Building partnership capacity for the collaborative management of marine protected areas in the UK: a preliminary analysis

This paper reports the findings of a preliminary analysis of 15 case studies of inshore marine protected areas in the UK. It draws on the common-pool resource (CPR) literature and is premised on the thesis that building partnership capacity amongst relevant authorities and resource users provides a critical basis for overcoming collective action problems (CAPs), through the development of incentive structures and social capital, in order to achieve strategic objectives. Particular attention is paid to the influence of statutory marine biodiversity conservation obligations to the European Commission for marine special areas of conservation (MSACs), as these are an important external contextual factor. The risks of imposition and parochialism are outlined and the challenges of taking a balanced approach are discussed. The challenges posed by the attributes of the marine environment are considered, as are those posed by the policy framework for MSACs. The findings are discussed in relation to three questions: (i) which partnership models appear to have the potential to overcome the CAPs posed by inshore MSACs? (ii) what CAPs had to be addressed during the early phase of development of the MSAC co-management regimes? (iii) what are the likely future CAPs for the collaborative management of MSACs that each partnership will need to address? These preliminary findings will form the basis for future studies to analyse the outcomes of these 15 initiatives, in order to assess the strengths, in various contexts, of different approaches for building resilient and balanced, thereby effective, institutions for the co-management of MSACs in the UK.     

The distribution of metals in the forest floor of aged conifer stands at a plantation in Northern England

The distribution of the elements Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, V and Zn has been examined in the horizons of soils under aged Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.) stands at a plantation in Northern England. The stands are under first-generation cultivation and are up to 33 years old. Cadmium, Mn, Pb and Zn concentrations were consistently higher in the organic layers than in the underlying mineral soil. This contrasted with the situation for Sr and V. Cadmium, Pb and Zn all showed an increase in concentration in the L + F horizons with stand age and a corresponding increase in the difference between L + F horizon concentrations. Soil pH declined with increasing stand age. Cadmium, Cr, Pb and Zn were all present at higher concentrations in the F horizon than in any other, while Cu and Ni were relatively constant through all the horizons studied. For all nine elements, the H horizon was the largest store of the three organic layers. Calculated rates of accumulation of Cd, Pb and Zn in the L + F horizons gave good agreement with estimated regional atmospheric deposition rates. In comparison to atmospheric deposition, biological mobilisation and deposition of Cd, Pb and Zn make a relatively minor contribution to the surface soil metal burden. Cadmium appeared to be the most readily leached of these three metals from the forest floor, although some transfer of atmospherically-derived Pb to the H+ soil horizons was indicated.     

Designing the next generation of climate adaptation research for development

Adaptation research has changed significantly in recent years as funders and researchers seek to encourage greater impact, ensure value for money and promote interdisciplinarity across the natural and social sciences. While these developments are inherently positive, they also bring fresh challenges. With this in mind, this paper presents an agenda for the next generation of climate adaptation research for development. The agenda is based on insights from a dialogue session held at the 2016 Adaptation Futures conference as well as drawing on the collective experience of the authors. We propose five key areas that need to be changed in order to meet the needs of future adaptation research, namely: increasing transparency and consultation in research design; encouraging innovation in the design and delivery of adaptation research programmes; demonstrating impact on the ground; addressing incentive structures; and promoting more effective brokering, knowledge management and learning. As new international funding initiatives start to take shape, we underscore the importance of learning from past experiences and scaling-up of successful innovations in research funding models.

     

Variation in the trophic structure and species composition of some invertebrate communities in polluted kelp forests in the North Sea

The absence of species from kelp holdfast habitats is used to establish changes in invertebrate community structure in polluted coastal waters along the shores of North Eastern Britain. The study shows the following changes: (1) Approximately 45% of the species complement studied in clean-water habitats are missing from polluted habitats. (2) Rare species are lost and food chains are missing. (3) Dislocations of the marine food web occur: removal of parts of the primary producer to herbivore food chain; suppression of some carnivores; removal of some omnivores and selection of certain suspension feeders. (4) No new species appear in polluted communities. (5) Recombinations of resistant species compensate for the reduction in energy flow through a damaged food web by proportionally increasing the suspension-feeding pathways. (6) The ecological equilibrium of the suspension-feeding groups which are responsible for maintaining the damaged food web are in a delicate state of balance. The further loss of 1 large food chain could result in the collapse of the remaining fragments of a polluted-water invertebrate community food web.     

Simple molecular method to distinguish the identity of Calanus species (Copepoda: Calanoida) at any developmental stage

Diagnostic morphological characteristics of copepods of the genus Calanus are restricted largely to minor variations in secondary sex characteristics. This presents a persistent problem in the identification of individuals to species level, especially for immature stages. We have developed a simple molecular technique to distinguish between the North Atlantic Calanus species (C. helgolandicus, C. finmarchicus, C. glacialis and C. hyperboreus) at any life stage. Using the polymerase chain-reaction (PCR), the mitochodrial large subunit (16S) ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene was amplified from individual copepods preserved in ethanol. Subsequent digestion of the amplified products with the restriction enzymes DdeI and VspI, followed by electrophoretic separation in 2% agarose (Metaphor, FMC Ltd), produced a characteristic pattern for each species. The versatility of the method is demonstrated by the unambiguous identification to species of any life stage, from egg to adult, and of individual body parts. Received: 11 May 1998 / Accepted: 5 August 1998     

POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON AGRICULTURAL WATER USE IN THE SOUTHEAST U.S.1

ABSTRACT: Climate change has the potential to have dramatic effects on the agricultural sector nationally and internationally as documented in many research papers. This paper reports on research that was focused on a specific crop growing area to demonstrate how farm managers might respond to climate-induced yield changes and the implications of these responses for agricultural water use. The Hadley model was used to generate climate scenarios for important agricultural areas of Georgia in 2030 and 2090. Linked crop response models indicated generally positive yield changes, as increased temperatures were associated with increased precipitation and CO2. Using a farm management model, differences in climate-induced yield impacts among crops led to changes in crop mix and associated water use; non-irrigated cropland received greater benefit since irrigated land was already receiving adequate moisture. Model results suggest that farm managers will increase cropping intensity by decreasing fallowing and increasing double cropping; corn acreage decreased dramatically, peanuts decreased moderately and cotton and winter wheat increased. Water use on currently irrigated cropland fell. The potential for increased water use through conversion of agriculturally important, but currently non-irrigated, growing areas is substantial.     

