Traditional management and conservation of shea trees (<Emphasis Type=Italic>Vitellaria paradoxa</Emphasis> subspecies <Emphasis Type=Italic>nilotica</Emphasis>) in Uganda

Traditional practices are universally recognised as a basis for conservation of biodiversity. However, such practices are often not included in natural resource conservation policies. This study assessed local conservation practices of shea trees (Vitellaria paradoxa) within different farming systems in Uganda and developed conservation guidelines for the species. The assessment involved 300 respondents, 15 focus groups and 41 key informants. Content analysis was used to identify the most important management and conservation practices. Local uses were categorised on the basis of shea tree products while differences in conservation practices were analysed using the Friedman test. The results show that eight shea tree products are used for 36 different purposes. Respondents’ age significantly influenced their knowledge about the shea tree. Traditional conservation practices include on-farm retention during cultivation and the use of folklore (mainly taboos), customs and rituals. Traditional management practices include weeding, bush burning, pollarding and pruning. Based on the current management and traditional conservation practices, a framework for the conservation of shea trees is proposed for integration into conservation policy decisions.     

EFFECTWENESS OF INTEGRATED STORMWATER MANAGEMENT IN A PORTLAND,OREGON, WATERSHED1

ABSTRACT: The City of Portland's stormwater management program, winner of EPA's Environmental Excellence Award for 1996, is committed to partnership-based, cost-effective, “green” approaches to healthy neighborhoods and water quality. The stormwater program encourages innovative, non-structural pollution reduction techniques like native landscaping, stormwater pollution reduction bioswales and ponds, and public involvement and education. Effectiveness of stormwater best management practices (BMPs) has been difficult to determine on a citywide basis. Recognizing this problem, the City of Portland launched the Parkrose Pilot Project in 1994 to test the effectiveness of a wide range of BMPs in a small watershed in north Portland, the Parkrose catchment, and monitor the results prior to citywide implementation. This catchment was selected because of its small size (144 acres), its representative mix of land uses, and an extensive record of water quality monitoring data. This paper examines the City's strategy in selecting the Parkrose study area as a pilot watershed, the BMPs chosen for use in the watershed, and the results of the program to date. Final success of the Parkrose project will be gauged by the attainment of measurable pollution reduction within the catchment while providing opportunities for meaningful participation by the local community in achieving water quality. Involvement by private citizens in the community is crucial to the success of the project and to ensure compliance with the federal mandate to reduce pollutants to the maximum extent practicable.     

Effectiveness of Fish Habitat Compensation in Canada in Achieving No Net Loss

Fish habitat loss has been prevalent over the last century in Canada. To prevent further erosion of the resource base and ensure sustainable development, Fisheries and Oceans Canada enacted the habitat provisions of the Fisheries Act in 1976. In 1986, this was articulated by a policy that a “harmful alteration, disruption, or destruction to fish habitat” (HADD) cannot occur unless authorised with legally binding compensatory habitat to offset the HADD. Despite Canada’s progressive conservation policies, the effectiveness of compensation habitat in replicating ecosystem function has never been tested on a national scale. The effectiveness of habitat compensation projects in achieving no net loss of habitat productivity (NNL) was evaluated at 16 sites across Canada. Periphyton biomass, invertebrate density, fish biomass, and riparian vegetation density were used as indicators of habitat productivity. Approximately 63% of projects resulted in net losses in habitat productivity. These projects were characterised by mean compensation ratios (area gain:area loss) of 0.7:1. Twenty-five percent of projects achieved NNL and 12% of projects achieved a net gain in habitat productivity. These projects were characterised by mean ratios of 1.1:1 and 4.8:1, respectively. We demonstrated that artificially increasing ratios to 2:1 was not sufficient to achieve NNL for all projects. The ability to replicate ecosystem function is clearly limited. Improvements in both compensation science and institutional approaches are recommended to achieve Canada’s conservation goal.     

