Coastal flooding,climate change and environmental justice: identifying obstacles and incentives for adaptation in two metropolitan Boston Massachusetts communities

We explored the possible future impacts of increased coastal flooding due to sea level rise and the potential adaptation responses of two urban, environmental justice communities in the metropolitan Boston area of Massachusetts. East Boston is predominantly a residential area with some industrial and commercial activities, particularly along the coastal fringe. Everett, a city to the north of Boston, has a diversified industrial and commercial base. While these two communities have similar socioeconomic characteristics, they differ substantially in the extent to which residents would be impacted by increased coastal flooding. In East Boston, a large portion of residents would be flooded, while in Everett, it is the commercial/industrial districts that are primarily vulnerable. Through a series of workshops with residents in each community, we found that the target populations do not have an adaptation perspective or knowledge of any resources that could assist them in this challenge. Furthermore, they do not feel included in the planning processes within their communities. However, a common incentive for both communities was an intense commitment to their communities and an eagerness to learn more and become actively engaged in decisions regarding climate change adaptation. The lessons that can be applied to other studies include 1) images are powerful tools in communicating concepts, 2) understanding existing cultural knowledge and values in adaptation planning is essential to the planning process and 3) engaging local residents at the beginning of the process can create important educational opportunities and develop trust and consensus that is necessary for moving from concept to implementation.     

Capability development of local communities for project sustainability in afforestation/reforestation clean development mechanism

It has been recognized that the involvement of local community is essential to ensure the sustainability of A/R CDM (afforestation/reforestation clean development mechanism) project. This study verifies if the risks of non-permanence and leakage are addressed in a registered small scale A/R CDM project in Vietnam. Workshops, interviews, and a questionnaire survey of local villagers revealed that the project has caused a shortage of land for conventional activities such as grazing, fuel wood collection and shifting cultivation, and consequently posed the risks of project non-permanence and leakage. It is suggested that participation of all stakeholders in the community to the A/R CDM project beyond existing land tenure and adequate carbon benefit sharing according to the level of contribution to the project are required to reduce the risk of non permanence. To ensure the participation, the community should have capability such as consensus building and collective action. Leakage would be minimized if the community has alternative measures to the conventional activities before starting the project. We argue that it is necessary to first develop a community’s capabilities in the readiness phase of any A/R CDM project in order to reduce the risks for the project sustainability, and that new sources of funding are needed for this purpose.     

Building regional priorities in forests for development and adaptation to climate change in the Congo Basin

Indentifying common priorities in shared natural resource systems constitutes an important platform for implementing adaptation and a major step in sharing a common responsibility in addressing climate change. Predominated by discourses on REDD + (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries) with little emphasis on adaptation there is a risk of lack of policy measures in addressing climate change in the Congo Basin. Forest products and ecosystem services provide security portfolios for the predominantly rural communities, and play major roles in national development programmes in both revenue and employment opportunities. Thus, raising the profile of forests in the policy arena especially in the twin roles of addressing climate change in mitigation and adaptation and achieving resilient development is crucial. Within the framework of the Congo Basin Forests and Climate Change Adaptation project (COFCCA) project, science policy dialogue was conducted to identify and prioritize forest based sectors vulnerable to climate change but important to household livelihoods and national development. The goal of the prioritization process was for the development of intervention in forest as measures for climate change adaptation in Central Africa. Participants constituted a wide range of stakeholders (government, Non Governmental Organizations, research institutions, universities, community leaders, private sectors etc.) as representatives from three countries directly involved in the project: Cameroon, Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo. Building on national priorities, four forest related sectors were identified as common priorities at the regional level for focus on climate change adaptation. These sectors included: (1) energy with emphasis on fuel wood and Charcoal; (2) Water principally quality, quantity, accessibility, etc.; (3) Food with emphasis on Non Timber Forest Products, and (4) Health linked to healthcare products (medicinal plants). Using these prioritized sectors, the project focused on addressing the impacts of climate change on local communities and the development of adaptation strategies in the three pilot countries of the Congo Basin region. The four sectors constitute the key for development in the region and equally considered as priority sectors in the poverty reduction papers. Focused research on these sectors can help to inject the role of forests in national and local development and their potentials contributions to climate change adaptation in national and public discourses. Mainstreaming forest for climate change adaptation into national development planning is the key to improve policy coherence and effectiveness in forest management in the region.     

