Over-reaction and under-reaction in climate policy: an institutional analysis

In what circumstances do organizations react to changes in their operating environment by adopting proportionate policy responses? And drawing on institutional theory, what expectations can we formulate in relation to the proportionality of policy responses to climate change? These two research questions frame this article, which seeks to make new connections between the emerging perspective of proportionality in policy-making and existing institutional theories. We find that institutional theories are well suited to formulating expectations concerning the (dis)proportionality of policy responses, but their explanatory power can be further improved by taking the characteristics of specific climate policy problems into account. While there are many different problems nested in the ‘meta’ problem of climate change, we find that most of them have characteristics which suggest that policy under-reactions are more, not less likely. Amongst institutional theories, rational choice institutionalism provides the clearest expectation that proportionate policy responses are unlikely. Policy entrepreneurship is identified as one obvious way in which to stimulate proportionate policy responses, through fostering new ways of thinking within organizations.     

Improved understanding of hyperaccumulation yields commercial phytoextraction and phytomining technologies

This paper reviews progress in phytoextraction of soil elements and illustrates the key role of hyperaccumulator plant species in useful phytoextraction technologies. Much research has focused on elements which are not practically phytoextracted (Pb); on addition of chelating agents which cause unacceptable contaminant leaching and are cost prohibitive; and on plant species which offer no useful phytoextraction capability (e.g., Brassica juncea Czern). Nickel phytoextraction by Alyssum hyperaccumulator species, which have been developed into a commercial phytomining technology, is discussed in more detail. Nickel is ultimately accumulated in vacuoles of leaf epidermal cells which prevents metal toxicity and provides defense against some insect predators and plant diseases. Constitutive up-regulation of trans-membrane element transporters appears to be the key process that allows these plants to achieve hyperaccumulation. Cadmium phytoextraction is needed for rice soils contaminated by mine wastes and smelter emissions with 100-fold more soil Zn than Cd. Although many plant species can accumulate high levels of Cd in the absence of Zn, when Cd/Zn>100, only Thlaspi caerulescens from southern France has demonstrated the ability to phytoextract useful amounts of Cd. Production of element-enriched biomass with value as ore or fertilizer or improved food (Se) or feed supplement may offset costs of phytoextraction crop production. Transgenic phytoextraction plants have been achieved for Hg, but not for other elements. Although several researchers have been attempting to clone all genes required for effective hyperaccumulation of several elements, success appears years away; such demonstrations will be needed to prove we have identified all necessary processes in hyperaccumulation.     

GPS tracking a marine predator: the effects of precision,resolution and sampling rate on foraging tracks of African Penguins

We used a prototype GPS logger to track the movements of breeding African Penguins (Spheniscus demersus). The loggers also recorded temperature and water depth, which allowed us to reconstruct foraging tracks in three dimensions, although GPS signals are interrupted when the birds dive. Here we report the loggers performance in the field and assess the effects of GPS error, resolution and sampling rate on estimates of foraging track length and speed. There is a trade-off between sampling rate and battery lifespan. We tested loggers at sampling intervals of 1 s, 10 s, 1 min, 2 min and 10 min. Sampling less frequently increases the chance of tracking an entire foraging trip, but it slows uplink times, slightly decreases the accuracy of positional fixes, and significantly reduces the ability to measure fine-scale aspects of foraging behaviour. Compared with radio or satellite tracking, GPS loggers offer unprecedented detail about animal movements. The results of our analysis suggest that techniques that sample relatively infrequently, such as satellite tracking, underestimate actual track lengths by up to 50%. However, caution is needed when interpreting fine-scale sampling for relatively slow-moving organisms. Re-sampling 1-s tracks suggests that c. 35% of apparent movements at this scale are due to measurement error and, more importantly, the limited spatial resolution of GPS (1.85×1.54 m at the study area). We recommend that researchers use a 1-s sampling rate for fine-scale studies, but resample at less frequent intervals to remove spurious noise for slow-moving animals. At current levels of resolution, animals should move at least 4 m per sampling interval. We provide empirical correction factors to compare inferred track length sampled at different rates, but caution that these are idiosyncratic and strongly dependent on the animals behaviour. Overall, GPS loggers offer a significant advance for studies of fine-scale animal movement patterns.Communicated by O. Kinne, Oldendorf/Luhe     

Predicting turnover: A comparison of part-time and full-time employees

The predictability of turnover was compared for part-time versus full-time workers. This was accomplished using variables (1) that were hypothesized by Mobley (1977) to precede the turnover decision and (2) that have been shown in previous research to be significantly related to turnover. Measures of these variables were assessed via questionnaires following the second month of employment. Turnover was assessed directly from company records for a period of up to twelve months following employment. None of the hypothesized antecedent variables were significantly related to turnover within the part-time group. However, within the full-time group, all of the hypothesized precursors to turnover were found to be at least marginally related to actual turnover. Further, there was evidence to suggest differential predictability of turnover across full-time and part-time employment status groups, suggesting that the two groups may have a different ‘psychology of work’. These results are discussed in terms of the supportive evidence provided.     

