A determination of the prevalence of gender-based violence among conflict-affected populations in East Timor

The Reproductive Health Response in Conflict (RHRC) Consortium designed a standardised questionnaire to measure gender-based violence (GBV) prevalence in conflict-affected settings. A preliminary field test was undertaken July-August 2002 in one urban and one rural district in East Timor to assess the prevalence of GBV among women 18-49 years of age during and after conflict. The field test used a cross-sectional survey design with a two-stage random selection process. During the year preceding East Timor's 1999 crisis, 23.8 per cent of respondents reported physical assault by an intimate partner; this rate was not significantly different in the year preceding the survey (24.8 per cent). Assault by perpetrators outside the family declined significantly from 24.2 per cent during the crisis to 5.8 per cent post-crisis for physical assault (p<.001) and 22.7 per cent during the crisis to 9.7 per cent post-crisis for sexual assault (p=0.046). The field test stimulated and informed additional research in East Timor, and the complementary findings of these research initiatives continue to be used to develop local policies and programming to prevent and address GBV.     

Forest-user attitudes toward alternative fire management policies

The formulation and implementation of new fire policies in the national forests depend upon public acceptance. A national survey of organized groups of forest users indicates that, contrary to the concern of many forest managers, considerable support exists for flexible fire suppression policies. Forest users are also willing to accept the risk associated with the manager's use of prescribed fire. However, important intergroup differences do exist. Such variation is discussed in relation to a number of socioeconomic variables, general fire knowledge, specific knowledge about the effects of low-intensity fires, and risk preference levels.     

Organic chloramines in chlorine-based disinfected watersystems: A critical review

This paper is a critical review of current knowledge of organic chloramines in water systems,including their formation, stability, toxicity, analyticalmethods for detection, and their impact on drinking water treatment and quality. The term organic chloramines may refer to any halogenated organic compounds measured as part of combined chlorine (the difference between themeasured free and total chlorine concentrations), andmay include N-chloramines, N-chloramino acids, N-chloraldimines and N-chloramides. Organic chloramines can form when dissolved organic nitrogen or dissolved organic carbon react with either free chlorine or inorganic chloramines. They are potentially harmful to humans and may exist as an intermediate for other disinfection by-products. However, little information is available on the formation or occurrence of organic chloramines in water due to a number of challenges. One of the biggest challenges for the identification and quantification of organic chloramines in water systems is the lack of appropriate analytical methods. In addition, many of the organic chloramines that formduring disinfection are unstable,which results in difficulties in sampling and detection. To date research has focussed on the study of organic monochloramines. However, given that breakpoint chlorination is commonly undertaken in water treatment systems, the formation of organic dichloramines should also be considered. Organic chloramines can be formed frommany different precursors and pathways. Therefore, studying the occurrence of their precursors in water systems would enable better prediction and management of their formation.     

Trait differences between naturalized and invasive plant species independent of residence time and phylogeny

The ability to predict which alien plants will transition from naturalized to invasive prior to their introduction to novel regions is a key goal for conservation and has the potential to increase the efficacy of weed risk assessment (WRA). However, multiple factors contribute to plant invasion success (e.g., functional traits, range characteristics, residence time, phylogeny), and they all must be taken into account simultaneously in order to identify meaningful correlates of invasion success. We compiled 146 pairs of phylogenetically paired (congeneric) naturalized and invasive plant species in Australia with similar minimum residence times (i.e., time since introduction in years). These pairs were used to test for differences in 5 functional traits (flowering duration, leaf size, maximum height, specific leaf area [SLA], seed mass) and 3 characteristics of species’ native ranges (biome occupancy, mean annual temperature, and rainfall breadth) between naturalized and invasive species. Invasive species, on average, had larger SLA, longer flowering periods, and were taller than their congeneric naturalized relatives. Invaders also exhibited greater tolerance for different environmental conditions in the native range, where they occupied more biomes and a wider breadth of rainfall and temperature conditions than naturalized congeners. However, neither seed mass nor leaf size differed between pairs of naturalized and invasive species. A key finding was the role of SLA in distinguishing between naturalized and invasive pairs. Species with high SLA values were typically associated with faster growth rates, more rapid turnover of leaf material, and shorter lifespans than those species with low SLA. This suite of characteristics may contribute to the ability of a species to transition from naturalized to invasive across a wide range of environmental contexts and disturbance regimes. Our findings will help in the refinement of WRA protocols, and we advocate the inclusion of quantitative traits, in particular SLA, into the WRA schemes.     

