Knowledge coproduction on the impact of decisions for waterbird habitat in a changing climate

Scientists, resource managers, and decision makers increasingly use knowledge coproduction to guide the stewardship of future landscapes under climate change. This process was applied in the California Central Valley (USA) to solve complex conservation problems, where managed wetlands and croplands are flooded between fall and spring to support some of the largest concentrations of shorebirds and waterfowl in the world. We coproduced scenario narratives, spatially explicit flooded waterbird habitat models, data products, and new knowledge about climate adaptation potential. We documented our coproduction process, and using the coproduced models, we determined when and where management actions make a difference and when climate overrides these actions. The outcomes of this process provide lessons learned on how to cocreate usable information and how to increase climate adaptive capacity in a highly managed landscape. Actions to restore wetlands and prioritize their water supply created habitat outcomes resilient to climate change impacts particularly in March, when habitat was most limited; land protection combined with management can increase the ecosystem's resilience to climate change; and uptake and use of this information was influenced by the roles of different stakeholders, rapidly changing water policies, discrepancies in decision-making time frames, and immediate crises of extreme drought. Although a broad stakeholder group contributed knowledge to scenario narratives and model development, to coproduce usable information, data products were tailored to a small set of decision contexts, leading to fewer stakeholder participants over time. A boundary organization convened stakeholders across a large landscape, and early adopters helped build legitimacy. Yet, broadscale use of climate adaptation knowledge depends on state and local policies, engagement with decision makers that have legislative and budgetary authority, and the capacity to fit data products to specific decision needs.     

Passenger head kinematics in abrupt braking and lane change events

Abstract

Objective: A test track study was conducted to quantify patterns of adult front seat passenger head motion during abrupt vehicle maneuvers.

Method: Eighty-seven men and women with a wide range of body sizes and ages participated in data collection on a closed test track in a passenger sedan under manual control by a test driver. Because a primary goal of the study was to gather “unaware” data, the participants were instructed that the study was concerned with vehicle dynamics and they were required to read from a questionnaire taped to the top of their thighs as the drive began. The first event was a hard brake (approximately 1 g) to a stop from 35?mph (56 kph). Within the space of approximately 5?min the participants also experienced an aggressive lane change, a sharp right turn with simultaneous hard braking, and a second hard braking event. A Microsoft Kinect v2 sensor was positioned to view the area around the front passenger seat. Head location was tracked using the Kinect data with a novel methodology that fit 3D head scan data to the depth data acquired in the vehicle.

Result: The mean (standard deviation) forward excursion of the estimated head center of gravity (CG) location in the first braking event was 135 (62) mm. The forward head CG excursion in the second braking event of 115 (51) mm was significantly less than that in the first, but the difference was small relative to the within-condition variance. Head excursion on the second braking trial was less than that on the first trial for 69% of participants. The mean maximum inboard head excursion in lane-change maneuvers was 118 (40) mm. Forward head excursions in braking were significantly smaller for older passengers and those with higher body mass index, but the combined factors accounted for less than 25% of the variance. Inboard head excursion in the lane-change event was significantly related to stature, but only about 7% of variance was related to body size. Head excursions for men and women did not differ significantly after accounting for body size.

Discussion: This is the first quantitative occupant dynamics study to use a large, diverse sample of passengers, enabling the exploration of the effects of covariates such as age and body size.

Conclusions: The data demonstrate that a relatively large range of head positions can be expected to result from abrupt vehicle maneuvers. The data do not support simple scaling of excursions based on body size.     

Climate change adaptation and cross-sectoral policy coherence in southern Africa

To be effective, climate change adaptation needs to be mainstreamed across multiple sectors and greater policy coherence is essential. Using the cases of Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia, this paper investigates the extent of coherence in national policies across the water and agriculture sectors and to climate change adaptation goals outlined in national development plans. A two-pronged qualitative approach is applied using Qualitative Document Analysis of relevant policies and plans, combined with expert interviews from non-government actors in each country. Findings show that sector policies have differing degrees of coherence on climate change adaptation, currently being strongest in Zambia and weakest in Tanzania. We also identify that sectoral policies remain more coherent in addressing immediate-term disaster management issues of floods and droughts rather than longer-term strategies for climate adaptation. Coherence between sector and climate policies and strategies is strongest when the latter has been more recently developed. However to date, this has largely been achieved by repackaging of existing sectoral policy statements into climate policies drafted by external consultants to meet international reporting needs and not by the establishment of new connections between national sectoral planning processes. For more effective mainstreaming of climate change adaptation, governments need to actively embrace longer-term cross-sectoral planning through cross-Ministerial structures, such as initiated through Zambia’s Interim Climate Change Secretariat, to foster greater policy coherence and integrated adaptation planning.     