Arctic Lake Physical Processes and Regimes with Implications for Winter Water Availability and Management in the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska

Lakes are dominant landforms in the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska (NPRA) as well as important social and ecological resources. Of recent importance is the management of these freshwater ecosystems because lakes deeper than maximum ice thickness provide an important and often sole source of liquid water for aquatic biota, villages, and industry during winter. To better understand seasonal and annual hydrodynamics in the context of lake morphometry, we analyzed lakes in two adjacent areas where winter water use is expected to increase in the near future because of industrial expansion. Landsat Thematic Mapper and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus imagery acquired between 1985 and 2007 were analyzed and compared with climate data to understand interannual variability. Measured changes in lake area extent varied by 0.6% and were significantly correlated to total precipitation in the preceding 12 months (p < 0.05). Using this relation, the modeled lake area extent from 1985 to 2007 showed no long-term trends. In addition, high-resolution aerial photography, bathymetric surveys, water-level monitoring, and lake-ice thickness measurements and growth models were used to better understand seasonal hydrodynamics, surface area-to-volume relations, winter water availability, and more permanent changes related to geomorphic change. Together, these results describe how lakes vary seasonally and annually in two critical areas of the NPRA and provide simple models to help better predict variation in lake-water supply. Our findings suggest that both overestimation and underestimation of actual available winter water volume may occur regularly, and this understanding may help better inform management strategies as future resource use expands in the NPRA.     

Industrial pollution,spatial stigma and economic decline: the case of Asopos river basin through the lens of local small business owners

This paper explores the notion of environmentally induced spatial stigma through an analysis of data from interviews across public attitudes to pollution within the Asopos river basin in central Greece. The area has a 40 year plus history of legal and illicit industrial waste disposal and public debate on the associated environmental degradation. The study focuses on the perceptions and beliefs of a sector of the community likely to be directly and negatively affected by stigma, that is small business owners in the tourism and hospitality sector. The qualitative analysis explores awareness and viewpoints on environmental degradation and water quality within the local context, implications for the local economy and the individual's own enterprise, views on industrial environmental management as well as corporate responsibility and future prospects for the environmental problems of Asopos. Findings reveal a noticeable variation in views on industrial pollution and ecosystem deterioration among the respondents, but overall a strong environmentally induced stigmatization of the area. They also uncover an information asymmetry and lack of credible commitment by government bodies and industry members in disclosing accurate information, a situation likely to increase speculation and uncertainty within the community. The paper concludes by addressing implications of the findings to policy-making and managerial considerations, along with future research perspectives which aim to increase considerations of sustainability aspects for local development.     

A Comprehensive Python Toolkit for Accessing High‐Throughput Computing to Support Large Hydrologic Modeling Tasks

The National Flood Interoperability Experiment (NFIE) was an undertaking that initiated a transformation in national hydrologic forecasting by providing streamflow forecasts at high spatial resolution over the whole country. This type of large‐scale, high‐resolution hydrologic modeling requires flexible and scalable tools to handle the resulting computational loads. While high‐throughput computing (HTC) and cloud computing provide an ideal resource for large‐scale modeling because they are cost‐effective and highly scalable, nevertheless, using these tools requires specialized training that is not always common for hydrologists and engineers. In an effort to facilitate the use of HTC resources the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project, CI‐WATER, has developed a set of Python tools that can automate the tasks of provisioning and configuring an HTC environment in the cloud, and creating and submitting jobs to that environment. These tools are packaged into two Python libraries: CondorPy and TethysCluster. Together these libraries provide a comprehensive toolkit for accessing HTC to support hydrologic modeling. Two use cases are described to demonstrate the use of the toolkit, including a web app that was used to support the NFIE national‐scale modeling.     

Designing and Implementing a Network for Sensing Water Quality and Hydrology across Mountain to Urban Transitions

Water resources are increasingly impacted by growing human populations, land use, and climate changes, and complex interactions among biophysical processes. In an effort to better understand these factors in semiarid northern Utah, United States, we created a real‐time observatory consisting of sensors deployed at aquatic and terrestrial stations to monitor water quality, water inputs, and outputs along mountain to urban gradients. The Gradients Along Mountain to Urban Transitions (GAMUT) monitoring network spans three watersheds with similar climates and streams fed by mountain winter‐derived precipitation, but that differ in urbanization level, land use, and biophysical characteristics. The aquatic monitoring stations in the GAMUT network include sensors to measure chemical (dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, pH, nitrate, and dissolved organic matter), physical (stage, temperature, and turbidity), and biological components (chlorophyll‐a and phycocyanin). We present the logistics of designing, implementing, and maintaining the network; quality assurance and control of numerous, large datasets; and data acquisition, dissemination, and visualization. Data from GAMUT reveal spatial differences in water quality due to urbanization and built infrastructure; capture rapid temporal changes in water quality due to anthropogenic activity; and identify changes in biological structure, each of which are demonstrated via case study datasets.