PCDD/F and dioxin-like PCB in Hong Kong air in relation to their regional transport in the Pearl River Delta region

PCDD/F and dioxin-like PCB were measured in 142 air samples of Hong Kong. The annual average PCDD/F and dioxin-like PCB concentrations obtained for Hong Kong air at Tap Mun (PCDD/F: 1724+/-1984; dioxin-like PCB: 1572+/-1170 fg m(-3)), Yuen Long (PCDD/F: 2927+/-2695; dioxin-like PCB: 4331+/-1962 fg m(-3)) and Tsuen Wan (PCDD/F: 1875+/-1502; dioxin-like PCB: 2972+/-1510 fg m(-3)) from January 2004 to March 2005 were comparable to other urban centers around the world and were within the Japanese and USA ambient air quality guidelines. A clear seasonal pattern was observed for PCDD/F, generally with a 50-60 times higher air concentration in winter when background northerly wind was weaker and land-sea breeze prevailed, resulting in regional transport; and a lower concentration in summer, due to the inflow of clean oceanic southeasterly wind from the South China Sea. A higher WHO-TEQ value of dioxin-like PCB (mainly attributed to the relatively higher WHO-TEQ value of PCB 126) in Yuen Long during winter, compared with other months, could also be related to the regional transport by the winter monsoon wind and the low mixing height in winter. Spatially, air concentrations of PCDD/F and dioxin-like PCB demonstrated a west-to-east gradient (with Yuen Long>Tsuen Wan>Tap Mun). It is suggested that PCDD/F and dioxin-like PCB were transported into the western airshed of Hong Kong from the Pearl River Delta by land-sea breeze circulation and confined to the northwestern part, due to the blocking effect of the northwestern airshed in Hong Kong.     

Practitioner and scientist perceptions of successful amphibian conservation

Conservation requires successful outcomes. However, success is perceived in many different ways depending on the desired outcome. Through a questionnaire survey, we examined perceptions of success among 355 scientists and practitioners working on amphibian conservation from over 150 organizations in more than 50 countries. We also sought to identify how different types of conservation actions and respondent experience and background influenced perceptions. Respondents identified 4 types of success: species and habitat improvements (84% of respondents); effective program management (36%); outreach initiatives such as education and public engagement (25%); and the application of science‐based conservation (15%). The most significant factor influencing overall perceived success was reducing threats. Capacity building was rated least important. Perceptions were influenced by experience, professional affiliation, involvement in conservation practice, and country of residence. More experienced practitioners associated success with improvements to species and habitats and less so with education and engagement initiatives. Although science‐based conservation was rated as important, this factor declined in importance as the number of programs a respondent participated in increased, particularly among those from less economically developed countries. The ultimate measure of conservation success—population recovery—may be difficult to measure in many amphibians; difficult to relate to the conservation actions intended to drive it; and difficult to achieve within conventional funding time frames. The relaunched Amphibian Conservation Action Plan provides a framework for capturing lower level processes and outcomes, identifying gaps, and measuring progress.     

Deconstructing compassionate conservation

Compassionate conservation focuses on 4 tenets: first, do no harm; individuals matter; inclusivity of individual animals; and peaceful coexistence between humans and animals. Recently, compassionate conservation has been promoted as an alternative to conventional conservation philosophy. We believe examples presented by compassionate conservationists are deliberately or arbitrarily chosen to focus on mammals; inherently not compassionate; and offer ineffective conservation solutions. Compassionate conservation arbitrarily focuses on charismatic species, notably large predators and megaherbivores. The philosophy is not compassionate when it leaves invasive predators in the environment to cause harm to vastly more individuals of native species or uses the fear of harm by apex predators to terrorize mesopredators. Hindering the control of exotic species (megafauna, predators) in situ will not improve the conservation condition of the majority of biodiversity. The positions taken by so-called compassionate conservationists on particular species and on conservation actions could be extended to hinder other forms of conservation, including translocations, conservation fencing, and fertility control. Animal welfare is incredibly important to conservation, but ironically compassionate conservation does not offer the best welfare outcomes to animals and is often ineffective in achieving conservation goals. Consequently, compassionate conservation may threaten public and governmental support for conservation because of the limited understanding of conservation problems by the general public.     

