Hamburgers and the Rainforest – a Review of Issues and Evidence

This paper examines the relationship between North American beef consumption and deforestation in South and Central America. Some writers have argued that consumption of hamburgers in North America, particularly hamburgers consumed in fast food restaurants, contributes to the depletion of the rainforest in South and Central America. We survey the published policy literature on the causes of rainforest depletion in the region. We also review the published estimates of the rate and extent of clearing of rainforest that has occurred in South and Central America since 1970. Finally, we review the data on beef imports and consumption in Canada and the United States in a effort to assess the importance of South and Central America as suppliers of beef to the North American market. We conclude that the relationship between beef consumption in North America should not be considered an important cause of forest depletion in South and Central America. Domestic policies and market forces in the countries where rainforests are located are the leading causes of rainforest depletion in this region. This lesson seems to have been lost on some popular and even some textbook writers on this subject. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Trait space of rare plants in a fire‐dependent ecosystem

The causes of species rarity are of critical concern because of the high extinction risk associated with rarity. Studies examining individual rare species have limited generality, whereas trait‐based approaches offer a means to identify functional causes of rarity that can be applied to communities with disparate species pools. Differences in functional traits between rare and common species may be indicative of the functional causes of species rarity and may therefore be useful in crafting species conservation strategies. However, there is a conspicuous lack of studies comparing the functional traits of rare species and co‐occurring common species. We measured 18 important functional traits for 19 rare and 134 common understory plant species from North Carolina's Sandhills region and compared their trait distributions to determine whether there are significant functional differences that may explain species rarity. Flowering, fire, and tissue‐chemistry traits differed significantly between rare and common, co‐occurring species. Differences in specific traits suggest that fire suppression has driven rarity in this system and that changes to the timing and severity of prescribed fire may improve conservation success. Our method provides a useful tool to prioritize conservation efforts in other systems based on the likelihood that rare species are functionally capable of persisting.     

Defining Historical Baselines for Conservation: Ecological Changes Since European Settlement on Vancouver Island,Canada

Abstract: Conservation and restoration goals are often defined by historical baseline conditions that occurred prior to a particular period of human disturbance, such as European settlement in North America. Nevertheless, if ecosystems were heavily influenced by native peoples prior to European settlement, conservation efforts may require active management rather than simple removal of or reductions in recent forms of disturbance. We used pre‐European settlement land survey records (1859–1874) and contemporary vegetation surveys to assess changes over the past 150 years in tree species and habitat composition, forest density, and tree size structure on southern Vancouver Island and Saltspring Island, British Columbia, Canada. Several lines of evidence support the hypothesis that frequent historical burning by native peoples, and subsequent fire suppression, have played dominant roles in shaping this landscape. First, the relative frequency of fire‐sensitive species (e.g., cedar [Thuja plicata]) has increased, whereas fire‐tolerant species (e.g., Douglas‐fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii]) have decreased. Tree density has increased 2‐fold, and the proportion of the landscape in forest has greatly increased at the expense of open habitats (plains, savannas), which today contain most of the region's threatened species. Finally, the frequency distribution of tree size has shifted from unimodal to monotonically decreasing, which suggests removal of an important barrier to tree recruitment. In addition, although most of the open habitats are associated with Garry oak (Quercus garryana) at present, most of the open habitats prior to European settlement were associated with Douglas‐fir, which suggests that the current focus on Garry oak as a flagship for the many rare species in savannas may be misguided. Overall, our results indicate that the maintenance and restoration of open habitats will require active management and that historical records can provide critical guidance to such efforts.     

Lightning Fires in a Brazilian Savanna National Park: Rethinking Management Strategies

Fire occurrences and their sources were monitored in Emas National Park, Brazil (17°49′–18°28′S; 52°39′–53°10′W) from June 1995 to May 1999. The extent of burned area and weather conditions were registered. Forty-five fires were recorded and mapped on a GIS during this study. Four fires occurred in the dry winter season (June–August; 7,942 ha burned), all caused by humans; 10 fires occurred in the seasonally transitional months (May and September) (33,386 ha burned); 31 fires occurred in the wet season, of which 30 were caused by lightning inside the park (29,326 ha burned), and one started outside the park (866 ha burned). Wet season lightning fires started in the open vegetation (wet field or grassy savanna) at a flat plateau, an area that showed significantly higher fire incidence. On average, winter fires burned larger areas and spread more quickly, compared to lightning fires, and fire suppression was necessary to extinguish them. Most lightning fires were patchy and extinguished primarily by rain. Lightning fires in the wet season, previously considered unimportant episodes, were shown to be very frequent and probably represent the natural fire pattern in the region. Lightning fires should be regarded as ecologically beneficial, as they create natural barriers to the spread of winter fires. The present fire management in the park is based on the burning of preventive firebreaks in the dry season and exclusion of any other fire. This policy does not take advantage of the beneficial effects of the natural fire regime and may in fact reduce biodiversity. The results presented here stress the need for reevaluating present policies and management procedures concerning fire in cerrado conservation areas.     

