“The End of the Ice Age?”: Disappearing World Heritage and the Climate Change Communication Imperative

Rapid environmental change in vulnerable destinations has stimulated a new form of travel termed “last chance tourism” (LCT). Studies have examined the risks of LCT, while leaving potential opportunities within this new tourism market largely underexplored. Results of survey (n?=?399) research in Jasper National Park, Canada reveal that a LCT motivation influences decisions to visit this iconic Canadian destination, and suggest that this motivation is linked to a desire to learn about the impacts of climate change on the Athabasca Glacier. Findings suggest there may be short to medium term opportunities associated with LCT, including promoting climate change ambassadorship through management interventions. This paper discusses a range of possible education, interpretive, and outreach activities that might be employed at LCT destinations. It outlines the relative merits (or what we refer to as “uneasy benefits”) of promoting the glacier and other LCT destinations within a protected areas management and climate change adaptation context.     

A relational demography model of workgroup identification: testing the effects of race,race dissimilarity,racial identification,and communication behavior

This study tested a relational demography model of workgroup identification. We theorized that early in workgroup formation, (a) racial identification would moderate the influence of racial dissimilarity on member communication behavior (frequency and length of verbal participation) during a group task, (b) member communication behaviors would mediate the effect of racial dissimilarity on workgroup identification, and that (c) these effects would be affected non‐symmetrically by racial group membership (White, Black). This model was tested among a sample of 211 undergraduates (113 White and 98 Black), working in 43 temporary workgroups. Whites' racial identification moderated the relationship between racial dissimilarity and member communication behaviors, which in turn partially mediated the effect of racial dissimilarity on workgroup identification, generally consistent with our model. Among Black workgroup members support for our model was limited. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of the host-specificity and prevalence of enterococci surface protein (esp) marker in sewage and its application for sourcing human fecal pollution

The suitability of the enterococci surface protein (esp) marker to detect human fecal pollution was evaluated by testing 197 fecal samples from 13 host groups in Southeast Queensland, Australia. Overall, this marker was detected in 90.5% of sewage and septic system samples and could not be detected in any fecal samples from 12 animal host groups. The sensitivity of the esp primer to detect the human-specific esp marker in sewage and septic samples was 100 and 67%, respectively. The overall specificity of this marker to distinguish between human and animal fecal pollution was 100%. Its prevalence in sewage was also determined by testing samples from the raw sewage, secondary effluent, and treated effluent of a sewage treatment plant (STP) over five consecutive days. Of the 15 samples tested, 12 (80%) were found to be positive for this marker. In contrast, it was not found in three samples from the treated effluent and these samples did not contain any culturable enterococci. The PCR limit of detection of this marker in freshwater samples was up to dilution 1 x 10(-4) and the number of culturable enterococci at this dilution was 4.8 x 10(1) +/- 7.0 x 10 degrees colony forming unit (CFU). The utility of this marker was evaluated by testing water samples from three non-sewered catchments in Pine Rivers in Southeast Queensland. Of the 13 samples tested, eight were positive for this marker with the number of enterococci ranging between 1.8 x 10(3) to 8.5 x 10(3) CFU per 100 mL of water. Based on the results, it can be concluded that the esp marker appears to be sewage specific and could be used as a reliable marker to detect human fecal pollution in surface waters in Southeast Queensland, Australia.     

Decreasing lead bioaccessibility in industrial and firing range soils with phosphate-based amendments

In-situ stabilization using phosphate (P) amendments, such as P-based fertilizers and rock, are a potentially cost-effective and minimally disruptive alternative for stabilizing Pb in soils. We examined the effect of time (0-365 d), in vitro extraction pH (1.5 vs. 2.3), and dosage of three P-based amendments on the bioaccessibility (as a surrogate for oral bioavailability) of Pb in 10 soils from U.S. Department of Defense facilities. Initial untreated soil bioaccessibility consistently exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency default value of 60% relative bioavailability, with higher bioaccessibility consistently observed at an in vitro extraction pH of 1.5 vs. 2.3. Although P-based amendments statistically (P < 0.05) reduced bioaccessibility in many instances, with reductions dependent on the amendment and dosage, large amendment dosages (approximately 20-25% by mass to yield 5% P by mass) were required to reduce average bioaccessibility by approximately 25%. For most amendment combinations, reductions continued to occur for periods up to 1 yr, indicating that the observed reductions were not merely experimental artifacts of the in vitro extraction procedure. Although our results indicated that reductions in Pb bioaccessibility with P amendments are technically feasible, relatively large amendment masses were required to achieve relatively modest reductions in bioaccessibility. The cost and potential environmental implications of adding such large amounts of P may limit the practicality of in situ immobilization for some Pb-contaminated soils, industrial and firing range soils in particular.     

