A typology of time‐scale mismatches and behavioral interventions to diagnose and solve conservation problems

Ecological systems often operate on time scales significantly longer or shorter than the time scales typical of human decision making, which causes substantial difficulty for conservation and management in socioecological systems. For example, invasive species may move faster than humans can diagnose problems and initiate solutions, and climate systems may exhibit long‐term inertia and short‐term fluctuations that obscure learning about the efficacy of management efforts in many ecological systems. We adopted a management‐decision framework that distinguishes decision makers within public institutions from individual actors within the social system, calls attention to the ways socioecological systems respond to decision makers’ actions, and notes institutional learning that accrues from observing these responses. We used this framework, along with insights from bedeviling conservation problems, to create a typology that identifies problematic time‐scale mismatches occurring between individual decision makers in public institutions and between individual actors in the social or ecological system. We also considered solutions that involve modifying human perception and behavior at the individual level as a means of resolving these problematic mismatches. The potential solutions are derived from the behavioral economics and psychology literature on temporal challenges in decision making, such as the human tendency to discount future outcomes at irrationally high rates. These solutions range from framing environmental decisions to enhance the salience of long‐term consequences, to using structured decision processes that make time scales of actions and consequences more explicit, to structural solutions aimed at altering the consequences of short‐sighted behavior to make it less appealing. Additional application of these tools and long‐term evaluation measures that assess not just behavioral changes but also associated changes in ecological systems are needed.     

Improvement of the Bag-Mediated Filtration System for Sampling Wastewater and Wastewater-Impacted Waters

Environmental surveillance of poliovirus (PV) plays an important role in the global program for eradication of wild PV. The bag-mediated filtration system (BMFS) was first developed in 2014 and enhances PV surveillance when compared to the two-phase grab method currently recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). In this study, the BMFS design was improved and tested for its usability in wastewater and wastewater-impacted surface waters in Nairobi, Kenya. Modifications made to the BMFS included the size, color, and shape of the collection bags, the filter housing used, and the device used to elute the samples from the filters. The modified BMFS concentrated 3–10 L down to 10 mL, which resulted in an effective volume assayed (900–3000 mL) that was 6–20 times greater than the effective volume assayed for samples processed by the WHO algorithm (150 mL). The system developed allows for sampling and in-field virus concentration, followed by transportation of the filter for further analysis with simpler logistics than the current methods. This may ultimately reduce the likelihood of false-negative samples by increasing the effective volume assayed compared to samples processed by the WHO algorithm, making the BMFS a valuable sampling system for wastewater and wastewater-impacted surface waters.     

Climate change and human health—what influences the adoption of adaptation programming in the United States public health system?

With growing evidence on how climate change impacts human health, public health agencies should develop adaptation programs focused on the impacts predicted to affect their jurisdictions. However, recent research indicates that public health agencies in the United States have done little to prepare the public for predicted climate change impacts, largely due in response to a lack of resources and priority. This study surveyed Environmental Health (EH) Directors across the United States to determine the extent to which individual level attitudes and beliefs influence the adoption of climate change adaptation programming in a department. The results indicate that an EH Director’s perception of the health risk posed by climate change explained 27% of the variance in the number of climate change impacts being addressed. Furthermore, the study found that environmental attitude and political views made strong, unique contributions in explaining the variance in risk perception. The results provide evidence that individual-level attitudes and beliefs, as well as organizational-level barriers influence the adoption of climate change adaptation programs in public health agencies. As a result, increasing EH Directors’ perception of risk by highlighting the likelihood and severity of localized impacts may increase the adoption of adaptation programming despite existing organizational barriers (e.g., lack of resources). Given the fact that risk perception has been shown to influence behavior across cultures, these findings are also useful for understanding the influence of individual decision makers on public health programming around the world.     

Policy and Practice Certainty for Effective Uptake of Diffuse Pollution Practices in A Light-Touch Regulated Country

Environmental Management - Although the link between agriculture and diffuse water pollution has been understood for decades, there is still a need to implement effective measures to address this...     

Investigating public preferences for managing Lake Champlain using a choice experiment

The Lake Champlain Basin in Vermont and New York, USA and Quebec, Canada includes a large lake and watershed with complex management issues. A transboundary comprehensive management plan prepared for the lake includes 11 goals across many issue areas. We developed a choice experiment to examine public preferences for alternative Lake Champlain management scenarios across these issue areas. Five ecosystem attributes (water clarity-algae blooms, public beach closures, land use change, fish consumption advisories and the spread of water chestnut, an invasive plant) were varied across three levels and arrayed into paired comparisons following an orthogonal fractional factorial design. Two thousand questionnaires were distributed to basin residents, each including nine paired comparisons that required trading off two, three or four attributes. Completed surveys yielded 6541 responses which were analyzed using binary logistic regression. The results showed that although water clarity and beach closures were important, safe fish consumption was the strongest predictor of choice. Land use pattern and water chestnut distribution were weaker but also significant predictors, with respondents preferring less land development and preservation of the agricultural landscape. Current management efforts in the Lake Champlain Basin are heavily weighted toward improving water clarity by reducing phosphorus pollution. Our results suggest that safe fish consumption warrants additional management attention. Because choice experiments provide information that is much richer than the simple categorical judgments more commonly used in surveys, they can provide managers with information about tradeoffs that could be used to enhance public support and maximize the social benefits of an ecosystem management program.     