Ammonia emissions from Swine waste lagoons in the Utah great basin

In animal production systems (poultry, beef, and swine), current production, storage, and disposal techniques present a challenge to manage wastes to minimize the emissions of trace gases within relatively small geographical areas. Physical and chemical parameters were measured on primary and secondary lagoons on three different swine farming systems, three replicates each, in the Central Great Basin of the United States to determine ammonia (NH3) emissions. Nutrient concentrations, lagoon water temperature, and micrometeorological data from these measurements were used with a published process model to calculate emissions. Annual cycling of emissions was determined in relation to climatic factors and wind speed was found the predominating factor when the lagoon temperatures were above about 3 degrees C. Total NH3 emissions increased in the order of smallest to largest: nursery, sow, and finisher farms. However, emissions on an animal basis increased from nursery animals being lowest to sow animals being highest. When emissions were compared to the amount of nitrogen (N) fed to the animals, NH3 emissions from sows were lowest with emissions from finisher animals highest. Ammonia emissions were compared to similar farm production systems in the humid East of the United States and found to be similar for finisher animals but had much lower emissions than comparable humid East sow production. Published estimates of NH3 emissions from lagoons ranged from 36 to 70% of feed input (no error range) compared to our emissions determined from a process model of 9.8% with an estimated range of +/-4%.     

Distribution and speciation of metals in annual rings of black willow

Information on the spatial distribution and speciation of metals in nonhyperaccumulator plants is lacking. This study used synchrotron X-ray fluorescence (SXRF) compositional imaging to investigate the spatial distribution of Ni, Mn, Cu, Zn, and Fe in annual rings of black willow (Salix nigra L.) collected from a metal-contaminated area, and used X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) to investigate Ni and Mn speciation in regions of the annual rings with elevated Ni concentrations. Annual rings were recollected in early 2003 from an individual known to be enriched with Ni from previous studies. Compositional imaging showed Ni and associated co-contaminants conservatively located in an annual ring. When compared with a corresponding photomicrograph, SXRF compositional images showed that metals were sharply constrained by the boundaries of the annual ring, indicating a sudden onset and cessation of uptake, and a lack of post-growth mobility of the metals. There was a particularly strong correlation between Ni and Mn in the metal-enriched annual ring (r = 0.8822), which suggested similar transport and binding behavior of these elements. X-ray absorption spectroscopy showed Ni and Mn to be present in the 2+ oxidation state. X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy (XANES) fingerprinting of localized, highly Ni-enriched regions within the lumen of willow xylem vessels found similarities with Ni-pectic acid complexes, Ni-histidine, and NiSO4.     

Factors leading to the evolution and maintenance of a male ornament in territorial species

Male ornamentation is assumed to have evolved primarily from selection by female mate choice. Yet this is only one possible reason for ornament evolution. Ornaments might also be useful in aggressive competition by improving opponent assessment between males, or they might function to enhance signal detection by making males more conspicuous in the environment. We tested both these ideas in territorial Anolis lizards in which female choice is either absent or secondary to males competing for territories that overlap female home ranges. Male tail crests only evolved in species in which territory neighbors were distant, consistent with the signal detection hypothesis. Once the tail crest had evolved, however, it seems to have become a signal in itself, with variation in the frequency and size of tail crests within species correlating with variables predicted by the aggressive competition hypothesis. Our study presents an apparent example of a male ornament in which the selection pressure leading to variation among species in ornament expression is different from the selection pressure acting on variation within species. The Anolis tail crest is therefore likely to be an exaptation. We caution that conclusions made on the evolution of male ornaments are dependent on the phylogenetic perspective adopted by a study. Studies restricted to single species are useful for identifying selection pressures in contemporary settings (i.e., the current utility of traits), but may lead to erroneous conclusions on the factors that initially lead to the origin of traits.     

Colonization of the northwest Atlantic by the blue mussel, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mytilus trossulus</Emphasis> postdates the last glacial maximum

