Multiple values from the forest: contribution of non-timber forest products to livelihoods of local communities in Northeastern Thailand

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Local residents near forests often collect non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for a variety of reasons, including food, medicine, firewood, religious...     

Development and evaluation of a risk management methodology for pedestrian surfaces

This paper describes the development and evaluation of the Pedestrian Surface (PS) priority indicator (PS priority indicator). This tool was developed to comply with Australian Standard AS 4360: 2004 (Risk Management). Pedestrian surfaces should be evaluated to identify hazards and assess the level of risk calculated in order to ensure that the surfaces do not have a significant level of risk. If a significant level of risk is present, then control measures should be implemented. Pedestrian surfaces for the purposes of this research are classified as same level surfaces (excluding stairways) where pedestrians on foot (or by wheelchair) travel from one place to another.     

The New Zealand experience of varroa invasion highlights research opportunities for Australia

The Varroa mite (Varroa destructor) is implicated as a major disease factor in honey bee (Apis mellifera) populations worldwide. Honey bees are extensively relied upon for pollination services, and in countries such as New Zealand and Australia where honey bees have been introduced specifically for commercial pollinator services, the economic effects of any decline in honey bee numbers are predicted to be profound. V. destructor established in New Zealand in 2000 but as yet, Australia remains Varroa-free. Here we analyze the history of V. destructor invasion and spread in New Zealand and discuss the likely long-term impacts. When the mite was discovered in New Zealand, it was considered too well established for eradication to be feasible. Despite control efforts, V. destructor has since spread throughout the country. Today, assessing the impacts of the arrival of V. destructor in this country is compromised by a paucity of data on pollinator communities as they existed prior to invasion. Australia’s Varroa-free status provides a rare and likely brief window of opportunity for the global bee research community to gain understanding of honey bee-native pollinator community dynamics prior to Varroa invasion.     

Uptake of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in salt marsh plants Spartina alterniflora grown in contaminated sediments

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations were measured in Spartina alterniflora plants grown in pots of contaminated sediment, plants grown in native sediment at a marsh contaminated with up to 900 microg/g total PAHs, and from plants grown in uncontaminated control sediment. The roots and leaves of the plants were separated, cleaned, and analyzed for PAHs. PAH compounds were detected at up to 43 microg/g dry weight in the root tissue of plants grown in pots of contaminated soil. PAH compounds were detected at up to 0.2 microg/g in the leaves of plants grown in pots of contaminated soil. Concentrations less than 0.004 microg/g were detected in the leaves of plants grown at a reference site. Root concentration factor (RCF) values ranged from 0.009 to 0.97 in the potted plants, and from 0.004 to 0.31 at the contaminated marsh site. Stem concentration factor (SCF) values ranged from 0.00004 to 0.03 in the potted plants and 0.0002 to 0.04 at the contaminated marsh. No correlation was found between the RCF value and PAH compound or chemical properties such as logKOW. SCF values were higher for the lighter PAHs in the potted plants, but not in the plants collected from the contaminated marsh. PAH concentrations in the roots of the potted plants are strongly correlated with soil concentrations, but there is less correlation for the roots grown in natural sediments. Additional plants were grown directly in PAH-contaminated water and analyzed for alkylated PAH homologs. No difference was found in leaf PAH concentrations between plants grown in contaminated water and control plants.     

The longitudinal dependence of black carbon concentration on traffic volume in an urban environment

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of traffic volume on ambient black carbon (BC) concentration in an inner-city neighborhood "hot spot" while accounting for modifying effects of weather and time. Continuous monitoring was conducted for 12 months at the Baltimore Traffic Study site surrounded by major urban streets that together carry over 150,000 vehicles per day. Outdoor BC concentration was measured with an Aethalometer; vehicles were counted pneumatically on two nearby streets. Meteorological data were also obtained. Missing data were imputed and all data were normalized to a 5-min observational interval (n = 105,120). Time-series modeling accounted for autoregressively (AR) correlated errors. This study found that outdoor BC was positively correlated at a statistically significant level with neighborhood-level vehicle counts, which contributed at a rate of 66 +/- 10 (SE) ng/m3 per 100 vehicles every 5 min. Winds from the SW-S-SE quarter were associated with the greatest increases in BC (376-612 ng/m3). These winds would have entrained BC from Baltimore's densely trafficked central business district, as well as a nearby interstate highway. The strong influence of wind direction implicates atmospheric transport processes in determining BC exposure. Dew point, mixing height, wind speed, season, and workday were also statistically significant predictors. Background exposure to BC was estimated to be 905 ng/m3. The optimal, statistically significant representation of BC's autocorrelation was AR([1:6]) x 288 x 2016, where the short-term AR factor (lags 1-6) indicated that BC concentrations are correlated for up to 30 min, and the AR factors for lags 288 and 2016 indicate longer-term autocorrelations at diurnal and weekly cycles, respectively. It was concluded that local exposure to BC from mobile sources is substantially modified by meteorological and temporal conditions, including atmospheric transport processes. BC concentration also demonstrates statistically significant autocorrelation at several time scales.     

Structural and optical characterization of dissolved organic matter from the lower Athabasca River, Canada

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a ubiquitous constituent of natural waters and is comprised of a variety of chemically heterogeneous molecular structures and functional groups. DOM is often considered to be a major ligand for metals in most natural waters and its reactivity is thought to be strongly dependent on its chemical composition and structure. In this study, a combination of UV/visible, emission excitation matrix fluorescence (EEM) and ¹H NMR spectroscopies were used to characterize DOM from the Athabasca River (Alberta, Canada). The chemical characterization of river DOM showed that the most upstream samples located in agricultural areas were blue-shifted and less aromatic and contained more hydrogens connected with oxygen functional groups than those in the wetland dominated area in the Athabasca oil sand deposit region. The presence of paramagnetic ions (Fe and Al) was not found to significantly affect the structural composition of DOM as revealed by ¹H NMR. Such change in the quality of DOM may have a profound impact on metal binding in the Athabasca River watershed.     

Assessment of heterogeneity of metal composition of fine particulate matter collected from eight U.S. counties using principal component analysis

The main objectives of this study are to (1) characterize chemical constituents of particulate matter (PM) and (2) compare overall differences in PM collected from eight US. counties. This project was undertaken as a part of a larger research program conducted by the Johns Hopkins Particulate Matter Research Center (JHPMRC). The goal of the JHPMRC is to explore the relationship between health effects and exposure to ambient PM of differing composition. The JHPMRC collected weekly filter-based ambient fine particle samples from eight US. counties between January 2008 and January 2010. Each sampling effort consisted of a 5-6-week sampling period. Filters were analyzed for 25 metals using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Overall compositional differences were ranked by principal component analysis (PCA). The results showed that weekly concentrations of each element varied 3-40 times between the eight counties. PCA showed that the first five principal components explained 85% of the total variance. The authors found significant overall compositional differences in PM as the average of standardized principal component scores differed between the counties. These findings demonstrate PCA is a useful tool to identify the differences in PM compositional mixtures by county. These differences will be helpful for epidemiological and toxicological studies to help explain why health risks associated with PM exposure are different in locations with similar mass concentrations of PM.     

Child Abuse Investigation: Police Officers and Secondary Traumatic Stress

Child protection is an area of police work which has expanded in the last decade, leading to an increase in the number of police officers working in departments which specialise in investigating cases of child abuse. Police officers in this field may be at greater risk of experiencing secondary traumatic stress but there remains a paucity of research in this area of policing. Analogies can be drawn to existing research in policing and with social service workers involved in child protection. The paper finishes off with implications for police forces to ensure safe working environments and appropriate counselling for employees.