Local‐level governance of risk and resilience in Nepal

This paper explores the circumstances in which communities may effectively reduce risks. It draws on the example of two ‘Risk and Resilience Committees’ (RRCs) that were established in Nepal as part of an action research project: one in Panchkhal in the central region, operating as a community‐based organisation (CBO); and the other in Dhankuta in the eastern region, embedded in municipal government. In‐depth interviews were conducted with RRC members. Wider community preferences for risk reduction were examined through a questionnaire survey. In Dhankuta, the RRC obtained further funding, developed strong upward and downward institutional links, and applied a ‘disaster risk reduction lens’ to existing local government responsibilities. In Panchkhal, RRC activities have been limited by funding and have focused on the strengthening of livelihoods. It may be concluded tentatively that community‐based disaster risk reduction activities are more successful when they are institutionally embedded in local government structures.     

Habitat-induced changes in song consistency affect perception of social status in male chickadees

The ability of male black-capped chickadees to maintain consistent internal structure between successive iterations of their songs is affected by both their social rank and the quality of their habitat. Lab studies reveal that female chickadees discriminate between songs of dominant and subordinate males, which vary in acoustic structure. We investigate whether males also rely on acoustic structure to assess rival quality during agonistic interactions, and whether habitat-induced differences in song consistency affect the perception of male rank. We conducted a playback experiment to simulate territorial intrusions by dominant, stimuli males into the territories of dominant, subject males; stimuli males were recorded either in low-quality (young forest) or high-quality (mature forest) habitats. Stimuli from low-quality habitat had lower song consistency than those from high-quality habitats, despite being recorded from males of equivalent social rank. Subject males for playbacks (also socially dominant males) were chosen from either habitat type. Subject males in mature forest responded less to young-forest stimuli compared to mature-forest stimuli, despite the stimuli in both cases being recorded from dominant males. Conversely, male subjects in young forest did not differentiate between stimuli, but their response to both stimuli was lower than that of mature-forest subject males to mature-forest stimuli. We demonstrate that the ability to maintain internal song structure in the black-capped chickadee constitutes a signal that appears to be used by males to assess the level of threat of intruders, and that this perception is affected by habitat from which the stimulus males were recorded.     

Adaptations in a hierarchical food web of southeastern Lake Michigan

Two issues in ecological network theory are: (1) how to construct an ecological network model and (2) how do entire networks (as opposed to individual species) adapt to changing conditions? We present a novel method for constructing an ecological network model for the food web of southeastern Lake Michigan (USA) and we identify changes in key system properties that are large relative to their uncertainty as this ecological network adapts from one time point to a second time point in response to multiple perturbations. To construct our food web for southeastern Lake Michigan, we followed the list of seven recommendations outlined in Cohen et al. [Cohen, J.E., et al., 1993. Improving food webs. Ecology 74, 252–258] for improving food webs. We explored two inter-related extensions of hierarchical system theory with our food web; the first one was that subsystems react to perturbations independently in the short-term and the second one was that a system's properties change at a slower rate than its subsystems’ properties. We used Shannon's equations to provide quantitative versions of the basic food web properties: number of prey, number of predators, number of feeding links, and connectance (or density). We then compared these properties between the two time-periods by developing distributions of each property for each time period that took uncertainty about the property into account. We compared these distributions, and concluded that non-overlapping distributions indicated changes in these properties that were large relative to their uncertainty. Two subsystems were identified within our food web system structure (p < 0.001). One subsystem had more non-overlapping distributions in food web properties between Time 1 and Time 2 than the other subsystem. The overall system had all overlapping distributions in food web properties between Time 1 and Time 2. These results supported both extensions of hierarchical systems theory. Interestingly, the subsystem with more non-overlapping distributions in food web properties was the subsystem that contained primarily benthic taxa, contrary to expectations that the identified major perturbations (lower phosphorous inputs and invasive species) would more greatly affect the subsystem containing primarily pelagic taxa. Future food-web research should employ rigorous statistical analysis and incorporate uncertainty in food web properties for a better understanding of how ecological networks adapt.     

