Wetland management: an analysis of past practice and recent policy changes in Ontario

The Ontario Government has recently released its latest Provincial Policy Statement (PPS), which includes a policy concerning wetland protection. This paper uses interviews with key respondents and the results of three separate case studies that examined the former PPS in order to assess the ability of the new policy to improve wetland conservation efforts in Ontario. The case studies include wetland conservation and urban stormwater management in the City of London for the periods 1978-1999 and 1978-2000, respectively. As well, agricultural drainage that occurred in the Township of Zorra for the period 1978-1997 is used to address this management dimension. While progress is evident, the current policy will be difficult to implement effectively because it inadequately deals with the fundamental aspects of management: fragmented jurisdiction, interagency communication, financial arrangements, enforcement, and promoting informed decision making.     

Environmental risk perception, environmental concern and propensity to participate in organic farming programmes

This paper aims to identify the factors underlying farmers' propensity to participate in organic farming programmes in a Romanian rural region that confronts non-point source pollution. For this, we employ structural equation modelling with latent variables using a specific data set collected through an agri-environmental farm survey in 2001. The model includes one 'behavioural intention' latent variable ('propensity to participate in organic farming programmes') and five 'attitude' and 'socio-economic' latent variables ('socio-demographic characteristics', 'economic characteristics', 'agri-environmental information access', 'environmental risk perception' and 'general environmental concern'). The results indicate that, overall, the model has an adequate fit to the data. All loadings are statistically significant, supporting the theoretical basis for assignment of indicators for each latent variable. The significance tests for the structural model parameters show 'environmental risk perception' as the strongest determinant of farmers' propensity to participate in organic farming programmes.     

Linkages Between Nutrients and Assemblages of Macroinvertebrates and Fish in Wadeable Streams: Implication to Nutrient Criteria Development

We sampled 240 wadeable streams across Wisconsin for different forms of phosphorus and nitrogen, and assemblages of macroinvertebrates and fish to (1) examine how macroinvertebrate and fish measures correlated with the nutrients; (2) quantify relationships between key biological measures and nutrient forms to identify potential threshold levels of nutrients to support nutrient criteria development; and (3) evaluate the importance of nutrients in influencing biological assemblages relative to other physicochemical factors at different spatial scales. Twenty-three of the 35 fish and 18 of the 26 macroinvertebrate measures significantly correlated (P < 0.05) with at least one nutrient measure. Percentages of carnivorous, intolerant, and omnivorous fishes, index of biotic integrity, and salmonid abundance were fish measures correlated with the most nutrient measures and had the highest correlation coefficients. Percentages of Ephemeroptera–Plecoptera–Trichoptera individuals and taxa, Hilsenhoff biotic index, and mean tolerance value were macroinvertebrate measures that most strongly correlated with the most nutrient measures. Selected biological measures showed clear trends toward degradation as concentrations of phosphorus and nitrogen increased, and some measures showed clear thresholds where biological measures changed drastically with small changes in nutrient concentrations. Our selected environmental factors explained 54% of the variation in the fish assemblages. Of this explained variance, 46% was attributed to catchment and instream habitat, 15% to nutrients, 3% to other water quality measures, and 36% to the interactions among all the environmental variables. Selected environmental factors explained 53% of the variation in macroinvertebrate assemblages. Of this explained variance, 42% was attributed to catchment and instream habitat, 22% to nutrients, 5% to other water quality measures, and 32% to the interactions among all the environmental variables.     

Radical,reformist, and garden-variety neoliberal: coming to terms with urban agriculture's contradictions

For many activists and scholars, urban agriculture in the Global North has become synonymous with sustainable food systems, standing in opposition to the dominant industrial agri-food system. At the same time, critical social scientists increasingly argue that urban agriculture programmes, by filling the void left by the “rolling back” of the social safety net, underwrite neoliberalisation. I argue that such contradictions are central to urban agriculture. Drawing on existing literature and fieldwork in Oakland, CA, I explain how urban agriculture arises from a protective counter-movement, while at the same time entrenching the neoliberal organisation of contemporary urban political economies through its entanglement with multiple processes of neoliberalisation. By focusing on one function or the other, however, rather than understanding such contradictions as internal and inherent, we risk undermining urban agriculture's transformative potential. Coming to terms with its internal contradictions can help activists, policy-makers and practitioners better position urban agriculture within coordinated efforts for structural change, one of many means to an end rather than an end unto itself.     

Does Riparian Forest Restoration Thinning Enhance Biodiversity? The Ecological Importance of Large Wood

Intact riparian ecosystems are rich in biological diversity, but throughout the world, many have been degraded. Biodiversity declines, particularly of vertebrates, have led to experimental efforts to restore riparian forests by thinning young stands to accelerate creation of large diameter live trees. However, many vertebrates depend on large diameter deadwood that is standing as snags or fallen to the forest floor or fallen into streams. Therefore, we reviewed the sizes of deadwood and live trees used by different vertebrate species to understand which species are likely to benefit from different thinning treatments. We then examined how riparian thinning affects the long‐term development of both large diameter live trees and deadwood. To this end, we used a forest growth model to examine how different forest thinning intensities might affect the long‐term production and abundance of live trees and deadwood. Our results suggest that there are long‐term habitat tradeoffs associated with different thinning intensities. Species that utilize large diameter live trees will benefit most from heavy thinning, whereas species that utilize large diameter deadwood will benefit most from light or no thinning. Because far more vertebrate species utilize large deadwood rather than large live trees, allowing riparian forests to naturally develop may result in the most rapid and sustained development of structural features important to most terrestrial and aquatic vertebrates.     

