Observations Of Environmental Change Research Articles

EVALUATION OF CLIMATE SMART INDICATORS INFLUENCING AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES ON SORGHUM ENTERPRISE IN KATSINA AND SOKOTO STATES.

Presently, the state of poverty in Nigeria is frightening and climate change impends food security and increase poverty. The study was motivated by the increasing consequence of climate change and its impact on farmers in the study area. Farming households changing agricultural practices as a result of global observation of environmental changes. This research established a link that exists between climate smart agricultural practices and poverty in Katsina and Sokoto States. It was based on this that the study wants to evaluate the climate smart indicators influencing agricultural practices on sorghum enterprise in the study area. A multi-stage purposive and random sampling techniques was used to select three hundred (300) farming households in the study area. The objective was therefore, to determine factor influencing indicators of climate smart agricultural practices within sorghum enterprises in the study area. The study employed Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Ordinary Least Square (OLS) of the regression model to analyze the objective of the study housing material was significant at (P<0.01) and education was significant at (P<0.05). The study reccommends that:’Government, Non-Governmental Organizations and farmer’s associations should create a conducive learning environment by developing trainings and farmer friendly programmes such as environmental friendly farming systems to encourage rural household farmers develop interest and adopt climate smart agricultural farming practices. Extension delivery system approach should be down to earth’’ to meet the imformation age.

Simulating future land-use within the uThukela and uMngeni catchments in KwaZulu-Natal

Due to anthropogenic activities, the earth's surface is consistently being altered. These alterations take the form of Land-use/cover change (LULCC), which is a fundamental driver of global, regional and local environmental change. LULCC studies have become pivotal in supplementing our understanding and observations of environmental change. However, understanding the past and present spatial-temporal variability of LULCC characteristics and their link to future land-use/cover trajectories at a catchment scale is limited, particularly in Southern Africa. To address this limitation, this study simulated future land-use change utilising a spatially distributed, empirical land-use modelling approach for the uThukela and uMngeni catchments in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The CA-Markov model, a popular and frequently utilised model employed in land-use and land-cover (LULC) predictive modelling, was selected to simulate LULCC conjointly with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques. The obtained kappa values (Kstandard, Klocation and Kno) achieved during the validation were all above 80%, thus indicating the model's reliability and capability to successfully predict future LULC in the study sites. Future projections indicated that both study areas are anticipated to experience anthropogenic induced LULCC, which further fragments the landscape configuration, functionality and ecological stability. Historical analysis of LULCC between 1990 and 2018, in the study catchments revealed considerable declines in the areas under grassland and indigenous forest, while the areas under cultivated land, commercial forestry and urban LULC classes increased. Future LULC projections showed that urban and agriculture land-uses increased significantly, with natural land-use classes such as grassland, other vegetation and indigenous forest declining in spatial extent across both. With an understanding of the extent of projected LULCC by 2030 within both catchments, proactive planning and management within the framework of sustainable land-use planning and water resource management in the respective catchments can be undertaken. Moreover, the results of the land-use modelling study can be used to infill historical data gaps, support effective land-use planning and provide a means to evaluate the impacts of different future development pathways.

Biophysical indicators and Indigenous and Local Knowledge reveal climatic and ecological shifts with implications for Arctic Char fisheries

