Amenity values of public and private forests: examining the value-attitude relationship

Public values toward forests have changed since the late 1980s, from a commodity-oriented perspective toward a more inclusive (commodity and non-commodity) orientation. This study examines the influence of four indicators of population diversity (age, ethnic background, place of residence, and gender) on amenity values of forests, environmental attitudes, and forest value-attitude correspondence. Four values of public and private forests were assessed, wood production (utilitarian value), clean air (a life support value), scenic beauty (an aesthetic value), and heritage (a spiritual value). Environmental attitudes were measured using a modified version of the New Environmental Paradigm scale. Five hundred and forty-eight randomly selected residents of households in 13 states of the Southern United States participated in a telephone interview. Age and ethnic background were found to moderate the value-attitude relationship, with the strength of the association being dependent upon the type of forest (i.e., public or private) and the forest value (i.e., utilitarian, life support, spiritual, and aesthetic). Females, younger persons (less than 43 years old), and whites reported lower utilitarian values of forests than their respective counterparts. Results are interpreted within the context of an emerging post-material society, in which a biocentric orientation to forests and the natural environment may be favored more by a younger (versus older) generation and increasingly racially diverse U.S. population. Implications for managing forests using a multiple-values (versus multiple-uses) approach are discussed.     

Urban channel adjustments in a management context: an Australian example

The impact of urbanization on stream channels has been investigated in a range of areas; the degree and extent of the channel adjustments have been demonstrated; and for a few areas these characteristics have recently been placed into a spatial context. A method of rapid field survey for depicting the channel network of urban areas in terms of near natural, adjusted, and channelized systems is illustrated for the urban area of Armidale NSW, for which Armidale Dumaresq Council had prepared a stormwater management plan. Such a survey could enable channel characteristics and adjustments, as well as water quantity and quality, to be included in the management plan. Possible options for management to address are suggested for each of the channel categories. A channel classification system of the kind suggested can provide a basic complement for the further development of the stormwater management plan, can afford a basis for specifying management alternatives, and can be helpful in demonstrating the options offered for community consultation.     

Factors Affecting Future Emissions of Methane from Non Land Use Sources

Evidence from the atmosphere indicates that global emissions of methane may have been broadly constant since the early 1980s or growing only slowly. This suggests that whilst emissions from some sources may have increased with increased activity, emissions from other sources may have gone down. This is supported by evidence and analysis from the individual emission sectors which show declining emission rates in some cases. This paper reviews the factors that might affect emissions in the future from different sources and has been written as an aid to the development of new scenarios for greenhouse gas emission for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The analysis indicates that there could be additional uncertainty in future emissions but that, overall, future emissions might plausibly be lower than previously projected.     

Structure of the communities of small mammals (micromammalia) in forests on western slopes of the Northern Urals

Long-term data on the species composition and ratio of insectivores and rodents in forest ecosystems of the western macroslope of the Northern Urals are considered. It is shown that the micromammalian communities of mountain forests are characterized by higher total abundance and polydominance and comprise greater numbers of common species than the communities of taiga forests in neighboring regions of the Russian Plain. Hence, the mountain-forest communities of small mammals have high indices of species diversity and uniformity.Translated from Ekologiya, No. 2, 2005, pp. 138–145.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Bobretsov, Lukyanova, Poroshin.     

Intraspecific phylogeographic isolation of Arabian Gulf sailfish<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Istiophorus platypterus</Emphasis> inferred from mitochondrial DNA

