Uncertainties in the assessment of “significant effect” on the Dutch Natura 2000 Wadden Sea site – The mussel seed fishery and powerboat race controversies

Natura 2000, the nature network based on the European Bird and Habitat Directives, is explicitly grounded on ecological science. To acquire a permit under the Dutch Nature Conservation Act, an appropriate assessment of significant effects must be conducted based on the best available scientific knowledge. In this way the scientific and policy world are directly linked. This article focuses on ‘significant effect’ as a boundary object to analyse how science–policy interactions shape the meaning and assessment of significant effect and how these interpretations influence the decision-making process. To this end, two conflicts over significant effect are investigated: the conflict over the 2006-spring permit for the mussel seed fishery, and the 2011 permit for the planned World Championship powerboat races. In both cases nature organisations started a court process against the government-granted permits in protest to the “no significant effect” claim, stating that there was insufficient certainty for this conclusion. These conflicts are approached as controversies between discourse coalitions with different interpretations of the ecological knowledge. We show how significant effect became a focal point in the controversies, limiting the debate to ecological arguments and science-based expertise, but also creating options for parties to advance their protest by articulating uncertainties. Only uncertainty of incomplete knowledge was explicitly addressed, excluding ambiguity of values and unpredictability of the actual ecosystem. We suggest that acknowledging the value aspect in disputes on significant effect would leave more space for effective solutions of the problems under debate.     

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs) Pollution in Sea of Japan

Deep waters of the Sea of Japan and surface waters of the Pacific Coast of Honshu and the northeast Sea of Japan were analysed for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) pollution. the ΣPCB concentrations in solution in the Sea of Japan (50-3000 m) were between 140 and 1230 fg dm_-3. the space-integrated surface water concentration near the Pacific coast of northern Honshu was 140 fg dm_-3and for the surface water of the Sea of Japan was 230 fg dm_-3. Based on these analyses four water masses were deduced in the Sea of Japan during the summer months. It is shown for the first time in the Sea of Japan that polychlorinated biphenyls are excellent chemical indicators of not only the anthropogenic pollution, but also water masses.     

Vulnerability Assessment of Sea Level Rise Over Port Said Governorate, Egypt

An assessment of the impact of sea level rise on the city of Port Said, Egypt has been carried out using remote sensing and GIS techniques. Bruun's is used to estimate horizontal retreat, due to three scenarios of sea level rise, taking into account local subsidence rates. Overlaying horizontal retreat on land use obtained by remote sensing enabled us to estimate possible losses and socio-economic impacts. Results indicate serious physical and socio-economic impacts. It is suggested that protection measures must be carried out with emphasis on building breakwaters along the most vulnerable shoreline area.     

Unveiling soil degradation and desertification risk in the Mediterranean basin: a data mining analysis of the relationships between biophysical and socioeconomic factors in agro-forest landscapes

Soil degradation and desertification processes in the Mediterranean basin reflect the interplay between environmental and socioeconomic drivers. An approach to evaluate comparatively the multiple relationships between biophysical variables and socioeconomic factors is illustrated in the present study using the data collected from 586 field sites located in five Mediterranean areas (Spain, Greece, Turkey, Tunisia and Morocco). A total of 47 variables were chosen to illustrate land-use, farm characteristics, population pressure, tourism development, rainfall regime, water availability, soil properties and vegetation cover, among others. A data mining approach incorporating non-parametric inference, principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering was developed to identify candidate syndromes of soil degradation and desertification risk. While field sites in the same study area showed a substantial similarity, the multivariate relationship among variables diverged among study areas. Data mining techniques proved to be a practical tool to identify spatial determinants of soil degradation and desertification risk. Our findings identify the contrasting spatial patterns for biophysical and socioeconomic variables, in turn associated with different responses to land degradation.     

黄海和东海海域溶解铋地球化学分布特征

结合大面调查,典型断面剖析及关键站位连续观测结果,研究了黄海和东海海域溶解铋的含量水平,时空分布特征及与生态环境的耦合关系,探讨其主要来源和影响因素.结果表明,表层海水溶解铋含量在0~0.029μg·L-1之间,平均值为0.008μg·L-1;底层海水浓度稍高,介于0.001~0.189μg·L-1之间,平均值为0.016μg·L-1.水平方向上,溶解铋低值分布与盐度所示长江冲淡水双支扩散特征吻合,表明其可示踪长江冲淡水路径;高值出现在黄海暖流和苏北沿岸流途经之处及长江冲淡水与沿浙闽沿岸水交汇之处,表明其分布受控于海流系统循环.垂直方向上,水体对流和涡动混合使近岸海水均匀混合,陆架区强潮混合锋面将近岸垂向混合区和离岸层化海水区分隔,阻挡了溶解铋向外输运,使锋区内溶解铋含量明显高于外海.周日内,溶解铋变化主要与潮汐、再悬浮作用和温盐跃层等海域特定水动力条件密切相关,与温度,盐度等环境因素波动尚未呈现明显关系.溶解铋与悬浮颗粒物显著正相关,表明其易从固相释放至水体,并确定由颗粒态转化为溶解态的最佳温度(22~27℃)、盐度(28~31)和pH(7.9~8.1).     

