Hidden demographic impacts of fishing and environmental drivers of fecundity in a sea turtle population

Fisheries bycatch is a critical threat to sea turtle populations worldwide, particularly because turtles are vulnerable to multiple gear types. The Canary Current is an intensely fished region, yet there has been no demographic assessment integrating bycatch and population management information of the globally significant Cabo Verde loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) population. Using Boa Vista island (Eastern Cabo Verde) subpopulation data from capture–recapture and nest monitoring (2013–2019), we evaluated population viability and estimated regional bycatch rates (2016–2020) in longline, trawl, purse-seine, and artisanal fisheries. We further evaluated current nesting trends in the context of bycatch estimates, existing hatchery conservation measures, and environmental (net primary productivity) variability in turtle foraging grounds. We projected that current bycatch mortality rates would lead to the near extinction of the Boa Vista subpopulation. Bycatch reduction in longline fisheries and all fisheries combined would increase finite population growth rate by 1.76% and 1.95%, respectively. Hatchery conservation increased hatchling production and reduced extinction risk, but alone it could not achieve population growth. Short-term increases in nest counts (2013–2021), putatively driven by temporary increases in net primary productivity, may be masking ongoing long-term population declines. When fecundity was linked to net primary productivity, our hindcast models simultaneously predicted these opposing long-term and short-term trends. Consequently, our results showed conservation management must diversify from land-based management. The masking effect we found has broad-reaching implications for monitoring sea turtle populations worldwide, demonstrating the importance of directly estimating adult survival and that nest counts might inadequately reflect underlying population trends.     

Upstream Addicks–Barker reservoir damages during Hurricane Harvey: A case study of urban hydrology and policy failure in Houston,TX

Addicks and Barker reservoirs were built in the 1940s to protect downtown Houston from flooding and have generally worked very well until 2017 when Hurricane Harvey devastated much of Houston and surroundings with up to 40 inches (102 cm) of rainfall causing flooding of 154,000 homes in over 22 watersheds in Houston/Harris County alone. However, the story of how Addicks and Barker flooded upstream residential areas from a hydrologic standpoint is a harsh lesson in flood infrastructure policy and funding. This failure to protect both downstream properties in Buffalo Bayou and upstream areas behind the dams ended up with tens of thousands of flooded homes and properties, with many having flood waters for over 10 days. This paper explores the main causes for the flooding and addresses the hydrologic issues upstream in both reservoirs. The main causes of flooding were not just related to a massive rainfall event, but also explosive urban expansion of land use upstream of reservoirs, altered and updated reservoir design issues, and lack of governmental action in the years leading up to the disaster. Potential long-term solutions to the flooding and design problems are addressed in this article as well.     

Important factors governing exposure of the population and countermeasure application in rural settlements of the Russian Federation in the long-term after the Chernobyl accident.

Rural settlements located in areas of the Russian Federation contaminated after the Chernobyl accident and exceeding an annual dose of 1 mSv a-1 have been classified according to 137Cs contamination density, internal dose and the neighbourhood of forests. It has been shown that, with the exception of the most contaminated areas, the internal doses decreased in accordance with a decline in 137Cs availability for plant root uptake. An inverse tendency was observed in areas with 137Cs contamination above 555 kBq m-2 which can be explained by a reduction or even termination of countermeasure application and by an increasing consumption of forest products in areas where restrictive countermeasures are still implemented. Twenty-seven settlements have been studied to estimate the effectiveness of countermeasures applied previously and to identify the most important factors governing the radiation exposure to the population and its change with time. It has been shown that the effectiveness of countermeasures which resulted in a decrease of up to 40% of doses has a tendency to decline in the long term. The need for continuation of remediation in rural settlements was evaluated both for selected settlements and extrapolated to the whole contaminated area and it has been shown that the application of countermeasures will be of importance at least up to the year 2045. Rather high effectiveness in terms of internal dose reduction (factor of 2-2.5) of radical improvement (disking, ploughing and reseeding) and administration of Cs binders to animals (Ferrocyn) was demonstrated for the selected settlements. It could be demonstrated that for forest-remote settlements there is a linear dependence between internal dose normalised to the density of contamination and the proportion of peat soils around settlements. For near-forest settlements, this dependence was less pronounced which can be explained by the high contribution of forest food products to the internal dose. Milk is still the major dose-forming product in rural Russian settlements (its contribution to internal dose in forest-remote settlements is above 70%); however, in near-forest settlements, the contribution of mushrooms to the internal dose is comparable to the contribution from milk.     

