Participation is usually regarded as a good practice in environmental policymaking, but its effects on policy strategies are unclear. Based on literature research, surveys, and interviews with participants, the present paper assesses whether decisional participation in formulating Austria’s National Adaptation Strategy (NAS) was worth the effort. Assessed against the goals of the participation process, we find that it raised awareness for adaptation and facilitated an exchange among the participants and that it improved the content of the NAS. However, regarding the goal of enhancing the acceptance of and commitment to the NAS, we find that this has been achieved among those who participated but not among high-level policymakers who are responsible for implementing the NAS. We conclude that (decisional) participation has its benefits in formulating comprehensive policy strategies but that it is most likely not able to overhaul their well-documented weaknesses, among them weak political commitment and implementation failures.
Although experiences with ecological restoration continue to accumulate, the effectiveness of restoration for biota remains debated. We complemented a traditional taxonomic analysis approach with information on 56 species traits to uncover the responses of 3 aquatic (fish, macroinvertebrates, macrophytes) and 2 terrestrial (carabid beetles, floodplain vegetation) biotic groups to 43 hydromorphological river restoration projects in Germany. All taxonomic groups responded positively to restoration, as shown by increased taxonomic richness (10–164%) and trait diversity (habitat, dispersal and mobility, size, form, life history, and feeding groups) (15–120%). Responses, however, were stronger for terrestrial than aquatic biota, and, contrary to our expectation, taxonomic responses were stronger than those of traits. Nevertheless, trait analysis provided mechanistic insights into the drivers of community change following restoration. Trait analysis for terrestrial biota indicated restoration success was likely enhanced by lateral connectivity and reestablishment of dynamic processes in the floodplain. The weaker response of aquatic biota suggests recovery was hindered by the persistence of stressors in the aquatic environment, such as degraded water quality, dispersal constraints, and insufficient hydromorphological change. Therefore, river restoration requires combined local- and regional-scale approaches to maximize the response of both aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Due to the contrasting responses of aquatic and terrestrial biota, the planning and assessment of river restoration outcomes should consider effects on both components of riverine landscapes. 相似文献
We test the hypothesis that echolocation behavior can be used to find the border between bat habitats. Assuming that bats
react to background targets in “edge space” but not in “open space”, we determined the border between these two habitat types
for commuting individuals of the parti-colored bat Vespertilio murinus. We recorded sequences of bats’ echolocation signals while they flew parallel to the walls of large buildings and to the
ground and determined the signals’ average bandwidth, duration, and pulse interval. These parameters varied systematically
with the estimated horizontal and vertical distances between the bats and the background. A distinct effect of horizontal
distance to the background on echolocation behavior was found for horizontal distances of less than 6 m, thus indicating the
border between edge and open space. Only a few bats flew at vertical distances below 5 m. However, enough passages at vertical
distances of 5 m and above indicated that the vertical border is somewhere below a distance of 5 m. Within edge space, V. murinus reacted to the background by reducing signal duration, increasing bandwidth at closer distances, and often emitting one signal
per wing beat. In open space, signal parameters did not vary as a function of distance to the background. There, V. murinus emitted the longest signals with the narrowest bandwidth and often made one or two wing beats without emitting a pulse. With
our data we support with statistical methods the hypothesis that echolocation behavior reveals the border between the habitat
types “edge” and “open space”. 相似文献
Temporal variations in protein, carbohydrate, and lipid levels were studied in a passive suspension feeder, the gorgonian Paramuricea clavata. The samples were collected every month for mature and immature colonies over a three-year period (1997–2000). The relationship between biochemical composition and reproductive output was examined on the basis of the 1998 and 1999 data. In female and male P. clavata colonies, the tissue displayed differences in lipid concentrations only in winter–spring, due to the high lipid levels attained by female colonies in this period. Immature colonies showed significant differences in lipid concentration only with respect to mature females in spring. There were clear seasonal trends in the lipid and carbohydrate levels in P. clavata, with maximum values in winter–spring [male lipid 212±75 SD μg mg−1 of organic matter (OM) and female lipid 274±103 SD μg mg−1 of OM; male and female carbohydrate 68±14 SD μg mg−1 of OM], coinciding with maximum food concentration/quality, and minimum values in summer–autumn (male and female lipid 155±57 SD μg mg−1 of OM; male and female carbohydrate 56±14 SD μg mg−1 of OM), coinciding with low food concentration/quality. The relationship between reproductive output and tissue concentrations of lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins was not straightforward, although there was an evident overlap of the lipid accumulation and the gonadal development. The results of this study show that protein, carbohydrate, and lipid levels may provide a record of episodes in the ecological cycle bearing on the trophic aspects of the target species. The results indicate that information on seasonal biochemical levels may explain benthopelagic coupling processes, provided factors such as natural diet, feeding rates, reproduction, and growth are well understood. 相似文献
Summary Supplementary to a previous investigation (Wallraff and Neumann 1989), further experiments were conducted with homing pigeons that were either familiar of unfamiliar with the release area, and that had or lacked olfactory access to environmental odours. All four possible pairwise combinations of these factors were tested. The previous results were confirmed, showing that in an unfamiliar area olfactory inputs are necessary for home-related orientation, while in a familiar area both olfactory and non-olfactory information can be utilized and each is more or less redundant as long as the other kind of information is also available. The degree of redundancy of olfactory inputs varies, obviously depending on the pattern of individual local experience.
Correspondence to: H.G. Wallraff 相似文献
Predation risk influences the duration of offspring development in many species where embryos develop from externally shed
eggs. Surprisingly, such predator-mediated effects on offspring development have rarely been explored in live-bearers. In
this paper, we use the guppy (Poecilia reticulata), a live-bearing freshwater fish, to test whether the duration of brood retention (the time from mating to parturition) is
influenced by experimental changes in the perceived level of predation. Because the swimming performance of female guppies
is impaired during late pregnancy, we predicted that females would withhold broods for shorter periods when they are exposed
to cues that signal a heightened risk of predation on adults rather than on juveniles. We therefore simulated increased risk
of predation on adults by using a combination of pike-shaped models (resembling natural predators that prey on adult guppies)
and ‘alarm substances’ derived from the skin extracts of adult conspecific females. Our results revealed that, under simulated
predation risk, female guppies produced broods significantly more quickly than their counterparts assigned to a control group
where predator cues were absent. A subsequent evaluation of offspring swimming performance revealed a significant positive
association between neonate swimming speeds and the duration of brood retention, suggesting that by accelerating parturition,
females may produce offspring with impaired locomotor skills. These findings, in conjunction with similar results from other
live-bearing species, suggest that the conditions experienced by gestating females can generate significant variation in the
timing of offspring development with potentially important implications for offspring fitness. 相似文献
Different bacterial strains able to attack polyoxyethylene-type nonionic surfactants were isolated by enrichment procedure from the surface waters of the Arno River. Alkylphenol polyethoxylates and alkyl polyethoxylates, as well as polyethylene glycols, were degraded and assimilated by bacterial strains in axenic cultures. Degradative routes of polyethyleneoxide chains were investigated by matching each bacterial isolate with several types of nonionic surfactants and polyethers and by the identification of their degradation products isolated during aerobic digestion experiments. In accordance with previous reports, the first attack led to the shortening of the poly(oxyethylene) chains of the nonionic surfactants. It was found that the strains able to degrade PEG segments of nonionic surfactants possess enzymatic systems unable to degrade free PEGs, whereas those degrading the latter substrates cannot degrade PEG segments coupled to hydrophobic moieties. 相似文献