Marketing issues related to waste-grown aquatic foods

Environmental Management - Are societal wastes all bad? Some of them, including heat from power plants and certain organic wastes, have been demonstrated to be potentially valuable for growing...     

Relationships between soil and runoff phosphorus in small Alberta watersheds

Field-scale relationships between soil test phosphorus (STP) and flow-weighted mean concentrations (FWMCs) of dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) and total phosphorus (TP) in runoff are essential for modeling phosphorus losses, but are lacking. The objectives of this study were (i) to determine the relationships between soil phosphorus (STP and degree of phosphorus saturation (DPS)) and runoff phosphorus (TP and DRP) from field-sized catchments under spring snowmelt and summer rainfall conditions, and (ii) to determine whether a variety of depths and spatial representations of STP improved the prediction of phosphorus losses. Runoff was monitored from eight field-scale microwatersheds (2 to 248 ha) for 3 yr. Soil test phosphorus was determined for three layers (0 to 2.5 cm, 0 to 5 cm, and 0 to 15 cm) in spring and fall and the DPS was determined for the surface layer. Average STP (0 to 15 cm) ranged from 3 to 512 mg kg(-1), and DPS (0 to 2.5 cm) ranged from 5 to 91%. Seasonal FWMCs ranged from 0.01 to 7.4 mg L(-1) DRP and from 0.1 to 8.0 mg L(-1) TP. Strong linear relationships (r2=0.87 to 0.89) were found between the site mean STP and the FWMCs of DRP and TP. The relationships had similar extraction coefficients, intercepts, and predictive power among all three soil layers. Extraction coefficients (0.013 to 0.014) were similar to those reported for other Alberta studies, but were greater than those reported for rainfall simulation studies. The curvilinear DPS relationship showed similar predictive ability to STP. The field-scale STP relationships derived from natural conditions in this study should provide the basis for modeling phosphorus in Alberta.     

The multi-disciplinary evaluation of a national agri-environment scheme

With an increasing amount of public funds being spent on agri-environmental schemes effective methods have to be developed to evaluate them. As many schemes have multiple objectives there is a need for a multi-disciplinary approach to any evaluation. A method was developed to assess the degree to which ecological, landscape, historical and access objectives for the Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS) in England have been met. The method used a sample of 484 agreements for which data were collected from surveys, a desk study and an interview with the agreement holder. These data were then evaluated by an expert team of an ecologist, landscape architect, landscape historian, and a social scientist specializing in rural affairs. The team were subsequently brought together with a Chair to discuss their findings for each agreement, allocating scores for each of five criteria: agreement negotiation; appropriateness, environmental effectiveness, compliance and side effects. The additionality that each agreement was likely to provide was also assessed. The results of this process suggest that in the majority of cases the CSS agreements should maintain or enhance the environment in terms of ecology, landscape, and landscape history and increase public enjoyment of the countryside. Thirty-six percent of agreements showed high additionality and 38% medium additionality which demonstrates that the CSS is likely to provide a benefit to society. Agreement negotiation, predicted environmental effectiveness and predicted compliance all improved significantly over the period 1996-98. Recommendations made from this project have been implemented by the Government department to improve the CSS. The multi-disciplinary method was successful and, with further development, could be used for assessment of any agri-environment scheme, or potentially any conservation project or broader 'rural development' scheme encompassing environmental, economic and social objectives. A key to success is the need for the criteria to be tailored for the project concerned and clearly established at the beginning.     

Skier and Snowboarder Motivations and Knowledge Related to Voluntary Environmental Programs at an Alpine Ski Area

Many alpine ski areas have recently adopted voluntary environmental programs (VEPs) such as using recycling, renewable energy, and biofuels to help reduce their environmental impacts. Studies have addressed the performance of these VEPs in mitigating environmental impacts of this industry, but little is known about visitor awareness and perceptions of these programs. This article addresses this knowledge gap by exploring skier and snowboarder knowledge of VEPs at a ski area and the influence of these programs on their motivations to visit this area currently and behavioral intentions to visit again in the future. Data were obtained from an onsite survey at the Mt. Bachelor ski area in Oregon, USA (n = 429, 89.7% response rate). Few skiers and snowboarders were knowledgeable of VEPs at this area and fewer than 20% were motivated to visit on their current trip because of these programs. Other attributes such as scenery, snow conditions, and access were more important for influencing visitation. Up to 38% of skiers and snowboarders, however, intend to visit this ski area more often if it adopts and promotes more VEPs. Managers can use these results to inform communication and marketing of their environmental programs and performance to visitors. Additional implications for management and future research are discussed.     

