Effect of temperature and precipitation on linear increment of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sphagnum fuscum</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">S. magellanicum</Emphasis> in Western Siberia

The linear increment of Sphagnum fuscum and S. magellanicum in ombrotrophic mires of Western Siberia has been measured during two years over a transect about 2500 km long extending from forest–steppe to forest–tundra. Along the latitudinal gradient, the increment of both species has proved to be correlated with annual average air temperature and, in S. magellanicum, also with annual precipitation. The determinants of their growth differ between the southern, central, and northern parts of the study region. At the regional level, the annual and summer precipitation plays a more important role than the average air temperature. The increment of S. fuscum in the southern part is positively correlated with the amount of precipitation and negatively correlated with summer temperature, whereas the situation in the central part is inverse. In S. magellanicum, the linear increment is directly dependent on the annual average temperature and annual and summer precipitation in the south and on the annual and summer precipitation in the north of Western Siberia. The dynamics of linear growth of both species in bog pine forests during the growing season are similar: its rate is the highest in June, when the linear increment of S. fuscum and S. magellanicum amounts to 60 and 85% of the annual total, respectively.     

Status differences in collective action and forest benefits: evidence from joint forest management in India

Does status matter in community-based forest management? If so, are the high-status households more benefited than the low-status households? What drives status differences, if any, in the appropriation of forest resources? To address these questions, we draw on a theory of status and resource use that defines one’s status as one’s relative position in a group on the basis of power, prestige, honor and deference. Following this perspective, we surveyed the heads of 341 forest-based rural households in India from 2009 to 2010. We find that collective actions themselves are status-driven and the high-status households are more interested and involved in status-maintaining collective actions such as decision-making and implementation, while the low-status households perform general tasks like forest patrol. Moreover, the high-status households derive benefits from local forest significantly more than the low-status households. Further, decomposition analysis shows that a household’s prestige and honor measured by its access to social resources, problem faced and useful contacts explain about 56 % of the status gap in forest benefits, while socioeconomic characteristics explain only 16 % of the gap. Thus, due emphasis on household status from a broader socioeconomic perspective is required to reduce inequality in participation and the distribution of forest benefits in co-management.     

The social and scientific values that shape national climate scenarios: a comparison of the Netherlands,Switzerland and the UK

This paper seeks to understand why climate information is produced differently from country to country. To do this, we critically examined and compared the social and scientific values that shaped the production of three national climate scenarios in the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK. A comparative analysis of documentary materials and expert interviews linked to the climate scenarios was performed. Our findings reveal a new typology of use-inspired research in climate science for decision-making: (i) innovators, where the advancement of science is the main objective; (ii) consolidators, where knowledge exchanges and networks are prioritised; and (iii) collaborators, where the needs of users are put first and foremost. These different values over what constitutes ‘good’ science for decision-making are mirrored in the way users were involved in the production process: (i) elicitation, where scientists have privileged decision-making power; (ii) representation, where multiple organisations mediate on behalf of individual users; and (iii) participation, where a multitude of users interact with scientists in an equal partnership. These differences help explain why climate knowledge gains its credibility and legitimacy differently even when the information itself might not be judged as salient and usable. If the push to deliberately co-produce climate knowledge is not sensitive to the national civic epistemology at play in each country, scientist–user interactions may fail to deliver more ‘usable’ climate information.

     

Environmental feedbacks in temperate aquatic ecosystems under global change: why do we need to consider chemical stressors?

Regional Environmental Change - Globally increasing temperature and modifications in precipitation patterns induce major environmental alterations in aquatic ecosystems. Particularly profound...     

Effect of anthropogenic pollution on oxidative processes in the liver of fish from the Rybinsk Reservoir

The levels of total lipids, peroxidation products, and antioxidant activity in the liver were studied in fish species living in unequally polluted areas of the Rybinsk Reservoir and differing in their ecology and taxonomic position: the bream (Abramis brama L.), roach (Rutilus rutilus L.), burbot (Lota lota L.), and zander (Stizostedion lucioperca L.). The fish from polluted water areas were characterized by higher levels of total lipids and malonic dialdehyde and a deficiency of antioxidants. It is shown that the test parameters depend on the type of feeding and mode of life of the fish species.     

