Impacts of Chronic Anthropogenic Noise from Energy‐Sector Activity on Abundance of Songbirds in the Boreal Forest

Abstract: The effects of human activities in forests are often examined in the context of habitat conversion. Changes in habitat structure and composition are also associated with increases in the activity of people with vehicles and equipment, which results in increases in anthropogenic noise. Anthropogenic noise may reduce habitat quality for many species, particularly those that rely on acoustic signals for communication. We compared the density and occupancy rate of forest passerines close to versus far from noise‐generating compressor stations and noiseless well pads in the boreal forest of Alberta, Canada. Using distance‐based sampling, we found that areas near noiseless energy facilities had a total passerine density 1.5 times higher than areas near noise‐producing energy sites. The White‐throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis), Yellow‐rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata), and Red‐eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) were less dense in noisy areas. We used repeat sampling to estimate occupancy rate for 23 additional species. Seven had lower conditional or unconditional occupancy rates near noise‐generating facilities. One‐third of the species examined showed patterns that supported the hypothesis that abundance is influenced by anthropogenic noise. An additional 4 species responded negatively to edge effects. To mitigate existing noise impacts on birds would require approximately $175 million. The merits of such an effort relative to other reclamation actions are discussed. Nevertheless, given the $100 billion energy‐sector investment planned for the boreal forest in the next 10 years, including noise suppression technology at the outset of construction, makes noise mitigation a cost‐effective best‐management practice that might help conserve high‐quality habitat for boreal birds.     

Infrastructure and Conservation Policy in Brazil

Abstract:  The development of transportation and energy infrastructure has been a major driver in the conversion of natural ecosystems in Brazil since the nineteenth century. Although this pattern is present in most countries, Brazil differs in the scale of opportunities that are still available to build its physical infrastructure while pursuing an ambitious conservation agenda. This advantage stems from the magnitude of intact ecosystems, a dynamic policy environment, and the increasing availability of biological and economic data needed to harmonize conservation with public works. Success depends on integrating conservation and infrastructure planning, rather than relying on the project based, largely ineffective environmental assessment process. Front-loading environmental mitigation and compensation will also help, as will improving public access to, and understanding of, information on the environmental and economic values at stake in major infrastructure decisions.     

THE POLITICS OF RESOURCE NEGOTIATION: THE TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION AND THE JAMAICAN BAUXITE LEVY

Analysts examining disputes between transnational corporations and national governments over apportionment of benefits and rights of control in exploiting natural resources tend to confine themselves to structural characteristics of such conflicts. Such approaches assume that conflict resolution is final and traditionally place a major emphasis on control issues. This research explores the dominant issues in conflict in resource industries through use of a behavioural model. It looks at the strategies that both a major bauxite producing nation and the aluminium transnational corporations used to resolve the conflicts which arose as a result of the unilateral imposition of a bauxite levy by Jamaica. This article argues that the values, expectations and preferences of parties to a conflict situation are crucial to understanding its resolution. It further suggests that resource control is not necessarily a desirable goal for the host country but that it should acknowledge competing considerations of revenue maximization, revenue stability and lessening dependence on a natural resource base need to be considered. It shows further that settlement of such situations is always open to disturbance. Les analystes qui étudient les désaccords entre les sociétés transnationales et les gouvernements au sujet de la répartition des bénéfices et du droit de contrôle de l'exploitation des ressources naturelles ont tendance à ne considérer que les caractéristiques structurales de tels conflits. Cette attitude suppose que le conflit est résolu une fois pour toute et traditionnellement met l'accent principal sur les questions de contrôle. Cette étude examine les questions principales qui sont en conflit dans ces industries au moyen d'un modèle de relation. El le examine les stratégies utilisées à la fois par une des principales nations productrices de bauxite et par une compagnie transnationale productrice d'aluminium pour résoudre les conflits qui se sont élevés en conséquence de la fixation unilatérale d'une taxe sur la bauxite par la Jamaïque. Cet article prétend que les valeurs, espérances et préférences des parties en conflit doivent être parfaitement comprises pour pouvoir résoudre celui-ci. De plus, l'article suggère que le contrôle des ressources n'est pas nécessairement un but souhaitable pour le pays hôte mais que celui-ci devrait reconnaître qu'il faut tenir compte des considérations de maximisation des revenus, de la stabilité des revenus et d'une moindre dépendance vis-à-vis de la ressource naturelle. Cet article montre de plus que le règlement de telles situations est toujours sujet à des troubles. Los analistas que examinan las disputas entre empresas multinacionales y los gobiernos sobre la distribución de beneficios y derechos de control en la explotación de recursos naturales, tienden a limitarse a las características estructurales de dichos conflictos. Tal enfoque asume que la solución del conflicto es definitiva y ponen normalmente el mayor énfasis al aspecto de control. Esta investigación explora los elementos dominantes en conflicto en la explotación de recursos a través de modelos de comportamiento. Examina las estrategias que se usaron por los países productores mayores de bauxita y las transnacionales de la industria del aluminio para resolver los conflictos que resultaron como consecuencia de la imposición unilateral tributaria sobre la bauxita por Jamaica. Este artículo sostiene que los valores, expectativas y preferencias de las partes en conflicto son importantes para entender las soluciones. Se sugiere además que el aspecto de control del recurso no es necesariamente un objetivo deseable para el país dueño del recurso sino que éste debe considerar objetivos alternativos tales como maximización del ingreso, estabilidad de ingreso y disminución de la dependencia del país de los recursos naturales. El artículo muestra además que las soluciones de tales situaciones están siempre expuestos a alteraciones.     