The genetic structure of seven sailfish Istiophorus platypterus populations sampled from three locations inside and four locations outside the Arabian Gulf was determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of mitochondrial DNA of 147 individuals using eight restriction endonucleases. A total of 39 composite haplotypes derived from 27 presumptive restriction sites demonstrated significant differences in frequency between population groups inside and outside the Gulf (analysis of molecular variance 34.80%, P<0.001; F_ST=0.356) and evidence of restricted migration between them (average number of migrants, N_m=0.903). Haplotypes found only inside or outside the Gulf clustered to all major branches of a haplotype phylogeny, as did those found in both areas. The reduced genetic diversity of the Gulf populations and the fact that much of the differentiation between the population groups resulted from differences in haplotype frequency rather than divergence between haplotypes suggest a founder effect and a recent sampling of genotypes from the Indian Ocean. This was probably associated with dispersal into the Gulf after it was flooded by rising sea level after the end of the last glaciation around 8,000 years ago. At some point since then the population has evolved to complete its life cycle within the Gulf and shows a marked disruption to gene flow, consistent with dispersal data, at the Strait of Hormuz. These findings represent the first clear evidence of phylogeographic isolation occurring in a large, highly vagile, predatory istiophorid billfish, within a marginal sea.Communicated by O. Kinne, Oldendorf/Luhe     

Landowner Satisfaction with the Wetlands Reserve Program in Wisconsin

We evaluated ecological monitoring data and landowner perceptions to the federally funded Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) in a three-county region in Wisconsin. We surveyed landowner satisfaction, involvement, participation, and use of the WRP restoration sites. We found that landowners are satisfied with the overall program (mean, 3.6 ± 0.2 [SE], on a scale of 1–5, with 5 being completely satisfied). WRP restorations significantly increased the area of wetland within the sites surveyed, the increase was primarily of fresh meadow (736.32 ha after restoration). Satisfaction is related to landowner participation during restoration and to the economic incentives provided by the WRP, Landowner satisfaction and the number of plant communities after restoration are unrelated to each other or to restoration and easement costs per hectare. Survey participants recommended some changes to the WRP, including a reduction in the tax rate of land enrolled in the WRP, approval for permanent deer stands, and increased communication with WRP officials during the restoration. Monitoring information collected for WRP restoration sites does not allow assessment of whether WRP sites are functionally equivalent to natural sites. We suggest that the WRP require a more rigorous monitoring program, including guidelines for invasive species control. Managers should also encourage collaborations with external researchers and consider restorations within an experimental framework.     

The U.S. Experience in Promoting Sustainable Chemistry (9 pp)

- Sustainable chemistry - Section editors: Klaus Günter Steinhäuser, Steffi Richter, Petra Greiner, Jutta Penning, Michael AngrickBackground, Aim and Scope Recent developments in European chemicals policy, including the Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) proposal, provide a unique opportunity to examine the U.S. experience in promoting sustainable chemistry as well as the strengths and weaknesses of existing policies. Indeed, the problems of industrial chemicals and limitations in current regulatory approaches to address chemical risks are strikingly similar on both sides of the Atlantic. We provide an overview of the U.S. regulatory system for chemicals management and its relationship to efforts promoting sustainable chemistry. We examine federal and state and examine lessons learned from this system that can be applied to developing more integrated, sustainable approaches to chemicals management.Main Features There is truly no one U.S. chemicals policy, but rather a series of different un-integrated policies at the federal, regional, state and local levels. While centerpiece U.S. Chemicals Policy, the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, has resulted in the development of a comprehensive, efficient rapid screening process for new chemicals, agency action to manage existing chemicals has been very limited. The agency, however, has engaged in a number of successful, though highly underfunded, voluntary data collection, pollution prevention, and sustainable design programs that have been important motivators for sustainable chemistry. Policy innovation in the establishment of numerous state level initiatives on persistent and bioaccumulative toxics, chemical restrictions and toxics use reduction have resulted in pressure on the federal government to augment its efforts.Results and Conclusions It is clear that data collection on chemical risks and phase-outs of the most egregious chemicals alone will not achieve the goals of sustainable chemistry. These alone will also not internalize the cultural and institutional changes needed to ensure that design and implementation of safer chemicals, processes, and products are the focus of the future. Thus, a more holistic approach of ‘carrots and sticks’ – that involves not just chemical producers but those who use and purchase chemicals is necessary. Some important lessons of the US experience in chemicals management include: (1) the need for good information on chemicals flows, toxic risks, and safer substances.; (2) the need for comprehensive planning processes for chemical substitution and reduction to avoid risk trade-offs and ensure product quality; (3) the need for technical and research support to firms for innovation in safer chemistry; and (4) the need for rapid screening processes and tools for comparison of alternative chemicals, materials, and products.     

