Think globally, act locally'? Climate change and public participation in Manchester and Frankfurt

'Think Globally, Act Locally' was one of the most famous slogans of the 1970s environmental movement. Discourses about global climate change are now a vivid illustration of this new 'global thinking'. Although there is a substantial amount of research about global environmental issues and policy initiatives, there is still a gap in understanding of how lay publics actually comprehend global climate change. Using qualitative research method, this study is a comparison of how lay publics in Frankfurt (Germany) and Manchester (UK) perceive these issues and the possible solutions. The study found strong similarities in lay public perceptions in both cities including that (1) awareness of global environmental issues is always contextualised in broader perspectives not exclusively 'environmental', (2) there is a shared and strong sense of global equity based on recognition of differences and (3) there is an ambivalence about the role of environmental 'information'. Differences between lay public perceptions in Manchester and Frankfurt can be explained by specific features of national cultures.     

Occurrence and distribution of triclosan in the German Bight (North Sea)

The potential of triclosan (TCS) acting as an endocrine disruptor has led to growing concern about the presence of TCS in the environment. In this study, seawater samples were collected from the German Bight during sampling campaigns conducted with the German research ships Gauss and Ludwig Prandtl. TCS was determined both in the dissolved phase and in the suspended particulate matters with concentrations ranging 0.8-6870 pg L⁻¹ and <1-95 pg L⁻¹, respectively. High concentrations of TCS were present in the estuaries of the Elbe and the Weser, indicating significant input of TCS by the river discharge. The correlation coefficient (R²) between the dissolved concentration and salinity was 0.79 for the data obtained from the Gauss cruise, showing an obvious declining trend from the coast to the open sea.     

Evaluation of the in situ, time-integrated DGT technique by monitoring changes in heavy metal concentrations in estuarine waters

Various natural and anthropogenic processes influence heavy metal concentrations within estuaries. In situ, time-integrated DGT measurements made over concurrent tidal phases found significantly higher concentrations of Cu (probability p=0.017), Zn (p=0.003) and Ni (p=0.003) during the flood phase, because the incoming tide passes several point sources. DGT-reactive Cu concentrations significantly decreased with increased tidal-flushing and vice versa within a marina (correlation r=-0.788, p=0.02). DGT measurements also recorded significant increases in Cu (4 out of 4 sites, p<0.001) and Zn (3 out of 4 sites, p< or =0.015) after a 24 mm rainfall event. Finally, DGT-reactive Cu increased significantly (p<0.001) during peak boating times, due to increased numbers of Cu-antifouled boats. This study demonstrates that, with judicious selection of deployment times, DGT measurements enable changes in heavy metal concentrations to be related to various cycles and events within estuaries.     

Absorption of odourous substances using selective gas-liquid separation processes

Absorption is one of the most widely used techniques for treating odourous waste gases. An improvement of the effectiveness of gas scrubbers can be achieved by using adapted washing liquids. A screening test is proposed as a low cost tool for testing washing liquids on industrial waste gases. The odour index is used to identify the main cause of the specific smell and to simplify the analysis of absorptive performances of washing liquids. The method is verified by experiments at a chocolate factory and a fat and oil refinery.     

Thermal and energetic constraints on ectotherm abundance: a global test using lizards

Population densities of birds and mammals have been shown to decrease with body mass at approximately the same rate as metabolic rates increase, indicating that energetic needs constrain endotherm population densities. In ectotherms, the exponential increase of metabolic rate with body temperature suggests that environmental temperature may additionally constrain population densities. Here we test simple bioenergetic models for an ecologically important group of ectothermic vertebrates by examining 483 lizard populations. We find that lizard population densities decrease as a power law of body mass with a slope approximately inverse to the slope of the relationship between metabolic rates and body mass. Energy availability should limit population densities. As predicted, environmental productivity has a positive effect on lizard density, strengthening the relationship between lizard density and body mass. In contrast, the effect of environmental temperature is at most weak due to behavioral thermoregulation, thermal evolution, or the temperature dependence of ectotherm performance. Our results provide initial insights into how energy needs and availability differentially constrain ectotherm and endotherm density across broad spatial scales.     

