Mirjam A F Ros-Tonen, James Douglas Langston, James Reed
{"title":"Editorial: Semi-quantitative Methods to Unravel Landscape Discourses and Imaginaries for Integrated and Inclusive Landscape Governance.","authors":"Mirjam A F Ros-Tonen, James Douglas Langston, James Reed","doi":"10.1007/s00267-024-01993-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00267-024-01993-3","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":543,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Management","volume":" ","pages":"1-3"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141299604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sheldon A. Blaauw, André Broekman, James W. Maina, Wynand J. v. d. M. Steyn, William A. Haddad
{"title":"Life Cycle Assessment of an Avocado: Grown in South Africa—Enjoyed in Europe","authors":"Sheldon A. Blaauw, André Broekman, James W. Maina, Wynand J. v. d. M. Steyn, William A. Haddad","doi":"10.1007/s00267-024-02009-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00267-024-02009-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Food production is known to have significant environmental impacts, with the main contributors residing in the farming and transportation life cycle phases. Of the various food products transported around the world, avocados have increasingly gained attention as a high-commodity superfood. Avocados require specific climatic and agricultural conditions for farming, with the most fertile land and conditions located outside Europe. Consequently, most avocados consumed in Europe are imported over vast geographical distances, with little information available to quantify the environmental impacts of this imported superfood. This paper aims to present the most detailed life cycle assessment results of an avocado cultivated, grown and harvested in the Limpopo Province of South Africa and exported to the European market for sale and consumption. A life cycle assessment was developed for the farming, harvesting, handling, packaging, ripening, transportation, and carbon sequestration potential of the avocado, and it was used to conduct a holistic life cycle assessment. Input data was obtained through an 18-month data collection campaign across the relevant stakeholders. A baseline ‘business-as-usual’ scenario is focused on throughout this study, and scope for optimisation is identified for each life cycle phase where applicable, accompanied by uncertainty analyses. Results show a total carbon input of 904.85 kg CO<sub>2</sub>e/tonne. Mitigating this, 521.88 kg CO<sub>2</sub>e/tonne is offset, resulting in a net carbon footprint of 382.97 kg CO<sub>2</sub>e/tonne with uncertainty ranges of −23.22 to +58.69 kg CO<sub>2</sub>e/tonne, normalised to 57.45 g CO<sub>2</sub>e/avocado grown in South Africa and sold in Europe. The environmental impacts of the avocado industry under consideration are largely mitigated by the “nature first” philosophy of the farming and logistics enterprises, which have made significant investments in reducing emissions. Sensitivity analyses indicate that implementing large-scale renewable energy, using alternative packaging instead of cardboard, and selling avocados unripened could further enable the farming enterprise to achieve Net Zero objectives. These measures could reduce baseline emissions from 382.97 kg CO<sub>2</sub>e/tonne to a theoretical −68.54 kg CO<sub>2</sub>e/tonne, representing a 117.9% decrease. Although this study does not quantify climate change impacts, qualitative analyses suggest that climate change will have a net negative effect on the avocado industry in South Africa. These regions, typically located in micro-climates, are projected to become wetter and warmer, adversely affecting crop phenology, pest control, road conditions, management complexity, farmer livelihoods, and food security. The study recommends large-scale implementation of the optimisation strategies identified to achieve Net Zero objectives and the development of proactive climate change mitigation strategies to enhance the resilience","PeriodicalId":543,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Management","volume":"74 5","pages":"989 - 1005"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11438827/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141454429","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Missing Piece of the Puzzle: How Different Water-related Public Concerns Contribute to Water Governance in China","authors":"Chen Shen, Zhihang Yuan","doi":"10.1007/s00267-024-02001-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00267-024-02001-4","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Public participation is crucial to improving the performance of water governance systems, especially in a governance model dominated by a top-down hierarchical structure. Public concerns, as a vital form of public participation, have been acknowledged as an essential component in contributing to water governance. However, few studies explore the varying effects of diverse public concerns in leading to different water governance outcomes. This study addresses this gap by exploring the direct and indirect effects of water-related public concerns on water pollution control and governments’ pollution mitigating actions, using citizens’ water-related posts crawled from