A Landholder‐Based Approach to the Design of Private‐Land Conservation Programs

Abstract: Many ecosystems exist primarily, or solely, on privately owned (freehold) or managed (leasehold) land. In rural and semirural areas, local and regional government agencies are commonly responsible for encouraging landholders to conserve native vegetation and species on these private properties. Yet these agencies often lack the capacity to design and implement conservation programs tailored to rural and semirural landholdings and instead offer one program to all landholders. Landholders may elect not to participate because the program is irrelevant to their property or personal needs; consequently, vegetation–retention objectives may not be achieved. We differentiated landholders in Queensland, Australia, according to whether they derived income from the land (production landholders) or not (nonproduction landholders). We compared these two groups to identify similarities and differences that may inform the use of policy instruments (e.g., voluntary, economic, and regulatory) in conservation program design. We interviewed 45 landholders participating in three different conservation agreement programs (price‐based rate [property tax] rebate; market‐based tender; and voluntary, permanent covenant). Production landholders were more likely to participate in short‐term programs that offered large financial incentives that applied to <25% of their property. Nonproduction landholders were more likely to participate in long‐term programs that were voluntary or offered small financial incentives that applied to >75% of their property. These results may be explained by significant differences in the personal circumstances of production and nonproduction landholders (income, education, health) and differences in their norms (beliefs about how an individual is expected to act) and attitudes. Knowledge of these differences may allow for development of conservation programs that better meet the needs of landholders and thus increase participation in conservation programs and retention of native vegetation.     

Participatory Planning of Interventions to Mitigate Human–Wildlife Conflicts

Abstract: Conservation of wildlife is especially challenging when the targeted species damage crops or livestock, attack humans, or take fish or game. Affected communities may retaliate and destroy wildlife or their habitats. We summarize recommendations from the literature for 13 distinct types of interventions to mitigate these human–wildlife conflicts. We classified eight types as direct (reducing the severity or frequency of encounters with wildlife) and five as indirect (raising human tolerance for encounters with wildlife) interventions. We analyzed general cause‐and‐effect relationships underlying human–wildlife conflicts to clarify the focal point of intervention for each type. To organize the recommendations on interventions we used three standard criteria for feasibility: cost‐effective design, wildlife specificity and selectivity, and sociopolitical acceptability. The literature review and the feasibility criteria were integrated as decision support tools in three multistakeholder workshops. The workshops validated and refined our criteria and helped the participants select interventions. Our approach to planning interventions is systematic, uses standard criteria, and optimizes the participation of experts, policy makers, and affected communities. We argue that conservation action generally will be more effective if the relative merits of alternative interventions are evaluated in an explicit, systematic, and participatory manner.     

Optimal Marking of Threatened Species to Balance Benefits of Information with Impacts of Marking

Abstract: Marking animals so that they are uniquely identifiable provides information that may assist conservation efforts. Nevertheless, some methods used to mark animals can be harmful. We used mathematical methods to assess the trade‐off between the impact of marking threatened species and the value of the information gained. We considered the case where 2 management strategies, each aiming to improve a species' survival rate, are implemented in an experimental phase. The results of the experiment were applied in a postexperimental management phase. We expressed the expected number of survivors in both phases mathematically, accounting for any mortality caused by the experiment, and determined the proportion of animals to mark to maximize this number. The optimal number of animals to mark increased with the number of individuals available for the experiment and with the number of individuals to be managed in the future. The optimal solution was to mark only 25% of the animals when there were 1000 individuals available for the experiment, the results were used to manage 2000 individuals, and marking caused mortality of 1%. Fewer animals were marked when there were fewer animals in either phase or when marking caused higher mortality. In the case of the Helmeted Honeyeater (Lichenostomus melanops cassidix), the optimal proportion to mark was <1 if the mortality rate was >0.15%–1%, with the threshold depending on the number of animals in the experimental and postexperimental phases. The trade‐off between gaining more information about a species and possibly harming individuals of that species by marking them is difficult to assess subjectively. We show how to determine objectively the optimal proportion of animals to mark to enhance the management of threatened species.     

I will not go,I cannot go: cultural and social limitations of disaster preparedness in Asia,Africa, and Oceania

While much work has been invested in addressing the economic and technical basis of disaster preparedness, less effort has been directed towards understanding the cultural and social obstacles to and opportunities for disaster risk reduction. This paper presents local insights from five different national settings into the cultural and social contexts of disaster preparedness. In most cases, an early warning system was in place, but it failed to alert people to diverse environmental shocks. The research findings show that despite geographical and typological differences in these locations, the limitations of the systems were fairly similar. In Kenya, people received warnings, but from contradictory systems, whereas in the Philippines and on the island of Saipan, people did not understand the messages or take them seriously. In Bangladesh and Nepal, however, a deeper cultural and religious reasoning serves to explain disasters, and how to prevent them or find safety when they strike.     

Assessing Changes in Amphibian Population Dynamics Following Experimental Manipulations of Introduced Fish

Abstract: Sport‐fish introductions are now recognized as an important cause of amphibian decline, but few researchers have quantified the demographic responses of amphibians to current options in fisheries management designed to minimize effects on sensitive amphibians. Demographic analyses with mark–recapture data allow researchers to assess the relative importance of survival, local recruitment, and migration to changes in population densities. I conducted a 4‐year, replicated whole‐lake experiment in the Klamath Mountains of northern California (U.S.A.) to quantify changes in population density, survival, population growth rate, and recruitment of the Cascades frog (Rana cascadae) in response to manipulations of non‐native fish populations. I compared responses of the frogs in lakes where fish were removed, in lakes in their naturally fish‐free state, and in lakes where fish remained that were either stocked annually or no longer being stocked. Within 3 years of fish removals from 3 lakes, frog densities increased by a factor of 13.6. The survival of young adult frogs increased from 59% to 94%, and realized population growth and recruitment rates at the fish‐removal lakes were more than twice as high as the rates for fish‐free reference lakes and lakes that contained fish. Population growth in the fish‐removal lakes was likely due to better on‐site recruitment of frogs to later life stages rather than increased immigration. The effects on R. cascadae of suspending stocking were ambiguous and suggested no direct benefit to amphibians. With amphibians declining worldwide, these results show that active restoration can slow or reverse the decline of species affected by fish stocking within a short time frame.     

