Recovery of benthic communities at Macquarie Island (sub-Antarctic) following a small oil spill

Intertidal communities at Macquarie Island (sub-Antarctic) were re-evaluated seven years after a small oil spill resulting from the grounding of the “Nella Dan”, and six years after the first assessment of biological impact. Sampling was conducted to evaluate community structure in three zones of the exposed rocky shore (upper red, kelp, and lower red) and in samples of Durvillaea antarctica holdfasts. There were no significant differences between the community structure in oiled and control locations in any of the three shore zones, but holdfast macrofaunal communities at oiled sites still showed evidence of impact. Holdfast community-structure in samples from heavily oiled sites showed moderate levels of recovery, with increased abundances of species which were considered sensitive to the oiling in the first post-impact studies and decreased abundances of opportunistic polychaete and oligochaete worms. In contrast, samples collected from the moderately oiled location at Secluded Bay showed little evidence of recovery. Holdfasts at this site were filled with sediment containing traces of diesel oil, and the macrofaunal community was dominated by opportunistic worms. This study clearly indicates that even small incidents of anthropogenic perturbation can have long-lasting consequences for marine communities at Macquarie Island. Received: 23 July 1997 / Accepted: 5 February 1998     

Metals in Feathers of Bonin Petrel, Christmas Shearwater, Wedge-Tailed Shearwater, and Red-Tailed Tropicbird in the Hawaian Islands, Northern Pacific

Levels of environmental pollutants are usually higher in mainland and coastal areas than in offshore or oceanic islands due to higher inputs from agricultural and industrial sources. Levels of heavy metals are usually higher in adult than in young birds, because they have had longer to accumulate metals in their tissues, and/or because they may eat larger, more contaminated, prey. We examined the levels of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, manganese, mercury, and selenium in the adults and young of Bonin petrel (Pterodroma hypoleuca), Christmas shearwater (Puffinus nativitatis) and red-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda) on Midway Atoll, and adult wedge-tailed shearwater (Puffinus pacificus) on Midway Atoll and on Manana Island (off Oahu) in the northern Pacific. All birds were analyzed individually except for Christmas Shearwater chicks where samples were pooled to obtain sufficient quantities for analysis. Significant (p<0.05) age-related differences were found for mercury, selenium, manganese and chromium in Bonin petrels, for selenium and mercury in Christmas shearwaters, and for chromium and mercury in Red-tailed Tropicbirds. Lead approached significance for all three species. Adults had higher levels than young except for chromium and manganese in the petrels and arsenic in all three species. There were significant interspecific differences in concentrations of all metals except arsenic for the adults nesting on Midway. Christmas shearwaters had the highest levels of all metals except mercury and chromium. Bonin petrels, the smallest species examined, had mercury levels that were over three times higher than any of the adults of the other three species. For wedge-tailed shearwaters, levels of chromium and lead were significantly higher, and manganese and selenium were lower on Midway than Manana. Knowledge of the foraging ranges and habits of these far-ranging seabirds is inadequately known, but does not currently explain the observed differences among species. We could not find a consistent pattern of differences between the burrow nesting species (Bonin petrel, Wedge-tailed shearwater) and the surface nesting tropicbirds. There was no consistent pairwise correlation between any metals across all species.     

Cost‐effectiveness of conservation payment schemes for species with different range sizes

