Watershed development in India. 1. Biophysical and societal impacts

This paper recommends a revision of watershed development policy in India in relation to the planning of development interventions involving agricultural intensification and rainwater harvesting following biophysical and societal impact studies carried out on two watershed development projects in Karnataka. A need for changes in policy has arisen in response to progressive catchments closure at the basin level and declining volumes of water flowing into village level reservoirs (known locally as tanks). Flow reductions have occurred largely as a result of increased agricultural intensification over the past 10–15 years. Field levelling, field bund construction, soil water conservation measures, farm ponds, the increase in areas under horticulture and forestry and the increased abstraction and use of groundwater for irrigation are all contributing factors to reduced flows. Planning methodologies and approaches, which may have been appropriate 20 years ago for planning water harvesting within watershed development projects, are no longer appropriate today. New planning approaches are required which (1) take account of these changed flow conditions and (2) are also able to take account of externalities, which occur when actions of some affect the livelihoods of others who have no control or influence over such activities and which (3) contribute to the maintenance of agreed minimum downstream flows for environmental and other purposes.

Job embeddedness and voluntary turnover in the face of job insecurity

Two important contributions to the understanding of voluntary turnover are the ideas that employees become embedded in a net or web of restraining forces on- and off-the-job and that they experience varying degrees of control and desire that yield proximal withdrawal states explaining turnover motivations. We build on these ideas in two multi-wave studies to study job insecurity, one of the most common work stressors and top concerns among employees around the world. Study 1 demonstrates that job search mediates the positive relationship between job insecurity and voluntary turnover, and that employees higher in on-the-job embeddedness are less likely to search for jobs despite job insecurity. Study 2 demonstrates that turnover intention mediates the positive relationship between job insecurity and voluntary turnover, and that employees higher in on-the-job embeddedness are less likely to contemplate quitting despite job insecurity. However, off-the-job embeddedness had opposite interactive effects, exacerbating the relationship of job insecurity with turnover.     

Nature conservation efforts set for specially protected areas of Turkey

Environmental pollution and degradation of ecosystems considerably affect the natural resources. The Turkish Government is aware of the importance of the preservation of natural ecology and thereby the environmental conservation of many species in their natural habitat. This paper provides critical assessments of the problems and possible solutions in the identification, implementation and management of the Specially Protected Areas (SPAs) system by giving basic information about stakeholders and their responsibilities that currently offer nature conservation in Turkey. The goals of the article are to analyze how the SPAs interface with the local people, especially the villagers who have dwelt there before SPA designation and how people-SPA conflicts resolved; to show how effective the SPA conservation objectives have been; to outline the significance of informing and empowering people in nature conservation for the protected area management and to show the importance of planning at all levels during protection of the natural, archeological and cultural values of the SPAs.     

Conservation Opportunities for Securing In-Stream Flows in the Platte River Basin: A Case Study Drawing on Casper,Wyoming’s MunicipalWater Strategy

The Platte River Basin consists of tributaries largely in Wyoming, Colorado and Western Nebraska, with the main stem in Central Nebraska. Critical wildlife habitat on the main stem requires additional in-stream flows. The watershed is one hosting multiple resources, a variety of users, and managed by an array of state and federal agencies. This study proposes a basis for securing in-stream flows for the Platte River. Candidate water supply mechanisms are suggested based on the way in which Casper, Wyoming secured water for its municipal needs. Canal lining is compared to a dam project, increasing reservoir storage, and purchasing water rights, with consideration also made for water pricing to reduce municipal use. Comparisons are based on economic efficiency, potential water conservation, and property rights criteria. Canal lining, coupled with demand management, is shown to conserve water best, given the set of efficiency and cost criteria for in-stream flow enhancement. The approach offers an opportunity to organize the water supply choice context in a transboundary watershed when quantitative information is limited.     

Fishery resource management in Chilika lagoon: a study on coastal conservation in the Eastern Coast of India

A significant proportion of the fishing population comprises small-scale fishermen and many studies illustrate that these people are exploited by middlemen in the process of fish marketing combined with money lending. The negative dependency gives rise to poverty and triggers indiscriminate fish catch that threatens fishery resources depletion. This article explores the root causes of failures in resource-led development from the viewpoint of coastal resource conservation. The study presents a case study of Chilika lagoon, India and focuses on the interaction between small-scale fishermen and middlemen. The findings reveal that most of the small-scale fishermen have been exploited by specific middlemen and the underlying causes of the present fish marketing structure stem from (i) indebtedness and (ii) the unstable situation because of perpetual conflicts over fishery resources among the fishers across Chilika lagoon. Based on these observations, this article presents some recommendations on fishery resource conservation from the perspective of a fish marketing structure.

