Legitimation Struggles in National Park Spaces: The Banff Bow Valley Round Table

This paper presents an in-depth analysis of a multi-stakeholder process, the Banff Bow Valley Round Table (BBVRT) convened by a federally appointed task force in 1995 to provide public input and participation in the Banff Bow Valley Study (BBVS). The purpose of this initiative was to address environmental concerns and conflict over governance, development and growth in Banff National Park, Canada. A key finding from the analysis discussed in this paper is how various participants struggled for legitimation at the negotiation table, and how the discourses of science and instrumental reason served to empower certain interests and agendas in the process. While the discursive appropriation of ecological science enabled some interests to dominate and to legitimize their concerns, this strategy may have intangible and costly consequences for consensus-based processes and for society overall. Analysis of these discursive struggles demonstrates the challenge of bringing ecology and the general public to the same negotiating table in a meaningful way. It shows the conflicting roles and identities of environmental groups who aspire to re-present nature (as a stakeholder) at the negotiating table. Recommendations for multi-stakeholder processes in planning and governance of national parks are presented, along with social implications in the context of historic human-environment dualism and conflict.     

Repeated compost application effects on phosphorus runoff in the Virginia Piedmont

Increasing amounts of animal and municipal wastes are being composted before land application to improve handling and spreading characteristics, and to reduce odor and disease incidence. Repeated applications of composted biosolids and manure to cropland may increase the risk for P enrichment of agricultural runoff. We conducted field research in 2003 and 2004 on a Fauquier silty clay loam (Ultic Hapludalfs) to compare the effects of annual (since 1999) applications of composted and uncomposted organic residuals on P runoff characteristics. Biosolids compost (BSC), poultry litter-yard waste compost (PLC), and uncomposted poultry litter (PL) were applied based on estimated plant-available N. A commercial fertilizer treatment (CF) and an unamended control treatment (CTL) were also included. Corn (Zea mays L.) and a cereal rye (Secale cereal L.) cover crop were planted each year. We applied simulated rainfall in fall 2004 and analyzed runoff for dissolved reactive P (DRP), total dissolved P (TDP), total P (TP), total organic C (TOC), and total suspended solids (TSS). End of season soil samples were analyzed for Mehlich-3 P (M3P), EPA 3050 P (3050P), water soluble P (WSP), degree of P saturation (DPS), soil C, and bulk density. Compost treatments significantly increased soil C, decreased bulk density, and increased M3P, 3050P, WSP, and DPS. The concentration of DRP, TDP, and TP in runoff was highest in compost treatments, but the mass of DRP and TDP was not different among treatments because infiltration was higher and runoff lower in compost-amended soil. Improved soil physical properties associated with poultry litter-yard waste compost application decreased loss of TP and TSS.     

Who got their way? Advocacy coalitions and the Irish climate change law

Which organisations saw their positions on two contentious issues reflected in the Irish climate law of 2015, and what role did advocacy coalitions play in the policy process? These questions are answered drawing theoretically from the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) and by conducting a network analysis of survey data collected from the organisations involved in the national climate policy process. The study finds that several institutionally important or economically powerful organisations, particularly those involved in the agricultural sector, as well as the government parties saw their preferences reflected in the law. This resulted in legislation that excluded binding emission reductions targets, differentiating it from similar laws introduced in other European countries. Organisations in favour of stronger regulation formed a coalition to advocate for their positions, but they largely failed to get their way.     

Towards a roadmap for sustainable land use in Europe

Regional Environmental Change -     

Ultra trace simultaneous determination of 50 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in biota using pMRM GC-MS/MS