Managing Arctic marine resources to be resilient to environmental changes requires knowledge of how climate change is affecting marine food webs and fisheries. Changes to fishery resources will have major implications for coastal Indigenous communities whose livelihoods, health, and cultures are strongly connected to fisheries. Understanding these broad social-ecological changes requires a transdisciplinary approach bringing together contrasting and complementary disciplines and ways of knowing. Here, we examine climatic proxies, ecological, and fishery indicators (stable isotopes, fish condition, and lipid content), and interviews with Inuit fishers to assess how marine ecosystem changes have influenced Arctic Char (Salvelinus alpinus) ecology and fisheries over a 30-year time period (1987–2016) in the Kitikmeot region of the Canadian Arctic. Inuit fishers reported several observations of environmental changes, including longer ice-free seasons, warmer ocean temperatures, and the arrival of new marine species. Biophysical data revealed important changes toward earlier dates of ice breakup (>12 days in some areas) and a shift in isotopic niche reflecting a changing Arctic Char diet, with increased contribution of pelagic carbon and higher trophic level prey. Fish condition was improved in years with earlier ice breakup, as observed by both Inuit fishers and biophysical indicators, while lipid content increased through time, suggesting that longer ice-free seasons may have a positive effect on Arctic Char quality as reflected by both fish condition and lipid content. Long-term impacts of continuing climate change, however, such as the northward expansion of boreal species and increasing ocean temperatures, could have negative effects on fisheries (e.g., physiological impairment in fish if temperatures exceed their thermal range). Continuous community-based monitoring that directly informs fisheries management could help communities and managers adaptively, and sustainably, manage in the face of multiple interacting changes in Arctic marine systems.

Crop diversity management: Sereer smallholders' response to climatic variability in Senegal.

Beyond the observation of climatic variations and their impact on livelihoods, farmers' knowledge about climate change? can help understand how rural populations respond to environmental changes and what factors should policies consider when planning rural adaptation. This study documents Sereer farmers' observations of local environmental changes in the Fatick region of Senegal and explores how the farmers use crop diversity to adapt to those changes. Their observations of environmental changes were documented through focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. Variations in crop diversity as well as farmers' explanations for these variations were assessed through surveys in two villages (n=126 households). Sereer farmers identify four distinct periods of similar climate trends and reported how they managed crop diversity in response to the climate variations between periods. Three management responses stand out: abandonment of long-cycle varieties during drought periods, adoption of short-cycle varieties during periods with shorter rainy seasons, and reinstating of long-cycle varieties with the return of rains. Sereer farmers consider that climate variations are important reasons to modify their crop varieties, although variety selection is also affected by other socio-economic and cultural reasons. This study illustrates the contributions that local knowledge can bring to understanding the local impact of climate change on smallholder farmers. Understanding how they use crop diversity to adapt to climate variations can be the bases of climate change adaptation policies that address local needs and constraints.

The University of British Columbia healthy beverage initiative: changing the beverage landscape on a large post-secondary campus.

Environmental interventions are more effective at changing nutrition behaviour than educational campaigns alone. As part of their health promotion efforts, the University of British Columbia (UBC) developed the Healthy Beverage Initiative (HBI) to ultimately reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) on campus. We describe the development, implementation, preliminary evaluation and future of the HBI. Naturalistic observation of environmental changes to induce behaviour change. Large urban research university campus. University community members and campus visitors. Three main activities have been implemented since the initiation of the UBC HBI: renegotiation of the cold beverage agreement, a media campaign to promote tap water consumption and the removal of SSB from select retail locations on campus (residence dining hall). No significant loss of revenue was observed following the removal of SSB from a residence dining hall compared with similar locations. Compensatory purchasing behaviour of SSB was not observed at the closest retail locations where they were still available. After the removal of SSB, ~75% of survey respondents were not aware that the beverages had been removed. The implementation of the HBI has met little resistance from the UBC community. The removal of SSB from residence dining locations did not result in any significant revenue loss or compensatory purchasing behaviour. This suggests that environmental intervention initiatives appear to be a viable option that may reduce SSB consumption on post-secondary campuses.

