Consumer attitudes regarding environmentally sustainable wine: an exploratory study of the New Zealand marketplace

Previous research has suggested that consumers are becoming increasingly concerned by the effects of conventional agricultural food production practices on human health and environmental wellbeing. This study sought to understand whether environmentally sustainable practices in the vineyard would equate to advantages in the wine marketplace. Structured questionnaires were used to ascertain the views of wine consumers in Christchurch, New Zealand. The findings of this study indicate that consumers have a strong demand for wine which is produced using “green” production practices. Consumers believe that the quality of sustainable wine will be equal to or better than conventionally produced wine, and they are prepared to pay a higher price for this wine.     

Assessing Ecological Resources for Remediation and Future Land Uses on Contaminated Lands

Increasingly, the public and governmental agencies are concerned about remediating and reclaiming contaminated sites. Understanding the ecological resources on-site and valuing those resources in terms of future uses is important for determining suitable future land uses. In this article, we suggest the major categories of natural resource information required by managers, policy makers, and the general public for making initial future land-use determinations. We then use a dataset of 25 Department of Energy (DOE) sites slated for remediation to explore whether such data are readily available and whether the data can be used to assess natural resource value. Although information is available for almost all sites on federally endangered and threatened species, this information is less available for state-listed species. Biodiversity information is available only for some sites for birds (N = 17), mammals (N = 15), reptiles (N = 14), amphibians (N = 13), and plants (N = 11) and is almost nonexistent for invertebrates (N = 2). Some information is available for invasive species (N = 9). The number of available habitats is directly related to total acres and nonindustrial acres. Biodiversity of birds, mammals, and reptiles (but not amphibians) is directly related to both total acres and total nonindustrial acres of sites. These data suggest that even over a wide geographical area (from eastern to western United States), biodiversity relates to habitat size and number of habitats available. This information will be useful not only to DOE managers but also to natural resource trustees, ecologists, state and federal regulators, and the general public in the discourse over future uses of these lands.*Published online Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; Joanna Burger     

Mass loading of nickel and uranium on plant surfaces: application of laser ablation-ICP-MS

Transport of contaminated sediments from a former radiological settling pond results in the deposition of U and Ni in the Lower Tims Branch (LTB)(Aiken, SC, USA). Uranium is unavailable for plant uptake, but elevated U and Ni concentrations associated with foliage of understory plants suggested mass loading. Mass loading of contaminated soil on Andropogon elliottii Chapman (Poaceae) was investigated using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The technique allows for rapid quantitative elemental depth profiling. Fresh washed and unwashed leaves (n= 5) from the contaminated area were compared with those from an uncontaminated area, analysing Ni and U at ten randomly chosen points on each leaf. Nickel and U concentrations differed significantly between washed and unwashed leaves from LTB. Particles on unwashed leaves measured up to 300 [micro sign]m in diameter, and were enriched with U. Uranium was detected on the surface of the leaf, whereas Ni was detected within leaf tissues. In unwashed LTB leaves, Ni and U concentrations did not significantly differ in areas with and without visible particles, suggesting that there were much smaller particles, indistinguishable at [times]100 magnification, which contributed to the overall metal burden. Washing removed the majority of the Ni and U on the surface, but residual U and Ni was detected. Irregularities in the leaf surface, such as scars from herbivory contained elevated U concentrations despite a washing step, presumably from trapping soil particles. Laser ablation ICP-MS revealed that mass loading makes a significant contribution to the contaminant burden of understory plants at LTB.     

The Death of Humanitarianism?: An Anatomy of the Attack

Over recent years, the humanitarian community has been under increasing scrutiny and attracted harsh criticism. This mounting critique of humanitarianism has shifted from being concerned primarily with the poor functioning of the humanitarian system to one targeted on basic humanitarian values. This paper is concerned to understand the factors driving the attack on humanitarian values. It identifies four apparently disparate groups who are interested in attacking these values: the anti-imperialists, the realpolitikers, the developmentalists and the neo-peaceniks. It concludes that unless humanitarian actors are aware of these diverse threats to their values and operations, they risk being co-opted or marginalised.     

