Effects of knowledge,personal attribution and perception of ecosystem health on depreciative behaviors in the intertidal zone of Pacific Rim National Park and Reserve

Human activities levy a biological cost on ecosystems as resources are accessed and utilized at rates which are often incompatible with inherent ecosystem processes and structures. The recreational impact of humans upon intertidal zones and particularly fucoid algal assemblages is one major threat facing coastal ecosystems. The effect of human values, knowledge and perception in effecting biologically costly behaviors has rarely been examined. We hypothesize that with respect to intertidal zones: (1) Personal attribution and perception of ecosystem resiliency are more important than knowledge in determining the extent of depreciative behaviors individuals engage in, and; (2) Individuals who are uncertain about ecosystem resiliency will behave in a manner consistent with the 'precautionary principle'. We measured the depreciative behavior, and the attitudes and perceptions to ecosystem resilience, of visitors to Wick Headland in Pacific Rim National Park, British Columbia. Attitudes, knowledge, perceptions, and personal attribution were measured using questionnaire survey and structured interviews undertaken in situ. Depreciative behaviors of visitors were discreetly observed and correlated to the questionnaire survey and interview responses. We show that visitors who recorded greater knowledge of intertidal ecology engaged in more depreciative behaviors than visitors recording less knowledge. Visitors who perceived high ecosystem resilience in the intertidal zone engaged in significantly more behaviors eliciting biological cost than those who perceived low ecosystem resilience. Visitors who recorded uncertainty regarding ecosystem resilience engaged in significantly more depreciative behaviors than those who perceived low ecosystem resilience but slightly fewer depreciative behaviors than those who perceived high ecosystem resilience. Personal attribution was inversely correlated to the mean number of depreciative behaviors. We discuss the relevance of these results to the management of intertidal zones and marine protected areas, to multiple use management, the management of visitor impact, and natural resource use.     

Prioritizing Abandoned Coal Mine Reclamation Projects Within the Contiguous United States Using Geographic Information System Extrapolation

Coal mine reclamation projects are very expensive and require coordination of local and federal agencies to identify resources for the most economic way of reclaiming mined land. Location of resources for mine reclamation is a spatial problem. This article presents a methodology that allows the combination of spatial data on resources for the coal mine reclamation and uses GIS analysis to develop a priority list of potential mine reclamation sites within contiguous United States using the method of extrapolation. The extrapolation method in this study was based on the Bark Camp reclamation project. The mine reclamation project at Bark Camp, Pennsylvania, USA, provided an example of the beneficial use of fly ash and dredged material to reclaim 402,600 sq mi of a mine abandoned in the 1980s. Railroads provided transportation of dredged material and fly ash to the site. Therefore, four spatial elements contributed to the reclamation project at Bark Camp: dredged material, abandoned mines, fly ash sources, and railroads. Using spatial distribution of these data in the contiguous United States, it was possible to utilize GIS analysis to prioritize areas where reclamation projects similar to Bark Camp are feasible. GIS analysis identified unique occurrences of all four spatial elements used in the Bark Camp case for each 1 km of the United States territory within 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 km radii from abandoned mines. The results showed the number of abandoned mines for each state and identified their locations. The federal or state governments can use these results in mine reclamation planning.     

Intraspecific brood parasitism as a conditional reproductive tactic in the treehopper<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Publilia concava</Emphasis>

In species exhibiting egg guarding as well as communal egg laying, females may adopt the strategy of laying eggs in the nests of conspecifics and leaving without providing care (termed intraspecific brood parasitism). This study is the first to describe such a behavior in the insect Publilia concava (Hemiptera: Membracidae) through field studies that followed 849 marked females across 1,828 brood associations. While brood parasitism increased the total number of eggs in a host brood, it did not reduce the overall hatching success of host broods. Solitary females exhibited a range of guarding durations while parasitic females rarely remained to guard eggs. Females exhibiting the parasitic tactic increased their lifetime number of clutches without decreasing the number of solitary clutches that they were able to initiate. Estimates of egg number for these individual broods revealed that females adopting the parasitic tactic (in addition to solitary breeding) had higher lifetime fecundity relative to females that did not parasitize. In females that exhibited both tactics (solitary and parasitic), the parasitic tactic yielded a higher rate of oviposition. The major component of oviposition rate was the time to find hosts and this time decreased with increasing host availability across 222 replicate groups. Females exhibited a shift toward the parasitic tactic when host broods were more abundant (i.e. in larger groups and later in the season). However, the time to find hosts increased as the frequency of the parasitic tactic increased, suggesting that this tactic may be maintained through negative frequency dependence. The results of this study suggest that brood parasitism may be the preferred tactic, as part of a conditional strategy, when hosts are readily available with solitary breeding being the preferred tactic when hosts are in short supply.     