Abstract

A saponification extraction method with gas chromatography pseudo-MRM (pMRM) mass spectrometry detection was developed for the determination of 50 total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (TPAH50, a combination of parent and alkylated homologues) in biota. The method was aimed at monitoring and identification of potential TPAH contaminants in bitumen impacted environments. Alkylated PAHs were determined by multi-level, quantitative calibration using parent PAHs. The developed and thoroughly validated method required only one injection for TPAH50 analysis which represents significant saving of time and expensive authentic alkylated standards. The current method was tested with certified reference mussel tissue NIST 1974c and performed well. In a comparison study, the method reached a limit of quantitation (LOQ) for the TPAH50 between 0.1 and 0.2?ng g^?1, while the QuEChERs enhanced matrix removal – lipid (EMR) kit produced by Agilent showed an LOQ of 5–10?ng g^?1. The current method relied on response factors (RF) for the quantitation of alkylated PAHs determined against parent PAHs. These RFs were shown to be stable and consistent over the course of 1 year, during which over 200 routine environmental biota monitoring samples were analyzed. The environmental biota monitoring samples analyzed include muscle, carcass and liver, with an average total PAH50 concentration of 13, 90 and 135?ng g^?1, respectively. Results show significant differences in the distributions of 1 ringed, 2 ringed, 3 ringed, 4 ringed, and 5+ ringed TPAHs between the types of biota samples.     

It is all about the bottom line: Group bottom-line mentality,psychological safety,and group creativity

We examine bottom-line mentality (BLM) at the group level and examine the effect of group BLM on group psychological safety and subsequent group creativity. We draw on goal shielding theory to suggest that groups high in BLM narrowly focus on bottom-line outcomes, which encourages them to eliminate distracting considerations from their work processes. Because the group's high BLM encapsulates goal shielding, these groups are deficient in fostering psychological safety as an important interpersonal process that facilitates group creativity. We also couple goal shielding theory with arguments related to situational strength to examine group BLM agreement (i.e., the standard deviation of the mean of group BLM) as a first stage moderator. We contend that high-BLM agreement (vs. low agreement) strengthens the goal shielding effect of group BLM, which is reflected by a stronger detrimental effect on group psychological safety that then reduces group creativity. We found support for our theoretical model using multisource, multiwave field data from a diverse sample of workgroups and their supervisors. We discuss the theoretical implications of our research and provide practical suggestions for limiting the deleterious consequences of group BLMs in the workplace.     

Persistence revisited

We are happy and proud to announce that our book ‘Atmospheric Degradation of Organic Substances — Data for Persistence and Long-range Transport’ (see pp. 143–144) has recently been published by Wiley-VCH [1]. It contains a critical compilation of photo degradation rate constants and quantum efficiencies relevant for calculating the atmospheric persistence of volatile and a few semi-volatile organic compounds. In addition to the data of nearly 1100 substances, the importance of persistence in air and long-range transport potential is presented in two chapters from the point of view of chemicals legislation and of atmospheric photochemistry.     

A Multilevel Modeling Approach to Assessing Regional and Local Landscape Features for Lake Classification and Assessment of Fish Growth Rates

The ecoregion and watershed frameworks are landscape-based classifications that have been used to group waterbodies with respect to measures of community structure; however, they have yet to be evaluated for grouping lakes for demographic characteristics of fish populations. We used a multilevel modeling approach to determine if variability in mean fish length at age could be partitioned by ecoregions and watersheds. For the ecoregions analysis, we then examined if within-ecoregion variability could be explained by local water quality and lake morphometry characteristics. We used data from agency surveys conducted during 1974-1984 for age 2 and 3 fish of seven common warm and coolwater fish species. Variance in mean length at age between ecoregions for all species was not significant, and between-watershed variance estimates were only significant in 3 out of 14 analyses; however, the total amount of variation between watersheds was very small (ranging from 1.8% to 3.7% of the total variance), indicating that ecoregions and watersheds were ineffective in partitioning variability in mean length at age. Within ecoregions, water quality and lake morphometric characteristics accounted for 2%-23% of the variation in mean length at age. Measures of lake productivity were the most common significant covariates, with mean length at age increasing with increasing lake productivity. Much of the variability in mean length at age was not accounted for, suggesting that other local factors such as biotic interactions, fish density, and exploitation are important. The results indicate that the development of an effective regional framework for managing inland lakes will require a substantial effort to understand sources of demographic variability and that managers should not rely solely on ecoregions or watersheds for grouping lakes with similar growth rates.