Kanchenjunga Conservation Area is located in the remote and sparsely populated mountainous region of Eastern Nepal. It has
been locally managed as a decentralized Integrated Conservation and Development Project since 2006, the first of its kind
in Asia. Major international donor agencies sponsor programs to empower and strengthen the capacity of local communities to
manage their natural resources, while concurrently improving livelihood opportunities. We surveyed 205 randomly selected households
throughout the project area to assess the factors that influence household participation roles in management and management
groups, and to evaluate how benefits from program involvement were distributed among the community. Overall, the distribution
of benefits was unequal: households with higher level participation roles had increased access to financial credit and capacity
development trainings. Social variables such as age, level of education among head of households, the highest level education
among household adults, and household size predicted participation. The region is economically homogeneous; therefore, economic
factors such as remittances, off-farm income and the quantity of landholdings or livestock did not predict household participation
roles. Our results demonstrate the importance of targeting and empowering disadvantaged households in decentralized conservation
programs, including educating members about the relationship between participation and equitable distribution of benefits. 相似文献
There is increasing evidence that sexual selection may be intense even in socially monogamous birds, resulting from both
mate choice and sperm competition. We studied these two modes of sexual selection experimentally by removing paired male collared
flycatchers, Ficedula albicollis, from their mates for 2 days and investigating the factors that influenced the likelihood of a replacement male appearing
and how the removals influenced paternity. Replacement males (usually neighbouring males) appeared at 81% (n = 37) of nests where males were removed. The likelihood of this appearance was unaffected by the probable reproductive value
of the female's clutch to the replacing male. A replacement was, however, less likely when the original male had a large forehead
patch, a trait previously shown to be subject to sexual selection in this population. Experimental removal of males increased
the level of sperm competition: 74% of experimental broods were multiply sired, compared to 29% of unmanipulated broods in
a previous study. Only two factors predicted how paternity was shared between males: removed males fathered more young if
removed closer to laying, and if they had larger forehead patches. The former result is consistent with last-male sperm precedence
determining paternity, whereas the latter adds to other evidence that forehead patch size is the target of female preference
in this species. Our results suggest that females exert some control over male replacement, and also that they may influence
the fertilisation success of males by behavioural means.
Received: 15 July 1998 / Received in revised form: 16 March 1999 / Accepted: 28 March 1999 相似文献
PROBLEM: The aim of this study was to examine individual workers' cognitive, behavioral, and motivational processes leading up to occupational falls from heights. METHOD: The study is based on 26 semistructured personal interviews and on-site investigations with male workers who reported to an emergency department for treatment of injuries due to falls from heights. RESULTS: A greater number of workers carrying out nonroutine compared to routine tasks perceived, identified, interpreted, and attempted to control a fall hazard. Two cases are presented illustrating how cognition and behavior in context progresses from a lesser to a greater active role in the incident processes. SUMMARY AND IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The addition of full-scale investigations of how and why workers thought and behaved the way they did in a particular situation can give important clues as to whether preventive measures will be effective in a similar situation in the future. 相似文献
A study was conducted to examine the interrelationships among socioeconomic factors, household consumption patterns, calorie intake and greenhouse gas emissions factors in rural eastern India based on household survey data. Findings indicated that higher monthly per capita incomes (12.1–80.1$) were associated with greater average calorie intakes (2021–2525 kcal d?1). As estimated by the FEEDME model, in total 17.2% of the population was calorie malnourished with a regional disparity of 29.4–18.2% malnourishment. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were calculated only on the basis of crop and livestock production and consumption. Rice accounted for the highest share of total GHG emissions, on average 82.6% on a production basis, which varied from 58.1% to 94.9% in regional basis. Rice contributed the greatest share (~?65% and 66.2%) in terms of both calories and GHG emissions (CO2 eq y?1), respectively, on a consumption basis. We conclude that extensive rice farming and increasing animal product consumption are dominant factors in the higher carbon footprint in this region and are likely to further increase with increase in per capita income. This study provides useful information to help for better crop planning and for fine-tuning food access policy, to reduce carbon footprint and calorie malnutrition.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) initiated a two-year regional pilot survey in 2007 to develop, test, and validate tools and approaches to assess the condition of northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) coastal wetlands. Sampling sites were selected from estuarine and palustrine wetland areas with herbaceous, forested, and shrub/scrub habitats delineated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetlands Inventory Status and Trends (NWI S&T) program and contained within northern GOM coastal watersheds. A multi-level, stepwise, iterative survey approach is being applied to multiple wetland classes at 100 probabilistically-selected coastal wetlands sites. Tier 1 provides information at the landscape scale about habitat inventory, land use, and environmental stressors associated with the watershed in which each wetland site is located. Tier 2, a rapid assessment conducted through a combination of office and field work, is based on best professional judgment and on-site evidence. Tier 3, an intensive site assessment, involves on-site collection of vegetation, water, and sediment samples to establish an integrated understanding of current wetland condition and validate methods and findings from Tiers 1 and 2. The results from this survey, along with other similar regional pilots from the Mid-Atlantic, West Coast, and Great Lakes Regions will contribute to a design and implementation approach for the National Wetlands Condition Assessment to be conducted by EPA’s Office of Water in 2011. 相似文献
