Perceptions toward stewardship among residents living near U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear Facilities

Although stewardship has been widely defined and used in environmental management and planning, there is a dearth of studies that describe how the lay public perceives this concept. A national sample of residents in 14 states who live near DOE nuclear facilities were interviewed to delineate public understanding and awareness of the stewardship program of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). This study discusses the findings of the survey and discusses how institutional trust influences public participation and resident’s choices of potential stewards. Almost 40% of the respondents could not define stewardship; those who did, believed that ‘responsibility,’ ‘management,’ and ‘accountability’ are key elements of stewardship. In addition, about a third of the respondents identified Federal groups and the DOE as potential stewards. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue     

Effects of ocean temperature on the southern range limits of two understory kelps, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pterygophora californica</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Eisenia arborea</Emphasis>, at multiple life-stages

Environmental factors have long been shown to influence species distributions, with range limits often resulting from environmental stressors exceeding organism tolerances. However, these abiotic factors may differentially affect species with multiple life-history stages. Between September 2004 and January 2006, the roles of temperature and nutrient availability in explaining the southern distributions of two understory kelps, Pterygophora californica and Eisenia arborea (Phaeophyceae, Laminariales), were investigated along the coast of California, USA and the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico, by limiting either: (a) tissue nitrogen uptake and storage by adult sporophytes during periods of elevated temperature, and/or (b) production of embryonic sporophytes by microscopic gametophytes. Results suggest that while adult sporophytes of both species are tolerant of high temperatures and low nutrients, reproduction by their microscopic stages is not. Specifically, while E. arborea produced embryonic sporophytes at both 12 and 18°C, temperatures commonly observed throughout the southern portion of its range, P. californica produced sporophytes at 12 but not at 18°C. As a result, it appears that the southern distribution of P. californica, which ends in northern Baja California, Mexico, may be limited by temperature acting on its microscopic stages. In contrast, the ability of E. arborea’s microscopic and adult stages to tolerate elevated temperatures allows it to persist in the warmer southern waters of Baja California, as well as to the north along the California coast where both species co-occur.     

GCM-based analysis of water availability along the Tone River and Tokyo Metropolitan Area under climatic changes

Tone River supplies most of the water requirements of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area (TMA). Lowering of Tone flow and yearly fluctuation, however, is causing water shortage along TMA nowadays. This study investigated the future water availability scenarios under climatic changes. A state-of-the-art approach to utilize the output of several GCM has been demonstrated to investigate the future water availability scenarios for TMA from the Tone River. An integrated modeling approach for water balance considering several hydrological risk indices was adopted to quantify the future changes in this case. It is observed that the future summer precipitation along the Tone basin is going to be increased considerably, while an almost constant or decreasing trend is observed for winter season. Natural flow availability for winter or spring seasons thus can be crucial under future scenarios. After reservoir routing, the hydrological risk indices estimated, however, were not found to be changed significantly due to the presence of a robust reservoir system at the upstream.     

SUSTAINABILITY AT THE LOCAL LEVEL: MANAGEMENT TOOLS AND MUNICIPAL TAX INCENTIVE MODEL

The implementation of sustainable development may seem a simple concept when written on paper. However to carry-out long term actions put forward by the Agenda 21 (AG21) at the local level represents one of the main challenges as municipal governments in general do not have the capacity to effectively implement the process. Regional environmental assessment (REA) has shown to be effective in supporting decision-making not only to correct environmental problems due to past unsustainable social-economic developments but also help local governments to implement sustainable actions. However this requires long-term investments of AG21 plans and projects. The allocation of regular and consistent financial resources is one of the main ingredients for the sustainable development process. But traditional plans and projects financed by national and/or international funds may not be sustainable in the long-term because they become dependent on external funding. Research demonstrate that innovative economic instruments such as ecotaxes represent a feasible alternative to sponsor local sustainability because taxes are collected permanently by the government and could be invested in continuous actions. Ecotaxes experiences have provided important reference to structure a municipal incentive model (MIM) to sponsor AG21’s environmental plans and projects on a long-term (permanent) basis. However sustainable development cannot be solely through economic investments. A comprehensive municipal environmental management scheme (MEMS) has been established to support the incentive model. The scheme seeks not only to improve local institutional framework but also incentive continuous participation of local stakeholders at all levels of society. Participatory events and the provision of incentives (educational and financial) are key to motivate society to protect the environment and support actively the sustainable development process as emphasised in the RIO-92 Conference.     

