Integrated analysis of policy options for protection of groundwater quality

This paper is directed at providing an integrated framework that a regional authority should use when assessing the potential impacts of any policy initiative directed at improving groundwater quality. In particular, a policy model is developed relying on three decision components (a farm-level production decisions model, a household decisions model and a regional policy decision model) where the objective is one of identifying the trade-offs that a regional authority will be confronted with as it strives to balance the preferences of farmers and households while endeavoring to maximize net economic welfare. The basic rule developed indicates that the regional authority must choose a policy whereby any increase (decrease) in regional income is just equal to the decrease (increase) in net benefits to households.The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the views of other U.S. Department of Agriculture staff members.     

The origins of kriging

In this article, kriging is equated with spatial optimal linear prediction, where the unknown random-process mean is estimated with the best linear unbiased estimator. This allows early appearances of (spatial) prediction techniques to be assessed in terms of how close they came to kriging.     

The origins of kriging

In this article, kriging is equated with spatial optimal linear prediction, where the unknown random-process mean is estimated with the best linear unbiased estimator. This allows early appearances of (spatial) prediction techniques to be assessed in terms of how close they came to kriging.     

Secular changes in colony‐forms and bryozoan carbonate sediments through geological history

Ever since their first radiation in the Ordovician, bryozoans have contributed significantly to carbonate sedimentation. Most of the numerous colony‐forms developed by bryozoans have evolved repeatedly in different taxonomic groups and vary in their sediment‐producing potential. There are nine basic bryozoan colony‐forms: encrusting, dome‐shaped, palmate, foliose, fenestrate, robust branching, delicate branching, articulated and free‐living. The proportion of these morphotypes in bryozoan faunas period by period is shown to change significantly through the Phanerozoic. Notable patterns include: (i) steady increase in the number and proportion of encrusting species through time, interrupted by a transient drop in the Late Palaeozoic; (ii) post‐Triassic decrease in robust branching colonies; (iii) rise in the proportion of fenestrate colonies through the Palaeozoic, followed by their absence in the Triassic and Jurassic, rarity in the Cretaceous and reappearance in smaller proportions in the Cenozoic; and (iv) scarcity of articulated colonies and absence of free‐living colonies until the Cretaceous. Most Palaeozoic bryozoan sediments come from two architecturally distinct groups of colonies: (i) domal, delicate branching, robust branching and palmate; and (ii) fenestrate. The former generate coarse particles both as sediment and components of stromatoporoid‐coral reefs in the Early and mid Palaeozoic, whereas the delicate lacy fans of the latter create both prolific coarse sediment and form the cores of Late Palaeozoic deep‐water, sub‐photic biogenic mounds. Nearly all post‐Palaeozoic bryozoan sediments comprise cyclostomes and cheilostomes with many of the same growth forms but with the addition of free‐living colonies and significant numbers of articulated colonies. The latter produced sand and mud‐sized bryozoan sediment via disarticulation for the first time. In contrast to the Palaeozoic, post‐Palaeozoic bryozoans generated sediment varying more widely across the grain‐size spectrum, from mud to sand to gravel. This article highlights the need to consider evolutionary changes in carbonate‐producing organisms when interpreting facies changes through time.     

Rethinking the Growth Machine: How to Erase a Chinatown from the Urban Core

Abstract

This article explores Houston's two Chinatowns within the context of the city's recent urban reinvestment and revitalization initiatives. It provides a history of the Chinatowns and examines their changing condition during the years that Houston was promoting ethnic diversity and urban revival. The analysis is framed within the growth machine perspective, as initially explored in Houston by Joe Feagin, and later by Jan Lin and Igor Vojnovic. Houston's late-20th-century urban redevelopment initiatives occurred during a period in history when Houston's Chinese entrepreneurs lost their influence over the local growth machine. The eventual outcome was the erasure of Houston's downtown Chinatown and the displacement of its residents from their lucrative urban core location. The disappearance of Old Chinatown and other urban ethnic neighborhoods—including Little Saigon and Freedmen's Town—from the urban core all took place as the Houston media and public were celebrating diversity, pluralism, and ethnicity in the city.     