Life-history traits and the fate of translocated populations

Attempts to identify predictors and mechanisms of invasion success have been weakened by poor data quality, mostly because monitoring does not begin immediately after introduction events. To overcome this issue, we used data from conservation translocations of threatened bird species. We analyzed information on >1200 translocation events of >150 bird species to investigate how life-history traits affect population establishment measured based on rates of survival and reproduction. Species position along the slow–fast life-history continuum was a key predictor of translocation success. Species with fast-paced life histories were less likely to survive (over both short- and mid-term) and more likely to breed successfully than species with slow life histories. The temporal partitioning of reproductive effort (number of clutches per year) also affected the probability of successful reproduction. Our results illustrate how conservation-motivated reintroduction programs can provide proxies for the initial stages of the invasion process, enabling empirical tests of predictions from life-history theory and informing management.     

Matching biodiversity indicators to policy needs

At the global scale, biodiversity indicators are typically used to monitor general trends, but are rarely implemented with specific purpose or linked directly to decision making. Some indicators are better suited to predicting future change, others are more appropriate for evaluating past actions, but this is seldom made explicit. We developed a conceptual model for assigning biodiversity indicators to appropriate functions based on a common approach used in economics. Using the model, indicators can be classified as leading (indicators that change before the subject of interest, informing preventative actions), coincident (indicators that measure the subject of interest), or lagging (indicators that change after the subject of interest has changed and thus can be used to evaluate past actions). We classified indicators based on ecological theory on biodiversity response times and management objectives in 2 case studies: global species extinction and marine ecosystem collapse. For global species extinctions, indicators of abundance (e.g., the Living Planet Index or biodiversity intactness index) were most likely to respond first, as leading indicators that inform preventative action, while extinction indicators were expected to respond slowly, acting as lagging indicators flagging the need for evaluation. For marine ecosystem collapse, indicators of direct responses to fishing were expected to be leading, while those measuring ecosystem collapse could be lagging. Classification defines an active role for indicators within the policy cycle, creates an explicit link to preventative decision-making, and supports preventative action.     

Privileged Narratives and Fictions of Consent in Environmental Discourse

In selecting six keywords from the environmental discourse the authors argue that language's 'double motivation' reveals a dialectical structure through which it simultaneously expresses both a utopian narrative and an ideologically driven myth of totality and consensus. The ambiguity of these keywords is of critical significance to all those involved in the environmental discourse, for without agreement on the meaning of commonly used concepts effective policy development is potentially disabled. The keywords we explore are 'community', 'sustainability', 'globalisation', 'diversity', 'democracy' and 'environment' itself.     

Organizational citizenship behavior in work groups: A team cultural perspective

Although researchers have often found positive relationships between organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and performance rating, very few studies have scrutinized the team contexts in which such relationships exist. This study examines how OCB influences job performance ratings within different team cultures, as measured by team collectivism and individualism. On the basis of multilevel data collected from 81 teams working at a multinational bank in Hong Kong, team collectivism and individualism were found to moderate the OCB–performance rating relationship such that OCB targeting individuals improved rated performance in highly collectivistic teams only, whereas only organizational OCB produced a significant improvement in highly individualistic teams. The implications of these findings and directions for future research directions are discussed here. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Disentangling the causes of protected‐species bycatch in gillnet fisheries

Gillnet fisheries are widely thought to pose a conservation threat to many populations of marine mammals, seabirds, and turtles. Gillnet fisheries also support a significant proportion of small‐scale fishing communities worldwide. Despite a large number of studies on protected‐species bycatch in recent decades, relatively few have examined the underlying causes of bycatch and fewer still have considered the issue from a multitaxon perspective. We used 3 bibliographic databases and one search engine to identify studies by year of publication and taxon. The majority of studies on the mechanisms of gillnet bycatch are not accessible through the mainstream published literature. Many are reported in technical papers, government reports, and university theses. We reviewed over 600 published and unpublished studies of bycatch in which causal or correlative factors were considered and identified therein 28 environmental, operational, technical, and behavioral factors that may be associated with high or low bycatch rates of the taxa. Of the factors considered, 11 were associated with potential bycatch reduction in 2 out of the 3 taxa, and 3 factors (water depth, mesh size, and net height) were associated with trends in bycatch rate for all 3 taxa. These findings provide a basis to guide further experimental work to test hypotheses about which factors most influence bycatch rates and to explore ways of managing fishing activities and improving gear design to minimize the incidental capture of species of conservation concern while ensuring the viability of the fisheries concerned.