A scoping review into the impact of animal imagery on pro-environmental outcomes

With the recognition that most global environmental problems are a result of human actions, there is an increasing interest in approaches which have the potential to influence human behaviour. Images have a powerful role in shaping persuasive messages, yet research on the impacts of visual representations of nature is a neglected area in biodiversity conservation. We systematically screened existing studies on the use of animal imagery in conservation, identifying 37 articles. Although there is clear evidence that images of animals can have positive effects on people’s attitudes to animals, overall there is currently a dearth of accessible and comparable published data demonstrating the efficacy of animal imagery. Most existing studies are place and context-specific, limiting the generalisable conclusions that can be drawn. Transdisciplinary research is needed to develop a robust understanding of the contextual and cultural factors that affect how animal images can be used effectively for conservation purposes.

     

Sediment distribution on the continental shelf in relation to stream inputs and contamination: hydrodynamic,chemical, mineralogical,and sedimentological characteristics (Ligurian Sea,Italy)

River estuaries, continental shelf, and sediment contamination are closely linked from the point of view of sediment transport and diffusion that is governed by different factors such as sea waves and currents, river flows and floods, and sediment characteristics. Taking these factors into consideration, we have examined marine environmental and marine bottom sediments off the mouth of a stream to highlight the main ways of sediment and contaminant transport and diffusion on the continental shelf. For this purpose, we followed a multidisciplinary approach, studying circulation of water masses, hydrological characteristics of water column, distribution and main characteristics of sediment grain size, sediment mineralogical composition, and metal concentrations of bottom sediments. Our results allowed identifying the presence of preferential ways of sediment deposition and areas of sediment spread for the Entella Stream, as well as the origin of some metals.

     

An Analysis of Secondary Pollutants in Buenos Aires City

Air pollutant concentrations from a monitoring campaign in Buenos Aires City, Argentina, are used to investigate the relationships between ambient levels of ozone (O₃), nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) as a function of NO _x (=NO + NO₂). This campaign undertaken by the electricity sector was aimed at elucidating the apportionment of thermal power plants to air quality deterioration. Concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) and sulphur dioxide (SO₂) were also registered. Photo stationary state (PSS) of the NO, NO₂, O₃ and peroxy radicals species has been analysed. The ‘oxidant’ level concept has been introduced, OX (=O₃ + NO₂), which varies with the level of NO _x . It is shown that this level is made up of NO _x -independent and NO _x -dependent contributions. The former is a regional contribution that equates the background O₃ level, whereas the latter is a local contribution that correlates with the level of primary pollution. Furthermore, the anticorrelation between NO₂ and O₃ levels, which is a characteristic of the atmospheric photo stationary cycle has been verified.The analysis of the concentration of the primary pollutants CO and NO strongly suggests that the vehicle traffic is the principal source of them. Levels of continuous measurements of SO₂ for Buenos Aires City are reported in this work as a complement of previously published results.     

SAOZ measurements of NO2 at Aberystwyth

We present in this paper fifteen years' measurements, from March 1991 to September 2005, of stratospheric NO2 vertical columns measured by a SAOZ zenith-sky visible spectrometer. The instrument spent most of its time at Aberystwyth, Wales, with occasional excursions to other locations. The data have been analysed with the WinDOAS analysis program with low-temperature high-resolution NO2 cross-sections and fitting a slit function to each spectrum. Because of a change in detector in May 1998 there is some uncertainty about the relative changes before and after this date, which are partially constrained by the results of an intercomparison exercise. However, the effect of the Mt Pinatubo aerosol cloud is very evident in the data from 1991-94, with a decrease of 10% in NO2 in the summer of 1992 (the SAOZ was located in Lerwick, Scotland during the winter of 1991-92 and observed very low NO2 values but these cannot be directly compared to the Aberystwyth data). To focus more on interannual and long-term variations in NO2, a seasonal variation comprising an annual and semi-annual component was fitted to the morning and evening twilight separately from 1995 to the present. This fit yielded average NO2 columns of 4.08 x 10(15) cm(-2) and 2.68 x 10(15) cm(-2) for the evening and morning twilight, respectively, with a corresponding annual amplitude of +/-2.08 x 10(15) cm(-2) and +/-1.50 x 10(15) cm(-2). Departures from the fitted curve show a trend of 6% per decade, consistent with that reported elsewhere, for the period 1998-2003, but in the past two years a distinct interannual variation of amplitude of approximately 8% has emerged.     