Dry deposition of PM10 over the Yellow Sea during Asian dust events from 2001 to 2007

Dry deposition velocities and fluxes of PM10during Asian dust events over the Yellow Sea from 2001 to 2007 were investigated using observation data in Qingdao, China and Jeju, Korea. The dry deposition velocities of PM10 during dust events over the Yellow Sea ranged from 0.19 to 8.17 cm/sec, with an average of 3.38 cm/sec. Dry deposition fluxes of PM10during dust events over the Yellow Sea were in the range of 68.5–2647.1 mg/(m2·day), with an average of 545.4 mg/(m2·day), which is 2–10 times higher than those reported by other studies for both dust and non-dust periods. It was estimated that 2.6 × 1011–48.7 × 1011g dust particles deposit to the Yellow Sea during dust events through dry deposition every year. Compared with the results in previous studies, it was found that the dry deposition of PM10over the Yellow Sea during dust events in the years with high frequency of dust could account for a large or overwhelming fraction of the annual total dry deposition. Backward air mass trajectory analysis showed that dust events influenced Jeju mainly originated from the desert regions located in Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, China. There were 119 backward trajectories influenced both Qingdao and Jeju during 15 dust events from 2001 to 2007, accounting for 61.3% of the total trajectories of 194, indicating that Qingdao and Jeju were usually on the same pathway of dust transport downwind from source areas.     

Visitor Perceptions and the Shifting Social Carrying Capacity of South Sinai’s Coral Reefs

To investigate how the perceptions and behaviour of visitors to coral reefs are influenced by their prior experience and knowledge of marine life, a questionnaire-based study was undertaken at sites in the Ras Mohammed National Park and at Sharm El Sheikh, South Sinai, Egypt. It was evident that over the 10–20 years during which these reefs have deteriorated (mainly due to reef-flat trampling), there have been interrelated shifts in the nature of visitors making use of them. First, there has been a shift from experienced divers and snorkellers to inexperienced snorkellers and non-snorkellers with a poorer knowledge of reef biology. Second, there has been a shift in the predominant nationalities of visitors, from German and British, through Italian, to Russian. More recent user groups both stated and showed that they had less experience of snorkelling; they also showed less knowledge of marine life and less interest in learning about it. Visitor perceptions of both the state of the marine life on the reefs and the acceptability of current visitor numbers also varied between groups. More recent visitor groups and visitors with less knowledge were more satisfied with reef health. In general, however, visitor perceptions of reef health did not correlate well with actual reef conditions, probably because more experienced visitors preferred less impacted sites with which they were nevertheless less satisfied than inexperienced visitors at heavily impacted sites. More recent visitor groups were also less bothered by crowding on the shore or in the water. Consequently, the apparent “social carrying capacity” of sites seems to be increasing to a level well above the likely “ecological carrying capacity”.     

Comparison of trace element concentrations in livers of diseased, emaciated and non-diseased southern sea otters from the California coast

Infectious diseases have been implicated as a cause of high rates of adult mortality in southern sea otters. Exposure to environmental contaminants can compromise the immuno-competence of animals, predisposing them to infectious diseases. In addition to organic pollutants, certain trace elements can modulate the immune system in marine mammals. Nevertheless, reports of occurrence of trace elements, including toxic heavy metals, in sea otters are not available. In this study, concentrations of 20 trace elements (V, Cr, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn, Rb, Sr, Mo, Ag, Cd, In, Sn, Sb, Cs, Ba, Hg, Tl, Pb, and Bi) were measured in livers of southern sea otters found dead along the central California coast (n = 80) from 1992 to 2002. Hepatic concentrations of trace elements were compared among sea otters that died from infectious diseases (n = 27), those that died from non-infectious causes (n = 26), and otters that died in emaciated condition with no evidence of another cause of death (n = 27). Concentrations of essential elements in sea otters varied within an order of magnitude, whereas concentrations of non-essential elements varied by two to five orders of magnitude. Hepatic concentrations of Cu and Cd were 10- to 100-fold higher in the sea otters in this study than concentrations reported for any other marine mammal species. Concentrations of Mn, Co, Zn, and Cd were elevated in the diseased and emaciated sea otters relative to the non-diseased sea otters. Elevated concentrations of essential elements such as Mn, Zn, and Co in the diseased/emaciated sea otters suggest that induction of synthesis of metallothionein and superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme is occurring in these animals, as a means of protecting the cells from oxidative stress-related injuries. Trace element profiles in diseased and emaciated sea otters suggest that oxidative stress mediates the perturbation of essential-element concentrations. Elevated concentrations of toxic metals such as Cd, in addition to several other organic pollutants, may contribute to oxidative stress-meditated effects in sea otters.     

Boundary organisations and their strategies: Three cases in the Wadden Sea

This article discusses three empirical cases of boundary organisations, within the context of the Wadden Sea: the Wadden Academy, IMSA Amsterdam and the NCEA. The research aims to provide further insights into how boundary organisations work in practice. The research shows that the role of a boundary organisation can be fulfilled by different types of organisations (not solely scientific). Depending on the science–policy interaction problem they face, a boundary organisation can have different goals and use different strategies. Furthermore, the strategic use of media outputs, and the degree of actuality and public debate can have a substantial influence on the practices of boundary organisations.     

Establishing Eco-compensation Mechanism in Bohai Sea Waters under Framework of Ecosystem Approach

Ecosystem approach, a new comprehensive approach to the conservation and management of natural resources, has received universal concern and approval in the world, and it requires the application of the eco-compensation mechanism. Some basic ideas for establishing the marine eco-compensation mechanism are: payers and payees can be identified through analyzing marine ecosystem service changes and impacts on the stakeholders; financial transfer payment and environmental taxes and fees can be used as the main channels for compensation; payment standard can be set up by following the principle of a compromise between calculated theoretic results and “price bargaining”. Focusing on the key human impact on marine ecosystem in Bohai Sea, some preliminary ides on eco-compensation application are given: reform the ongoing charge system of pollutant discharge and enhance its incentives to reduce land pollutants; implement eco-compensation for freshwater demand between Bohai Sea and the river basins for the purpose of increasing freshwater inflow; popularize and strengthen the existing eco-compensation on fishery resources management, and implement the charge system of eco-compensation on reclamation from the sea for land construction.