Identification of 1-methyloctyl butanoate as the major sex pheromone component from females of the saddle gall midge,Haplodiplosis marginata (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)

The saddle gall midge, Haplodiplosis marginata (von Roser) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), has undergone a resurgence recently as a pest of cereals in Belgium and other European countries. An effective monitoring tool of saddle gall midge flights is needed to understand the enigmatic population dynamics of this pest, and to design an integrated management strategy. Therefore, volatile compounds emitted by females (alkan-2-ols and alk-2-yl butanoates) were identified, and the chirality of the emitted esters was determined to be the R absolute configuration. In field-trapping experiments, racemic non-2-yl butanoate attracted substantial numbers of H. marginata males. Thus, this compound will be useful in baited traps for monitoring seasonal flight patterns, and improving integrated management of the saddle gall midge in agricultural systems.     

Four priorities for new links between conservation science and accounting research

Article impact statement: New collaborations with accounting research can improve conservation impact of ecosystem-based information systems.     

Institutional controls for future land use at active installation restoration program (IRP) sites

One of the strategies now in vogue in hazardous waste cleanup is basing remedial strategies on future land use. The initial thrust of CERCLA for permanent and complete remedies has given way, pushed by concepts like “brownfields” and base closure and reuse, to strategies often based on “institutional controls” that attempt to stabilize future land uses at a site based on residual risk. The heart of this concept is that instead of removing all wastes from a site, some wastes can safely remain so long as in the future the site is not used in such a way that the residual contamination poses an unacceptable risk to human health and the environment. “Institutional controls” is a term for land use management strategies that do not rely on engineering approaches to reduce risk, but rather seek to ensure that the site is not used in an inappropriate way in the future. This article cautions that such a strategy has inherent residual risks that must be understood by those involved in implementing hazardous waste cleanups and those responsible for future uses of contaminated property. Simply put, institutional controls are only as good as the processes that are in place to ensure they are respected in the future. This presents particular problems for active duty installations because most of the protections commonly available to private sector sites are not useful at active installations. This article discusses an initiative by the Air Combat Command to develop a handbook on instituting and maintaining land restrictions. It will also discuss that effort in light of the April 21 EPA Region IV guidance on assuring Land Use Controls at Federal Facilities. This article is based on a paper and presentations given at the 1998 ACC Environmental Training Symposium.     

On metapopulation resistance to drift and extinction

The spatial configuration of metapopulations (numbers, sizes, and localization of patches) affects their ability to resist demographic extinction and genetic drift, but sometimes with opposite effects. Small and isolated patches, for instance, contribute marginally to demography but may play a large role in genetics by maintaining a sizeable amount of genetic variance among demes. In source-sink systems, similarly, connectivity may be beneficial in terms of effective size, but detrimental in terms of survival, by lowering the reproductive value of source populations. How to reconcile these opposite effects? Here we propose an analytical framework that integrates fixation time (ability to resist genetic drift) and extinction time (ability to resist demographic extinction) into a single index of resistance, measuring the ability of a metapopulation to maintain its demo-genetic integrity. We then illustrate with numerical examples how conflicting demands may be resolved.     

Biosorption of Cu(II) and Zn(II) onto a lignocellulosic substrate extracted from wheat bran

We studied the removal of copper and zinc ions from aqueous solutions using a lignocellulosic substrate obtained by an acido-basic treatment of wheat bran. The sorption capacity of this material was investigated through batch and column experiments. Batch experimental results showed that the retention capacity of the lignocellulosic substrate was 0.20×10^–3 mol g^–1 at pH 4.5 for copper(II) and 0.24×10^–3 mol g^–1 at pH 6.5 for zinc(II). Column experiments showed a reduced sorption capacity for both ions compared to batch experiments. Batch and column data were analysed using the Langmuir equation in order to determine the affinity constant and the binding capacity of the sorbent and to compare both retention processes.