Using ecological criteria to evaluate wilderness planning options in Idaho

Legally designated wilderness areas are acknowledged to be an important element in strategies to conserve biological diversity in United States. However, because of the restrictions on consumptive uses in wilderness, their establishment is normally contentious. Criteria for establishment have typically been associated with opportunity and aesthetic and experiential values. Biological data have not normally played a major role in guiding wilderness establishment. We present four wilderness allocation options for those public lands considered suitable for wilderness designation in Idaho. These options cover the span of choices presently available to wilderness planners in the state and range from not establishing any new wilderness areas to the inclusion of all suitable lands in wilderness. All options are evaluated using spatial biological data from the National Biological Survey's Gap Analysis Project. A conservation strategy that would protect a minimum of 10% of the area occupied by each of 113 native vegetation types and at a minimum 10% of the distribution of each of 368 vertebrate species was evaluated for each option. Only the inclusion of all suitable lands in wilderness, creating a system of 5.1 million ha came close to achieving these goals, protecting 65% of the vegetation types and 56% of the vertebrate species. We feel this approach, which allows planners to evaluate the ecological merits of proposed widerness units along with other values, can provide a means to resolve the impasse over additional wilderness designation in Idaho.     

DDVP residues in air following application to a tobacco-storage warehouse

A 10% solution of DDVP was sprayed until a total volume of 20.9 liters of the solution had been released into the air in a tobacco-storage warehouse. Air samples were taken at various times after application in three different experiments to measure DDVP levels with time and to determine if DDVP concentrations exceeded the threshold limit (TVL). In the three experiments, residue levels were highest initially in the center of the warehouse compared to a corner, but residue levels tended to equalize over the sampling period. The data indicated that workers entering storage warehouses after application of DDVP would not encounter hazardous levels of this material.     

Trace metal speciation and contamination in an intertidal estuary

An analysis of the geochemical distribution of selected trace metals among various geochemical phases of the sediments in the Tees estuary was carried out using a sequential extraction technique and Differential Stripping Voltammetry. The sediments of the estuary are mainly organic rich clay silts and metal concentrations exceed those in the water column. Speciation results show that contamination of the estuary is mainly from anthropogenic sources. Pb and Zn are associated with the reducible, residual and oxidisable fractions. The speciation pattern of Cd was similar to those of lead and zinc. However there were also some exchangeable and bound to carbonate fractions although these were less significant. Cu is largely associated with the oxidisable and residual fractions, with insignificant bound to carbonate, exchangeable and reducible fractions. The most bioavailable forms of the metals are the free inorganic ions. Total metal concentrations in the estuary display a downward trend since the 1970s.     

The contribution of burnout to work performance

While the notion that ‘burnout’ is related to a decline in work performance is widely recognized, empirical support for this relationship is lacking. The present study, composed of human services personnel, is the first to empirically test the relationships among Maslach's three dimensions of burnout and work performance. A negative relationship was established between one dimension of burnout, emotional exhaustion, and subsequent work performance. However, the results failed to establish relationships among work performance, depersonalization and diminished personal accomplishment. These results provide further support for emotional exhaustion as a key component of the burnout experience. Future directions and implications of these findings are introduced. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Opportunities for redistributed manufacturing and digital intelligence as enablers of a circular economy

The linear production of consumer goods is characterised by mass manufacture by multinational enterprises and globally dispersed supply chains. The current centralised model has created a distance between the manufacturer and end user, limiting the opportunity for intelligent circular approaches for production and consumption. Through a mixed method approach, opportunities of circularity are explored for the consumer goods sector. The study presents four lenses to analyse three enterprises through a multi-case study approach to explore the potential of digital intelligence and redistributed manufacturing (RDM) as enablers of circular business models. In addition, the study examines whether Discrete Event Simulation can be used to evaluate the circular scenarios identified through quantifying flows of material that determine traditional economic value (cost/tonne). The mixed method approach demonstrates that, a qualitative systemic analysis can reveal opportunities for circularity, gained through implementing ‘digital intelligence’ and distributed models of production and consumption. Furthermore, simulations can provide a quantified evaluation on the effects of introducing circular activities across a supply chain.     

Evaluating consistency of stakeholder input into participatory GIS-based multiple criteria evaluation: a case study of ecotourism development in Kurdistan

Multiple criteria evaluation (MCE) is often used with GIS to identify suitable sites for multi-purpose development such as ecotourism. Typically, expert or stakeholder consultation is used to identify weights reflecting the relative importance of map layers representing different criteria. The objective of this study was to evaluate a new consultative approach to GIS-based MCE, using ecotourism development in Kurdistan, Iraq, as a case study. In an initial and follow-up consultation, stakeholders were asked not only to assess the relative importance of different map layers for ecotourism development, but also to identify specific sites suitable for ecotourism. Seventy-eight ecotourism destinations nominated by participants had significantly higher MCE scores than a set of 58 locations chosen without reference to stakeholders (t-test = 21.16; p < 0.001). The approach thus provides a straightforward means of assessing the consistency of stakeholder input into MCE and could be adapted for use in other site suitability assessments.     

A review of current knowledge concerning dry deposition of atmospheric mercury

The status of the current knowledge concerning the dry deposition of atmospheric mercury, including elemental gaseous mercury (Hg⁰), reactive gaseous mercury (RGM), and particulate mercury (Hg_p), is reviewed. The air–surface exchange of Hg⁰ is commonly bi-directional, with daytime emission and nighttime deposition over non-vegetated surfaces and vegetated surfaces with small leaf area indices under low ambient Hg⁰ conditions. However, daytime deposition has also been observed, especially when the ambient Hg⁰ is high. Typical dry deposition velocities (V_d) for Hg⁰ are in the range of 0.1–0.4 cm s^?1 over vegetated surfaces and wetlands, but substantially smaller over non-vegetated surfaces and soils below canopies. Meteorological, biological, and soil conditions, as well as the ambient Hg⁰ concentrations all play important roles in the diurnal and seasonal variations of Hg⁰ air–surface exchange processes. Measurements of RGM deposition are limited and are known to have large uncertainties. Nevertheless, all of the measurements suggest that RGM can deposit very quickly onto any type of surface, with its V_d ranging from 0.5 to 6 cm s^?1. The very limited data for Hg_p suggest that its V_d values are in the range of 0.02–2 cm s^?1.A resistance approach is commonly used in mercury transport models to estimate V_d for RGM and Hg_p; however, there is a wide range of complexities in the dry deposition scheme of Hg⁰. Although resistance-approach based dry deposition schemes seem to be able to produce the typical V_d values for RGM and Hg⁰ over different surface types, more sophisticated air–surface exchange models have been developed to handle the bi-directional exchange processes. Both existing and newly developed dry deposition schemes need further evaluation using field measurements and intercomparisons within different modelling frameworks.