Sustainable Development and Institutional Design: The Example of the Mersey Basin Campaign

The Mersey Basin Campaign was established in 1985 in the North West of England to address continuing problems of water quality and associated landward dereliction of the River Mersey and its tributaries. The Campaign's premise that water quality should be improved both for its own sake and as a stimulus to regeneration has proved to be well founded and has subsequently been extended to embrace community action to help nurture watercourse improvement and care. The Campaign can now be seen as a model for engaging co-ordinated environmental action through a partnership approach. This paper explores the nature of the Mersey Basin Campaign as an example of the new structures which are being developed in order to help deliver the new environmentalpolicy agenda. It is argued that the Campaign stands as a model for what will become an increasing need to develop focused environmental planning and management at the sub-regional and regional scales.     

Sex differences in mass loss rate and growth efficiency in Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) pups at Macquarie Island

We investigated the relationship between the mass gained by a pup during a period of maternal attendance (as an index of milk intake) and the duration of the preceding foraging trip in relation to the mass-specific rate of mass loss during fasting periods and the growth rate of Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) pups at Macquarie Island. We found that (1) serially weighed male pups grew significantly faster than females pups and that (2) fasting female pups lost mass at a significantly higher rate (2.55% day⁻¹) than male pups (2.12% day⁻¹) of the same mass; (3) during periods of maternal attendance, there were no intersexual differences in the amount of mass gained by pups of the same size, hence (4) female pups required a higher daily mass gain to grow at the same rate as male pups. Our results show that intersexual differences in growth rate may be accounted for by intersexual differences in mass-specific rate of mass loss, because females lost 0.42% more of their total mass per day (i.e. 4.2 g kg⁻¹ day⁻¹) compared with male pups of the same body mass. Despite intersexual differences in growth rates, our results indicate equality of maternal expenditure between the sexes. Intersexual differences in the rate of mass loss may be due to differences in the metabolic rate, activity level and/or body composition of male and female pups. Received: 19 August 1998 / Received in revised form: 19 April 1999 / Accepted: 19 April 1999     

Efficiency and robustness of ant colony transportation networks

Efficient and robust transportation networks are key to the effectiveness of many natural systems. In polydomous ant colonies, which consist of two or more spatially separated but socially connected nests, resources must be transported between nests. In this study, we analyse the network structure of the inter-nest trails formed by natural polydomous ant colonies. In contrast to previous laboratory studies, the natural colonies in our study do not form minimum spanning tree networks. Instead the networks contain extra connections, suggesting that in natural colonies, robustness may be an important factor in network construction. Spatial analysis shows that nests are randomly distributed within the colony boundary and we find nests are most likely to connect to their nearest neighbours. However, the network structure is not entirely determined by spatial associations. By showing that the networks do not minimise total trail length and are not determined only by spatial associations, the results suggest that the inter-nest networks produced by ant colonies are influenced by previously unconsidered factors. We show that the transportation networks of polydomous ant colonies balance trail costs with the construction of networks that enable efficient transportation of resources. These networks therefore provide excellent examples of effective biological transport networks which may provide insight into the design and management of transportation systems.     

Unraveling the complexities of variation in female mate preference for vertical bars in the swordtail, Xiphophorus cortezi

Investigations into the nature of mate choice suggest that variation in female mate preferences is often context dependent, varying in response to genetic and environmental influences on female condition as well as to external environmental stimuli. Determining whether variation in female mate preference is adaptive requires understanding the variables involved that produce this variation and how they interact. Comparative, multivariate studies of wild-caught adult females can be used as initial assessments of variation in female mate preferences, providing valuable insights into the parameters that influence female preferences under natural conditions. We examined variation in female preferences for the pigment pattern vertical bars across five populations of the swordtail, Xiphophorus cortezi. The populations we examined are genetically differentiated and varied in the frequency of males and females with bars. We also considered a variable indicative of within-individual variation (size, as influenced by age) and a variable that varies across individuals (genotype for vertical bars: barred or barless). Using Akaike information criterion, all candidate models explaining variation in strength of preference included female bar state, female size, and population. We suggest that a combination of genetic (bar state) and environmental (female size) conditions influenced how they responded to experience with both male phenotypes in X. cortezi. Future studies should examine the possibility that barred and barless females respond differently over an environmental gradient.     

