Geographic information science and the analysis of place and health

The representation of place is a key theoretical advancement that geographic information science can offer to improve the understanding of environmental determinants of health, but developing robust computational representations of place requires a substantial departure from conventional notions of geographic representation in GIS. Unlike conventional GIS representations based on either objects or locations, we suggest that place representation should incorporate dynamic subjective, experiential, and relational aspects of place, as the influence of place on health behavior concerns not only the features that can be objectively observed at a particular location but also the environmental perceptions of the individual, as molded by biological, social, and experiential characteristics. In addition, assessments of environmental exposures on health outcomes should focus on individuals' time–activity patterns and microenvironment profiles, which form a potentially unique personalized exposure environment for each individual. Addressing these representational challenges via collaborative research has the potential to advance both geographic information science and health research.     

The Symbolic Wolf: A Construal Level Theory Analysis of the Perceptions of Wolves in the United States

Charismatic wildlife can be difficult to manage due to the controversies they generate among stakeholders, which may be rooted in their symbolic meaning. Using construal-level theory, we coded the images of gray wolves mentioned by respondents to a national survey (n?=?621) and an issue public survey (n?=?447) as symbolic (abstract) or corporeal (concrete). We analyzed the relationship between these representations of wolves and several perceptions that may perpetuate social conflict. Most people thought of wolves abstractly, and abstract thoughts were associated with positive feelings toward wolves and agreement with existence beliefs regarding wolves. Concrete representations were associated with identifying as a gun or property rights advocate, hunter, or farmer/rancher. Given these disparate views of wolves, engaging stakeholders through collaborative processes designed to foster a shared understanding of this species, while addressing the concerns of those groups, could be useful in reducing conflict concerning wolf management.     

Burial and exhumation of the Hoh Xil Basin,northern Tibetan Plateau: Constraints from detrital (U-Th)/He ages

The uplift and associated exhumation of the Tibetan Plateau has been widely considered a key control of Cenozoic global cooling. The south-central parts of this plateau experienced rapid exhumation during the Cretaceous–Palaeocene periods. When and how the northern part was exhumed, however, remains controversial. The Hoh Xil Basin (HXB) is the largest late Cretaceous–Cenozoic sedimentary basin in the northern part, and it preserves the archives of the exhumation history. We present detrital apatite and zircon (U-Th)/He data from late Cretaceous–Cenozoic sedimentary rocks of the western and eastern HXB. These data, combined with regional geological constraints and interpreted with inverse and forward model of sediment deposition and burial reheating, suggest that the occurrence of ca. 4–2.7 km and ca. 4–2.3 km of vertical exhumation initiated at ca. 30–25 Ma and 40–35 Ma in the eastern and western HXB respectively. The initial differential exhumation of the eastern HXB and the western HXB might be controlled by the oblique subduction of the Qaidam block beneath the HXB. The initial exhumation timing in the northern Tibetan Plateau is younger than that in the south-central parts. This reveals an episodic exhumation of the Tibetan Plateau compared to models of synchronous Miocene exhumation of the entire plateau and the early Eocene exhumation of the northern Tibetan Plateau shortly after the India–Asia collision. One possible mechanism to account for outward growth is crustal shortening. A simple model of uplift and exhumation would predict a maximum of 0.8 km of surface uplift after upper crustal shortening during 30–27 Ma, which is insufficient to explain the high elevations currently observed. One way to increase elevation without changing exhumation rates and to decouple uplift from upper crustal shortening is through the combined effects of continental subduction, mantle lithosphere removal and magmatic inflation.     

Private rights,public benefits: Industry-driven seabed protection

New Zealand has a large exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that contains a variety of marine habitats and commercially-important species. The commercial fishing industry operating within New Zealand's EEZ is of significant value to the economy and fisheries resources are managed through the extensive use of Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs). One of the benefits of ITQs has been to better align some of the private incentives of quota owners with the public interest. These incentives contributed to an initiative proposed by the fishing industry to close large areas of New Zealand's EEZ to protect the seabed from trawling. These closed areas are termed benthic protection areas (BPAs) and protect the benthic biodiversity of about 1.1 million square kilometres of seabed—approximately 30% of New Zealand's EEZ. A significant proportion of New Zealand's known seamounts and active hydrothermal vents are protected by these closed areas. We describe and discuss the criteria used to select BPAs and some of the criticism of this marine protection initiative. We argue that the assignment of strong property rights in fishing resources was an important precondition to an industry initiative that has a significant public benefit. Where private and public interests are well aligned, government can adopt an enabling and facilitation role, ceding direct control of processes in order to get the results the align with the public interest.     