Oceanographic controls on shallow‐water temperate carbonate sedimentation: Spencer Gulf,South Australia

Spencer Gulf is a large (ca 22 000 km²), shallow (<60 m water depth) embayment with active heterozoan carbonate sedimentation. Gulf waters are metahaline (salinities 39 to 47‰) and warm‐temperate (ca 12 to ?28°C) with inverse estuarine circulation. The integrated approach of facies analysis paired with high‐resolution, monthly oceanographic data sets is used to pinpoint controls on sedimentation patterns with more confidence than heretofore possible for temperate systems. Biofragments – mainly bivalves, benthic foraminifera, bryozoans, coralline algae and echinoids – accumulate in five benthic environments: luxuriant seagrass meadows, patchy seagrass sand flats, rhodolith pavements, open gravel/sand plains and muddy seafloors. The biotic diversity of Spencer Gulf is remarkably high, considering the elevated seawater salinities. Echinoids and coralline algae (traditionally considered stenohaline organisms) are ubiquitous. Euphotic zone depth is interpreted as the primary control on environmental distribution, whereas seawater salinity, temperature, hydrodynamics and nutrient availability are viewed as secondary controls. Luxuriant seagrass meadows with carbonate muddy sands dominate brightly lit seafloors where waters have relatively low nutrient concentrations (ca 0 to 1 mg Chl‐a m^?3). Low‐diversity bivalve‐dominated deposits occur in meadows with highest seawater salinities and temperatures (43 to 47‰, up to 28°C). Patchy seagrass sand flats cover less‐illuminated seafloors. Open gravel/sand plains contain coarse bivalve–bryozoan sediments, interpreted as subphotic deposits, in waters with near normal marine salinities and moderate trophic resources (0·5 to 1·6 mg Chl‐a m^?3) to support diverse suspension feeders. Rhodolith pavements (coralline algal gravels) form where seagrass growth is arrested, either because of decreased water clarity due to elevated nutrients and associated phytoplankton growth (0·6 to 2 mg Chl‐a m^?3), or bottom waters that are too energetic for seagrasses (currents up to 2 m sec^?1). Muddy seafloors occur in low‐energy areas below the euphotic zone. The relationships between oceanographic influences and depositional patterns outlined in Spencer Gulf are valuable for environmental interpretations of other recent and ancient (particularly Neogene) high‐salinity and temperate carbonate systems worldwide.     

The fingerprint of global warming in the Tropical Pacific

正The impacts of global warming will be felt most strongly at regional scales.However,great uncertainties exist in climate change projections at these scales,limiting our ability to provide useful information for the planning and implementation of appropriate adaptation measures.Thus,there is an urgent need to reduce these uncertainties.     

Does ratification matter and do major conventions improve safety and decrease pollution in shipping?

This article develops a method to measure the effect of the major international conventions in the area of safety, pollution, search and rescue and work related measures. It further distinguishes between the effect of entry into force and the status of ratification of a convention by its parties. Standard econometric models are used and the analysis is based on a unique dataset of 30 years of monthly data where the models also correct for other factors which can influence safety such as safety inspections and ship economic cycles. The results show a complex picture where the average time between adoption and entry into force was calculated to be 3.1 years. Overall, the more parties ratify a convention, the more likely safety is improved and pollution is decreased although one can detect a certain level of non-compliance. The immediate effect of entry into force presents a mixed picture where most negative effects can be found with legislation in the area of safety management and pollution, followed by technical areas. The effect of legislation in the areas related to working and living conditions and certification and training is smallest. Seasonality can be found with peaks in December and January for all conventions but are less important for pollution.     

Co-management of sea turtle fisheries: Biogeography versus geopolitics

Co-management between local communities and government agencies is promoted as a strategy to improve fisheries management. This paper considers the potential for co-management of sea turtle fisheries within four UK Overseas Territories (OTs) in the Caribbean, and for co-ordinated management among those territories. We focus on fisher incentives for engaging in co-management and on the potential to scale up co-management to a regional level. This paper presents data from Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, and Turks and Caicos Islands, where 110 turtle fishers participated in a socio-economic survey undertaken as part of the ‘Turtles in the UK Overseas Territories in the Caribbean’ project. Based on three established criteria for co-management (perceived crisis in stock, willingness to participate and community cohesion), results suggest that fisher support for co-management exists within each OT, but the extent of support for and views of specific management interventions varies among OTs. The implications of results for co-management in each territory, and for establishing co-ordinated management regimes in the region, are discussed in the context of current debates about the nature of resources and scalar (mis)matches between resource and management regimes.