Perspectives on the landmark decision designating the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) as a threatened subspecies

Following an extensive legal battle challenging its original decision to not extend the protection of the Endangered Species Act to the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina), the US Fish and Wildlife Service was ordered by the 9th District Court of Appeals to reassess the status of the owl. As a result of the revised analysis, the service proposed the northern spotted owl for threatened status throughout its range. Because of the complex biological issues involved and the perceived potential for economic disruption in timber-dependent communities of the Pacific Northwest, this proposal generated more controversy and interest than any previous one. In this article I discuss the rationale for the service’s decision, public involvement in the process, and the mechanisms now available to conserve the northern spotted owl and its habitat under the Endangered Species Act.     

THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A GIS-BASED CONTAMINANT SOURCE INVENTORY OVER THE SPOKANE AQUIFER,SPOKANE COUNTY WASHINGTON1

ABSTRACT: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) statutes require identification of all potential sources of contamination within a wellhead protection area. All wells over Spokane County's aquifer are included in one wellhead protection zone called the Aquifer Sensitive Area (ASA). A GIS-based Contaminant Source Inventory (CSI) was developed for the ASA. Datasets listing businesses and agencies within the ASA were imported into the GIS from state, county, city, and local agencies. These datasets were selected, joined, and sorted using GIS relational database capabilities into one ASA “business master file.” Map files were projected and transformed into common coordinates. Next, business sites within the master file were spatially related by address to the digital map files. Likely Critical Materials Users (CMU) were identified by sorting on selected standard Industrial Codes (SIC). Additional files of CMUs were imported into the Contaminant Source Inventory. GIS queries were performed to locate specific materials, quantities, and storage facilities, and to analyze CMU activity within selected buffer zones. This project demonstrated the usefulness of GIS technology in the development, management, maintenance, and analysis of vast quantities of data associated with a local wellhead protection pro. gram.     

INFLUENCE OF HERBIVORY ON REGROWTH OF RIPARIAN SHRUBS FOLLOWING A WILDLAND FIRE1

Streamside vegetation frequently regenerates faster than upland vegetation following wildland fire and contributes to the recovery of riparian and stream ecosystems. Limited data are available, however, on the post‐fire growth of riparian species and the influence of herbivory on regeneration. To determine post‐fire regrowth of riparian vegetation, height, crown area, crown volume, and browse levels were measured for key riparian shrub species in streamside burned and unburned plots along second‐order streams in western Wyoming. Shrubs in the burned plots were subject to high levels of browse ‐ up to 84 percent of the leaders were browsed ‐ by native ungulates in 2002, the second post‐fire year (September 2001 to September 2002). In summer 2003, the burned watershed was also grazed by livestock, resulting in increased browse levels and decreased shrub heights for several species. In the third post‐fire year, September 2002 to September 2003, four of the six most common species showed no increase in crown area or crown volume, indicating that the combination of native ungulate and cattle browsing suppressed their growth. Potential impacts of grazing on post‐fire recovery of stream and riparian ecosystems are discussed.     

Discrimination of flicker frequency rates in the reptile tuatara (Sphenodon )

By investigating the mechanisms that underlie the perception of environmental cues, we may begin to understand how the sensory system governs behavioral responses. This is the first empirical study to examine learning and visual sensitivity in a reptile species, the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus). We established a non-intrusive psychophysical method by employing an instrumental paradigm in order to examine discrimination learning and the ability to distinguish different flicker frequencies in the tuatara. Seventeen tuatara were trained under an operant conditioning task to respond to various discriminative stimuli flickering between 2.65 and 65.09 Hz. Tuatara were able to learn the operant task and discriminate between a constant light and flicker frequency rates between 2.65 and 45.61 Hz, but not at 65.09 Hz. We demonstrated a reliable psychophysical method where these reptiles could learn a basic operant task and discriminate visual stimuli in the form of flicker frequency rates. The tuatara’s ability to perceive flickering light is comparable to that of avian, mammalian, and other reptilian species. This method is thus suitable for more comprehensive examinations of vision and additional sensory abilities in other reptiles. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Reducing non-contact electric arc injuries: an investigation of behavioral and organizational issues

PROBLEM: It is estimated that 5 to 10 arc flash explosions occur in electric equipment every day in the United States. In the mining industry the largest single injury category of electrical injuries are caused by non-contact electrical arcs. METHOD: This investigation progressed in two phases: (a) 836 Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reports of electric arcing incidents that occurred over a period of 11 years were reviewed, and (b) personal interviews were conducted with 32 individuals. A theoretical Safe Job Performance Model guided the study. RESULTS: Behavioral dimensions were identified and included the effect of worker experience, judgment and decision-making ability, behavioral and organizational controls, and safety culture. SUMMARY: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted an investigation of behavioral components associated with arc flash incidents and developed recommendations for interventions based on findings. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: This study fills a vacuum in electrical training with a focus on the organizational and behavioral aspects of arc flash incidents. The research is cross-cutting in its scope, in that the results apply not only to mining and construction, but many other industries employing electricians. Although the majority of mine electrical injuries are the results of burns from electrical arcs, few miners are aware that such a hazard exists. A safety training program, which includes a video and an instructor's discussion guide, was developed for electricians based on this study's findings. "Arc Flash Awareness" was released in 2007 (DHHS NIOSH Publication No.2007-116D) and is available through 1-800 CDC INFO. Phone: 1-800 232-4636 or email cdcinfo@cdc.gov. It is also available from MSHA at MSHADistribution@dol.gov or 304-256-3257 (DVD-576). Private industry is producing Portuguese and Spanish language translations.     

