Effects of land-cover and watershed protection futures on sustainable groundwater management in a heavily utilized aquifer in Hawai‘i (USA)

Hydrogeology Journal - Groundwater sustainability initiatives, including sustainable yield and watershed policy protection policies, are growing globally in response to increasing demand for...     

Histopathological observations on liver,kidney and gonad of plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) taken from the Mersey estuary

The Mersey estuary is the most contaminated estuary in British waters. Detailed studies are underway on the pathology of flounder (Platichthys flesus) from the Mersey and on flounder from the nearby, but less contaminated, Dee estuary. Flounder breed offshore but spend a lot of time in the estuaries, penetrating into freshwater. These flatfish are in close contact with sediments and will be exposed to exenobiotic stored in the sediments. Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) are flatfish which enter the Mersey with the tidal flow but spend less time in the estuary than flounder and are less likely to show evidence of pollutant exposure. Over 20 plaice were collected from the Mersey. Samples of the liver, kidney and gonad were fixed in 10% formal saline, processed into paraffin wax and 5 microm sections cut and stained with haematoxylin and eosin. Liver changes consisted of variable amounts of glycogen/lipid storage product, minor perivenular and perivascular fibrosis, and helminth parasitisation. No tumours or foci of cellular alteration, necrosis and inflammation were seen. In the gonad only changes consistent with normal gonadal cycling was seen. These studies provide evidence that plaice show little or no evidence of toxic pathological damage resulting from their stay in the estuary.     

Antarctic environmental variability since the late Miocene: ODP Site 745, the East Kerguelen sediment drift

Characterization of sediment from Ocean Drilling Program Site 745, representing the East Kerguelen Ridge sediment drift, addresses important issues surrounding the timing of Miocene to present East Antarctic ice sheet stability and oceanic environmental change. Our results show three periods of greatly enhanced accumulation of Antarctic-derived sediment, at 6.4-5.9 Ma, 4.9-4.4 Ma and 1.1-0.8 Ma, potentially indicative of warmer, less stable ice sheets at these times. Conversely, the accumulation of Antarctic-derived material is comparatively less during the middle of the Pliocene warm epoch (4.8-3.2 Ma). The deep flow forming the Kerguelen drift was stronger during the latest Miocene and earliest Pliocene and has decreased in intensity continuously since then.     

Recent trends in organochlorine residues in mussels (Mytilus edulis) from the Mersey Estuary.

Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) taken from several sites in the Mersey Estuary, an urban-industrial water body in NW England, have been analyzed for residues of the persistent organochlorines, DDT, PCB congeners nos. 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153 and 180 (ICES7), and alpha-MHCH (alpha-methyl hexachlorocyclohexane). The concentration range for sigmaPCB (ICES7) was 13.9-34.9 microg kg(-1) in 1994 compared with 9.6-31.9 microg kg(-1) in 1998, whilst the equivalent concentrations of sigmaDDT were 8.9-32.4 microg kg(-1) and 4.5-16.8 microg kg(-1), respectively. The concentration of alpha-MHCH, an organochlorine largely restricted to the Mersey Estuary, was 1.2-11 microg kg(-1) in 1994 and 0.3-1.3 microg kg(-1) in 1998. At both sampling dates the inner estuary sites of Rock Ferry and Egremont were more contaminated than the outer estuary sites of New Brighton. Dove Point and Caldy Blacks. The lower concentrations of organochlorines in mussels in 1998 compared with 1994 are thought to be early evidence of significant improvements in water quality derived from major capital investment in the treatment of industrial effluents and sewage wastewater, linked to a combination of stricter legislative controls and the environmental benefits from the adoption of new, clean technologies in manufacturing.     

Killing Carp (Cyprinus carpio) as a Volunteer Practice: implications for community involvement in invasive species management and policy

Community engagement is understood to be one of the keys to successful environmental programs—‘the social pillar’ of management. In this paper we examine community engagement where volunteers participate by killing invasive animals. Most research to date focuses on the biological or management implications of volunteer efforts for the invasive species, with little attention to the people involved or the social acceptability of killing animals in this context. Here, we report on a survey and participant observations of community fishing events in south-eastern Australia, where volunteers fish for and kill carp (Cyprinus carpio). We examine who takes part in these events, their motivations for being involved and the implications for ongoing community engagement. Survey respondents were predominantly well-educated Australian-born men, motivated to fish by a desire to spend time in nature. However, we also noted a strong response from overseas-born men with different motivations. Our survey elicited complex responses regarding killing, illustrating contradictory, sometimes conflicted experiences, which jar with personal motivations. The implications are that questions of ethics must extend to the human volunteers, and that more direct communication of program outcomes and the proposed benefits for volunteers be more rigorously assessed. We argue that invasive species management must contend with the experiences of volunteers, otherwise meaningful dialogue and program objectives risk being undermined.     

Disruption of Routine Behaviors Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

This paper frames the unfolding impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill as a process of lifeway disruption, analyzing the degree to which residents of spill affected communities were prevented from undertaking routine behaviors during the disaster. Special attention is paid to the influence of time, natural resource employment, and community sentiment. Drawing on data from the Louisiana Community Oil Spill Survey, the results show that people in the spill impacted region were prevented from engaging in routine behaviors, though this disruption has steadily decreased over time, suggesting a general trend toward recovery. Consistent with the renewable resource community concept, the results also show that those with ties to the fishing industry were more likely to be prevented from undertaking routine behaviors than were nonfishers. Finally, community sentiment is shown to ameliorate routine behavior disruption, thus, promoting resilience. Overall, these results challenge notions of monolithic paths to disaster recovery.     

Map Symbols for Crisis Mapping: Challenges and Prospects

Crisis maps and visualizations utilized routinely by international agencies, humanitarian organizations, and non-governmental organizations for aid and relief activities commonly require complex sets of map symbols. However, effective map symbology for humanitarian relief purposes entails several challenges, including consideration of the following: (1) taxonomy development, (2) symbol design issues, (3) promulgation and sharing of map symbols, and (4) standardization of symbols within and among organizations. This paper discusses these key challenges to the design and use of crisis map symbology through a review of the cartographic literature as well as results collected from a survey targeted at humanitarian organizations from around the world. The survey was designed to gather information on current symbology design and use practices in order to understand common challenges. Survey results confirm agreement in the persistence of these four primary symbology challenges, especially the importance of intuitive symbol design. Respondents disagreed most about the adequacy of current crisis map symbology standards as well as the ease in which standards may be implemented within and across organizations. Survey results suggest the need for expert systems designed specifically for symbology design to support humanitarian relief activities.     

Triple annual maximum series in wave climate analyses

A recurring problem in wave climate analyses is the need to predict long term events from short duration records. The relative sparsity of the observational record is enhanced by judicious recognition of near-maximum events, in addition to the annual maximum events. This paper pursues the application of triple annual maximum series. Given any extreme value distribution, the theoretical distributions for the annual second largest monthly wave and the annual third largest monthly wave are established. A maximum likelihood method is proposed to fit these simultaneous distributions to the triple annual maximum series. An application of the method to the historical record at the Farallon Is. off San Francisco adopts several of the more common extreme value distributions and demonstrates the potential of triple annual maximum series in enhancing the reliability of distribution fits. Nevertheless, the common practice of extrapolating short duration records to long term events remains precarious.