Transparency: aid or obstacle to effective defence of vulnerable environments from reservoir construction? Dam decisions and democracy in North East England

Public participation in transparent decisionmaking has been proposed as a panacea for environmental protection. Bargaining theory suggests drawbacks to transparency such as hardening of attitudes and intransigence. Yet achievement of consensus on environmental values for integrated water resource management demands public involvement. Historical study of attempts to prevent reservoir construction in upland valleys designated for protection of nature suggests that 'closed-door' bargaining proved more effective for environmentalists than open, public debate. Records now open for analysis of disputes over Teesdale and Farndale, 1950–1970, allow comparisons to be made between behind-the-scenes deliberations and 'open-door' public discussion. The ambition of progressing from public participation to devolution of environmental decisionmaking and responsibility to the local scale demands more conceptualization of the process of decisionmaking on water resource development.     

甘肃敦煌-北山早前寒武纪岩石组合-构造初步框架

甘肃敦煌－北山地区广泛出露早前寒武纪岩石。这些岩石在早期的《甘肃省区域地质志》中被确定为前长城系、长城系、奥陶－志留系及部分石炭系。本文认为这些岩石应属太古宙和古元古代。据此，重新厘定了该区早前寒式纪岩石－构造框架。自南向北划分为敦煌太古宙杂岩区、北山南带古元古代剪切构造区和北山北带古元古代－太古宙杂岩区，并根据变形特点和岩石组合，进一步划分出次级带。     

A macroscale analysis of coastal steepening around the coast of England and Wales

Coastal steepening potentially presents an array of management issues in the form of financial implications of sea defence degradation, increased risk posed to the hinterland as wave attenuation is reduced, 'coastal squeeze' and statutory requirements in the light of the Habitats Directive. The extent to which coastal steepening has occurred throughout England and Wales has been investigated through use of a GIS and dataset based on historical Ordnance Survey map information. Data were collected along 1084 selected profile lines, positioned so as to be geomorphologically representative of the coast. Features recorded from each map year included the positions of mean high water (MHW) and mean low water (MLW), the relative movements of which infer changing intertidal gradients. The results presented in this paper are on a subject and scale not previously published. It is revealed that 61% of the coastline studied has experienced a tendency towards steepening. Of the remainder, 33% has flattened, and 6% has experienced no rotational movement. This tendency towards steepening has been the dominant movement on each of the west, south, and east coasts.     

Testing taxonomic resolution,data transformation and selection of species for monitoring macroalgae communities

The Water Framework and Habitats Directives require the evaluation of both the conservation and ecological status of macroalgae communities at water body or habitat level. However, assessments of macroalgal communities are highly time-consuming, both in terms of sampling effort and laboratory processing. These constraints have brought about their oversight in many marine monitoring programs, especially in subtidal environments. By using data from intertidal and subtidal macroalgae assemblages of Mouro Island (North coast of Spain) we wanted to identify possible cost-effective methods for monitoring this biological indicator, based on both high taxa levels and use of representative taxa. Multivariate analyses were applied using different data transformations. The results show that macroalgal communities are robust to aggregation to genus or even family level. Moreover, the outcomes show that transformation types introduce higher variation in the multivariate pattern of samples than the taxonomic level to which organisms are identified. Also, the study supports the use of representative taxa as a surrogate to overall community structure. Therefore, we conclude that a rapid-assessment by means of field evaluations, based on coverage of representative taxa, is a reliable alternative for the assessment of macroalgae status. In addition this procedure allows evaluation at a broader spatial scale (water body or habitat level) than traditional quantitative sampling procedure does.     

The Relationship between Narratives,Wildlife Value Orientations,Attitudes, and Policy Preferences

Overabundance of white-tailed deer is a pervasive problem across the United States. Deer are blamed for increased risk of auto accidents, tick-borne diseases, and overbrowsing of native species. Lethal management techniques, cited as cost-effective and humane, are commonly employed for herd management. However, the approach frequently sparks outrage among various stakeholders who feel killing of animals is unjustified and prefer nonlethal measures. Wildlife managers then face the challenge of communicating with the public to build policy support for lethal management. The Narrative Policy Framework was used to test the effects of differing narratives on public opinion for lethal deer management. Results indicated narratives were influential in shifting attitudes toward and support for a proposed sharpshooting policy even in some cases where respondents were already familiar with the issue and held a previous opinion. This study also supported the utility of the Narrative Policy Framework for examining human dimensions of wildlife issues.     

