Indicators of sustainable production: framework and methodology

This paper presents a new tool for promoting business sustainability — indicators of sustainable production. It first introduces the concept of sustainable production as defined by the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, University of Massachusetts Lowell. Indicators of sustainable production are discussed next, including their dimensions and desirable qualities. Based on the Lowell Center Indicator Framework, the authors suggest a new methodology of core and supplemental indicators for raising companies' awareness and measuring their progress toward sustainable production systems. Twenty-two core indicators are proposed and a detailed guidance for their application is included. An eight-step model provides a context for indicator implementation. The paper concludes with a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the methodology as well as recommendations for testing the indicators.     

Prenatal ultrasound diagnosis of Apert's syndrome

A mother affected with Apert's syndrome was diagnosed by ultrasound scan at 16–17 weeks to have a fetus similarly affected. The typical features of acrocephaly and symmetrical syndactyly were seen. This is probably the first time that this condition has been diagnosed at such a gestation by ultrasound scan. The patient decided to continue the pregnancy, and intrauterine death occurred at 34 weeks. The diagnosis was confirmed by pathological examination.     

Prenatal diagnosis,fetal pathology,and cytogenetic analysis of mosaic trisomy 14

While true mosaicism occurs in only 0–25 per cent of genetic amniocenteses, nearly 2–5 per cent of amniotic fluid cell cultures contain a second cell line. In the common practice of prenatal diagnosis, an aberrant cell line confined to a single colony is usually disregarded. We present a case of mosaic trisomy 14 which was not detected on initial chromosome analysis. At birth, multiple malformations were apparent. Newborn cytogenetic studies revealed mosaicism [46,XX/46,XX,-14,+i(14q)] with an isochromosome 14 in 37 per cent of lymphocytes. Additional cells from the initial amniotic fluid culture were analysed post-delivery and the isochromosome 14 identified in only one of 12 total colonies. This case illustrates two important lessons in prenatal diagnosis. First, amniotic fluid cell cultures may not accurately reflect the relative distribution of the normal and abnormal cell lines within a mosaic fetus. Second, while it is generally reasonable to disregard mosaicism confined to a single colony, this policy will, on rare occasion, result in diagnostic error. This should be taken into consideration, particularly when dealing with autosomal trisomies potentially compatible with livebirth.     

Amniotic fluid fibrinolytic system in fetal neural tube defects

Second trimester amniotic fluid fibrinolytic system was examined in normal pregnancies and those complicated by anencephaly, spina bifida and fetal chromosome abnormalities. No significant difference was demonstrated between the fibrinolytic systems from normal pregnancies and those complicated by fetal chromosome abnormalities. In pregnancies complicated with anencephaly and spina bifida no significant difference was demonstrated for alpha-1-antitrypsin, alpha-1-antichymotrypsin and urokinase. Plasminogen was significantly lower (p < 0.02) and plasmin significantly higher (p < 0.001) than levels from normal amniotic fluid. Alpha-2-macroglobulin, fibrinogen, FDP-D and FDP-E were detected only in pregnancies complicated with anencephaly and spina bifida.     

Influence of Methodology and Assumptions on Reported National Carbon Flux Inventories: An Illustration from the Canadian Forest Sector

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has developed guidelines to standardize the international reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals by signatory nations of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. With regard to forest sector carbon fluxes, the IPCC guidelines require only that those fluxes directly associated with human activities (i.e., harvesting and land-use change) be reported. In Canada, the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS2) has been used to assess carbon fluxes from the entire forest sector. This model accounts for carbon fluxes associated with both anthropogenic and natural disturbances, such as wild fires and insects. We combined model results for the period 1985 to 1989 with additional data to compile seven different national carbon flux inventories for the forest sector. These inventories incorporate different system components under a variety of seemingly plausible assumptions, some of which are encouraged refinements to the default flux inventory described in the IPCC guidelines. The resulting estimated net carbon fluxes varied from a net removal of 185,000 kt carbon per year of the inventory period to a netemission of 89,000 kt carbon per year. Following the default procedures in the IPCC guidelines, while using the best available national data, produced an inventory with a net removal of atmospheric carbon. Adding the effect of natural disturbances to that inventory reversed the sign of the net flux resulting in a substantial emission. Including the carbon fluxes associated with root biomass in the first inventory increased the magnitude of the estimated net removal. The variability of these results emphasizes the need for a systems approach in constructing a flux inventory. We argue that the choice of which fluxes to include in the inventory should be based on the importance of these fluxes to the overall carbon budget and not on the perceived ease with which flux estimates can be obtained. The results of this analysis also illustrate two specific points. Even those Canadian forests which are most free from direct human interactions—forests in which no commercial harvesting occurs—are not in equilibrium, and their contribution to national carbon fluxes should be included in the reported flux inventory. Moreover, those forest areas that are subject to direct management are still substantially impacted by natural disturbances. The critical effect of inventory methodology and assumptions on inventory results has important ramifications for efforts to “monitor” and “verify” programs aimed at mitigating global carbon emissions.     