水解淀粉接枝改性阳离子化絮凝剂的制备及其应用

淀粉接枝改性阳离子化絮凝剂对城市污水以及采用絮凝法处理的废水具有良好的处理效果,但是淀粉絮凝剂几乎不溶于水,因此提高淀粉絮凝剂的溶解性,对于提高淀粉絮凝剂的絮凝效果具有重要的意义。本文采用α-淀粉酶对玉米淀粉进行水解,接枝共聚合成淀粉絮凝剂,通过改性最终制备得到水解淀粉接枝改性阳离子化絮凝剂,并通过试验对其合成指标进行了考察以及与普通淀粉絮凝剂的溶解性进行了对比。结果表明:水解淀粉接枝改性阳离子化絮凝剂在具备良好的絮凝效果的同时,其溶解度有了明显的提高。     

全氟辛烷磺酸(PFOS)对斑马鱼卵黄蛋白原mRNA水平的影响

为了研究环境低剂量全氟辛烷磺酸（perfluorooctane sulfonate,PFOS）对水生生物的内分泌干扰效应和可能的作用机制,测定了PFOS对斑马鱼（Brachydanio rerio）肝脏中卵黄蛋白原（vitellogenin,VTG）mRNA水平的影响.将斑马鱼暴露于4个PFOS的环境低剂量浓度组（0.1、1、10、100μg.L-1）中进行21d毒性试验,收集肝脏样品,提取RNA,采用荧光定量PCR（qRT-PCR）分别检测VTG1和VTG3的mRNA水平.结果表明：①PFOS暴露引起雄性斑马鱼肝脏VTG1和VTG3 mRNA水平升高,VTG1 mRNA水平升高与剂量呈正相关,在100μg.L-1暴露浓度处与对照组呈现显著性差异;VTG3的mRNA水平变化与剂量呈倒U型曲线,呈现典型的毒物刺激荷尔蒙效应,在10和100μg.L-1暴露浓度处与对照组呈现显著性差异;②PFOS暴露引起雌性斑马鱼肝脏中VTG1 mRNA水平升高,在10μg.L-1暴露浓度处与对照组呈现显著性差异,但在高浓度（10和100μg.L-1）处试验结果误差较大;VTG3 mRNA水平只在10μg.L-1暴露浓度处升高,但相比于对照组均没有显著性差异.试验结果表明PFOS暴露对斑马鱼的内分泌干扰作用明显,其毒性作用机制可能是类雌激素效应,而肝脏中VTG1和VTG3mRNA水平可能作为PFOS内分泌干扰效应评价的敏感生物标志物,但VTG1和VTG3 mRNA水平的响应曲线呈现基因亚型和性别差异.     

区域空气质量模拟中查表法的应用研究

在自行开发完善的区域空气质量模式系统RegSRRMS中应用查表法,模拟中国典型城市群对流层大气主要污染物的浓度变化,评估该方法在大气复合污染事件预测和控制中的有效性.首先,利用具有国际先进水平的空气质量模式WRF-CHEM中的化学模块建立了包含完善气相化学、气溶胶过程的箱模式WRFBOX.其次,利用WRFBOX进行化学反应敏感性分析,基于影响污染物的重要因子分别建立了臭氧(O3)及其前体物、无机盐气溶胶和二次有机气溶胶(SOA)查算表数据库,并检验其有效性.最后,将此查算表数据库引入RegSRRMS,建立简化的查表算法.利用直接耦合机制法和查表法对2000年3月珠三角地区污染个例中主要大气污染物浓度进行模拟.通过比较2种方法的模拟结果,显示查表法计算效率提高了57%,能够反映大气光化学反应的非线性特征、气溶胶及其前体物的平衡关系,具有高分辨率、高时效性,能够方便快捷地给出源和受体之间的响应关系,结果可靠.在区域空气质量模式中应用查表法有利于大气污染事件的快速预测以及大气污染控制的快速决策.     