Predictive Model of the Effects on Lake Metabolism of Decreased Airborne Litterfall through Riparian Deforestation

The importance of airborne allochthonous litter to the carbon and nutrient budgets of lakes has been seldom studied. We complied data on the input of terrestrial litter to develop a simple and speculative model to predict the potential consequences of riparian deforestation on one aspect of lake metabolism, specifically the balance between phytoplankton production and plankton respiration. During the autumn of 1992, 56 litter traps were deployed around the littoral zones of four oligotrophic lakes in a densely forested region of northwestern Ontario, Canada. The airborne litter input was estimated to be 32 g dry weight per meter of forested shoreline per year. Allochthonous litter input per unit offshore distance was related to the size of riparian trees, their proximity to the shoreline, and the elevation of their canopy. Combining our data with those from other studies suggests that terrestrial litter can contribute up to 15% of the total carbon supply to oligotrophic lakes and up to 10% of the total phosphorus supply to lakes with a large surface area relative to that of their drainage basin. These results were incorporated into a simple model that predicts that removal of shoreline trees could increase the ratio of plankton production to respiration in oligotrophic lakes situated within small drainage basins. Such lakes may therefore shift from allotrophy to increasing autotropy (energy self-sustenance) following riparian deforestation.     

Analysis by slow-motion picture photography and scanning electron microscopy of radular function in Urosalpinx cinerea follyensis (Muricidae,Gastropoda) during shell penetration

Radular function in the muricid gastropod Urosalpinx cinerea follyensis Baker during shell penetration was examined with slow-motion picture photography and scanning electron microscopy. Particular attention was paid to possible injury of buccal structures by radular cusps. The presence of a flexible cuticulated buccal armature, and delicate synchronization of movements of odontophoral cartilages, subradular membrane, teeth, and buccal mass, explain the absence of shredding of live buccal tissues. Some light abrasion was evident, but generally only in the cuticulated gully of the subodontophoral shield, on the rim of the jaw, and on the anterior edge of the esophageal valve. Rasping at the surface of incomplete bore-holes is done by major cusps of rachidian teeth over the bending plane. Marginal teeth lie on the slopes of the odontophore, generally remain depressed below the level of rachidian teeth, and thus scrape the shell only lightly, if at all. The sharp posteriorly recurved shape of central and lateral rachidian cusps enhances their scooping effectiveness. These teeth produce smooth, conspicuous traces in the soft shell of Mya arenaria and shallow traces in the harder shell of Mytilus edulis Linné. The impact of individual cusp strikes was not evident in traces. With wear, rachidian cusps become increasingly blunted, a reflection of their ploughing action over chemically weakened shell, and are eventually sanded flat. Marginal teeth wear primarily at their ends, the tips becoming truncated as they pass lightly over the shell surface. The advancing edge of the odontophore during rasping strokes, plotted on the image from motion pictures moves slowly at first, then more rapidly in the middle of the stroke, and slows again at the end. Duration of strokes ranged from 0.45 to 0.75 sec. Duration of rasping cycles varied from 1.3 to 2.0 sec. The number of transverse rows of teeth passing over the bending plane during the rasping stroke varied from 14 to 32, and the average time for the passage of one transverse row over the bending plane ranged from 20 to 48 msec. The number of transverse rows of teeth remaining exposed beneath the odontophore below the bending plane at the end of the rasping stroke, and between the bending plane and the anterior end of the sulcus in the radular diverticulum, was approximately 10.     

Temperature tolerance and latitudinal range of brown algae from temperate Pacific South America

Lower and upper survival temperatures of microthalli of 25 species of South American Phaeophyceae isolated from central Peru (14°S) to the Canal Beagle (55°S) were determined using 2-wk exposure for the upper and 4-wk exposure for the lower limit. All species survive 4 wks at -2°C. With respect to the upper limit, species reported only from southernmost South America tolerate 19.9 to 24.5°C (n=8), and species occurring from Cape Horn to central Chile 24.6 to 27.4°C (n=7). Three species that occurred as far north as northern Chile and Peru before the 1982–1983 El Niño event, and whose northern limit was dramatically shifted southwards in 1983, tolerate 20.8 to 25.3°C, whereas five species that have survived in Peru tolerate 25.6 to 28.5°C. Tinocladia falklandica which tolerates 27.8 to 28.1°C but lives only in southernmost South America and Striaria attenuata, which tolerates 31.6 to 31.9°C but occurs at ca. 42°S, are exceptional. Their high temperature tolerance may have no adaptive value in South America. They are restricted to the cold-temperate region due to low temperature requirements for reproduction or for reasons yet unknown. In general, the northern distributional limits of the Phaeophyceae studied along the temperate Pacific coast of South America are reproduction boundaries, except in El Niño years when they are redefined according to the species' upper suvival limits. Temperature tolerance of isolates from northern Chile and Peru agrees well with maximum temperatures reached during the 1983 El Niño.