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.     

Resource allocation in transboundary tuna fisheries: A global analysis

Resource allocation is a fundamental and challenging component of common pool resource governance, particularly transboundary fisheries. We highlight the growing importance of allocation in fisheries governance, comparing approaches of the five tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (tRFMOs). We find all tRFMOs except one have defined resources for allocation and outlined principles to guide allocation based on equity, citizenship, and legitimacy. However, all fall short of applying these principles in assigning fish resources. Most tRFMOs rely on historical catch or effort, while equity principles rarely determine dedicated rights. Further, the current system of annual negotiations reduces certainty, trust, and transparency, counteracting many benefits asserted by rights-based management proponents. We suggest one means of gaining traction may be to shift conversations from allocative rights toward weighting of principles already identified by most tRFMOs. Incorporating principles into resource allocation remains a major opportunity, with important implications for current and future access to fish.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01371-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Environmental Awareness and Public Support for Protecting and Restoring Puget Sound

In an effort to garner consensus around environmental programs, practitioners have attempted to increase awareness about environmental threats and demonstrate the need for action. Nonetheless, how beliefs about the scope and severity of different types of environmental concerns shape support for management interventions are less clear. Using data from a telephone survey of residents of the Puget Sound region of Washington, we investigate how perceptions of the severity of different coastal environmental problems, along with other social factors, affect attitudes about policy options. We find that self-assessed environmental understanding and views about the seriousness of pollution, habitat loss, and salmon declines are only weakly related. Among survey respondents, women, young people, and those who believe pollution threatens Puget Sound are more likely to support policy measures such as increased enforcement and spending on restoration. Conversely, self-identified Republicans and individuals who view current regulations as ineffective tend to oppose governmental actions aimed at protecting and restoring Puget Sound. Support for one policy measure—tax credits for environmentally-friendly business practices—is not significantly affected by political party affiliation. These findings demonstrate that environmental awareness can influence public support for environmental policy tools. However, the nature of particular management interventions and other social forces can have important mitigating effects and need to be considered by practitioners attempting to develop environment-related social indicators and generate consensus around the need for action to address environmental problems.     

Nutritional status affects the capacity of the snail Concholepas concholepas to synthesize Hsp70 when exposed to stressors associated with tidal regimes in the intertidal zone

Synthesis of the heat shock protein Hsp70 is one of the most important physiological mechanisms that intertidal organisms possess to counteract damage to macromolecules caused by stressors associated with the tidal cycle. However, the synthesis and activity of Hsp70 involves an elevated energetic cost. We evaluated the effect of the nutritional status (fed vs. starved for 2 weeks) of juvenile Concholepas concholepas mollusc on their capacity to synthesize Hsp70 during emersion (i.e. low tide) and immersion (i.e. high tide) at high temperatures (24 °C, e.g. summer conditions) and at low temperatures (7 °C, e.g. winter conditions). In addition, we evaluated whether Hsp70 is induced directly upon exposure to stress (emersion) or during recovery (re-immersion). Starvation decreased the content of stored energy substrates of juveniles as well as their ability to synthesize Hsp70 during emersion under thermal stress, especially at high temperatures. Additionally, analysis of environmental factors associated with laboratory simulation of tidal regimes indicated that juveniles in starvation, in contrast to fed juveniles, did not significantly increase their levels of Hsp70 during cold emersion (7 °C) or warm emersion (24 °C) or upon re-immersion. Induction of Hsp70 occurred during exposure to stress (low-tide conditions) and not when juveniles returned to “normal” conditions (high-tide conditions). Thus, the synthesis of Hsp70 for the juveniles of this intertidal snail species was coordinated and adapted to the tidal cycle, and the species responds in a similar way to hot and cold emersion conditions. The observed levels of Hsp70 reflect the ability of the individual to synthesize these proteins, which is dependent on the nutritional status of the individual.     

Tomato journeys from farm to fruit shop

Popular calls to buy products with fewer embodied greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions belie the complexity involved in providing accurate information necessary for such consumer decisions to be effective. This study follows greenhouse-grown tomatoes from Australian farms to fruit shops in Sydney, Australia and investigates practicalities of accounting for GHG emissions in this fresh food chain. Data came from semi-structured interviews with farmers, wholesalers who operate at the (wholesale) Sydney Markets and retailers. GHG emissions were estimated using quantitative methodologies including Australian National Greenhouse Account Factors. A qualitative analysis of stakeholder views and knowledge was also conducted. Conclusions include that, per unit of tomatoes, on-farm GHG emissions appear far greater than those from fuel used for transport to Sydney Markets, and from wholesale or retail activities. Food mile or more comprehensive carbon labelling would probably not be practical for this supply chain. Factors likely to affect potential change among higher emitting participants are costs and availability of lower GHG-emitting practices. Mixed-method studies help identify parts of a chain to target emission reduction efforts.     

