ESTIMATING THE Q100 IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: A PRACTICAL PROBLEM IN FOREST HYDROLOGY1

ABSTRACT. Estimates of peak flows, with specified return periods, are needed in practice for the design of works that affect streams in forested areas. In the province of British Columbia (B.C.), Canada, the new Forest Practices Code specifies the 100-year instantaneous peak flow (Q100) for the design of bridges and culverts for stream crossings under forest roads; and many practitioners are engaged in making such estimates. The state of the art is still quite primitive, very similar to the state of urban hydrology 30 years ago, when popular estimating techniques were used with little consideration given to their applicability. Urban hydrology then evolved on a much more scientific basis, such that within about a 10-year period, standard approaches to design were developed. Forest hydrology should follow the same pattern, at least as far as estimating design flows is concerned. Popular present day design procedures include the rational method and other empirical approaches based on rainfall data, as use of the standard flood frequency approach is limited by the paucity of relevant flow data. Estimating procedures based on peak streamflow measurements and statistics are likely to evolve, and these will include distinctions for rain, snowmelt, and rain on snow floods. Guidelines will also be developed for selecting and applying appropriate procedures for particular areas.     

Learning organisations for major hazards and the role of the regulator

A learning organisation is one that not only values and encourages learning from its own experiences, but also looks beyond itself for lessons, and avoids complacency. To be a learning organisation is a key part of the safety culture of any organisation involved with major hazard processes. It facilitates learning which can reduce the risk from major accident hazards. The paper provides a learning organisation toolkit which synthesises, from various literature sources, an understanding of what a learning organisation is and how to begin to develop one within an organisation. The paper illustrates how the regulator can be a learning organisation for major hazards, using the example of HSE's offshore fire, explosion and risk assessment team.     

Advancing indigenous self-determination through endangered species protection: Idaho gray wolf recovery

As part of the right of indigenous cultures to self-determination, several international bodies have recognized and addressed the role of indigenous communities in natural resources management, including the conservation of biodiversity. In the United States, disagreements regarding the application of the federal Endangered Species Act to Native American tribes have hindered the relationship between the federal and tribal governments on endangered species recovery. Our research examines the efforts of one Native American tribe, the Nez Perce, and the United States federal government to collaborate on federal gray wolf recovery in central Idaho. We interviewed members of the Nez Perce Tribe and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to characterize their relationship and explore the context in which the recovery program was implemented. Respondents attributed the success of the biological aspects of wolf recovery to the robustness of the wolf as a species and to close interagency coordination at the operational level. However, differences of opinion existed between the Tribe and Service concerning program funding, policy planning, and the rights and role of the Tribe in wolf management via co-management and cooperative management regimes. Respondents from both governments noted a clear hierarchical relationship at the strategic level, where policy planning and decision-making rested with the federal government. Lessons drawn from this case study can be applied across the international spectrum to improving partnerships, particularly at the strategic level, between indigenous and non-indigenous governance structures for protecting endangered species.     

Differential responses in American (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Castanea dentata</Emphasis> Marshall) and Chinese (<Emphasis Type="Italic">C. mollissima</Emphasis> Blume) chestnut (Falales: Fagaceae) to foliar application of jasmonic acid

Summary.  Tannins are plant defense compounds that exhibit antibiotic (e.g. toxic) and antixenotic (e.g. repellent) effects against an array of plant pests. They are broadly divided into two major groups, hydrolysable tannins (gallotannins and ellagitannins) and proanthocyanidins, each with an undetermined number of compounds. We investigated constitutive levels of hydrolysable tannins and proanthocyanidins in the leaves and stems of American (Castanea dentata Marshall) (Fagales: Fagaceae) and Chinese (C. mollissima Blume) chestnut. American chestnut contained more proanthocyanidins in leaves and stems than Chinese chestnut, but Chinese chestnut contained more foliar hydrolysable tannins. Regardless of these differences, gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L, Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) performance did not differ when fed American and Chinese chestnuts. We also investigated the effects of jasmonic acid (JA) treatment on differential tannin induction in American and Chinese chestnut leaves and stems. JA treatment increased proanthocyanidins in American chestnut stems and hydrolysable tannins in both tissue types of American chestnut, but did not influence tannin concentrations in Chinese chestnut leaves or stems. HPLC-ESI-MS analysis of pooled samples suggested that hydrolysable tannins in each tissue were qualitatively comprised primarily of ellagitannins, and JA generally increased the number of hydrolysable tannins that could be detected by ESI-MS. Third, we investigated the performance of gypsy moths on JA treated and untreated American and Chinese chestnut. Caterpillar relative growth was not influenced by JA treatment on Chinese chestnut, but decreased in response to JA application on American chestnut. Our results indicate that JA-dependent defenses differ between these chestnut species. This study improves our understanding of ecologically important differences in tannin induction and herbivore susceptibility in Castanea, and has important implications in efforts for American chestnut restoration and commercial chestnut production.     

AGRICULTURAL WATER MODELING AND ECONOMIC INFORMATION NEEDS UNDER THE MODEL WATER CODE1

ABSTRACT: Economic information for efficient water allocation is difficult and costly to acquire under administrative water systems evolving under the Model Water Code. One approach to obtaining more information is to use a simulator like the Florida AGWATER model. The advantage of AGWATER is the potential for realistic prediction, because it operates at the field and day levels, using detailed information for each crop and tract. Unfortunately, such simulators are complex and require large amounts of costly input data. A better solution to the information problem may be to use markets for the marketable goods associated with water, because information is inherent in such a process. This approach will allow limited modeling and management resources to be put into using water models to generate information for the goods dependent on water that are difficult to market, like wildlife services.     

