Assessment of the Conservation Measures Partnership's effort to improve conservation outcomes through adaptive management

Conservation practice has demonstrated an increasing desire for accountability of actions, particularly with respect to effectiveness, efficiency, and impact to clearly identified objectives. This has been accompanied by increased attention to achieving adaptive management. In 2002, practitioners representing several prominent conservation nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) launched a community of practice called the Conservation Measures Partnership (CMP). The partnership CMP has worked to establish standards of conservation practice to improve accountability of conservation actions through adaptive management. The focal organizing framework for CMP has been the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation (OS). We evaluated, through an online survey and personal interviews, the first decade of CMP and the OS. The CMP has garnered a positive reputation among agencies, NGOs, and funders and has succeeded in developing a large user base of the OS. However, CMP has not fully achieved its goal of making the OS standard operating procedure for the largest NGOs (e.g., The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund), despite it being widely used within these organizations. This lack of institutionalization is attributable to multiple causes, including an increase in the number of partially overlapping decision‐support frameworks and challenges achieving full‐cycle adaptive management. Users strongly believed the OS fosters better conservation practice and highly valued the OS for improving their practice. A primary objective of the OS is to assist practitioners to achieve full‐cycle adaptive management to better integrate learning into improving the effectiveness and efficiency of actions. However, most practitioners had not yet achieved cycle completion for their projects. To improve the effectiveness of CMP, OS, and conservation practice in general, we recommend collaborative efforts among the proponents of multiple decision‐support frameworks to foster strong institutional adoption of a common set of adaptive‐management standards for conservation accountability.     

Hydrogen Sulfide Generation in Simulated Construction and Demolition Debris Landfills: Impact of Waste Composition

Abstract

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) generation in construction and demolition (C&D) debris landfills has been associated with the biodegradation of gypsum drywall. Laboratory research was conducted to observe H₂S generation when drywall was codisposed with different C&D debris constituents. Two experiments were conducted using simulated landfill columns. Experiment 1 consisted of various combinations of drywall, wood, and concrete to determine the impact of different waste constituents and combinations on H₂S generation. Experiment 2 was designed to examine the effect of concrete on H₂S generation and migration. The results indicate that decaying drywall, even alone, leached enough sulfate ions and organic matter for sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) to generate large H₂S concentrations as high as 63,000 ppmv. The codis-posed wastes show some effect on H₂S generation. At the end of experiment 1, the wood/drywall and drywall alone columns possessed H₂S concentrations >40,000 ppmv. Conversely, H₂S concentrations were <1 ppmv in those columns containing concrete. Concrete plays a role in decreasing H₂S by increasing pH out of the range for SRB growth and by reacting with H₂S. This study also showed that wood lowered H₂S concentrations initially by decreasing leachate pH values. Based on the results, two possible control mechanisms to mitigate H₂S generation in C&D debris landfills are suggested.     

Satellite telemetry reveals behavioural plasticity in a green turtle population nesting in Sri Lanka

Satellite transmitters were deployed on ten green turtles (Chelonia mydas) nesting in Rekawa Sanctuary (RS-80.851°E 6.045°N), Sri Lanka, during 2006 and 2007 to determine inter-nesting and migratory behaviours and foraging habitats. Nine turtles subsequently nested at RS and demonstrated two inter-nesting strategies linked to the location of their residence sites. Three turtles used local shallow coastal sites within 60 km of RS during some or all of their inter-nesting periods and then returned to and settled at these sites on completion of their breeding seasons. In contrast, five individuals spent inter-nesting periods proximate to RS and then migrated to and settled at distant (>350 km) shallow coastal residence sites. Another turtle also spent inter-nesting periods proximate to RS and then migrated to a distant oceanic atoll and made forays into oceanic waters for 42 days before transmissions ceased. This behavioural plasticity informs conservation management beyond protection at the nesting beach.     

Geographic variation in allele frequency of the gamete recognition protein M7 lysin throughout a mosaic blue mussel hybrid zone

Divergence at gamete recognition loci is hypothesized to result in speciation in broadcast spawning invertebrates. Many gamete recognition loci evolve quickly and show patterns of positive selection, yet the advantage of divergence is rarely known. M7 lysin is a sperm protein in the Mytilus edulis species complex that shows evidence of adaptive evolution. This locus is polymorphic with two distinct clades within Mytilus galloprovincialis, one of which, the D clade, shows the strongest signal of positive selection. We tested whether the geographic patterns in allele frequency were consistent with the hypothesis that positive selection on D clade alleles (G _D ) was due to reinforcement. Populations of M. edulis showed little evidence of introgression of G _D alleles, but there was no consistent evidence of reproductive character displacement. The lack of consistent patterns expected of reinforcement suggests that another mechanism is likely responsible for the adaptive divergence of M7 lysin.     

The archaeology of deforestation in south coastal Turkey

The Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project investigates landscape transformation as a component to its regional survey of ancient Rough Cilicia (south coastal Turkey opposite Cyprus). Rough Cilicia was celebrated during antiquity for pristine cedar forests that stood between 1500 and 1800 m in altitude along the slopes of the Taurus Mountains. Today along the front range of the Taurus Mountains this forest is completely denuded or otherwise replanted with recent growth in the past 80 years. We employ paleoenvironmental analysis of relic cedar forests in the Taurus Mountains to construct a timeline of anthropogenic disturbances associated with population growth over time and thereby assess the sustainability of ancient forestry practices. To obtain these data, the team recovers pollen and carbon samples from geomorphologic trenches excavated in the cedar zone, tree ring data from dendrochronological survey of the existing forest, and archaeological data from remains of ancient highland settlements. Preliminary results indicate that current perspectives about the timing of deforestation in this region are flawed and that the initial deforestation coincided with regional site abandonment and population decline at the end of antiquity.     

Release of beryllium from mineral ores in artificial lung and skin surface fluids

Exposure to some manufactured beryllium compounds via skin contact or inhalation can cause sensitization. A portion of sensitized persons who inhale beryllium may develop chronic beryllium disease (CBD). Little is understood about exposures to naturally occurring beryllium minerals. The purpose of this study was to assess the bioaccessibility of beryllium from bertrandite ore. Dissolution of bertrandite from two mine pits (Monitor and Blue Chalk) was evaluated for both the dermal and inhalation exposure pathways by determining bioaccessibility in artificial sweat (pH 5.3 and pH 6.5), airway lining fluid (SUF, pH 7.3), and alveolar macrophage phagolysosomal fluid (PSF, pH 4.5). Significantly more beryllium was released from Monitor pit ore than Blue Chalk pit ore in artificial sweat buffered to pH 5.3 (0.88 ± 0.01% vs. 0.36 ± 0.00%) and pH 6.5 (0.09 ± 0.00% vs. 0.03 ± 0.01%). Rates of beryllium released from the ores in artificial sweat were faster than previously measured for manufactured forms of beryllium (e.g., beryllium oxide), known to induce sensitization in mice. In SUF, levels of beryllium were below the analytical limit of detection. In PSF, beryllium dissolution was biphasic (initial rapid diffusion followed by latter slower surface reactions). During the latter phase, dissolution half-times were 1,400 to 2,000 days, and rate constants were ~7 × 10⁻¹⁰ g/(cm²·day), indicating that bertrandite is persistent in the lung. These data indicate that it is prudent to control skin and inhalation exposures to bertrandite dusts.