Implementation of the European Water Framework Directive: Natural variability associated with the CARLIT method on the rocky shores of the Ligurian Sea (Italy)

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) 2000/60/EC, adopted by the European Community in 2000 with the goal of maintaining and improving the aquatic environments, requires that member states achieve and maintain a good ecological status of all water bodies by 2015. In the marine context, the ecological status has to be quantified applying indexes based on appropriate key biological elements, which allow the categorization of water bodies into five Ecological Status (ES) classes. The CARLIT index is a cartographic monitoring tool enabling the Ecological Quality Ratio (EQR) to be calculated using macroalgae in coastal hard bottoms as a key biological element; at present it is being applied in Spain, France and Italy. To detect actual changes of water quality and, consequently, rely on the application of indexes for the assessment of the ecological status in the marine environment, it is necessary to evaluate their sensitivity to natural variability at different temporal and spatial scales. In this study we present a first quantification of natural (spatial and temporal) variability of EQR‐CARLIT quality assessment in 2006 and 2007 along the Ligurian coast (North‐Western Mediterranean, Italy). The EQR‐CARLIT values recorded along the Ligurian coastline show that natural variability of EQR‐CARLIT is low and that it does not affect the attribution of a given stretch of coast to a particular ES class, in agreement with the major human pressures acting in the area (urbanization, river load, sea‐farming). A small‐scale variability was detected, strengthening the use of cartography of the whole rocky shore, whenever possible, or, alternatively, the assessment of the ecological status for long stretches of coast, to encompass the small‐scale variability due to local factors.     

Response of BITS (a benthic index based on taxonomic sufficiency) to water and sedimentary variables and comparison with other indices in three Adriatic lagoons

The European Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000/60/EC) recommends the development of biotic indices for assessing the ecological quality status of water bodies. The Benthic Index based on Taxonomic Sufficiency (BITS) was specifically developed for lagoonal systems, according to the tolerant/opportunistic approach. Macrobenthic data, variables indicative of eutrophication and variables indicative of sedimentary organic matter quality were collected during 18 surveys carried out between 2004 and 2005 in three Adriatic coastal lagoons (Venice Lagoon, Sacca di Goro, Lesina Lagoon). The relationship between environmental variables and biotic indices (AMBI, BENTIX, BITS, BOPA and FINE) was tested using multivariate analyses. Indices based on species classification level appeared to relate better with the variables describing organic matter quality, whereas BITS, which is based on family classification level, seemed related to eutrophication indicative variables, such as sulphide, ammonium, dissolved oxygen and orthophosphate concentrations. The BITS approach reduces the costs associated with sorting and identification of organisms. Providing a rapid assessment of ecological quality, and producing an ecologically relevant classification, BITS seems a promising tool for monitoring programs of Adriatic lagoonal ecosystems. Its sensitivity in reflecting the field conditions elsewhere, however, remains to be assessed.     

Assessing fish quality status in transitional waters,within the European Water Framework Directive: Setting boundary classes and responding to anthropogenic pressures

Validation of the AZTI's Fish Index (AFI), proposed for the Basque Country (northern Spain), in assessing fish quality within the Water Framework Directive (WFD), is undertaken. The response to anthropogenic pressure is investigated, in setting the boundaries between the different quality status classes. Hence, 12 estuaries were sampled, at different frequencies, between 1989 and 2007, by means of a beam trawl. Significant (p < 0.0001) correlations were found between the AFI and oxygen saturation and ammonia. Oxygen quality standards are used to set boundaries between quality classes. Then, the AFIs obtained are compared with different anthropogenic pressures, including urban and industrial discharges, engineering works and dredging. The effects of the removal of some of these pressures are also studied. The total number of pressures within an estuary shows significant (p < 0.009) negative correlation with AFI, explaining between 51 and 62% of the variability in fish quality. The impact of pressures upon fish and demersal assemblages is detected as required by the WFD. Nonetheless, further investigation and intercalibration of the methods used, are necessary.     

Disaster risk reduction legislations: Is there a move from events to processes?

Disaster research and scholarship is now advocating a shift from focusing on the hazard event to processes that generate vulnerability and loss of resilience to disasters. Disaster legislations are among prominent instruments that can highlight the tensions as well as challenges that are being encountered towards this change in focus. Using textual analysis, this paper presents a study that investigated whether five post-2002 disaster legislations have shifted emphasis from the hazard to the vulnerability and resilience paradigms. The five examples illustrate that while there is a slight change, at least in rhetoric, from response to a prevention focus, disaster legislations largely promote a centralised institutional framework, with inadequate resource commitments and limited participation from vulnerable communities. Consequently, while generalisations simply cannot be made without a wider analysis of many more examples from different countries, the five disaster legislations appear to re-emphasise the response focus with less attention on the processes that reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience. The conclusion is that while the rhetoric has changed, the disaster legislations have not significantly moved from the hazard to vulnerability and resilience focus suggesting that reduction of losses and damages to disasters remains a big challenge     

岩体结构面粗糙度系数JRC的定向统计研究

本文回顾了岩体结构面粗糙度系数ＪＲＣ的研究成果，分析了各种ＪＲＣ研究方法的应用范围。在野外实际结构面形态的详细调查和深入研究的基础上，发展了Ｂａｒｔｏｎ直边法，并提出按岩性定向统计研究结构面粗糙度系数ＪＲＣ的科学思想。