Pesticide,PCB, and lead residues and necropsy data for bald eagles from 32 states-1978–81

In 1978–81, 293 bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) from 32 states were necropsied and analyzed for organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), and lead residues. DDE was found in all carcasses; PCB, DDD, trans-nonachlor, dieldrin and oxychlordane were next in order of percent frequency of detection. The median levels of DDE and PCB have declined when compared with previous collections. Five specimens contained high levels of dieldrin in their brains which may have contributed to their deaths. Seventeen eagles contained liver lead residues greater than 10 ppm and probably died of lead poisoning. Trauma and shooting are the most common causes of death.     

Prospects for Reducing Particulate Emissions from Large Incinerators

Conventional types of municipal incinerators generate enormous quantities of stack gas because of high excess air and high temperatures. Under these conditions the size and cost of equipment to clean the flue gas to low dust contents are large. By burning the refuse in boiler furnaces at low excess air, and generating steam, the volume of flue gas to be cleaned is reduced to a minimum. Where high efficiency of flue-dust collection is required, steam generation from refuse firing permits a major saving on the cost of dust collection.     

THE STRUCTURE AND PRACTICE OF WATER QUALITY TRADING MARKETS1

ABSTRACT: The use of transferable discharge permits in water pollution, what we will call water quality trading (WQT), is rapidly growing in the U.S. This paper reviews the current status of WQT nationally and discusses the structures of the markets that have been formed. Four main structures are observed in such markets: exchanges, bilateral negotiations, clearinghouses, and sole source offsets. The goals of a WQT program are environmental quality and cost effectiveness. In designing a WQT market, policy makers are constrained by legal restrictions and the physical characteristics of the pollution problem. The choices that must be made include how trading will be authorized, monitored and enforced. How these questions are answered will help determine both the extent to which these goals are achieved, and the market structures that can arise. After discussing the characteristics of different market structures, we evaluate how this framework applies in the case of California's Grassland Drainage Area Tradable Loads Program.     

Technologies,challenges and perspectives of biogas production within an agricultural context. The case of China and Africa

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The use of fossil fuels in modern economies has been a success because of the low cost of fossil resources. However, the depletion of fossil reserves,...     

Resilience and Challenges of Marine Social–Ecological Systems Under Complex and Interconnected Drivers

In this paper, we summarize the contributions made by an interdisciplinary group of researchers from different disciplines (biology, ecology, economics, and law) that deal with key dimensions of marine social–ecological systems. Particularly, the local and global seafood provision; the feasibility and management of marine protected areas; the use of marine ecosystem services; the institutional dimension in European fisheries, and the affordable models for providing scientific advice to small-scale fisheries. This Special Issue presents key findings from selected case studies around the world available to educators, policy makers, and the technical community. Together, these papers show that a range of diverse ecological, economic, social, and institutional components often mutually interact at spatial and temporal scales, which evidence that managing marine social–ecological systems needs a continuous adaptability to navigate into new governance systems.     

Damage, autotomy and arm regeneration in starfish caught by towed demersal fishing gears

Arm damage and loss were examined in the starfish Asterias rubens that had been caught in a variety of towed commercial fishing gears deployed on different sea bed types. Between 7% and 38% of the starfish in each catch lost one or more arms, and arm loss was positively correlated with the volume of the catch for two of the fishing gears examined. Subsequent monitoring of damaged animals showed that arms were autotomised for at least 3 weeks following capture. Mortality was highest in starfish with damaged or missing arms, compared with those that appeared intact after fishing. Arm regeneration was delayed in a small proportion of the animals caught by commercial gears. In a parallel study, 17% of starfish caught by a 4 m beam trawl had a damaged ambulacral ossicle at the point of autotomy (cf. none from a control group that were induced to autotomise under controlled conditions). There was no difference in regeneration rates between the animals caught by commercial gears and a control set (caught by a small trawl and forced to autotomise an arm in the laboratory) once the animals that delayed regeneration were excluded from the dataset. After 1 year under laboratory conditions the starfish had, on average, regenerated the missing arm to 75% of the length of the other four arms. During this time period the lengths of the undamaged arms increased by ca. 50%. The implications of this study for using arm loss in starfish as an indicator of fishing disturbance are discussed. Received: 16 August 2000 / Accepted: 20 October 2000     

Invest in arms: behavioural and energetic implications of multiple autotomy in starfish (Asterias rubens)

The autotomy of body parts as a means of escaping predation or renewing damaged tissues has evolved in a number of animal groups. Starfishes are unique in that they can autotomise >75% of their body mass and continue to survive. Presumably, multiple autotomy of tissue has energetic costs in terms of potential fitness and may affect the allocation of energy reserves accordingly. We investigated arm autotomy, predatory capabilities and subsequent regeneration in common starfish, Asterias rubens, that were induced to lose one, two or three arms. Initially, both regeneration of autotomised arms and the rate of growth of intact arms was slowest in animals that had lost the most arms (i.e. three arms missing vs two arms missing vs one arm missing). However, 8 months later, the growth of intact arms since the start of the experiment was not significantly different between groups of starfish that had autotomised different numbers of arms. However, the average dry weight per regnerating arm was significantly higher in starfish that had autotomised the most arms. Arm loss decreased the ability of starfish to open mussels and those that had autotomised two arms were significantly less likely to feed successfully on a mussel in a 24-h period than intact starfish. Our data suggest that proportionally more energy is allocated to arm regeneration in starfish that have suffered multiple arm loss and this may compensate a potential decrease in fitness that results from decreased feeding capability.     

Managing the Commons Texas Style: Wildlife Management and Ground‐Water Associations on Private Lands1

Abstract: As nearly all of Texas’ rural lands are privately owned, landowner associations for the management of white‐tailed deer and ground‐water have become increasingly popular. Deer are a common‐pool resource with transboundary characteristics, requiring landowner cooperation for effective management. Ground‐water reserves are economically important to landowners, but are governed by the “rule of capture” whereby property rights are not defined. One ground‐water association and four wildlife management associations (WMAs) were surveyed to characterize their member demographics, land use priorities, attitudes, and social capital. Members of the ground‐water cooperative were part of a much larger, more heterogeneous, and more recently formed group than members of WMAs. They also placed greater importance on utilitarian aspects of their properties, as opposed to land stewardship for conservation as practiced by members of WMAs. If ground‐water association members could be more locally organized with more frequent meetings, social capital and information sharing may be enhanced and lead to land stewardship practices for improved hydrologic functions and sustained ground‐water supply. This, coupled with pumping rules assigned by the local ground‐water district, could yield an effective strategy that is ecologically and hydrologicaly sound, and that allows rural provision of water supply to urban consumers.