Is there a density compensation effect in plant communities of anthropogenic habitats?

The occurrence of density compensation effect (DCE) has been estimated in areas occupied by synanthropic communities in the Western Caucasus. The density of dominant plant species has been estimated from their coverage, and that of subordinate species, from their frequency in 0.5-m² squares within 15 (16)-m² plots, using natural and seminatural communities as a reference standard. The factual material has been analyzed by the method of numerical experiments. The results show that the transformation of natural habitats into anthropogenic ones has led to a decrease in the species diversity of plant communities, but without causing a widespread occurrence of DCE. It is hypothesized that relatively high average values of species frequency in low-diversity synanthropic communities are more likely accounted for by random rather than compensatory processes.     

Evolutionary ecological analysis of coupled geographic variation of two sympatric rodent species in the Southern Urals

Geometric morphometrics has been used to reveal coupled geographic variation in the mandible shape in two sympatric rodent species, the pygmy wood mouse (Sylvaemus uralensis Pall.) and bank vole (Myodes glareolus Pall.), in the Southern Urals. It has been shown that syntopic samples synchronously collected from the local communities of these species usually display similar, parallel, and unidirectional morphological changes as demonstrated by comparison of species pairs from different localities. The degree of concordance in geographic variation of the species makes it possible to estimate their coevolutionary potential within local communities: the wider the range of ecological conditions under which parallel variation of sympatric species is observed, the higher is their coevolutionary potential.     

Estimating sediment and caesium-137 fluxes in the Ribble Estuary through time-series airborne remote sensing

High spatial and temporal resolution airborne imagery were acquired for the Ribble Estuary, North West England in 1997 and 2003, to assess the application of time-series airborne remote sensing to quantify total suspended sediment and radionuclide fluxes during a flood and ebb tide sequence. Concomitant measurements of suspended particulate matter (SPM) and water column turbidity were obtained during the time-series image acquisition for the flood and ebb tide sequence on the 17th July 2003 to verify the assumption of a vertically well mixed estuary and thus justifying the vertical extrapolation of spatially integrated estimate of surface SPM. The ¹³⁷Cs activity concentrations were calculated from a relatively stable relationship between SPM and ¹³⁷Cs for the Ribble Estuary. Total estuary wide budgets of sediment and ¹³⁷Cs were obtained by combining the image-derived estimates of surface SPM and ¹³⁷Cs with estimates of water volume from a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model (VERSE) developed for the Ribble Estuary. These indicate that around 10,000 tonnes of sediment and 2.72 GBq of ¹³⁷Cs were deposited over the tidal sequence monitored in July 2003. This compared favourably with bed height elevation change estimated from field work. An uncertainty analysis on the total sediment and ¹³⁷Cs flux yielded a total budget of the order of 40% on the final estimate. The results represent a novel approach to providing a spatially integrated estimate of the total net sediment and radionuclide flux in an intertidal environment over a flood and ebb tide sequence.     

Radiological maps for Trabzon, Turkey

The activity concentrations and absorbed gamma dose rates due to primordial radionuclides and ¹³⁷Cs have been ascertained in 222 soil samples in 18 counties of the Trabzon province of Turkey using a HPGe detector. The mean activity concentrations of ²³⁸U, ²³²Th, ⁴⁰K and ¹³⁷Cs in soil samples were 41, 35, 437 and 21 Bq kg⁻¹, respectively. Based on the measured concentrations of these radionuclides, the mean absorbed gamma dose in air was calculated as 59 nGy h⁻¹ and hence, the mean annual effective dose due to terrestrial gamma radiation was calculated as 72 μSv y⁻¹. In addition, outdoor in situ gamma dose rate (D) measurements were performed in the same 222 locations using a portable NaI detector and the annual effective dose was calculated to be 66 μSv y⁻¹ from these results. The results presented in this study are compared with other parts of Turkey. Radiological maps of the Trabzon province were composed using the results obtained from the study.