Building regional priorities in forests for development and adaptation to climate change in the Congo Basin

Indentifying common priorities in shared natural resource systems constitutes an important platform for implementing adaptation and a major step in sharing a common responsibility in addressing climate change. Predominated by discourses on REDD + (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries) with little emphasis on adaptation there is a risk of lack of policy measures in addressing climate change in the Congo Basin. Forest products and ecosystem services provide security portfolios for the predominantly rural communities, and play major roles in national development programmes in both revenue and employment opportunities. Thus, raising the profile of forests in the policy arena especially in the twin roles of addressing climate change in mitigation and adaptation and achieving resilient development is crucial. Within the framework of the Congo Basin Forests and Climate Change Adaptation project (COFCCA) project, science policy dialogue was conducted to identify and prioritize forest based sectors vulnerable to climate change but important to household livelihoods and national development. The goal of the prioritization process was for the development of intervention in forest as measures for climate change adaptation in Central Africa. Participants constituted a wide range of stakeholders (government, Non Governmental Organizations, research institutions, universities, community leaders, private sectors etc.) as representatives from three countries directly involved in the project: Cameroon, Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo. Building on national priorities, four forest related sectors were identified as common priorities at the regional level for focus on climate change adaptation. These sectors included: (1) energy with emphasis on fuel wood and Charcoal; (2) Water principally quality, quantity, accessibility, etc.; (3) Food with emphasis on Non Timber Forest Products, and (4) Health linked to healthcare products (medicinal plants). Using these prioritized sectors, the project focused on addressing the impacts of climate change on local communities and the development of adaptation strategies in the three pilot countries of the Congo Basin region. The four sectors constitute the key for development in the region and equally considered as priority sectors in the poverty reduction papers. Focused research on these sectors can help to inject the role of forests in national and local development and their potentials contributions to climate change adaptation in national and public discourses. Mainstreaming forest for climate change adaptation into national development planning is the key to improve policy coherence and effectiveness in forest management in the region.     

Male fighting and “territoriality” within colonies of the ant Cardiocondyla venustula

The ant genus Cardiocondyla is characterized by a bizarre male polymorphism with wingless fighter males and winged disperser males. Winged males have been lost convergently in several clades, and in at least one of them, wingless males have evolved mutual tolerance. To better understand the evolutionary pathways of reproductive tactics, we investigated Cardiocondyla venustula, a species, which in a phylogenetic analysis clusters with species with fighting and species with mutually tolerant, wingless males. Wingless males of C. venustula use their strong mandibles to kill freshly eclosed rival males and also engage in short fights with other adult males, but in addition show a novel behavior hitherto not reported from social insect males: they spread out in the natal nest and defend “territories” against other males. Ant males therefore show a much larger variety of reproductive tactics than previously assumed.     

European scale application of atmospheric reactive nitrogen measurements in a low-cost approach to infer dry deposition fluxes

A European scale network was established in 2006 as part of the NitroEurope Integrated Project to infer reactive nitrogen (Nr) dry deposition fluxes, based on low-cost sampling of gaseous and aerosol species and inferential modelling. The network provides monthly measurements of NH₃, NH₄⁺, HNO₃ and NO₃⁻, as well as SO₂, SO₄²⁻, HCl, Cl⁻ and base cations at 58 sites. Measurements are made with an established low-cost denuder methodology (DELTA) as a basis to: (1) examine temporal trends and spatial patterns across Europe, (2) improve and calibrate inferential modelling techniques to estimate exchange of Nr species, (3) provide best estimates of atmospheric dry N deposition, and (4) permit an analysis of net GHG exchange in relation to atmospheric and agricultural N inputs at the European scale. Responsibility for measurements is shared among seven European laboratories. An inter-comparison of the DELTA implementation by 6 laboratories at 4 test sites (Montelibretti, Italy; Braunschweig, Germany; Paterna, Spain and Auchencorth, UK) from July to October 2006 provided training for the laboratories and showed that good agreement was achieved in different climatic conditions (87% of laboratory site-means within 20% of the inter-laboratory median). Results obtained from the first year of measurements show substantial spatial variability in atmospheric Nr concentrations, illustrating the major local (NH₃) and regional (HNO₃, NO₃⁻, and NH₄⁺) differences in Nr concentrations. These results provide the basis to develop future estimates of site-based Nr dry deposition fluxes across Europe, and highlight the role of NH₃, largely of agricultural origin, which was the largest single constituent and will dominate dry Nr fluxes at most sites.     

Future implications of urban intensification on residential water demand

Over recent decades Auckland, New Zealand, metropolitan area has vastly expanded as a result of rapid population growth and low-density housing developments. In order to manage the uncontrolled low-density urban sprawl, Auckland Council proposed a compact city model through promoting higher density housing developments. In order to understand the implications of this transition on future residential water demand, this study first evaluated water consumption in three major housing types in Auckland including single houses, low-rise and high-rise apartments. Using the geographic information system, the water consumption information, estimated from a large sample of 60,000 dwellings across Auckland, was subsequently integrated with the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan outlining the future housing composition over different areas in Auckland. Through developing different growth scenarios, the study showed that the housing transition from single houses to more intensified multi-unit houses cannot considerably affect the average per capita water consumption in Auckland.