Forest Biodiversity Monitoring for REDD+: A Case Study of Actors’ Views in Peru

The climate change mitigation mechanism Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in developing countries (REDD+) is currently being negotiated under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Integrating biodiversity monitoring into REDD+ facilitates compliance with the safeguards stipulated by the UNFCCC to exclude environmental risks. Interviews with actors engaged in REDD+ implementation and biodiversity conservation at the national and sub-national level in Peru (n = 30) and a literature review (n = 58) were conducted to pinpoint constraints and opportunities for monitoring effects of REDD+ management interventions on biodiversity, and to identify relevant biodiversity data and indicators. It was found that particularly sub-national actors, who were frequently involved in REDD+ pilot projects, acknowledge the availability of biodiversity data. Actors at both the national and sub-national levels, however, criticized data gaps and data being scattered across biodiversity research organizations. Most of the literature reviewed (78 %) included indicators on the state of certain biodiversity aspects, especially mammals. Indicators for pressure on biodiversity, impacts on environmental functions, or policy responses to environmental threats were addressed less frequently (31, 21, and 10 %, respectively). Integrating biodiversity concerns in carbon monitoring schemes was considered to have potential, although few specific examples were identified. The involvement of biodiversity research organizations in sub-national REDD+ activities enhances monitoring capacities. It is discussed how improvements in collaboration among actors from the project to the national level could facilitate the evaluation of existing information at the national level. Monitoring changes in ecosystem services may increase the ecological and socioeconomic viability of REDD+.     

Removal of famoxadone,fluquinconazole and trifloxystrobin residues in red wines: Effects of clarification and filtration processes

The effects of six clarification agents [egg albumin, blood albumin, bentonite + gelatine, charcoal, polyvinylpolypyrrolidine (PVPP) and silica gel] on the removal of residues of three fungicides (famoxadone, fluquinconazole and trifloxystrobin) applied directly to a racked red wine, elaborated from Monastrell variety grapes from the D.O. Region of Jumilla (Murcia, Spain) were studied. The clarified wines were filtered with 0.45 μ m nylon filters to determine the influence of this winemaking process in the disappearance of fungicide residues. Analytical determination of fluquinconazole and trifloxystrobin was performed by gas chromatography with electron captor detector (ECD), while that of famoxadone using an HPLC equipped with a diode array detector (DAD). Generally, trifloxystrobin is the fungicide that is the lowest persistent one in wines, except in the egg albumin study whereas, the most persistent one is fluquinconazole. The elimination depends on the nature of the active ingredient, though the water stability in the presence of light within it has more influence than the solubility and polarity of the product itself. The most effective clarifying agents were the charcoal and PVPP. The silica gel and bentonite plus gelatine were not enough to reduce considerably the residual contents in the wine clarified with them. In general terms, filtration is not an effective step in the elimination of wine residues. The greatest removal after filtration is obtained in wines clarified with egg albumine and bentonite plus gelatine, and the lowest in those clarified with PVPP.     

Effect of Diel Activity Patterns and Harvesting Pressure on the Diversity and Biomass of Sea Cucumbers in Marovo Lagoon, Solomon Islands

A marked decline in the contribution by Marovo Lagoon to the annual total bêche-de-mer production of the Solomon Islands from 58% in 1989 to 17% in 2003 prompted investigation of their current biomass and diversity. We also assessed changes to critical ecological services and the prospects for population recovery following a fisheries closure. Day time and nocturnal transects revealed a mean abundance of 32.4 (SD = 5.3) low value species per ha (e.g. Holothuria atra, H. edulis, H. coluber and Thelenota anax) and 15.2 (SD = 2.7) high value species per ha (e.g. H. fuscogilva, Actinopyga lecanora, Stichopus hermanni and Thelenota ananas). Following a 17 month closure of the fishery (2005–2007), the abundance of bêche-de-mer was reported by local fisherman to have increased; however, no scientific studies were conducted that can substantiate this community held belief. The current study aimed to document the impact of re-opening the fishery in 2007 and documented a decline in high value species of 9% over a 5 month period following the opening of the fishery, while low value species continued to increase in abundance by 11%, over the same period based on nocturnal surveys. Continued observation of the recovery, post closure, and any subsequent harvest in Marovo will be required to properly understand population dynamics and provide a sustainable harvest plan for bêche-de-mer in the future.     

In vivo endocrine effects of naphthenic acids in fish

Oil pollution from various sources, including exploration, production and transportation, is a growing global concern. The highest toxicity of hydrocarbon pollutants is associated with the water-soluble phase compounds, including naphthenic acids, a known component found in all hydrocarbon deposits. Recently, naphthenic acids (NAs) have shown estrogenic and anti-androgenic effects in vitro. For this reason we investigated the potential effects of two commercial mixtures of naphthenic acids on fish in vivo, using the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) as a model species.     

Ambivalence and conservation behaviour: An exploratory study on the recycling of metal cans

As resource conservation is an imperative for sustainable development, it is crucial to achieve a deeper understanding of the factors involved in people's decisions to recycle. This is even more so because the level of environmental concern is usually higher than the level of ecological behaviours. In this paper we take this fact as indicating that decision-making regarding conservation behaviours happens in the context of an internal debate where contradictory ideas are weighed up and the possibility of ambivalence arises. The main aim of this paper is therefore to explore how contradiction and ambivalence impact upon the attitudes, intentions and pro-ecological behaviours of the private sphere. The paper focuses specifically on the separation and deposition of metal cans, and compares the predictive capacity of beliefs, attitudes and intentions for two groups of respondents – one with a high and another with a low level of ambivalence, as assessed with a direct measure. The role of personal identity and the influence of structural constraints are also explored. Results demonstrate a clear moderating effect of experienced ambivalence, and show how beliefs, particularly negative ones, present a higher predictive capacity of the attitude in the high-ambivalence group, and personal identity plays a relevant role in predicting behaviour in both groups. We discuss the importance of pursuing the study of ambivalence when analysing decision-making in the conservation area.     

Denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC)-based prenatal diagnosis for tuberous sclerosis

Tuberous sclerosis (TSC) is a frequent autosomal-dominant condition (affecting 1 in 6000 individuals) caused by various mutations in either the hamartin (TSC1) or the tuberin gene (TSC2). This allelic and non-allelic heterogeneity makes genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis difficult, especially as a significant proportion of TSC cases are due to de novo mutations. For this reason the identification of the disease causing mutation is mandatory for accurate counseling, yet current mutation detection methods such as single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) or denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) are labor intensive with limited detection efficiency. Denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) is a high-throughput, semi-automated mutation detection system with a reported mutation detection rate close to 100% for PCR fragments of up to 800 bp. We used a recently described DHPLC assay allowing the efficient detection of mutations in TSC1 to analyze the DNA extracted from a chorion villus sample in order to perform a prenatal diagnosis for TSC. The fetus was found not to have inherited the deleterious mutation and the DHPLC diagnosis was confirmed by haplotype analysis. This represents the first DHPLC-based prenatal diagnosis of a genetic disease. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.