Identifying potential causes of fish declines through local ecological knowledge of fishers in the Ganga River, eastern Bihar, India

AbstractLocal ecological knowledge (LEK) can offer insights into fisheries management by describing long‐term changes that are difficult to unravel in data‐poor river‐floodplain fisheries. LEK is derived from complex interactions between fishers’ observations of environmental change and their institutional capacities to manage fisheries. Hence, it is important to understand where and how LEK and formal scientific studies on fish species’ decline could complement each other. In this paper, the causes of decline of 58 fish and two shrimp taxa were identified from LEK data (1999–2019) obtained from river–floodplain fisheries of the Gangetic plains (Bihar, India). Qualitative analyses of LEK were used to generate species‐specific hypotheses and historical insights on their declines. Destructive fishing, overfishing and the Farakka barrage were cited by fishers as the major causes of declines. Potential reasons for these perceptions were explored in relation to fishers’ experiences of conflicts in the region over fishing rights and access.

Linking climate variability and growth in coral skeletal records from the Great Barrier Reef

The remoteness of the northern Great Barrier Reef makes observations of environmental change and coral health sparse, but provides opportunities for paleoclimate and paleoecology proxies to contribute new insights into coral health in a changing climate. These proxies include geochemical measures (δ18O, δ13C, and Sr/Ca) that track sea surface temperature (SST), salinity, and physiological processes; luminescence, which records freshwater input; and annual growth parameters (density, extension, and calcification). Merging these approaches provides insight into the historical role of environmental variability in coral health. This study uses Porites spp. corals from five sites on the northern Great Barrier Reef (12–13.5°S) to produce combined monthly resolved records of geochemistry, growth banding, and luminescence between 1972 and 2008. We demonstrate that SST reconstructed from Sr/Ca accurately captures Indo-Pacific Warm Pool variability, and hydrological proxies (luminescence and seawater δ18O) accurately reconstruct summer rainfall and river discharge in nearshore corals. Concurrent Sr/Ca minima and density and luminescence peaks from two sites demonstrate that high-density bands are generally formed during summer at these sites, which aids the development of future coral paleoclimate and paleoecology chronologies. Regional hydrological proxies showed more consistent responses to El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events than SST proxies, in agreement with instrumental data. Because these corals, like instrumental records, show no consistently large ENSO heat extremes, we find no consistent growth anomalies during historical ENSO events. Our results highlight the unusual nature of recent widespread and severe coral bleaching and establish groundwork for exploring the response of northern GBR corals to past climate variations.

Comparison of sap exudation between Acer pictum and A. rufinerve and the observation of environmental changes

Comparison of sap exudation between <i>Acer pictum</i> and <i>A. rufinerve</i> and the observation of environmental changes

Local knowledge production, transmission, and the importance of village leaders in a network of Tibetan pastoralists coping with environmental change

Changing climate, social institutions, and natural resource management policies are reshaping the dynamics of social- ecological systems globally, with subsistence-based communities likely to be among the most vulnerable to the impacts of global change. These communities' local ecological knowledge is increasingly recognized as a source of adaptive capacity for them as well as a crucial source of information to be incorporated into scientific understanding and policy making. We interviewed Tibetan pastoralists about their observations of environmental changes, their interpretations of the causes of these changes, and the ways in which they acquire and transmit this knowledge. We found that community members tended to agree that changing climate is driving undesirable trends in grassland and livestock health, and some also viewed changing management practices as compounding the impacts of climate change. However, those nominated by their peers as experts on traditional, pastoral knowledge observed fewer changes than did a more heterogeneous group of people who reported more ways in which the environment is changing. Herders mostly discussed these changes among themselves and particularly with village leaders, yet people who discussed environmental changes together did not necessarily hold the same knowledge of them. These results indicate that members of the community are transferring knowledge of environmental change primarily as a means for seeking adaptive solutions to it, rather than for learning from others, and that local leaders can serve as critical brokers of knowledge transfer within and beyond their communities. This highlights not only the interconnectedness of knowledge, practice, and power, but also points toward the important role that local governance can have in helping communities cope with the impacts of global change.

