The Impact of a Change in Collection Frequency on Kerbside Recycling Behaviours

The research monitors the changes in recycling performance indicators arising from halving the collection frequency of a kerbside newspaper collection scheme. The changes in the performance parameters are explained in terms of the underlying behavioural changes that could have occurred within the community. This interpretation is aided by a computer simulation of the kerbside recycling activity of the community. Moving from a 2-week collection to a 4-week collection did not substantially affect the number of households recycling, nor the overall weights collected. A small weight loss, however, may have occurred, from a small minority of households, unable to accommodate the extra storage demand of the new regime. Model predictions were consistent with the observed performance data. It is postulated that the scheme could withstand considerable intervention before significant behavioural changes are induced. It demonstrates that cost-cutting interventions can be undertaken without significantly compromising individual participations. The case-study also highlights the caution needed in the interpretation of the recycling performance indicators themselves.     

Sensitivity of plant-pollinator-herbivore communities to changes in phenology

For many species in seasonal environments, warmer springs associated with anthropogenic climate change are causing phenological changes. Within ecological communities, the timing of interactions among species may be altered if the species experience asymmetrical phenological shifts. We present a model that examines the consequences of changes in the relative timing of herbivory and pollination in a community of herbivores and pollinators that share a host plant. Our model suggests that phenological shifts can alter the abundances of these species and, in some cases, their population dynamics. If historical patterns of interactions in a community change and herbivores become active before pollinators, the community could see a reduction in pollinators and an increase in herbivores, while if pollinators become active before herbivores, there could be a loss of stable coexistence. Previous studies have warned of the potential for climate change to cause large phenological mismatches whereby species that depend on one another become so separated in time that they can no longer interact. Our results suggest that climate change-induced phenological shifts can have a major impact on communities even in cases where complete phenological mismatches do not occur.     

A PROPOSED APPROACH TO COORDINATION OF WATER RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS1

ABSTRACT: The planning and developing of water resources to meet the country's needs for water supply, flood control, hydroelectric power, irrigation, and navigation now needs to take more account of environmental needs and regulations. Water resource development is often beneficial to the environment, but may also be harmful, as in cases involving salmon and various other endangered species. As a national objective, the environment must be preserved and in some cases restored; but how can this be done consistent with other national objectives, relating to life and welfare of human beings? This problem has aroused the concern of many engineers and water scientists. As a result, a national conference on this subject was held in Chicago in June 1998, as an integral part of ASCE's Annual Conference on Water Resources Planning and Management and the Annual Conference on Environmental Engineering. At the conclusion of that conference, a post-conference meeting was held by a group of prominent water resource practitioners. It was concluded at this meeting that action should be taken by our government to establish a new form of interagency approach, involving the states, as a means of coordination in cases of national importance.     

Handling Three Types of Correlation in Contaminated Land Site Assessment

This paper outlines the three types of correlation that will characterise most attempts to model land contamination and optimise site assessment strategies. The first type of correlation is that which exists between indicators of contamination. A potential methodology for handling these correlations is given. The second type of correlation is the spatial (auto) correlation between different locations on a site. This has been previously handled through methods such as Kriging interpolation. The possible benefits of integrating the analysis of the first two types of correlation are very briefly discussed. The third type of correlation is that which exists between the information from site samples. Examples of this type of correlation are given.     

Clearance and Fragmentation of Tropical Deciduous Forest in the Tierras Bajas, Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Abstract: The Tierras Bajas is an area of 20,000 km ² of lowland deciduous forest in eastern Santa Cruz, Bolivia, that has undergone rapid change during the past two decades. As part of the largest remaining area of intact deciduous tropical forest in the world, it has been nominated a priority area for conservation by several environmental organizations. We quantified the spatial and temporal patterns of deforestation in the area by digital processing of high-resolution satellite imagery from 1975 through 1998. The estimated rate of deforestation was among the highest in the world for such a limited area, ranging from 160 km ²/year in the early1980s to almost 1200 km ²/year in the late 1990s. Although most deforestation up to 1984 was in Bolivian peasant and Mennonite colonies, most deforestation after 1984 was in non-Mennonite industrial soybean farms. The level of fragmentation of uncut forest, caused by the spatial patterns of deforestation, also differed among these broad land-use types. Deforestation in planned and spontaneous peasant colonies was complex in shape, forming relatively large areas of edge-affected forest, whereas that in Mennonite and other industrial farms was in large, rectangular increments, creating relatively less edge. But the distribution of these farms and the practice of initially clearing around the peripheries of properties resulted in the isolation of large areas of forest. In 1998 four-fifths of the remaining forest were either within 1 km of a clearance edge or in isolated fragments of <50 km². Compared with deforested areas, the areas of isolated and edge-affected forest were disproportionately large during the early stages of frontier colonization. These results imply that if the fragmentation effects of deforestation are to be minimized, conservation planning must occur at the earliest stages of frontier development.     

Air pollution perception in ten countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

As largely documented in the literature, the stark restrictions enforced worldwide in 2020 to curb the COVID-19 pandemic also curtailed the production of air pollutants to some extent. This study investigates the perception of the air pollution as assessed by individuals located in ten countries: Australia, Brazil, China, Ghana, India, Iran, Italy, Norway, South Africa and the USA. The perceptions towards air quality were evaluated by employing an online survey administered in May 2020. Participants (N = 9394) in the ten countries expressed their opinions according to a Likert-scale response. A reduction in pollutant concentration was clearly perceived, albeit to a different extent, by all populations. The survey participants located in India and Italy perceived the largest drop in the air pollution concentration; conversely, the smallest variation was perceived among Chinese and Norwegian respondents. Among all the demographic indicators considered, only gender proved to be statistically significant.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01574-2.     

Tissue heavy metal concentrations of stranded California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) in Southern California

Concentrations of nine heavy metals (As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Hg, Pb, Mn, Mo and Zn) were determined in the hepatic and renal tissues of 80 stranded California sea lions (Zalophus californianus). Significant age-dependant increases were observed in liver and kidney concentrations of cadmium and mercury, and renal zinc concentrations. Hepatic iron concentrations were significantly higher in females than males. Animals with suspected domoic acid associated pathological findings had significantly higher concentrations of liver and kidney cadmium; and significantly higher liver mercury concentrations when compared to animals classified with infectious disease or traumatic mortality. Significantly higher hepatic burdens of molybdenum and zinc were found in animals that died from infectious diseases. This is the largest study of tissue heavy metal concentrations in California sea lions to date. These data demonstrate how passive monitoring of stranded animals can provide insight into environmental impacts on marine mammals.