Results from a national survey of Crown prosecutors and defense counsel on impaired driving in Canada: A “System Improvements” perspective

Introduction

This article summarizes the main findings from a study designed to examine the legal process in Canada as it applies to alcohol-impaired driving from the point of view of Crown prosecutors and defense counsel, and to identify evidentiary or procedural factors that may impact the legal process, the rights of the accused, and interactions of all parts in the legal process.

Method

The data in this study were collected by means of a survey that was mailed out to the population of Crown prosecutors and defense counsel in Canada. In total, 765 prosecutors and 270 defense lawyers or an estimated 33% of all Canadian prosecutors and 15% of defense lawyers completed and returned the questionnaire. The "systems improvement" paradigm was used to interpret the findings and draw conclusions. Such an approach acknowledges the importance of the context in which countermeasures are implemented and delivered and the structures or entities used to deliver countermeasures to a designated target group.

Results

Results on type of charges and breath alcohol concentration, caseload, case outcomes, case preparation time, conviction rate at trial and overall conviction rate, reasons for acquittals and time to resolve cases are described.

Discussion

The findings from this national survey suggest that there are important challenges within the criminal justice system that impede the effective and efficient processing of impaired driving cases. Some of these challenges occur as a function of practices and policies, while others occur as a function of legislation.

Impact on industry

This study illustrates that a "system improvements" approach that acknowledges the importance of all elements of the criminal justice system and the interaction between those elements, can be beneficial in overcoming the alcohol-impaired driving problem.     

Arsenicosis status and urinary malondialdehyde (MDA) in people exposed to arsenic contaminated-coal in China

The current arsenic exposure condition, arsenicosis prevalence, urinary arsenic and MDA (malondialdehyde) concentrations in people were studied. The study area, a village in Xing Ren County in Guizhou Province, PR China, is a coal-borne arsenicosis endemic area that was identified several decades ago. The residents in Xing Ren have been using coal containing high arsenic levels all their life. Urinary arsenic levels of villagers were 192.2+/-22 microg/g creatinine (n=113) in the coal-borne endemic area (Xing Ren county) and were significantly higher than 63.6+/-5.9 microg/g creatinine (n=30) in a neighbouring control site (a village in Xing Yi county). The urinary MDA concentrations of villagers from the endemic area were also significantly higher compared to those of the control area. There was a strong correlation between age and urinary arsenic and MDA concentrations in the endemic area of Xing Ren; urinary arsenic and MDA levels decreased with age. Fifty out of 113 (44.3%) villagers in the endemic area had arsenicosis symptoms and the prevalence in villagers older than 40 y was 100% in male (92.2% overall). Urinary MDA concentration was significantly higher in people with arsenicosis symptoms in the endemic areas. Oxidative stress (urinary MDA concentration) was strongly related to arsenic exposure but not to the age and smoking habit. Higher urinary arsenic and MDA levels in younger villagers from the endemic area suggest that they are having a higher exposure to coal-borne emitted arsenic because they spend more time indoor. There is an urgent need to develop proper intervention methods in the Guizhou endemic areas in order to reduce the risk to the local communities who are still using arsenic contaminated-coal.     

Occurrence of DNA methylation in Daphnia magna and influence of multigeneration Cd exposure

Most of the research on the epigenetic phenomenon of DNA methylation has been performed with vertebrates and plants. Knowledge on DNA methylation in Daphnia magna, a key test organism in aquatic toxicology, is completely lacking. Through epigenetic inheritance, effects of transient chemical exposure could be transferred to non-exposed generations, which could have a major impact on ecological risk assessment procedures. In this study, we determined if CpG methylation occurs in D. magna and if this can be influenced by exposure to toxic substances. Homologs of human DNA methyltransferases DNMT1, DNMT2 and DNMT3A were found in the partially available D. magna genome. Using an optimized “Amplification of Intermethylated Sites (AIMS)” technique, two methylated fragments were discovered in D. magna DNA. No homology was found for these sequences. The methylation and the D. magna origin of the fragments were confirmed with Southern analysis. This optimized AIMS technique was then applied to DNA of D. magna which were exposed to 180 µg/L Cd for two generations. Exposure resulted in a significant decrease in reproduction. The same methylated fragments with the same band intensity were observed in DNA of both non-exposed and exposed daphnids. As such, it could not be demonstrated that Cd exposure altered DNA methylation. However, the presence of DNA methylation in D. magna shows that potentially epigenetic effects may occur in this species.