A Community-Based Approach to Mapping Gwich'in Observations of Environmental Changes in the Lower Peel River Watershed, NT

In Canada's western Arctic climate change is driving rapid ecological changes. Ongoing and locally-driven environmental monitoring, in which systematic observations of environmental conditions are recorded and synthesized, is required to understand and respond to climate change and other human impacts. Indigenous peoples' traditional ecological knowledge is increasingly used as the basis for regional monitoring, as there is a need for detailed, place-specific information that is consistent with local ways of understanding and interacting with the environment. In this project, participatory multimedia mapping was used with Teetł'it Gwich'in land users and youth from Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories, Canada to record information about local environmental conditions and changes. Gwich'in monitors made trips on the land to document environmental conditions and changes using geotagged photo and video observations. Subsequently, land users provided detailed information about each observation in follow-up interviews, which were added to a web-based map displaying participants' photos and videos. In this paper, we present the outcomes from the first year of research, explore the diverse types of knowledge this approach can contribute to environmental monitoring, and identify areas of convergence between traditional ecological knowledge and scientific research in the Arctic. Our work shows that this approach can make an important contribution to monitoring environmental changes associated with climate change in a way that is locally relevant and culturally appropriate.

Measuring perceptions of climate change in northern Alaska: pairing ethnography with cultural consensus analysis

Given current and projected warming trends in the Arctic and the important role played by subsistence hunting and fishing in the life of northern rural communities, it is increasingly important to document local observations of climate change and its impacts on livelihood practices. We describe ethnographic research exploring local observations of climate changes and related impacts on subsistence fisheries in three Inupiat communities in northwest Alaska and six Athabascan communities in the Yukon River drainage. We found consistent agreement among perceptions concerning a broad range of environmental changes affecting subsistence practices in these communities. These observations of environmental changes are not experienced in isolation but within the context of accompanying social changes that are continually reshaping rural Alaskan communities and subsistence economies. In this paper we reflect on our research approach combining multiple methods of inquiry. Participant observation and semidirected interviews provided the conceptual framework for broadening our focus from climate and environmental change to community residents’ understanding of climate change in the context of their holistic human-environment worldview. Cultural consensus analysis allowed us to assess the extent to which perceptions of change are shared among hunters and fishers within and between villages and regions and to identify those phenomena occurring or experienced at smaller scales. Reflecting on this multimethods approach, we highlight important questions that have emerged about how we understand, synthesize, and represent local knowledge, especially as it is used in regulatory or management arenas.

Changing Daily Wind Speeds on Alaska’s North Slope: Implications for Rural Hunting Opportunities

Because of their reliance on the harvest of fish and game, Alaskan rural communities have experienced a variety of impacts from climate change, the effects of which are amplified at high latitudes. We collaborated with hunters from the coastal community of Wainwright, Alaska, to document their observations of environmental change (e.g., sea ice, wind, temperature) and the implications of those changes for opportunities to hunt bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) during spring and caribou (Rangifer tarandus) during summer. We integrated hunter observations on wind with statistical analysis of daily wind speed data collected in the nearby community of Barrow, Alaska, between 1971 and 2010 to characterize changes in the number of days with suitable hunting conditions. Hunters in Wainwright currently observe fewer days than in previous decades with wind conditions suitable for safely hunting bowhead whales and caribou. The statistical analysis of wind speed data supported these conclusions and suggested that the annual windows of opportunity for hunting each species have decreased by up to seven days since 1971. This study demonstrates the potential power of collaboration between local communities and researchers to characterize the societal impacts of climate change. Continued collaborative research with residents of rural northern Alaskan communities could produce knowledge and develop tools to help rural Alaskans adapt to novel social-ecological conditions.

