Evaluation of British Columbia Ministry of Forests aboriginal rights and title-consultation guidelines — the Ditidaht case study

The British Columbia Ministry of Forests’ “Aboriginal Rights and Title — Consultation Guidelines”, prepared in response to a Supreme Court of Canada decision on aboriginal rights and title, presents an interesting example of how common law influences provincial environmental policy. The policy addresses the British Columbia government’s fiduciary duty to First Nations and requires staff to consult with aboriginals during operational forestry planning. Adequate understanding of the policy is essential for lawful forest management. The Consultation Guidelines have become a key environmental policy in British Columbia.This evaluation will increase understanding of the Consultation Guidelines and aboriginal title for forest practitioners and policy makers. Within the context of a Vancouver Island case study, the policy is analyzed in view of the following criteria: effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and effort. Even though the policy is over 2 years old and the government is actively managing forests in an area under negotiation for treaty, the policy has yet to be implemented. As a result, aboriginal concerns about the long-term environmental and economic sustainability of current forest practices go unheeded. This situation potentially jeopardizes the government’s ability to address its fiduciary responsibilities to aboriginals, as defined in case law and the Canadian Constitution.     

Body condition and immune response in wild zebra finches: effects of capture, confinement and captive-rearing

Behavioural ecologists attempt to predict fitness in birds from estimates of body condition and immune capacity. We investigated how the stresses associated with capture, confinement and captive-rearing of wild zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) affected different elements of the immune system and body condition. Wild birds had higher heterophil:lymphocyte ratios and total leucocyte counts than aviary birds, presumably an outcome of mounting specific resistance to pathogens, but this response diminished significantly within 10 days of confinement. Wild birds had lower phytohaemagglutinin-A (PHA) responses than their aviary-bred counterparts possibly because energetic costs limited a general resistance response. Wild birds were heavier and had higher haematocrits than their aviary counterparts, but had less fat, although just 10 days of captivity significantly increased fat levels. Measures of body condition were of limited use for predicting immune responsiveness. We conclude that the different elements of the immune system and body condition respond independently, and often unpredictably, to many ecological and behavioural stressors.     

Effect of long-term fertilization on soil nitrate distribution

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＦｅｒｔｉｌｉｚａｔｉｏｎｉｓｅｓｓｅｎｔｉａｌｆｏｒａｇｒｉｃｕｌｔｕｒａｌｐｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎ ,ｂｕｔｕｎｒｅａｓｏｎａｂｌｙａｐｐｌｙｉｎｇｆｅｒｔｉｌｉｚｅｒｓｃｏｕｌｄｒｅｓｕｌｔｉｎｓｅｒｉｅｓｏｆｐｒｏｂｌｅｍｓｓｕｃｈａｓｃｒｏｐｑｕａｌｉｔｙｄｅｃｌｉｎｅ,ｆｅｒｔｉｌｉｚｅｒｕｓｅｅｆｆｉｃｉｅｎｃｙｄｅｃｒｅａｓｅ,ｒｅｓｉｄｕａｌｆｅｒｔｉｌｉｚｅｒｓｐｏｌｌｕｔｉｏｎ ｇｒｏｕｎｄｗａｔｅｒａｎｄｒｉｖｅｒｓａｎｄｎｉｔｒｏｇｅｎｃｏｎｔｅｎｔｅｄ …     

Partition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on organobentonites from water

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＴｈｅａｌｕｍｉｎｏｓｉｌｉｃａｔｅｓｈｅｅｔｓｏｆｂｅｎｔｏｎｉｔｅｐｏｓｓｅｓｓａｎｅｔｎｅｇａｔｉｖｅｅｌｅｃｔｒｉｃａｌｃｈａｒｇｅｃｏｍｐｅｎｓａｔｅｄｆｏｒｂｙｉｎｏｒｇａｎｉｃｅｘｃｈａｎｇｅａｂｌｅｃａｔｉｏｎｓ(ｅ.ｇ.,Ｎａ+ａｎｄＣａ2+),ｗｈｉｃｈｓｔｒｏｎｇｌｙｈｙｄｒａｔｅｄｉｎｔｈｅｐｒｅｓｅｎｃｅｏｆｗａｔｅｒ.Ｓｕｒｆａｃｅｐｒｏｐｅｒｔｉｅｓｏｆｎａｔｕｒａｌｂｅｎｔｏｎｉｔｅｃａｎｂｅｍｏｄｉｆｉｅｄｂｙｓｉｍｐｌｅｉｏｎｅｘｃｈａｎｇｅｗｉ…     

