Cattle vaccination records question the impact of recent zero-deforestation agreements in the Amazon

Regional Environmental Change - In the late 2000s, slaughterhouses across the Amazon entered into a series of agreements designed to reduce the environmental impact of the local cattle sector. In...     

Achieving forest carbon information with higher certainty: A five-part plan

International negotiations on the inclusion of land use activities into an emissions reduction system for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have been partially hindered by the technical challenges of measuring, reporting, and verifying greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the policy issues of leakage, additionality, and permanence. This paper outlines a five-part plan for estimating forest carbon stocks and emissions with the accuracy and certainty needed to support a policy for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, forest conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (the REDD-plus framework considered at the UNFCCC COP-15) in developing countries. The plan is aimed at UNFCCC non-Annex 1 developing countries, but the principles outlined are also applicable to developed (Annex 1) countries. The parts of the plan are: (1) Expand the number of national forest carbon Measuring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems with a priority on tropical developing countries; (2) Implement continuous global forest carbon assessments through the network of national systems; (3) Achieve commitments from national space agencies for the necessary satellite data; (4) Establish agreed-on standards and independent verification processes to ensure robust reporting; and (5) Enhance coordination among international and multilateral organizations.     

Sympatric sexual signal divergence among North American Calopteryx damselflies is correlated with increased intra- and interspecific male–male aggression

Divergence of sexual signals in sympatry can arise as a consequence of (1) interspecific competition for resources, (2) selection against maladaptive hybridization, or (3) as a result of selection to reduce the cost of interspecific aggression; termed agonistic character displacement (ACD). Calopterygid damselflies have emerged as a model system for studying the evolution of divergent sexual signals due to the repeated evolution of sympatric species pairs with fully and partially melanized wings. Damselfly wing patterns function during both courtship and territory defense. However, the relative contributions of natural and sexual selection to phenotypic divergence and enhanced isolation in sympatry remain unclear in many cases. Here, we investigated the hypothesis that interference competition, in the form of increased interspecific male–male aggression, drives the evolution of character displacement in sympatry between two species of North American damselflies, Calopteryx aequabilis and Calopteryx maculata, that show no evidence of ecological divergence or ongoing hybridization. In paired behavioral trials, we found that interspecific male aggression related to territory defense varied between site, species, and as a function of the relative abundance of con- vs. hetero-specific males. Specifically, we found that large-spotted C. aequabilis males received increased intra- and interspecific aggression but that aggression against large-spotted males declined during the middle of the flight season when both species were equally abundant. Based on these results, we suggest that ACD leads to enhanced species recognition, and may be a common outcome of the antagonism between interspecific male–male competition and the countervailing force of intraspecific sexual selection favoring increased wing melanization among territorial damselfly species.     

Suspected flunixin poisoning of a wild Eurasian Griffon Vulture from Spain

Exposure to residues of the nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac present in livestock carcasses has caused extensive declines in 3 Gyps vulture species across Asia. The carcass of a wild Eurasian Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) was found in 2012 on an Andalucian (Spain) game hunting reserve and examined forensically. The bird had severe visceral gout, a finding consistent with Gyps vultures from Asia that have been poisoned by diclofenac. Liver and kidney samples from this Eurasian Griffon Vulture contained elevated flunixin (an NSAID) levels (median = 2.70 and 6.50 mg/kg, respectively). This is the first reported case of a wild vulture being exposed to and apparently killed by an NSAID outside Asia. It is also the first reported instance of mortality in the wild resulting from environmental exposure to an NSAID other than diclofenac. Caso de Sospecha de Envenenamiento por Flunixin de un Buitre Leonado en España     

Satisfaction with fishing and the desire to leave

Predicting who may leave a fishery is an important consideration when designing capacity reduction programs to enhance both ecological and economic sustainability. In this paper, the relationship between satisfaction and the desire to exit a fishery is examined for the Queensland East Coast Trawl fishery. Income from fishing, and changes in income over the last 5 years, were key factors affecting overall satisfaction. Relative income per se was not a significant factor, counter to most satisfaction studies. Continuing a family tradition of fishing and, for one group, pride in being a fisher was found to be significant. Satisfaction with fishing overall and the challenge of fishing were found to be the primary drivers of the desire to stay or leave the fishery. Surprisingly, public perceptions of fishing, trust in management and perceptions of equity in resource allocation did not significantly affect overall satisfaction or the desire to exit the fishery.     

Demonstrating Contaminant Degradation at an MGP Site With Metabolic Gas Flux and Radio Carbon Dating

Obtaining lines of evidence indicating that contamination in sediment environments is degrading and being transformed to less toxic forms is an important component of building support for a monitored natural recovery remedy for contaminated sediments. This project was a field demonstration of manufactured gas plant contaminant degradation in river sediments using metabolic gas flux and was performed in an urban area section of a river in northeastern Indiana. CO₂ sorbent traps were deployed to measure CO₂ flux from the river sediments. Sediment samples were collected and analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations and for microbial community composition using molecular techniques. The results showed that the deployment was successful, measuring CO₂ flux at all sediment locations and demonstrating that microbial contaminant degrading activity was occurring in the sediments. Radio carbon dating showed a significant portion of the CO₂ being generated (approximately 19–27 percent) was the result of fossil fuel degradation. Molecular results showed that the microbial community consisted of phylotypes known to be associated with monocyclic aromatic and PAH degradation. ©2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.