Assessing the ‘usability’ of climate change research for decision-making: A case study of the Canadian International Polar Year

The creation of ‘usable science’ is widely promoted by many environmental change focused research programs. Few studies however, have examined the relationship between research conducted as part of such programs and the decision-making outcomes that the work is supposed to advance, and is constrained by limited methodological development on how to empirically assess the ‘usability’ of science. Herein, this paper develops a conceptual model and assessment rubric to quantitatively and systematically evaluate the usability of climate change research for informing decision-making. We focus on the process through which data is collected, analyzed and reported and examine the extent to which key principles of usable science are integrated into project design, using grant proposals as our data source. The approach is applied to analyze climate change research conducted as part of the International Polar Year in Canada, with 23 projects identified as having explicit goals to inform decision-making.While the creation of usable science was promoted by funded projects in the International Polar Year, this was not generally reflected in research design: fewer than half determined objectives with input of decision makers, decision context was not widely considered, and knowledge users were not widely reported to be engaged in assessing the quality of data or in resolving conflict in evidence. The importance of science communication was widely emphasized, although only 8/23 projects discussed tailoring specific results for end user needs. Thus while International Polar Year research has made significant advances in understanding the human dimensions of Arctic climate change, key attributes necessary for determining success in linking science to decision-making (pertinence, quality, timeliness) were not captured by many projects. Integrating these attributes into research design from the outset is essential for creating usable science, and needs to be at the forefront of future research programs which aim to advance societal outcomes. The framework for assessing usability here, while developed and tested in an Arctic climate change context, has broader applicability in the general environmental change field.     

Use of probiotic bacteria to improve growth and survivability of farmed New Zealand abalone (Haliotis iris)

The effects of two probiotic feeds containing two and three bacterial isolates were evaluated on the growth performance of New Zealand abalone (Haliotis iris). Probiotic bacteria were isolated from the guts of healthy adult abalone. The isolates were screened qualitatively and quantitatively according to their ability to hydrolyse nutrients (i.e. proteins, starch and alginate), produce acid and resist bile salts. Based on the screening results, we developed a multi-strain conglomerate of 2- and 3- probiotic bacterial strains that were supplemented into a commercial abalone feed to use in our experiments. The 2-probiotic conglomerate consisted of Exiguobacterium JHEb1 and Vibrio JH1, and the 3-probiotic conglomerate consisted of Exiguobacterium JHEb1, Vibrio JH1 and Enterococcus JHLDc. The probiotic feeding trial involved abalone juveniles (20–30 mm in maximum shell length). Both probiotic feeds significantly improved abalone growth compared to that of the unsupplemented feed. The 3-probiotic supplemented feed produced a significant shell length increase of 20.9%, a wet weight gain of 19.8% and a five-fold reduction in mortality compared to the controls. The 2-probiotic supplemented feed resulted in significant increases in shell length (15.4%) and reduced mortality (five-fold), but not in weight gain, compared to controls.     

Tephrochronology,magnetostratigraphy and mammalian faunas of Middle and Early Pleistocene sediments at two sites on the Old Crow River,northern Yukon Territory,Canada

Alluvial and lacustrine sediments exposed beneath late Pleistocene glaciolacustrine silt and clay at two sites along the Old Crow River, northern Yukon Territory, are rich in fossils and contain tephra beds. Surprise Creek tephra (SZt) occurs in the lower part of the alluvial sequence at CRH47 and Little Timber tephra (LTt) is present near the base of the exposure at CRH94. Surprise Creek tephra has a glass fission-track age of 0.17 ± 0.07 Ma and Little Timber tephra is 1.37 ± 0.12 Ma. All sediments at CRH47 have a normal remanent magnetic polarity and those near LTt at CRH94 have a reversed polarity — in agreement with the geomagnetic time scale. Small mammal remains from sediments near LTt support an Early Pleistocene age but the chronology is not so clear at CRH47 because of the large error associated with the SZt age determination. Tephrochronological and paleomagnetic considerations point to an MIS 7 age for the interglacial beds just below SZt at CRH47 and at Chester Bluffs in east-central Alaska, but mammalian fossils recovered from sediments close to SZt suggest a late Irvingtonian age, therefore older than MIS 7. Further studies are needed to resolve this problem.     

Trace metals in sediments of New York Bight

Concentrations of chromium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc in superficial sediments in New York Bight are ten to a hundred times greater near waste disposal areas than in uncontaminated sediments. Some wastes are transported by currents north-east towards Long Island and south-east along the Hudson Submarine Valley.     

块系岩体间黏弹性性质对摆型波传播的影响

基于深部非连续自应力等级块系岩体构造理论,研究冲击载荷在块系岩体中以摆型波形式传播时岩块间黏弹性性质对摆型波传播的影响。当岩块间具有五种不同黏弹性性质时,通过对块系岩体的始端和末端区域中间岩块加速度响应计算及各岩块加速度正负摆幅幅值分析可知：岩块间黏性变化时,对岩块加速度衰减周期没有影响,但黏性增大时各岩块正负摆幅下降幅度比黏性周期增大时大;岩块间弹性变化时岩块加速度衰减周期均发生变化,但弹性减小时正负摆幅值向平衡位置平移,弹性周期减小时块系岩体的前半部分岩块正负摆幅曲线均出现波动且负摆波动较大,岩块间弹性梯级增大时,岩块加速度迅速衰减,同时各岩块加速度的正负摆幅曲线在初始端区域出现波动。     

Late Quaternary evolution of the Madeira Abyssal Plain,Canary Basin,NE Atlantic

The deepest part of the Canary Basin, the Madeira Abyssal Plain, receives allochthonous sediments derived from a large drainage basin which, if its subaerial continuation is included, covers an area of 3.36 times 10⁶ km². An international research effort over the last 10 years has recovered over 160 sediment cores from the plain, and the development of a high-resolution stratigraphy has enabled individual turbidites to be correlated layer by layer. Sedimentation on the Madeira Abyssal Plain during the late Quaternary is dominated by thick turbidite muds separated by thin pelagic intervals. The core density has allowed the mapping of each sedimentary unit throughout the abyssal plain, thus building up a layer by layer picture of sediment accumulation. Over the last 300 kyr, 600 km³ of turbidites compared to 60 km³ of pelagic sediments have been deposited on the plain. Sedimentary structures developed in the coarse basal facies of the larger turbidites are more complex than simple models predict due to surging flows, fluctuating flow velocities and reflection from adjacent high ground. Over the last 300 kyr, there has been a switching of entry points for turbidity currents entering the abyssal plain. From 300 ka to 200 ka, organic-rich turbidites were emplaced predominantly from the south but around 200 ka this source switched off and subsequent organic- and volcanic-rich turbidites, which included units deposited by giant, possibly hyperconcentrated flows, were emplaced from northern or eastern sources. Although restricted to the late Quaternary, the data presented provides a detailed case study of the evolution of an oceanic basin fill.