In situ net primary productivity and photosynthesis of Antarctic sea ice algal, phytoplankton and benthic algal communities

Primary production at Antarctic coastal sites is contributed from sea ice algae, phytoplankton and benthic algae. Oxygen microelectrodes were used to estimate sea ice and benthic primary production at several sites around Casey, a coastal area in eastern Antarctica. Maximum oxygen export from sea ice was 0.95 mmol O₂ m⁻² h⁻¹ (~11.7 mg C m⁻² h⁻¹) while from the sediment it was 6.08 mmol O₂ m⁻² h⁻¹ (~70.8 mg C m⁻² h⁻¹). When the ice was present O₂ export from the benthos was either low or negative. Sea ice algae assimilation rates were up to 3.77 mg C (mg Chl-a)⁻¹ h⁻¹ while those from the benthos were up to 1.53 mg C (mg Chl-a)⁻¹ h⁻¹. The contribution of the major components of primary productivity was assessed using fluorometric techniques. When the ice was present approximately 55–65% of total daily primary production occurred in the sea ice with the remainder unequally partitioned between the sediment and the water column. When the ice was absent, the benthos contributed nearly 90% of the primary production.     

The importance of the short-term leaching dynamics of wood preservatives

The potential environmental impacts from the use of treated timber in aquatic areas is under scrutiny as a result of environmental legislation and reports of the deleterious environmental effects around treated structures. In this study leaching experiments of up to 3 weeks duration were conducted on two species of chromated copper arsenate treated timber, dried for different periods of time. Increased drying time significantly reduced leaching of Cr and As. The addition of a synthetic humic acid increased leaching of Cu and As, but reduced leaching of Cr. Putative risk assessments conducted using short-term copper leaching data suggested protocol design may influence decisions made regarding the environmental acceptability of such preservatives.     

Amenity values of public and private forests: examining the value-attitude relationship

Public values toward forests have changed since the late 1980s, from a commodity-oriented perspective toward a more inclusive (commodity and non-commodity) orientation. This study examines the influence of four indicators of population diversity (age, ethnic background, place of residence, and gender) on amenity values of forests, environmental attitudes, and forest value-attitude correspondence. Four values of public and private forests were assessed, wood production (utilitarian value), clean air (a life support value), scenic beauty (an aesthetic value), and heritage (a spiritual value). Environmental attitudes were measured using a modified version of the New Environmental Paradigm scale. Five hundred and forty-eight randomly selected residents of households in 13 states of the Southern United States participated in a telephone interview. Age and ethnic background were found to moderate the value-attitude relationship, with the strength of the association being dependent upon the type of forest (i.e., public or private) and the forest value (i.e., utilitarian, life support, spiritual, and aesthetic). Females, younger persons (less than 43 years old), and whites reported lower utilitarian values of forests than their respective counterparts. Results are interpreted within the context of an emerging post-material society, in which a biocentric orientation to forests and the natural environment may be favored more by a younger (versus older) generation and increasingly racially diverse U.S. population. Implications for managing forests using a multiple-values (versus multiple-uses) approach are discussed.     

Urban channel adjustments in a management context: an Australian example

The impact of urbanization on stream channels has been investigated in a range of areas; the degree and extent of the channel adjustments have been demonstrated; and for a few areas these characteristics have recently been placed into a spatial context. A method of rapid field survey for depicting the channel network of urban areas in terms of near natural, adjusted, and channelized systems is illustrated for the urban area of Armidale NSW, for which Armidale Dumaresq Council had prepared a stormwater management plan. Such a survey could enable channel characteristics and adjustments, as well as water quantity and quality, to be included in the management plan. Possible options for management to address are suggested for each of the channel categories. A channel classification system of the kind suggested can provide a basic complement for the further development of the stormwater management plan, can afford a basis for specifying management alternatives, and can be helpful in demonstrating the options offered for community consultation.     

