Mangrove forest structure and productivity in the Fly River estuary,Papua New Guinea

In April, July and August 1989 and February 1990, the delta region of the Fly River was surveyed to establish the aerial extent of mangrove forests, their species composition, tree densities and basal areas, and potential net primary production. Mangrove forests cover 87 400 ha, mainly on islands within the delta. Twentynine mangrove plant species were recorded, but there were only three major forest types in the delta.Rhizophora apiculata-Bruguiera parviflora forests (hereafterRhizophora-Bruguiera forests) predominated in regions where river water salinities were >10. These forests covered 31 500 ha and had mean total tree densities and basal areas of 2027 stems ha^–1 and 21 m² ha^–1, respectively. Forests of the palmNypa fruticans (hereafterNypa forests) covered 38 400 ha, mainly in regions where river salinities were ~1 to 10, and had mean total densities and basal areas of 4431 stems ha^–1 and 38 m² ha^–1, respectively. Forests dominated byAvicennia marina and/orSonneratia lanceolata (hereafterAvicennia-Sonneratia forests) predominated on accreting banks of sediment and covered 17 500 ha. In very low-salinity (< 1) regions there are large monospecific stands ofS. lanceolata. Mean total densities and basal areas forAvicennia-Sonneratia forests were 7036 stems ha^–1 and 22 m² ha^–1, respectively. Mean net primary productivity (kg C ha^–1 d^–1) was estimated to be 26.7, 27.1 and 19.0 forRhizophora-Bruguiera, Nypa andAvicennia-Sonneratia forests, respectively. Total daily net primary production by all mangrove forests was estimated at 2214 t carbon. Using assumptions based on work in tropical Australia, it was estimated that ~678 t carbon (or 31% of primary production) were exported daily from mangrove forests to the waters of the delta.Contribution No. 550 from the Australian Institute of Marine Science     

Interpretation of roadside PM10 monitoring data from Sunderland,United Kingdom

Roadside PM₁₀ has been monitored by Partisol® at three sitesin Sunderland between August 1997 and February 1998. The sites chosen were an inner city kerbside site; a roadside site adjacentto a dual carriageway on the outskirts of Sunderland with an openaspect; and a rural site.The results indicate that there is a seasonal variation in the relationship between the sites in terms of monitored PM₁₀.In the winter there is a poor correlation between the sites whereas in the summer significant correlations are obtained. Of the sites monitored PM₁₀ is consistently highest at the inner city roadside site. During the summer, exceedances of theU.K. 50 g m^-3 standard (DETR, 2000) are associated with conditions suitable for the build-up of photochemical pollutionhowever during the winter period exceedances are recorded duringa variety of weather conditions.At the dual carriageway site PM_2.5 has also been recorded and contributions to measured PM₁₀ are 77% in summer and68% in winter. The results illustrate a number of inconsistencies between this study utilising the Partisol® andothers reporting results where PM₁₀ has been monitored by TEOM®.     

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change Editorial Policy Update

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change -     

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change -     

Financing for innovative technologies and best practices to reduce persistent organic pollutants

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) threaten human health and the global environment. Recognizing their dangers many countries began to limit or ban POPs production, use, and release in the 1990s. Eventually the Stockholm Convention on POPs, was adopted in 2001 and entered into force in 2004. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) provides financial support to developing country Parties for the implementation of the Stockholm Convention. The GEF’s POPs investment portfolio focuses on: 1) strengthening the capacity of developing country Parties to implement the Stockholm Convention; 2) establishing and supporting partnerships to develop and implement National Implementation Plans (NIPs), and 3) demonstrating and deploying best technologies and practices to reduce POPs emission, including development of safe alternatives. Since 2001 the GEF has committed US$568.8 million to POPs projects and leveraged some US$1474.5 million in co-financing from partners in the public and private sectors, bringing the total value of the GEF POPs portfolio to over US$2 billion. With GEF support, 108 developing country Parties have developed their NIPs. The GEF also financed 109 projects for the implementation of the Convention. Upon completion, these GEF POPs investments will contribute to the disposal of more than 70,000 tons of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) oil, contaminated equipments, and waste, more than 40,000 tons of obsolete POPs pesticides and associated waste, and reducing dioxin/furan and mercury emission by introducing environmentally sound technologies and best practices. This paper summarizes: 1) direct and indirect GEF investments to support the goals of the Stockholm Convention; 2) investment case studies on PCB, DichloroDiphenylTrichloroethane (DDT), chlordane and mirex, medical waste, obsolete POPs and engaging civil society; and 3) lessons learned in terms of GEF financing strategies, best technologies and environmental practices to address POPs.     

