Destruction of Wetlands and Waterbird Populations by Dams and Irrigation on the Murrumbidgee River in Arid Australia

The Lowbidgee floodplain is the Murrumbidgee Rivers major wetland in southeastern Australia. From more than 300,000 ha in the early 1900s, at least 76.5% was destroyed (58%) or degraded (18%) by dams (26 major storages), subsequent diversions and floodplain development. Diversions of about 2,144,000 ML year^–1 from the Murrumbidgee River come from a natural median flow of about 3,380,000 ML year^–1 providing water for Australias capital, hydroelectricity, and 273,000 ha of irrigation. Diversions have reduced the amount of water reaching the Lowbidgee floodplain by at least 60%, from 1888 to 1998. About 97,000 ha of Lowbidgee wetland was destroyed by development of the floodplain for an irrigation area (1975–1998), including building of 394 km of channels and 2,145 km of levee banks. Over 19 years (1983–2001), waterbird numbers estimated during annual aerial surveys collapsed by 90%, from an average of 139,939 (1983–1986) to 14,170 (1998–2001). Similar declines occurred across all functional groups: piscivores (82%), herbivores (87%), ducks and small grebe species (90%), large wading birds (91%), and small wading birds (95%), indicating a similar decline in the aquatic biota that formed their food base. Numbers of species also declined significantly by 21%. The Lowbidgee floodplain is an example of the ecological consequences of water resource development. Yanga Nature Reserve, within the Lowbidgee floodplain, conserved for its floodplain vegetation communities, will lose these communities because of insufficient water. Until conservation policies adequately protect river flows to important wetland areas, examples such as the Lowbidgee will continue to occur around the world.     

Using Goals in Environmental Management: The Swedish System of Environmental Objectives

In Sweden, environmental policy is essentially carried out through a system of environmental objectives adopted by Parliament in the late 1990s. This system contains principles, objectives, interim targets, strategies, and follow-up mechanisms, which together provide a solid ground for increased efficiency and improved prioritization in environmental policies. Despite the ambitious approach of the Swedish Parliament, the system of environmental objectives suffers from certain shortcomings. Some of the objectives are imprecise and difficult to evaluate, and there are no rules or principles that may be used to solve goal conflicts and to prioritize between different objectives. As a consequence, the environmental objectives tend to differ in their degrees of operationalizability, and the priority-setting between different objectives is often unclear.*Rskr. denotes a written communication (from the Swedish Parliament to the Swedish Government) of a Parliamentary decision. Note: This version was published online in June 2005 with the cover date of August 2004.     

A Framework of Lessons Learned from Community-Based Marine Reserves and Its Effectiveness in Guiding a New Coastal Management Initiative in the Philippines

Community-based coastal resource management has been widely applied within the Philippines. However, small-scale community-based reserves are often inefficient owing to management inadequacies arising because of a lack of local support or enforcement or poor design. Because there are many potential pitfalls during the establishment of even small community-based reserves, it is important for coastal managers, communities, and facilitating institutions to have access to a summary of the key factors for success. Reviewing relevant literature, we present a framework of lessons learned during the establishment of protected areas, mainly in the Philippines. The framework contains summary guidance on the importance of (1) an island location, (2) small community population size, (3) minimal effect of land-based development, (4) application of a bottom-up approach, (5) an external facilitating institution, (6) acquisition of title, (7) use of a scientific information database, (8) stakeholder involvement, (9) the establishment of legislation, (10) community empowerment, (11) alternative livelihood schemes, (12) surveillance, (13) tangible management results, (14) continued involvement of external groups after reserve establishment, and (15) small-scale project expansion.These framework components guided the establishment of a community-based protected area at Danjugan Island, Negros Occidental, Philippines. This case study showed that the framework was a useful guide that led to establishing and implementing a community-based marine reserve. Evaluation of the reserve using standard criteria developed for the Philippines shows that the Danjugan Island protected area can be considered successful and sustainable. At Danjugan Island, all of the lessons synthesized in the framework were important and should be considered elsewhere, even for relatively small projects. As shown in previous projects in the Philippines, local involvement and stewardship of the protected area appeared particularly important for its successful implementation. The involvement of external organizations also seemed to have a key role in the success of the Danjugan Island project by guiding local decision-makers in the sociobiological principles of establishing protected areas. However, the relative importance of each component of the framework will vary between coastal management initiatives both within the Philippines and across the wider Asian region.Published on line     

