Science communication and vernal pool conservation: a study of local decision maker attitudes in a knowledge-action system

In this study, we describe local decision maker attitudes towards vernal pools to inform science communication and enhance vernal pool conservation efforts. We conducted interviews with town planning board and conservation commission members (n?=?9) from two towns in the State of Maine in the northeastern United States. We then mailed a questionnaire to a stratified random sample of planning board members in August and September 2007 with a response rate of 48.4% (n?=?320). The majority of survey respondents favored the protection and conservation of vernal pools in their towns. Decision makers were familiar with the term "vernal pool" and demonstrated positive attitudes to vernal pools in general. General appreciation and willingness to conserve vernal pools predicted support for the 2006 revisions to the Natural Resource Protection Act regulating Significant Vernal Pools. However, 48% of respondents were unaware of this law and neither prior knowledge of the law nor workshop attendance predicted support for the vernal pool law. Further, concerns about private property rights and development restrictions predicted disagreement with the vernal pool law. We conclude that science communication must rely on specific frames of reference, be sensitive to cultural values, and occur in an iterative system to link knowledge and action in support of vernal pool conservation.     

Statewide mapping and assessment of vernal pools: a New Jersey case study

In 2001, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) adopted rules specifically protecting vernal pool habitat for the first time. Vernal pools are small isolated temporary bodies of water that provide critical breeding habitat for a number of amphibian species. To implement these rules and ultimately afford vernal pools protection, the NJDEP first needed to assemble a statewide database of vernal pool locations. In response, the Rutgers University Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis (CRSSA) was funded to develop a cost effective technique to map vernal pool locations statewide. The objective of CRSSA's mapping effort was to develop a complete potential vernal pool database to be able to identify individual isolated vernal pools as well as areas of high local density, or 'hotspots'. CRSSA used visual interpretation of leaf-off color infrared digital orthophotography in a computerized GIS environment to identify and map over 13,000 potential vernal pools. Using the 1m scale imagery, we determined the minimum detectable pool size to be on the order of 0.02 ha in size. Subsequent field checking has revealed a 12% error of commission that was due to our inclination towards erring on the side of inclusion in mapping many water features as potential vernal pools. For a vernal pool to receive regulated protection, it must be 'certified' that it serves as habitat for obligate or facultative vernal pool amphibian species. To aid in these efforts, CRSSA developed an interactive internet mapping site to assist NJDEP and its citizen volunteer corps in locating and navigating to their survey areas and to facilitate the on-line submittal of survey observations.     

An Evaluation of Vernal Pool Creation Projects in New England: Project Documentation from 1991–2000

Vernal pools are vulnerable to loss through development and agricultural and forestry practices owing to their isolation from open water bodies and their small size. Some vernal pool-dependent species are already listed in New England as Endangered, Threatened, or Species of Special Concern. Vernal pool creation is becoming more common in compensatory mitigation as open water ponds, in general, may be easier to create than wooded wetlands. However, research on vernal pool creation is limited. A recent National Research Council study (2001) cites vernal pools as challenging to recreate. We reviewed documentation on 15 vernal pool creation projects in New England that were required by federal regulatory action. Our purpose was to determine whether vernal pool creation for compensatory mitigation in New England replaced key vernal pool functions by assessing project goals and documentation (including mitigation plans, pool design criteria, monitoring protocols, and performance standards). Our results indicate that creation attempts often fail to replicate lost pool functions. Pool design specifications are often based on conjecture rather than on reference wetlands or created pools that function successfully. Project monitoring lacks consistency and reliability, and record keeping by regulatory agencies is inadequate. Strengthening of protection of isolated wetlands in general, and standardization across all aspects of vernal pool creation, is needed to ensure success and to promote conservation of the long-term landscape functions of vernal pools.     

The Maine Vernal Pool Mapping and Assessment Program: Engaging Municipal Officials and Private Landowners in Community-Based Citizen Science

The Vernal Pool Mapping and Assessment Program (VPMAP) was initiated in 2007 to create a vernal pool database as a planning tool to foster local compliance with new state vernal pool regulations. In the northeastern United States, vernal pools are seasonal wetlands that provide critical breeding habitat for a number of amphibians and invertebrates and provide important resting and foraging habitat for some rare and endangered state-listed species. Using participant observation, interviews, and focus groups, we examined the engagement of municipal officials and private landowners in VPMAP. Important outcomes of municipal and landowner engagement included mobilization of town support for proactive planning, improved awareness and understanding of vernal pools, and increased interactions between program coordinators, municipal officials, and private landowners. Challenges to municipal and landowner engagement included an inconsistency in expectations between coordinators and municipal officials and a lack of time and sufficient information for follow-up with landowners participating in VPMAP. Our study highlights the importance of developing relationships among coordinators, municipal officials, and private landowners in facilitating positive outcomes for all stakeholders and for effective resource management. We suggest an expanded citizen science model that focuses on improving two-way communication among project coordinators, municipal officials, and local citizens and places communication with private landowners on par with volunteer citizen scientist recruitment and field training. Lessons learned from this research can inform the design and implementation of citizen science projects on private land.     