A decision tree approach modelling functional group abundance in a pasture ecosystem

Decision tree, one of the data mining approaches, was used to model the relative abundance of five functional groups of plant species, namely high fertility response grasses (HFRG), low fertility tolerance grasses (LFTG), legume, moss and flatweeds in a New Zealand hill-pasture ecosystem using aboveground biomass. The model outputs were integrated with a geographic information system (GIS) to map and validate the predictions on a pasture. The decision tree models clearly revealed the interactions between the functional groups and environmental and management factors, and also indicated the relative importance of these factors in influencing the functional group abundance. Soil Olsen P was the most significant factor influencing the abundance of LFTG and moss, while soil bulk density, slope and annual P fertiliser input were the most significant factors influencing the abundance of legume, HFRG and flatweeds, respectively. Generally, slope and soil Olsen P were the two key factors underlying the patterns of abundance for these five functional groups. For the five functional groups studied, there was an overall predictive accuracy of 75%. Modelling functional group abundance simplified the investigation of the complex interrelationship between species and environment in a pasture ecosystem. The integration of the decision tree with GIS in this study provides a platform to investigate community structure and functional composition for a pasture over space, and thus can be applied as a tool in pasture management.     

The effect of metapleural gland secretion on the growth of a mutualistic bacterium on the cuticle of leaf-cutting ants

In Acromyrmex octospinosus leaf-cutting ants the metapleural glands produce an array of antibiotic compounds that serve as a general defence against unwanted microbes on the cuticle. Leaf-cutting ants also grow mutualistic Pseudonocardiaceae bacteria on their cuticle that produce antibiotics controlling a microfungal parasite of their fungus gardens. Interaction between this bacterium and gland secretion therefore seems unavoidable. We document the typical development of bacterial growth on the cuticle of young major workers, show that growth starts a few days after eclosion, and that the maximal cover is reached after 2–3 weeks and gradually declines when workers mature. Experimental closure of the metapleural glands had no effect on the initial exponential growth phase of the bacterium, but significantly reduced the cover during the decline phase. The age-dependent abundance of the bacterium and its partial dependence on metapleural gland secretion support the hypothesis that the abundance of this mutualist is actively regulated.     

Carbon Budget Implications of the Transition from Natural to Managed Disturbance Regimes in Forest Landscapes

Land-use change from an unmanaged to a managed forested landscape in northern forests is associated with a reduction of the area annually affected by natural disturbances (wildfires and forest insects) and the introduction of harvesting as a new disturbance. This study examined the impacts of changes in the disturbance regime-the frequency and type of disturbance-on landscape-level carbon (C) content and fluxes. The Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector was used to assess these impacts in six representative landscapes (100,000 ha each) with a range of disturbance regimes that are characteristic of conditions in coastal British Columbia, the interior of British Columbia, and the eastern boreal forest in Canada. The model was used to simulate ecosystem C fluxes during a period of natural disturbances, a 50-year transition period during which harvesting replaced natural disturbances, followed by 150 years of harvesting. The initial landscape-level biomass C content under natural disturbance regimes in the six example landscapes was 22 to 75% of their potential maximum content which is often used as the reference or baseline case. After 200 years of forest management, the C stored in the landscape plus the C retained in forest products manufactured from harvested biomass was between 58 and 101% of the landscape C content prior to the onset of harvesting. Landscape-level ecosystem C content was found to be affected by changes in the disturbance frequency, the age-dependence of the disturbance probabilities, and the disturbance-specific impacts on ecosystem C content. The results indicate that using the potential maximum C content of a landscape as the baseline always overestimates the actual C release due to land use change. A more meaningful procedure would be to assess the actual differences in landscape-level C content between the natural and the managed disturbance regime.