Subregional differences in Australian climate risk perceptions: coastal versus agricultural areas of the Hunter Valley, NSW

‘Environmental cognitive stress’ a hybrid model combining environmental stress and cognitive determinants of pro-environmental behavior is explored among Australians living in contrasting ‘micro’ climates in the same river catchment system. Peoples’ climate risk perceptions are mediated by their connections to local environment, observations of environmental change and personal weather experiences. A longitudinal study randomly sampled 1,162 Hunter Valley coastal and rural residents in New South Wales. Telephone interviewers (2008) recruited lakeside homeowners ‘at risk’ of sea level rise, nearby ‘control’ residents and a comparable farming area group. Follow-up interviews (2011) located 81.5 % of the original sample. Fifty-six items based on the model asked about climate change observations, concerns, impacts and actions. Statistically significant rural–suburban and time differences were found. The rural sample was attuned to conditions affecting agricultural productivity: They worried about drought and heat, saw trees dying and changes to seasons and natural rhythms. They anticipate the impact of water scarcity, conserve water and value protecting plants and animals. Compared to higher elevation residents, lake dwellers observed marine life loss, worry about sea level rise and predict the decline of property values. Across time, all groups’ perceptions of warming indicators declined. Concerns and impacts were high and generally stayed high, as did actions related to energy use. No differences emerged in beliefs about climate warming. Climate change observations, along with concerns and actions, have important implications for the environmental cognitive stress model. Overall, dynamic changes in residents’ understandings are related to a changing policy environment, the vicissitudes of climate debates and weather experiences, including extreme swings from inundation to drought.

Combining Environmental Factors and Agriculturalists’ Observations of Environmental Changes in the Traditional Terrace System of the Amalfi Coast (Southern Italy)

Terraces are traditional engineered ecosystems that affect the hydro-geological equilibrium, slope stability, and local communities. The aims of this paper are (i) identifying environmental factors that affect terrace stability in the Amalfi Coast, (ii) defining agriculturalists' observations on environmental changes within that system and (iii) exploring potentiality of these observations to better define conservation strategies. All available data on physical and ecological factors recognized to affect the terrace system were collected and analyzed. Interviews were conducted with agriculturalists to obtain long-term observations on environmental factors that interact with this system. Landslides are more frequent where rainfall is high and during winter. Fires have an uneven annual distribution, with higher frequency during summers. Agriculturalists detailed complex interactions among environmental factors, economic elements, and terraces. These observations represent a valuable resource for defining causes and effects of abandonment and for better addressing conservation strategies.

Satellite observations of environmental changes from the Tonga volcano eruption in the southern tropical Pacific

Satellite measurements from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Aqua were used to study changes of the ocean and atmosphere following the eruption of a submarine volcano in March 2009 in the southern tropical Pacific. Significant increase of water turbidity was observed in an area of ∼368 km2 near the location of the eruption due to the deposition of volcanic ash. In the ocean region close to the volcanic eruption, the diffuse attenuation coefficient at a wavelength of 490 nm, K d(490), increased from ∼0.025 to 0.16 m−1 before and after the volcanic eruption. Within two weeks of the event, the coverage of the ash-laden waters decreased to ∼30 km2, and after four weeks the satellite-measured marine environment parameters returned back to the pre-eruption condition. The normalized water-leaving reflectance spectra, derived from the combined near-infrared (NIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) atmospheric correction algorithm for the ash-laden water, show some unique optical features, different from those of the sediment-dominated turbid waters, river plume waters or other productive waters. No significant sea surface temperature (SST) change was detected from satellite measurements near the eruption site. Volcanic ash plumes in the atmosphere were observed moving north-eastward following the ocean winds on 18 March 2009. The aerosol optical thickness increased from 0.06 on the previous day to 0.25 at a location ∼60 km north-east of the volcanic eruption site.

Observations of environmental changes and potential dietary impacts in two communities in Nunavut, Canada

