An observational case study of ozone and precursors inflow to South East England during an anticyclone

Summertime photochemical air pollution episodes within the United Kingdom have been proposed via modelling studies to be strongly influenced by regional scale inflow of air from the continental European boundary layer. We present a vertically resolved case study using measurements made from the NERC/Met Office BAe 146 research aircraft on 18th August 2005 over the South East of England and the North Sea during a weak anticyclone centred over Northern Europe. The vertical distribution of ozone, CO, NO(x), peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) and a wide range of both nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHC) and oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) were determined between 500 ft (approximately 152 m) and 7000 ft (approximately 2134 m) over the East Anglia coastline and 50 km inland. In excess of 80 ppbV ozone was observed within inflowing boundary layer air over the North Sea coast in a broad N-S sloping feature around 60 km wide. The inflowing feature of European origin was also observed further inland within the boundary layer albeit with lower, more variable, ozone mixing ratios. The increased variability in ozone over land was a product of titration by fresh surface emissions of NO via rapid upward transport in thermals, a hypothesis supported by the observed vertical wind speed component. Fast boundary layer mixing over land was further illustrated by a uniform distribution in reactive alkenes. A comparison between aircraft and surface O(3) UK AUN (Automatic Urban Network) measurements showed good agreement with the inland site, Sibton, but marked differences with the coastal monitoring site at Weybourne, potentially due to gradients established by ocean deposition in stably stratified marine air.     

The role of affective traits and affective states in disputants' motivation and behavior during episodes of organizational conflict

This study investigated the effects of individuals' affective traits (i.e., affect intensity and affect disposition) and affective states (i.e., positive and negative mood) on their motivations and behavior during episodes of organizational conflict. Two hundred and twenty‐three student employees from a variety of jobs and organizations kept daily records, for a three day period, of their conflict experiences at work. The results of hierarchical linear modelling indicated that employees' affective traits and affective states had parallel effects on the conflict management process. Subsequent analyses revealed the source of this parallelism: employees' moods on the day of the conflict fully mediated the effects of their affective disposition on the conflict process variables. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical significance and practical implications. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Affiliative behaviour during escape to building exits

Two models of escape behaviour are contrasted in an analysis of flight from a fire by 128 people in a public building. The ‘panic’ model assumes that escape involves a homogeneous population of individuals concerned with self-preservation, competing with each other for limited exits. The ‘affiliative’ model² predicts individuals with close psychological ties will attempt to escape in groups of two or more; flight is assumed to involve escape to familiar persons and places. Causal loglinear analysis was used to model the inter-relationships between four variables in a 2 × 2 × 3 × 2 cross-classified categorical table: (A) Group Membership (family/mixed); (B) Group Attachment at Cue (attached/separated); (C) Cue (ambiguous/verbal/unambiguous); (D) Group Affiliation at Exit (affiliated/separated). Associations were found between [BC] and [ABD] indicating strong support for model. In a situation of potential danger ‘separated’ individuals responded more often to ‘ambiguous’ cues. ‘Family’ members who were attached at cue were most likely to be together and ‘mixed’ group members apart when exiting from the building. Family members tried to adopt an optimal strategy for group rather than individual survival.     

Studying organisational cultures and their effects on safety

How do organisational cultures influence safety? To answer this question requires a strategy for investigating organisational culture. By far the most widely used research strategy is the perception survey. An alternative is for researchers is to immerse themselves in one or more organisations, making detailed observations about activities and drawing inferences about the nature of the organisation’s culture (the ethnographic method). A third technique makes use of the wealth of material that is assembled by inquiries into major accidents. This paper describes how this material can be used to provide insights into organisational cultures. It draws on specific examples from the author’s own work as well as the cultural analysis carried out by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. It concludes with some additional suggestions for carrying out research on safety-relevant aspects of organisational culture.     

Implementation of two new resource management information systems in Australia

This paper describes the development and implementation ofPREPLAN, A Pristine Environment Planning Language and Simulator, for two conservation areas in Australia, Kosciusko National Park (New South Wales) and Tutanning Nature Reserve (Western Australia).PREPLAN was derived from the North American gradient modeling systems and theForest Planning Language and Simulator (FORPLAN), but includes unique characteristics not previously available.PREPLAN includes an integrated resource management data base, modules for predicting site-specific vegetation, fuels, animals, fire behavior, and fire effects, and an English language instruction set.PREPLAN was developed specifically to provide available information and understanding of ecosystems to managers in a readily accessible and usable form, and to provide the motivation to conduct additional required research projects. An evaluation of the system's advantages and limitations is presented, and the way the utilization of such systems is improving natural area decision making throughout Australia is discussed.     