营养盐水平对念珠藻胞外有机物产生的影响

以我国湖泊典型固氮蓝藻发状念珠藻(Nostoc flagelliforme)为研究对象,考察了氮、磷营养盐对发状念珠藻生长特性及其胞外有机物产生的影响.采用藻细胞浓度计数法表征发状念珠藻生长特性;分别采用溶解性有机碳(DOC)、三维荧光光谱(EEM)和紫外-可见光谱法,从总量和主要物质方面分析了发状念珠藻胞外有机物的产生规律.结果表明,在不同氮、磷营养水平下,发状念珠藻的4个关键生长时期基本相同,氮是控制发状念珠藻生长的关键营养控制要素;氮营养元素浓度的增高,有利于发状念珠藻产生胞外有机物,其产生量逐渐增大,而磷营养元素浓度的增高对胞外有机物产生量贡献较小,氮营养盐是发状念珠藻产生胞外有机物的关键限制因子;通过EEM谱图分析,发状念珠藻胞外有机物主要以类氨基酸类物质和类富里酸物质为主.以磷为控制营养盐时,类富里酸是主要的胞外有机物之一,以氮为控制营养盐时,类富里酸产生量极低;作为主要的胞外有机物,蛋白质和碳水化合物的产生规律显著不同,其中蛋白质含量显著高于碳水化合物含量.     

A review of myrmecophily in ant nest beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Paussinae): linking early observations with recent findings

Myrmecophily provides various examples of how social structures can be overcome to exploit vast and well-protected resources. Ant nest beetles (Paussinae) are particularly well suited for ecological and evolutionary considerations in the context of association with ants because life habits within the subfamily range from free-living and predatory in basal taxa to obligatory myrmecophily in derived Paussini. Adult Paussini are accepted in the ant society, although parasitising the colony by preying on ant brood. Host species mainly belong to the ant families Myrmicinae and Formicinae, but at least several paussine genera are not host-specific. Morphological adaptations, such as special glands and associated tufts of hair (trichomes), characterise Paussini as typical myrmecophiles and lead to two different strategical types of body shape: while certain Paussini rely on the protective type with less exposed extremities, other genera access ant colonies using glandular secretions and trichomes (symphile type). We compare these adaptations with other taxonomic groups of insects by joining contemporary research and early sources and discuss the possibility of an attracting or appeasing effect of the secretion. Species that are ignored by their host ants might use chemical mimicry instead. Furthermore, vibrational signals may contribute to ant–beetle communication, and chemical signals have proven to play a role in host finding. The powerful defense chemistry of paussines as “bombardier beetles” is not used in contact with host ants. We attempt to trace the evolution of myrmecophily in paussines by reviewing important aspects of the association between paussine beetles and ants, i.e. morphological and potential chemical adaptations, life cycle, host specificity, alimentation, parasitism and sound production.

Evidence for a male-produced pheromone in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tetropium fuscum</Emphasis> (F.) and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tetropium cinnamopterum</Emphasis> (Kirby) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

(E)-6,10-dimethyl-5,9-undecadien-2-ol (geranyl acetol), termed here fuscol, was identified as a male-produced pheromone emitted by Tetropium fuscum (F.) and Tetropium cinnamopterum Kirby. In field experiments, traps baited with synthetic fuscol alone were not significantly attractive, but the combination of fuscol plus host volatiles (a synthetic blend of monoterpenes plus ethanol) attracted significantly more male and female T. fuscum and female T. cinnamopterum than did host volatiles alone. This is the first homoterpenoid alcohol to be described in the Cerambycidae, and the first pheromone reported from the sub-family Spondylidinae.     

Settlement decisions in blue tits: difference in the use of social information according to age and individual success

Dispersers are expected to assess breeding habitat quality before settlement. Although cues reflecting habitat quality are well studied, social cues have not been as well evaluated. In this paper, we studied breeding habitat selection during 3 years in a natural population of blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus, breeding in nest-boxes. Our aim was to investigate if this species used conspecific density and/or reproductive success of con- and heterospecifics (i.e., social cues) in settlement decisions. The patterns observed were consistent with the idea that juveniles, when dispersing from their natal patches, did not react to any of the cues that we tested. In contrast, breeders that dispersed seemed to respond to both conspecific mean patch reproductive success (PRS) and breeding density of the settlement patch in the year of dispersal, their response differing according to their own reproductive success. Indeed, failed breeders moved to areas with high PRS and low density relative to source patches, while successful breeders behaved the opposite. The comparison between juveniles and adults might be modulated by the limited time available to juveniles to gather information on PRS and density at the end of the dispersing year. Adults lacking these time constraints, however, seemed to rely on these conspecific cues although limited by their own quality. Additionally, breeders were more likely to be immigrants in patches with relatively low breeding success and density the previous year, suggesting that settlement is influenced by multiple cues, which may reveal information on different aspects of habitat and be available at different moments. Collectively, our results support the importance of social cues for blue tits’ settlement.