Divestment discourse: war,justice, morality and money

The fossil fuel divestment movement has been a vibrant novel development in climate change politics in recent years, particularly in North America. Here, the character of the discourse used to promote divestment as a strategy is explored. The divestment discourse is shown to rest on four overlapping narratives, those of war and enemies, morality, economics and justice. All four are clearly discernible in statements from movement activists, in coverage of divestment campaigns by major news sources and in the movement’s aims, objectives and strategies covered in alternative media. The war narrative, with the formulation of fossil fuel companies as enemies to be overcome to ensure survival, is the dominant narrative. By polarising climate action and identifying an antagonist against which to mobilise, divestment discourse has articulated climate change as an explicitly political phenomenon, in contrast to the primarily consensus and collaboration-based approaches that have predominated in climate politics.     

Simultaneous measurements of dissolved CH<Subscript>4</Subscript> and H<Subscript>2</Subscript> in wetland soils

Biogeochemical processes in wetland soils are complex and are driven by a microbiological community that competes for resources and affects the soil chemistry. Depending on the availability of various electron acceptors, the high carbon input to wetland soils can make them important sources of methane production and emissions. There are two significant pathways for methanogenesis: acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis. The hydrogenotrophic pathway is dependent on the availability of dissolved hydrogen gas (H₂), and there is significant competition for available H₂. This study presents simultaneous measurements of dissolved methane and H₂ over a 2-year period at three tidal marshes in the New Jersey Meadowlands. Methane reservoirs show a significant correlation with dissolved organic carbon, temperature, and methane emissions, whereas the H₂ concentrations measured with dialysis samplers do not show significant relationships with these field variables. Data presented in this study show that increased dissolved H₂ reservoirs in wetland soils correlate with decreased methane reservoirs, which is consistent with studies that have shown that elevated levels of H₂ inhibit methane production by inhibiting propionate fermentation, resulting in less acetate production and hence decreasing the contribution of acetoclastic methanogenesis to the overall production of methane.     

Horizon scanning for South African biodiversity: A need for social engagement as well as science

Ambio - A horizon scan was conducted to identify emerging and intensifying issues for biodiversity conservation in South Africa over the next 5–10&nbsp;years. South African biodiversity...     

Spatial and covariate-varying relationships among dominant tree species in Utah

Environmental and Ecological Statistics - The presence and establishment of a tree species at a particular spatial location is influenced by multiple physiological and environmental filters such as...     

Nutrient and Sediment Production,Watershed Characteristics,and Land Use in the Tahoe Basin,California‐Nevada1

Abstract: In efforts to control the degradation of water quality in Lake Tahoe, public agencies have monitored surface water discharge and concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended sediment in two separate sampling programs. The first program focuses on 20 watersheds varying in size from 162 to 14,000 ha, with continuous stream gaging and periodic sampling; the second focuses on small urbanized catchments, with automated sampling during runoff events. Using data from both programs, we addressed the questions (1) what are the fluxes and concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus entering the lake from surface runoff; (2) how do the fluxes and concentrations vary in space and time; and (3) how are they related to land use and watershed characteristics? To answer these questions, we calculated discharge‐weighted average concentrations and annual fluxes and used multiple regression to relate those variable to a suite of GIS‐derived explanatory variables. The final selected regression models explain 47‐62% of the variance in constituent concentrations in the stormwater monitoring catchments, and 45‐72% of the variance in mean annual yields in the larger watersheds. The results emphasize the importance of impervious surface and residential density as factors in water quality degradation, and well‐developed soil as a factor in water quality maintenance.     

A Benefit‐Cost Analysis of Total Maximum Daily Load Implementation1

Abstract: Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) implementation generates benefits and costs from water quality improvements, which are rarely quantified. This analysis examines a TMDL written to address bacteria and aquatic‐life‐use impairments on Abrams and Opequon Creeks in Virginia. Benefits were estimated using a contingent valuation survey of local residents. Costs were based on the number and type of best management practices (BMPs) necessary to achieve TMDL pollution reduction goals. BMPs were quantified using watershed‐scale water quality simulation models (Generalized Watershed Loading Function and Hydrological Simulation Program‐FORTRAN). Based on our projections, the costs to achieve TMDL induced pollution reduction goals outweigh the estimated benefits. Benefit‐cost ratios ranged between 0.1 and 0.3.     

Effect of soil ageing on in vivo arsenic bioavailability in two dissimilar soils

Arsenic (As) bioavailability in spiked soils aged for up to 12 months was assessed using in vitro and in vivo methodologies. Ageing (natural attenuation) of spiked soils resulted in a decline in in vivo As bioavailability (swine assay) of over 75% in soil A (Red Ferrosol) but had no significant effect on in vivo As bioavailability even after 12 months of ageing in soil B (Brown Chromosol). Sequential fractionation, however, indicated that there was repartitioning of As within the soil fractions extracted during the time course investigated. In soil A, the As fraction associated with the more weakly bound soil fractions decreased while the residual fraction increased from 12% to 35%. In contrast, little repartitioning of As was observed in soil B indicating that natural attenuation may be only applicable for As in soils containing specific mineralogical properties.