The Ecological Condition of Gulf of Mexico Resources from Perdido Key to Port St. Joe, Florida, USA: Part I. Coastal Beach Resources

Using the approach established by EPA's Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP), a shoreline monitoring survey was conducted in August and September 1999, encompassing the Florida Panhandle from Perdido Key, Florida to Port St. Joe, Florida. The objective of this survey was to demonstrate the use of a probabilistic survey for monitoring and estimating the condition of swimmable beach areas. Thirty stations were sampled using a probabilistic sampling design. Hydrographic data were collected in addition to samples for water chemistry. Bacterial indicators, enterococci and fecal coliforms, were enumerated from the water according to the EPA Beaches Environmental Assessment Closure and Health (BEACH) Program and Florida state guidelines. Additional criteria for site condition included the presence or absence of primary and secondary dunes, anthropogenic debris and vegetation. Based on EMAP evaluation guidelines and Florida state criteria, a baseline assessment of the condition of the Gulf of Mexico beach resources surveyed is presented.     

Evaluating the contribution of zoos and aquariums to Aichi Biodiversity Target 1

The United Nations Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 is a key initiative within global efforts to halt and eventually reverse the loss of biodiversity. The very first target of this plan states that “by 2020, at the latest, people are aware of the values of biodiversity and the steps they can take to conserve and use it sustainably.” Zoos and aquariums worldwide, attracting more than 700 million visits every year, could potentially make a positive contribution to this target. However, a global evaluation of the educational impacts of visits to zoos and aquariums is entirely lacking in the existing literature. To address this gap, we conducted a large‐scale impact evaluation study. We used a pre‐ and postvisit repeated‐measures survey design to evaluate biodiversity literacy—understanding of biodiversity and knowledge of actions to help protect it—of zoo and aquarium visitors worldwide. Ours was the largest and most international study of zoo and aquarium visitors ever conducted. In total, 5661 visitors to 26 zoos and aquariums from 19 countries around the globe participated in the study. Aggregate biodiversity understanding and knowledge of actions to help protect biodiversity both significantly increased over the course of zoo and aquarium visits. There was an increase from previsit (69.8%) to postvisit (75.1%) in respondents demonstrating at least some positive evidence of biodiversity understanding. Similarly, there was an increase from previsit (50.5%) to postvisit (58.8%) in respondents who could identify actions to help protect biodiversity that could be achieved at an individual level. Our results are the most compelling evidence to date that zoo and aquarium visits contribute to increasing the number of people who understand biodiversity and know actions they can take to help protect biodiversity. Evaluación de la Contribución de los Acuarios y Zoológicos al Objetivo 1 de Biodiversidad de Aichi     

Resourcing local communities for climate adaptive designs in Victoria,Australia

This article proposes a new theoretical framework that supports the preparation of local communities to deal with climate impacts.In this framework,derived from the metabolism model,the resources that form the input(social capital and practical conditions)for design charrettes are processed to deliver output resources in the form of enhanced and sophisticated spatial design propositions,which are more resilient en adaptive.Elaborating this model,processing input to deliver desired outputs can only occur when deep learning experiences are offered to the local community.The framework is used and tested in two case studies in northwest Victoria,the City of Bendigo and town of Sea Lake.The findings from the study show the performance of the framework and the improved properties of the design propositions.Conducting design charrettes has two effects.New ways of collaboration are explored allowing exchange to happen between community members with different interests.This leads to new social constructs that are capable of achieving results that would be otherwise impossible or unknown of.Secondly,the design propositions suggest highly resilient and adaptive spatial transformations in the city or town.     

Songbird response to increased willow (Salix spp.) growth in Yellowstone's northern range

After nearly a century of height suppression, willows (Salix spp.) in the northern range of Yellowstone National Park, U.S.A., are increasing in height growth as a possible consequence of wolf (Canis lupus) restoration, climate change, or other factors. Regardless of the drivers, the recent release of this rare but important habitat type could have significant implications for associated songbirds that are exhibiting declines in the region. Our objective was to evaluate bird response to releasing willows by comparing willow structure and bird community composition across three willow growth conditions: height suppressed, recently released, and previously tall (i.e., tall prior to the height increase of released willows). Released and previously tall willows exhibited high and similar vertical structure, but released willows were significantly lower in horizontal structure. Suppressed willows were significantly shorter and lower in horizontal cover than released or previously tall willows. Bird richness increased along a gradient from lowest in suppressed to highest in previously tall willows, but abundance and diversity were similar between released and previously tall willows, despite lower horizontal cover in the released condition. Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) and Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii) were found in all three growth conditions; however, Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia), Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus), Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii), and Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodii) were present in released and previously tall willows only. Wilson's Warbler (Wilsonia pusilla) was found in previously tall willows only, appearing to specialize on tall, dense willows. The results of our a priori habitat models indicated that foliage height diversity was the primary driver of bird richness, abundance, and diversity. These results indicate that vertical structure was a more important driver of bird community variables than horizontal structure and that riparian and willow-dependent bird species have responded positively to increased willow growth in the region.     

