Effects of geomorphology, habitat, and spatial location on fish assemblages in a watershed in Ohio, USA

In this paper, we evaluate relationships between in-stream habitat, water chemistry, spatial distribution within a predominantly agricultural Midwestern watershed and geomorphic features and fish assemblage attributes and abundances. Our specific objectives were to: (1) identify and quantify key environmental variables at reach and system wide (watershed) scales; and (2) evaluate the relative influence of those environmental factors in structuring and explaining fish assemblage attributes at reach scales to help prioritize stream monitoring efforts and better incorporate all factors that influence aquatic biology in watershed management programs. The original combined data set consisted of 31 variables measured at 32 sites, which was reduced to 9 variables through correlation and linear regression analysis: stream order, percent wooded riparian zone, drainage area, in-stream cover quality, substrate quality, gradient, cross-sectional area, width of the flood prone area, and average substrate size. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and variance partitioning were used to relate environmental variables to fish species abundance and assemblage attributes. Fish assemblages and abundances were explained best by stream size, gradient, substrate size and quality, and percent wooded riparian zone. Further data are needed to investigate why water chemistry variables had insignificant relationships with IBI scores. Results suggest that more quantifiable variables and consideration of spatial location of a stream reach within a watershed system should be standard data incorporated into stream monitoring programs to identify impairments that, while biologically limiting, are not fully captured or elucidated using current bioassessment methods.     

Metal release from bottom sediments of Ocoee Lake No. 3, a primary catchment area for the Ducktown Mining District

Ocoee Lake No. 3 is the first reservoir receiving suspended sediments contaminated with trace metals discharged by acid mine effluents from the Ducktown Mining District, Tennessee. Bottom sediments (0-5 cm) from the lake were sampled to assess the potential for future adverse environmental effects if no remediation controls or activities are implemented. The sediments were found to include a major component (173 +/- 19 g kg(-1)) that dissolved in 6 mol L(-1) HCl within 24 h. This acid-soluble and relatively labile fraction contained high concentrations of Fe (460 +/- 40 g kg(-1)), Al (99 +/- 11 g kg(-1)), Mn (10 +/- 8 g kg(-1)), Cu (2000 +/- 700 mg kg(-1)), Zn (1300 +/- 200 mg kg(-1)), and Pb (300 +/- 200 mg kg(-1)). When the pH of water in contact with the sediment was decreased experimentally from 6.4 to 2.6, the concentrations of dissolved trace metals increased by factors of 2200 for Pb, 160 for Cu, 21 for Zn, 9 for Cd, 8 for Ni, and 5 for Co. The order in which metals were released with decreasing pH was the reverse of that reported for pH-dependent sorption of these metals in upstream systems. Substantial release of trace metals from the sediment was observed even by a modest decrease of pH from 6.4 to 5.9. Therefore, the metal-rich sediment of the lake should be considered as potentially hazardous to bottom-dwelling aquatic species and other organisms in the local food chain. In addition, if the reservoir is dredged or if the dam is removed, the accumulated sediment may have to be treated for recovery of sorbed metals.     

Assessment of factors affecting heart rate of the limpet Patella vulgata on the natural shore

 Heart rate variations of a population of the limpet Patella vulgata were monitored in the natural environment (Lough Hyne, southern Ireland) by non-invasive, optoelectronic recording. The heart rates of 145 limpets of different sizes, living on vertical and horizontal substrata, were measured both in air and water at different environmental temperatures, while the animals were inactive on their home scars. The heart rates of emersed, inactive limpets were positively related to air temperature and negatively related to limpet size. These relationships were similar for limpets on vertical and horizontal substrates. In contrast, no significant relationship between heart rate and temperature was found in submerged limpets, probably due to the narrow thermal range of the water during the study period. During submersion, a significant negative relationship between heart rate and size was evident for limpets on vertical surfaces but not for limpets on horizontal surfaces. In general, submerged limpets had a higher heart rate, 1.16 times that of limpets exposed to air. Moreover, the heart rates of nine animals were recorded while they were moving and while inactive on their home scars. Active limpets had a faster heart rate, 1.6 times that of limpets resting on their home scars. The dependence of heart rate on environmental temperature, size, respiratory medium and activity, as observed in limpets on the shore, agrees well with laboratory data and with previous findings of the correlation of oxygen consumption with the same factors. Such in situ measurements may, therefore, prove useful in attempts to determine natural levels of energy expenditure in models on the behaviour of foraging molluscs. Received: 5 September 1999 / Accepted: 17 April 2000     