Training as a component of the consulting contract

Summary Expatriate consultants are employed in developing countries to perform assessments of the consequences to natural resources and the environment of projects for economic development. Eventually (and as soon as possible) the developing countries must be able to do their own assessments and provide continual guidance to economic planning and management. The presence of foreign experts offers an opportunity to transfer technology and skills during the course of consultancies. A training component can be added with appropriate additional compensation. Some of the barriers to successful training are identified and explored. Careful planning by lenders, host country governments, consultants and trainers will be necessary to realize this potential for building and strengthening indigenous capabilities to wisely exploit and sustain the renewable natural resource base. The following experts from developing countries contributed substantially to this report: W. D. Ailapperuma (Sri Lanka), Herman Haeruman (Indonesia), Noki Makap (Papua New Guinea), Somvonk Poshyananda (Thailand), Suh Junghyun (Korea) and Veronica Villavicencio (Philippines). Richard A. Carpenter M.A., Organic Chemistry, University of Missouri, 1949. Came to EAPI from the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council where he was executive director of the Commission on Natural Resources. Prior to establishing that office in 1972, was chief of the Environmental Policy Division of the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. Has contributed to the passage and implementation of legislation including the National Environmental Policy Act and has been responsible for a variety of studies interpreting and transferring technical information for decision-making. Began his career as a chemist and has obtained patents in the field. John A. Dixon Ph.D., Economics, Harvard University, 1977. B.A., Economics and Oriental Languages (Chinese), University of California at Berkeley, 1968. Previously worked for the Ford Foundation in Indonesia as agriculture programme economist where his main research interests were food policy analysis and natural resource management. At EAPI he is involved with environmental applications of benefit-cost analysis as well as economic aspects of the coal-fuel cycle.     

Cross-shelf distribution of copepods and fish larvae across the central Great Barrier Reef

The distribution of total dry weight of zooplankton, copepod numbers and ichthyoplankton across the outer continental shelf in the central Great Barrier Reef was examined at bi-weekly intervals for three months over summer of 1983. Copepods were sampled (236 m net) within 10 m of the surface and within 10 m of the bottom. Mean densities in surface waters decreased markedly from the mid-shelf to outer shelf and the Coral Sea, but no cross-shelf gradient occurred in the bottom-water. Densities of copepods on the mid-shelf (surface and bottom waters) and in bottom-waters of the outer shelf were typically ca. 400 m^–3. Significantly lower densities (ca. 100 m^–3) occurred in surface waters of the outer shelf, except during outbursts of Acartia australis, when densities in these waters differed little from those elsewhere on the shelf. In oceanic waters, 10 km from the outer shelf station, copepod densities in surface waters were ca. 40 m^–3. Four of the five most abundant copepod taxa in surface waters, Paracalanus spp., Eucalanus crassus, Acrocalanus gracilis and Canthocalanus pauper, tended to be most abundant at the mid-shelf end of the transect. Acartia australis was sporadically very abundant in surface waters of the outer shelf, as was Paracalanus spp. in bottom-water of the outer shelf. An assemblage of Coral Sea species of copepod occurred in bottom-water of the outer shelf during two major intrusions, but not at other times. Densities of all common species varied considerably between cruises. Maximum densities of all common species except A. australis tended to be associated with diatom blooms linked to intrusions but a bloom did not necessarily mean all common species were abundant. Fish larvae included both reef and non-reef taxa, with reef taxa predominating on the outer shelf (approx 2:1 in density of individuals) and non-reef taxa dominating in nearshore samples (approx 2:1). Nine of the ten most abundant taxa analysed showed highly significant variation in numbers among stations and all but one of these also exhibited significant station x cruise interactions. Interactions generally reflected changes in the rank importance of adjacent stations from one cruise to the next or lack of any significant cross-shelf variation on some cruises where overall abundance of the taxa was low.