Identifying socioeconomic and biophysical factors driving forest loss in protected areas

Protected areas (PAs) are a commonly used strategy to confront forest conversion and biodiversity loss. Although determining drivers of forest loss is central to conservation success, understanding of them is limited by conventional modeling assumptions. We used random forest regression to evaluate potential drivers of deforestation in PAs in Mexico, while accounting for nonlinear relationships and higher order interactions underlying deforestation processes. Socioeconomic drivers (e.g., road density, human population density) and underlying biophysical conditions (e.g., precipitation, distance to water, elevation, slope) were stronger predictors of forest loss than PA characteristics, such as age, type, and management effectiveness. Within PA characteristics, variables reflecting collaborative and equitable management and PA size were the strongest predictors of forest loss, albeit with less explanatory power than socioeconomic and biophysical variables. In contrast to previously used methods, which typically have been based on the assumption of linear relationships, we found that the associations between most predictors and forest loss are nonlinear. Our results can inform decisions on the allocation of PA resources by strengthening management in PAs with the highest risk of deforestation and help preemptively protect key biodiversity areas that may be vulnerable to deforestation in the future.     

Climatic Change, Wildfire, and Conservation

Abstract:  Climatic variability is a dominant factor affecting large wildfires in the western United States, an observation supported by palaeoecological data on charcoal in lake sediments and reconstructions from fire-scarred trees. Although current fire management focuses on fuel reductions to bring fuel loadings back to their historical ranges, at the regional scale extreme fire weather is still the dominant influence on area burned and fire severity. Current forecasting tools are limited to short-term predictions of fire weather, but increased understanding of large-scale oceanic and atmospheric patterns in the Pacific Ocean (e.g., El Niño Southern Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation) may improve our ability to predict climatic variability at seasonal to annual leads. Associations between these quasi-periodic patterns and fire occurrence, though evident in some regions, have been difficult to establish in others. Increased temperature in the future will likely extend fire seasons throughout the western United States, with more fires occurring earlier and later than is currently typical, and will increase the total area burned in some regions. If climatic change increases the amplitude and duration of extreme fire weather, we can expect significant changes in the distribution and abundance of dominant plant species in some ecosystems, which would thus affect habitat of some sensitive plant and animal species. Some species that are sensitive to fire may decline, whereas the distribution and abundance of species favored by fire may be enhanced. The effects of climatic change will partially depend on the extent to which resource management modifies vegetation structure and fuels.     

Monitoring and environmental modeling of earthwork impacts: A road construction case study

This study presents the contributions of materials, earth engineering machines and construction techniques to potential environmental impacts from the main items of typical road earthworks. To achieve this goal, the overall activity at a 1.9-km long French earthworks project site for a heavily trafficked highway was surveyed during its 2007–2009 construction period. Using data collected and a numerical model of road life cycle assessment (LCA), i.e. ECORCE, six indicators could be evaluated, namely: energy consumption, global warming potential, acidification, eutrophication, photochemical ozone creation, and human chronic toxicity. When available, several life cycle inventories were implemented in order to appraise indicator sensitivity with respect to the considered panel of pollutants. Results also allowed estimating from an LCA point of view: (i) the conservation of both aggregates and soil as induced by quicklime treatment and (ii) the duration necessary for projected traffic levels to offset the potential environmental impacts of the earthworks stage.     

中国铝生命周期能耗与碳排放的情景分析及减排对策

铝工业是高能耗高排放工业,探索铝工业的节能减排路径有助于我国实现《巴黎协定》中的温室气体减排承诺.采用物质流分析和生命周期评价方法,基于存量水平、技术水平和能源结构设置了15种情景,研究了我国铝工业1990～2100年的能耗和碳排放量,探索不同路径下的节能减排潜力.我国铝在用存量将在2040～2050年达到峰值(4.6...     

孑遗植物四合木(Tetraenamongolica)迁地保护中的光合作用日变化特征与生理生态适应性

为了进一步廓清迁地保护条件下孑遗植物四合木（Tetraena mongolica）的光合生理生态适应性,在分析了瞬时光合效率的基础上,应用LI-6400光合作用测定系统测定了迁地保护试验区的四合木以及原生境伴生种白刺（Nitraria tangutorum）的光合作用日变化,并测定了其生长量。结果表明：四合木实生苗的生长南北冠幅大小依次为乌海四合木核心区实生苗（26.48 cm×27.26 cm）>鄂尔多斯实生苗（21.27 cm×21.75 cm）>阿拉善实生苗（19.25 cm×18.27 cm）。在原生境地乌海四合木核心区种植的实生苗与阿拉善实生苗之间的生长量存在显著差异（P≤0.01）,与鄂尔多斯实生苗之间的生长量存在显著差异（P≤0.05）。迁地保护条件下四合木生实生苗植株叶片光合速率Pn日变化均呈“双峰”曲线。不同试验区四合木光合作用日变化（Pn）、蒸腾速率（Tr）、气孔导度（Gs）和胞间 CO2浓度（Ci）均表现出明显的分异。迁地保护四合木条件下原生境地栽培的四合木实生苗的光合速率>鄂尔多斯栽培的四合木实生苗的光合速率>阿拉善栽培的四合木实生苗。鉴此可以作进一步推论,孑遗濒危植物四合木从原生境地西鄂尔多斯核心区（乌海）东移进行迁地保护具有更高的生理生态适应性和生境适宜性。但完成“从种子到种子”进而实现“保存性和代表性”,最终实现四合木迁地保护的“保持性和防止性”,保持其遗传多样性和遗传稳定性,最终成功实现四合木的迁地保护仍有待作进一步探索和深入研究。