Biodiversity values for alternative management regimes in remote UK coniferous forests: an iterative bidding polychotomous choice approach

The overwhelming majority of commercial forestry in the UK comprises blanket non-native coniferous species with low biodiversity levels. The UK government is committed under the Rio Principles and Helsinki Guidelines to conserve and enhance biodiversity in British forests and woodlands. This paper assesses the passive use value of biodiversity in remote non-visited coniferous forests, and the costs of diversification and restructuring. Focus groups were employed to aid the design and framing of the study. An iterative bidding polychotomous choice format was used to elicit willingness-to-pay values for different biodiversity standards and management options. Whilst, passive use benefits exceeded costs for biodiversity conservation, considerable ambivalence in choice occurred between different levels of biodiversity. The policy relevance of the results are discussed, and compared to the practical implementation measures for biodiversity being adopted by the Forestry Commission.     

Matching and mismatching stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) ratios in fin and muscle tissue among fish species: a critical review

Using non-lethal tissue sampling for stable isotope analysis has become standard in many fields, but not for fishes, despite being desirable when species are rare or protected, when repeated sampling of individuals is required or where removal may bias other analyses. Here, we examine the utility of fish dorsal fin membrane as an alternative to muscle for analyzing δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N ratios in two reef fish species (blue cod Parapercis colias and spotty Notolabrus celidotus) that have differing feeding modes. Both species exhibited evidence of size-based feeding from fin δ¹⁵N values, but not from muscle. Blue cod fin δ¹⁵N increased steadily throughout the sampled size range (213–412 mm fork length), whereas spotty exhibited a distinct ontogenetic diet shift at approximately 120–140 mm fork length after which size-based feeding did not occur. Fin membrane was higher than muscle in δ¹³C in both species and in δ¹⁵N for blue cod, but fin δ¹⁵N was lower than muscle in spotty. The δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N fin–muscle offsets were constant in spotty regardless of size, while in blue cod, δ¹³C was constant with fish size, but δ¹⁵N offsets increased with increasing fish size. Non-lethal sampling utilizing fin tissue can be employed to estimate stable isotope values of muscle in fishes, but it is necessary to assess relationships among tissues and the effects of fish size on isotope values a priori for each species studied. Our data indicated that fin membrane may be a more sensitive tissue than muscle for detecting size-based feeding in some fish species using stable isotopes. A critical literature review revealed inconsistencies in tissue types tested, little understanding of tissue-specific trophic shift or turnover rates, and pseudo-replicated analyses leading to erroneous postulating of 1:1 relationships between tissues.     

Spike dives of juvenile southern bluefin tuna (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Thunnus maccoyii</Emphasis>): a navigational role?

Tunas make sharp descents and ascents around dawn and dusk called spike dives. We examine spike dives of 21 southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) implanted with archival tags in the Great Australian Bight. Using a new way to categorize this behavior, we show that spike dives are similar among all the fish in the study. The dive profiles are mirror images at dawn and dusk and are precisely timed with respect to sunrise and sunset. We analyze the possible reasons for spike dives, considering the timing of spike dives, the characteristic dive profile, and the tuna's magnetic habitat. In addition, we present anatomical evidence for elaboration of the pineal organ, which is light mediated and has been implicated in navigation in other vertebrates. The new evidence presented here leads us to suspect that spike dives represent a survey related to navigation.     

Book reviews

Traffic Mix Model

(TRRU Research Report No. 30).

A Methodology for Estimating Recreation Traffic Flows.

August 1977, University of Edinburgh. 144 pps.

“Recreation in the Highlands and Islands”

Tourism and Recreation Research Unit, University of Edinburgh, December 1976.

Research Report No. 22, 411pp with tables and diagrame; Research Report No. 31, 145 with tables and diagrams.

Tourism and Recreation in the Chichester Area: a basis for planning

Tourism and Recreation Research Unit, Research Report No. 35, University of Edinburgh.

The Real Wealth of Nations

S. R. Eyre

Arnold, London, 1978. £7.95.

Landscape Construction

M. F. Downing

E. & F. N. Spon, London, 1977

Planning and Organizing for Social Change. Action Principles from Social Science Research.

Jack Rothman

Columbia University Press. 628 p.p.

Models and Cities and Regions

A. G. Wilson, P. H. Rees, C. M. Leigh (editors) 1977

Wiley, £12.75.

Ecology and Ekistics

C. A. Doxiadis Edited by Gerald Dix

Paul Elek, London 1977. Environmental Studies Series. 91 p.p. Paperback. £3.75.

Tackling Urban Deprivation : The Contribution of Area‐Based Management

T. Mason, K. Spencer, C. Vielba and B. Webster

Institute of Local Government Studies, University of Birmingham, Dec. 1977. 93p.p. No price stated.