Effects of predators on sea urchin density and habitat use in a southern California kelp forest

Grazing sea urchins can reduce kelp abundance and therefore strongly affect kelp forest community structure. Despite the ecological importance of sea urchins, direct field studies on the role that urchin predators play in shaping urchin populations are rare for southern California. We conducted surveys and manipulative experiments within kelp forests near San Diego, CA, (32–51′28″N, 117–16′00″W) from 2006 to 2009 to determine whether predators such as sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher) and spiny lobsters (Panulirus interruptus) may be linked to purple urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) and red urchin (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) distribution and habitat use, as well as purple urchin density-dependent mortality. Purple urchins were less dense and more cryptic inside a local marine protected area (MPA) that contained high predator abundance than in nearby heavily fished areas, whereas red urchins rarely were found outside the MPA. Urchin proportional mortality was inversely density dependent during the day when sheephead were active, despite fish aggregations in plots of high urchin density, but was density independent during the night when lobsters were active. Urchin mortality was reduced under understory algal cover during the day, but not during the night. Examining whether urchin mortality from predation is density dependent and how habitat complexity influences this relationship is imperative because behavioral changes and increases in urchin populations can have vast ecological and economic consequences in kelp forest communities.     

Vascular plant extinction in the continental United States and Canada

Extinction rates are expected to increase during the Anthropocene. Current extinction rates of plants and many animals remain unknown. We quantified extinctions among the vascular flora of the continental United States and Canada since European settlement. We compiled data on apparently extinct species by querying plant conservation databases, searching the literature, and vetting the resulting list with botanical experts. Because taxonomic opinion varies widely, we developed an index of taxonomic uncertainty (ITU). The ITU ranges from A to F, with A indicating unanimous taxonomic recognition and F indicating taxonomic recognition by only a single author. The ITU allowed us to rigorously evaluate extinction rates. Our data suggest that 51 species and 14 infraspecific taxa, representing 33 families and 49 genera of vascular plants, have become extinct in our study area since European settlement. Seven of these taxa exist in cultivation but are extinct in the wild. Most extinctions occurred in the west, but this outcome may reflect the timing of botanical exploration relative to settlement. Sixty-four percent of extinct plants were single-site endemics, and many occurred outside recognized biodiversity hotspots. Given the paucity of plant surveys in many areas, particularly prior to European settlement, the actual extinction rate of vascular plants is undoubtedly much higher than indicated here.     

Microplastic Pollution in Agricultural Soils and Abatement Measures – a Model-Based Assessment for Germany

Environmental Modeling & Assessment - Microplastic pollution in soils is a recent environmental problem and the lack of knowledge about the impacts and the extent of the problem are raising...     

Conserving alpha and beta diversity in wood-production landscapes

International demand for wood and other forest products continues to grow rapidly, and uncertainties remain about how animal communities will respond to intensifying resource extraction associated with woody bioenergy production. We examined changes in alpha and beta diversity of bats, bees, birds, and reptiles across wood production landscapes in the southeastern United States, a biodiversity hotspot that is one of the principal sources of woody biomass globally. We sampled across a spatial gradient of paired forest land-uses (representing pre and postharvest) that allowed us to evaluate biological community changes resulting from several types of biomass harvest. Short-rotation practices and residue removal following clearcuts were associated with reduced alpha diversity (−14.1 and −13.9 species, respectively) and lower beta diversity (i.e., Jaccard dissimilarity) between land-use pairs (0.46 and 0.50, respectively), whereas midrotation thinning increased alpha (+3.5 species) and beta diversity (0.59). Over the course of a stand rotation in a single location, biomass harvesting generally led to less biodiversity. Cross-taxa responses to resource extraction were poorly predicted by alpha diversity: correlations in responses between taxonomic groups were highly variable (−0.2 to 0.4) with large uncertainties. In contrast, beta diversity patterns were highly consistent and predictable across taxa, where correlations in responses between taxonomic groups were all positive (0.05–0.4) with more narrow uncertainties. Beta diversity may, therefore, be a more reliable and information-rich indicator than alpha diversity in understanding animal community response to landscape change. Patterns in beta diversity were primarily driven by turnover instead of species loss or gain, indicating that wood extraction generates habitats that support different biological communities.