation chamber technique. At the Italian level, a significant and recent situation of periodical landfill gas emission monitoring is represented by the sanitary landfill for non-hazardous waste of the “Fano” town district, where monitoring campaigns with the static chamber have been annually conducted during the last 5 years (2005-2009). For the entire multiyear monitoring period, the resulting CO₂, CH₄ emission rates varied on the whole up to about 13,100 g CO₂ m⁻² d⁻¹ and 3800 g CH₄ m⁻² d⁻¹, respectively.The elaboration of these landfill gas emission data collected at the “Fano” case-study site during the monitoring campaigns, presented and discussed in the paper, gives rise to a certain scientific evidence of the possible negative effects derivable from the implementation of a temporary HDPE cover over a worked-out landfill section, notably: the lateral migration and concentration of landfill gas emissions through adjacent, active landfill sections when hydraulically connected; and consequently, the increase of landfill gas flux velocities throughout the reduced overall soil cover surface, giving rise to a flowing through of CH₄ emissions without a significant oxidation. Thus, these circumstances are expected to cause a certain increase of the overall GHG emissions from the given landfill site.     

Exploring the processes governing roadside pollutant concentrations in urban street canyon

This paper describes an in-depth analysis to investigate the huge variation in the measured roadside air-pollutant concentrations of carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide in terms of the traffic flow levels, the orientation of the street to the prevailing wind, the wind speed, temperature and barometric pressure. The work has attempted to develop generic parameters that can be applied to other urban areas. However, in the absence of a measure of congestion at the site in Palermo (Italy), the methodological approach proposed used the simultaneous noise measurements, in units of decibels (B), to help parameterise a generic congestion indicator in terms of the traffic flow. The potential transferability of the approach was demonstrated for a site in Marylebone Road, London (UK), given the similarity of the two study sites, canyon shape, traffic characteristics and road orientation. The results showed that, within the range of data available, noise levels could be used as a proxy for flow change on the shoulders of the peak hour and hence congestion and a generic relationship with factors statistically significant at 99 % confidence allows roadside concentrations due to traffic to be estimated with a regression coefficient of R ²?=?0.73 (R?=?0.85). The research demonstrates that whilst there are indeed underlying relationships that can explain the roadside concentrations based on traffic and meteorological conditions, evidence is presented that confirms the complexity of the physical and chemical processes that govern roadside concentrations.     

Progressive neuronal degeneration of childhood: prenatal diagnosis by MRI

We report two cases in the same family of progressive neuronal degeneration of childhood—Alpers syndrome—with prenatal MRI findings in one case. The first infant presented at birth with severe microcephaly, then rapidly evolved to progressive encephalopathy with refractory epilepsy, leading to death at 10 months. Biochemical investigations including liver function tests were normal. CT and MRI showed severe diffuse brain atrophy. The diagnosis of progressive neuronal degeneration of childhood was made on the clinical and imaging data. The second pregnancy was marked by gradual decrease of fetal cerebral biometry and a prenatal MRI performed at 32 weeks showed diffuse cortical atrophy, as observed in the sibling. The infant died at 5 months. Neuropathological findings were consistent with Alpers syndrome. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.