Although stewardship has been widely defined and used in environmental management and planning, there is a dearth of studies
that describe how the lay public perceives this concept. A national sample of residents in 14 states who live near DOE nuclear
facilities were interviewed to delineate public understanding and awareness of the stewardship program of the U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE). This study discusses the findings of the survey and discusses how institutional trust influences public participation
and resident’s choices of potential stewards. Almost 40% of the respondents could not define stewardship; those who did, believed
that ‘responsibility,’ ‘management,’ and ‘accountability’ are key elements of stewardship. In addition, about a third of the
respondents identified Federal groups and the DOE as potential stewards.
Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue 相似文献
Gamergates (i.e. mated reproductive workers) are mostly known from ant species within the Ponerinae. We report here the discovery of gamergates in two species of the subfamily Myrmicinae. Until now, mated reproductive females in colonies of myrmicine species have been considered morphologically distinct from the worker caste. However, in two species of the myrmicine Metapone (Metapone madagascarica and a newly discovered, not yet described Metapone species) all workers have six ovarioles and a spermatheca; and some of them are mated. There are no morphological differences between mated and non-mated workers. Field observations and laboratory studies indicate that colonies of the Metapone species can reproduce with gamergates only. 相似文献
The recreational-use value of hiking in the Bellenden Ker National Park, Australia has been estimated using a zonal travel cost model. Multiple destination visitors have been accounted for by converting visitors’ own ordinal ranking of the various sites visited to numerical weights, using an expected-value approach. The value of hiking and camping in this national park was found to be $AUS 250,825 per year, or $AUS 144,45 per visitor per year, which is similar to findings from other studies valuing recreational benefits. The management of the park can use these estimates when considering the introduction of a system of user pays fees. In addition, they might be important when decisions need to be made about the allocation of resources for maintenance or upgrade of tracks and facilities. 相似文献
Fluctuations of bird abundances in the Midwest region of the United States have been attributed to such factors as landscape change, habitat fragmentation, depredation, and supplemental feeding. However, no attempt has been made to estimate the collective role of landowner activities that may influence birds across a landscape. To investigate how landowners might influence birds when the majority (> 90%) of land is privately owned, we surveyed all 1694 private domestic landowners living on three breeding bird survey routes (120 km) that represent a continuum of rural-to-urban landscapes in Southeastern Michigan from October through December 2000. Our survey was designed to investigate (1) the proportion of landowners involved in bird feeding, providing bird houses, planting or maintaining vegetation for birds, gardening, landscaping, applying fertilizer, and applying pesticides or herbicides; (2) whether differences existed between urban, suburban, and rural landowner activities; and (3) whether landowners that carried out a given activity were sociodemographically different from those who did not. Of the 968 respondents (58.5% response rate), 912 (94%) carried out at least one of the activities on their land and the average landowner carried out 3.7 activities. A total of 65.6% fed birds, 45.7% provided bird houses, 54.6% planted or maintained vegetation for birds, 72.7% gardened, 72.3% landscaped, 49.3% applied fertilizer, and 25.2% applied pesticides or herbicides. Significant differences existed between the landscapes, with rural landowners having more bird houses and applying pesticides or herbicides in greater frequency. Similarly, urban landowners had a greater density of bird feeders and houses, but planted or maintained vegetation in the lowest frequency. Participation in activities varied by demographic factors, such as age, gender, and occupation. Scaling each activity to all landowners, including nonrespondents, across all landscapes indicates that between 14% and 82% of landowners may be engaged in a particular activity, with application of pesticides or herbicides having the least potential involvement (13.9%–55.4%) and gardening having the greatest potential involvement (40.1%–81.6%). Taken collectively, our results indicate that landowners are both intentionally and unintentionally engaged in a wide range of activities that are likely to influence bird populations. 相似文献
When microalgae are simultaneously applied for wastewater treatment and lipid production, soluble algal products (SAP) should be paid much attention, as they are important precursors for formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs), which have potential risks for human health. Chlorella sp. HQ is an oleaginous microalga that can generate SAP during growth, especially in the exponential phase. This study investigated the contribution of SAP from Chlorella sp. HQ to DBP formation after chlorination. The predominant DBP precursors from SAP were identified with the 3D excitation-emission matrix fluorescence. After chlorination, a significant reduction was observed in the fluorescence intensity of five specific fluorescence regions, particularly aromatic proteins and soluble microbial by-product-like regions, accompanied with slight shifting of the peak. The produced DBPs were demonstrated to include trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids. As the algal cultivation time was extended in wastewater, the accumulated SAP strengthened the formation of DBPs. The trend for DBP formation was as follows: chloroform>dichloroacetic acid>trichloroacetic acid.
