An “Asymmetric Threat” That Should Have Been Anticipated: Political Discourse on 2007 Wildfires in Greece

This paper examines the pre-election interpretative repertoires employed by the two main political parties in Greece regarding the 2007 summer wildfires, which have been recorded as the worst natural disaster in contemporary Greek history. This involved a discourse analysis of press releases, interviews, and press conference statements. While the New Democracy governing party initially followed a “business-as-usual” scenario, comparing the situation with past wildfires under the administration of PASOK (the biggest opposition party), the increasing number of deaths over time rendered any such comparison invalid. In order to regain momentum, the government launched the interpretative repertoire of “asymmetric threat”, which proved instrumental in helping the government to get re-elected. This political discourse lacked any consideration of broad socioeconomic changes in rural areas in Greece which might have contributed substantially to the severity of the disaster. Implications for wildfire policy are discussed.     

Identifying management opportunities to combat climate,land, and marine threats across less climate exposed coral reefs

Conserving coral reefs is critical for maintaining marine biodiversity, protecting coastlines, and supporting livelihoods in many coastal communities. Climate change threatens coral reefs globally, but researchers have identified a portfolio of coral reefs (bioclimatic units [BCUs]) that are relatively less exposed to climate impacts and strongly connected to other coral reef systems. These reefs provide a proactive opportunity to secure a long-term future for coral reefs under climate change. To help guide local management efforts, we quantified marine cumulative human impact (CHI) from climate, marine, and land pressures (2013 and from 2008 to 2013) in BCUs and across countries tasked with BCU management. Additionally, we created a management index based on common management measures and policies for each pressure source (climate, marine, and land) to identify a country's intent and commitment to effectively manage these pressures. Twenty-two countries (79%) had increases in CHI from 2008 to 2013. Climate change pressures had the highest proportional contribution to CHI across all reefs and in all but one country (Singapore), but 18 BCUs (35%) and nine countries containing BCUs (32%) had relatively high land and marine impacts. There was a significant positive relationship between climate impact and the climate management index across countries (R² = 0.43, p = 0.02), potentially signifying that countries with greater climate impacts are more committed to managing them. However, this trend was driven by climate management intent in Fiji and Bangladesh. Our results can be used to guide future fine-scale analyses, national policies, and local management decisions, and our management indices reveal areas where management components can be improved. Cost-effectively managing local pressures (e.g., fishing and nutrients) in BCUs is essential for building a climate-ready future that benefits coral reefs and people.     

Terror-Proofing Chemical Process Industries

The chemical process industries (CPI) handling hazardous chemicals can be rather attractive targets for deliberate adversarial actions by terrorists, criminals and disgruntled employees. The damage inflicted may include casualties, economic loss and political fallout. There is an urgent need for each facility to have a security management programme. Its essential components are security risk assessment, security countermeasures and emergency response.

Security risk assessment can be carried out qualitatively by threat analysis, vulnerability analysis and developing a Security Risk Factor Table (SRFT). All these are discussed at length. Security countermeasures are the steps taken to strengthen the weak points in a system, either by lessening vulnerabilities or by hardening the facilities. Various security countermeasures are suggested for improving security of CPI. Appropriate emergency response measures that could mitigate the consequences of a successful attack are also discussed in the paper. It is recommended that many of the conventional safety and security measures adopted thus far may have to be modified in light of the enhanced and complex nature of the present security threats.     

Rabbit biocontrol and landscape‐scale recovery of threatened desert mammals

Funding for species conservation is insufficient to meet the current challenges facing global biodiversity, yet many programs use expensive single‐species recovery actions and neglect broader management that addresses threatening processes. Arid Australia has the world's worst modern mammalian extinction record, largely attributable to competition from introduced herbivores, particularly European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and predation by feral cats (Felis catus) and foxes (Vulpes vulpes). The biological control agent rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) was introduced to Australia in 1995 and resulted in dramatic, widespread rabbit suppression. We compared the area of occupancy and extent of occurrence of 4 extant species of small mammals before and after RHDV outbreak, relative to rainfall, sampling effort, and rabbit and predator populations. Despite low rainfall during the first 14 years after RHDV, 2 native rodents listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the dusky hopping‐mouse (Notomys fuscus) and plains mouse (Pseudomys australis), increased their extent of occurrence by 241–365%. A threatened marsupial micropredator, the crest‐tailed mulgara (Dasycercus cristicauda), underwent a 70‐fold increase in extent of occurrence and a 20‐fold increase in area of occupancy. Both bottom‐up and top‐down trophic effects were attributed to RHDV, namely decreased competition for food resources and declines in rabbit‐dependent predators. Based on these sustained increases, these 3 previously threatened species now qualify for threat‐category downgrading on the IUCN Red List. These recoveries are on a scale rarely documented in mammals and give impetus to programs aimed at targeted use of RHDV in Australia, rather than simply employing top‐down threat‐based management of arid ecosystems. Conservation programs that take big‐picture approaches to addressing threatening processes over large spatial scales should be prioritized to maximize return from scarce conservation funding. Further, these should be coupled with long‐term ecological monitoring, a critical tool in detecting and understanding complex ecosystem change.     

