A framework for assessment and monitoring of arthropods in a lowland tropical forest

By applying principles of adaptive management, and by using the valuable information that arthropods provide from assessment and monitoring programs, managers can identify and reduce possible impacts on biodiversity in development projects. In 1996, the Smithsonian Institution's Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity program worked together with Shell Prospecting and Development Peru to establish an adaptive management program to protect biodiversity in a natural gas exploration project in a Peruvian rainforest. In this paper, we outlined the conceptual steps involved in establishing an assessment and monitoring program for arthropods, including setting objectives, evaluating the results and making decisions. We also present the results of the assessment using some of groups of arthropods, and summarize the steps taken to identify appropriate groups for monitoring.     

Restoring ecosystems,restoring community: socioeconomic and cultural dimensions of a community-based coral reef restoration project

Environmental restoration projects are commonly touted for their ecological positives, but such projects can also provide significant socioeconomic and cultural benefits to local communities. We assessed the social dimensions of a large-scale coral reef restoration project in Maunalua Bay, O‘ahu, where >1.32 million kg of invasive marine macroalgae was removed from 11 hectares (90,000 m²; 23 acres) of impacted coral reef in an urbanized setting. We interviewed 131 community stakeholders and analyzed both quantitative and qualitative data to assess human uses of the environment, assess perceptions of environmental health, and characterize social dimensions (+/?) associated with the invasive algae removal effort. Results indicate substantial direct economic benefits, including the creation of more than 60+ jobs, benefiting more than 250 individuals and 81 households. The project helped develop a skilled workforce in a local business dedicated to environmental restoration and increased the capacity of community organizations to address other threats to reefs and watersheds. Other major benefits include revitalization of Native Hawaiian cultural practices and traditions and the successful use of harvested invasive algae as compost by local farmers. Our results show the project heightened community awareness and a broader sense of stewardship in the area, creating enabling conditions for collective community action. Our findings show that restoration projects that explicitly incorporate efforts to build community awareness, involvement, and a shared responsibility for a site may ultimately create the long-term capacity for sustainable stewardship programs. We conclude by discussing lessons learned for engaging productively with communities in environmental restoration and stewardship, which remains a central focus in conservation worldwide.     

Environmental management intentions: An empirical investigation of Argentina's polluting firms

This paper builds on past behavioural research which explicitly recognises that ‘actions’ are preceded by ‘intentions’ which are in turn determined by individual mindsets, locus of control, principles of governances and context factors. More concretely, it presents a model that investigates the extent to which environmental behavioural intentions are explained by i) managers' core values, basic assumptions, and beliefs, ii) individual and socio-cognitive frames, iii) principles of governance, and iv) context factors. Context factors include obstacles and drivers of greener behaviours, market pressures, and firm demographics. The resulting theoretical framework is tested empirically through regression analyses that use data gathered from a survey of 536 Argentinean firms in polluting industries. The model performs well, explaining approximately 50% of the variations in the (pro) environmental behaviour of firms. Policy implications are briefly discussed.     

Investigation of the Jahn Foundry and CTA Acoustics dust explosions: similarities and differences

The Jahn Foundry in Springfield, Massachusetts and CTA Acoustics in Corbin, Kentucky experienced devastating dust explosions in 1999 and 2003, respectively. At the time, Jahn Foundry was a gray iron casting facility that used phenolic resin powder as a binder for sand molds. CTA Acoustics was a manufacturer of thermal acoustic insulation that used phenolic resin powder as a binder for fiberglass mats. In both facilities the phenolic resin was able to migrate from the process, accumulate in the facility, and fuel catastrophic dust explosions.In this paper we review Exponent's investigation of the two incidents and identify root causes of the incidents and applicable standards that, if followed, could have prevented or mitigated the incidents. Throughout the paper we identify similarities and differences between the two facilities. For instance, in both facilities hazardous levels of dust had been allowed to accumulate due, in part, to inadequate housekeeping. However, a significant difference between the two facilities was that Jahn Foundry had no dust collection systems while the CTA Acoustics facility had dust collection systems designed to minimize the release of dust into the plant. The paper summarizes lessons learned from these two incidents that should be remembered when designing new facilities and analyzing hazards at existing facilities.     

Pollution by organochlorine pesticides in Navachiste-Macapule,Sinaloa, Mexico

The lagoon system of Navachiste-Macapule is located in northern Mexico, in the state of Sinaloa, with an area of 24,000 ha. The main economic activity in the area is agriculture, and the lagoon lies next to the irrigation district ID-063 which covers 116,615 ha. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the levels of pollution generated by organochlorine pesticides (OC) in the surface sediments of the lagoon and in the agricultural drains of the ID-063 that are supposedly transported into the system as a result of agricultural activities and runoff from adjacent land. For this, between 2006 and 2007, 45 surface sediment samples were collected (warm dry, rainy and cold dry) from 15 sampling sites, during the three climatic seasons. Of these, eight were located inside the lagoon in marine conditions (salinity >31 PSU) and seven in the agricultural drains of the ID-063 in freshwater conditions (salinity <5 PSU). The average concentration of the OC in the sediments was 44.75 ng g^− 1, among which the group of the alicyclic compounds presented the greatest concentrations. The average value of the total organic carbon (TOC) in the sediments of the system was 0.90%. The sediments collected inside the lagoon had an average OC concentration of 18.97 ng g^− 1, and the predominant type of sediment was fine to very fine sand. The average OC concentration in the sediments collected in the agricultural drains was 75.69 ng g^− 1, where fine sediments (silt) were predominant. The presence of methoxychlor, endrin and heptachlor suggested that these compounds were continuously used in the system, even though their use is forbidden in Mexico.     

