An Integrated Model of Public Contact Planning for Conservation Management

/ Public contact is a vital component of any program to manage natural resources. A well-planned public contact program uses a variety of strategies to create a sympathetic and environmentally aware public and to meet specific management-related objectives. A methodology is proposed that can be applied to planning public contact at any level, from media design for a specific project to corporate strategies for communication. The methodology integrates management-driven, client-driven and resource-driven planning to provide the connections essential to effective communication.KEY WORDS: Planning; Public contact; Interpretation; Conservation; Management     

Carbon isotope fractionation during abiotic reductive dehalogenation of trichloroethene (TCE)

Dehalogenation of trichloroethene (TCE) in the aqueous phase, either on palladium catalysts with hydrogen as the reductant or on metallic iron, was associated with strong changes in delta13C. In general, the delta13C of product phases were more negative than those of the parent compound and were enriched with time and fraction of TCE remaining. For dehalogenation with iron, the delta13C of TCE and products varied from -42/1000 to +5/1000. For the palladium experiments, the final product, ethane, reached the initial delta13C of TCE at completion of the dehalogenation reaction. During dehalogenation, the carbon isotope fractionation between TCE and product phases was not constant. The variation in delta13C of TCE and products offers a new monitoring tool that operates independently of the initial concentration of pollutants for abiotic degradation processes of TCE in the subsurface, and may be useful for evaluation of remediation efficiency.     

Abiotic reductive dechlorination of chlorinated ethylenes by iron-bearing phyllosilicates

Abiotic reductive dechlorination of chlorinated ethylenes (tetrachloroethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TCE), cis-dichloroethylene (c-DCE), and vinylchloride (VC)) by iron-bearing phyllosilicates (biotite, vermiculite, and montmorillonite) was characterized to obtain better understanding of the behavior of these contaminants in systems undergoing remediation by natural attenuation and redox manipulation. Batch experiments were conducted to evaluate dechlorination kinetics and some experiments were conducted with addition of Fe(II) to simulate impact of microbial iron reduction. A modified Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model adequately described reductive dechlorination kinetics of target organics by the iron-bearing phyllosilicates. The rate constants stayed between 0.08 (+/-10.4%) and 0.401 (+/-8.1%) day(-1) and the specific initial reductive capacity of iron-bearing phyllosilicates for chlorinated ethylenes stayed between 0.177 (+/-6.1%) and 1.06 (+/-7.1%) microM g(-1). The rate constants for the reductive dechlorination of TCE at reactive biotite surface increased as pH (5.5-8.5) and concentration of sorbed Fe(II) (0-0.15 mM g(-1)) increased. The appropriateness of the model is supported by the fact that the rate constants were independent of solid concentration (0.0085-0.17 g g(-1)) and initial TCE concentration (0.15-0.60 mM). Biotite had the greatest rate constant among the phyllosilicates both with and without Fe(II) addition. The rate constants were increased by a factor of 1.4-2.5 by Fe(II) addition. Between 1.8% and 36% of chlorinated ethylenes removed were partitioned to the phyllosilicates. Chloride was produced as a product of degradation and no chlorinated intermediates were observed throughout the experiment.     

颗粒物对紫外线灭活二级出水中粪大肠菌的影响

用低压紫外线照射具有相同颗粒物粒径分布的一系列水样,把实验结果带入二重动力学模型进行计算,评价自然状态下颗粒物对粪大肠菌的保护作用. 结果表明,二级出水中的大部分粪大肠菌都与颗粒物交连在一起;在颗粒物<10⁵ C·mL^-1时,颗粒物的增加会明显降低紫外线对二级出水中粪大肠菌的灭活率,但当颗粒物>10⁵ C·mL^-1时,这种影响不明显.从二重动力学模型的计算结果来看,对于不同颗粒物浓度的水样,难灭活的微生物所占的比重很小且比较稳定,大多数与颗粒物结合的粪大肠菌都较易被紫外线灭活.     