Extreme genetic diversity and temporal rather than spatial partitioning in a widely distributed coral reef fish

Mitochondrial control region (HVR-1) sequences were used to identify patterns of genetic structure and diversity in Naso vlamingii, a widespread coral reef fish with a long evolutionary history. We examined 113 individuals from eight locations across the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Our aims were to determine the spatial scale at which population partitioning occurred and then to evaluate the extent to which either vicariance and/or dispersal events have shaped the population structure of N. vlamingii. The analysis produced several unexpected findings. Firstly, the genetic structure of this species was temporal rather than spatial. Secondly, there was no evidence of a barrier to dispersal throughout the vast distribution range. Apparently larvae of this species traverse vicariance barriers that inhibit inter-oceanic migration of other widespread reef fish taxa. Thirdly, an unusual life history and long evolutionary history was associated with a population structure that was unique amongst coral reef fishes in terms of the magnitude and pattern of genetic diversity (haplotype diversity, h = 1.0 and nucleotide diversity π = 13.6%). In addition to these unique characteristics, there was no evidence of isolation by distance (r = 0.458, R ² = 0.210, P = 0.078) as has also been shown for some other widespread reef species. However, some reductions in gene flow were observed among and within Ocean basins [Indian–Pacific analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), Φ _st = 0.0766, P < 0.05; West Indian–East Indian–Pacific AMOVA Φ _st = 0.079, P < 0.05]. These findings are contrasted with recent studies of coral reef fishes that imply a greater degree of spatial structuring in coral reef fish populations than would be expected from the dispersive nature of their life cycles. We conclude that increased taxon sampling of coral reef fishes for phylogeographic analysis will provide an extended view of the ecological and evolutionary processes shaping coral reef fish diversity at both ends of the life history spectrum.     

Long-term relationships between mercury wet deposition and meteorology

Daily-event precipitation samples collected in Underhill, VT from 1995 to 2006 were analyzed for total mercury and results suggest that there were no statistically significant changes in annual mercury wet deposition over time, despite significant emissions reductions in the Northeast United States. Meteorological analysis indicates that mercury deposition has not decreased as transport of emissions from major source regions in the Midwest and East Coast have consistently contributed to the largest observed mercury wet deposition amounts over the period. In contrast, annual volume-weighted mean (VWM) mercury concentration declined slightly over the 12-years, and a significant decrease was observed from CY 2001 to 2006. An increase in the total annual precipitation amount corresponded with the decline in annual VWM mercury concentration. Analysis suggests that the increase in precipitation observed was strongly related to changes in the amount and type of precipitation that fell seasonally, and this departure was attributed to a response in meteorological conditions to climate variability and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle. Increased amounts of rainfall and mixed precipitation (mixture of rainfall and snowfall), particularly in the spring and fall seasons, enhanced annual precipitation amounts and resulted in declining VWM mercury concentrations during these periods. Thus, declines in concentration at the more remote Underhill site appear to be more directly linked to local scale meteorological and climatological variability than to a reduction in emissions of mercury to the atmosphere.     

Prenatal diagnosis of Fanconi anemia (Group C) subsequent to abnormal sonographic findings

Manifestations of Fanconi Anemia Complementation Group C (FA-C) include multiple major congenital malformations, hypoplastic radius, absent thumb, growth retardation, elfin-like facial features, microphthalmia, microcephaly, café-au-lait spots, early onset of hematologic disease and poor survival (Auerbach, 1997). We describe two cases in which second-trimester sonographic findings led to parental carrier testing for FA-C and subsequent prenatal diagnosis of affected fetuses. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimation of the CDF of a finite population in the presence of acalibration sample

We compare the performance of a number of estimators of the cumulative distribution function (CDF) for the following scenario: imperfect measurements are taken on an initial sample from afinite population and perfect measurements are obtained on a small calibration subset of the initial sample. The estimators we considered include two naive estimators using perfect and imperfect measurements; the ratio, difference and regression estimators for a two-phasesample; a minimum MSE estimator; Stefanski and Bay's SIMEX estimator (1996); and two proposed estimators. The proposed estimators take the form of a weighted average of perfect and imperfect measurements. They are constructed by minimizing variance among the class of weighted averages subject to an unbiasedness constraint. They differ in the manner of estimating the weight parameters. The first one uses direct sample estimates. The second one tunes the unknown parameters to an underlying normal distribution. We compare the root mean square error (RMSE) of the proposed estimator against other potential competitors through computer simulations. Our simulations show that our second estimator has the smallest RMSE among thenine compared and that the reduction in RMSE is substantial when the calibration sample is small and the error is medium or large.     

Demolish it and They Will Come: Estimating the Economic Impacts of Restoring a Recreational Fishery1

Abstract: This paper presents the results of an ex post survey of recreational anglers for the lower Kennebec River, post‐Edwards Dam removal. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents one of the first ex post analyses of fisheries restoration from dam removal. We find significant benefits have accrued to anglers using the restored fishery. Specifically, anglers are spending more to visit the fishery, a direct indication of the increased value anglers place on the improved fishery. Anglers are also willing to pay for increased angling opportunities on the river. These findings have policy implications for other privately owned dams that are currently undergoing relicensing and/or dam removal considerations. Our findings may also hold implications for fisheries that have deteriorated due to historic dam construction.