Partitioning, sources and variability of regional and local oxidant (OX = O3 + NO2) in a coastal rural area in the southwest of Iberian Peninsula

The purpose of this work is to investigate the behaviour and variability of oxidant levels (OX?=?NO₂?+?O₃), for the first time, in a rural coastal area in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, affected by several air masses types. Detailed database (built-up over the years 2008 to 2011, and containing around 500,000 data) from the Atmospheric Sounding Station “El Arenosillo” was used. The observed daily cycles of NO _x and OX were influenced by air masses coming from industrial and urban area. It can be seen that the concentration of OX is made up of a NO _x -independent ‘regional’ contribution (i.e. the O₃ background), and a linearly NO _x -dependent ‘local’ contribution from primary emissions, such as traffic. The local emission is very low in this area. Also, the regional contribution is similar to unpolluted sites and presents seasonal variation, being higher in May. However, our measurements showed that the proportion of OX in the form of NO₂ increases with the increase in NO _x concentration during the day. The higher proportion of NO₂ observed at night must be due to the conversion of NO to NO₂ by the NO?+?O₃ reaction. With regards to the source of the local NO _x -dependent contribution, it may be attributed to industrial emission, or the termolecular reaction 2NO?+?O₂?=?2NO₂, at high-NO _x levels and stagnant air during several days. Finally, we estimated the photolysis rate of NO₂, J _NO2, an important key atmospheric reaction coupled with ozone. We also present surface plots of annual variation of the daily mean NO _x and OX levels, which indicate that oxidants come from transport processes instead of local emissions associated as local photochemistry.     

Fitness costs of an immune response in the house martin (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Delichon urbica</Emphasis>)

Immune responses constitute a major way for hosts to defend themselves against parasites. Because hosts do not habitually produce strong responses all the time, immune responses might be costly to produce or maintain. We tested experimentally if the production of a response to a challenge with a novel antigen resulted in a cost in terms of fitness using the highly colonial house martin Delichon urbica as a model system. We injected adult breeding birds during laying of the first clutch with either Newcastle disease virus (NDV) or a control injection, and the clutch was subsequently removed to induce relaying. NDV stimulates the non-specific immune system, causing production of antibodies during a period of more than 2 weeks. Accordingly, we found an increase in leukocyte counts in experimental birds compared to controls. Experimental treatment reduced the frequency of re-laying, caused a delay in timing of relaying and a reduction in brood size. Quality of nestlings in terms of body size, body mass and T-cell-mediated immune response did not differ significantly between treatments. Overall, seasonal reproductive success differed significantly between treatments, showing that the production of an immune response by adult birds is costly in terms of future fecundity.     

Flammability of heat transfer fluid aerosols produced by electrospray measured by laser diffraction analysis

Accidental release of pressurized high flash point heat transfer fluids can result in fire and explosion hazard scenarios in the process industry. An experimental investigation on ignition of aerosols of a heat transfer fluid is carried out, and characterization of aerosol and its ignition process by non-intrusive laser diffraction technique is reported. Propagation speed of the aerosol combustion flame front as analyzed from the laser diffraction measurement agrees with high-speed visual camera observation. Flammability of the aerosol, which is based on the chances of the global flame appearance in the aerosol, is mainly controlled by aerosol droplet size and the droplet volume concentration.     

Boldness and body size of male Spanish terrapins affect their responses to chemical cues of familiar and unfamiliar males

Recognition and avoidance of conspecifics based on chemical cues could reduce the risk of aggressive interactions between males. Success in agonistics encounters with unfamiliar males should be lower than with previously known familiar males. Then, males should avoid the chemicals from unfamiliar males with respect to those from familiar males. However, boldness and size could affect the outcome of encounters between males and, consequently, the response to chemical cues of conspecific males. We compared the time spent by male turtles Mauremys leprosa in water pools with chemical stimuli from unfamiliar or familiar males or with their own chemical stimuli. We also performed a behavioral test to estimate boldness of turtles in an antipredatory situation. Turtles avoided the chemicals from unfamiliar males respect to familiar ones and their own odors, but their responses depended on boldness and size of the tested turtle. Bold turtles avoided water with chemicals of unfamiliar males, but not with chemicals of familiar males, whereas shy turtles avoided chemicals of both familiar and unfamiliar males. On the other hand, large males avoided the odor from unfamiliar males, but small males did not avoid water with the odor from other males. Results suggest that male M. leprosa can detect chemicals released to water from conspecific males and discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar males. However, responses to these chemicals depended on boldness and body size of the responding turtle because these factors may affect intrasexual competition.