Spatial cost–benefit analysis of blue restoration and factors driving net benefits globally

Marine coastal ecosystems, commonly referred to as blue ecosystems, provide valuable services to society but are under increasing threat worldwide due to a variety of drivers, including eutrophication, development, land-use change, land reclamation, and climate change. Ecological restoration is sometimes necessary to facilitate recovery in coastal ecosystems. Blue restoration (i.e., in marine coastal systems) is a developing field, and projects to date have been small scale and expensive, leading to the perception that restoration may not be economically viable. We conducted a global cost–benefit analysis to determine the net benefits of restoring coral reef, mangrove, saltmarsh, and seagrass ecosystems, where the benefit is defined as the monetary value of ecosystem services. We estimated costs from published restoration case studies and used an adjusted-value-transfer method to assign benefit values to these case studies. Benefit values were estimated as the monetary value provided by ecosystem services of the restored habitats. Benefits outweighed costs (i.e., there were positive net benefits) for restoration of all blue ecosystems. Mean benefit:cost ratios for ecosystem restoration were eight to 10 times higher than prior studies of coral reef and seagrass restoration, most likely due to the more recent lower cost estimates we used. Among ecosystems, saltmarsh had the greatest net benefits followed by mangrove; coral reef and seagrass ecosystems had lower net benefits. In general, restoration in nations with middle incomes had higher (eight times higher in coral reefs and 40 times higher in mangroves) net benefits than those with high incomes. Within an ecosystem type, net benefit varied with restoration technique (coral reef and saltmarsh), ecosystem service produced (mangrove and saltmarsh), and project duration (seagrass). These results challenge the perceptions of the low economic viability of blue restoration and should encourage further targeted investment in this field.     

From Food Justice to a Tool of the Status Quo: Three Sub-movements Within Local Food

The local food movement has been touted by some as a profoundly effective way to make our food system become more healthy, just, and sustainable. Others have criticized the movement as being less a challenge to the status quo and more an easily co-opted support offering just another set of choices for affluent consumers. In this paper, we analyze three distinct sub-movements within the local food movement, the individual-focused sub-movement, the systems-focused sub-movement, and the community-focused sub-movement. These movements can be combined within any particular campaign or within the goals of any particular organization or individual activist, but they are nevertheless quite different from each other, and come out of different conceptualizations of what food, people, and locality are. We argue that most of the critiques leveled against local food are actually directed against the individual-focused sub-movement, which is most compatible with the current industrial food system, and perhaps not surprisingly receives the most mainstream attention. Further, we argue that while each movement has its own strengths and weaknesses, it is the community-focused sub-movement that has the most potential to radically transform the global food system.     

Toward Cyborg PPGIS: exploring socio-technical requirements for the use of web-based PPGIS in two municipal planning cases,Stockholm region,Sweden

Web-based Public Participation Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS) are increasingly used for surveying place values and informing municipal planning in contexts of urban densification. However, research is lagging behind the rapid deployment of PPGIS applications. Some of the main opportunities and challenges for the uptake and implementation of web-based PPGIS are derived from a literature review and two case studies dealing with municipal planning for urban densification in the Stockholm region, Sweden. A simple clustering analysis identified three interconnected themes that together determine the performance of PPGIS: (i) tool design and affordances; (ii) organisational capacity; and (iii) governance. The results of the case studies augment existing literature regarding the connections between the different socio-technical dimensions for the design, implementation and evaluation of PPGIS applications in municipal planning. A cyborg approach to PPGIS is then proposed to improve the theoretical basis for addressing these dimensions together.     

Effect of Diel Activity Patterns and Harvesting Pressure on the Diversity and Biomass of Sea Cucumbers in Marovo Lagoon, Solomon Islands

A marked decline in the contribution by Marovo Lagoon to the annual total bêche-de-mer production of the Solomon Islands from 58% in 1989 to 17% in 2003 prompted investigation of their current biomass and diversity. We also assessed changes to critical ecological services and the prospects for population recovery following a fisheries closure. Day time and nocturnal transects revealed a mean abundance of 32.4 (SD = 5.3) low value species per ha (e.g. Holothuria atra, H. edulis, H. coluber and Thelenota anax) and 15.2 (SD = 2.7) high value species per ha (e.g. H. fuscogilva, Actinopyga lecanora, Stichopus hermanni and Thelenota ananas). Following a 17 month closure of the fishery (2005–2007), the abundance of bêche-de-mer was reported by local fisherman to have increased; however, no scientific studies were conducted that can substantiate this community held belief. The current study aimed to document the impact of re-opening the fishery in 2007 and documented a decline in high value species of 9% over a 5 month period following the opening of the fishery, while low value species continued to increase in abundance by 11%, over the same period based on nocturnal surveys. Continued observation of the recovery, post closure, and any subsequent harvest in Marovo will be required to properly understand population dynamics and provide a sustainable harvest plan for bêche-de-mer in the future.     

Prenatal demonstration of a cervical myelocystocele

Myelocystocele is a rare spinal cord disorder and has not been described prenatally. We report a case in which prenatal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated a posterior cervical mass which was initially thought to be a meningocele or an atypical cystic hygroma. Surgery performed at 1 day of age showed this to be a myelocystocele. Therefore, the differential diagnosis of an extracranial cystic mass in the posterior cervical region should be expanded to include myelocystoceles.