Inuit from communities across the Arctic are still existing in subsistence living. Hunting, fishing and gathering is an important part of the culture and the harvested 'country food' provides sources of nutrients invaluable to maintaining the health of the populations. However, Inuit are voicing their concerns on how observed climate change is impacting on their traditional life. The objective of this study was to report on observed climate changes and how they affect the country food harvest in two communities in the Canadian Arctic. The nutritional implications of these changes are discussed and also how the communities need to plan for adaptations. A total of 17 adult participants from Repulse Bay and Kugaaruk, Nunavut were invited to participate. Participants were selected using purposeful sampling methods selecting the most knowledgeable community members for the study. Inuit Elders, hunters, processors of the animals, and other community members above the age of 18 years were selected for their knowledge of harvesting and the environment. Two-day bilingual focus groups using semi-directed, unstructured questions were held in each community to discuss perceived climate changes related to the access and availability of key species. Key topics of focus included ice, snow, weather, marine mammals, land mammals, fish, species ranges, migration patterns, and quality and quantity of animal populations. Maps were used to pinpoint harvesting locations. A qualitative analysis categorizing strategy was used for analysis of data. This strategy involves coding data in order to form themes and to allow for cross-comparison analysis between communities. Each major animal represented a category; other categories included land, sea, and weather. Results were verified by the participants and community leaders. Three themes emerged from the observations: (1) ice/snow/water; (2) weather; and (3) changes in species. Climate change can affect the accessibility and availability of the key species of country foods including caribou, marine mammals, fish, birds and plants. Various observations on relationship between weather and population health and distributions of the animal/plant species were reported. While many of the observations were common between the two communities, many were community specific and inconsistent. Participants from both communities found that climate change was affecting the country food harvest in both positive and negative ways. Key nutrients that could be affected are protein, iron, zinc, n-3 fatty acids, selenium and vitamins D and A. Community members from Repulse Bay and Kugaaruk have confirmed that climate change is affecting their traditional food system. Local and regional efforts are needed to plan for food security and health promotion in the region, and global actions are needed to slow down the process of climate change.

Observations of Environmental Change in Cuba

Observations of Environmental Change in Cuba Lisa Davis, David M. Brommer, and Enrique Rodriquez-Loeches Diez-Argüelles Introduction Analysis of global processes of change at the regional scale is vitally important to not only better predict and prepare for change occurring at the regional scale but also to better understand the drivers of change, as they tend to be spatially and temporally complex. The importance of regional analyses to questions of globalization, development, and environmental change in the Caribbean and the Southeastern United States has been recognized (Torres 2005), as have the importance of connecting regional scale changes occurring in the Southeastern United States to global and transnational processes (Lecce and Alderman 2004). Comparative geography, as a means of analysis, is a useful way to explore the economic, social, cultural, and environmental trajectories of two locations that share certain historical and physical commonalities. Through comparative analysis diverging and converging paths of socio-cultural and environmental change can be identified and new insight gained concerning the impacts of ongoing change, as well as future directions of change. Moseley (2005) exemplified the comparative geographic technique in his comparison of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Southeastern United States. In the following, we discuss observations of ongoing environmental change occurring in the Caribbean nation of Cuba made during a trip to Cuba in May 2008 and highlight some of the environmental changes that are taking place both in Cuba and the Southeastern United States. Why Cuba? At first glance there may appear to be few similarities between the Southeastern United States and a socialist island nation located in the Caribbean, but the two locations have many similarities, including being locations of civil wars in the past, having agricultural histories that include plantation agriculture of sugar cane and tobacco, having temperate climates, and their geographic proximity to each other. Gamble (2004) also noted connections between Caribbean nations and the Southeastern United States extending back to the 1700s through a variety of socio-economic, political, and cultural processes, as well as the environment and physical geography, in essence viewing the Caribbean and the Southeastern United States as a region not defined by [End Page 84] political boundaries but by similar physical and socio-economic traits. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Political mural, with Che Guevara at the forefront, that reads, "of these men a town begins." It is not our intention to present an exhaustive discussion of environmental change in Cuba or to discuss all of the social, cultural, and natural processes responsible. But instead to discuss major environmental changes taking place in Cuba and to identify the environmental changes that are similar to those experienced in the Southeastern U.S., shedding light on processes of global environmental change relevant to the region as a whole. Ongoing environmental change in Cuba largely stems from the liberalization of specific sectors of the Cuban economy and regional climate variability. Our observations, therefore, focus on these vectors of change. Socio-Economic Change and Resulting Urban and Physical Landscape Change Cuba's cultural and physical landscapes have abundant visual reminders of Cuba's socialist government (Figure 1), history with the former Soviet Union and the United States (Figure 2), and complex relationship with the United States (Figure 3). Equally as tangibly represented in the cultural and physical landscape are examples of social, economic, and cultural change affecting the physical environment. As might be expected, some of the socio-cultural drivers of environmental change in Cuba are similar to those occurring in many Caribbean nations, but others are relatively unique to Cuba because they are related to liberalization of the tourism and agricultural economies. As is common in many locations in the Caribbean, growth in the tourism industry has had direct impacts on the environment. Most evident of these is the conversion of natural beaches and coastlines into large resorts for packaged tourism. There are roughly 300 Cuban beaches (Sainsbury 2006) used by tourists, mainly from Europe, including Spain, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany but also [End Page 85] Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 2. Combining Soviet and U.S. cultural representations in Cuba, a Soviet Lada drives on the Malécon...