Daily temporal structure in African savanna flower visitation networks and consequences for network sampling

Ecological interaction networks are a valuable approach to understanding plant-pollinator interactions at the community level. Highly structured daily activity patterns are a feature of the biology of many flower visitors, particularly provisioning female bees, which often visit different floral sources at different times. Such temporal structure implies that presence/absence and relative abundance of specific flower-visitor interactions (links) in interaction networks may be highly sensitive to the daily timing of data collection. Further, relative timing of interactions is central to their possible role in competition or facilitation of seed set among coflowering plants sharing pollinators. To date, however, no study has examined the network impacts of daily temporal variation in visitor activity at a community scale. Here we use temporally structured sampling to examine the consequences of daily activity patterns upon network properties using fully quantified flower-visitor interaction data for a Kenyan savanna habitat. Interactions were sampled at four sequential three-hour time intervals between 06:00 and 18:00, across multiple seasonal time points for two sampling sites. In all data sets the richness and relative abundance of links depended critically on when during the day visitation was observed. Permutation-based null modeling revealed significant temporal structure across daily time intervals at three of the four seasonal time points, driven primarily by patterns in bee activity. This sensitivity of network structure shows the need to consider daily time in network sampling design, both to maximize the probability of sampling links relevant to plant reproductive success and to facilitate appropriate interpretation of interspecific relationships. Our data also suggest that daily structuring at a community level could reduce indirect competitive interactions when coflowering plants share pollinators, as is commonly observed during flowering in highly seasonal habitats.     

Exploring the effects of reductions in krill biomass in the Southern Ocean on blue whales using a state-dependent foraging model

Many species of baleen whales were hunted to near extinction in the Southern Hemisphere. The recovery of these populations will be affected by the availability of krill, a major dietary component, in the Southern Ocean. We combine a novel energetics model for baleen whales with a state dependent foraging model to explore the impacts of an expanding krill fishery on baleen whales. We parameterize the model for blue whales, but with simple modifications it could be applied to most baleen whales. We predict that an expanding fishery will have a small but significant impact on the blue whale population through decreased birth rates. However, spreading the catch limit throughout the range of krill can reduce these effects. In addition, whales may be able to reduce these impacts through adaptive changes in foraging behavior. The relationship between krill abundance and blue whale foraging and reproductive success is nonlinear, such that larger reductions in krill biomass, potentially following a loss of sea ice due to climate change, could have a much larger negative impact on the recovery of blue whales.     

Input of selected human pharmaceutical metabolites into the Norwegian aquatic environment

The occurrence of the metabolites of five human pharmaceuticals was investigated in treated wastewater, surface waters and sediments. Metabolites of carbamazepine (carbamazepine epoxide), diclofenac (4'- and 5-hydroxy diclofenac) and atorvastatin (o- and p-hydroxy atorvastatin) were typically detected in flow proportional 24 h composite samples of wastewater effluent collected from the Norwegian cities of Oslo and Troms? at higher concentrations than the parent pharmaceutical. The concentrations determined in discharged effluent were as high as 3700 ng L(-1) for 5-hydroxy diclofenac. The overall mean concentration of metabolites being typically higher in the primary treated effluent from the city of Troms? compared to the tertiary treatment performed on the Oslo effluent. Metabolites of carbamazepine (carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide), metoprolol (α-hydroxy metoprolol) and simvastatin (hydroxy simvastatin) were detected in surface water samples collected from Oslofjord at concentrations of up to 108 ng L(-1), whilst α-hydroxy metoprolol and simvastatin hydroxy carboxylic acid were also detected in sediments at low ng L(-1) concentrations. These screening data show that the metabolites of selected pharmaceuticals are being discharged into the Norwegian coastal environment and that certain metabolites occur in marine surface waters and sediments.     

Stationarity of Streamflow Records and Their Influence on Bankfull Regional Curves1

Haucke, Jessica and Katherine A. Clancy, 2011. Stationarity of Streamflow Records and Their Influence on Bankfull Regional Curves. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(6):1338–1347. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00590.x Abstract: Bankfull regional curves, which are curves that establish relationships among channel morphology, discharge, drainage area, are used extensively for stream restoration. These curves are developed upon the assumption that streamflows maintain stationarity over the entire record. We examined this assumption in the Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin where agricultural soil retention practices have changed, and precipitation has increased since the 1970s. We developed a bankfull regional curve for this area using field surveys of bankfull channel performed during 2008‐2009 and annual series of peak streamflows for 10 rivers with streamflow records ranging from the 1930s to 2009. We found bankfull flows to correlate to a 1.1 return period. To evaluate gage data statistics, we used the sign test to compare our channel morphology to historic 1.5 return period discharge (Q_1.5) for five time periods: 1959‐1972, 1973‐1992, 1993‐2008, 1999‐2008, and the 1959‐2008 period of record. Analysis of the historic gage data indicated that there has been a more than 30% decline in Q_1.5 since 1959. Our research suggests that land conservation practices may have a larger impact on gaging station stationarity than annual precipitation changes do. Additionally, historic peak flow data from gages, which have records that span land conservation changes, may need to be truncated to represent current flow regimes.