Extra-pair paternity and male characteristics in the pied flycatcher

The pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) is sexually dichromatic with extreme variation in male plumage coloration. The benefit for males of having black plumage is controversial, and few studies have found evidence for a sexual selection benefit of being black rather than brown. However, blacker males may be better able to achieve extra-pair fertilizations (EPFs), which may be an important component of sexual selection. We studied the role of EPFs in sexual selection in the pied flycatcher by establishing a set-up where two males with different back coloration (blacker vs browner) bred simultaneously near each other. DNA fingerprinting analysis revealed that 11% of offspring resulted from EPFs, and that 22% of broods included extra-pair young (EPY) among 36 nests containing 223 nestlings. We found no evidence that browner males suffered more often from EPFs than blacker males. There was no correlation of male or female morphology or age with EPF frequency. However, breeding pairs with low genetic similarity had EPY in their nests significantly more often. Thus we argue that females paired with genetically dissimilar males may try to avoid the effects of extreme outbreeding by seeking extra-pair copulations (EPCs). Alternatively, incompatibility between genetically dissimilar mates may simply expose females to more extra-pair copulations.     

Environmental management from left to right – on ideology,policy-specific beliefs and pro-environmental policy support

Due to growing environmental challenges, the demand for effective management through pro-environmental policy measures is increasing. The effectiveness is, however, largely determined by the degree to which the policy measures are supported by the actors affected by them. A consistent finding in the literature is that ideology (or subjective positioning on the left–right dimension) affects environmental policy support, with left-leaning individuals being more pro-environmental. A major caveat with previous research is that it seldom makes a distinction between different kinds of policies. Therefore, we are concerned with investigating how different ideological positions affect attitudes towards different forms of environmental protection. Using unique survey data, we show that ideology is related to conceptions about the fairness and effectiveness of different policy tools, which in turn steer preferences. In that sense, this paper makes the discussion on the effects of ideological position on pro-environmental policy support more nuanced.     

Sustainability through system transformation: lessons from Finnish efforts

This special issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production addresses system transformation by examining progress, stumbling blocks and opportunities for sustainable consumption and production in a specific country, Finland, set within a global context. The articles present and analyse top-down policy efforts, bottom-up efforts by municipalities, activities by companies and actions by consumers. They provide material for discussions on the shift from sustainability planning to enhancing system transformation, on the implications of globalisation for system boundaries, on the transformation of complex systems, on learning processes and on methods of assessing transitions. Without providing a singular solution, the articles show that issues of sustainability should be explored in different ways within different contexts, and experimented with. There is a continuous need for transformations and reflexive learning, since conditions are likely to become very different, not least due to climate change. The notion of change and transformation will be high on the agenda of the Rio+20 conference, as will similar efforts to promote large-scale transformations of consumption and production.     

Tropical Timber Rush in Peruvian Amazonia: Spatial Allocation of Forest Concessions in an Uninventoried Frontier

Land-use allocation has important implications for the conservation and management of tropical forests. Peru’s forestry regime has recently been reformed and more than 7 million ha has been assigned as forest concessions. This potentially has a drastic impact on the land-use practices and species composition of the assigned areas. Nevertheless, the environmental variation found within the concessions and the process applied to delimit them are poorly studied and documented. Thus, it is difficult to estimate the biological impacts of forestry activities in concessions or plan them sustainably. This paper reveals the characteristics of the current concession allocation in Loreto, Peruvian Amazonia, using environmental and access-related variables and compares the concessions to other major land-use assignments. The work draws on a number of data sets describing land-use, ecosystem diversity, and fluvial network in the region. According to our data, certain environment types such as relatively fertile Pebas soils are overrepresented in the concessions, while others, like floodplain forests, are underrepresented in comparison to other land-use assignments. Concessions also have less anthropogenic disturbance than other areas. Furthermore, concessions are located on average further from the river network than the other land-use assignments studied. We claim that forest classification based on productivity, soil fertility, accessibility, and biodiversity patterns is an achievable long-term goal for forest authorities in Peru, and in many other tropical countries. We present a rough design of a geographic information system incorporating environmental, logging, and access-related data that could be applied to approach this goal in Peru.     

