Beyond the Requirements: Improving Public Participation in EIA

Virtually every environmental planner at some time deals with environmental impact assessment (EIA). Public participation is required in most environmental impact assessment programmesaround the world. However, citizen involvement is often reduced to a procedural exercise instead of a substantive process to include the public in environmental decision making. This paper examines public participation in EIA and provides ways to improve its effectiveness. We first examine the rationales for public involvement and its institutionalization through EIA. Next, we analyse the shortcomings and strengths of common approaches to public involvement. Our analysis, supported by two case studies, suggests that going beyond the minimum requirements can benefit the public, the project proponent and the final plan. We conclude with practical steps to improve public participation programmes in environmental planning and decision making.     

Economic and Ecological Consequences of the Disappearance of Traditional Practices Related to Chestnut Groves

Based on an interdisciplinary study of nine localities, the authors analyse the role of human and local factors involved in the disappearance of chestnut groves. This analysis enables us to understand the significant elements involved, causes, restricting factors, potentialities which explain today's situation, and to hypothesise upon the evolution of the chestnut groves and the Southern Cevennes in the years to come. These hypotheses emphasise the necessary changes in attitudes and the extra research required to lead a positive future action in order to manage this territory in a rational way.     

The outcomes of downward managerial mobility

Research examining the effects of unemployment among white collar workers has produced patterns of findings different to those for lower socio-economic groups. The present longitudinal questionnaire study examines the psychological impact of managerial job moves which are downward in status, and considers the effects of periods of unemployment between job changes. The results indicate that among managers the negative impact of downward status moves on psychological adjustment is greater than that of temporary role loss. These effects are associated with decrements in preceived growth and development opportunities at work. The relationship between work and non-work life for our understanding of psychological adjustment is considered.     

Forest Management Patterns in the Floodplain of the Amazon Estuary

In the Amazon basin, few studies have focused on environmentally sound land-use alternatives that are linked to markets. This paper analyzes land uses carried out by traditional inhabitants ( ribeirinhos ) on three islands in the Amazon estuary. Management of the native floodplain forest is the most extensive form of land use on these islands. Such management varies in response to local economic and ecological conditions but invariably targets key nontimber forest resources destined for local markets, requires minimal input of labor and capital, and maintains a considerable stock of biotic resources. While restricted to a specific forest type, this form of land use is associated with relatively high population densities and, if supported by appropriate development policies, could provide an environmentally sound land-use alternative for hundreds of thousands of rural inhabitants of Amazonia.     

Population genetics of the blue crabCallinectes sapidus: modest population structuring in a background of high gene flow

To determine the genetic population structure of blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus Rathbun), electrophoretic allozyme analysis was performed on 750 individuals collected from 16 nearshore locations ranging from New York to Texas, USA. Twenty enzymes and non-enzymatic proteins coded by 31 presumptive loci were examined. Twenty-two loci were either monomorphic or polymorphic at less than theP ₉₅ level; alleles for these polymorphic loci were geographically dispersed. Allele frequencies for three of the remaining polymorphic loci were homogeneous over all populations, as were levels of polymorphism and heterozygosity. Phenograms generated by the UPGMA (unweighted pair-group method using arithmetic averages) and distance Wagner methods exhibited no geographic pattern in the clustering of populations. Estimates ofN _em (effective number of migrants per generation between populations) indicated substantial gene flow, with aalues sufficiently high to infer panmixia between all blue crab populations from New York to Texas. However, despite this high level of gene flow, two striking patterns of geographic differentiation occurred: genetic patchiness and clinal variation. Allele frequencies atEST-2, GP-1, IDHP-2, DPEP-1, DPEP-2, andTPEP exhibited genetic patchiness on local and range-wide geographic scales, and allele frequencies atEST-2 varied temporally. Genetic patchiness in blue crabs is likely to be the result of the pre-settlement formation and subsequent settlement of genetically heterogeneous patches of larvae; allele frequencies of those larval patches may then be further modified through ontogeny by localized selection. In the Atlantic Ocean, a regional latitudinal cline ofEST-2 allele frequencies was superimposed on the range-wide genetic patchiness exhibited by that locus. This pattern against a background of high gene flow is highly likely to be maintained by selection. In estuaries along the Atlantic Ocean coast, a combination of low adult long-distance migration and a high retention rate of locally spawned larvae could serve to segregate populations and allow for the development of the geographic cline inEST-2. The Gulf of Mexico showed no apparent cline, perhaps due to long-distance migration of females in some regions of the Gulf, or to masking by genetic patchiness. These results emphasize the importance of both ecological and evolutionary time scales and structuring mechanisms in determining genetic population structure.     