Baseline survey of concentrations of toxaphene congeners in fish from European waters

The European Union project "Investigation into the monitoring, analysis and toxicity of toxaphene"(MATT) began in 1997 involving participants from the Netherlands, Ireland, Norway and Germany. Concentration information, analytical methodology and statistical interpretation of 207 samples covering 23 different fish species from European waters are presented for three toxaphene indicator congeners: CHBs 26, 50 and 62 (CHB = chlorobornane). Concentrations for the Sigma3CHBs were more elevated in fish from more northern latitudes, such as the Barents and Norwegian Sea, compared to fish from Irish, Dutch and German waters. Concentrations were lowest in shellfish and in fish species having low lipid content and were highest in medium/high lipid species. Females from a number of fish species were shown to contain significantly higher concentrations than those observed in male fish. Overall no samples were shown to exceed existing German MRL legislation, with only one Greenland halibut sample shown to exceed Canadian TDI recommendations.     

Conflicting processes in the wetland plant rhizosphere: Metal retention or mobilization?

Increasingly wetlands are used for treatment of metal-contaminated water or as a cover over metal-enriched mine tailings. Natural wetlands may also be contaminated with metals from anthropogenic sources. While wetland conditions tend to be favorable for immobilization of metals, wetland plants could influence metal mobility through redox and pH processes in the rhizosphere. Our current knowledge of these processes is reviewed, focusing on the question of whether the advantages of growing wetland plants in metal-contaminated sediments outweigh the disadvantages. Wetland plants alter the redox conditions, pH and organic matter content of sediments and so affect the chemical speciation and mobility of metals. Metals may be mobilized or immobilized, depending on the actual combination of factors, and it is extremely difficult to predict which effects plants will actually have on metal mobility under a given set of conditions. However, while the effects of plants can extend several tens of centimeters into the sediments, there are no reports suggesting large-scale mobilization of metals by wetland plants.     

Employee's turnover intentions and job destination choices

Employee's job destination choices, as part of the turnover process, reflect options for internal organizational or external labor market moves. A sample of 477 employees in 15 firms was used to decipher how bio‐demographic, job, plant, and labor market characteristics are related to five alternative job destinations. Multivariate logistic regression and odds–ratio analyses compared the five models confirming that different sets of variables influence each of the destination choices. Coworkers' intentions have a major significant impact on all destination options. The findings have implications for present turnover models, career paths, and promotion progression in the firm. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of termites severity probability map of futa campus area using geographical information system (GIS) technology

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Siting of buildings in rural urban development requires that the prevalence of termite activities is considered. The severity of termite activities...     

Structure and freedom in creativity: The interplay between externally imposed structure and personal cognitive style

This research investigates how creativity is influenced by externally imposed structure (how structured the task is), internal, cognitively produced, structure (how structured the individuals' cognitive style is), and the interaction between these two factors. Reviewing past literature, we find a contradiction. Studies that focused on the situational perspective found that externally imposed structure increases creativity. In contrast, studies that focused on the individual found that systematic (structured) cognitive style decreases creativity. In two empirical studies we investigated this seeming contradiction. We focused on two aspects of externally imposed structure: The construction of the task (Study 1) and the instructions provided (Study 2). The findings of both studies revealed that creativity was higher under structured conditions. We also show that intuitive individuals are more creative than systematic individuals, but mainly under free conditions, where structure is not externally imposed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.