Environmental risk perception and urban renewal in the West Midlands, UK

This is a report of a social environmental audit of urban renewal schemes based on an investigation of environmental hazard risk perceptions of people in their homes, workplaces and other places of urban activity, in the vicinity of five major renewal sites in Sandwell, West Midlands, UK. The selection of the renewal schemes was designed to incorporate a range of the types of contemporary urban development in the UK. People were asked to give a scaled score response reflecting the perceived magnitude of risk of each of a series of hazards. Each person was asked to give two responses to each hazard, one response referring to the actual present situation post-renewal and the second response referring to an imagined present situation as if renewal had not occurred. The statistical analysis of the responses suggested that urban renewal had brought about an increase in certain perceived environmental risks and not necessarily a more desirable perceived environmental state than the alternative of dereliction.     

The international organisational machinery for sustainable development: Rio and the road Beyond

Summary The June 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) was the largest and most well attended United Nations conference of all time. The litmus test for the long-term will be whether the promises and pledges made at Rio can be taken forward by way of a process that gradually moves human society towards a more equitable and environmentally sustainable form of development. This paper focuses on two organisations that look set to play an important role in that process: the World Bank's experimental Global Environment Facility and the nascent United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. It is argued that both these bodies must find a way to respond to the conflicting demands of developed and developing nations if their efforts are not to be stymied by the same kind of international disagreements which characterised the negotiations preceding the Summit.The author is a research associate at the Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE), a UK Economic and Social Research Council funded centre located jointly at the University of East Anglia and University College London. He is currently engaged in a long term research project which seeks to elucidate how governmental, business and other agencies perceive the uncertain threat of global environmental change, and how they are adapting to it.     

The application of spatial‐perceptual wilderness mapping to protected areas management in New Zealand

The paper examines the application of a spatial‐perceptual approach to the wilderness management issue of preserving natural ecological processes while also permitting appropriate wilderness use in protected areas. An approach to delimit the spatial extent of multiple perceptions of wilderness held by backcountry users is used—the wilderness perception mapping (WPM) methodology. The results obtained from employing the WPM.methodology are considered for the North West Nelson region of New Zealand. The map product provides new and useful information that has applicability to protected areas management. The role of WPM is discussed with reference to wilderness management in North West Nelson and New Zealand, and to protected areas management in general. The study demonstrates how a technology can be combined with a critical and sensible analysis of needs and procedures to give useful results, and highlights the value of applied interdisciplinary research.     

Dealing with controversial issues on occupational health educational courses

Aims: (1) to examine areas of controversy which arise in the occupational health course curriculum, and (2) to identify best practices in addressing and resolving those controversies.Methods: A literature review reveals that occupational health practice and policy contain many controversies. The BSc and MSc occupational health course curricula at the Nottingham Trent University contain toxicology, epidemiology, occupational hygiene, and occupational health policy. These subjects raise questions which may be controversial and have been so identified by students —through the collection, interpretation, dissemination and presentation of data; different methodologies; funding of particular types of occupational health research; use of data in setting standards, and making policy. Case studies on coal mining, coal gas industry and formaldehyde are used on the courses to examine the controversial topics raised by students.Results: Evaluations reveal that controversy should be openly acknowledged in the teaching of occupational health. Those providing courses need to be aware of the tensions and problems which may arise when controversy emerges on courses. Methods are available for raising the subject and dealing with it as a positive pedagogic tool. This entails the use of case studies which examine several different perspectives and approaches to the controversy linked to comparative and historical studies.Conclusions: The teaching of occupational health to clinical and non-clinical students, from a range of backgrounds, is not a value-free activity. Controversial questions central to key topics in occupational health relating to science and technology as well as policy will always emerge. These should be openly recognised and discussed on courses through, for instance, case study material which identifies and analyses a range of approaches to the subject.     

NETWORK MODEL FOR DECISIONSUPPORT IN MUNICIPAL RAW WATER SUPPLY1

ABSTRACT: A water supply network optimization model called MODSIM3 is presented as a decision-support tool for aiding city staff in determining how best to utilize and exchange existing and potential water supplies with other users in a river basin. The model is applied to the City of Fort Collins, Colorado, water supply system as a means of determining optimum ways the City can utilize direct flow rights, storage rights, and exchangeable waters from various sources. Results clearly confirm both the benefits of the use of exchanges and the value of MODSIM3 as a water supply planning and management tool.     

A GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF VOTING PATTERNS FOR WATER RELATED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS IN TEXAS, 1957-19811

ABSTRACT: Country level electoral data were used to analyze the voting patterns of eight water related constitutional amendment elections. Both water quality enhancement amendments (1971, 1976), and three of six water development amendments (1957, 1962, 1966) have been ratified, thus establishing a statewide policy of reservoir development, a funding mechanism to implement such a policy, and the creation of a water management agency. Begining with the 1969 election, a West Texas-East Texas regionalized voting pattern has emerged, resulting in the defeat of three amendments (1969, 1976, 1981) intended to provide additional funding for water development. This regionalization reflects different climatic, physiographic, economic, and locational factors, and represents a potential obstacle to coordinated water management in Texas.