Modeling affective and cognitive responses to soft-target terrorism over time

Environment Systems and Decisions - There is great value in understanding the public’s reactions to terror attacks, though such reactions pose stark challenges for sound psychological...     

Stakeholder engagement in sustainable adventure tourism development in the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve,India

Stakeholder involvement is often cited as critical to sustainable tourism development, but there is limited documentation for niche areas, such as adventure tourism. The main purpose of our research was to understand stakeholder roles in adventure tourism in the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR), Uttarakhand, India, to identify opportunities for achieving sustainable adventure tourism. Our interviews, treks and other activities revealed that organised adventure activities were still in the early development phase, with trekking being the most popular activity. The roles of various stakeholders are yet to be clearly defined, but the State Forest Department is playing a lead in the rapidly evolving network of relationships among adventure tourism stakeholders. Significant opportunity exists for a more systematic approach to adventure tourism planning that builds on the existing strengths of the various players.     

The local nonprofit sector and the pursuit of sustainability in American cities: a preliminary exploration

This paper reports on the results of a study of the relationship between the nonprofit sector and the pursuit of sustainability in 13 moderate sized US cities with populations between 400,000 and 600,000. Dividing the cities into two groups – those that have been more serious and less serious about adopting and implementing sustainability policies, analysis of a survey of local public officials examines differences in the nonprofit landscape. Analysis shows that the cities that are more serious about sustainability have local public officials who interact more with nonprofit organisations, and are more likely to report the presence of at least one nonprofit group that supports city sustainability policies. Additionally, these reported groups are more likely to be “local”, or homegrown, and to be explicitly dedicated to the environment or sustainability. While far from definitive, the results provide evidence that the nonprofit sector is different in cities with sustainability policies, and suggest that the role of these nonprofit groups in the governance decisions of city leaders warrants more in-depth study.     

Spectral characteristics of plant communities from salt marshes:A case study from Chongming Dongtan,Yangtzeestuary,China

The spectral reflectance of recently formed salt marshes at the mouth of the Yangtze River, which are undergoing invasion by Spartina alterniflora, were assessed to determine the potential utility of remotely sensed data in assessing future invasion and changes in species composition. Following a review of published research on remote sensing of salt marshes, 53 locations along three transects were sampled for paired data on plant species composition and spectral reflectance using a FieldSpec™ Pro JR Field Portable Spectroradiometer. Spectral data were processed concerning reflectance, and the averaged reflectance values for each sample were reanalysed to correspond to a 12-waveband bandset of the Compact Airborne Spectral Imager. The spectral data were summarised using principal components analysis (PCA) and the relationships between the vegetation composition, and the PCA axes of spectral data were examined. The first PCA axis of the reflectance data showed a strong correlation with variability in near infrared reflectance and ‘brightness’, while the second axis was correlated with visible reflectance and ‘greenness’. Total vegetation cover, vegetation height, and mudflat cover were all significantly related to the first axis. The implications of this in terms of the ability of remote sensing to distinguish the various salt marsh species and in particular the invasive species S. alterniflora were discussed. Major differences in species with various physiognomies could be recognised but problems occurred in separating early colonising S. alterniflora from other species at that stage. Further work using multi-seasonal hyperspectral data might assist in solving these problems.     

Invasional meltdown: invader-invader mutualism facilitates a secondary invasion

In multiply invaded ecosystems, introduced species should interact with each other as well as with native species. Invader-invader interactions may affect the success of further invaders by altering attributes of recipient communities and propagule pressure. The invasional meltdown hypothesis (IMH) posits that positive interactions among invaders initiate positive population-level feedback that intensifies impacts and promotes secondary invasions. IMH remains controversial: few studies show feedback between invaders that amplifies their effects, and none yet demonstrate facilitation of entry and spread of secondary invaders. Our results show that supercolonies of an alien ant, promoted by mutualism with introduced honeydew-secreting scale insects, permitted invasion by an exotic land snail on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean. Modeling of land snail spread over 750 sites across 135 km2 over seven years showed that the probability of land snail invasion was facilitated 253-fold in ant supercolonies but impeded in intact forest where predaceous native land crabs remained abundant. Land snail occurrence at neighboring sites, a measure of propagule pressure, also promoted land snail spread. Site comparisons and experiments revealed that ant supercolonies, by killing land crabs but not land snails, disrupted biotic resistance and provided enemy-free space. Predation pressure on land snails was lower (28.6%), survival 115 times longer, and abundance 20-fold greater in supercolonies than in intact forest. Whole-ecosystem suppression of supercolonies reversed the probability of land snail invasion by allowing recolonization of land crabs; land snails were much less likely (0.79%) to invade sites where supercolonies were suppressed than where they remained intact. Our results provide strong empirical evidence for IMH by demonstrating that mutualism between invaders reconfigures key interactions in the recipient community. This facilitates entry of secondary invaders and elevates propagule pressure, propagating their spread at the whole-ecosystem level. We show that identification and management of key facilitative interactions in invaded ecosystems can be used to reverse impacts and restore resistance to further invasions.     