Inferential permutation tests for maximum entropy models in ecology

Maximum entropy (maxent) models assign probabilities to states that (1) agree with measured macroscopic constraints on attributes of the states and (2) are otherwise maximally uninformative and are thus as close as possible to a specified prior distribution. Such models have recently become popular in ecology, but classical inferential statistical tests require assumptions of independence during the allocation of entities to states that are rarely fulfilled in ecology. This paper describes a new permutation test for such maxent models that is appropriate for very general prior distributions and for cases in which many states have zero abundance and that can be used to test for conditional relevance of subsets of constraints. Simulations show that the test gives correct probability estimates under the null hypothesis. Power under the alternative hypothesis depends primarily on the number and strength of the constraints and on the number of states in the model; the number of empty states has only a small effect on power. The test is illustrated using two empirical data sets to test the community assembly model of B. Shipley, D. Vile, and E. Garnier and the species abundance distribution models of S. Pueyo, F. He, and T. Zillio.     

Secondary sexual characters signal fighting ability and determine social rank in Alpine ibex (Capra ibex)

Social dominance is a fundamental aspect of male evolutionary ecology in polygynous mammals because it determines access to estrous females. As it is rarely possible to monitor marked individuals of known morphology, little is known about the determinants of male dominance. We studied the social structure of Alpine ibex males in Gran Paradiso National Park, Italy in 2003, 2006, and 2007. Dominance interactions produced a linear social hierarchy. In ibex males, body mass and horn length are key traits in male-male combat, and both increase with age. We explored the links between age, body mass, horn length, and social rank. Ibex males showed much age-independent phenotypic heterogeneity and rapidly growing males reached high rank at a younger age than slow-growing males. Because there is no trade-off between horn growth and longevity, fast-growing males may face weak potential costs of rapid growth and high fitness benefit of achieving high rank. Violent interactions were more likely to occur between males similar in both mass and horn length, independently of age. We suggest that only high-quality individuals can afford a strategy of rapid growth for both secondary sexual characters, and likely reap substantial fitness benefits.     

A uniform fish consumption advisory protocol for the Ohio River

ORSANCO and the six Ohio River main stem states have been working to align states' fish consumption advisories (FCAs) to enhance the value of advice issued to the public. To achieve this goal, ORSANCO worked closely with a panel consisting of state and USEPA representatives. The result of this effort is the Ohio River Fish Consumption Advisory Protocol (ORFCAP). The ORFCAP represents a single set of variables agreed upon by the panel that allows for a standardized protocol to create advisory thresholds to which states can defer to issue consumption advice for the Ohio River. The ORFCAP identifies ORSANCO as a clearinghouse for data which will be distributed to the panel for decision making. Other components include identifying primary contaminants of concern (PCBs and mercury) and dividing the river into four reporting units. The protocol was developed to issue FCAs for the protection of sensitive populations using five advisory groupings for PCBs and four for mercury. Specific variables used in the calculation of advisory thresholds such as health protection values, cooking reductions, average meal sizes, etc., were selected by the panel. Lastly, the protocol calls for FCA decisions to be based on analysis of the most recent 10?years of data for each species in each reporting unit to determine size class needs and advisory groupings. Upon pending implementation of the protocol by the main stem states, these decisions will be made annually through a series of discussions involving ORSANCO, the panel, and other appropriate state personnel.     

An equilibrium model for chloride removal from recycled cooling water using the ultra-high lime with aluminum process.

Removal of chloride from recycled cooling water is needed to reduce corrosion and prolong equipment life. Laboratory experiments have demonstrated that the ultra-high lime with aluminum (UHLA) process has the ability to achieve high chloride removal efficiency from recycled cooling water. In an effort to further understand the behavior of chloride in the UHLA process, a fundamental model of the chemical processes was developed. The purpose of this paper is to describe this equilibrium model and present values for solubility products of precipitated solids that have not been investigated previously. The model was based on PHREEQC and a new program called INVRS K was integrated with PHREEQC to calculate values of unknown or poorly defined equilibrium or kinetic constants using a Gauss-Newton nonlinear regression routine. Model predictions indicated that the results could be best described by assuming the formation of a solid solution of calcium chloroaluminate (Ca4Al2Cl2OH12), tricalcium hydroxyaluminate (Ca3Al2OH12), and tetracalcium hydroxyaluminate (Ca4Al2OH14).