The Effects of Environmental Change on an Arctic Native Community: Evaluation Using Local Cultural Perceptions

The Effects of Environmental Change on an Arctic Native CommunityEvaluation Using Local Cultural Perceptions Jerry McBeath (bio) and Carl E. Shepro (bio) Much is known about environmental changes in the Arctic over the last generation. Since the exploration for and development of oil and gas resources at Prudhoe Bay in 1968, a host of studies, both natural and social scientific, have focused on environmental changes and impacts.1 The advent of concern about climate change in the 1990s has intensified interest in the American Arctic, where evidence of climate warming effects is abundant. Teams of natural and social scientists have explored these changes, too.2 With few exceptions, however, Arctic residents and particularly the Inupiat Eskimos have figured in these studies as passive markers of change. Their observations about the environment appear in reports as anecdotal evidence and are used infrequently to guide understanding of human responses to change and environmental stress, whether natural or anthropogenic in origin. This article joins a small number of studies that take seriously the perceptions of community residents and uses them in an attempt to understand a range of environmental changes.3 Cultural perceptions are also known as traditional ecological knowledge (tek), and social scientists increasingly have been interested in what it reveals about the dynamics of change and responses in the life of Indigenous communities. The site of our research is an Inupiat Eskimo village on the Alaska North Slope.4 In 2003 and 2004, we met with forty subsistence hunters and fishers, all of whom had been engaged in subsistence pursuits for at least fifteen years.5 In interviews ranging from one to three hours in length, we listened as they told us how they hunted marine mammals including bowhead whales, walruses, and seals; land mammals including [End Page 44] caribou, moose, wolves, and wolverines; and birds including varieties of geese and ducks. They also explained how they fished for a variety of arctic species and picked berries and gathered greens. The objective of our interview strategy was to capture observations of subsistence hunters and fishers concerning the environment. We did not wish to direct questions or collect information of a quantitative nature on species and habitats. Yet on occasion we did prompt respondents by asking whether they had noticed any differences in recent years in such phenomena as sea ice, land conditions, rivers and lakes, snow, wind, temperature, air quality, and the physical conditions of the species hunted or fished for.6 This article describing our research unfolds in two substantive parts. First, we present what subsistence hunters and fishers observed concerning changes to seas, lands, and inland lakes and rivers. Next, we mention changes of weather and climate, such as precipitation, wind, temperature, and air quality. Then we describe what hunters and fishers had to say regarding the condition of the species they pursued and the observation of any new (or absent) species. Second, we discuss the factors that respondents mentioned as likely to have brought about or influenced the changes they noticed. Four factors were emphasized most often: oil and gas exploration and development activities, climate change, toxic contamination, and natural cycles. In this part of the article we also discuss how village residents have responded to observed changes, both individually and through agencies, organizations, and institutions in the village and region. We conclude with a summary and commentary on the value of cultural perceptions in informing us of the community impact of environmental changes. Observations of Environmental Changes Some of our respondents, approximately 30 percent, engaged in almost all types of subsistence activities. They did not participate in the wage economy of the village, which has limited full- and part-time jobs for residents, and those jobs require technical qualifications not easily met in a small village. Most of our respondents participated in hunting and fishing but not whaling or berry picking. As a result we have more observations about land and inland freshwater conditions than those of the seas and sea ice, to which we turn. [End Page 45] Ocean Changes Residents of the village live inland, off the bank of a tributary to the Colville River that flows into the Arctic Ocean. They see the...