Determining the viability of marine protists using a combination of vital, fluorescent stains

Determining the viability of protists and small microzooplankton has long been a focus of studies in marine biology and ecology. It is especially relevant in the issue of shipborne invasive species, and impending international guidelines and various national regulations on the allowable concentrations of organisms in discharged ballast water have spurred the growth of an industry that develops and manufactures ballast water management systems. The success of management systems and ability of ships to meet ballast water discharge standards is determined by the number of viable organisms in treated water. Here, we propose combining two vital, fluorescent stains (fluorescein diacetate [FDA] and 5-chloromethylfluorescein diacetate [CMFDA]) with direct microscopic observation to enumerate viable organisms ≥10 and <50 μm in minimum dimension (nominally protists). This approach was validated in four locations in the United States to determine the efficacy of the stains. Although the accuracy of the stains varied by geographic location and the taxonomic composition of the planktonic assemblage, combining fluorescent stains is a robust, powerful tool that can be optimized for the species present at each location. While this method was developed for analyzing viable organisms in treated ballast water, it may also be used or adapted for any field of research that examines a broad taxonomic range of autotrophic and heterotrophic plankton.     

The role of 'Big Society' in monitoring the state of the natural environment

Environmental monitoring is essential for assessing the current state of the environment, measuring impacts of environmental pressures and providing evidence to government. Recent UK government announcements have indicated an increased role for 'Big Society' in monitoring. In this paper, we review available literature concerning the use of citizen science for monitoring, present examples of successful volunteer monitoring work and highlight important issues surrounding the use of volunteers. We argue that in order to ensure that environmental monitoring continues to be effective it is important to learn from examples where volunteers are currently used, acknowledging constraints and identifying potential approaches which will help to maximise both their engagement and data quality. Effective partnerships between environmental monitoring organisations and volunteers may thus aid the UK in developing robust coordinated monitoring systems that will be less vulnerable to funding variances.     

Planning for global environmental change in Bangkok's informal settlements

Government agencies in cities across Asia recognise that municipalities must take steps to adapt to projected climate changes if people and places are to be kept above water. This paper focuses on planning for climate change in Bangkok because it ranks among the top 10 port cities vulnerable to climate change related flooding. It is also understood that the most devastating impacts of climate change will be suffered by the city's most vulnerable residents: the poor. Not only do impoverished people occupy physically vulnerable space, such as riverbanks, but they are also the least equipped to recover from the disruption of their livelihoods.

Several scholars have identified “institutional traps” that prevent the Thai government from successfully aiding poor and marginalised flood victims in the past. These include poor coordination, lack of monitoring and evaluation, rigidity, crisis management and elite capture. Lebel, Manuta, and Garden (2011, 56) Lebel, L., J.B. Manuta, and P. Garden. 2011. “Institutional Traps and Vulnerability to Changes in Climate and Flood Regimes in Thailand.” Regional Environmental Change 11 (1): 45–58.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] pose the crucial question: “How have individuals – from local community leaders through to national level politicians and bureaucrats – successfully influenced policy and programmes to avoid institutional traps and improve adaptive capacities to climate change?”

In this paper, we begin to address this question through examining emergent methods of “community based adaptation” and reviewing case studies of adaptation action from other vulnerable communities in the Global South. These lessons – such as overcoming institutional rigidity and avoiding elite capture – are important for Bangkok and other cities in the Global South that face many different challenges by global environmental change.     

Modeling Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution Using a Geographic Information System Approach

Agricultural non-point source (NPS) pollution, primarily sediment and nutrients, is the leading source of water-quality impacts to surface waters in North America. The overall goal of this study was to develop geographic information system (GIS) protocols to facilitate the spatial and temporal modeling of changes in soils, hydrology, and land-cover change at the watershed scale. In the first part of this article, we describe the use of GIS to spatially integrate watershed scale data on soil erodibility, land use, and runoff for the assessment of potential source areas within an intensively agricultural watershed. The agricultural non-point source pollution (AGNPS) model was used in the Muddy Creek, Ontario, watershed to evaluate the effectiveness of management strategies in decreasing sediment and nutrient [phosphorus (P)] pollution. This analysis was accompanied by the measurement of water-quality parameters (dissolved oxygen, pH, hardness, alkalinity, and turbidity) as well as sediment and P loadings to the creek. Practices aimed at increasing year-round soil cover would be most effective in decreasing sediment and P losses in this watershed. In the second part of this article, we describe a method for characterizing land-cover change in a dynamic urban fringe watershed. The GIS method we developed for the Blackberry Creek, Illinois, watershed will allow us to better account for temporal changes in land use, specifically corn and soybean cover, on an annual basis and to improve on the modeling of watershed processes shown for the Muddy Creek watershed. Our model can be used at different levels of planning with minimal data preprocessing, easily accessible data, and adjustable output scales.