Sustainable development of China's regions from the perspective of ecological welfare performance: analysis based on GM(1,1) and the malmquist index

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Ecological welfare performance is a measure of the relationship between input ecological resources and output welfare, and it reflects the sustainable...     

Effects of Different Litter Treatments on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Pinus densata in Southeast Tibet,China

Russian Journal of Ecology - The aim of this study is to explore the effects of the litter cover thickness and cleaning methods on seed germination and seedling growth of Pinus densata. The overall...     

黑河流域底栖动物群落结构及水质评价

为了解黑河流域上中游底栖动物群落结构特征及其与环境因子之间的关系,于2018年8月对研究区域17个采样点的底栖动物和水体理化指标进行调查研究.共鉴定出底栖动物43种,其中节肢动物34种（79.1%）,软体动物7种（16.3%）,环节动物2种（4.6%）;就整个研究区域而言,优势种为大蚊（Tipulidae）、豆娘幼虫（Damselfly）、水蜘蛛（Argyroneta）、耳萝卜螺（Radix auricularia）、琥珀螺（Suecinea sp.）、白旋螺（Gyraulusalbus）,干、支流优势种分布趋势为干流（6种）优于支流（5种）;底栖动物平均密度和平均生物量分别为77ind/m²和3.7423g/m²现存量存在显著空间差异,整体上干流（1032ind/m²、60.0963g/m²）大于支流（276ind/m²、3.5233g/m²）,物种数干流（36种）大于支流（15种）;单因素方差分析显示,Shannon-Wiener多样性指数、Margalef丰富度指数及Pielou均匀度指数分布特征为干流大于支流.黑河流域上游支流和中游干流不同河段底栖动物物种组成呈空间异质性,而多样性指数对物种组成依赖性强,但因黑河流域底栖动物物种组成受自然因素和人类活动双重影响程度差异较大,使得Shannon-Wiener多样性指数、Margalef丰富度指数及Pielou均匀度指数不适合黑河水质评价.依据BI指数和综合污染指数评价表明,黑河上游支流水质优于中游干流.根据底栖动物与环境因子之间的相关矩阵分析并结合RDA分析表明：BOD₅、水温（WT）、电导率（EC）、DO、溶解性总固体（TDS）、COD_Mn及盐度是影响底栖动物群落结构的主要环境因子.     

Aerosol optical properties under different pollution levels in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of China

To clarify the aerosol hygroscopic growth and optical properties of the Pearl River Delta(PRD)region,integrated observations were conducted in Heshan City of Guangdong Province from October 19 to November 17,2014.The concentrations and chemical compositions of PM_(2.5),aerosol optical properties and meteorological parameters were measured.The mean value of PM_(2.5) increased from less than 35(excellent) to 35-75 μg/m~3(good) and then to greater than 75 μg/m~3(pollution),corresponding to mean PM_(2.5) values of 24.9,51.2,and 93.3 μg/m~3,respectively.The aerosol scattering hygroscopic growth factor(f(RH = 80%)) values were 2.0,2.12,and 2.18 for the excellent,good,and pollution levels,respectively.The atmospheric extinction coefficient(σext)and the absorption coefficient of aerosols(σ_(ap)) increased,and the single scattering albedo(SSA)decreased from the excellent to the pollution levels.For different air mass sources,under excellent and good levels,the land air mass from northern Heshan had lower f(RH) and σ_(sp) values.In addition,the mixed aerosol from the sea and coastal cities had lower f(RH) and showed that the local sources of coastal cities have higher scattering characteristics in pollution periods.