Individual variation and prior experience affect the discrimination of a brood-parasite by its subsocial beetle host

In birds, host experience can modify response to parasites but nothing similar is known for insects. We studied two desert tenebrionid beetles, the subsocial host Parastizopus armaticeps and its obligate and ubiquitous brood-(clepto)parasite Eremostibes opacus, which mimics the hosts odour spectrum. Nearly 10% of host burrows in the field (n=214) remain unparasitised even after introducing E. opacus experimentally (n=22). In discrimination tests, 7% of naive host beetles eject the parasite, showing individual variation in olfactory discrimination ability. To test for effects of prior breeding experience, naive (first time) or experienced (second time) breeders with or without prior parasite contact were confined with E. opacus at breeding onset, their behaviour recorded and parasite number counted on breeding completion. More first- than second-time breeding pairs completely excluded the parasite and second-time breeders with no prior contact with E. opacus had fewer parasites than any others. These pairs increased burrow-guarding dramatically, mostly during early reproduction, this being the best predictor of parasite number. Prolonged guarding, however, must be traded-off against other brood-care behaviours. Hence, it might pay breeding pairs to take the risk of accepting some parasites breeding within their burrow, and we expect this effect will be more pronounced if poor feeding and digging conditions are taken into account. This might explain why apparently 90% of the P. armaticeps breeding burrows in the field contain at least one parasitic E. opacus.Communicated by D. Gwynne     

Organic mercury levels among the Yanomama of the Brazilian Amazon Basin

The Catrimani River basin in northern Brazil is the home of the Yanomama and has been the site of renegade gold mining since 1980. Gold-mining operations release inorganic mercury (Hg) into the environment where it is organified and biomagnified in aquatic ecosystems. Ingestion of mercury-contaminated fish poses a potential hazard to fish-eating populations such as the Yanomama. We surveyed Hg levels in Yanomama villagers living near mined and unmined rivers in 1994 and 1995, and analyzed Hg levels in piranha caught by villagers. In 1994, 90 Yanomama Indians from 5 villages and in 1995, 62 Yanomama Indians from 3 villages participated in the studies. Four villages surveyed in 1994 were located directly on the Catrimani River, approximately 140-160 km downstream from past gold-mining activities. The other village surveyed in 1994 was situated on the unmined Ajaraní River. In 1995, 2 of the Catrimani River villages were revisited, and a third Yanomama village, on the unmined Pacu River, was surveyed. Blood organic mercury levels among all villagers surveyed ranged from 0 to 62.6 microg L(-1) (mean levels in each village between 21.2 microg L(-1) and 43.1 microg L(-1)). Mercury levels in piranha from the mined Catrimani River ranged from 235 to 1084 parts per billion (ppb). Nine of 13 piranhas, measuring 30 cm or longer had total mercury levels which exceeded mercury consumption limits (500 ppb) set by both the World Health Organization and the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Unexpectedly, high mercury levels were also observed in fish and villagers along the unmined Ajaraní and Pacu Rivers suggesting that indirect sources may contribute to environmental mercury contamination in the Amazon basin.     

Modulation of individual behavior and collective decision-making during aggregation site selection by the ant<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Messor barbarus</Emphasis>

Insect societies are often confronted with choices among several options such as food sources of different richness or potential nest sites with different qualities. The mechanisms by which a colony as a whole evaluates these situations and takes the appropriate decision are of crucial importance for its survival. Here we studied how collective decisions arise from individual behaviors when a group of workers of the ant Messor barbarus is given a choice between two aggregation sites. Two hundred ants were introduced into an arena and given a choice between two tubes connected to the arena. The tubes had different physical properties: dry and transparent (termed as dry), humid and transparent (termed as humid), or dry and dark (termed as dark). After 30 min, most ants were found to be aggregated in a humid tube when paired with a dry tube, or in a dark tube when paired with a humid one. When two humid tubes were in competition, ants aggregate more in one of the sites. The choice of ants was consistent throughout experiments. An analysis of individual behaviors shows that the probability of an ant recruiting and the intensity of its trail-laying behavior strongly depend on the quality of the tubes. Our study suggests that the selection of an aggregation site does not require that individual ants directly compare sites, but rather relies on the synergy between amplification processes involving recruitment by chemical trails, and a modulation of the individual resting time in a site as a function of its population.Communicated by L. Sundström     

Within-brood patterns of paternity and paternal behavior in red-winged blackbirds

We video-taped male and female red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) feeding individual chicks in order to test the hypothesis that food might be differently allocated to within-pair offspring and extra-pair young. We found no evidence that paternity influenced the allocation of food by either males or females. Both males and females fed male offspring significantly more, but there was no tendency for paternity to be skewed by gender. Females fed older offspring significantly more, whereas males did not; extra-pair fertilizations, however, were not associated with lay or hatch order of the chicks. Given that males do not appear to discriminate within-pair from extra-pair offspring directly, these results are consistent with current theory on the effect of paternity on paternal behavior. We discuss briefly some of the possible reasons why discrimination might be lacking in red-winged blackbirds and in other species in which the possibility of discrimination of paternity and allocation of paternal behavior has been studied.     

Usage,definition, and measurement of coexistence,tolerance and acceptance in wildlife conservation research in Africa

The terms ‘coexistence’, ‘tolerance,’ and ‘acceptance’ appear frequently in conservation literature, but lack consistent characterization, making them difficult to apply across intervention frameworks. This review aims to describe the common characterizations of these three terms using Africa-based research as a case study. Through systematic lexical searches, we identified 392 papers containing one or more of the three terms. We assessed their usage, definition, and measurement (or lack thereof) in wildlife conservation. Coexistence was used in 46% of papers, but was defined in only 2% and measured in 4%. Tolerance and acceptance were used in 63% and 61% of the papers in which they appeared, respectively, defined in 4% and 2%, and measured in 19% and 5%. These results confirm the lack of clear understanding of these concepts and evidence the need for a precise lexicon. This would allow conservationists to cohesively describe their work and increase replicability of research across contexts.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01352-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.