Rapid prenatal diagnosis of Patau's syndrome in a fetus with an abdominal wall defect by 72 hour culture of cells from amniotic fluid

A woman in the 32nd week of pregnancy was referred for investigation because of fetal abnormalities, including an abdominal wall defect, detected by ultrasonography. In view of the increased risk of chromosome abnormality, amniocentesis was performed to enable informed decisions about the management of the pregnancy and delivery to be taken. Cells from the liquor were inoculated into standard lymphocyte culture medium and incubated for 72 h. Slides with a high mitotic index and good quality metaphases, comparable to those from a blood culture, were obtained after harvesting. Cytogenetic analysis showed the karyotype to be 46,XY,—14,+t(13ql4q), which is consistent with Patau's syndrome. This technique appears to be an option for rapid karyotyping in cases of abdominal wall defect, where a chromosomal abnormality is suspected.     

Seasonal and spatial occurrence and distribution of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in rural and urban areas of the North Chinese Plain

Passive air sampling (PAS) was employed to study the occurrence of gaseous and particle-bound PAHs in the North Chinese Plain. The averaged concentrations of gaseous and particle-bound PAHs were 485 ± 209 ng/m³ and 267 ± 161 ng/m³, respectively. The PAHs concentrations at urban sites were generally higher than those at rural ones with ratios <1.5 in spring, summer and fall, but differences between them were not significant for the wintertime and annually averaged concentrations. This urban-rural distribution pattern was related to the PAHs emission sources. PAHs spatial variation can be partially (49%) explained by emission with a simple linear regression method. Both the gaseous and particle-bound PAHs were highest in winter and lowest in summer, with winter/summer ratios of 1.8 and 8, respectively. Emission strength was the most important factor for the seasonality.     

Distribution and bioaccumulation of selenium in aquatic microcosms

Closed-system microcosms were used to study factors affecting the fate of selenium (Se) in aquatic systems. Distribution and bioaccumulation of Se varied among sediment types and Se species. A mixture of dissolved (75)Se species (selenate, selenite and selenomethionine) was sorbed more rapidly to fine-textured, highly organic pond sediments than to sandy riverine sediments. Sulfate did not affect the distribution and bioaccumulation of (75)Se over the range 80-180 mg SO(4) liter(-1). When each Se species was labeled separately, selenomethionine was lost from the water column more rapidly than selenate or selenite. Selenium lost from the water column accumulated primarily in sediments, but volatilization was also an important pathway for loss of Se added as selenomethionine. Loss rates of dissolved Se residues were more rapid than rates reported from mesocosm and field studies, suggesting that sediment: water interactions are more important in microcosms than in larger test systems. Daphnids accumulated highest concentrations of Se, followed by periphyton and macrophytes. Selenium added as selenomethionine was bioaccumulated preferentially compared to that added as selenite or selenate. Organoselenium compounds such as selenomethione may thus contribute disproportionately to Se bioaccumulation and toxicity in aquatic organisms.     

Collective action and the traditional village

This article considers the dispute between moral economy and rational peasant theories of agrarian societies in application to problems of collective action. The moral-economy theory holds that traditional peasant society is organized cooperatively through shared moral values and communal institutions; while the rational-peasant theory maintains that peasant society shows the mark of rational individual calculation, leading to free-rider problems that undermine successful collective action. This article offers an abstract model of a traditional village and assesses the applicability of recent qualifications of the collective action argument to this model. It will emerge that the social characteristics of the traditional village embody features that facilitate collective action by rational peasants.