Risk remaining from fine particle contaminants after vacuum cleaning of hard floor surfaces

In the indoor environment, settled surface dust often functions as a reservoir of hazardous particulate contaminants. In many circumstances, a major contributing source to the dust pool is exterior soil. Young children are particularly susceptible to exposure to both outdoor derived soil and indoor derived dust present in the indoor dust pool. This is because early in life the exploratory activities of the infant are dominated by touching and mouthing behavior. Inadvertent exposure to dust through mouth contact and hand-to-mouth activity is an inevitable consequence of infant development. Clean-up of indoor dust is, in many circumstances, critically important in efforts to minimize pediatric exposure. In this study, we examine the efficiency of vacuum cleaner removal of footwear-deposited soil on vinyl floor tiles. The study utilized a 5 × 10 foot (c. 152.5 × 305 cm) test surface composed of 1-foot-square (c. 30.5 × 30.5 cm) vinyl floor tiles. A composite test soil with moderately elevated levels of certain elements (e.g., Pb) was repeatedly introduced onto the floor surface by footwear track-on. The deposited soil was subsequently periodically removed from randomly selected tiles using a domestic vacuum cleaner. The mass and loading of soil elements on the tiles following vacuuming were determined both by wet wipe collection and by subsequent chemical analysis. It was found that vacuum cleaner removal eliminated much of the soil mass from the floor tiles. However, a small percentage of the mass was not removed and a portion of this residual mass could be picked up by moistened hand-lifts. Furthermore, although the post-vacuuming tile soil mass was sizably reduced, for some elements (notably Pb) the concentration in the residual soil was increased. We interpret this increased metal concentration to be a particle size effect with smaller particles (with a proportionately higher metal content) remaining in situ after vacuuming.     

Reply to Discussion

In the Discussion, Nash et al. (2019) estimate the seasonal change in groundwater volume for a portion of the restored Sierra Nevada Meadow that we evaluated (Hunt et al. 2018) and use this estimate as an upper bound on the possible contribution to flow that is attributable to restoration. The authors conclude that raising the channel bed elevation and reconnecting the meadow floodplain most likely reduced summer streamflow. In contrast, we report at least a fivefold increase in baseflow from the meadow in the years following restoration. In addition, we observed that, after restoration, the previously intermittent stream below the meadow flowed continuously throughout the summer months, despite record drought conditions, and in 2015, the lowest snowpack on record. We suggest that the groundwater budget presented in the Discussion may not adequately represent conditions within the meadow because the authors extrapolate from 5 near‐channel groundwater wells across 62 ha of meadow and assume an area of influence that is approximately one‐sixth of the meadow area. We conclude that the conversion of an intermittent stream to perennial flow during drought conditions is a stronger check on our gauge data than the groundwater budget presented in the Discussion.     

Identification and quantification of 19 pharmaceutical active compounds and metabolites in hospital wastewater in Cameroon using LC/QQQ and LC/Q-TOF

Human pharmaceutical residues are a serious environmental concern. They have been reported to have eco, geno, and human toxic effects, and thus their importance as micropollutants cannot be ignored. These have been studied extensively in Europe and North America. However, African countries are still lagging behind in research on these micropollutants. In this study, the wastewaters of the University Teaching Hospital of Yaoundé (UTHY) were screened for the presence of active pharmaceutical ingredients and their metabolites. The screening was carried out using two methods: high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a triple quadrupole analyzer (LC/QQQ) and high-performance coupled to a mass spectrometer with a time of flight analyzer (LC/Q-TOF). A total of 19 active pharmaceutical ingredients and metabolites were identified and quantified. The compounds identified include paracetamol (211.93 μg/L), ibuprofen (141 μg/L), tramadol (76 μg/L), O-demethyltramadol (141 μg/L), erythromycinanhydrate (7 μg/L), ciprofloxacin (24 μg/L), clarinthromycine (0.088 μg/L), azitromycine (0.39 μg/L), sulfamethoxazole 0.16 μg/L), trimetoprime (0.27 μg/L), caffeine (5.8 μg/L), carnamaeepine (0.94 μg/L), atenolol (0.43 μg/L), propranolol (0.3 μg/L), cimetidine (34 μg/L), hydroxy omeprazole (5 μg/L), diphenhydramine (0.38 μg/L), metformine (154 μg/L), and sucralose (13.07 μg/L).     

Post-disaster agricultural transitions in Nepal

In Spring 2015, a series of earthquakes and aftershocks struck Nepal. The earthquakes caused significant changes in labor and land availability, cash income needs, and land quality. We examine how these post-earthquake impacts converged with ongoing agricultural shifts. Earthquake-related socio-economic and landscape changes specifically motivate the adoption of cardamom, Amomum subulatum, a high-value ecologically beneficial, and low labor commercial crop. We investigate reasons for the increased interest in cardamom post-earthquake, and challenges associated with it. We find that adopting cardamom serves as an important post-disaster adaptation. However, more broadly, unevenly distributed interventions coupled with the high capital costs of agricultural transition exacerbate social differentiation in communities after the disaster. Adoption is often limited to economically better off smallholder farmers. This paper extends previous research on disasters and smallholder farming by highlighting the specific potential of disasters to accelerate agricultural transitions and resulting inequality from the changes.