Modelling Interactions Between Economic Activity, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Biodiversity and Agricultural Production

In this article, we develop a modelling approach which examines selected drivers of ecosystem functioning and agricultural productivity. In particular, we develop linkages between land use and biodiversity and between biodiversity and agricultural productivity. We review the literature for quantitative estimates of key relationships and their parameters for modelling human consumption, land use, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions on biodiversity and agricultural productivity. We assemble these specifications into an iterative causal model and carry out a number of scenario projections of country-level consumption, production, land use, energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, species diversity, and agricultural production up to 2050. Finally, we dissect the projections into key drivers using structural decomposition and sensitivity analyses.     

Bystander injury evaluation of children from midwestern agricultural operations

Background

With more than a million youth living on agricultural operations, it is important for parents to understand the consequences of bystander injuries that children experience in these environments. We identified the childhood injuries for bystander status and compared the severity of these injuries to the working children in the Regional Rural Injury Study-II (RRIS-II).

Methods

RRIS-II followed 16,546 children (∼ 85% of eligible) from rural communities in the Midwest for two six-month recall periods in 1999 and 2001. Demographic, injury, and exposure data were collected through comprehensive computer-assisted telephone interviews. Child injuries were cataloged using narrative scenarios into four categories: (a) directly work-related; (b) indirectly work-related; (c) non-working accomplice; and (d) non-working attendant; the latter three all being bystander categories. Poisson regression modeling was used to calculate rates of bystander injuries. Frequencies were used for comparison of severity measures.

Results

Among the 463 child injuries (aged < 20 yrs), 102 were bystander injuries. Of the bystander-related injuries, 14 were identified as indirectly work-related (working bystanders), 27 as non-working accomplice (passengers/tag-alongs), and 60 as non-working attendant (playing on the operation). The overall rate of bystander injuries was 6.4 per 1,000 people, 95% CI (5.0, 8.1). Males, compared with females, had more than twice the injury rate (8.7; 95% CI 6.4-11.8, and 3.9; 95% CI 2.7-5.7, per 1,000 people, respectively). Bystanders in this population had more severe injuries with 4% having life-threatening circumstances; of these, 4% of the accomplices and 2% of the attendants subsequently died.

Conclusions

Children who live or work on agricultural operations are vulnerable to many hazards. Therefore, this study examined child injuries and found a clear difference in the consequences of these injuries between working-related and bystanding-related injuries.

Impact on Industry

Unlike occupations such as construction and mining, where laws and organizations have been created for the protection of bystanders, agricultural bystanders have remained unprotected and have had to face the consequent injury and death outcomes. As public health professionals considering these risks, it is necessary that we work to develop more intervention studies and continue to propose suggestive guidelines for child safety in these environments so as to challenge family traditions and possibly spark public policies that will give further protection to this population.     

Graduated Driver Licensing Research, 2007-Present: A Review and Commentary

The evolution of graduated licensing systems in the past 25 years has resulted in dramatic growth in research on this topic. The most recent summary reports have covered the period up to 2007. In the present article more recent and ongoing research is categorized, summarized, and discussed.     

Connectedness to nature,place attachment and conservation behaviour: Testing connectedness theory among farmers

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between pro-environmental behaviour and two forms of emotional association: attachment to place and connectedness to nature. This relationship is explored in the context of farmers' management of native vegetation on their properties. A postal survey was conducted to measure the extent to which farmers felt connected to nature and to their property. The survey also measured vegetation management behaviours and associated valued outcomes. A total of 141 farmers in northwest Victoria, Australia, completed the survey. Results showed that vegetation protection behaviours increased with connectedness to nature (CNS), although CNS accounted for only a modest amount of the variation in behaviour. Place attachment was not related to management behaviours. Further analysis suggested that the relationship between CNS and management behaviour was mediated by importance given to environmental benefits of vegetation management. The findings lend weight to studies showing a relationship between CNS and more simple conservation behaviours (e.g. recycling). The findings are also consistent with frameworks suggesting that emotional association with nature leads to an expanded sense of self and greater valuing of non-human species, and so to pro-environment behaviour. This demonstrates the importance of using a range of instrumental and more affective strategies to promote conservation behaviours.     