Effect of light Sphagnum peat on odour formation in the early stages of biowaste composting

In the present study, we investigated the effects of two bulking materials, Sphagnum peat and pine wood chips, on the early stages of biowaste composting in two pilot-scale processes. Emphasis was placed on studying the formation conditions of malodorous compost gases in the initial phases of the processes. The results showed that gas emission leaving an open windrow and a closed drum composting system contained elevated concentrations of fermentative microbial metabolites when acid Sphagnum peat (pH 3.2) was used as a bulking material. Moreover, the gas emission of the peat amended drum composter contained a high concentration of odour (up to 450,000 ou m^?3 of air). The highest odour values in the outlet gas of peat amended composts coincided with the elevated concentrations of volatile organic compounds such as acetoin and buthanedion. We conclude that the acidifying qualities of composting substrates or bulking material may intensify odour emission from biowaste composts and prolong the early stages of the composting process.     

Mobility and Methylation of Mercury in Forest Soils Development of an In-Situ Stable Isotope Tracer Technique and Initial Results

A method for investigating in-situmethylation and mobility of mercury has beendeveloped and applied to forest soil. The methodis based on additions of stable ¹⁹⁹Hgisotopes to forest soil plots followed bysampling and analysis of isotope ratios of totalmercury and MeHg using ICP-MS. Initial resultsindicate that a fraction (30%) of the mercuryadded to the forest soils is immobilised over atime scale of 16 months. A small but significantfraction of the mercury is methylated during thesame time scale. Higher methylation rates werefound in wetland soil than in dry forest podzolsoil.     

Perceived Mental Stress and Reactions in Heart Rate Variability—A Pilot Study Among Employees of an Electronics Company

In this study perceived mental stress during occupational work was compared to heart rate variability (HRV) using a traditional questionnaire and a novel wristop heart rate monitor with related software. The aim was to find HRV parameters useful for mental stress detection. We found the highest correlation between perceived mental stress with the differences between the values of triangular interpolation of rythm-to-rythm (RR) interval histogram (TINN) and the root mean square of differences of successive RR intervals (RMSSD) obtained in the morning and during the workday(r = -.73 andr = -.60, respectively). The analysis shows that as the RMSSD and TINN value differences increase from night to morning, the stress decreases.     

Distribution of Carabid Beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) across a Boreal Forest–Clearcut Ecotone

Abstract: We studied the occurrence of carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in boreal forest fragments, their edges, and adjacent clearcuts in central Finland. Beetles were collected with pitfall traps along transects extending 60 m from the edge into clearcuts and 60 m into forest interior. Our main findings were that (1) species richness was significantly higher in the clearcut than in the forest fragments, (2) clearcuts hosted many open-habitat species, which increased overall species richness in these sites, (3) carabid assemblages in the edges were more similar to forest assemblages than to those found in the clearcuts, (4) no edge specialists were found, and (5) open-habitat species did not penetrate into the forest fragments from the clearcut. Because forest specialists occurred all the way to the edge on the forest side, it seems that edge effects per se do not adversely affect these species, at least in the short term. In the long term, however, habitat conditions in the edges may deteriorate for interior species because of trees falling over in strong winds, thereby reducing the size of the fragments and widening the edge zone.     

Methane oxidation at a surface-sealed boreal landfill

Methane oxidation was studied at a closed boreal landfill (area 3.9 ha, amount of deposited waste 200,000 tonnes) equipped with a passive gas collection and distribution system and a methane oxidative top soil cover integrated in a European Union landfill directive-compliant, multilayer final cover. Gas wells and distribution pipes with valves were installed to direct landfill gas through the water impermeable layer into the top soil cover. Mean methane emissions at the 25 measuring points at four measurement times (October 2005–June 2006) were 0.86–6.2 m³ ha^?1 h^?1. Conservative estimates indicated that at least 25% of the methane flux entering the soil cover at the measuring points was oxidized in October and February, and at least 46% in June. At each measurement time, 1–3 points showed significantly higher methane fluxes into the soil cover (20–135 m³ ha^?1 h^?1) and methane emissions (6–135 m³ ha^?1 h^?1) compared to the other points (<20 m³ ha^?1 h^?1 and <10 m³ ha^?1 h^?1, respectively). These points of methane overload had a high impact on the mean methane oxidation at the measuring points, resulting in zero mean oxidation at one measurement time (November). However, it was found that by adjusting the valves in the gas distribution pipes the occurrence of methane overload can be to some extent moderated which may increase methane oxidation. Overall, the investigated landfill gas treatment concept may be a feasible option for reducing methane emissions at landfills where a water impermeable cover system is used.