Biomonitoring of pollution by Cerastoderma edule from the British Isles: a Laser Ablation ICP-MS study

Shells of the common cockle Cerastoderma edule have been analysed using Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) for a suite of elements (Pb, Cu, As, Zn and U). The samples of C. edule were obtained from four sites in the British Isles, two facing the Atlantic and two adjacent to the Irish Sea. The LA-ICP-MS technique, permits high resolution examination of the relationship between the concentrations of elements in the hard parts and that in the environment. This study shows that this bivalve can be used as a biomonitor of pollution. All four areas under investigation are affected by anthropogenic pollution, in particular Zn and Cu, and are characterized by short-term extreme pollution events. Furthermore, high levels of U are recorded from the cockles sampled from the sites adjacent to the Irish Sea, probably related to a combination of both natural and industrial effluents discharged into the area.     

Domestic tourist travel patterns in New Zealand

Recent emphasis on the growth in overseas arrivals has overshadowed domestic tourism which, nevertheless, remains a very significant social and economic activity in New Zealand. This paper analyses the geographical dimensions of tourist travel using data from the Domestic Travel Study. Once broad national trends are identified, inter-regional travel patterns are examined using dominant flow analysis and regional profiles are established by means of ternary graphs. This analysis shows the dominance of the major metropolitan markets, the regionalized nature of much domestic tourism and regional variations in visitor profiles. Regional population size plays a major role in determining overall flows but what appears to make the difference between a net loss or gain in total bednights is a region's ability to attract holiday visitors. This underscores the value which the promotion of domestic tourism may have in regional development.     

Natural resource management and anti-desertification policy in the Sahel-Sudan zone: A case study of gum arabic

The philosophy of sustainable development argues that environmental conservation and economic development are complementary objectives in national economic planning. This contrasts with the more traditional view that development leads to inevitable sacrifies in envitronmental quality. This case study investigates a clear example of complementary in the Sahel-Sudan zone through an analysis of the economics of planting Acacia senegal to produce gum hashab (gum arabic). A. senegal has many environmentally benign functions besides producing gum as a cash crop. It is leguminous, stabilises soils, provides fodder and firewood and effevtively provides a buffer against desertification. Nonetheless, the gum arabic belt is suffering increased degradation due to drought, population movement and, in the past, wrong economic incentives to farmers. Economic incentives have recently improved and the paper offers a partial cost-benefit analysis of A. senegal production to show that planting can achieve high economic rates of return.This paper was presented to the International Task Force on Human Investment and Resource Use, UNESCO, Paris, March 1988, under the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme.     

International and domestic tourism: Interfaces and issues

This paper reviews the interfaces between international and domestic tourism and explores a number of associated issues. Within the origin the interface is between domestic tourism and the outbound component of international tourism. Questions arise relating to the different propensities for domestic and outbound travel and reasons accounting for this variation at a national scale — size, national tourist resources and levels of economic development — and at an individual level where motivations and the ability to travel play a major role. Within destinations interfaces exist between domestic tourism and inbound international tourism. Questions there relate to the size and distribution of these two types of tourist traffic, their respective impacts and the interaction between the two groups. Issues raised include those of the substitution of domestic and outbound travel and the formulation of policies whose varied aims are likely to be met by different spatial strategies. Future research needs to examine differences and interactions between domestic and international tourism more fully and explicitly so that more effective policies might be derived.     

Editorial

Other papers presented at the meeting will be published in 1989 and 1990 in two special issues of Tourism Recreation Research devoted to North American perspectives on international tourism and International tourism in developing countries.     

Geography,tourism and recreation in the antipodes

Conclusions This review, albeit of necessity selective, has outlined a diversity of interests, not only in subject matter but also in approach; a concern with methodological and conceptual issues as well as with the practical application of such research. Thus in spite of the small number of Antipodean geographers actively engaged in the field, the indications are that tourism and recreation research is alive, well and flourishing in the South Pacific.