Growth of the scyllarid lobsters Ibacus peronii and I. chacei

The growth rates of the morphologically similar scyllarid lobsters Ibacus peronii (Leach, 1815) and I. chacei (Brown and Holthuis, 1998) are described using data from a tag/recapture study and from tagged lobsters kept in captivity. Within particular size classes, we found no differences in moult increments between male and female I. peronii nor between male and female I. chacei. Small individuals of both species always had larger moult increments than larger individuals. For I. peronii, females moulted more frequently than males, and smaller size classes moulted more frequently than larger size classes. Female I. peronii therefore grew more quickly than males and reached their estimated size at sexual maturity (51 mm carapace length) after ∼2 yr. Moulting of I. peronii was seasonal, with most lobsters (96.3%) moulting between October and January. We found no differences in growth rates of I. peronii at two locations along the east coast of Australia: Coffs Harbour in New South Wales (30°18′S; 153°08′E), and Lakes Entrance in Victoria (37°53′S; 148°00′E). For I. chacei, we found no differences in the frequency of moulting between males and females and, because we also found no differences in the moult increments between males and females, the growth rates of both sexes were the same. Received: 14 August 1999 / Accepted: 20 January 2000     

江苏省高宝湖区湖泊群富营养化特征分析

对江苏省高宝湖区高邮湖、宝应湖、邵伯湖和白马湖湖泊富营养化共性与差异性特征进行了分析。结果表明,2009—2014年,4个湖泊总体处于中营养—轻度富营养之间,综合富营养状态指数值在年内均呈波动变化,丰水期明显大于枯水期;主要营养因子水平在4个湖泊之间均存在较明显的差异,尤其是TN和SD 2项指标阶梯状差异较为明显,Chl-a也呈现不同程度的年内分布水平差异,并在春、夏季存在藻类暴发风险;各湖泊Chl-a与环境因子相关性差异较大,宝应湖、白马湖以及总体分析的高宝湖群Chl-a均与水温、TP相关性显著,TP应是高宝湖群藻类生长限制的主导营养因子;各湖泊富营养化特征存在差异性,总体上宝应湖与白马湖富营养化特征较为类似,与高邮湖差异较大,邵伯湖富营养化特征与高邮湖接近,又兼有与宝应湖、白马湖相似性特征。     

Status and trends in Arctic vegetation: Evidence from experimental warming and long-term monitoring

Changes in Arctic vegetation can have important implications for trophic interactions and ecosystem functioning leading to climate feedbacks. Plot-based vegetation surveys provide detailed insight into vegetation changes at sites around the Arctic and improve our ability to predict the impacts of environmental change on tundra ecosystems. Here, we review studies of changes in plant community composition and phenology from both long-term monitoring and warming experiments in Arctic environments. We find that Arctic plant communities and species are generally sensitive to warming, but trends over a period of time are heterogeneous and complex and do not always mirror expectations based on responses to experimental manipulations. Our findings highlight the need for more geographically widespread, integrated, and comprehensive monitoring efforts that can better resolve the interacting effects of warming and other local and regional ecological factors.     

Analytical solution for estimating storage efficiency of geologic sequestration of CO2

During injection of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into deep saline aquifers, the available pore volume of the aquifer may be used inefficiently, thereby decreasing the effective capacity of the repository for CO₂ storage. Storage efficiency is the fraction of the available pore space that is utilized for CO₂ storage, or, in other words, it is the ratio between the volume of stored CO₂ and the maximum available pore volume. In this note, we derive and present simple analytical expressions for estimating CO₂ storage efficiency under the scenario of a constant-rate injection of CO₂ into a confined, homogeneous, isotropic, saline aquifer. The expressions for storage efficiency are derived from models developed previously by other researchers describing the shape of the CO₂-brine interface. The storage efficiency of CO₂ is found to depend on three dimensionless groups, namely: (1) the residual saturation of brine after displacement by CO₂; (2) the ratio of CO₂ mobility to brine mobility; (3) a dimensionless group (which we call a “gravity factor”) that quantifies the importance of CO₂ buoyancy relative to CO₂ injection rate. In the particular case of negligible residual brine saturation and negligible buoyancy effects, the storage efficiency is approximately equal to the ratio of the CO₂ viscosity to the brine viscosity. Storage efficiency decreases as the gravity factor increases, because the buoyancy of the CO₂ causes it to occupy a thin layer at the top of the confined formation, while leaving the lower part of the aquifer under-utilized. Estimates of storage efficiency from our simple analytical expressions are in reasonable agreement with values calculated from simulations performed with more complicated multi-phase-flow simulation software. Therefore, we suggest that the analytical expressions presented herein could be used as a simple and rapid tool to screen the technical or economic feasibility of a proposed CO₂ injection scenario.     

考虑道路状况的应急配发站启用以及配送优化问题*

为了研究应急物资配发站启用及配送方案优化问题,综合考虑灾难事件下的道路损毁状况、道路复杂程度、需求不确定以及物资拆分配送等特点,以应急物资配发站启用成本、车辆启动成本、运输成本之和最小化为目标,建立应急物资配发站启用及配送模型,设计头脑风暴优化算法,结合算例,对该问题进行仿真,并将结果与遗传算法进行对比,验证模型的可行性和算法的有效性。结果表明,在决策时考虑道路状况能够有效降低系统成本,提高救援效率。