Attitudes About Recreation, Environmental Problems, and Estuarine Health Along the New Jersey Shore, USA

/ Management of ecosystems has advanced by an improvement in our understanding not only of how ecosystems function, but of how people perceive their functioning and what they consider to be environmental problems within those systems. Central to such management is understanding how people view estuaries. In this article I explore the perceptions and attitudes of people about coastal recreation, environmental problems, and future land use along the New Jersey shore (USA) by interviewing people who attended a duck decoy and craft show on Barnegat Bay. The people who were interviewed engaged in more days of fishing than any other recreational activity and engaged in camping the least. There were significant differences in recreational rates as a function of gender and location of residence, with men hunting and fishing more than women and photographing less than women. Jet skis were perceived as the most severe environmental problem, with chemical pollution, junk, oil runoff and overfishing as second level problems. Birds were perceived as not an environmental problem at all. Fishing, hiking, preservation, and camping ranked as the highest preferred future land uses for the two sites examined (Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, Naval Weapons Station Earle). The preferred future land uses for these two sites, which are not under consideration for land-use changes, were very similar to those of people living near the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site in South Carolina, despite the media attention and considerations of nuclear storage.KEY WORDS: Recreation; Perceptions; Environmental problem; Gender; Land use; Coastal     

Effects of an oil spill on emergence and mortality in fiddler crabs Uca pugnax

Following a spill of 567 000 gallons of No. 2 fuel oil into the Arthur Kill in New York and New Jersey in January 1990 we studied the emergence and mortality of fiddler crabs. We (1) compared seven salt marsh creeks immediately adjacent to the oil spill with 23 creeks at varying distances from the spill; (2) examined the temporal pattern of emergence in one creek; and (3) compared mortality rate of crabs that emerged with those we dug up. Twice as many crabs emerged in the adjacent creeks compared to those that were only 4.5km away. There were significant differences in the number of crabs that emerged as a function of distance from the spill. Crabs continued to emerge until mid-March. For all the emerged crabs, the percentage of females ranged from 28 to 80, whereas the percentage of females in intact burrows was 64–65%. For all emerged samples, females died earlier than males. In the laboratory, all emerged crabs died within four weeks whereas over 90% of the controls were still alive eight weeks after the initiation of the experiment.     

On Developing Bioindicators for Human and Ecological Health

Risk assessors and risk managersgenerally either examine ecological health (usingbioindicators) or human health (using biomarkers ofexposure or effect). In this paper we suggest thatit is possible and advantageous to developbioindicators that can be used to assess exposureand effect for both human and non-human receptors. We describe the characteristics of suitablebioindicators for both human and ecological health,using mourning doves (Zenaida macroura),raccoons (Procyon lotor), and bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) as examples, and list thegeneral characteristics of other species that wouldmake them useful indicators for assessing both humanand ecological health. Bioindicators can beused cross-sectionally to assess the status ofecosystems and risk as well as longitudinally formonitoring changes or evaluating remediation. Forboth human and ecological risk assessment, there arethree sets of characteristics to consider whenselecting bioindicators: biological relevance,methodological relevance, and societal relevance. An indicator which fails to fulfill these is notlikely to be considered cost-effective and is likelyto be abandoned. The indicator should be readilymeasured and must measure an important range ofimpacts. For long-term support of a bioindicator,the indicator should be easily understood, and becost effective. We suggest that bioindicators thatcan also be used for both ecological and humanhealth risk assessment are optimal.     

Heavy Metals and Selenium in Herring Gulls (LARUS ARGENTATUS) NESTING IN COLONIES FROM EASTERN LONG ISLAND TO VIRGINIA

With increasing interest in assessing the health or well-being ofcommunities and ecosystems, birds are being used asbioindicators. Coloniallynesting species breed mainly in coastal areas that are alsopreferred for humandevelopment, exposing the birds to various pollutants. Inthis paper concentrations of heavy metal and selenium in the feathers ofHerring Gulls(Larus argentatus) nesting in several colonies fromMassachusetts toDelaware are reported. There were significant differencesamong colonies forall metals, with metal concentrations being two to nearly fivetimes higher atsome colonies than others. Selenium showed the leastdifference, and cadmium showed the greatest difference among sites. Concentrations of lead werehighest at Pralls Island; mercury was highest at Shinnecock,Huckleberry andHarvey, and manganese was highest at Captree.