What matters for work engagement? A diary study on resources and the benefits of selective optimization with compensation for state work engagement

This diary study addresses the benefits of employees' daily use of selective optimization with compensation (SOC) for state work engagement. We hypothesized that day‐level SOC not only directly fosters work engagement but that SOC also reveals its beneficial effects for work engagement in interaction with both external and internal resources. Specifically, we proposed SOC substitutes for job control, role clarity, and state of being recovered, thus helping employees manage low daily levels of these resources. We tested our hypotheses with a sample of 138 employees who completed two daily surveys over a total of 545 workdays. Results of multilevel analyses revealed that SOC benefits work engagement in both proposed ways. First, day‐level SOC was positively related to state work engagement. Additionally, day‐level role clarity and state of being recovered predicted state work engagement, but day‐level job control did not. Second, SOC benefitted state work engagement by offsetting low levels of role clarity and being recovered, and by boosting job control in their respective relationships with work engagement. The results suggest that by using SOC at work, employees can actively enhance their own work engagement on a given workday. This knowledge provides promising starting points for the development of interventions.     

Parental supervision and discomfort with children walking to school in low-income communities in Cape Town,South Africa

Objective: The risk of pedestrian injury is compounded for children living in low-income communities due to factors such as poor road and pedestrian infrastructure, reliance on walking as a means of transport, and compromised supervision. Parents play an important role in child pedestrian safety. The primary objective of this study was to examine the effects of child pedestrian variables on parental discomfort with regard to letting their child walk to and from school and on the frequency of adult supervision.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a convenience sample from 3 schools participating in a pedestrian safety school initiative. The schools are situated in low-income, high-risk communities in the City of Cape Town. A parent survey form was translated into isiXhosa and sent home with learners to those parents who had consented to participate. The response rate was 70.4%, and only parents of children who walk to and from school were included in the final sample (n = 359). Child pedestrian variables include the time taken to walk to school, parental rating of the child's ability to safely cross the road, and the frequency of adult supervision.

Results: More than half of parents reported that their child walked to and from school without adult supervision. About 56% of children took less than 20 min to walk to school. Most parents (61%) were uncomfortable with their child walking to school, although the majority of parents (55.7%) rated their child's ability to cross the road safely as better or significantly better than average (compared to peers). The parents did not perceive any differences in pedestrian risk factors between boys and girls or between younger (6–9 years) and older (10–15 years) children. The time spent by a child walking to school and parents' perceptions of their child's road-crossing ability were found to be significant predictors of parental discomfort (in letting their child walk). Younger children and children who spent less time walking were more likely to be supervised by an adult.

Conclusions: Many South African schoolchildren have to navigate the roads without adult supervision from a young age. Caregivers, especially in low-income settings, often have limited options with regard to getting their child to school safely. Regardless of the child's age and gender, the time that they spend on the roads is an important factor for parents in terms of pedestrian safety.     

The Dynamics of Justification in Policy Reform: Insights from Water Policy Debates in Ireland

Policy reform can be complex and fraught with contending arguments. Although much research has been conducted into the politics of coalition formation, less attention has been devoted to legitimating logics in policy reform. Drawing on the work of Boltanski and Thévenot, this exploratory study addresses this deficit by examining the influence of justifications deployed in policy debates. The paper analyses the role of shifting reasoning in contentious debates concerning attempts to reform water policy, including the introduction of domestic water charges in Ireland. Employing data from parliamentary deliberations, the paper traces the changing forms of justification used by those favouring and opposing the reforms. This examination suggests the importance of aligning an argument’s content with the shifting context into which it is introduced. The paper highlights the benefits of an investigative approach concerning policy justification for understanding policy reform dynamics at the intersection of politics and environmental communication.     

