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

Abstract

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.     

Specification of the logit model: The case of valuation of nonmarket goods

We address the proper specification of the logit model for estimation of nonmarket commodity demand. Economic theory is used to show the conditions which must be met by the logit functional form if it is to yield valid estimates of welfare change measures and demand relationships. An empirical example is used to illustrate the argument. Recreational boating data were collected using the contingent valuation method (CVM) in Texas. In one instance the demand curve is positively sloped due to the specific functional form chosen. The estimated demand curve for the theoretically preferred functional form has the expected negative slope.     

Communication in Ecosystem Management: A Case Study of Cross-Disciplinary Integration in the Assessment Phase of the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project

Effective communication is essential to the success of collaborative ecosystem management projects. In this paper, we investigated the dynamics of the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Projects (ICBEMP) cross-disciplinary integration process in the assessment phase. Using a case study research design, we captured the rich trail of experience through conducting in-depth interviews and collecting information from internal and public documents, videos, and meetings related to the ICBEMP. Coding and analysis was facilitated by a qualitative analysis software, NVivo. Results include the range of internal perspectives on barriers and facilitators of cross-disciplinary integration in the Science Integration Team (SIT). These are arrayed in terms of discipline-based differences, organizational structures and activities, individual traits of scientists, and previous working relationships. The ICBEMP organization included a team of communication staffs (CT), and the data described the CT as a mixed group in terms of qualifications and educational backgrounds that played a major role in communication with actors external to the ICBEMP organization but a minor one in terms of internal communication. The data indicated that the CT-SIT communication was influenced by characteristics of actors and structures related to organizations and their cultures. We conclude that the ICBEMP members may not have had a sufficient level of shared understanding of central domains, such as the task at hand and ways and timing of information sharing. The paper concludes by suggesting that future ecosystem management assessment teams use qualified communications specialists to design and monitor the development of shared cognition among organization members in order to improve the effectiveness of communication and cross-disciplinary integration.     

Impact of land use on soluble organic nitrogen in soil

Although it has been hypothesized that soluble organic nitrogen (SON) plays a central role in regulating productivity in some terrestrial ecosystems, the factors controlling the size of the SON pool in soil remain poorly understood. Therefore our principal aim in this work was to assess the impact of seven different land use systems (rough and managed grassland, deciduous and coniferous woodland, heathland, wetland and tilled land) on the size of the SON and inorganic N (NO^? ₃, NH⁺ ₄) pools in the surface soil layer (0–15 cm). After extraction with deionised water, we found that in most cases the size of the water extractable organic N (WEON) pool was similar in size to the inorganic N pool. In contrast, the KCl extractable organic N (KClEON) pool constituted the dominant form of soluble N in soils under all land uses, perhaps indicating that significant amounts were held on the soil exchange phase. In contrast to inorganic N, which varied significantly with land use, the size of the KClEON and WEON pool was similar for all land uses with the exception of KClEON in tilled land, where significantly lower amounts were observed. We conclude that SON constitutes an important soil N pool in a broad range of land uses, and that its role in microbial N assimilation, plant nutrition and ecosystem responses to atmospheric N deposition warrants further attention.     

Ecological Integrity Assessment of Lakes Using Fish Communities: An Example from Traunsee Exposed to Intensive Fishing and to Effluents from the Soda Industry

In order to analyse potential influences of soda industryeffluents on the ecological integrity of Traunsee (TS) weinvestigated the fish community of the lake in comparison witha reference lake (Hallstättersee HS) and used a reconstructionfrom the (older) literature concerning the original speciescomposition of Traunsee. Published `Index of Biotic Integrity(IBI)' metrics were considered to be of limited value due tothe relatively low species number in the oligotrophic, Alpinelake. Therefore we included, in addition to speciescomposition, studies on egg distribution, larval fishdensities, life-history parameters (i.e. growth, maturity,fecundity, age and size composition), stress levels and heavymetal content of the dominant whitefish (Coregonuslavaretus), as well as overall fish density and biomass (usinghydroacoustics) to assess the ecological status of the fishcommunity. Two of the original 18 species have disappearedfrom the lake, presumably in connection with the introductionof non-native eel (Anguilla anguilla) and theconstruction of a power plant in the outflow. Silt from grindedlimestone together with highly alkaline pore waters is emittedvia industrial wastewater from Sodaworks and covers part of thelake bottom. We observed that eggs of whitefish were spawnedmainly in the main inflowing river and close to the shore, thusavoiding the silty areas and making the anticipated damage tothe reproductive potential of whitefish neglectable. This wascorroborated by larval surveys done weekly on both lakes fromJanuary to May, which showed halve the density of whitefishlarvae in TS compared to HS. Estimates of potentially spawningfish from hydroacoustic surveys resulted in a ratio of 1(TS) :3 (HS). Analysis of whitefish revealed that they are growingfaster in TS and have higher fecundity leading to somecompensation of lower abundance. High levels of fishing in TSmight have led to this pattern and to depressed yields asindicated by the age composition. Level of oxidative stress andheavy metal content were not discernible from the referencelake. Therefore we concluded that negative impacts on theecological status of the fish community resulted from fisheriesmismanagement and a power plant situated in the outflow of thelake, considered to have damaged spawning places for somespecies, but not from soda industry effluents.     

