A contextual framework for understanding good practice in integrated catchment management

Principles of good practice for collaborative resource management were derived from the literature and their use studied in a range of integrated catchment management processes. Desk-based reviews and interviews with participants allowed the principles to be refined and described within a framework that illustrates the interrelationships between core principles, enabling principles, precursors to a project and the influence of external factors on such collaborative processes. The findings illustrate the importance of these relationships in understanding how success is defined and under what conditions successful outcomes can be achieved. Understanding how these procedural aspects influence outcomes contributes to the wider literature on collaborative resource management that often treats processes separately from their context.     

Effects of contamination level of dioxins and related chemicals on thyroid hormone and immune response systems in patients with "Yusho"

Effects of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (Co-PCBs) on thyroid hormone and immune response systems were examined in 16 Yusho patients at about 30 years after the outbreak of the Yusho accident. Their toxic equivalent (TEQ) levels in the blood were 27.8-1048.5 pg/g fat with the median level of 222.4 pg/g fat, which was about seven times higher than that of healthy Japanese people. Even at such high blood TEQ concentrations, they seemed not to affect the serum levels of thyroid hormones, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), immunoglobulins (A, G and M), autoantibodies (antinuclear antibody, rheumatoid and lupus erythematosus (LE) factors), and lymphocyte subsets in the blood. However, positive rates of rheumatoid factor were considered to increase in higher blood TEQ groups. This investigation was done using rather small number of Yusho patients, so further large-scale investigations are needed to get more conclusive findings concerning their effects on thyroid hormone and immune response systems.     

Organic and Inorganic Characterization of Marine Colloids

Abstract

Isolates of the organic matter in the particulate, colloidal and dissolved states were obtained by tangential flow ultrafiltration through 0.40 μm polycarbonate and ～ 1 nm (1000 NMWL?) regenerated cellulose membranes and by solid-liquid reverse phase extraction techniques. the material was analyzed qualitatively by mass spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection of labelled primary amines and amino acids, and inductively coupled plasma/mass spectroscopy. All three states are characterized by similar organic chemistries. the marine colloidal state in coastal waters off the Californian coast contains primarily carbohydrates, fatty acids, minor amounts of proteinaceous compounds and electropositive elements including aluminium and iron. Aromatic molecules and olefinic functional groups are in low concentration. the colloidal state differs qualitatively from the particulate and dissolved states. Yet all three could be derived, with degradation, from algal or macroalgal surface components.     

Colonization of meiobenthos in oil-contaminated subtidal sands in the lower Chesapeake Bay

In-situ manipulative experiments were conducted over a 3-month period (May–August 1980) to examine the rate at which meiobenthos colonizes oiled and untreated azoic fine sands at a shallow subtidal site in the lower York River, Virginia. Three concentrations of fresh Prudhoe Bay crude oil were added to sediments: 100, 2 500 and 10000 mg oil kg^-1 dry wt sediment. Untreated azoic and natural sediments served as controls. Within 16 d, meiofauna densities in all treatments were comparable to natural populations in surface oxidized sediments, but densities fluctuated greatly during the remainder of the sampling period. Nematodes slowly colonized the subsurface anoxic sediments below the redox potential discontinuity (RPD); some less common species did not significantly recover below the RPD in the two more heavily oiled treatments. Analysis of nematode community composition by reciprocal averaging ordination and numerical classification revealed generally lower abundances, but no distinct differences, in species composition in the oiled substrates as compared to untreated and natural community controls. Ordination of sequential samples suggested that the nematode species assemblages in the untreated controls fully recovered from these small-scale disturbances by 90 d. Life history characteritics and frequent tidal transport combine to make estuarine meiobenthos highly resilient following disturbance. Contrary to prior recolonization studies, a successional sequence was found for the colonizing nematodes which may be analogous to models of macrobenthic colonization (e.g. McCall, 1975). The comesomatid nematode Sabatieria pulchra, which is frequently dominant in polluted sediments, colonized relatively late in the experiment. Consequently, stress resistance and resilience may not be as coincident in meiofauna as in macrofauna because of differences in factors affecting their dispersal.     