Decision-making for fire use among farmers in savannas: an exploratory study in the Distrito Federal, central Brazil

Today, fire in the Braziliancerrado(savanna) is predominantly caused by farmers. They use fire during the dry season to promote fresh grass regrowth in pastures for their cattle and to clear areas of planting ready for cultivation in the wet season. This study researched fire use by farmers in thecerradoof the Distrito Federal, central Brazil, in order to investigate what influences their fire management decision-making. The results show that the two main factors limiting the choice of feasible options for farmers to meet their objectives are income and time. However, perceptions also play a major role in the decision-making process, and for many farmers this alone determines whether fire is used. Various fire practices involved with timing, frequency and size, as well as precautions taken before and during the burn, and the factors influencing these decisions are presented. This study shows that it is vital to understand factors determining fire use if effective fire management plans and policies are to be developed.1998 Academic Press     

Balancing Conservation and Economic Sustainability: The Future of the Amazon Timber Industry

Logging has been a much maligned feature of frontier development in the Amazon. Most discussions ignore the fact that logging can be part of a renewable, environmentally benign, and broadly equitable economic activity in these remote places. We estimate there to be some 4.5 ± 1.35 billion m³ of commercial timber volume in the Brazilian Amazon today, of which 1.2 billion m³ is currently profitable to harvest, with a total potential stumpage value of $15.4 billion. A successful forest sector in the Brazilian Amazon will integrate timber harvesting on private lands and on unprotected and unsettled government lands with timber concessions on public lands. If a legal, productive, timber industry can be established outside of protected areas, it will deliver environmental benefits in synergy with those provided by the region’s network of protected areas, the latter of which we estimate to have an opportunity cost from lost timber revenues of $2.3 billion over 30 years. Indeed, on all land accessible to harvesting, the timber industry could produce an average of more than 16 million m³ per year over a 30-year harvest cycle—entirely outside of current protected areas—providing $4.8 billion in returns to landowners and generating $1.8 billion in sawnwood sales tax revenue. This level of harvest could be profitably complemented with an additional 10% from logging concessions on National Forests. This advance, however, should be realized only through widespread adoption of reduced impact logging techniques.     

Green marketing mix: A case study of Brazilian retail enterprises

The challenges posed by the limited availability of resources means that retail operations and methods must be revised and redesigned. Against the current backdrop of changes, companies are seeking to innovate the way in which they market their wares. Within this context, this article discusses the “green marketing mix” from the perspective of Brazilian retail enterprises. In addition, the study described in this article sought to identify and highlight the elements that should be considered when defining strategically each variable within the green retail marketing mix. As part of this work, a case study was carried out on two Brazilian retail companies. The case analysis revealed that despite defining themselves as “green,” when their retail marketing mix was analyzed, the companies presented differing degrees of sustainability. Furthermore, expanding the theoretical framework for the green retail marketing mix is a crucial issue in the services sector, and it has significant, practical repercussions.     

饱水煤样巴西劈裂强度和能量特征试验研究

针对赵固二矿二1煤层煤样在自然和饱水状态下进行巴西劈裂试验,分析了饱水对煤体劈裂强度和能量特征的影响。试验结果表明:加载过程采用载荷控制时峰值前拉应力与时间呈良好线性关系,达到峰值后应力瞬间跌落为零,表现出明显脆性破坏特征;采用位移控制时峰值前拉应力与时间呈非线性关系,峰值后出现分次破坏特征,但两种控制方式在试验破坏前没有本质区别;并得出两种状态下煤样抗拉强度和峰值能率存在差异,自然状态下抗拉强度为1.52MPa,峰值能率为881J/m2,但饱水后,煤样抗拉强度平均软化系数为0.65,平均峰值能率降幅为36.0%;两种状态下煤样抗拉强度与峰值能率大致呈线性关系,表明煤样抗拉强度越高,需要更多能量才能使煤样劈裂破坏。     

冻融影响下不同岩性岩石物理力学特性试验研究*

为探究冻融循环影响下不同岩性岩石的物理力学性质的差异化响应,对青砂岩、灰砂岩2种砂岩,白色大理岩、麻粒岩2种变质岩开展冻融循环试验和相关力学试验。研究结果表明:在冻融循环过程中,2种砂岩的质量变化幅度明显高于2种变质岩。相较于青砂岩与麻粒岩,大理岩的单轴压缩强度及弹性模量劣化速率最快。冻融前后青砂岩、大理岩的单轴压缩破坏模式发生明显变化。灰砂岩抗拉强度劣化速率显著低于青砂岩。基于单轴抗压强度、抗拉强度的脆性指数表明冻融作用提高青砂岩的脆性。研究结果可为冻融影响下工程岩体的稳定性与安全性评价提供参考。     

玻璃纤维-砂浆管试件动态拉伸破坏特性试验研究

为了探究动载作用下GFRP（玻璃纤维）-砂浆管的动态拉伸破坏特性，采用分离式SHPB试验装置对2种空心率的水泥砂浆管和GFRP-砂浆管进行动态拉伸试验。结果表明:空心率越小、冲击气压和壁厚越大，试件峰值抗拉强度越大；GFRP-砂浆管的峰值抗拉强度随GFRP管壁厚的增大而不断增大，在空心率为0.292时，峰值抗拉强度随GFRP管壁厚增大呈对数函数递增，而在空心率0.187时，峰值抗拉强度随GFRP管壁厚增大呈指数函数递增；无GFRP管时水泥砂浆管呈对称四块破碎，GFRP-砂浆管在0.5~0.7 MPa冲击气压下仅有细小裂纹产生，在0.8 MPa冲击气压下，与入射杆接触部分产生“楔形”破坏，但总体保持为管状、破坏程度仍低于水泥砂浆管，表明GFRP管对水泥砂浆管具有较好的保护作用，可有效提高其动态抗拉强度。