美国环保产业发展政策对我国的启示

当今环保产业作为新兴战略产业在世界范围内迅速成长。美国作为全球环保产业的领头羊,其环保产业的发展离不开政府行之有效的发展政策。美国政府主要通过法律法规、税收、贷款、债券、基金、放宽出口管制、以外交促贸易等政策措施,促进了美国环保产业的技术创新、投融资及国际贸易。借鉴美国政策经验,我国应在环保产业管制政策、技术创新政策、财税政策、国际贸易政策上做出相应改进,以促进我国环保产业积极健康发展。     

A resilience-based approach for comparing expert preferences across two large-scale coastal management programs

This report proposes a method for assessing resilience-building components in coastal social–ecological systems. Using the proposed model, the preferences of experts in Masan Bay (South Korea) and Puget Sound (USA) are compared. A total of 30 management objectives were determined and used to build a hierarchic tree designed using the principles of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Surveys were performed with 35 Puget Sound experts using face-to-face interviews and with 28 Masan Bay experts by mail. The results demonstrate that the legal objective, which enables legislation, was the highest preferred component in both regions. The knowledge translation variable was also given a high preference score in both regions. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the Puget Sound experts significantly favored attention to education, habitat restoration and species protection objectives in comparison to the Masan Bay experts. The Masan Bay experts placed greater emphasis on legislation and the type of institutional design than did the Puget Sound experts. Using cluster analysis, four distinct groups of respondents were independently identified in Puget Sound and three groups were identified in Masan Bay. One unique subgroup in the Puget Sound experts group, which was characterized by its high preferences for habitat restoration and species protection, was not observed in Masan Bay. Demographic variables (length of career and role in coastal issue) failed to account for the differences in groupings and preferences in either region, except for the variable ‘favoring information source’ in the Puget Sound group. This finding implies that the demographic information was not related to differences in group opinions in both regions. The analysis framework presented here was effective in identifying expert preferences regarding the overall structure and emphasis in coastal management programs. Thus, this framework can be applied towards coastal policy development.     

A framework for assessing the sustainability of brownfield developments

In England, the development of urban brownfield sites is a significant planning policy aimed at supporting urban regeneration and protecting the countryside. Brownfield sites are required, in policy, to be developed in a sustainable way. However, determining what this means in practice is unclear. This paper presents a framework for assessing the sustainability of brownfield developments, devised to clarify the stakeholders in land reuse and establish how sustainability can be achieved on reused sites. The framework has been used in research investigating the sustainability of five brownfield developments in England. The performance of the framework in this research is assessed and its potential practical use outlined.     

Recent progress in coal bioprocessing research in Europe

European work on the application of biotechnology to processing various coals is reviewed and set within a wider context. Both U.S. and European work are discussed. In connection with work on microbial desulphurisation, European effort, particularly that centred on Delft University in the Netherlands, has concentrated on looking towards practical plant designs based on kinetic reaction data obtained in the laboratory. The question of desulphurisation looks rather different from a European (and world) perspective, compared with the situation in the U.S. There are, for example, several countries with high sulphur, low rank coals, where a higher proportion of the sulphur is present in organic form.While the work on pyrite removal has been well documented and has been replicated by different workers, that on organic sulphur removal is at a much earlier stage. In the U.K., work is going on to enhance the physical separation processes currently used in coal cleaning, using micro-organisms to alter the surface properties of various particles during flotation. This approach has the possibility of relatively short-term application and low capital costSome fundamental studies looking for organisms to attack and degrade the coal molecule, particularly in the F.R.G., have been based on bituminous coal. This contrasts with U.S. work which has met with some success with lignites and weathered lignite in the form of leonardite.The use of biotechnology in connection with coal must be looked at principally as a potential long-term development. The inherent problems associated with the nature of coal must be recognised but research work is already demonstrating possibilities that even 5 or 10 years ago would have been discounted. With advances in analytical techniques, one of the first benefits to be gained may well be a better knowledge and understanding of coal structure from looking at its degradation products.     

THE COSTS OF CONFLICTING ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY: A CASE STUDY IN MILWAUKEE1

ABSTRACT: The history of the Milwaukee water pollution abatement program is examined as a case study to investigate the costs of conflicting environmental policy. The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning the Milwaukee case is described as a milestone in U.S. water pollution abatement policy which will help preclude the type of environmental policy conflict which has been found to be so costly to Milwaukee. The implications to U.S. water pollution abatement policy of the 13-year history of conflict in Milwaukee are presented.     