Probabilistic movement model with emigration simulates movements of deer in Nebraska, 1990–2006

Movements of deer can affect population dynamics, spatial redistribution, and transmission and spread of diseases. Our goal was to model the movement of deer in Nebraska in an attempt to predict the potential for spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) into eastern Nebraska. We collared and radio-tracked >600 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in Nebraska during 1990–2006. We observed large displacements (>10 km) for both species and sexes of deer, including migrations up to 100 km and dispersals up to 50 km. Average distance traveled between successive daily locations was 166 m for male and 173 for female deer in eastern Nebraska, and 427 m for male and 459 for female deer in western Nebraska. Average daily displacement from initial capture point was 10 m for male and 14 m for female deer in eastern Nebraska, and 27 m for male and 28 m for female deer in western Nebraska. We used these data on naturally occurring movements to create and test 6 individual-based models of movement for white-tailed deer and mule deer in Nebraska, including models that incorporated sampling from empirical distributions of movement lengths and turn angles (DIST), correlated random walks (CRW), home point fidelity (FOCUS), shifting home point (SHIFT), probabilistic movement acceptance (MOVE), and probabilistic movement with emigration (MOVEwEMI). We created models in sequence in an attempt to account for the shortcomings of the previous model(s). We used the Kolmogrov–Smirnov goodness-of-fit test to verify improvement of simulated annual displacement distributions to empirical displacement distributions. The best-fit model (D = 0.07 and 0.08 for eastern and western Nebraska, respectively) included a probabilistic movement chance with emigration (MOVEwEMI) and resulted in an optimal daily movement length of 350 m (maximum daily movement length of 2800 m for emigrators) for eastern Nebraska and 370 m (maximum of 2960 m) for western Nebraska. The proportion of deer that moved as emigrators was 0.10 and 0.13 for eastern and western Nebraska, respectively. We propose that the observed spread of CWD may be driven by large movements of a small proportion of deer that help to establish a low prevalence of the disease in areas east of the current endemic area. Our movement models will be used in a larger individual-based simulation of movement, survival, and transmission of CWD to help determine future surveillance and management actions.     

Detection of nitro-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in mainstream and sidestream tobacco smoke using electron monochromator-mass spectrometry

For the first time, we show the presence of nitro substituted naphthalenes in both mainstream and sidestream tobacco smoke using electron monochromator-mass spectrometry. Only one mainstream smoke sample showed the presence of 1-nitronaphthalene (1-NN) at 20 pg/cigarette, while all of the sidestream smoke samples showed the presence of 1-NN at levels ranging from 0.40 to 0.60 ng/cigarette and 2-NN at quantities ranging from 1 to 2 ng/cigarette. Additionally, these levels showed a ratio of ~1:3 for 1-NN to 2-NN which demonstrates that the formation of 2-NN is favored under sidestream combustion conditions. No larger ring structure (>2) nitro-aromatics were identified.     

Ecological effects of cultivation on the machair sand dune systems of the Outer Hebrides, Scotland

The machair sand dune systems of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland are a unique habitat, which is rare within both a global and European context. Unusually, the machair habitat also represents an agricultural resource that is very important to the Hebridean people, having been subject to both grazing and cultivation throughout the historical period. Following designation as an Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) in 1988, the machairs of South Uist have been studied with the aim of understanding the links between agricultural practice and their plant community and ecosystem dynamics. This research focused primarily on the effects of cultivation practices and their role in maintaining plant species richness and community and ecosystem stability. Within two carefully selected areas, the successional plant communities of machair at different stages of recovery following ploughing and cultivation of cereals and potato patches or ‘lazy beds’ were identified at both a macro- and micro-level. Investigations of the vegetation recovery processes on turves taken from newly ploughed land indicated that the initial stages of recolonization are characterized primarily by rapid vegetative reproduction and growth, although re-vegetation by seeds is also an important factor. The implications of these findings for the long-term management of machair plant communities are discussed and in particular the need to maintain old cultivation practices such as shallow ploughing. The need for more detailed research into both seed banks and seed rain and into processes of vegetative reproduction is stressed. Nomenclature: Clapham et al. (1981) and Stace (1991, 1997) for vascular plants; Hubbard (1984) for grasses; Pankhurst & Mullin (1991) for the regional flora; Dobson (1992) for lichens; Watson (1981) for mosses and liverworts.