Identification of Environment Chase in Surround of Sermo Reservoir; and the Influence Possibility for Function and at the Age of Reservoi

Sermo reservoir is the only one belongs to Yogyakarta Special Province; it is relatively a new reservoir with the area of 1.9 kilometer square and its capacity of 25 million cubic meter: It started to operate since 1996 as flood control, irigation, water supply, tourism and fishery purposes. As a reservoir it could be considered to be a manmade lake, as its condition nearly similar to a lake. Since it operated (even during construction period) there were some significant environmental changes within the reservoir and in the area around the reservoir due to the human activities. These changes could threat the sustainability of the reservoir itselfThis research aims to identiflr the human activities living around the reservoir and visitors coming to the area, and to evaluate the potensial of the activities to produce wastes which is discharging in into the reservoir; which may threat the sustainability of the reservoir: The observatorium in the field has been conducted in the area of the reservoir and its sorrounding. I t was firund fiom the observation that activities o f fishery using net (karamba), tourism altogether with its facilities, land use around the reservoir for agriculture purposes, mining of class C ore, have given a lot of contribution to wastes (liquid and solids) and sediments into the reservoir: Those activities may cause water quality of the reservoir lo decrease as well as reducing the reservoir depth. Those situation was observed in the northern and north western parts of the reservoir Water quality degradation of the reservoir may threat reservoir as source of domestic water supply, while the sedimentation may reduce the life time of the reservoir The fishery and tourism activities was estimated as a main cause of water quality degradation, beside agricultural and domestic wastes originated from sattlement area around the reservoir: Sediments coming into the reservoir are derived fiom transported and movement of materials from land slide occuring around the reservoir; due to distruction of land in constructing the relatively new ring-road close to the shore line of the reservoir: Of course, the sediment is also coming from rivers enteringdie reservoir. Sermo reservoir is a relatively young reservoir; the early observation of environmental changes of the reservoir could hopely be used as indicator to study ecological changes of the area within and around of the reservoir; and could be used as a comparison to other reservoirs, as well as basic environmental management of the reservoir and its surrounding.

Fluorescence and the structure of proteins XXII. Fluorescence of aminotyrosyl residues formed in ribonuclease A

1. 1.|Tyrosyl residues on ribonuclease A were nitrated with tetranitromethane and then reduced to aminotyrosyl residues. By variation of reaction conditions and degree of exposure of tyrosyl residues it was possible to convert from 1 to all 6 tyrosyl to aminotyrosyl residues. 2. 2.|At the lower levels of 1–3 aminated tyrosyl residues/molecule the change in conformation seemed minor and 70% of the enzymatic activity was retained. When the three buried tyrosyl residues or all six residues were aminated only 5% of the enzymatic activity was retained. 3. 3.|Titration data, susceptibility to urea denaturation, and fluorescence characteristics indicated that some of the aminotyrosyl residues were buried in the interior and others were exposed on the surface of the protein. On the basis of the activation/ emission wavelengths it was possible to distinguish buried (288/320 nm) and exposed (288/365–395 nm) aminotyrosyl residues as well as exposed tyrosyl residues (275–305 nm). 4. 4.|The modification of specific tyrosyl residues on a protein to aminotyrosyl residues appears to have some promise for observation of changes in environment of the residues that accompany various conformational changes by monitoring the fluorescence.