Grassland songbird survival and recruitment in agricultural landscapes: implications for source-sink demography

Population growth and decline are particularly sensitive to changes in three key life-history parameters: annual productivity, juvenile survival, and adult survival. However, for many species these parameters remain unknown. For example, although grassland songbirds are imperiled throughout North America, for this guild, only a small number of studies have assessed these parameters. From 2002 to 2006, in the agricultural landscape of the Champlain Valley of Vermont and New York, USA, we studied Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) and Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) demography on four grassland treatments: (1) early-hayed fields cut before 11 June and again in early- to mid-July; (2) middle-hayed fields cut once between 21 June and 10 July; (3) late-hayed fields cut after 1 August; and (4) rotationally grazed pastures. We assessed whether these treatments affected adult apparent survival (phi) and recruitment (f), how sensitive these parameters were to the presence of nonbreeders and local dispersal, and the populations' ability to persist in these four habitats. On average, birds using late-hayed fields had > 25% higher apparent survival than those on the more intensively managed early-hayed, middle-hayed, and grazed fields. Overall male phi was 35% higher than female phi, and Savannah Sparrow phi was 44% higher than Bobolink phi. Across all analyses and treatments, apparent survival estimates were 0.58-0.85 for male and 0.48-0.71 for female Savannah Sparrows, and 0.52-0.70 for male and 0.19-0.55 for female Bobolinks. For males of both species, potential nonbreeders decreased the precision of and lowered apparent survival estimates by 25%; female estimates showed little variation with the inclusion of nonbreeders. Inclusion of local dispersal observations increased apparent survival estimates and, in many cases, increased precision, though the effect was stronger for Savannah Sparrows than for Bobolinks, and also stronger for males than for females. High Savannah Sparrow apparent survival rates resulted in stable or near stable populations (lambda approximately 1), particularly in late-hayed and grazed fields, while low Bobolink apparent survival rates resulted in strongly declining populations (lambda < 1) in all treatments.     

Understanding and managing the interactions of impacts from nature-based recreation and climate change

Disturbance to ecosystems in parks and protected areas from nature-based tourism and recreation is increasing in scale and severity, as are the impacts of climate change—but there is limited research examining the degree to which these anthropogenic disturbances interact. In this perspective paper, we draw on the available literature to expose complex recreation and climate interactions that may alter ecosystems of high conservation value such that important species and processes no longer persist. Our emphasis is on ecosystems in high demand for tourism and recreation that also are increasingly experiencing stress from climate change. We discuss the importance of developing predictive models of direct and indirect effects, including threshold and legacy effects at different levels of biological organization. We present a conceptual model of these interactions to initiate a dialog among researchers and managers so that new research approaches and managerial frameworks are advanced to address this emerging issue.     

Acclimatization patterns in tropical reptiles: uncoupling temperature and energetics

The physiological compensation of animals in changing environments through acclimatization has long been considered to be of minor importance in tropical ectotherms due to more stable climatic conditions compared to temperate regions. Contrasting this assumption are reports about a range of metabolic adjustments in tropical species, especially during the last two decades from field acclimatized animals. Metabolic rates are strongly linked to temperature in ectotherms but they also reflect energetic requirements and restrictions. We therefore postulate that the observed variety of acclimatization patterns in tropical reptiles results from an interaction of multiple influences, including food and water availability, rather than from thermal constraints alone. We present new data from two sympatric Malagasy lizards with contrasting acclimatization patterns and, complemented with an extensive literature search, discuss the variety of acclimatization patterns in tropical reptiles with regard to thermal and energetic influences. This broad consideration of constraints allows a rearrangement of apparently controversial patterns into a scheme of decreasing metabolic costs, including two new categories for selective and selective inverse acclimatization, where metabolic shifts are restricted to body temperatures below those preferred during activity.     

Developmental abnormalities in Glomeris marginata (Villers 1789) (Myriapoda: Diplopoda): implications for body axis determination in a myriapod

Abnormally developing embryos (ADEs) of the common pill millipede Glomeris marginata have been investigated by means of nuclear staining and mRNA in situ hybridization. It showed that all ADEs represent cases of Duplicitas posterior, which means that the posterior body pole is duplicated. The severity of the duplication ranges from duplicated posterior trunk segments in one specimen to an almost completely duplicated specimen that only shares the very anterior head region. Remarkably, none of the encountered ADEs represents a case of Duplicitas anterior (duplicated anterior pole) or a case of Duplicitas cruciata (cruciate duplication with two anterior and two posterior poles). This observation is discussed in the light of earlier reports on G. marginata ADEs that claim to have found these abnormalities. The lack of any other axial abnormality aside from D. posterior implies that early axis determination in G. marginata, and possibly myriapods in general, underlies the developmental mechanisms that prevent the formation of any other type of axial duplication. It is proposed that the formation of D. posterior-type embryos could be caused by the formation of two instead of only one posterior cumulus early during development.