Prevention of debris flow disasters on Chengdu-Kunming Railway

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＣｈｅｎｇｄｕ ＫｕｎｍｉｎｇＲａｉｌｗａｙＬｉｎｅｉｓｌｏｃａｔｅｄｏｎｔｈｅｍｏｕｎｔａｉｎｒｅｇｉｏｎｏｆｓｏｕｔｈｗｅｓｔｅｒｎＣｈｉｎａ .Ｔｈｅｒｅａｒｅａｌｏｔｏｆｄｅｂｒｉｓｆｌｏｗｇｕｌｌｉｅｓｓｐｒｅａｄｉｎｇｂｅｓｉｄｅｔｈｉｓｒａｉｌｗａｙｌｉｎｅ .Ｏｎｓｕｍｍｅｒ,ｔｈｅｄｅｂｒｉｓｆｌｏｗｏｆｔｅｎｂｕｒｓｔｓａｎｄｔｈｒｅａｔｅｎｓｔｈｅｓａｆｅｔｙｏｆｔｈｅｒａｉｌｗａｙｔｒａｎｓｐｏｒｔａｔｉｏｎ.Ｉｎ 1981,ａｌａｒｇｅ ｓｃａｌｅｄｅｂｒｉｓ…     

海水和海洋沉积物中总磷的测定

系统介绍了海水和海洋沉积物中总磷的测定方法，选用Ｋ２Ｓ２Ｏ８为氧化剂将有关形式的Ｐ转化成ＰＯ＾３－４，连同样品中原有的ＰＯ＾３－４－起用以抗坏到为还原剂的磷钼蓝法测定。方法的精密度６％，回收率为９１％－１０７％。     

Results of a questionnaire investigation on the management of environmental issues during conceptual design. A case study of two large made-to-order companies

This paper investigates the current treatment of environmental issues by two companies within the large made-to-order sector. Fifty questionnaires were issued to the design team of each company to assess current practice in the integration of environmental issues with design activities, awareness of environmental issues, awareness of existing environmental design tools and the preferred format for a potential clean design tool.     

Hopanoid Biosynthesis and Function in Bacteria

   Hopanoids are pentacyclic triterpenoid lipids occurring in bacteria. They are synthesized from isopentenyl units which are formed in a new biosynthetic route leading to isopentenyl diphosphate. Six C₅ units are joined to form squalene, the immediate precursor in hopanoid synthesis. In a highly complex cyclization reaction that shares considerable similarities with that of oxidosqualene to sterols, the hopane skeleton is formed from squalene by the squalene-hopene cyclase. Recent elucidation of the X-ray structure of this membrane-bound cyclase has shed some light on the properties of this unusual enzyme. The active site is located in a cavity within the enzyme. The squalene substrate diffuses through a channel structure from the membrane into this cavity and is there transformed into hopene. Polar side chains are attached to hopene resulting in the amphiphilic molecular structure of many hopanoids. These hopanoids are membrane components involved in regulating membrane fluidity and stability. However, the many structural variants of hopanoids indicate that they may have other interesting but as yet unknown functions.     

Equity rules for burden sharing in the mitigation process of climate change

Although international negotiation on the mitigation of climate change is a process of determining burden-sharing rules between countries, there has been no clear agreement on equity principles for burden sharing. During the negotiating process up to the Kyoto Protocol, various proposals were made on such burden-sharing rules, but an agreement on emission targets for Annex I countries was achieved without explicitly agree-ing to any rules. In the next phase of the negotiation, debates on emission targets are likely to shift from those between developed countries to those between all parties to the convention. In such a phase, debates on burden-sharing rules will be revisited. The purpose of this paper is: (1) to determine implicitly a formula for the rule for burden sharing between Annex I countries that was considered to be underlying the emission targets of the Kyoto Protocol, and (2) to examine plausible emission targets and timing of commitments for non-Annex I countries in the future by using the result of the analysis on the Kyoto Protocol. A multi-regression method is used for this purpose. It was concluded that the burden sharing between Annex I countries in the Kyoto Protocol can mostly be explained by three variables: the increase in the rate of CO₂ emission during the years 1990 to 2010, the increase in the rate of afforestation between 1990 and 1995, and the GDP per capita at the time of negotiation. The timing of future commitments of developing countries and the levels of targets differ widely, depending on which index or formula is agreed as “equitable”. Some of the developing countries would have to start limiting their emissions within several years if GDP per capita or CO₂ per capita were chosen as the burden-sharing indicator. Developing countries would not have to make commitments until the mid-late 21st century if population growth rate were chosen. If the inferred formula of the Kyoto Protocol were applied to developing countries, they would have had to start mild limitation from 1990.