The barriers impeding precautionary behaviours by undocumented immigrants in emergencies: The Hurricane Ike experience in Houston,Texas, USA

Emergency management tends to be planned for legal, resident populations that are responsive to mainstream channels of communication and enforcement. For many areas prone to extreme events and emergencies, populations are also composed of transitory tourists, temporary visitors and migrant workers. This latter group may be a large population and, while not completely invisible to residents, may prefer obscurity and concealment within the social landscape. Tending towards poverty, technologically disconnected and linguistically isolated, undocumented migrants seek employment and attempt to avoid local law enforcement and immigration officials for fear of imprisonment and deportation. In this context, the behaviours prompted by developing public emergencies will be different for undocumented migrants than for the population at large. We examine the experience of 135 Hispanic undocumented migrants in the coastal zone of Houston-Galveston, Texas to understand the factors and issues that influence decision making and behaviours under region-wide mandatory evacuation conditions. Undocumented migrants’ decisions to evacuate rest upon: the presence (or absence) of family and/or children, their access to risk information that they find meaningful and rational and is in harmony with their pre-conceptions about their circumstances, their openness to information that either confirms their experiences or confronts rumour-generated biases they carry, their familiarity with social groups and governmental agencies and the services they offer, and the outcome of their risk analyses that consider the dangers of remaining in situ against the danger of exposing themselves to discovery as ‘illegal aliens’. The results suggest that emergency management plans ought to promote the dispelling of rumours that weaken the effect of emergency communication, promote non-emergency outreach to peripheral populations through community groups, and promote better, basic, non-technical, Spanish-language media through mainstream conduits (i.e. the most commonly watched non-Spanish television channels) that do not require high-tech devices or advanced understanding of visual media tools.     

Comparative studies of the fate of atrazine‐14C and pentachlorophenol‐14C in various laboratory and outdoor soil‐plant systems

Abstract

Mass balance and fate of atrazine‐ ¹⁴C and pentachlorophenol‐ ¹⁴C (PCP‐ ¹⁴C) were studied in short‐term tests in a closed aerated laboratory soil‐plant system, using two concentrations in soil and two plant species, as well as under outdoor conditions for one vegetation period. In the laboratory, for both pesticides bioaccu‐mulation factors of radiocarbon taken up by the roots into plants were low. They were higher for lower (1 ppm) than for higher soil concentrations (6 ppm for atra‐zine, 4 ppm for pentachlorophenol) and varied with the plant species. Mineralization to ¹⁴CO₂ in soil was negatively related to soil concentration only for PCP‐ ¹⁴C. Conversion rates in soil including the formation of soil‐bound residues were higher for the lower concentrations of both pesticides than for the higher ones; conversion rates in plants were species‐dependent. In 14 terms of CO₂ formation and of conversion rates, PCP was less persistent in soil than was atrazine. For both pesticides, laboratory data on conversion and mineralization gave a rough prediction of their persistence in soil under long‐term outdoor conditions, whereas bio‐accumulation factors in plants under long‐term outdoor conditions could not be predicted by short‐term laboratory experiments.     

Soil bound residues of carbaryl and 1‐naphthol: Release and mineralization in soil,and uptake by plants

Abstract

¹⁴C‐carbaryl and ¹⁴C‐1‐naphthol form soil bound residues which get partially released when barley was grown. ¹⁴C‐residues could be detected in both shoot and root in the case of carbaryl treatment while only roots showed ¹⁴C‐residues in the case of 1‐naphthol. Flooding enhanced release of the bound residues while soil amendment did not. There was greater mineralization of bound residues of carbaryl than that of 1‐naphthol. Rice straw amendment enhanced mineralization.     

The Effects of Discussion of Familiar or Non-Familiar Information on Opinions of Anthropogenic Climate Change

ABSTRACT

The study found that encountering new information in an online chat rather than information that participants already knew and were familiar with was more likely to reduce support for the view that climate change is due to anthropogenic causes, even though the majority of the presented information supported anthropogenic causes. Participants reported feeling more competent and knowledgeable about the topic and felt less ostracized from others in the chat when participants were already familiar with information others discussed than when information discussed by others in the chat was new information. However, they viewed other chat members as more competent and knowledgeable when those others mentioned new information. Results are discussed within knowledge deficit model of science communication and the bias for common information.     

Determinants of coverage in Community‐based Therapeutic Care programmes: towards a joint quantitative and qualitative analysis

One of the most important elements behind the success of Community‐based Therapeutic Care (CTC) programmes for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition has been their ability to achieve high levels of coverage. In CTC, coverage is measured using the Centric System Area Sampling (CSAS) method, which provides accurate and reliable estimates of programme coverage as well as information on the primary reasons for non‐attendance. Another important feature of CTC programmes is their use of socio‐cultural assessments to determine potential barriers to access and to develop context‐specific responses. By analysing data on non‐attendance provided by CSAS surveys, in conjunction with data from socio‐cultural assessments, it is possible to identify common factors responsible for failures in programme coverage. This paper focuses on an analysis of data from 12 CTC programmes across five African countries. It pinpoints three common factors (distance to sites, community awareness of the programme, and the way in which rejections are handled at the sites) that, together, account for approximately 75 per cent of non‐attendance.