Adaptive co-management and network learning in the Room for the River programme

Adaptive co-management and learning are paramount for integrated flood risk management. Relevant literature focuses on adaptation at the level of physical and societal systems. The level of projects and programmes is largely overlooked, but they comprise interventions that adapt our physical systems and they provide opportunities for learning to contribute to transitions of societal systems. This paper aims to increase understanding on how learning takes place and can be stimulated within a programme. The mixed-method case study of Room for the River, a €2.3 billion programme for flood risk management, shows that a programme can be organised using various governance arrangements to stimulate learning and be a means for adaptive co-management to deliver upon environmental objectives.     

Adapting to changing climate risk by local government in New Zealand: institutional practice barriers and enablers

Adaptation to climate change has been reviewed in several developed nations, but in none where consideration of the effects of climate change is required by statute and devolved to local government. We examine the role of institutional arrangements, the players operating under them, the barriers and enablers for adaptation decision-making in the developed nation of New Zealand. We examine how the roles and responsibilities between national, regional and local governments influence the ability of local government to deliver long-term flexible responses to changing climate risk. We found that the disciplinary practices of law, engineering and planning, within legal frameworks, result in the use of static mechanisms which create inflexible responses to changing risk. Several enablers are identified that could create greater integration between the different scales of government, including better use of national policy instruments, shared professional experience, standardised information collection and risk assessment methods that address uncertainties. The framing of climate risk as dynamic and changing that differentiates activities over their lifetime, development of mechanisms to fund transitions towards transformational change, are identified as necessary conditions for delivering flexible responses over time.     

The effects of temperature on decomposition and allelopathic phytotoxicity of boneseed litter

Decomposition of plant litter is a fundamental process in ecosystem function, carbon and nutrient cycling and, by extension, climate change. This study aimed to investigate the role of temperature on the decomposition of water soluble phenolics(WSP), carbon and soil nutrients in conjunction with the phytotoxicity dynamics of Chrysanthemoides monilifera subsp. monilifera(boneseed) litter. Treatments consisted of three factors including decomposition materials(litter alone, litter with soil and soil alone), decomposition periods and temperatures(5–15, 15–25and 25–35°C(night/day)). Leachates were collected on 0, 5, 10, 20, 40 and 60 th days to analyse physico-chemical parameters and phytotoxicity. Water soluble phenolics and dissolved organic carbon(DOC) increased with increasing temperature while nutrients like SO-24 and NO-13 decreased. Speed of germination, hypocotyl and radical length and weight of Lactuca sativa exposed to leachates were decreased with increasing decomposition temperature. All treatment components had significant effects on these parameters. There had a strong correlation between DOC and WSP, and WSP content of the leachates with radical length of test species. This study identified complex interactivity among temperature, WSP, DOC and soil nutrient dynamics of litter occupied soil and that these factors work together to influence phytotoxicity.     

Consumption of rice and fish in an electronic waste recycling area contributes significantly to total daily intake of mercury

<正>Mercury is a global pollutant due to its widespread use,emission,and long-range transport(Blum,2013;Pacyna et al.,2010).It is considered a priority pollutant due to its neurological toxicity,persistence,and bioaccumulation(Pacyna et al.,2010;Sharma et al.,2015).Mercury pollution can occur when products that contain mercury are improperly disposed of and mercury is released into the air,water,and soil(Zhang and Wong,2007).An estimated 22%of the annual world usage of mercury is in electrical equipment such as batteries,thermometers,and discharge lamps,and electronic devices such as monitors and     

Land-use forecasting and hydrologic model integration for improved land-use decision support

This paper develops a methodology for integrating a land-use forecasting model with an event scale, rainfall-runoff model in support of improving land-use policy formulation at the watershed scale. The models selected for integration are loosely coupled, structured upon a common GIS platform that facilitates data exchange. The hydrologic model HEC-HMS is calibrated for a specific storm event that occurred within central Washington State. The land-use forecasting model, What If? is implemented to forecast future spatial distributions of low-density residential land-uses under low and high population growth estimates. Forecasted land-use distribution patterns for the years 2015, 2025, and 2050 are then used as land-use data input for the calibrated hydrologic model, keeping all other parameters constant. Impacts to the stream discharge hydrograph are predicted as the study area becomes increasingly developed as forecasted by What If?. The initial results of this integration process demonstrate the synergy that can be generated through the linkage of the selected models. The ability to quantifiably forecast the potential hydrologic implications of proposed land-use policies before their implementation offers land-use decision-makers a valuable tool for discerning which proposed land-use alternatives will be effective at minimizing storm water runoff.     

Frequency of multiple paternity varies between two populations of brown smoothhound shark,Mustelus henlei

Multiple paternity was recently observed in a population of the brown smoothhound shark, Mustelus henlei, from Las Barrancas, Baja California Sur, Mexico, with litters demonstrating the greatest percentage of multiple paternity for any shark species (93 % of litters and an average number of sires = 2.3). To determine whether this frequency is consistent elsewhere in the species’ range, 4 polymorphic microsatellite loci were used to determine the frequency of multiple paternity in 18 litters of M. henlei from Santa Catalina Island, CA, sampled in 2004, 2008, and 2012. Multiple paternity varied among sampling years with 2004 demonstrating multiple sires for 40 % of sampled litters (n = 10) with an average of 1.4 sires per litter and 2008/2012 demonstrating a total lack of multiply sired litters (n = 8). Although multiple paternity was detected in this study, the range of frequencies observed is lower than that observed in the Mexican population. Based on these findings, investigators should take location into consideration when assessing the existence of multiple paternity in future studies of elasmobranch species.