Mineralogy and petrogenesis of lunar magnesian granulitic meteorite Northwest Africa 5744

Lunar meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 5744 is a granulitic breccia with an anorthositic troctolite composition that may represent a distinct crustal lithology not previously described. This meteorite is the namesake and first‐discovered stone of its pairing group. Bulk rock major element abundances show the greatest affinity to Mg‐suite rocks, yet trace element abundances are more consistent with those of ferroan anorthosites. The relatively low abundances of incompatible trace elements (including K, P, Th, U, and rare earth elements) in NWA 5744 could indicate derivation from a highlands crustal lithology or mixture of lithologies that are distinct from the Procellarum KREEP terrane on the lunar nearside. Impact‐related thermal and shock metamorphism of NWA 5744 was intense enough to recrystallize mafic minerals in the matrix, but not intense enough to chemically equilibrate the constituent minerals. Thus, we infer that NWA 5744 was likely metamorphosed near the lunar surface, either as a lithic component within an impact melt sheet or from impact‐induced shock.     

Relevance of intracellular partitioning of metals in prey to differential metal bioaccumulation among populations of mummichogs (Fundulus heteroclitus)

Intracellular partitioning of trace metals is critical to metal tolerance in aquatic organisms and may also influence metal trophic transfer in ecosystems. In this study, we tested the relevance of metal (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) intracellular partitioning in prey as an indicator of metal trophic availability to benthic forage fish, mummichogs (Fundulus heteroclitus), in chronically metal-polluted salt marshes in New York, USA. Two common prey of mummichogs in the study area, Palaemonetes pugio and Nereis acuminata, generally stored increasingly higher proportions of non-essential metals (particularly Pb) in insoluble (less trophically available) cellular components, as the whole body burdens increased. In contrast, intracellular partitioning of essential metals (Cu and Zn) in invertebrate prey varied relatively little among sites. Differential Cd and Pb intracellular partitioning patterns within P. pugio among sites were significantly associated with Cd and Pb whole body burdens in mummichogs, respectively (i.e., prey-driven bioreduction of metals), while bioaccumulation of Cu and Zn in mummichogs was similar among populations. The findings in this study suggest that metal intracellular partitioning within prey may be partially responsible for metal trophic availability to a predator in metal-polluted habitats, while there was also evidence that some predator-dependent processes may offset differential trophic availabilities from prey.     

Landscape-scale analysis of ecosystem risk and returns: A new tool for ICZM

Management of the coastal zone often focuses on “islands” of high value ecosystems, in terms of economic value or conservation. However, integrated management requires landscape-level analysis of all ecosystem values. The biodiversity portfolio analysis (BPA) method is derived from the logic used in share (equity) portfolio management in terms of balancing within a portfolio the returns with the risks. Optimising the returns from a share portfolio, or a suite of ecosystems in a landscape, is dependent on the relationship between the units in terms of risk and return. Three case studies are then presented to test the applicability of the BPA method at the international (North West Europe), regional (Durham Heritage Coast, UK) and local (part of South Uist, Outer Hebrides, UK) spatial scale. The Biodiversity Portfolio Analysis for NW Europe showed that risk and return were highly correlated in the studied Member States. The ranking of risk and return, with the highest first, was Ireland > UK > France=Netherlands > Belgium. For these Member States the risks to ecosystem service provision were positively correlated with GNI (r=0.97, P<0.01); suggesting that the higher the economic importance of coastal and marine resources in a Member State the more at risk the resources are. The regional and local case studies were more focussed on providing information on which to base Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) decision making; both case studies used stakeholder participation to determine risks and returns. The conclusions from these two case studies show how the BPA method can be useful in terms of setting ICZM priorities and in addressing local coastal issues. The BPA involves making a number of assumptions, however, it does provide coastal managers with a potential tool to strategically plan due to increased awareness of the interaction between the ecosystems in the portfolio.There is a need for such techniques, which involve stakeholder participation and which create objective outcomes, to support the implementation of ICZM.     

