Building Capacity for Protected Area Management in Lao PDR

Declining biodiversity in protected areas in Laos is attributed to unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. At a basic level, an important need is to develop capacity in academic and professional training institutions to provide relevant training to conservation professionals. The paper (a) describes the capacity building approach undertaken to achieve this goal, (b) evaluates the effectiveness of the approach in building capacity for implementing conservation and (c) reviews implementation outcomes. Strong linkages between organizations implementing field conservation, professional training institutions, and relevant Government agencies are central to enhancing effectiveness of capacity building initiatives aimed at improving the practice of conservation. Protected area management technical capacity needs will need to directly influence curriculum design to insure both relevance and effectiveness of training in improving protected area management. Sustainability of capacity building initiatives is largely dependent on the level of interest and commitment by host-country institutions within a supportive Government policy framework in addition to engagement of organizations implementing conservation.     

Interlaboratory comparability of copper complexation capacity determination in natural waters

The results of a test of interlaboratory comparability for the determination of copper complexation capacity and copper-ligand complex formation constant are presented. Eight water samples comprising, six natural waters, a synthetic ligand solution and a blank solution were analysed by seven laboratories using their own methods of complexation titration. Given the wide variation that might have been possible, relatively good comparability was demonstrated amongst the variety of methods for determining copper complexation capacity. The complexation capacity data largely satisfied the predefined criterion of agreement to within 50%. This provides support for the use of metal speciation criteria in the regulation of copper in the environment. Data for the determination of complex formation constants were of poorer comparability, ranging between 10(7) and 10(12) for the same water.     

Rapid land use change threatens provisioning ecosystem services in miombo woodlands

Rural communities in sub‐Saharan Africa rely upon provisioning ecosystem services (ES) to support their livelihoods, yet in areas where rapid land use change is occurring the relationship between environmental change, provisioning ES availability and livelihoods is not fully understood. This relationship is explored here within a typical rural miombo woodland landscape in south‐west Tanzania, which is undergoing rapid land use change due to expanding tobacco cultivation. The types of provisioning ES used, who uses them, changes in their availability, and the possible future impacts of these changes were explored using a mixed‐method approach. Our findings identify 19 provisioning ES used by households regardless of economic status. Firewood, building materials, and fresh water are used by almost all households, and these are perceived to be declining in availability. Households identified this as a negative environmental impact of land use change and that provisioning ES loss would be ‘bad’ for their households. Given the multi‐purpose nature of miombo woodlands, an adaptive co‐management approach, which can achieve multiple objectives through encouraging participation, learning, and empowerment of local communities, could be an appropriate strategy to achieve sustainable land use management and maintain the provision of ES within miombo woodland landscapes of sub‐Saharan Africa.     

Type 'A' and 'B' recovery revisited: the role of field-edge habitats for Collembola and macroarthropod community recovery after insecticide treatment

Previous work has identified two patterns of arthropod recovery after insecticide applications to arable crops: dispersal-mediated recolonisation from untreated areas (Type A) and recolonisation within treated areas assisted by reduced predation (Type B). In this study, connectivity between field-edge habitats was manipulated using barriers to investigate whether a crop edge and adjacent hedgerow influence recolonisation of an insecticide-treated crop by surface-active Collembola and other arthropods. Collembola recovery patterns differed among closely-related taxa. Epigeic collembolan and macroarthropod communities were more diverse and abundant, and rates of artificial prey predation were higher, in sprayed crop areas connected to both hedgerow and unsprayed crop edge than in sprayed areas connected to the unsprayed edge alone. These findings indicate that effectiveness of unsprayed crop edges as sources of field recolonisation may depend on adjoining field margin habitats. An assumption in risk assessment that unsprayed crop edges assist population recovery within treated areas is not supported.     

Climate change and urban land systems: bridging the gaps between urbanism and land science

ABSTRACT

Land science has generated critical knowledge about how humans modify Earth’s surface and has advanced our understanding of land as a coupled human–environment system. However, to date, most work has been in frontier environments with less attention – both conceptually and empirically – on how urban land systems affect the carbon cycle. Much of what is known about urban areas and the carbon cycle is limited to aggregate levels of activities within urban areas, usually by sector, with little focus on how the spatial configuration of urban land systems affects carbon-emitting activities. Given that urban areas produce about 70% of global energy-related CO₂ emissions, it is crucial to understand the relationship between urban environments, the activities they influence, and the resulting carbon emissions. This paper summarizes the current state of knowledge of how urban land systems affect carbon emissions and vulnerability, and identifies research gaps and opportunities for urban land science to contribute to climate change science, particularly through land architecture. We argue that more attention to urban land science conceptualization, measurement, and analysis would contribute to both fundamental knowledge about urban systems, as well as help identify policies and strategies for mitigation and adaptation to climate change at the urban scale.     