Campana, Pete, John Knox, Andrew Grundstein, and John Dowd, 2012. The 2007‐2009 Drought in Athens, Georgia, United States: A Climatological Analysis and an Assessment of Future Water Availability. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(2): 379‐390. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00619.x Abstract: Population growth and development in many regions of the world increase the demand for water and vulnerability to water shortages. Our research provides a case study of how population growth can augment the severity of a drought. During 2007‐2009, a drought event that caused extreme societal impacts occurred in the Athens, Georgia region (defined as Clarke, Barrow, Oconee, and Jackson counties). An examination of drought indices and precipitation records indicates that conditions were severe, but not worse than during the 1925‐1927, 1954‐1956, and 1985‐1987 drought events. A drought of similar length to the 2007‐2009 drought would be expected to occur approximately every 25 years. Streamflow analysis shows that discharge levels in area streams were at a record low during 2007 before water restrictions were implemented, because of greater water usage caused by recent population increases. These population increases, combined with a lack of water conservation, led to severe water shortages in the Athens region during late 2007. Only after per capita usage decreased did water resources last despite continuing drought conditions through 2009. Retaining mitigation strategies and withdrawal levels such as seen during the height of the drought will be an essential strategy to prevent water shortages during future extreme drought events. The key mitigation strategy, independent local action to restrict water use in advance of state‐level restrictions, is now prohibited by Georgia State Law. 相似文献
Insect-growth regulators (IGRs) have been receiving foremost attention as potential means of selective insect control. Benzoyl phenyl urea (BPU) is a well-known IGR having chitin synthesis inhibitor activity. Mimics of BPU have been synthesized by suitable derivatization of a naturally occurring monoterpenoid, thymol (2-isopropyl-5-methyl phenol) to form a = series of substituted benzoyl thymyl thioureas (BTTUs) [IVa-f] and benzoyl thymyl ureas (BTUs) [Va-f]. The synthesized compounds have been characterized by 1H and 13C NMR, LC-MS and elemental analysis. These derivatives have been screened for their effect on total haemocyte count of Dysdercus koenigii. It has been observed that the introduction of substituted benzoyl thiourea and urea linkage into a thymol ring via an amino group results in higher activity than the parent compound thymol and a comparable pattern of results with the standard insect-growth regulators, Penfluron. Urea [Va-f] compounds exhibited greater effect on Total Haemocyte Count (THC) than thiourea [IVa-f]. Fluoro substitution enhanced the effect on THC more than chloro substituted compounds, while ortho-substitution resulted in a better effect than para-substitution. The results described in this paper are promising and provide new array of synthetic chemicals that may be utilized as insect growth regulators. 相似文献
The availability of wetlands and shallow water habitats significantly influences Gulf of Mexico (GOM) penaeid shrimp fishery productivity. However, the GOM region has the highest rate of wetland loss in the USA. Protection and management of these vital GOM habitats are critical to sustainable shrimp fisheries. Brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus) are a major component of GOM fisheries. We present an approach for estimating the areal extent of suitable habitat for post-larval and juvenile brown shrimp in Mobile Bay, Alabama, using an existing habitat suitability index model for the northern GOM calculated from probabilistic survey of water quality and sediment data, land cover data, and submerged aquatic vegetation coverages. This estuarine scale approach is intended to support targeted protection and restoration of these habitats. These analyses indicate that approximately 60% of the area of Mobile Bay is categorized as suitable to near optimal for post-larval and juvenile shrimp and 38% of the area is marginally to minimally suitable. We identify potential units within Mobile Bay for targeted restoration to improve habitat suitability. 相似文献
The City of San Diego, California, evaluated the performance capabilities of biological aerated filters (BAFs) at the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant. The City conducted a 1-year pilot-plant evaluation of BAF technology supplied by two BAF manufacturers. This paper reports on the first independent oxygen-transfer test of BAFs at full depth using the offgas method. The tests showed process-water oxygen-transfer efficiencies of 1.6 to 5.8%/m (0.5 to 1.8%/ft) and 3.9 to 7.9%/m (1.2 to 2.4%/ft) for the two different pilot plants, at their nominal design conditions. Mass balances using chemical oxygen demand and dissolved organic carbon corroborated the transfer rates. Rates are higher than expected from fine-pore diffusers for similar process conditions and depths and clean-water conditions for the same column and are mostly attributed to extended bubble retention time resulting from interactions with the media and biofilm. 相似文献