INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT WHO SHOULD LEAD,WHO SHOULD PAY?1

ABSTRACT: Improving water management to meet future global needs will certainly require technical advances, but the main challenge is to integrate the viewpoints of diverse societal interests into decisions about allocation of water resources. The integration cannot be done solely by the market because it requires a balancing among interests which do not respond well to market forces, nor by the state alone because of institutional problems. The concept of “integrated water resources management” has been developed to provide the framework for the required balancing of interests, and, like similar concepts in industries other than water, it has a dual purpose - to link stakeholders and apply best practices to management actions. To clarify the process of integrated water management, the paper focuses on two questions: who should lead integrated water resources management and who should pay for it? Several examples are given to illustrate a range of situations. The paper concludes with a call to improve paradigms of integrated water management, a proposition that water organizations should accept and budget for their external responsibilities as well as their direct missions, affirmation of the need for state and federal agencies to be involved with local interests, a call for better scientific and public information, and identification of the need for continued work to improve the process of integrated water management.     

Philippine protected areas are not meeting the biodiversity coverage and management effectiveness requirements of Aichi Target 11

Aichi Target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity urges, inter alia, that nations protect at least 17 % of their land, and that protection is effective and targets areas of importance for biodiversity. Five years before reporting on Aichi targets is due, we assessed the Philippines’ current protected area system for biodiversity coverage, appropriateness of management regimes and capacity to deliver protection. Although protected estate already covers 11 % of the Philippines’ land area, 64 % of its key biodiversity areas (KBAs) remain unprotected. Few protected areas have appropriate management and governance infrastructures, funding streams, management plans and capacity, and a serious mismatch exists between protected area land zonation regimes and conservation needs of key species. For the Philippines to meet the biodiversity coverage and management effectiveness elements of Aichi Target 11, protected area and KBA boundaries should be aligned, management systems reformed to pursue biodiversity-led targets and effective management capacity created.     

A conceptual framework for understanding illegal killing of large carnivores

The growing complexity and global nature of wildlife poaching threaten the survival of many species worldwide and are outpacing conservation efforts. Here, we reviewed proximal and distal factors, both social and ecological, driving illegal killing or poaching of large carnivores at sites where it can potentially occur. Through this review, we developed a conceptual social–ecological system framework that ties together many of the factors influencing large carnivore poaching. Unlike most conservation action models, an important attribute of our framework is the integration of multiple factors related to both human motivations and animal vulnerability into feedbacks. We apply our framework to two case studies, tigers in Laos and wolverines in northern Sweden, to demonstrate its utility in disentangling some of the complex features of carnivore poaching that may have hindered effective responses to the current poaching crisis. Our framework offers a common platform to help guide future research on wildlife poaching feedbacks, which has hitherto been lacking, in order to effectively inform policy making and enforcement.     

Molecular genetic prenatal diagnosis for a case of autosomal recessive spondylocostal dysostosis

Autosomal recessive spondylocostal dysostosis type 1 (ARSCD1) is a member of the heterogeneous group of disorders termed the spondylocostal dysostoses that are characterized by multiple vertebral segmentation defects and rib anomalies. In these patients, the entire vertebral column is malformed and is replaced by multiple hemivertebrae giving rise to truncal shortening, abdominal protrusion and non-progressive spinal curvature. Genetic studies have shown that some cases of ARSCD are due to mutations in the somitogenesis gene, Delta-like 3 (DLL3), that encodes a ligand for the Notch signalling pathway—ARSCD type 1. To date, 17 different DLL3 gene mutations have been reported. A consanguineous family of Turkish origin with ARSCD type 1 due to a homozygous DLL3 mutation requested genetic prenatal diagnosis. Using DNA from a chorionic villus sample, both linkage analysis of the DLL3/19q region and direct sequencing for the familial mutation demonstrated that the unborn fetus was an unaffected carrier. This is the first case of molecular genetic prenatal diagnosis in any form of SCD. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

人口迁徙、汇款、生活轨迹及社会应变能力

我们认为,人口变化的方方面面,包括迁徙,都影响个人和团体的社会应变能力以及基本资源基础的可持续性.社会应变能力是应对和适应通过适当的制度调节的环境和社会变化的能力.我们调查了当今越南沿海地区人口变化、社会应变能力以及可持续发展之间关系的一个侧面:迁徙和汇款对依赖于资源的人口源区居民群的影响.利用有关生活来源的纵向运动数据,我们发现移民出境和汇款对一个逐渐形成的社会和政治范围内的应变能力有抵消作用.移民出境是与不可持续的沿海养殖业的发展同时并存的,而不是起推动作用.日益增加的经济不平等削弱了社会应变能力.同时,多种经营和收入水平的不断提高有助于应变能力的增强.     

Stable chlorine intramolecular kinetic isotope effects from the abiotic dehydrochlorination of DDT

INTENTION, GOAL, SCOPE, BACKGROUND: Identifying different sources and following reaction pathways of chlorinated organic contaminants in the environment can be challenging, especially when only their concentrations are available. Compound-specific stable chlorine measurements of some contaminants have recently been shown to provide additional information and an increased understanding of their biogeochemistry. These studies, however, have been generally limited to volatile molecules. OBJECTIVE: Here, the stable chlorine isotope ratios of the semi-volatile pesticide, 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT) were investigated. Specifically, the intramolecular stable chlorine isotopic compositions of DDT and the kinetic isotope effect (KIE) for the abiotic dehydrochlorination of DDT to 2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1-dichloroethene (DDE) were determined. METHODS: Selective chemical oxidation of DDT to dichlorobenzophenone (DCBP) and analysis of each compound was used to calculate the stable chlorine isotope ratios of the alkyl and aromatic chlorines in DDT. To determine the KIE for dehydrochlorination, DDT was reacted in a basic solution to yield DDE at 52 degrees C, 60 degrees C, and 72 degrees C for 3, 5, and 5 days, respectively. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Significant intramolecular stable chlorine isotopic differences were observed in one sample of DDT where the alkyl and aromatic delta 37Cl values were -5.76 +/- 0.45 and -2.21 +/- 0.24%@1000, respectively. Dehydrochlorination of DDT to DDE in basic solutions at 52, 60, and 70 degrees C resulted in a substantial intramolecular KIE where the alkyl chlorines of DDE shifted by approximately 3%@1000 relative to the alkyl chlorines in DDT. However, no temperature dependence was observed. The KIE, calculated by an iterative program, was 1.009. CONCLUSIONS: Intramolecular differences in the stable chlorine isotope ratios were observed in DDT and this is the first such finding. Dehydrochlorination of DDT yields a measurable and distinct intramolecular stable chlorine KIE. RECOMMENDATION AND OUTLOOK: The results of this study demonstrate the existence of significant intramolecular differences in chlorinated organic compounds. Many other chlorinated semi-volatile and volatile organic contaminants are synthesized from multiple sources of chlorine, and we recommend that similar studies be performed on many such molecules in order to attain a clear understanding of their intramolecular chlorine isotopic differences. The existence of a measurable KIE for the dehydrochlorination of DDT to DDE shows the potential strength of using isotopic measurements to investigate the biogeochemistry of these important compounds. For example, the isotopically depleted aqueous chloride produced by dehydrochlorination of DDT to DDE may be a useful tracer of these reactions in freshwater environments.