Degradation and mineralization of 2-chloro-, 3-chloro- and 4-chlorobiphenyl by a newly characterized natural bacterial strain isolated from an electrical transformer fluid-contaminated soil

A bacterium classified as Achromobacter xylosoxidans strain IR08 by phenotypic typing coupled with 16S rRNA gene analysis was isolated from a soil contaminated with electrical transformer ?uid for over sixty years using Aroclor 1221 as an enrichment substrate. The substrate utilization profiles revealed that IR08 could grow on all three monochlorobiphenyls (CBs), 2,4'- and 4,4'-dichlorobiphenyl as well as 2-chlorobenzoate (2-CBA), 3-CBA, 4-CBA, and 2,3-dichlorobenzoate. Unusually, growth was poorly sustaine...     

Factors Influencing Farmers’ Willingness to Participate in the Conversion of Cultivated Land to Wetland Program in Sanjiang National Nature Reserve,China

Sanjiang National Nature Reserve (NNR) is a state-owned natural wetland in China that has suffered severe degradation due to cultivation and wetland reclamation by farmers. As a consequence, the conversion of cultivated land to wetlands (CCW) was proposed by the government of Heilongjiang province and the United Nations Development Programme/Global Environment Facility (UNDP/GEF) project team in 2007. We suggest that voluntary participation in the CCW could be an important tool for accomplishing the integrated objectives of wetland conservation and local development. The purpose of this study was to examine the main factors that influence farmers’ willingness to participate in the CCW through a field investigation and a questionnaire. Based on the data from our questionnaire, which provided an effective sample of 310 households in 11 villages, the influencing factors of farmers’ willingness to participate were analyzed through binary logistic regression analyses. It was concluded that age, education, the amount of cultivated land, geographical location, and the perceived benefits and risks were important factors for participation. Furthermore, suggestions for improving the wetland compensation system and providing alternative livelihoods are proposed to strengthen participation.     

Effect of thallium on phototactic behaviour in Daphnia magna

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Thallium (Tl) is a trace metal enriched in wastewaters associated with mining and smelting of base metals. The toxicity of Tl to aquatic biota is...     

Adverse outcome in pregnancy following amniotic fluid isolation of Ureaplasma urealyticum

Infections in pregnancy with Ureaplasma urealyticum have been associated with a wide range of adverse outcomes, such as early abortion, stillbirth, prematurity, and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Causality has been difficult to demonstrate secondary to the high prevalence of asymptomatic lower genital tract (LGT) colonization and culture data from inaccessible or potentially contaminated sites. Between 1985 and 1989, 2461 second-trimester genetic amniocenteses were evaluated at the cytogenetics section of the Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron. All were cultured for the genital mycoplasmas: Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum. A total of nine patients were positive, all for Ureaplasma urealyticum, with one patient excluded because of subsequent therapeutic abortion. In addition, complete follow-up data, such as indication for amniocentesis, serum alpha-fetoprotein levels, gestational age at parturition, and out- come of pregnancy, were available on 86 Ureaplasma-negative (U –) patients during an approximate 2-year span within the time-frame of the study. This was in part due to physician response to a questionnaire sent after amniocentesis. Of the eight positive cultures, 100 per cent were associated with an adverse outcome, defined as fetal loss or premature delivery. This was significant compared with the U–group (p<0.001) with a more than eight times greater risk of adverse outcome. Six (75 per cent) resulted in spontaneous miscarriage within 4 weeks of amniocentesis and at less than 21 weeks' gestation. Two (25 per cent) delivered prematurely, with one (12.5 per cent) neonatal death at 24+ weeks. Histological examination of all eight placentae and the seven fetuses revealed a 100 per cent incidence of chorioamnionitis and pneumonia, respectively. In addition, in four of the five cases (80 per cent), cultures were positive for Ureaplasma urealyticum in pure culture from either placenta, fetal lung, or both tissues. The remaining case (20 per cent) was negative for aerobes, anaerobes, and mycoplasmas. The study demonstrates a significant association and supports a causal relationship between isolation of Ureaplasma from mid-trimester amniotic fluid with fetal wastage and premature birth.