Payments to compensate landowners for carrying out costly land‐use measures that benefit endangered biodiversity have become an important policy instrument. When designing such payments, it is important to take into account that spatially connected habitats are more valuable for many species than isolated ones. One way to incentivize provision of connected habitats is to offer landowners an agglomeration bonus, that is, a bonus on top of payments they are receiving to conserve land if the land is spatially connected. Researchers have compared the cost‐effectiveness of the agglomeration bonus with 2 alternatives: an all‐or‐nothing, agglomeration payment, where landowners receive a payment only if the conserved land parcels have a certain level of spatial connectivity, and a spatially homogeneous payment, where landowners receive a payment for conserved land parcels irrespective of their location. Their results show the agglomeration bonus is rarely the most cost‐effective option, and when it is, it is only slightly better than one of the alternatives. This suggests that the agglomeration bonus should not be given priority as a policy design option. However, this finding is based on consideration of only 1 species. We examined whether the same applied to 2 species, one for which the homogeneous payment is best and the other for which the agglomeration payment is most cost‐effective. We modified a published conceptual model so that we were able to assess the cost‐effectiveness of payment schemes for 2 species and applied it to a grassland bird and a grassland butterfly in Germany that require the same habitat but have different spatial‐connectivity needs. When conserving both species, the agglomeration bonus was more cost‐effective than the agglomeration and the homogeneous payment; thus, we showed that as a policy the agglomeration bonus is a useful conservation‐payment option.     

Pollutants and sperm quality: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Male fertility and semen quality have declined over recent decades. Among other causes, exposure to environmental and occupational pollution has been...     

Characteristics that make trophy hunting of giant pandas inconceivable

In November 1928, Theodore Jr. and Kermit Roosevelt led an expedition to China with the expressed purpose of being the first Westerners to kill the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). The expedition lasted 8 months and resulted in the brothers shooting a giant panda in the mountains of Sichuan Province. Given the concurrent attention in the popular press describing this celebrated expedition, the giant panda was poised to be trophy hunted much like other large mammals around the world. Today, however, the killing of giant pandas, even for the generation of conservation revenue, is unthinkable for reasons related to the species itself and the context, in time and space, in which the species was popularized in the West. We found that the giant panda's status as a conservation symbol, exceptional charisma and gentle disposition, rarity, value as a nonconsumptive ecotourism attraction, and endemism are integral to the explanation of why the species is not trophy hunted. We compared these intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics with 20 of the most common trophy-hunted mammals to determine whether the principles applying to giant pandas are generalizable to other species. Although certain characteristics of the 20 trophy-hunted mammals aligned with the giant panda, many did not. Charisma, economic value, and endemism, in particular, were comparatively unique to the giant panda. Our analysis suggests that, at present, exceptional characteristics may be necessary for certain mammals to be excepted from trophy hunting. However, because discourse relating to the role of trophy hunting in supporting conservation outcomes is dynamic in both science and society, we suspect these valuations will also change in future.     

Incompatible Land Uses and the Topology of Cumulative Risk

The extensive literature on environmental justice has, by now, well defined the essential ingredients of cumulative risk, namely, incompatible land uses and vulnerability. Most problematic is the case when risk is produced by a large aggregation of small sources of air toxics. In this article, we test these notions in an area of Southern California, Southeast Los Angeles (SELA), which has come to be known as Asthmatown. Developing a rapid risk mapping protocol, we scan the neighborhood for small potential sources of air toxics and find, literally, hundreds of small point sources within a 2-mile radius, interspersed with residences. We also map the estimated cancer risks and noncancer hazard indices across the landscape. We find that, indeed, such large aggregations of even small, nondominant sources of air toxics can produce markedly elevated levels of risk. In this study, the risk profiles show additional cancer risks of up to 800 in a million and noncancer hazard indices of up to 200 in SELA due to the agglomeration of small point sources. This is significant (for example, estimates of the average regional point-source-related cancer risk range from 125 to 200 in a million). Most importantly, if we were to talk about the risk contour as if they were geological structures, we would observe not only a handful of distinct peaks, but a general “mountain range” running all throughout the study area, which underscores the ubiquity of risk in SELA. Just as cumulative risk has deeply embedded itself into the fabric of the place, so, too, must intervention seek to embed strategies into the institutions and practices of SELA. This has implications for advocacy, as seen in a recently initiated participatory action research project aimed at building health research capacities into the community in keeping with an ethic of care.     