Reducing external costs of nitrogen pollution by relocation of pig production between regions in the European Union

This paper tests the hypothesis that relocation of pig production within the EU27 can reduce the external costs of nitrogen (N) pollution. The external cost of pollution by ammonia and nitrate from agriculture in the European Union (EU27) in 2008 was estimated at 61–215 billion € (0.5 to 1.8% of the GDP). Per capita it ranged from more than 1000 € in north-west EU27 to 50 € in Romania. The average contribution of pig production was 15%. Using provincial data (224 NUTS2 regions in EU27), the potential reduction of external N cost by relocation of pig production was estimated at 14 billion € (10% of the total). Regions most eligible for decreasing the pig stock were in western Germany, Flemish region, Denmark, the Netherlands and Bretagne, while Romania is most eligible for increasing pig production. Relocating 20 million pigs (13% of the total EU stock) decreased average external costs per capita from 900 to 785 € in the 13 NUTS2 regions where pigs were removed and increased from 69 to 107 € in 11 regions receiving pigs. A second alternative configuration of pig production was targeted at reducing exceedance of critical N deposition and closing regional nutrient cycles. This configuration relocates pigs within Germany and France, for example from Bretagne to Northern France and from Weser-Ems to Oberbayern. However, total external cost increases due to an increase of health impacts, unless when combined with implementation of best N management practices. Relocation of the pig industry in the EU27 will meet many socio-economic barriers and realisation requires new policy incentives.     

Simulating and delineating future land change trajectories across Europe

Explorations of future land use change are important to understand potential conflicts between competing land uses, trade-offs associated with particular land change trajectories, and the effectiveness of policies to steer land systems into desirable states. Most model-based explorations and scenario studies focused on conversions in broad land use classes, but disregarded changes in land management or focused on individual sectors only. Using the European Union (EU) as a case study, we developed an approach to identifying typical combinations of land cover and management changes by combining the results of multimodel simulations in the agriculture and forest sectors for four scenarios from 2000 to 2040. We visualized land change trajectories by mapping regional hotspots of change. Land change trajectories differed in extent and spatial pattern across the EU and among scenarios, indicating trajectory-specific option spaces for alternative land system outcomes. In spite of the large variation in the area of change, similar hotspots of land change were observed among the scenarios. All scenarios indicate a stronger polarization of land use in Europe, with a loss of multifunctional landscapes. We analyzed locations subject to change by comparing location characteristics associated with certain land change trajectories. Results indicate differences in the location conditions of different land change trajectories, with diverging impacts on ecosystem service provisioning. Policy and planning for future land use needs to account for the spatial variation of land change trajectories to achieve both overarching and location-specific targets.

     

Anishnaabe Aki: an indigenous perspective on the global threat of invasive species

Conservation discourses tend to portray invasive species as biological entities temporally connected to colonial timelines, using terms such as “alien”, “colonizing”, “colonial”, and “native”. This focus on a colonial timeline emerges from scientific publications within conservation biology and invasion ecology and is enacted through invasive species management by state and NGO actors. Colonialism is influential for indigenous nations in myriad ways, but in what ways do indigenous understandings of invasive species engage with colonialism? We conducted ethnographic research with indigenous Anishnaabe communities to learn about the ways Anishnaabe people conceptualize invasive species as a phenomenon in the world and were gifted with three primary insights. First, Anishnaabe regard plants, like all beings, as persons that assemble into nations more so than “species”. The arrival of new plant nations is viewed by some Anishnaabe as a natural form of migration. The second insight highlights the importance of actively discovering the purpose of new species, sometimes with the assistance of animal teachers. Lastly, while Anishnaabe describe invasive species as phenomenologically entangled with colonialism, the multiple ways Anishnaabe people think about invasive species provide alternatives to native–non-native binaries that dominate much of the scientific discourse.