Local Capacity for Groundwater Protection in Ontario

Preventing groundwater contamination is vastly cheaper than remediation. Recognizing this, attention in water and land management agencies in North America increasingly turn to groundwater protection. Local agencies, such as municipalities and watershed management districts, are vital to successful groundwater protection, but they face daunting challenges. In the United States, senior governments have recognized these challenges and provide considerable support for local agencies. In Ontario, Canada, local agencies are, to a much greater extent, on their own. The aims in this paper are to analyze factors that shape local capacity for groundwater protection, focusing on Ontario, and to recommend avenues for capacity building. Interrelationships among five dimensions of capacity (technical, financial, institutional, social, and political) are explored through an analysis of three smaller Ontario communities: City of Guelph (population 93,400), Town of Orangeville (population 22,188), and Town of Erin (population 11,000). Size clearly influences capacity for groundwater protection. However, other considerations unrelated to size appear to be as important. These other factors include the ability to form horizontal and vertical linkages with external agencies, political leadership and commitment, and citizen involvement. Thus, smaller communities in Ontario (and other jurisdictions with limited senior government support) would do well to focus on these areas at the same time as they develop their technical, financial, and institutional capacity.     

WASTE MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

Waste management is emerging as a key sector for sustainable development in South Africa with opportunities for enhancing investments in carbon credits that target reduction of methane from landfills and moveable assets in relation to environmentally sound equipment required for effective waste management. In the past, the waste management sector was dominated by private sector with selective operations in what makes business sense through recycling of saleable products. Materials mostly recycled included paper and hard board, plastics, glass, tinplate and aluminum. The rest of the waste materials estimated at 10.2 million tons of both general and hazardous end up in landfills. This trend is now getting reversed as development agencies such as Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit Gmbh (GTZ), Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), Danish Co-operation for Environment and Development (DANCED) and Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) are identifying opportunities in the sector for sustainable development purposes. Two key areas for investments include capturing methane emissions from landfills for trading in carbon markets and financing both physical and moveable assets to enhance sustainable development. However, the challenges for cost-effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability in the sector prevail in relation to lack of sound knowledge to design and implement integrated programmes that incorporate environment, development and sustainability. Also, inadequate capacity at municipal levels to administer waste management programmes and inability to collect rates and taxes for effective management of landfills constraint effectiveness and efficiency of the sector. Overall, financial resources are imperative to waste management and sustainable development as the sector requires capital investments for necessary infrastructure.     

Detecting Extinction Risk from Climate Change by IUCN Red List Criteria

Anthropogenic climate change is a key threat to global biodiversity. To inform strategic actions aimed at conserving biodiversity as climate changes, conservation planners need early warning of the risks faced by different species. The IUCN Red List criteria for threatened species are widely acknowledged as useful risk assessment tools for informing conservation under constraints imposed by limited data. However, doubts have been expressed about the ability of the criteria to detect risks imposed by potentially slow‐acting threats such as climate change, particularly because criteria addressing rates of population decline are assessed over time scales as short as 10 years. We used spatially explicit stochastic population models and dynamic species distribution models projected to future climates to determine how long before extinction a species would become eligible for listing as threatened based on the IUCN Red List criteria. We focused on a short‐lived frog species (Assa darlingtoni) chosen specifically to represent potential weaknesses in the criteria to allow detailed consideration of the analytical issues and to develop an approach for wider application. The criteria were more sensitive to climate change than previously anticipated; lead times between initial listing in a threatened category and predicted extinction varied from 40 to 80 years, depending on data availability. We attributed this sensitivity primarily to the ensemble properties of the criteria that assess contrasting symptoms of extinction risk. Nevertheless, we recommend the robustness of the criteria warrants further investigation across species with contrasting life histories and patterns of decline. The adequacy of these lead times for early warning depends on practicalities of environmental policy and management, bureaucratic or political inertia, and the anticipated species response times to management actions. Detección del Riesgo de Extinción a partir del Cambio Climático por medio del Criterio de la Lista Roja de la UICNKeith et al.     

Economic and Ecological Outcomes of Flexible Biodiversity Offset Systems

The commonly expressed goal of biodiversity offsets is to achieve no net loss of specific biological features affected by development. However, strict equivalency requirements may complicate trading of offset credits, increase costs due to restricted offset placement options, and force offset activities to focus on features that may not represent regional conservation priorities. Using the oil sands industry of Alberta, Canada, as a case study, we evaluated the economic and ecological performance of alternative offset systems targeting either ecologically equivalent areas (vegetation types) or regional conservation priorities (caribou and the Dry Mixedwood natural subregion). Exchanging dissimilar biodiversity elements requires assessment via a generalized metric; we used an empirically derived index of biodiversity intactness to link offsets with losses incurred by development. We considered 2 offset activities: land protection, with costs estimated as the net present value of profits of petroleum and timber resources to be paid as compensation to resource tenure holders, and restoration of anthropogenic footprint, with costs estimated from existing restoration projects. We used the spatial optimization tool MARXAN to develop hypothetical offset networks that met either the equivalent‐vegetation or conservation‐priority targets. Networks that required offsetting equivalent vegetation cost 2–17 times more than priority‐focused networks. This finding calls into question the prudence of equivalency‐based systems, particularly in relatively undeveloped jurisdictions, where conservation focuses on limiting and directing future losses. Priority‐focused offsets may offer benefits to industry and environmental stakeholders by allowing for lower‐cost conservation of valued ecological features and may invite discussion on what land‐use trade‐offs are acceptable when trading biodiversity via offsets. Resultados Económicos y Ecológicos de Sistemas de Compensación de Biodiversidad Flexible Habib et al.