Shifts within ecological modernization in South Africa: Deliberation, innovation and institutional opportunities

Sustainable development is now widely accepted as a policy framework in planning and development both internationally and in South Africa. Within this framework, technocentric scientific approaches to environmental management, which are reflective of weak ecological modernization, have dominated environmental practice both in the developed and developing world. South Africa is a country in transition and as a result environmental law and policy have undergone significant reform. However, implementation and practice remains embedded within a weak ecological modernization approach. Through the lens of two case studies reflecting changing approaches and practices within state institutions, this paper explores the shifts taking place in the construction, adaptation and application of policy frameworks and tools used in the drive towards sustainability in South Africa. The research uses critical approaches to ecological modernization (Hajer, 1995; Christoff, 1996) and deliberative policy analysis (Hajer and Wagenaar, 2003; Hajer, 2003, 2003; Hajer, 2004) to explore these shifts. It suggests that the shift towards strong ecological modernization has taken place as a result of the adaptation of international practice to the South Africa context, the global acceptance of more integrated approaches, the opportunities for change that 'institutional ambiguity' and 'multi-signification' create, and pockets of innovation that have developed when intellectual actors shift the boundaries of environmental practice.     

The use of best management practices to respond to externalities from developing shale gas resources

The public is concerned that activities accompanying hydraulic fracturing in the development of shale gas resources are unnecessarily adversely affecting them and the environment and is petitioning elected representatives to take actions to reduce risks. The health risks associated with fracturing chemicals and air pollutants are relatively unknown and constitute the impetus for public concern. An evaluation of state legal and regulatory provisions regarding best management practices discloses that states are not adopting timely regulations to protect people and the environment from activities accompanying hydraulic fracturing. Simultaneously, regulatory policy concerning negative externalities suggests that governments underinvest in the protection of human health and environmental quality. Governments have choices in protecting people from dangers that accompany shale gas development. Due to the risks of injuries and unpaid damages from shale gas development, governmental policies need to evolve to accord people greater health protection.     

Private Property Rights and Selective Private Forest Conservation: Could a Nordic Hybrid Policy Address a United States Problem?

Political and legal conflicts between the need for targeted private forest conservation and the continued assurance of private property rights in the U.S. presents a seemingly intractable resource management problem. Scandinavian use of habitat protection areas on private forests offers an additional tool that may be suitable for solving the historical and on-going tension found within U.S. efforts to reconcile desires to maintain lands in a forested condition while also respecting private property rights. This article presents a comparative cross-sectional policy analysis of Sweden, Finland, and the U.S., supported with a supplemental case example from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Similarities in all three countries among forest ownership patterns, use of public subsidies, and changing attitudes towards conservation are generally encouraging. Additionally, Virginia’s current consideration and development of state-wide forest policies focused on forestland and open space conservation suggests both a need and an opportunity to systematically assess the applicability of the Nordic forest reserve approach to local private forest conservation. Future research at a high-resolution, and specifically at the state level, should focus on the social and political factors that would ultimately determine the viability of a forest reserve program.     

Policy Utopias for Nutrient Credit Trading Programs with Nonpoint Sources

A promising program to address water contamination from nutrients is water quality trading (WQT), whereby entities with high abatement costs purchase credits from entities with lower abatement costs. The concept has found some success with point source water pollution, but very few trades have occurred in over 50 programs in the United States (U.S.) that have focused on nonpoint sources (NPSs). To understand why success has been slow, we identified three environments needed for programs to succeed: physical, economic, and institutional. We estimate that only 5% of watersheds in the U.S. currently listed as nutrient impaired provide a viable physical environment for trading nitrogen; 13% are suitable for phosphorus. Economic and institutional challenges would shrink that domain even further. Therefore, we find places with the ideal physical, economic, and institutional environments necessary for feasible WQT programs are virtual policy utopias — rare places with ideal environments. Fortunately, a growing literature provides the tools necessary to identify where these policy utopias are and to expand that domain through a better understanding about how to manage WQT programs more effectively.     

农业面源污染的政策成因分析

从农业发展政策的角度出发,分析了农业发展政策从制定、执行到监督的环节中影响农业面源污染防治效果的因素;指出面源污染日益严重的政策成因是现有农业发展政策与农村环境保护体系的双轨制脱钩运行;建议构建一套把农业发展与农村环境保护有效地协调在可持续发展框架内的生态农业政策体系。     

“Housing for all” at the era of financialization; can (post-disaster) cities become truly socially resilient and egalitarian?

