Selfing in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Parvulastra exigua</Emphasis>: an asterinid sea star with benthic development

Parvulastra exigua, a species that lacks a dispersive larva, is paradoxically one of the most widely distributed and abundant sea stars in Australia. The potential that self-fertilization and successful development of self-generated progeny might contribute to population maintenance in this species was investigated through induction of spawning in isolated individuals collected from five populations near Sydney, New South Wales (34°S, 151°E), during the spawning period (August–October 2010, 2011). Evidence of selfing differed significantly among the five populations but the level of selfing within individual egg masses did not. Overall, there was a mean of 8.9% fertilization in egg masses with embryos. Some clutches developed to the juvenile stage while others arrested development before hatching. The presence of miniscule testis tissue in gonads that appeared to be ovaries indicated that hermaphroditism may be more common in some populations than indicated by anatomy. Mixed mating (selfing + outcrossing), pseudocopulation during egg laying and developmental success of self-fertilized embryos may contribute to the ecological success of P. exigua. These might influence population genetic structure and would facilitate establishment of founder populations by a small number of migrants.     

Bolder science needed now for protected areas

Recognizing that protected areas (PAs) are essential for effective biodiversity conservation action, the Convention on Biological Diversity established ambitious PA targets as part of the 2020 Strategic Plan for Biodiversity. Under the strategic goal to “improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species, and genetic diversity,” Target 11 aims to put 17% of terrestrial and 10% of marine regions under PA status by 2020. Additionally and crucially, these areas are required to be of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative, and well‐connected and to include “other effective area‐based conservation measures” (OECMs). Whereas the area‐based targets are explicit and measurable, the lack of guidance for what constitutes important and representative; effective; and OECMs is affecting how nations are implementing the target. There is a real risk that Target 11 may be achieved in terms of area while failing the overall strategic goal for which it is established because the areas are poorly located, inadequately managed, or based on unjustifiable inclusion of OECMs. We argue that the conservation science community can help establish ecologically sensible PA targets to help prioritize important biodiversity areas and achieve ecological representation; identify clear, comparable performance metrics of ecological effectiveness so progress toward these targets can be assessed; and identify metrics and report on the contribution OECMs make toward the target. By providing ecologically sensible targets and new performance metrics for measuring the effectiveness of both PAs and OECMs, the science community can actively ensure that the achievement of the required area in Target 11 is not simply an end in itself but generates genuine benefits for biodiversity.     

Current practices in the identification of critical habitat for threatened species

The term critical habitat is used to describe the subset of habitat that is essential to the survival and recovery of species. Some countries legally require that critical habitat of listed threatened and endangered species be identified and protected. However, there is little evidence to suggest that the identification of critical habitat has had much impact on species recovery. We hypothesized that this may be due at least partly to a mismatch between the intent of critical habitat identification, which is to protect sufficient habitat for species persistence and recovery, and its practice. We used content analysis to systematically review critical habitat documents from the United States, Canada, and Australia. In particular, we identified the major trends in type of information used to identify critical habitat and in occupancy of habitat identified as critical. Information about population viability was used to identify critical habitat for only 1% of the species reviewed, and for most species, designated critical habitat did not include unoccupied habitat. Without reference to population viability, it is difficult to determine how much of a species’ occupied and unoccupied habitat will be required for persistence. We therefore conclude that the identification of critical habitat remains inconsistent with the goal of protecting sufficient habitat to support persistence and recovery of the species. Ensuring that critical habitat identification aligns more closely with its intent will improve the accuracy of the designations and may therefore help improve the benefits to species recovery when combined with adequate implementation and enforcement of legal protections.     

Arsenic in groundwater: A threat to sustainable agriculture in South and South-east Asia

The problem of arsenic pollution of groundwater used for domestic water supplies is now well recognised in Bangladesh, India and some other countries of South and South-east Asia. However, it has recently become apparent that arsenic-polluted water used for irrigation is adding sufficient arsenic to soils and rice to pose serious threats to sustainable agricultural production in those countries and to the health and livelihoods of affected people. This paper reviews the nature of those threats, taking into account the natural sources of arsenic pollution, areas affected, factors influencing arsenic uptake by soils and plants, toxicity levels and the dietary risk to people consuming arsenic-contaminated rice.     

The Nottingham Cycle-friendly Employers Project: Lessons for encouraging cycle commuting

The Nottingham Cycle Friendly Employers Project studied the effectiveness of measures to promote cycling to work by eight large city employers under the 1995 governmentfunded Cycle Challenge. Progress was monitored by ‘before’ and ‘after’ surveys, by examination of the measures, and by discussions with the employers. Overall cycling awareness and activity were increased by the project: 42% of employees said their cycle commuting had increased. The main influences, about equally, were providing workplace cycling facilities, a house or job move making cycling more attractive, and heightened awareness of the importance of regular exercise for health. The most welcomed and best used measures were secure cycle parking, showering and changing facilities, and cycle purchase loans.     

Remediation of sites contaminated with TCE

Widespread use of trichloroethylene (TCE) in the U.S. has resulted in its frequent detection in soil and groundwater. TCE can become a health hazard after being processed in the human liver; or reductive dehalogenation in the environment may result in production of vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen. This has generated a high degree of interest in efficient and cost-effective technologies that can be used to remediate soil and ground-water contaminated with TCE. The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss relevant physicochemical properties and reactive mechanisms of TCE, and to delineate and discuss promising remediation methodologies that have been proposed and/or demonstrated for restoring contaminated subsurface environments. The information in this article has been funded wholly or in part by the U.S. EPA under contract No. 68–C8–0058 to Dynamac Corporation; it has been subjected to the Agency's peer and administrative review process and approved for publication.     

Impacts of Climatic Change On Peatland Hydrochemistry; A Laboratory-Based Experiment

A laboratory simulation of a reduction in water table height that could be anticipated from current climate change models, resulted in a change in the efficiency with which a valley-bottom wetland acted as a sink/source of nutrients. Effects were confined to the upper 10 cm of the profile, but since this depth has the greatest hydraulic conductivity, it was noted that the effects of hydrochemical changes therein would be readily transferred to receiving waterbodies. Marked changes in leachate chemistry were observed, including increases in nitrate and sulphate concentrations, while concentrations of phenolics, dissolved organic carbon, potassium, iron and ammonium decreased. These changes have implications for the quality and productivity of waters draining wetlands.