Blue mussels in the genus Mytilus first arrived in the Atlantic Ocean from the Pacific during the Pliocene, following the opening of the Bering Strait. Repeated periods of glaciation throughout the Pleistocene led to re-isolation of the two ocean basins and the allopatric divergence of Mytilus edulis in the Atlantic and M. trossulus in the Pacific. Mytilus trossulus has subsequently colonized the northwest Atlantic (NW Atlantic) so that the two species are presently sympatric and hybridize throughout much of the Canadian Maritimes and the Gulf of Maine. To estimate when M. trossulus arrived in the NW Atlantic, we have examined sequence variation within a portion of the female mtDNA lineage large untranslated region (F-LUR) for 156 mussels sampled from three Pacific and eleven Atlantic populations of M. trossulus. Although we found no evidence of reciprocal monophyly for Pacific and NW Atlantic M. trossulus, limited gene flow between ocean basins has led to the divergence of unique sequence clades within each ocean basin. In contrast, relative genetic homogeneity indicates high levels of gene flow within each basin. Coalescence-based analysis of the F-LUR sequences suggests that M. trossulus recolonized the NW Atlantic from the northeast Pacific subsequent to a demographic expansion in the Pacific that occurred ~96,000 years before present (ybp). Estimates of timing of divergence for Pacific and NW Atlantic populations and the time since expansion among NW Atlantic sequence clades indicate that M. trossulus arrived in the NW Atlantic more recently, between 20,000 and 46,000 ybp. Given that these estimates overlap with the dates of peak ice in the NW Atlantic during the last glacial maximum (LGM, ~18,000–21,000 ybp), we suggest that colonization of the NW Atlantic by M. trossulus occurred during, but more likely just subsequent to, the LGM and was followed by rapid temporal and spatial expansion in the region.     

Carbonation of brine impacted fractionated coal fly ash: implications for CO2 sequestration

Coal combustion by-products such as fly ash (FA), brine and CO(2) from coal fired power plants have the potential to impact negatively on the environment. FA and brine can contaminate the soil, surface and ground water through leaching of toxic elements present in their matrices while CO(2) has been identified as a green house gas that contributes significantly towards the global warming effect. Reaction of CO(2) with FA/brine slurry can potentially provide a viable route for CO(2) sequestration via formation of mineral carbonates. Fractionated FA has varying amounts of CaO which not only increases the brine pH but can also be converted into an environmentally benign calcite. Carbonation efficiency of fractionated and brine impacted FA was investigated in this study. Controlled carbonation reactions were carried out in a reactor set-up to evaluate the effect of fractionation on the carbonation efficiency of FA. Chemical and mineralogical characteristics of fresh and carbonated ash were evaluated using XRF, SEM, and XRD. Brine effluents were characterized using ICP-MS and IC. A factorial experimental approach was employed in testing the variables. The 20-150 μm size fraction was observed to have the highest CO(2) sequestration potential of 71.84 kg of CO(2) per ton of FA while the >150 μm particles had the lowest potential of 36.47 kg of CO(2) per ton of FA. Carbonation using brine resulted in higher degree of calcite formation compared to the ultra-pure water carbonated residues.     

Ammonia volatilization from surface-applied poultry litter under conservation tillage management practices

Land application of poultry litter can provide essential plant nutrients for crop production, but ammonia (NH(3)) volatilization from the litter can be detrimental to the environment. A multiseason study was conducted to quantify NH(3) volatilization rates from surface-applied poultry litter under no-till and paraplowed conservation tillage managements. Litter was applied to supply 90 to 140 kg N ha(-1). Evaluation of NH(3) volatilization was determined using gas concentrations and the flux-gradient gas transport technique using the momentum balance transport coefficient. Ammonia fluxes ranged from 3.3 to 24% of the total N applied during the winter and summer, respectively. Ammonia volatilization was rapid immediately after litter application and stopped within 7 to 8 d. Precipitation of 17 mm essentially halted volatilization, probably by transporting litter N into the soil matrix. Application of poultry to conservation-tilled cropland immediately before rainfall events would reduce N losses to the atmosphere but could also increase NO(3) leaching and runoff to streams and rivers.     

Curtin industrial safety trial: Managerial behavior and program effectiveness

Behavior-based safety has been found universally efficacious when evaluated under controlled conditions. The Curtin Trial aimed to test the general acceptability of behavior-based safety in Australian industry. A 50% failure rate was observed. This paper presents the results of a qualitative analysis of observed managerial behavior in relation to program effectiveness. Field notes taken in the course of 325 hours of participant observation during implementation of behavior-based safety in 9 work areas were analyzed qualitatively and categorized. These data were compared with statistical results of the safety program's effectiveness on improving safe practices and good housekeeping. Nine dimensions to managerial behavior were identified which were associated with program effectiveness. A relatively small number of studies investigating organizational characteristics and safety have found generally similar social environmental features to those observed in this study. Behavior-based safety appears to be effective only in organizations with recognizable managerial styles.