The Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional Levels

This paper represents a work in progress by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Earlier drafts of the work have appeared in IUCN publications, but the "International Issues" section of Conservation Biology seems an appropriate and important place to publish the penultimate version of the document. Comments on this issue in general or on the approach taken by the IUCN should be sent to the authors directly.
Joshua Ginsburg     

Effects of Altered Offshore Food Webs on Coastal Ecosystems Emphasize the Need for Cross-Ecosystem Management

By mainly targeting larger predatory fish, commercial fisheries have indirectly promoted rapid increases in densities of their prey; smaller predatory fish like sprat, stickleback and gobies. This process, known as mesopredator release, has effectively transformed many marine offshore basins into mesopredator-dominated ecosystems. In this article, we discuss recent indications of trophic cascades on the Atlantic and Baltic coasts of Sweden, where increased abundances of mesopredatory fish are linked to increased nearshore production and biomass of ephemeral algae. Based on synthesis of monitoring data, we suggest that offshore exploitation of larger predatory fish has contributed to the increase in mesopredator fish also along the coasts, with indirect negative effects on important benthic habitats and coastal water quality. The results emphasize the need to rebuild offshore and coastal populations of larger predatory fish to levels where they regain their control over lower trophic levels and important links between offshore and coastal systems are restored.     

A Dynamic Simulation Model of Land-Use, Population, and Rural Livelihoods in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

The dynamic interactions between society and land resources have to be taken into account when planning and managing natural resources. A computer model, using STELLA software, was developed through active participation of purposively selected farm households from different wealth groups, age groups and gender within a rural community and some members of Kebelle council. The aim of the modeling was to study the perceived changes in land-use, population and livelihoods over the next 30 years and to improve our understanding of the interactions among them. The modeling output is characterized by rapid population growth, declining farm size and household incomes, deteriorating woody vegetation cover and worsening land degradation if current conditions remain. However, through integrated intervention strategies (including forest increase, micro-finance, family planning, health and education) the woody vegetation cover is likely to increase in the landscape, population growth is likely to slow down and households’ income is likely to improve. A validation assessment of the simulation model based on historical data on land-use and population from 1973 to 2006 showed that the model is relatively robust. We conclude that as a supporting tool, the simulation model can contribute to the decision making process.     

Scenario Development as a Basis for Formulating a Research Program on Future Agriculture: A Methodological Approach

To increase the awareness of society to the challenges of global food security, we developed five contrasting global and European scenarios for 2050 and used these to identify important issues for future agricultural research. Using a scenario development method known as morphological analysis, scenarios were constructed that took economic, political, technical, and environmental factors into account. With the scenarios as a starting point future challenges were discussed and research issues and questions were identified in an interactive process with stakeholders and researchers. Based on the outcome of this process, six socioeconomic and biophysical overarching challenges for future agricultural were formulated and related research issues identified. The outcome was compared with research priorities generated in five other research programs. In comparison, our research questions focus more on societal values and the role of consumers in influencing agricultural production, as well as on policy formulation and resolving conflicting goals, areas that are presently under-represented in agricultural research. The partly new and more interdisciplinary research priorities identified in Future Agriculture compared to other programs analyzed are likely a result of the methodological approach used, combining scenarios and interaction between stakeholders and researchers.     

Sustainable development of food production: a case study on scenarios for pig production

To study future, sustainable production systems, a step-wise method was used to create three future scenarios for pig production based on different sustainability goals. The first scenario focused on animal welfare and the natural behavior of the animals. The second targeted low impacts on the environment and the efficient use of natural resources. The third scenario aimed at product quality and safety. Each scenario fulfilled different aspects of sustainability, but there were goal conflicts because no scenario fulfilled all sustainability goals. The scenarios were then parameterized. The environmental impact was calculated using the life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, and the economic cost was calculated from the same data set. The cost per kilo of pork was highest for the animal welfare scenario and similar for the other two scenarios. The environmental scenario had the lowest environmental impact, and the product-quality scenario the highest. The results are discussed based on different future priorities.     

Psychological and physiological stress reactions of male and female assembly workers: a comparison between two different forms of work organization

Psychological and physiological stress responses of 36 male and 29 female assembly workers were examined during and after work at a car engine factory. Two different ways of organizing assembly work were compared, (1) a more traditional assembly line with fixed work stations organized as a chain and involving short repetitive work cycles and, (2) a new and more flexible work organization with small autonomous groups having greater opportunities to influence the pace and content of their work. Each worker was examined during and after a normal day at work on 2 consecutive days and, in order to obtain endocrine baseline data, during a corresponding work‐free period at home. As expected, both female and male workers in the flexible organization reported significantly more variation, independence and abilities to learn new skills at work. Workers in both forms of work organization showed a significant increase in urinary epinephrine and norepinephrine during work compared to the work‐free day at home. Males had significantly higher epinephrine and systolic blood pressure levels than females. Successive self‐reports of tiredness increased significantly more at the assembly line compared to the flexible work organization. In keeping with this, systolic blood pressure, heart rate and epinephrine increased significantly during the work shift at the assembly line but not during work in the flexible organization. Catecholamine levels revealed that the subjects were able to unwind more rapidly after work in the flexible organization. This pattern was particularly pronounced for the female workers. In summary, the various stress indicators support the notion that the flexible work organization induces less stress than the assembly line and that the female workers were able to benefit most from this new form of work organization. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tonminerale als Katalysatoren bei der Umwandlung von organischen Verbindungen

Clay minerals show a variety of reactive properties, which make them used in industrial processes but are mostly neglected in soil science. In this overview these various properties of clay minerals are listed. Thereby it shall be pointed out, that these capabilities can also be of some importance in soils.     

Deltas,freshwater discharge,and waves along the Young Sound,NE Greenland

A wide range of delta morphologies occurs along the fringes of the Young Sound in Northeast Greenland due to spatial heterogeneity of delta regimes. In general, the delta regime is related to catchment and basin characteristics (geology, topography, drainage pattern, sediment availability, and bathymetry), fluvial discharges and associated sediment load, and processes by waves and currents. Main factors steering the Arctic fluvial discharges into the Young Sound are the snow and ice melt and precipitation in the catchment, and extreme events like glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs). Waves are subordinate and only rework fringes of the delta plain forming sandy bars if the exposure and fetch are optimal. Spatial gradients and variability in driving forces (snow and precipitation) and catchment characteristics (amount of glacier coverage, sediment characteristics) as well as the strong and local influence of GLOFs in a specific catchment impede a simple upscaling of sediment fluxes from individual catchments toward a total sediment flux into the Young Sound.     

Comparison of environmental effects and resource consumption for different wastewater and organic waste management systems in a new city area in Sweden

An analysis of the environmental effects and resource consumption by four systems for management of wastewater and organic household waste in a new city area have been performed, as follows: (1) conventional system complemented with advanced sludge treatment for phosphorus recovery, (2) blackwater system with urine diversion and food waste disposers, (3) blackwater system with food waste disposers and reverse osmosis, and (4) local wastewater treatment plant with nutrient recovery by using reverse osmosis. Substance-flow analysis and energy/exergy calculations were performed by using the software tool URWARE/ORWARE. Emissions were calculated and classified based on the impact categories global warming potential, acidification, and eutrophication, according to ISO 14042 (2000). The analysis also included nutrient recovery (i.e., the potential to use nutrients as a fertilizer). Depending on which aspects are prioritized, different systems can be considered to be the most advantageous.