A critical review of hydrological data collection for assessing preservation risk for urban waterlogged archaeology: A case study from the City of York, UK

Environmental change caused by urban development, possibly augmented by climate change, may result in accelerated decay of in situ archaeological resources. Damage may be related to changes in hydrological processes. Such archaeological resources have to be considered in environmental planning. In this paper we highlight the need for improved hydrological data from urban archaeological sites using the case study of the City of York, UK, arguably one of the most well studied and well preserved urban archaeological environments globally. We suggest that the quality of hydrological data collected during routine surveys and experimental work must be improved and standardised in order for us to produce reliable archaeological risk models for urban sites.     

Biologically directed environmental monitoring, fate, and transport of estrogenic endocrine disrupting compounds in water: A review

Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) are contaminants that may be hormonally active at low concentrations and are emerging as a major concern for water quality. Estrogenic EDCs (e-EDCs) are a subclass of EDCs that, when organisms are exposed to them, function as estrogens. Given that there are numerous e-EDCs that can negatively affect humans and wildlife, general screening techniques like biologically based assays (BBAs) may provide major advantages by estimating the total estrogenic effects of many e-EDCs in the environment. These techniques may potentially be adapted for field portable biologically directed sampling and analyses. This article summarizes available BBAs used to measure estrogenic e-EDCs in the environmental samples and also presents results relating to fate and transport of e-EDCs. Estrogenic EDCs appear to be almost ubiquitous in the environment, despite low solubility and high affinity of organic matter. Potential transport mechanisms may include: (1) transport of more soluble precursors, (2) colloid facilitated transport, (3) enhanced solubility through elevated pH, and (4) the formation of micelles by longer-chain ethoxylates. Due to their persistent and ubiquitous nature, source control strategies for e-EDCs may reduce influent concentration to wastewater treatment plants so that the post treatment effluent will decrease concentrations to estrogenically inactive levels. Alternatively if source reduction is not possible, then more testing is needed on tertiary treatment technologies and treatment efficiencies for e-EDCs. There is still a need for research on remediation and restoration approaches for habitats disturbed by elevated e-EDC concentrations.     

Some Applications of Microscopy to Air Pollution

The microscope as it has been and is now applied to air pollution work is discussed. A summary of the most common particulate sampling equipment is presented and distinctions as to the area of usage (suspended, or settled particulates) are made in each instance. Actual cases are discussed in which the polarizing microscope was used to determine identities and source of particulate pollutants. Particles from such sources as power plants, feed mills, and combustion sources are discussed and photomicrographs of known samples and unknown particles causing complaints are presented and compared as part of the discussion. References are given which deal with sampling equipment and microscopic analysis of various particulates.     

The effect of navigational expertise on wayfinding in new environments

Becoming proficient at navigation in urban environments is something that we all aspire to. Here we asked whether being an expert at wayfinding in one environment has any effect on learning new spatial layouts. Licensed London taxi drivers are among the most proficient urban navigators, training for many years to find their way around a complex and irregularly-laid out city. We first tested how well they could learn the layout of an unfamiliar town compared with a group of non-taxi drivers. Second, we investigated how effectively taxi drivers could integrate a new district into their existing spatial representation of London. We found that taxi drivers were significantly better than control participants at executing routes through the new town, and representing it at a map-like survey level. However, the benefits of navigational expertise were not universal. Compared with their performance in the new town, taxi drivers were significantly poorer at learning the layout of a new area that had to be integrated with their existing knowledge of London. We consider reasons for this picture of facilitation and limitation, in particular drawing parallels with how knowledge acquisition occurs in the context of expertise in general.     

Emergence asynchrony between herbivores leads to apparent competition in the field

It has been established that herbivore populations can be structured by apparent competition, even if they do not compete directly for resources. But we lack evidence on the mechanisms behind such indirect competition. This study shows that temporal asynchronies in emergence time lead to apparent competition via shared natural enemies in a leafminer-parasitoid community. We present three kinds of evidence on mechanisms driving apparent competition. First, we conducted a two-year population census of Liriomyza helianthi and Calycomyza platyptera, along with all associated parasitoids, at seven sites in the Californian Central Valley, USA. We then assessed C. platyptera parasitism on 16 vegetation islands, half with experimental removal of early-season L. helianthi populations. Finally, we examined parasitoid host preference between leafminer species. We found that Liriomyza helianthi populations emerged approximately one month before C. platyptera. Experimental removal of L. helianthi populations in the early summer led to a 60% reduction in parasitism of C. platyptera. We found no evidence of differential parasitoid preference for host species. The findings suggest that temporal asynchrony can lead to negative effects on later-emerging species and that such indirect competition may be a major structuring force in herbivore communities.