Responses of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to ozone produced by either electric discharge and dry air or by UV-lamps and ambient air

The aim of the present study was to examine if ozone produced similar effects on spring wheat growth with and without small amounts of nitrogen oxides. Two methods were used to produce ozone: the first method consisted of dry pressurized air fed to an electric discharge generator generating the byproducts, N2O5 and N2O, the second method consisted of ambient air fed to UV-lamps. Two spring wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum L. cvs Minaret and Eridano) were exposed in small open-top chambers to charcoal-filtered air, non-filtered ambient air, and non-filtered ambient air with the addition of ozone for 8 h (0900 to 1700 h) daily, for five weeks. Plants were harvested every week. The growth of Minaret was shown to be more sensitive to O3 than that of Eridano. Leaf senescence increased with increasing ozone level in both cultivars. The total above-ground biomass dry weight decreased with increasing ozone concentration in Minaret, but not in Eridano. The Minaret plants reacted with more damaged leaf dry weight and inhibition of growth when O3 was produced by UV-lamps than when O3 was produced by air fed to an electric discharge generator. This could be explained by more nitrogen content per plant but not by increased nitrogen concentration in plant tissue in plants exposed to increased O3 and small amounts of incidental nitrogen oxides.     

Influence of light on algal symbionts of the deep water coral Leptoseris fragilis

Photoadaptations of zooxanthellae living within the deep water coral Leptoseris fragilis taken from the Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea) were studied. Specimens-collected in summer 1988 between 110 and 120 m depth —were transplanted to 70 and 160 m. At each depth individuals were exposed in their natural growth position (oral side facing the surface) or in a reverse growth position (oral side facing the bottom). After 1 yr of exposure the corals were collected and the zooxanthellae were isolated. As a function of the availability of light with depth and growth position several algal parameters showed changes which are related to photoadaptations. The relatively low density of zooxanthellae of 0.15x10⁶ cellsxcm^-2 at a natural growth depth of 116 m decreased to 0.0034x10⁶ cellsxcm^-2 (2%) at 160 m in specimens growing with a natural orientation. In corals with a downward-facing oral surface at the same depth (160 m) only degenerated algae could be observed. With respect to depth dependence the volume of the algae decreased from 728 m³ at 116 m to 406 m³ at a depth of 160 m and the content of pigments increased. The augmentation of peridinin per cell was low (two times at 160 m compared to 116 m). Chlorophyll a and in particular chlorophyll c ₂ concentrations per cell were enhanced. Compared to natural amounts at 116 m, chl a was five times and chl c ₂ eight times higher at 160 m. At all depths the chl c ₂ content per cell was higher than for chl a. The formation of chl a/chl c ₂ complexes as light harvestor is discussed. Light harvesting, with chl c ₂ prevailing may be explained as a special type of chromatic adaptation of L. fragilis in a double sense: (1) in the habitat light short wavelengths predominate. This light can be directly absorbed with pigments such as chl a and chl c ₂. (2) Host pigments absorb visible violet light and transform these wavelengths, less suitable for photosynthesis, into longer ones by means of autofluorescence. The emitted longer wavelengths fit the absorption maxima of the algal pigments. Thus the host supports photosynthesis of his symbionts. Corals exposed at 160 m depth with a downward facing oral surface were alive after 1 yr and the host wavelength transforming pigment system was still present, but zooxanthellae were absent or degenerated. The light field at 160 m seems therefore to be critical: the combined photoadaptations of host and symbionts, allowing photosynthesis under barren light conditions, seem to be exhausted. In L. fragilis the photoadaptive strategies of host and symbionts cooperate harmoniously. In addition, the adaptations are interlocked with the particular light situation of the habitat with respect to light quantity and quality. The cooperation of physical and organismic parameters examplifies how evolution and, in particular, coevolution has led to optimal fitness.     

Studies on the functional role of tintinnids in the Southern California Bight. II. Grazing rates of field populations

The feeding behavior of relatively undisturbed natural populations of tintinnids was studied in a series of experiments which utilized water samples collected in Southern California coastal waters. Dilute suspensions of corn starch were presented to the tintinnids and the rates of ingestion of this visual tracer determined after short (5 to 20 min) incubations followed by fixation in Lugol's iodine fixative. Tintinnids were observed to ingest particles of diameters up to approximately 43% of their lorica oral diameter and at rates proportional to their oral diameters. Grazing rates observed in these experiments ranged up to approximately 10 l tintinnid^-1 h^-1, and generally agreed well with the rates observed in experiments utilizing laboratory cultures of tintinnids. No significant diel periodicity in feeding rates was observed in the one study extending over a 24 h period.     

Landscapes and environments on the island of Ouessant,Brittany, France: From traditional maintenance to the management of abandoned areas

For about 50 years the desertion of areas by traditional activities has led to an important evolution of landscapes and environments on the island of Ouessant. The study of this evolution has been undertaken at different spatial and temporal scales. On one part of the island, a scientific investigation carried out at the scale of the parcel enabled the form of the landscape in 1850 to be compared with that of 1985. On the whole island, the evolution of spatial organization and land use was compared between 1950 and 1985. For each of three main ecological environments, vegetational successions after the decrease of agriculture have been studied along with their future potential changes. This work highlights some considerations about the present management of the environment in relation to the major objectives of island environmental policies.