Quality and Quantity of Suspended Particles in Rivers: Continent-Scale Patterns in the United States

Suspended solids or sediments can be pollutants in rivers, but they are also an important component of lotic food webs. Suspended sediment data for rivers were obtained from a United States–wide water quality database for 622 stations. Data for particulate nitrogen, suspended carbon, discharge, watershed area, land use, and population were also used. Stations were classified by United States Environmental Protection Agency ecoregions to assess relationships between terrestrial habitats and the quality and quantity of total suspended solids (TSS). Results indicate that nephelometric determinations of mean turbidity can be used to estimate mean suspended sediment values to within an order of magnitude (r² = 0.89). Water quality is often considered impaired above 80 mg TSS L^–1, and 35% of the stations examined during this study had mean values exceeding this level. Forested systems had substantially lower TSS and somewhat higher carbon-to-nitrogen ratios of suspended materials. The correlation between TSS and discharge was moderately well described by an exponential relationship, with the power of the exponent indicating potential acute sediment events in rivers. Mean sediment values and power of the exponent varied significantly with ecoregion, but TSS values were also influenced by land use practices and geomorphological characteristics. Results confirm that, based on current water quality standards, excessive suspended solids impair numerous rivers in the United States.     

Land Conversion for Suburban Housing: A Study of Urbanization Around Warsaw and Olsztyn,Poland

In Poland of the 1990s, urban demand for housing land around city agglomerations increased rapidly. The decreasing profitability of agricultural production also caused farmers to become interested in the sale of agricultural land for nonagricultural purposes, and new land legislation granted them the right to sell their land. Polish counties simultaneously received self-governing status, which allowed them to define the priorities for local development. Counties received additional responsibility for land management and quickly demonstrated strong support for land conversion, which was perceived as a factor of local development. This paper argues that decentralization and the extension of private control over land have led to a loss of rural landscapes in Poland because farmers, county governments, and rural society in general gained from the conversion of agricultural to housing land. Rapid urbanization has significantly reduced the availability of open space around cities and threatened valuable landscapes, for it has occurred in the absence of environmental safeguards. This paper reports findings from research in two counties, located in regions with diverse economic growth rates. Decentralization is particularly problematic if tax regulations and intergovernmental fiscal relations reward local authorities for urbanization but not environmental protection. Note: This version was published online in June 2005 with the cover date of August 2004.     

Assessing Anchor Damage on Coral Reefs: A Case Study in Selection of Environmental Indicators

Because environmental conservation can remove scarce natural resources from competing uses, it is important to gain support for conservation programs by demonstrating that management actions have been effective in achieving their goals. One way to do this is to show that selected significant environmental variables (indicators) vary between managed and unmanaged areas or change over time following implementation of a management regime. However, identifying indicators that reflect environmental conditions relevant to management practices has proven difficult. This paper focuses on developing a framework for choosing indicators in a coral reef habitat. The framework consisted of three phases: (1) information gathering to identify candidate variables; (2) field-testing candidate variables at sites that differ in intensity of human activity, thus identifying potential indicators; and (3) evaluating potential indicators against a set of feasibility criteria to identify the most useful indicators. To identify indicators suitable to measure the success of a management strategy to reduce anchor damage to a coral reef, 24 candidate variables were identified and evaluated at sites with different intensities of anchoring. In this study, measures that reflected injuries to coral colonies were generally more efficient than traditional measures of coral cover in describing the effects of anchoring. The number of overturned colonies was identified as the single most useful indicator of coral reef condition associated with anchoring intensities. The indicator selection framework developed here has the advantages of being transparent, cost efficient, and readily transferable to other types of human activities and management strategies.     