Smart Growth in a Small Urban Setting: the challenges of building an acceptable solution

Smart growth policies direct development towards existing communities already served by roads, sewer systems and other infrastructure. The increased development in these communities in turn should enable them to benefit from a stronger tax-base, more efficient use of their schools and other public facilities, and the renewed economic vitality of their urban centres. These goals and objectives appear to complement and support the efforts of urban mayors to attract new property tax rateables and better-paying jobs, but they may conflict with the desires of residents to reduce densities and improve the quality of life. We use a visual GIS-based model to assist five small contiguous older suburbs individually and collectively to evaluate their current redevelopment plans and to understand the implications of their land-use decisions on the quality of life in their communities. By bringing them together as a group, and our raising broader redevelopment and impact issues, they have begun to rethink how these properties could be best used to meet the community's needs and to see them in the context of similar redevelopment plans within their mini-region. One of the changes emerging is a greater role for certain types of residential development and a concurrent reduction in the amount of commercial space being considered. The authors would like to thank the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation for funding this project, the Somerset County Planning Board and mayors of the five towns for actively supporting and participating in the study and the Regional Planning Partnership for its co-operation and assistance in refining its GOZ model to promote regional planning from the bottom up. The authors accept full responsibility for the ideas and recommendations in this report.     

DEBRIS FLOWS THROUGH DIFFERENT FOREST AGE CLASSES IN THE CENTRAL OREGON COAST RANGE1

ABSTRACT: Debris flows in the Pacific Northwest can play a major role in routing sediment and wood stored on hillslopes and in first‐through third‐order channels and delivering it to higher‐order channels. Field surveys following a large regional storm event investigated 53 debris flows in the central Oregon Coast Range to determine relationships among debris flow characteristics and the age class of the surrounding forest. The volume of sediment and wood delivered by debris flows was strongly correlated with runout length. Debris flows that initiated at roads were significantly longer than nonroad related failures, and road related landslides were an order of magnitude larger than nonroad related landslides. Clearcuts and roads tended to have more numerous contributing landslides relative to second growth and mature forests. No statistically significant difference in the average debris flow runout length was detected among the forest age classes, although debris flows initiating in clearcuts and mixed forest and at roads occasionally supported extremely long runout lengths that were outside the range of variability observed in completely forested basins. The size of wood in deposits was not correlated with the size of trees on the adjacent slopes, suggesting that the majority of wood in debris flow deposits was from remobilization of wood previously stored in low order channels.     

Amniotic fluid microvillar enzyme activities in the early detection of fetal abnormalities

Measurement of the microvillar enzymes, γ-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGTP), aminopeptidase M (APM) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), in amniotic fluid supernatant has been proposed as a method for the early prenatal diagnosis of cystic fibrosis. The activities of these enzymes in a series of other fetal abnormalities have now been examined. GGTP activities were below the 5th percentile in 28 out of 54 cases of trisomy 21 and 9 of 14 cases of trisomy 18, while APM values were below this cut-off in 26 of 54 cases of trisomy 21 and 8 of 14 cases of trisomy 18. Abnormal ALP isoenzyme ratios were found in 6 of 54 cases of trisomy 21 and 4 of 14 cases of trisomy 18. If prenatal cytogenetic studies are routinely carried out on amniotic fluid cells, the occasional confounding effect of abnormal microvillar enzymes associated with fetal trisomies rather than with cystic fibrosis should be avoided.