Local people's perceptions of participating in conservation in a heritage site: A case study of the Wuyishan Scenery District cultural and natural heritage site in Southeastern China

The perceptions and attitudes of local people in heritage sites strongly influence their behaviour related to protecting heritage resources and improving management. In this study, we collected pertinent data through a questionnaire and group discussions to examine local people's attitudes and perceptions toward participation in heritage protection in Wuyishan Scenery District (WSD). Logistic regression was used to identify the factors that influence local people's perceptions of heritage protection behaviours. The results indicate that education level is the most critical factor in local people's initiatives to protect heritage resources. Local people with higher education levels pay more attention to the status of WSD and behave more positively with regard to conservation. Gender and income are relatively important factors in perceptions of heritage. Males have better knowledge of heritage resources than females do, and inhabitants with higher income levels are more likely to participate in protection, especially after WSD was listed as a World Heritage Site. Education level was always a key demographic factor before and after WSD's listing on the Heritage List. Household size was a significant factor before WSD was listed on the Heritage List, but it was not significant after, when household income became a significant factor.     

Hydrobiogeochemical Controls on Riparian Nutrient and Greenhouse Gas Dynamics: 10 Years Post‐Restoration

Little is known about the impact of agricultural legacy on subsurface biogeochemical processes in the years following restoration of riparian wetlands (WLs). More knowledge is also needed on the relative importance of seasons, precipitation events, and inputs of water and nutrients driving nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), sulfur (S), and greenhouse gas (GHG) (N₂O, CO₂, CH₄) dynamics in these systems. This investigation of a riparian zone comprising a restored WL area and a nonrestored well‐drained alluvium (AL) area in the United States Midwest revealed that despite successful hydrological restoration a decade earlier, biogeochemical conditions in the WL area remained less anoxic than in natural WLs, and not significantly different from those in the AL area. No significant differences in N, P, S, and C compound concentrations or fluxes were observed between the AL and WL areas. Over the duration of the study, nitrate (NO₃^?) and soluble reactive phosphorus appeared to be primarily driven by hillslope contributions. Ammonium (NH₄⁺), sulfate (SO₄^2?), and CO₂ responded strongly to seasonal changes in biogeochemical conditions in the riparian zone, while N₂O and CH₄ fluxes were most influenced by large rewetting events. Overall, our results challenge overly simplistic assumptions derived from direct interpretation of redox thermodynamics, and show complex patterns of solutes and GHGs at the riparian zone scale.     

On‐Site Exposure to Treated Wastewater Effluent Has Subtle Effects on Male Fathead Minnows and Pronounced Effects on Carp

This study tested the hypotheses that (1) exposure to treated Water Reclamation Plant (WRP) effluent will induce biological effects in exposed fish that are consistent with environmental estrogen (EE) exposure; and (2) seasonal differences in effluent composition will moderate biological effects. We conducted seven on‐site exposures using a mobile laboratory. Total estrogenicity of effluents was 10‐ to 20‐fold higher during spring than in fall. Common EEs including steroid estrogens, alkylphenols, and bisphenol‐A were ubiquitous. An unusual spike in total estrogenicity identified a combined sewer overflow event. Fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) responded to exposure with subtle changes in vitellogenin concentrations and secondary sex characteristics. An opportunity to assess a common carp (Cyprinus carpio) population permanently sustained inside the Stickney WRP revealed pronounced exposure effects, but also the resilience of biological organisms even under long‐term exposure. In contrast to other studies, no histopathological changes were found. The mobile exposure laboratory proved capable of maintaining U.S. Environmental Protection Agency‐recommended exposure conditions while providing flexibility for rapid deployment at multiple sites with minimal operational disruption. Further studies using this platform hold promise to resolve the convoluted interactions between complex effluents and inherent biological complexity.     

Impacts of 21st‐Century Climate Change on Hydrologic Extremes in the Pacific Northwest Region of North America

Climate change projections for the Pacific Northwest (PNW) region of North America include warmer temperatures (T), reduced precipitation (P) in summer months, and increased P during all other seasons. Using a physically based hydrologic model and an ensemble of statistically downscaled global climate model scenarios produced by the Columbia Basin Climate Change Scenarios Project, we examine the nature of changing hydrologic extremes (floods and low flows) under natural conditions for about 300 river locations in the PNW. The combination of warming, and shifts in seasonal P regimes, results in increased flooding and more intense low flows for most of the basins in the PNW. Flood responses depend on average midwinter T and basin type. Mixed rain and snow basins, with average winter temperatures near freezing, typically show the largest increases in flood risk because of the combined effects of warming (increasing contributing basin area) and more winter P. Decreases in low flows are driven by loss of snowpack, drier summers, and increasing evapotranspiration in the simulations. Energy‐limited basins on the west side of the Cascades show the strongest declines in low flows, whereas more arid, water‐limited basins on the east side of the Cascades show smaller reductions in low flows. A fine‐scale analysis of hydrologic extremes over the Olympic Peninsula echoes the results for the larger rivers discussed above, but provides additional detail about topographic gradients.