Organic farmers in islands: Agricultural management and attitude towards the environment

SUMMARY

This study explores differences among organic farmers who live in islands and have isolated small-size operations. The relationships between farmers' characteristics and attitudes and farm management were interpreted by studying how they manage their land, their attitudes towards the environment and alternative farming systems, and their involvement in organic farming. The research was carried out using questionnaires addressed to organic farmers on the island of Thassos. Nonlinear canonical correlation was applied for data analysis. This information could contribute to adjustment of policy decisions for on-farm diversification. Agricultural policy makers should approach organic farmers in northern Thassos (productive irrigated olive orchards with gentle slopes) by enacting standards to reduce the cost of alternative plant protection methods and promoting their products in order to maintain and expand organic farming. They should also approach organic farmers in southern Thassos (less productive, dry cultivated olive orchards with steep slopes, overgrazed and often abandoned) by providing them with the necessary information and appropriate agricultural know-how to effectively manage their farms. Organic farmers with stable off-farm income are more aware of environmental values and consider that they risk less than others in order to gain the benefits of alternative farming systems. However, they should attend training programmes to achieve economic success to allow them to continue farming organically.     

Ecological Survey of Coastal I Water Adjacent to Nuclear Power I Plants in Taiwan

A total of six nuclear reactors installed in three power plants, two along the northern and one along the southern coasts of Taiwan, started their operations one after another since October 1977. Owing to the large quantities of cooling water intake into and discharge from the plants, some environmental factors such as water temperature, chlorine, environmental radioactivity and nearshore currents may be significantly changed. Variations of these abiotic environmental factors may influence the biological activities in the ecosystem, particularly doing some kinds of damage to marine biological resources. Therefore, the possible environmental impact upon the biological systems including the fishery resources along the northern and southern coasts of Taiwan should be studied before and during the plant operation.

We have started the long-term programmes of biological, chemical and hydro-graphical surveys of the nuclear power plant sites on both northern (since July 1974) and southern (since July 1979) coasts of Taiwan. the survey items include ocean currents, physical and chemical properties of sea water, primary productivity, specific compositions and interspecific relationships among phyto- and zooplankton, algae, invertebrates, corals, and fishes; and radionuclides in water and biological specimens, and fishery statistics. in general, except for a few events, the operations of the six units of nuclear power plants have not produced detectable effects on the marine ecosystem. Radio activity levels and radionuclides in water and the biological specimens remained the same as background levels throughout the survey period. However, the events of coral bleaching and fish body anomalies caused by thermal discharges were observed respectively along the outlets of third and second Nuclear Power Plants. the purposes of this paper are to report and evaluate these two events during the operations of nuclear power plants in Taiwan.     

Hydrologic analysis for coastal wetland restoration

Increasing recognition of the value of tidal wetlands has led to interest in how to restore and enhance areas that have been modified by human activity. The policy of recognizing restoration or enhancement as mitigation for destruction of other wetlands is controversial. Once policy questions are separated from technical questions, the steps in a successful project are straightforward A key element in the design of a successful project is quantitative hydraulic and hydrologic analysis of alternatives. Restoration projects at two sites in California used a combination of empirical geomorphic relationships, numerical modeling, and verification with field observations. Experience with these and other wetland restoration projects indicates the importance of longterm postproject monitoring, inspection, and maintenance     

Environmental Awareness, Economic Orientation, and Farming Practices: A Comparison of Organic and Conventional Farmers

/ This study examines similarities and differences between organic and conventional farmers. We explore the factors that underlie farmers' conservation attitudes and behaviors, including demographic and farm characteristics, awareness of and concern for environmental problems associated with agriculture, economic orientation toward farming, and self-reported conservation practices. A series of intensive personal interviews was conducted with 25 farmers in Washtenaw County, Michigan, USA, using both qualitative and quantitative survey methods. The findings indicate that both groups of farmers share a concern for the economic risks associated with farming, although the organic farmers reported a significantly greater concern for long-term sustainability and a greater willingness to incur present risk to gain future benefits. Organic farmers expressed a greater awareness of and concern for environmental problems associated with agriculture. Organic farmers also scored significantly higher on a multifaceted measure of conservation practices, although both groups had a fairly high adoption rate. Implications of these findings are discussed, relative to economic risks of farming, implications for new farmers, effectiveness of conservation education and government programs, and impact of farm size and crop diversity.KEY WORDS: Environmental attitudes; Conservation behaviors; Organic farming; Agricultural sustainability