Environmental Protection in the Tomsk Region of the Russian Federation: A Case Study

/ Implementation of environmental management in Russia is undergoing rapid changes. Federal responsibility rests with the Russian Federation State Committee for Environmental Protection (RFSCEP) and is delegated at regional level to local State Committees for Environmental Protection (SCEPs). This paper focuses on the functioning of the SCEP for Tomsk oblast' (region) in Siberia, which is strongly committed to forging constructive links with regional government, academia, industry, and environmental NGOs. Considerable difficulties exist for SCEPs in Russia, however, and prominent among these are (1) a rigidly vertical civil service structure, with separate organs having responsibility for different natural resources, persisting from Soviet times, which hinders effective intergrated and holistic environmental management; and (2) a lack of open access to environmental information from military and quasi-military sites.     

Coping with chaos: unpredictable food supplies intensify torpor use in an arid-zone marsupial, the fat-tailed dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata)

The severity, duration and amplitude of extreme weather events are forecast to intensify with current climate trends, over both long (e.g. seasonal) and short (e.g. daily) time-scales. As such, the predictability of food supplies for many small endotherms is likely to become increasingly important. Numerous small mammals and birds combat food shortages using torpor, a controlled reduction in metabolic rate and body temperature that helps lower their daily energy requirements. As such, torpor often has been cited as a key feature allowing some small endotherms to survive highly unpredictable climates, such as tropics or dry deserts, but mensurative demonstrations of this are lacking. We have shown here that when a small desert marsupial, the fat-tailed dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata), is offered unpredictable levels of daily food, they increase frequency of daily torpor and length of bouts compared with animals offered ad libitum food, but this was not found for animals offered a 70% food-restricted diet. Our data suggest that simple food restriction may not be sufficient for evaluating the efficacy of torpor as a strategy for managing unpredictable climates.     

Determinants of privatized solid waste management service provision in Lagos

The growing popularity of privatized solid waste management service in least developed countries warrants an exploration of factors that are likely to impact on its sustainability. This study takes integrated solid waste management approach by analyzing relevant issues on both market sides. We use a three step theme development sequence to analyze the data obtained on service providers through library research, observations and interviews. This was followed by an opinion survey on the demand side to elicit households’ support for service improvement. Findings show that source-separation issues, government enforcement, market segmentation, financial issues and waste disposal issues are key factors influencing improved service provision. Meanwhile, on the demand side, we found that households are willing to support proposed regulatory improvement in service provision. Thus, we suggest industrial stakeholders to consider the aforementioned supply side issues in designing future service improvements that will take advantage of existing demand side feasibility.     

Seed predation and selection exerted by a seed predator influence subalpine tree densities

Strongly interacting species often have pronounced direct and indirect effects on other species. Here we focus of the effects of pine squirrels (Tamiasciurus spp.), which are a dominant pre-dispersal seed predator of many conifers including limber pines (Pinus flexilis) and whitebark pines (P. albicaulis). Pine squirrels depress seed abundance by harvesting most limber and whitebark pine cones on their territories. Pine squirrels further reduce seed availability for Clark's Nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana), the primary seed disperser of these pines, because selection exerted by pine squirrels has reduced the number of seeds per cone and causes seeds to be less accessible. We predicted that, if fewer seeds were available for dispersal by nutcrackers, pine recruitment should be suppressed in areas with pine squirrels. In support of this prediction, stand densities were about two times greater in areas where pine squirrels are absent than in areas where they are present. Alternative explanations that we considered do not account for these differences; however, precipitation may limit stand densities in the absence of seed limitation by pine squirrels. In sum, pine squirrels apparently depress limber and whitebark pine stand densities, with the potential for ecosystem impacts because these pines are foundation species within Western subalpine ecosystems.     

Growth and reproduction in the Antarctic brooding bivalve Adacnarca nitens (Philobryidae) from the Ross Sea

We present information on the reproductive biology, population structure, and growth of the brooding Antarctic bivalve Adacnarca nitens Pelseneer 1903, from the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Individuals ranging from 0.85 to 6.00 mm were found attached to a hydrozoan colony. This species shows low fecundity and large egg size, common to other brooding species. The minimum size at which oogenesis was detected was 2.3 mm and the minimum size at which brooding was evident was 3.9 mm. Embryos of a full range of developmental stages were brooded simultaneously in females. The population showed a log–normal distribution and results suggest non-periodic reproduction with continuous embryonic development. The reproductive traits of A. nitens are discussed in the context of circum-Antarctic species distribution and limitations to dispersal in brooding benthic invertebrates.     

Restoration Scaling Approaches to Addressing Ecological Injury: The Habitat-Based Resource Equivalency Method

Environmental Management - Natural resource trustee agencies must determine how much, and what type of environmental restoration will compensate for injuries to natural resources that result from...     

Identifying women’s attitudes and barriers to participating in a proposed community-based conservation group in western Belize

With mounting research showing the many benefits of having women involved in community-based conservation (CBC) efforts, we wanted to identify and measure the attitudes and barriers to women participating in a CBC program in western Belize. We surveyed 500 women in communities surrounding the Vaca Forest Reserve to measure their interest in, attitudes toward, and possible barriers to participating in a CBC program. We assessed women’s intent to participate in CBC activities using the Theory of Planned Behavior to identify the attitudinal, normative, and behavioral control constructs that best predict their intentions to participate. Women indicated positive attitudes toward participating in a CBC program, while perceived behavioral controls had the largest influence on their intent to participate. Understanding the importance of and influence of these constructs on women’s participation will help us and other conservation scientists work with women to collaboratively design effective conservation programs.     

The treatment of wastewater containing pharmaceuticals in microcosm constructed wetlands: the occurrence of integrons (int1–2) and associated resistance genes (sul1–3, qacEΔ1)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The aim of this study was to analyze the occurrence of sulfonamide resistance genes (sul1–3) and other genetic elements as antiseptic resistance...     

Benefit‐Cost Analysis of Integrated Water Resource Management: Accounting for Interdependence in the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan

Integrated water resource management (IWRM) requires accounting for many interrelated facets of water systems, water uses and stakeholders, and water management activities. The consequence is that project analysis must account for the nonseparability among the component parts of IWRM plans. This article presents a benefit‐cost (B‐C) analysis of a set of projects included in the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan proposed for the Yakima Basin in south‐central Washington State. The analysis accounts for interdependence among proposed water storage projects and between water storage and water market development in the context of historical and more adverse projected future climate scenarios. Focusing on irrigation benefits from storage, we show that the value of a given proposed storage project is lower when other proposed storage projects in the basin are implemented, and when water markets are functioning effectively. We find that none of the water storage projects satisfy a B‐C criterion, and that assuring proposed instream flow augmentation is less expensive by purchasing senior diversion rights than relying on new storage to provide it.     

Characterization of land-based sources of pollution in Jobos Bay,Puerto Rico: status of heavy metal concentration in bed sediment

As part of an assessment of land-based sources of pollution in Jobos Bay, Puerto Rico, sediment samples were collected at 43 sites to characterize concentrations of a suite of pollutants, including metals. Fifteen major and trace metals (Ag, Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn, and Zn) were measured along with total organic carbon and grain size in surficial sediments. For most metals, maximum concentrations were seen in the eastern bay; however, values were still within concentration ranges found in other estuarine systems. In contrast, silver was higher in the western region. In general, metal distribution in the bay was positively correlated with grain size. Additionally, correlations between Al and other metals suggest natural sources for metals. The data presented here suggest that, although the Jobos Bay watershed contains both urban centers along with industrial and agricultural developments, anthropogenic inputs of metals may be negligible.