Factors Affecting Future Emissions of Methane from Non Land Use Sources

Evidence from the atmosphere indicates that global emissions of methane may have been broadly constant since the early 1980s or growing only slowly. This suggests that whilst emissions from some sources may have increased with increased activity, emissions from other sources may have gone down. This is supported by evidence and analysis from the individual emission sectors which show declining emission rates in some cases. This paper reviews the factors that might affect emissions in the future from different sources and has been written as an aid to the development of new scenarios for greenhouse gas emission for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The analysis indicates that there could be additional uncertainty in future emissions but that, overall, future emissions might plausibly be lower than previously projected.     

Landowner Satisfaction with the Wetlands Reserve Program in Wisconsin

We evaluated ecological monitoring data and landowner perceptions to the federally funded Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) in a three-county region in Wisconsin. We surveyed landowner satisfaction, involvement, participation, and use of the WRP restoration sites. We found that landowners are satisfied with the overall program (mean, 3.6 ± 0.2 [SE], on a scale of 1–5, with 5 being completely satisfied). WRP restorations significantly increased the area of wetland within the sites surveyed, the increase was primarily of fresh meadow (736.32 ha after restoration). Satisfaction is related to landowner participation during restoration and to the economic incentives provided by the WRP, Landowner satisfaction and the number of plant communities after restoration are unrelated to each other or to restoration and easement costs per hectare. Survey participants recommended some changes to the WRP, including a reduction in the tax rate of land enrolled in the WRP, approval for permanent deer stands, and increased communication with WRP officials during the restoration. Monitoring information collected for WRP restoration sites does not allow assessment of whether WRP sites are functionally equivalent to natural sites. We suggest that the WRP require a more rigorous monitoring program, including guidelines for invasive species control. Managers should also encourage collaborations with external researchers and consider restorations within an experimental framework.     

The U.S. Experience in Promoting Sustainable Chemistry (9 pp)

- Sustainable chemistry - Section editors: Klaus Günter Steinhäuser, Steffi Richter, Petra Greiner, Jutta Penning, Michael AngrickBackground, Aim and Scope Recent developments in European chemicals policy, including the Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) proposal, provide a unique opportunity to examine the U.S. experience in promoting sustainable chemistry as well as the strengths and weaknesses of existing policies. Indeed, the problems of industrial chemicals and limitations in current regulatory approaches to address chemical risks are strikingly similar on both sides of the Atlantic. We provide an overview of the U.S. regulatory system for chemicals management and its relationship to efforts promoting sustainable chemistry. We examine federal and state and examine lessons learned from this system that can be applied to developing more integrated, sustainable approaches to chemicals management.Main Features There is truly no one U.S. chemicals policy, but rather a series of different un-integrated policies at the federal, regional, state and local levels. While centerpiece U.S. Chemicals Policy, the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, has resulted in the development of a comprehensive, efficient rapid screening process for new chemicals, agency action to manage existing chemicals has been very limited. The agency, however, has engaged in a number of successful, though highly underfunded, voluntary data collection, pollution prevention, and sustainable design programs that have been important motivators for sustainable chemistry. Policy innovation in the establishment of numerous state level initiatives on persistent and bioaccumulative toxics, chemical restrictions and toxics use reduction have resulted in pressure on the federal government to augment its efforts.Results and Conclusions It is clear that data collection on chemical risks and phase-outs of the most egregious chemicals alone will not achieve the goals of sustainable chemistry. These alone will also not internalize the cultural and institutional changes needed to ensure that design and implementation of safer chemicals, processes, and products are the focus of the future. Thus, a more holistic approach of ‘carrots and sticks’ – that involves not just chemical producers but those who use and purchase chemicals is necessary. Some important lessons of the US experience in chemicals management include: (1) the need for good information on chemicals flows, toxic risks, and safer substances.; (2) the need for comprehensive planning processes for chemical substitution and reduction to avoid risk trade-offs and ensure product quality; (3) the need for technical and research support to firms for innovation in safer chemistry; and (4) the need for rapid screening processes and tools for comparison of alternative chemicals, materials, and products.