China’s social media. Results show that public water-related concerns contribute to water governance both through its direct effects on reducing water pollution and indirect effects by promoting policy actions. Specifically, the concerns related to <i>water pollution hazards</i>, <i>water pollution monitoring</i>, <i>prevention products</i>, and <i>water pollution control measures</i> have more positive impacts on water pollution reduction compared to other types of concern. Meanwhile, public concerns demonstrate stronger effects in triggering economic-related and infrastructure-related water pollution mitigation actions. This study provides nuanced insights to understand the role of public participation in improving water governance, the findings of which are insightful to enhance accountability of water governance systems through a bottom-up approach.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":543,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Management","volume":"74 4","pages":"699 - 714"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00267-024-02001-4.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141441914","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Valter M. Azevedo-Santos, Juliana Aparecida Fernandes, Geovana de Souza Andrade, Paula Mendes de Moraes, Anne E. Magurran, Fernando M. Pelicice, Tommaso Giarrizzo
{"title":"An overview of vinasse pollution in aquatic ecosystems in Brazil","authors":"Valter M. Azevedo-Santos, Juliana Aparecida Fernandes, Geovana de Souza Andrade, Paula Mendes de Moraes, Anne E. Magurran, Fernando M. Pelicice, Tommaso Giarrizzo","doi":"10.1007/s00267-024-01999-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00267-024-01999-x","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We review the negative impacts of vinasse, a byproduct of alcohol distillation, on Brazil’s freshwater ecosystems. We found a total of 37 pollution events between the years 1935 and 2023, with this number almost certainly an underestimate due to underreporting and/or unassessed events. Pollution by vinasse occurred both through accidents (e.g., tank failure) and deliberately (i.e., opening of floodgates), although in many cases the causes remain undetermined. All pollution events caused fish kills, with some records reporting negative effects on other organisms as well (i.e., crustaceans and reptiles). Pollution by vinasse, and associated negative effects, was reported for 11 states, with a notable number of cases in São Paulo. Most cases of vinasse pollution and negative impacts on biodiversity were recorded in rivers, followed by streams and reservoirs. Some of the affected river systems harbour threatened freshwater fishes. Hydrological connectivity means that pollution could have propagated along watercourses. Given these consequences of vinasse pollution on biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and services, we recommend a number of remedial actions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":543,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Management","volume":"74 6","pages":"1037 - 1044"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141436535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
João R. L. Puga, Francisco Moreira, Jan J. Keizer, Nelson J. C. Abrantes
{"title":"Immediate Impacts of Wildfires on Ground-dwelling macroinvertebrate Communities under Stones in Mediterranean Oak Forests","authors":"João R. L. Puga, Francisco Moreira, Jan J. Keizer, Nelson J. C. Abrantes","doi":"10.1007/s00267-024-02006-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00267-024-02006-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Wildfires are considered a major disturbance to forest ecosystems in the Mediterranean countries of Southern Europe. Although ground-dwelling macroinvertebrates are crucial to many soil functions, there is a fundamental lack of understanding of how wildfires impact this community in the immediate term and of the role of stones in their survival. Hence, in the present study we assessed the immediate effects of wildfires in the ground-dwelling macroinvertebrate community found under stones by comparing communities in burnt and non-burnt Mediterranean oak forests. Our results revealed that stones allowed the survival of many taxa in the burnt area. However, abundance, richness, diversity, and equitability per stone were significantly lower at the burnt than unburnt sites. Furthermore, the results also showed that richness and abundance increased significantly with increasing stone depth and area, both at the burnt and unburnt sites. Significant changes at the trophic level were observed in the burnt area comparing to the unburnt, particularly a decline in predators. No significant differences were identified concerning habitat associations among taxa. Overall, this study stressed the role of stones as microhabitats and refuge for the ground-dwelling macroinvertebrate community during wildfires.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":543,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Management","volume":"74 4","pages":"684 - 698"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11392986/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141431066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alixandra Underwood, Richard Marcantonio, Danielle Wood, Paola Crippa