Seeing (and doing) conservation through cultural lenses

In this paper, we first discuss various vantage points gained through the authors’ experience of approaching conservation through a “cultural lens.” We then draw out more general concerns that many anthropologists hold with respect to conservation, summarizing and commenting on the work of the Conservation and Community Working Group within the Anthropology and Environment Section of the American Anthropological Association. Here we focus on both critiques and contributions the discipline of anthropology makes with regard to conservation, and show how anthropologists are moving beyond conservation critiques to engage actively with conservation practice and policy. We conclude with reflections on the possibilities for enhancing transdisciplinary dialogue and practice through reflexive questioning, the adoption of disciplinary humility, and the realization that “cross-border” collaboration among conservation scholars and practitioners can strengthen the political will necessary to stem the growing commoditization and ensuing degradation of the earth’s ecosystems.     

Remotely engaged? Towards a framework for monitoring the success of stakeholder engagement in remote regions

The importance of stakeholder engagement for the success of natural resources management processes is widely acknowledged, yet evaluation frameworks employed by administrators of environmental programmes continue to provide limited recognition of or insistence upon engagement processes. This paper presents a framework for monitoring and evaluation of engagement that aims to better incorporate community engagement into mainstream environmental programmes, in particular in remote regions such as arid and desert regions of the world. It is argued that successful monitoring of engagement should not only comprise a generic set of indicators but rather, in addition to the principles of good monitoring practice, should take into account a variety of the stakeholder interests as well as key regional drivers, addressing them at right geographic, institutional and time scale.     

Greening academia: use and disposal of mobile phones among university students

Mobile phones have relatively short lifecycles and are rapidly seen as obsolete by many users within little over a year. However, the reusability of these devices as well as their material composition means that in terms of mass and volume, mobile phones represent the most valuable electronic products that are currently found in large numbers in waste streams. End-of-life mobile phones are a high value (from a reuse and resource perspective), high volume (quantity), low cost (residual monetary value) and transient (short lifecycle) electronic product. There are very large numbers of higher education (mainly university) students in the world - there are >2.4 million in the UK alone, 19 million in Europe and 18.2 million in the USA - and they often replace their mobile phones several times before graduation. Thus, because of the potentially significant environmental and economic impacts, a large scale survey of students at 5 UK universities was conducted to assess the behaviour of students with regard to their use and disposal of mobile phones. Additionally, a small scale trial mobile phone takeback service at one of the universities was carried out. The findings indicate that many students replace their phones at least once a year; replacing broken phones, getting upgrades from network operators, remaining “fashionable” and a desire to have a handset with a longer battery life are the main reasons for such rapid replacement. Almost 60% of replaced phones are not sent to reuse or recycling operations but are stockpiled by students mainly as spare/backup phones. Approximately 61% of students own an extra mobile phone with male students replacing their phones more often than females. In particular, the results highlight the potentially huge stockpile of mobile phones - and consequently valuable supplies of rare metals - being held by the public; we estimate that there are 3.7 million phones stockpiled by students in UK higher education alone (29.3 and 28.1 million stockpiled, respectively, for Europe and USA). Although many students are aware of UK mobile phone takeback services, only a moderate number have previously used the services. Students’ recycling of other waste materials such as paper and glass did not have a significant impact on their disposal actions for their unwanted mobile phones, although students who often recycled these waste materials were also the most willing to participate in mobile phone takeback services. Monetary incentives such as cash payments and vouchers have the greatest influence over students’ willingness to utilise takeback services, followed by convenience and ease of use of the services. The paper discusses these findings as well as the outcome of the trial mobile phone takeback. It is suggested that universities should partner with established takeback operators to conduct event-based mobile phone takeback services primarily targeting students. Lessons from mobile phone takeback applicable to takeback services for end-of-life gadgets similar to mobile phones are also discussed.