A Systemic Approach to Scoping of Factors Influencing More Sustainable Land Use in Herefordshire

Defining and putting into practice sustainable land use is a complex, systemic problem. Systems models and techniques were used in a study of Herefordshire to clarify the situation and identify the potential for a more locally focused, learning-based approach to land use. Issues included: (i) uncertainty about the boundary of a 'system of sustainable Herefordshire land use'; (ii) the complexity of economic flows in the county and the absence of some critical data; (iii) the importance of the Herefordshire landscape to tourism and the role of agriculture as a determinant of the state of that landscape; (iv) weakness of the institutional linkage between tourism and agriculture; (v) the current lack of inclusion of many relevant stakeholders in concerted action. Factors favouring a learning approach included a strong local identity, local food-related developments, and educational initiatives. Barriers to such an approach included questions of power and landholding, government policies, and attitudes and skills within organizations. These findings are considered in relation to the wider debate over approaches to sustainability.     

Relative merits of polystyrene foam and paper in hot drink cups: Implications for packaging

An analysis of the overall relative merits of the use of uncoated paper vs molded polystyrene bead foam in single-use 8-oz cups is described here as a manageable example of the use of paper vs plastics in packaging. In raw material requirements the paper cup required about 2.5 times its finished weight of raw wood and about the same hydrocarbon fueling requirement as is needed for the polystyrene foam cup. To process the raw materials about six times as much steam, 13 times as much electric power, and twice as much cooling water are consumed to produce the paper cup as compared to the polystyrene foam cup. Emission rates to air are similar and to water are generally higher for the paper cup. Virtually all primary use factors favor polystyrene foam over paper. Once used both cup types may be recycled. Landfill disposal of the two items under dry conditions will occupy similar landfill volumes after compaction and will confer similarly slow to nonexistent decomposition to either option. Under wet conditions polystyrene foam will not readily degrade, but may help other materials to do so. Paper under wet conditions will biodegrade to produce methane, a significant greenhouse gas, biochemical oxygen demand to any leachate, and instability to the land surface during the process. Both materials can be incinerated cleanly in a municipal waste stream with the option of energy recovery, to yield an ash volume of 2%–5% of the incoming waste volume. Overall this analysis would suggest that polystyrene foam, with an extension to plastics in general, should be given more evenhanded consideration relative to paper in packaging applications than is currently the case.     

Perspectives on Disconnects Between Scientific Information and Management Decisions on Post-fire Recovery in Western US

Environmental regulations frequently mandate the use of “best available” science, but ensuring that it is used in decisions around the use and protection of natural resources is often challenging. In the Western US, this relationship between science and management is at the forefront of post-fire land management decisions. Recent fires, post-fire threats (e.g. flooding, erosion), and the role of fire in ecosystem health combine to make post-fire management highly visible and often controversial. This paper uses post-fire management to present a framework for understanding why disconnects between science and management decisions may occur. We argue that attributes of agencies, such as their political or financial incentives, can limit how effectively science is incorporated into decision-making. At the other end of the spectrum, the lack of synthesis or limited data in science can result in disconnects between science-based analysis of post-fire effects and agency policy and decisions. Disconnects also occur because of the interaction between the attributes of agencies and the attributes of science, such as their different spatial and temporal scales of interest. After offering examples of these disconnects in post-fire treatment, the paper concludes with recommendations to reduce disconnects by improving monitoring, increasing synthesis of scientific findings, and directing social-science research toward identifying and deepening understanding of these disconnects.     

Book reviews

Ecological Economics: The Science and Management of Sustainability

R. Costanza (Ed.)

New York, Columbia, 1991, 515 pp.

Environmental Auditing: The Challenge of the 1990s

Banff Centre for Management

Calgary, University of Calgary Press, 1992, 236 pp, pb.

Interpreting Nature: Cultural Constructions of the Environment

I. G. Simmons

London, Routledge, 1993, 200 pp., £40 hb, £12.99 pb     

Application of the analytic hierarchy process to compare alternatives for the long-term management of surplus mercury

This paper describes a systematic method for comparing options for the long-term management of surplus elemental mercury in the US, using the analytic hierarchy process as embodied in commercially available Expert Choice software. A limited scope multi-criteria decision analysis was performed. Two (2) general types of treatment technologies were evaluated (stabilization/amalgamation and selenide), combined with four (4) disposal options: (a) hazardous waste landfill; (b) hazardous waste monofill; (c) engineered below-ground structure; and (d) mined cavity. In addition, three storage options for elemental mercury were considered: (a) aboveground structure; (b) hardened structure; and (c) mined cavity. Alternatives were evaluated against criteria that included costs, environmental performance, compliance with current regulations, implementation considerations, technology maturity, potential risks to the public and workers, and public perception. Considering non-cost criteria only, the three storage options rank most favorably. If both cost and other criteria are considered, then landfill options are preferred, because they are the least expensive ones. Storage options ranked unfavorably on cost because: (a) even relatively small per annum costs will add up over time; and (b) storage is a temporary solution and, sooner or later, a treatment and disposal technology will be adopted, which adds to the cost. However, the analysis supports continued storage for a short period (up to a few decades) followed by permanent retirement when treatment technologies have matured. Suggestions for future work include: (a) involving additional stakeholders in the process, (b) evaluating alternatives for mercury-containing wastes rather than for elemental mercury only, (c) revisiting the analysis periodically to determine if changes are required, (d) conducting uncertainty analyses utilizing Monte Carlo-based techniques.     

Mini Review: Probes for Detecting Prymnesium parvum and Preliminary Results From Gene Expression Studies1

Medlin, Linda K., Sonja Diercks, and Sara Beszteri, 2010. Mini Review: Probes for Detecting Prymnesium parvum and Preliminary Results From Gene Expression Studies. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 46(1):144-152. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2009.00398.x Abstract: Prymnesium parvum is common in brackish and marine coastal waters within temperate zones, world-wide. P. parvum forms recurrent blooms causing fish kills in many parts of the world. Harmful blooms are formed in nutrient rich, low salinity lakes, ponds, river systems, or estuaries. Probes made to this species and to the genus Prymnesium have been tested in dot blot and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and used with a solid-phase cytometer using a tyramide signal amplification (TSA) enhanced FISH hybridization to provide a means to identify the cells before blooms develop with automated counting. Field counts from light microscopy have been compared with solid-phase cytometer counts. Additional detection systems, such as biosensors and microarrays, have also been developed to identify rapidly this species without resorting to electron microscopy. Advantages and disadvantages of each detection system are discussed. A study of the genes expressed by P. parvum under environmental conditions that can induce blooms or stress was undertaken to try to understand the ecology behind toxic blooms.