A review of marine mammal,sea turtle and seabird bycatch in USA fisheries and the role of policy in shaping management

This paper reviews the available information (observer programs, estimates, statutes, regulations) for bycatch of marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds in fisheries of the United States. Goals of the review were to evaluate the state of knowledge of bycatch and the role of existing protective legislation in shaping bycatch management for different taxa. Pressing issues are identified, as well as knowledge gaps and policy limitations that hinder multi-species bycatch reduction. The USA has made important progress toward reducing bycatch in its fisheries, but the efficacy of its management has been limited somewhat by a focus on taxon- and fishery-specific regulation and the lack of consistent mandate across taxa for taking a cumulative perspective on bycatch. Applying consistent criteria across taxa for setting bycatch limits (e.g., extending the approach used for marine mammals to sea turtles and seabirds) would be the first step in a multi-species approach to bycatch reduction. A population-based multi-species multi-gear approach to bycatch would help identify priority areas where resources are needed most and can be used most effectively.     

Dispersion of surface plumes in the Southern North Sea

Summary Continuous releases of fluorescent dye were made in the southern North Sea and the power law dependence of the plume width, represented by _y , against the diffusion time determined. The spreading was non-Fickian and could be represented in the form _y ² =B ² t whereB was a diffusion velocity of magnitude 1.4×10^–2 m/s. Such spreading was reproduced in both particle tracking and finite difference plume models by allowing the horizontal diffusivity,K _H, to depend linearly on diffusion time. The weakness of this method is that it is not clear how the diffusion parameters can be extrapolated to weather conditions that are different to those prevailing at the time of the experiments. However, comparable spreading rates were obtained by combining a Fickian diffusion model with an advective field that represented the near-surface current shears due to wind and waves. The resulting shear diffusion effect produced realistic simulation of the observed dispersion rates. An advantage of this approach is that it enables predictions to be made over a range of weather conditions provided that the wind and wave shears can be accurately parameterized.

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Ausbreitung von Tracerwolken an der Oberfläche in der südlichen Nordsee

Zusammenfassung Fluoreszierender Farbstoff wurde in der südlichen Nordsee kontinuierlich freigesetzt und die Breite der Wolke, repräsentiert durch _y , in Abhägigkeit von der Ausbreitungszeit bestimmt. Die Ausbreitung folgte nicht dem Fickschen Ansatz und konnte in der Form _y ² =B ² t dargestellt werden, wobeiB eine Ausbreitungsgeschwindigkeit von der Größenordnung 1.4×10^–2 m/s darstellt. Eine derartige Ausbreitung wurde sowohl mit Modellen des Partikel-Tracking als auch mit Modellen der finiten Differenzen reproduziert, wobei die horizontale AusbreitungsgrößeK _H linear von der Diffusionszeit abhängig war. Die Schwäche dieser Methode ist, daß es nicht klar ist, wie die Diffusions-Parameter für andere Wetterbedingungen als zur Zeit des Experiments zu extrapolieren wären. Vergleichbare Ausbreitungsverhältnisse werden durch die Kombination eines Fickschen Diffusionsmodells mit einem advektiven Feld erreicht, welches die oberflächennahen durch Wind und Wellen verursachten Stromscherungen berücksichtigt. Der so resultierende Scher-Diffusions-Effekt erbrachte ein realistische Simulation der beobachteten Ausbreitung. Ein Vorteil dieses Vorgehens ist, daß es Vorhersagen über einen Bereich von Wetterbedingungen ermöglicht, vorausgesetzt, daß die durch Wind und Wellen verurschte Scherung zutreffend parameterisiert werden kann.

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La dispersion de la panache de surface dans la partie sud de la Mer du Nord

Résumé A partir de déversements continus de produits fluorescents effectués dans la partie sud de la Mer du Nord, on a pu déterminer l'expression de la largeur du panache _y , par son carré en fonction du temps de diffusion. La dispersion n'était pas du type Fickian et était représentée sous la forme _y ² =B ² t aB était une vitesse de diffusion de grandeur égale 1.4×10^–2 m/s. Une telle dispersion peut être reproduite par une modélisation du panache à la fois par suivi de particules et aux différences finies en admettant que le coefficient de diffusion horizontaleK _H dépendait linéairement du temps. L'inconvénient de cette méthode est qu'il n'est pas facile de savoir comment les paramètres de diffusion peuvent être extrapolés à des conditions météorologiques différentes de celles prévalant au moment des expériences. Quoi qu'il en soit, des taux de dispersion comparables ont été obtenus en combinant un modèle de diffusion Fickian avec un champ d'advection qui représentait les cisaillements de courant de surface dus au vent et aux vagues. L'effet de diffusion du cisaillement résultant produisit une simulation réaliste des taux de dispersion observés. Un avantage de cette approche est de rendre possible des prédictions réalisées à travers un éventail de conditions météorologiques à condition que les cisaillements liés au vent et aux vagues puissent être paramétrisés avec précision.

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