Serial depletion of marine invertebrates leads to the decline of a strongly interacting grazer.

We investigated the relative roles of natural factors and shoreline harvest leading to recent declines of the black leather chiton (Katharina tunicata) on the outer Kenai Peninsula, Alaska (U.S.A.). This intertidal mollusk is a strongly interacting grazer and a culturally important subsistence fishery for Sugpiaq (Chugach Alutiiq) natives. We took multiple approaches to determine causes of decline. Field surveys examined the significant predictors of Katharina density and biomass across 11 sites varying in harvest pressure, and an integrated analysis of archaeological faunal remains, historical records, traditional ecological knowledge, and contemporary subsistence invertebrate landings examined changes in subsistence practices through time. Strong evidence suggests that current spatial variation in Katharina density and biomass is driven by both human exploitation and sea otter (Enhydra lutris) predation. Traditional knowledge, calibrated by subsistence harvest data, further revealed that several benthic marine invertebrates (sea urchin, crab, clams, and cockles) have declined serially beginning in the 1960s, with reduced densities and sizes of Katharina being the most recent. The timing of these declines was coincident with changes in human behavior (from semi-nomadic to increasingly permanent settlement patterns, improved extractive technologies, regional commercial crustacean exploitation, the erosion of culturally based season and size restrictions) and with the reestablishment of sea otters. We propose that a spatial concentration in shoreline collection pressure through time, increased harvest efficiency, and the serial depletion of alternative marine invertebrate prey have led to intensified per capita predator impacts on Katharina and thus its recent localized decline.     

PREP-PAC: a nutrient replenishment product designed for smallholders in western Kenya

Continuous cropping in the absence of external nutrient inputs to soils has led to the expression of poorly productive patches in farmers’ fields of western Kenya. Farmers attempting to correct these conditions are often confused by the spatial and symptomatic irregularity of affected plants and, until recently, no soil management product was commercially available that is specifically formulated to restore soil fertility to these patches. PREP-PAC consists of 2.0 kg of Minjingu rock phosphate (RP), 200 g of urea, seeds of various symbiotic nitrogen-fixing food legumes, rhizobial inoculant, gum arabic seed adhesive, lime for seed pelleting, and instructions for the use of these materials. It is intended for addition to 25 m² and produced at a cost of $ 0.56 per unit. The general principle is to apply slowly available RP sufficient for several cropping seasons with readily available nitrogenous fertilizer and to intercrop farmer’s maize (Zea mays) with a legume that provides residual fixed-nitrogen and organic inputs to the soil. This approach was tested in on-farm experiments conducted in collaboration with several grassroots rural development organizations. An experiment examined interactions between PREP-PAC components in a maize–soybean (Glycine max) intercrop in nutrient-depleted soils with sandy and clayey surface horizons. The treatments included ±RP, ±urea, and ±inoculants arranged as a 2³ factorial with four replicates at each location. Total value of the intercrops ranged between $ 0.83 in the unamended plots and $ 2.44 in plots treated with PREP-PAC. Significant positive effects were observed with the addition of RP (P<0.001), urea (P=0.04), and inoculant (P=0.01) and in interactions between RP and urea (P=0.02) or inoculant (P=0.07). The return ratio to PREP-PAC investment was 2.6 in the sandy soil and 3.7 in the clay. PREP-PACs were tested on-farm in 52 symptomatic patches containing maize–bean intercrops with and without an improved variety of climbing Phaseolus vulgaris cv. Flora. Unamended patches (25 m²=0.0025 ha) produced 1.6 kg maize and 0.08 kg bean. With addition of PREP-PAC containing Flora, yields increased to 4.1 kg maize and 1.1 kg bean (P<0.001 for both crops). Improvement in bean yield during the first cropping season nearly offset PREP-PAC’s investment costs. PREP-PAC is a strategic approach because all of its ingredients, except for urea, originate from East Africa, and are relatively inexpensive; the product is intended for distribution through existing retail and development networks.     

Reduction of Tobacco Smoking Health Risk Through an Appropriate Media Based Communication Strategy in Uganda

The health impacts of tobacco consumption are well documented and have gained acceptance worldwide. Today, a substantial, preventable burden of tobacco attributable diseases exists in most countries, though in most of the cases, unknown. Smoking accounts for almost half of the deaths in middle age in some regions. In Uganda, translating findings into policy action is slow and involves several stakeholders. It will continue to require support from tobacco control campaign groups. This paper analyses secondar...     

Economic efficiency and equity in water quality control: Effluent taxes and information requirements

Water quality standards for any river system can be achieved under numerous management programs or assignment patterns for waste treatment responsibility. This study examines three effluent charge (tax) programs along with a management program based on equal percentage treatment. Each program is developed within the general framework of a water quality management model and is designed to minimize the total real resource cost of waste treatment subject to program constraints (information availability) and water quality standards. An assessment of the relative efficiency and equity of these programs is made within a water quality management simulation of the Patuxent River in Maryland.     

Massive and distinctive effects of meadow voles on grassland vegetation

We ask whether vole herbivory in experimental grassland plots is sufficient to create an unpalatable community. In a six-year experiment, meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) reduced plant standing crop between 30% and 72%, well within the range of ungulate effects. Moreover, meadow voles reduced their available forage species by changing the plant community composition: four grass species and a legume upon which they foraged declined sharply in cover and/or number of individuals, five forbs avoided by voles increased, and two forbs neither declined nor increased with either measure. Reductions of diversity occurred when voles first defoliated the plots in 2000 but disappeared as plant species avoided by voles replaced vulnerable plants. Within six years, meadow voles created plant communities dominated by species that they did not eat.     

"It's not that simple": A collaborative comparison of sea ice environments, their uses, observed changes, and adaptations in Barrow, Alaska, USA, and Clyde River, Nunavut, Canada

The Arctic environment, including sea ice, is changing. The impacts of these changes to Inuit and I?upiat ways of life vary from place to place, yet there are common themes as well. The study reported here involved an exchange of hunters, Elders, and others from Barrow, Alaska, USA, and Clyde River, Nunavut, Canada, as members of a larger research team that also included visiting scientists. Although the physical environments of Barrow and Clyde River are strikingly different, the uses of the marine environment by residents, including sea ice, had many common elements. In both locations, too, extensive changes have been observed in recent years, forcing local residents to respond in a variety of ways. Although generally in agreement or complementary to one another, scientific and indigenous knowledge of sea ice often reflect different perspectives and emphases. Making generalizations about impacts and responses is challenging and should therefore be approached with caution. Technology provides some potential assistance in adapting to changing sea ice, but by itself, it is insufficient and can sometimes have undesirable consequences. Reliable knowledge that can be applied under changing conditions is essential. Collaborative research and firsthand experience are critical to generating such new knowledge.     

Permanent seafloor anoxia in coastal basins of the northwestern Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea

The Gulf of Finland is regularly affected by inflows of anoxic deep-water masses from the northern Baltic proper. These dense water masses advance over large areas with a decline of benthic life in affected areas as a result. Such events have been regularly repeated over decades and centuries. The archipelago, however, is well protected, because the inflows of anoxic deep waters do not enter such shallow waters. The situation could thus be better for benthic life in the archipelago, but in many areas this is not true. In areas where the bottoms are sheltered from storms and currents, permanent anoxia can persist for decades. Such areas were found in the western archipelago of the Gulf of Finland. Examination of surface cores revealed that many of these basins have been continuously anoxic for almost 40 years. A deeper coring showed that, at least locally, shallow water seafloor anoxia has been a fact in the area for thousands of years.