Patterns of Avian Nest Predators and a Brood Parasite Among Restored Riparian Habitats in Agricultural Watersheds

In fragmented edge-dominated landscapes, nest predation and brood parasitism may reduce avian reproductive success and, ultimately, populations of some passerine species. In the fragmented agroecosystem of northwest Mississippi, placement of drop-pipe structures has been used as a restoration technique for abating gully erosion along stream banks. These actions have formed small herbaceous and woody habitat extensions into former agricultural lands. We quantified species relative abundances, species richness, and evenness of avian nest predators and a brood parasite within four categories of constructed habitat resulting from drop-pipe installation. Differences in the abundance of two nest predators, cotton mouse (Peromyscus gossypinus) and blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata), were observed among constructed habitats. However, relative abundances of other predators such as common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula), American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos), and hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus), and the obligate brood parasite brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) did not differ among four habitat categories. Although species richness, abundance, and evenness of potential nest predators were generally similar among the constructed habitats, predator species composition varied, suggesting that these habitats supported different predator communities. This difference is important because as each predator species is added to or deleted from the community, variation may occur in the framework of prey search methods, predator strategies, and potentially overall predation pressure. We suggest that land managers using drop-pipes as part of stream restoration projects allow for the development of the constructed habitat with the largest area and greatest vegetative structure.     

Financial viability of reforesting reclaimed surface mined lands, the burden of site conversion costs, and carbon payments as reforestation incentives

US Federal law mandates that mined land be returned by mine operators to a condition capable of supporting its pre-mining use or a higher use. Previously forested lands have commonly been reclaimed to hayland/pasture or wildlife habitat, and most of these lands have been abandoned from management and rendered non-productive. This situation has left landowners in the position of converting these reclaimed mined lands to forests at a later date, if they choose to make them economically productive. Such land-use conversion, however, comes with a substantial up-front cost to the landowner, which makes the financial viability of such a conversion questionable. We examine the financial viability of reforestation of these previously reclaimed mine lands by calculating land expectation value (LEV) under a range of conditions that include forest type, site quality, and reforestation intensity. We find that conversion to white pine is viable on higher quality sites under low to moderate interest rates with low or high timber prices, but conversion to mixed hardwoods is only profitable under the high price scenario with low interest rates, and only on higher quality sites. We also consider the implications of a shift in reforestation burden from the landowner to the mine operator, and results suggest that including costs of reforestation as part of the mining operation creates a financially viable forest enterprise for landowners under all scenarios for both white pine and mixed hardwoods. Two forms of carbon payments that could encourage reforestation of previously reclaimed mined lands also are examined: an annual payment based upon the total accumulated carbon found on-site in a given year, and an annual payment based on only the increment of carbon storage each year. Our carbon payment results indicate that annual values of up to $5.17 per ton of carbon stored in hardwoods and $9.39 per ton of carbon stored in pines would be required to make reforestation profitable under the poorest conditions (high interest rates, low prices, and poor quality site) when the payment is based on accumulated on-site carbon, although lower values are required under more favorable scenarios. Payments that are based upon the annual increment of carbon must fall in the range of $8.66–$71.88 per ton of carbon stored in hardwoods and $0–$83.29 per ton of carbon stored in pines to make reforestation financially viable.     

Variation and evaluation of coastal salt marshes

Ten intertidal salt marshes along the Rhode Island coast were sampled and compared in terms of the relative standing crop and height of tallSpartina alterniflora, density of shoots, seed production and size, fish populations, and the abundance of grass shrimp, fiddler crabs, insects, and birds. The marshes ranged from 0.49 to 52.61 hectares (1.2 to 130 acres) and included fringe marsh in dense urban developments as well as unspoiled waterfowl preserves in rural isolation. Large variation in most parameters made it impossible to separate the sites with statistical significance using either univariate or multivariate techniques. Moreover, there was little meaningful intercorrelation among the parameters. Although more intensive sampling might make it possible to separate individual marshes with statistical rigor, these results suggest that the necessary effort may be too great to allow comparative field sampling to play a practical part in wetlands evaluation programs. The results also indicate that there is little, if any, correlation between visual esthetic perceptions of a marsh and its ecological characteristics. This work suggests that the development of ecological rating systems will not provide a reliable tool for the management of coastal wetlands.