This paper examines the realism of the resilience ambition and process of the U.S. housing system, shedding light on its heterogeneity as well as the financialization currently acting as the driving force in real estate production. The resilience ambition leading to enhanced justice and egalitarianism is understood as the provision and maintenance of post-disaster housing for all within an institutionally diverse landscape of housing policy makers and implementers. Particular emphasis is given to the post-Katrina institutional transformations resulting from multifarious interactions between multilevel institutional structures and a diverse landscape of low-income housing policy implementers – referred as social resilience cells (SRCs) in this paper. The nature and level of these transformations determine the degree to which resilience in its heterogeneous form has been incubated in New Orleans. The paper concludes with a discussion on the macro conditions and bottom-linked governance structures under which all SRCs could be better bolstered in a post-financialization, radicalised neowelfare U.S., and which in turn create possibilities for materialising the resilience ambition.     

Policy Frameworks Influencing Outdoor Water‐use Restrictions

Water‐use efficiency in the United States (U.S.) has improved in recent years. Yet continued population growth coupled with increasingly conservation‐oriented regulatory frameworks suggest that residential water suppliers will have to realize additional efficiency gains in coming decades. Outdoor water‐use restrictions (OWRs) appear to be an increasingly prevalent demand‐side management policy tool. To date little research has investigated the policy mechanisms that govern OWR adoption and influence the prevalence of OWRs. This article fills this gap with an assessment of state‐level policies influencing local‐level restrictions on residential outdoor water use in each of the 48 contiguous U.S. states, and with a detailed illustration of the cross‐scalar dynamic of one state's policy framework in practice. An examination of the implementation of OWRs in 24 neighboring towns in Massachusetts across the 2003‐2012 period indicates the interplay between state‐level and local‐level policies leads to OWRs implementation over extended time‐periods, even when drought conditions are not present. This finding suggests OWRs are being used as a tool for general‐purpose water conservation rather than as a stopgap measure justified by temporary water shortage conditions. Future research should investigate how local‐level water savings vary with differing state‐level approaches.     

REDD+ in Africa: contexts and challenges

REDD+, a climate change mitigation mechanism that values carbon in tropical forests, is expected to provide Africa with a range of environmental and socio‐economic benefits. Drawing on a vast array of literature and personal experiences, this review analyzed particular features and challenges that REDD+ implementation has faced on the continent. The distinct contexts and major challenges regarding governance, finance and technical capacities are discussed, and mechanisms to fill these gaps are suggested. Radical land tenure reform and a perfect safeguard mechanism that transfers forest land and carbon to the communities are unlikely. REDD+ should rather look for systems that respect local institutional arrangements, and allow forest‐based communities to participate in decision‐making and benefit sharing, particularly benefits from emerging REDD+. Finances for REDD+ infrastructure and the results‐based payment are in short supply. While negotiating for potential external sources in the short term, Africa should generate domestic financial resources and look for additional payments for ecosystem services. Africa should also negotiate for forest monitoring capacity building, while strengthening local community forest monitoring. This review contributes to an improved understanding of the contexts and challenges to consider in the capacity and policy development for REDD+ implementation.     

Featured Collection Introduction: Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream Waters

Connectivity is a fundamental but highly dynamic property of watersheds. Variability in the types and degrees of aquatic ecosystem connectivity presents challenges for researchers and managers seeking to accurately quantify its effects on critical hydrologic, biogeochemical, and biological processes. However, protecting natural gradients of connectivity is key to protecting the range of ecosystem services that aquatic ecosystems provide. In this featured collection, we review the available evidence on connections and functions by which streams and wetlands affect the integrity of downstream waters such as large rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and estuaries. The reviews in this collection focus on the types of waters whose protections under the U.S. Clean Water Act have been called into question by U.S. Supreme Court cases. We synthesize 40+ years of research on longitudinal, lateral, and vertical fluxes of energy, material, and biota between aquatic ecosystems included within the Act's frame of reference. Many questions about the roles of streams and wetlands in sustaining downstream water integrity can be answered from currently available literature, and emerging research is rapidly closing data gaps with exciting new insights into aquatic connectivity and function at local, watershed, and regional scales. Synthesis of foundational and emerging research is needed to support science‐based efforts to provide safe, reliable sources of fresh water for present and future generations.     

Examining Hazard Mitigation Within the Context of Public Goods

/ This paper presents a case study of an American barrier island devastated by a hurricane to show how it is addressing the free-riding problem and protecting its public goods, thereby contributing to hazard mitigation. It examines hazard mitigation and the free-riding problem within the public goods framework. Free-riding is a term used in the public choice theory and common pool resource literature. It is a term used for describing the actions of rational individuals who freely exploit a collective or public good at the expense of others. Free-riding is a major problem faced by public goods. The problem very frequently occurs in the context of hazard mitigation and coastal resource management. Very little is known about the factors that contribute to the promotion of hazard mitigation. This paper identifies some of the important factors that help local institutions provide and sustain hazard mitigation measures. Theoretical and practical implications for hazards research and disaster management policy are presented.