{"title":"Interstate Air Pollution Governance in the United States: Exploring Clean Air Act Section 126","authors":"Alixandra Underwood, Richard Marcantonio, Danielle Wood, Paola Crippa","doi":"10.1007/s00267-024-02002-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00267-024-02002-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Air pollution is arguably the most pressing human health concern today, accounting for approximately 7–9 million premature deaths worldwide. In the United States, more than 40% of early deaths caused by air pollution are assessed to be caused by emissions produced by neighboring states. This article examines one of the governance mechanisms used by the U.S. to address this issue: section 126 of the Clean Air Act. Critical factors including case length, evidence used, and case outcome are compiled for the population of section 126 petitions submitted from 2000–2022. This evidence is assessed using comparative case analysis. The findings reinforce two issues with the petition process already identified in the literature–the use of cost as a proxy for significance and the excessive and unclear burden of proof placed on downwind states–adding texture to the latter issue by examining the modeling techniques used by downwind states. This analysis identifies lengthy response timelines as an additional issue and calls to attention the infrequency with which the EPA has formally accepted petitions. Collectively, these issues increase the cost, complexity, and unpredictability of filing a section 126 petition.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":543,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Management","volume":"74 3","pages":"401 - 413"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11306419/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141417134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Emotionality in Transboundary Water: A Case Study of Helmand River.","authors":"Najibullah Loodin","doi":"10.1007/s00267-024-02005-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-024-02005-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>While a substantial body of literature perceives rationality as the only path for negotiations over the use of the transboundary shared watercourse, recent scholarship has unveiled the role of emotion in decision-making processes over the use of the shared water. This research aims to challenge the conventional approach-rationality-by exploring affective dynamics of the riparian nations of the Helmand River (shared between upstream Afghanistan and downstream Iran) and how decisions over the use of the shared Helmand River are ingrained in the emotional dispositions of the riparian nations. Taking an integrated approach combining emotional political ecology and neoclassical realism, this research unravels the intricate emotional dynamics of the riparian nations to the flow of the Helmand River. The staggering increase in water withdrawal-both surface and groundwater resources- coupled with the population growth, and adverse effects of climate changes has stimulated the negative emotional dispositions of the borderland communities- the sufferings of farming communities due to lack of access to water-resulting in water conflict escalation in the Helmand River Basin. Finally, it is asserted that negotiations over the use of Helmand River are considered to be ill-equipped unless emotionality and rationality-a pluralistic approach- are equally weighed or gauged in water allocation and utilization by the co-riparian nations.</p>","PeriodicalId":543,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141316340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Impact of Renewable Energy Development on Regional Carbon Emission Reduction: Based on the Spatio-Temporal Analysis of 30 Provinces in China","authors":"Chuang Li, Xiaofan Yang, Liping Wang","doi":"10.1007/s00267-024-01995-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00267-024-01995-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The development of renewable energy has become an important means for the world to cope with climate change, ensure energy security, and protect the ecological environment. Using the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2013 to 2021, this study used the mediating effect model and the spatial Durbin model (SDM) to explore the mechanism and spatial effects of renewable energy development on China’s regional carbon emission reduction. The results show that: (1) Renewable energy development can help to reduce carbon emission intensity. (2) The results of mechanism analysis show that renewable energy development reduces carbon intensity by improving energy structure, promoting industrial structure optimization, and industrial structure upgrading. (3) The development of renewable energy can not only reduce the local carbon intensity but also have a positive spillover effect on the carbon intensity of neighboring regions. (4) Further analysis shows that the long-term effect of renewable energy development on carbon emissions is greater than the short-term effect. At the same time, the heterogeneity analysis shows that compared with the Yellow River basin, the development of renewable energy has a significant carbon emission reduction effect in the Yangtze River Economic Belt region. Energy-rich areas fall into the “resource curse”, which makes the carbon emission reduction effect of renewable energy development not significant. This paper has certain reference significance for promoting reasonable decomposition between regions and formulating renewable energy development policies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":543,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Management","volume":"74 3","pages":"439 - 460"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141309374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ana Luísa Barros, Diogo Raposo, João David Almeida, Sandra Alcobia, Maria Alexandra Oliveira, Darryl I. MacKenzie, Margarida Santos-Reis
