Groundwater Plans in the United States: Regulatory Frameworks and Management Goals

Groundwater management plans are an important tool for preventing and addressing degradation and depletion of the resource. Through plans, water users and regulators set forth goals and identify strategies to address the needs of multiple resource users while considering physical constraints of the groundwater resource. This research examines the status of groundwater management plans in the United States, identifying in which states groundwater management plans are produced and the circumstances that lead to the inclusion of quantifiable goals in those plans. Findings indicate that legal and regulatory requirements for quantifiable goals can lead to the development of more comprehensive groundwater management plans, and, that such goals can be set even when uncertainties exist.     

The geography of campaign funding,campaign spending and voting at the New South Wales legislative assembly elections of 1984

The relationship between campaign fund raising, campaign expenditure and voter support levels for the two major parties, Labor and the Coalition, is explored by means of regression analysis. Results confirm the existence of significant relationships, in particular that, holding constant other influencing factors, the more a party raises and spends during a campaign, the more votes it wins.     

Seasonal Production and Biomass of the Seagrass, <Emphasis Type=Italic>Halodule wrightii</Emphasis> Aschers. (Shoal Grass), in a Subtropical Texas Lagoon

A study of Halodule wrightii in a shallow subtropical Texas lagoon was performed to obtain seasonal data on its physiological ecology. Leaf production and biomass dynamics of H. wrightii were intensively monitored along with the underwater light environment at a 1.2-m depth study site over a 21-month period from June 1995 to February 1997. The annual photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) flux of 6,764 mol m⁻² year⁻¹ was more than twice as high as 2,400 mol m⁻² year⁻¹, the minimum annual PAR required for maintenance of growth. As light intensity declined, blade chlorophyll a/b ratios increased suggesting that the plants were photo-adapting. Seasonal trends were evident in shoot growth and biomass. Compared to other Halodule populations in Texas, H. wrightii in LLM displayed slow growth and low biomass, high leaf tissue N content, and low C/N ratio but high N/P ratio of 38 suggesting that the plants were phosphorus-limited.     

REAL TIME THREE DIMENSIONAL IMAGING

An account is given of the importance of photogrammetric techniques in industrial three dimensional problems and the way in which obtaining data in this environment differs from the more common applications. Possible system arrangements are discussed. The particular choice at Imperial College and the resulting system speed and accuracy are presented.     

Addressing Integration Challenges of Interdisciplinary Research in Social-Ecological Systems

Abstract

Conducting research on coupled social-ecological systems (SESs) presents inherent challenges, such as coordination across disparate disciplines or integrating across multiple scales and levels of governance. To overcome these common challenges, we propose that structuring the research design itself according to SES principles provides for integrative execution of SES science. First, starting with pilot work, human and natural science researchers should work as a team to identify and access multi-level entry points (i.e. points of direct engagement) within the system, relative to the spatiotemporal scales under investigation. Second, teams should implement an adaptive process that begins with the proposed research design and uses shared experiences from pilot work to refine protocols prior to subsequent data collection. We provide examples of multi-level and multi-scale entry points, and show that adaptive management of research design through coordinated iteration allows for better research integration and applicable outcomes.     

ASIANS,PACIFIC ISLANDERS,AND ETHNOBURBS IN AUCKLAND,NEW ZEALAND

ABSTRACT. Recent work on Asian ethnic minority immigrants to cities in the Anglophone Pacific Rim argues that their settlement patterns do not conform to those of earlier migrant streams. Instead of concentrating in high‐density, low‐quality, inner‐city housing, these new residents are moving directly to suburban areas where they form much less intensive concentrations—ethnoburbs—than has been typical of other culturally distinct migrant groups. We evaluate this thesis for Asian migrants in the Auckland metropolitan area, whose numbers more than quadrupled between 1991 and 2006. Their residential pattern is compared with that of Pacific Islanders also resident there, providing supporting evidence for the ethnoburb hypothesis.     

Organization‐Led Migration,Individual Choice,and Refugee Resettlement in The U.S.: Seeking Regularities

The role of organizations in migration has received less attention than warranted; individual choice has typically been emphasized. As an in‐depth illustration, we consider refugee resettlement in the United States, post–World War II, wherein intermediary organizations play(ed) a major role. Central to this system are voluntary agencies (VOLAGs) and community organizations, but secondary migration also is critical. Attention is given to all refugees between 2000 and 2010, and in greater detail to Somalis. The latter provides deeper understanding through state refugee coordinators and case studies of Columbus, Ohio, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Lewiston, Maine. Aside from process, it is evident that the geography of the foreign‐born settlement has been altered. While refugee resettlement and subsequent migration is the example, we broaden that to argue that migration studies have neglected the derived nature of movement via intermediary organizations; directed migrations and/or similar interventions have played a significant, if not dominant, role in population redistribution; and organization‐led migration should be considered in terms of general aspects, not simply as discrete case studies.     

RCP4.5: a pathway for stabilization of radiative forcing by 2100

Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 is a scenario that stabilizes radiative forcing at 4.5?W?m^?2 in the year 2100 without ever exceeding that value. Simulated with the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM), RCP4.5 includes long-term, global emissions of greenhouse gases, short-lived species, and land-use-land-cover in a global economic framework. RCP4.5 was updated from earlier GCAM scenarios to incorporate historical emissions and land cover information common to the RCP process and follows a cost-minimizing pathway to reach the target radiative forcing. The imperative to limit emissions in order to reach this target drives changes in the energy system, including shifts to electricity, to lower emissions energy technologies and to the deployment of carbon capture and geologic storage technology. In addition, the RCP4.5 emissions price also applies to land use emissions; as a result, forest lands expand from their present day extent. The simulated future emissions and land use were downscaled from the regional simulation to a grid to facilitate transfer to climate models. While there are many alternative pathways to achieve a radiative forcing level of 4.5?W?m^?2, the application of the RCP4.5 provides a common platform for climate models to explore the climate system response to stabilizing the anthropogenic components of radiative forcing.     

Assessing climate change impacts on California hydropower generation and ancillary services provision

Climate change is already affecting species and their distributions. Distributional range changes have occurred and are projected to intensify for many widespread plants and animals, creating associated risks to many ecosystems. Here, we estimate the climate change-related risks to the species in globally significant biodiversity conservation areas over a range of climate scenarios, assessing their value as climate refugia. In particular, we quantify the aggregated benefit of countries’ emission reduction pledges (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions and Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement), and also of further constraining global warming to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, against an unmitigated scenario of 4.5 °C warming. We also quantify the contribution that can be made by using smart spatial conservation planning to facilitate some levels of autonomous (i.e. natural) adaptation to climate change by dispersal. We find that without mitigation, on average 33% of each conservation area can act as climate refugium (or 18% if species are unable to disperse), whereas if warming is constrained to 2 °C, the average area of climate refuges doubles to 67% of each conservation area (or, without dispersal, more than doubles to 56% of each area). If the country pledges are fulfilled, an intermediate estimate of 47–52% (or 31–38%, without dispersal) is obtained. We conclude that the Nationally Determined Contributions alone have important but limited benefits for biodiversity conservation, with larger benefits accruing if warming is constrained to 2 °C. Greater benefits would result if warming was constrained to well below 2 °C as set out in the Paris Agreement.