To assess the effect of changes in traffic density and fuels used for heating at the beginning of the 1990s, 1992–2005 monthly
averages of PM10, SO2, NO2, NO, CO and O3 from Prague, the Czech capital, were analyzed together with long term trends in emissions of major pollutants, fuel consumption
and number of vehicles registered in Prague. The data from all monitoring stations were retrieved from the database of the
state automated monitoring system. Correlation coefficients between ambient monthly averaged temperature and all pollutants
of concern showed distinct seasonal trends. The results showed that while SO2 and to some extent also CO concentrations dropped namely in the first half of the analyzed period (1992–1997) as a result
decreased fossil fuel consumption for local heating, the behaviour of other pollutant concentrations followed a different
pattern. PM10 concentrations decreased during the beginning of the 1990s but showed a sign of increase after 2000. Concentrations of ozone
and NO2 did not reveal any significant change throughout the whole studied period. It can be concluded that during the studied period
traditional urban sources of pollution, such as coal and oil combustion, lost their importance but were simultaneously substituted
by pollutants from automotive transport (namely PM and NO2) making the problem of air quality even worse. 相似文献
The biodegradability, morphology, and mechanical properties of composite materials made of Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) and sisal fiber (SF) were evaluated. Composites containing acrylic acid-grafted PBAT (PBAT-g-AA/SF)
exhibited noticeably superior mechanical properties due to greater compatibility between the two components. The dispersion
of SF in the PBAT-g-AA matrix was highly homogeneous as a result of ester formation between the carboxyl groups of PBAT-g-AA
and hydroxyl groups in SF and the consequent creation of branched and cross-linked macromolecules. Each composite was subjected
to biodegradation tests in Rhizopus oryzae compost. Morphological observations indicated severe disruption of film structure after 60 days of incubation, and both the
PBAT and the PBAT-g-AA/SF composite films were eventually completely degraded. Water resistance of PBAT-g-AA/SF was higher
than that of PBAT/SF, although weight loss of composites buried in Rhizopus oryzae compost indicated that both were biodegradable, even at high levels of SF substitution. The PBAT-g-AA/SF films were more
biodegradable than those made of PBAT, implying a strong connection between these characteristics and biodegradability. 相似文献
In this study, the influence of alkali (NaOH) treatment on the mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of eco-composites
of short flax fiber/poly(lactic acid) (PLA) was investigated. SEM analysis conducted on alkali treated flax fibers showed
that the packed structure of the fibrils was deformed by the removal non-cellulosic materials. The fibrils were separated
from each other and the surface roughness of the alkali treated flax fibers was improved. The mechanical tests indicated that
the modulus of the untreated fiber/PLA composites was higher than that of PLA; on the other hand the modulus of alkali treated
flax fiber/PLA was lower than PLA. Thermal properties of the PLA in the treated flax fiber composites were also affected.
Tg values of treated flax fiber composites were lowered by nearly 10 °C for 10% NaOH treatment and 15 °C for 30% NaOH treatment.
A bimodal melting behavior was observed for treated fiber composites different than both of neat PLA and untreated fiber composites.
Furthermore, wide angle X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the crystalline structure of cellulose of flax fibers changed
from cellulose-I structure to cellulose-II. 相似文献