{"title":"Do Mesocarnivores Respond to the Seasonality in Management Practices in an Agroforestry Landscape?","authors":"Ana Luísa Barros, Diogo Raposo, João David Almeida, Sandra Alcobia, Maria Alexandra Oliveira, Darryl I. MacKenzie, Margarida Santos-Reis","doi":"10.1007/s00267-024-02003-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00267-024-02003-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In the Mediterranean, we find a mosaic of natural and cultural landscapes, where a variety of forest management practices created intermediate disturbance regimes that potentially increased biodiversity values. Nonetheless, it is essential to understand the species’ long-term response to the dynamic management in agroecosystems, since the species tolerance to disturbance can change throughout the life cycle. Mammalian carnivores can be sensitive to human disturbance and are an essential part of ecosystems due to their regulatory and community structuring effects. We investigated the spatial response of five mesocarnivores species to spatially- and temporally- varying management practices in an agroforestry landscape. More specifically, we assessed the mesocarnivores’ temporal changes in space use by implementing multi-season occupancy models in a Bayesian framework, using seasonal camera-trapping surveys for a 2-year period. All species had a weak response of local extinction to forestry management and livestock grazing pressure. For forest-dwelling species, occupancy was higher where productivity of perennial vegetation was high, while colonization between seasons was positively associated with vegetation cover. For habitat generalist species, we found that occupancy in the wet season increased with the distance to cattle exclusion plots. Most of these plots are pine stands which are subject to forestry interventions during winter. During the 2-year period we found seasonal fluctuations in occupancy for all species, with an overall slight decrease for three mesocarnivore species, while for the two forest-dwelling species there was an increase in occupancy between years. The weak species response to management practices supports the importance of traditional management for upholding a diverse mesocarnivore community in agroforestry systems but could also reflect these species’ ecological plasticity and resilience to disturbance.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":543,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Management","volume":"74 4","pages":"636 - 647"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11392974/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141292990","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Factors Shaping Public Support for More Carbon Capture and Storage Projects in the United States","authors":"Mahelet G. Fikru, Nhien Nguyen","doi":"10.1007/s00267-024-02000-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00267-024-02000-5","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study contributes to the literature examining public acceptance of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in the US. The examination of factors that shape public support for CCS projects provides policymakers with insights to address public concerns, balance CCS development with public sentiments, and make informed decisions about optimal locations and timing. Based on a nationally representative survey on 1850 respondents, the study finds that in the US, there is very low familiarity (6.4%) regarding CCS technology and some limited opposition (11.5%) to increased CCS development. Regression results suggest that support for increased CCS projects in the US is influenced by perceptions of technical and social risks (leakage and community danger, respectively) but not cost of living risks, perceptions of environmental and economic benefits, familiarity with the technology, confidence in government regulations, and a desire for the US to lead in CCS. We fail to find the ‘Not-in-My-Backyard’ effect, and individuals supporting the development of more CCS in their states also support it at a national level. Understanding these factors helps policymakers anticipate challenges in implementing CCS initiatives and allows for the development of strategies to address concerns.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":543,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Management","volume":"74 3","pages":"425 - 438"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141282654","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}