A Framework for Comprehensive,Integrated, Watershed Monitoring in New York City

The International Life SciencesInstitute (ILSI) Risk Science Institute (RSI) convenedan expert panel of scientists to developrecommendations for a comprehensive monitoring programfor the Croton and Catskill/Delaware watersheds, whichprovide drinking water to New York City's residents. This effort was conducted as part of efforts topreserve and enhance the quality of New York City'sreservoir system through a watershed protectionprogram. The panel developed recommendations for astrategic framework on which to construct a monitoringprogram. As part of this activity, the paneldetermined whether existing monitoring activities weredeficient and, where activities were deficient, thepanel developed recommendations for additionalinformation that should be collected.The panel recommended the development and use of anintegrated approach to watershed monitoring, whichdraws on modeling, risk-based planning and analysis,statistical sampling and design, and basic compliancemonitoring. The approach should be designed toprovide an assessment of natural and anthropogenicsources of stress to the system as well as anassessment of water quality trends in response tostresses acting in concert, both over the long termand over the five-year New York City Memorandum ofAgreement (MOA) assessment time frame. It should alsoprovide an assessment of the human health andenvironmental risks posed by a variety of stressors,and the impact of management actions implemented toameliorate stressors.     

Assessing coastal waters of American Samoa: territory-wide water quality data provide a critical “big-picture” view for this tropical archipelago

The coastal waters of American Samoa’s five high islands (Tutuila, Aunu’u, Ofu, Olosega, and Ta’u) were surveyed in 2004 using a probabilistic design. Water quality data were collected from the near-shore coastal habitat, defined as all near-shore coastal waters including embayments, extending out to 1/4 mile off-shore. Hydrography and water column samples were collected, and water quality data were compared to the Territorial water quality standards for pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), Enterococcus, chlorophyll a, water clarity, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus. All station measurements for pH, DO, and Enterococcus satisfied the local water quality standards, although some fraction of the Territory could not be assessed for either DO or Enterococcus. With respect to chlorophyll a, 66 ± 18% of Territory coastal waters complied with the standard, while 34 ± 18% failed to comply with the standard. For water clarity, 54 ± 18% of the Territorial waters complied with the standard while 42 ± 7% failed to comply. Territorial waters satisfied the standards for total nitrogen and phosphorus 72 ± 17% and 92 ± 10%, respectively. These data provide the first “big-picture” view of water quality in the near shore region around the high islands of American Samoa. While the picture is encouraging, these data suggest emerging water quality concerns.     

Challenges in quantifying biosphere-atmosphere exchange of nitrogen species

Recent research in nitrogen exchange with the atmosphere has separated research communities according to N form. The integrated perspective needed to quantify the net effect of N on greenhouse-gas balance is being addressed by the NitroEurope Integrated Project (NEU). Recent advances have depended on improved methodologies, while ongoing challenges include gas-aerosol interactions, organic nitrogen and N(2) fluxes. The NEU strategy applies a 3-tier Flux Network together with a Manipulation Network of global-change experiments, linked by common protocols to facilitate model application. Substantial progress has been made in modelling N fluxes, especially for N(2)O, NO and bi-directional NH(3) exchange. Landscape analysis represents an emerging challenge to address the spatial interactions between farms, fields, ecosystems, catchments and air dispersion/deposition. European up-scaling of N fluxes is highly uncertain and a key priority is for better data on agricultural practices. Finally, attention is needed to develop N flux verification procedures to assess compliance with international protocols.     

Comparison of analytical descriptions of nocturnal low-level jets within the Ekman model framework

This study focuses on the inertial oscillation aspect of the nocturnal low-level jet (NLLJ). In the context of the Ekman model solutions, conceptual NLLJ inertial oscillation analytical frameworks proposed by Blackadar in 1957 and Shapiro and Fedorovich and van de Wiel et al. in 2010 are compared. Considering a NLLJ produced via direct numerical simulation over flat terrain with no baroclinic influence as a reference case, the deficiencies of each framework in representing a realistic NLLJ are assessed. The Blackadar theory results in unrealistic wind profiles near the surface. While extensions of Blackadar’s framework by Shapiro and Fedorovich and van de Wiel et al. produce more realistic NLLJs, the simpler approach taken by van de Wiel et al. does not describe the NLLJ wind hodograph at later times sufficiently in qualitative terms.