Addressing identity-related barriers to collaboration for conservation through self-affirmation theory and moral foundations theory

The natural resource management literature documents many reasons for pursuing collaborative processes, offering useful insights on how to manage conflict and facilitate productive deliberation in complex multistakeholder collaborative efforts. Moral foundations theory and self-affirmation theory can further help collaborative efforts mitigate conflicts caused by identity threats and the identity-protective reasoning these threats provoke. Moral foundations theory suggests an approach to increase collaboration by minimizing triggering language and helping people appreciate opposing viewpoints. Self-affirmation theory suggests a practical intervention that could be used to increase collaboration by desensitizing people to identity threats and reducing defensiveness. Taken together, these theories can contribute substantially to the understanding and practice of collaboration and conflict management for conservation.     

风险管理在船舶保安中的应用研究

对一艘船舶而言,由于其货物、人员、贸易航线具有流动性、危险性和隐蔽性等特点,存在着不同程度被恐怖主义利用和攻击的威胁风险,并且一旦发生保安事件所带来的后果非常严重,包括人命伤害、财产损失、环境破坏,甚至引起社会恐慌等,因此,船舶保安已成为国际航运界关注的焦点。本文根据风险管理原理,结合ISPS规则要求,确定船舶保安风险管理流程,并对船舶面临的保安威胁进行辩识分析,提出旨在降低船舶可能遭受恐怖威胁的保安措施,以指导航运企业保安工作的开展。     

Predicting self-evacuation in Australian bushfire

Australian bushfire safety policy does not require mandatory evacuation from bushfire as practiced in North America and other jurisdictions. Australian householders confronted with a bushfire threat must decide whether they remain and defend their property or evacuate. A better understanding of factors that influence householders’ decisions to self-evacuate can inform bushfire safety policy. Studies have identified variables that motivate evacuation from various hazards, including wildfire, but factors shaping the decision processes are not well understood. The Protective Action Decision Model (PADM) provided a theoretical framework of factors influencing protective response to hazard to analyse the actions of householders affected by two bushfires. Three factors that predict self-evacuation were identified: the perception that evacuation is effective in protecting personal safety; the receipt of official warnings; and perceived threat to property. These findings reinforce the importance of increasing householder awareness and sensitivity to the danger posed by bushfire; the adequacy of people’s bushfire preparedness; the effectiveness of early evacuation in protecting personal safety; and the potential persuasiveness of accurate, relevant and timely official warning messages in influencing safe evacuation from bushfire.     

生态环境中的畜牧业污染问题

畜牧业的生产和发展推进了社会的发展,但同时也造成了生态环境的污染,给人类及其他生物的健康生存构成了很大威胁（ 危害） ,况且这一问题已日趋突出。本文旨在介绍畜牧污染的危害及其特点,以期引起全社会的广泛关注,并提请有关方面给予高度重视     

赤潮及其影响

近年来在我国沿海海域多次出现赤潮，其发生原因主要有两方面：一方面是自然条件，包括气候因素、海温、盐度、海水交换等；另一方面是人为因素，包括海水养殖和海洋环境污染等。赤潮形成后，对海洋生态系统造成严重危害，甚至危及人类健康。但由于赤潮的发生目前还难以及时准确的预报，科学的治理方法仍然是以防为主，防治结合。     

Nonadditive effects among threats on rare plant species

The current loss of biodiversity has put 50,000 plant species at an elevated risk of extinction worldwide. Conserving at-risk species is often complicated by covariance or nonadditivity among threats, which makes it difficult to determine optimal management strategies. We sought to demographically quantify covariance and nonadditive effects of more threats on more rare plant species than ever attempted in a single analysis. We used 1082 population reports from 186 populations across 3 U.S. states of 27 rare, herbaceous plant species collected over 15 years by citizen scientists. We used a linear mixed-effects model with 4 threats and their interactions as fixed predictors, species as a random predictor, and annual growth rates as the response. We found a significant 3-way interaction on annual growth rates; rare plant population sizes were reduced by 46% during the time immediately after disturbance when populations were also browsed by deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and had high levels of encroachment by woody species. This nonadditive effect should be considered a major threat to the persistence of rare plant species. Our results highlight the need for comprehensive, multithreat assessments to determine optimal conservation actions.