Experimental evidence that keeping eggs dry is a mechanism for the antimicrobial effects of avian incubation

Avian incubation dramatically reduces the abundance and diversity of microbial assemblages on eggshells, and this effect has been hypothesized as an adaptive explanation for partial incubation, the bouts of incubation that some birds perform during the egg-laying period. However, the mechanisms for these antimicrobial effects are largely unknown. In this study, we hypothesized that microbial inhibition is partly achieved through removal of liquid water, which generally enhances microbial growth, from eggshells, and experimentally tested this hypothesis in two ways. First, we placed the first- and second-laid eggs of tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) clutches in unincubated holding nests with either ambient or increased water on eggshells. Second, we added water to eggshells in naturally partially incubated nests. We compared microbial growth on shells during a 5-day experimental period and found that, as predicted, both unincubated groups had higher microbial growth than naturally partially incubated controls, and that only in the absence of incubation did wetted eggs have higher microbial growth than unwetted eggs. Thus, we have shown that water increases microbial growth on eggshells and that incubation nullifies these effects, suggesting that removal of water from egg surfaces is one proximate mechanism for the antimicrobial effects of incubation.     

Measuring the environmental performance of IPPC industry: II. Applying the Environmental Emissions Index to quantify environmental performance trends from routinely reported data

Reported emissions data were collated for 35 pharmaceutical-manufacturing installations and 18 power stations holding IPPC licences in Ireland. Consistent and essentially complete sectoral emissions time-series were generated, covering 2002–2006 for the pharmaceutical sector, and 2001–2006 for the electricity-generating sector. Applying the Environmental Emissions Index (EEI) to reported emissions indicated environmental performance improvements of 35 and 30%, respectively, for these two sectors. However, considerable uncertainty was attributed to reporting of heavy metals, NO_x and NMVOC emissions at the installation level, and overall NMVOC emissions from the pharmaceutical sector appeared to be considerably under-reported. The fixed average toxicity factor applied to NMVOC emissions in the EEI may deviate from potential temporal changes in the NMVOC compound mix. Overall, reporting uncertainties were found to have a greater impact on EEI outputs than assumptions made in the EEI model, and including an estimate of total sectoral NMVOC emissions reduced the pharmaceutical sector's environmental performance improvement to 24%. The EEI facilitates the comparison and visualisation of reported emissions, integrating them into environmental performance trends. It should optimise interpretation of abundant, detailed, and underutilised ‘bottom-up’ emissions data generated by IPPC installations. For Ireland's pharmaceutical sector, these data are considerably more comprehensive than EPER data.     

Using Bacteriophages in Recycled Water Exposure Assessment Studies

Bacteriophages MS-2 and PRD-1 were used as indicators of human viral behaviour in a series of turf-grass irrigation and washing machine experiments to provide information about the level of human exposure to potential residual enteric viruses in recycled water that can affect health. Results provided evidence to support a potential inadvertent exposure volume of 0.01 ml for recycled water used for machine clothes washing. Results for irrigation experiments showed that a one log reduction in bacteriophage numbers on turf-grass was not achieved under exposure to high solar conditions after 4 h. Experimentation showed that bacteriophages may be usefully employed in exposure assessment studies based on the ease of their enumeration and logistical and cost considerations. In terms of future studies, observed differences in individual bacteriophage characteristics provide a rationale for using multiple viral indicators. However, limitations on the utility of bacteriophage also need to be considered.