An Ecological Integrity Index for Littoral Wetlands in Agricultural Catchments of Semiarid Mediterranean Regions

The main goal of the present study was to develop an ecological integrity index for littoral wetland management and conservation in semiarid Mediterranean areas that have been highly impacted by agriculture, including the selection of pressure and state indicators at landscape and wetlands scales that reflect the status, condition, and trends of wetlands ecosystems. We used a causality framework based on the relationship between pressure of anthropogenic activities and the ecological state of wetlands and their catchments, integrating environmental, biologic, economic, and social issues. From the application of 51 indicators in 7 littoral wetlands in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula, we selected 12 indicators (5 at catchment scale and 7 at wetland scale) to constitute the ecological integrity index proposed. The potential nitrogen export per area at catchment scale and the potential relative nitrogen export from the area surrounding the wetlands were the best pressure single predictors of state indicators with a causal relationship with environmental meaning. Wetlands in catchments with more agriculture had less ecological integrity than those in less impacted areas. A wide riparian zone in some wetlands acts as a buffer area, diminishing the effects of intensive agriculture. The index of ecological integrity developed here has a number of essential characteristics that make it a useful tool for ecosystem managers and decision-makers. The index can be used to (1) assess and control ecological integrity, (2) diagnose probable causes of ecological impairment, (3) establish criteria for protecting and restoring wetland ecosystems, and (4) integrate catchment management. Published online     

Environmental and Economic Factors Can Increase the Risk of Exotic Species Introductions to the Arctic Region Through Increased Ballast Water Discharge

The effects of global warming can increase the risk of exotic species introductions in eastern Canadian Arctic waters by reducing surface ice cover and allow increased access to commercial vessels. Ballast water discharged by incoming overseas vessels is an important means for introducing species on a global scale. Analyses of air temperatures at Churchill, Manitoba between 1943 and 2002 indicated an increase in mean temperature within the past decade. Churchill is the only major northern port in this region where grain has been exported on a limited basis due to the short navigation season. Economic analyses of grain exported from Canadian and U.S. ports indicated some cost advantages for using northern ports. The Hudson Bay region is vulnerable to increased exotic species introductions because of its southerly location. Current ballast water exchange measures to reduce the risk of introductions may not be effective because most vessels enter the region with ballast, and the ballast exchange zone is located relatively close to coastal areas where the habitat could be favorable for an introduced species to become established. The probability of a large crab species introduced to this region from northern European waters is discussed. The risk of ballast water–related exotic species introduction to this region may be reduced by expanding the types of cargo handled and developing a strong import market. This approach would accommodate an increase in the number of vessels with cargo, and substantially reduce the volume of ballast carried to this region.     

Current and Future Strategies for Water and Wastewater Management of Istanbul City

Istanbul has experienced rapid increases in population to more than 12 million people, which has created infrastructure problems of water supply and wastewater treatment and disposal. In this article, the achievements and approaches of the Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration (ISKI) to solve the water shortage problem and to improve services are summarized. Istanbul had a very severe water shortage problem in 1994 because of ignorance of the implementation of the needed projects. After reviewing the reasons and causes of the problem, new priority criteria adopted after 1994 are given. Following the implementation of the projects determined according to the aforementioned criteria, water supplied has exceeded the water demand. The added capacity is equal to one to three times of the capacity built up to 1994 for water treatment, service reservoirs, pumping stations, transmission lines, and the water distribution network; water quality has been improved the meet local and international potable water standards. Unaccounted for water has been reduced from 60% to 27%. The percentage of treated wastewater has been increased from 10% to 90% in 8 years, resulting in drastic improvements and rehabilitation of the Golden Horn and coastal water quality. Through improved customer services, complaints were reduced from 33% in 1994 to 0.3%. Some of the main criteria and the approaches behind this success are summarized. Published online     

Rough Set Rule Induction for Suitability Assessment

The data that characterize an environmental system are a fundamental part of an environmental decision-support system. However, obtaining complete and consistent data sets for regional studies can be difficult. Data sets are often available only for small study areas within the region, whereas the data themselves contain uncertainty because of system complexity, differences in methodology, or data collection errors. This paper presents rough-set rule induction as one way to deal with data uncertainty while creating predictive if–then rules that generalize data values to the entire region. The approach is illustrated by determining the crop suitability of 14 crops for the agricultural soils of the Willamette River Basin, Oregon, USA. To implement this method, environmental and crop yield data were spatially related to individual soil units, forming the examples needed for the rule induction process. Next, four learning algorithms were defined by using different subsets of environmental attributes. ROSETTA, a software system for rough set analysis, was then used to generate rules using each algorithm. Cross-validation analysis showed that all crops had at least one algorithm with an accuracy rate greater than 68%. After selecting a preferred algorithm, the induced classifier was used to predict the crop suitability of each crop for the unclassified soils. The results suggest that rough set rule induction is a useful method for data generalization and suitability analysis.