Marketing Geography : with special reference to retailing

R. L. Davies

Methuen, 1976. £3.45.

“Public Participation in Planning”

Edited by W. R. D. Sewell and J. T. Coppock

J. Wiley & Sons Ltd., Chichester, 1977. 208 p.p. £9.00.

“The Individual Citizen and Public Participation”

William Hampton and Raymond Walker

Linked Research Project into Structure Planning, Interim Research Paper. 13, 1978. 24 p.p. £1.00.

A Future for Planning Science Fiction Cities

Town Planning discussion paper No. 27. Stephen Wood

U.C.L. 1977.

“The Bicycle Planning Book “

Mike Hudson (editor)

Open Books Publishing Ltd. and Friends of the Earth, 1978. Paperback, £1.95.

Residential Location and Urban Housing Markets

G. K. Ingram (1977) (ed.)

Cambridge, Mass : Ballinger Publishing Co., for the National Bureau of Economic Research.     

Relative contributions of food and water in the accumulation of zinc by two species of marine fish

A model food chain, utilizing ⁶⁵Zn-labeled and nonlabeled food organisms, was used to measure the relative contributions of food and water to Zn accumulation by Gambusia affinis and Leiostomus xanthurus. Chlamydomonas sp. was fed to Artemia sp. which in turn was fed to G. affinis and L. xanthurus. A trace metal-chelate buffer system was used to maintain a stable free Zn ion activity (10^-8.5 mol l^-1) in the experimental seawater. Food represented 78 to 82% of total accumulation of ⁶⁵Zn by the fish. Thus, food cannot be ignored in assessing the accumulation and toxicity of trace metals.     

Benefits and Costs of the Wildlife Enhancement Scheme: A Case Study of the Pevensey Levels

The paper describes a contingent valuation study of the benefits and costs of the Wildlife Enhancement Scheme (WES) (English Nature) on the Pevensey Levels Site of Special Scientific Interest in East Sussex, England. Using a conventional mean WTP value as the appropriate measure of benefits gave a benefit/cost (B/C) ratio of 0.497 for user value and 1.994 for user plus non-user values (households within 60 km of the site) for expenditure under WES. If a more rigorous and conservative truncated mean value was employed, then B/C ratios fell to 0.117 for user values and 0.758 for user plus non-user values. However, assuming the same level of passive use values are held by a similar proportion of all non-visiting households in the UK as observed in the sample survey, this would produce a B/C ratio for truncated mean user plus non-user benefits of 18.26. Even if the addition of further WES sites across the country led to a steep decline in mean marginal non-user WTP for the scheme in the Levels, the B/C ratio would still greatly exceed 1.0.     

Book reviews

What Time is This Place?

Kevin Lynch

The MIT Press, Cambridge and London, England 1972, VIII and 277 pp, $5.95.

Planning and Profit in the Urban Economy

T. A. Broadbent (1977)

London: Methuen & Co.

"Sociology in Planning: a redefinition"

G. McDougall, J. Foulsham and J. Porter.

S.I.P. Paper No. 3, 1977, 27pp. Price 50p. Published by the organisation of Sociologists in Polytechnics and Cognate Institutions.

"Urban Freight Transport: problems and some possible solutions"

Alan R. Boyland

Working Papjer No. 26, Oxford Polytechnic Department of Town Planning.

A Critique of Urban Modelling

R. A. Sayer

Progress in Planning Series, edited by D. Diamond and J. B. McLoughlin, Volume 6, Part 3.

The Communications Factor in Office Decentralisation

J. B. Goddard and D. Morris

Progress in Planning Series edited by D. Diamond and J. M. McLoughlin, Vol. 6, Part 1.

Spatial Population Analysis

P. H. Rees and A. G. Wilson

Arnold, London, 1977. £27.50.

The Design Guidance Survey

Llewelyn‐Davies, Weeks, Forestier‐Walker and Bor. London 1976.     

COVID-19 drugs in aquatic systems: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The outbreak of the human&nbsp;coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has induced an unprecedented increase in the use of several old and repurposed therapeutic...     

Deep, prolonged torpor by pregnant, free-ranging bats

Many mammals save energy during food shortage or harsh weather using controlled reductions in body temperature and metabolism called torpor. However, torpor slows offspring growth, and reproductive individuals are thought to avoid using it because of reduced fitness resulting from delayed offspring development. We tested this hypothesis by investigating torpor during reproduction in hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus, Vespertilionidae) in southern Canada. We recorded deep, prolonged torpor bouts, which meet the definition for hibernation, by pregnant females. Prolonged torpor occurred during spring storms. When conditions improved females aroused and gave birth within several days. Our observations imply a fitness advantage of torpor in addition to energy conservation because reduced foetal growth rate could delay parturition until conditions are more favourable for lactation and neonatal survival.