Relief workers and violations of humanitarian law: Some legal considerations

This paper examines the various legal constraints upon action by relief workers when faced with violations of human rights or of humanitarian law. The unique status of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and its delegates is explained and contrasted with the position of relief organizations and their personnel under the Geneva Conventions 1949 and their Additional Protocol I 1977. Proposals are made for the establishment of guidelines for action by relief workers when confronted with atrocities and for the training of relief workers in the relevant laws and procedures.     

Evaluating Quality of Life, Economic Vulnerabilities, and Drivers of Ecosystem Change

We examined regional conditions and trends related to quality of life and potential vulnerabilities of these factors to changes in the condition of natural resources in the Mid-Atlantic Region, USA. We selected a variety of variables on economic and socio-demographic conditions that demonstrate links between the condition of natural areas and human concerns and that quantify dependencies on resources. We extracted data from economic and population census databases for counties within the study area and present a subset of results of the cluster analyses used to describe condition and potential risks due to distinct combinations of variables. We found that the same variables used to judge quality of life were often correlated with increasing population and thus were likely to be related to land pressures and risks to natural resources. Within the region, economic dependence on resource-harvesting industries such as forestry and fisheries was low (less than 4% of total earnings at most), however, the potential for natural amenities to attract residents appeared to be growing as the self-employed and otherwise mobile people settled in areas with affordable housing and natural amenities. Suburban residential spread had been occurring in both the close-in and distant suburbs of the region's urban areas and some rural, growth appeared to be driven, in part, by businesses migrating to suburbs. Further work is needed to tease apart causal factors for the trends we observed, but correlations clearly existed in some areas between increasing populations and quality of natural surroundings.     

Development and Application of Computer Simulation Tools for Ecological Risk Assessment

Based on a review of available models for ecological risk estimation, most are site-specific and their applications are limited. However, general models, which can be easily adapted to other sites, remain few, in addition, they are simple and associated with significant uncertainties. In this paper, an approach is introduced for an ecological risk assessment (ERA) model that can be modified for site-specific conditions. Using computer simulation as a screening tool for ecological risk assessment can assist environmental managers and policy decision-makers in the planning and implementation of potentially highly focused assessments and remediation, should the ERA dictate the need. The model was integrated with a Windows-based interface and interactive database management system (DBMS) as a user-friendly software package. In addition, based on trophic sources, a food web has been integrated into the framework of the DBMS. In an effort to evaluate the model, a case study was implemented to characterize the effects on an ecosystem of replacing electroplated chromium coatings with sputtered tantalum at U.S. Army Yuma and Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Potential exposure pathways included ingestion, inhalation, and dermal absorption for terrestrial animals; root and foliar uptake for plants; and direct absorption for aquatic species. Overall, results showed that the most significant exposure resulted from molybdenum and hexavalent chromium, which posed higher risks to select aquatic and terrestrial species at both sites. On the other hand, tantalum (with vanadium as the surrogate) resulted in the least risk to all receptors within the studied areas. A sensitivity analysis demonstrated that soil-water distribution coefficients have a significant impact on the results. Based on the results, neither molybdenum nor chromium are recommended as a coating in gun barrels, and further study would be essential to address any affected firing range area. Tantalum is recommended for use, although for those species receiving a slight adverse risk, field investigations that include receptor sampling maybe necessary once soil/sediment and water sampling validates projected concentrations.     

Rapid Assessment of Plant Diversity Patterns: A Methodology for Landscapes

We present a rapid, cost-efficient methodology to link plantdiversity surveys from plots to landscapes using: (1) unbiasedsite selection based on remotely sensed information; (2) multi-scale field techniques to assess plant diversity; (3)mathematical models (species-area curves) to estimate thenumber of species in larger areas corrected for within-typeheterogeneity; and (4) mathematical techniques to estimatetotal species richness and patterns of plant diversity in alandscape. We demonstrate the methodology in a 754 ha studyarea in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, U.S.A.,using four 0.025 ha and twenty-one 0.1 ha multi-scalevegetation plots. We recorded 330 plant species (1/3 thenumber of plants recorded in the 1074 km² Park) in the2.2 ha area within the plots: this represents a samplingintensity of 0.29% of the 754 ha study site. We estimated 552plant species, about half the plant species recorded in the Park,in just 0.7% of the Parks area. We show how this rapid,cost-efficient methodology: (1) produces a rich informationbase on the patterns of native plant diversity and thedistribution of non-native plant species and keystoneecosystems; and (2) can be easily adapted for other nationaland state parks, national forests, wildlife refuges, and nature reserves.