Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Environmental Studies
Comment on ‘Carbon intensity of corn ethanol in the United States: state of the science’
Published: 2021-05-06
Subjects: Agricultural and Resource Economics, Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Science, Agriculture, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Life Sciences, Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Energy Policy, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Policy, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geography, Life Sciences, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Plant Sciences, Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Soil Science, Sustainability
Scully et al [1] in their recent contribution review and revise past life cycle assessments (LCAs) of corn-grain ethanol’s carbon (C) intensity to suggest that a current ‘central best estimate’ is considerably less than all prior estimates. Their conclusion emerges from selection and recombination of sector-specific greenhouse gas emission predictions from disparate studies in a way that [...]
COVID-19 and Small-scale fisheries in Africa: Impacts on livelihoods and the fish value chain in Cameroon and Liberia
Published: 2021-04-14
Subjects: Environmental Studies, Social and Behavioral Sciences
This study explores the emerging impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on coastal small-scale fishing communities in Cameroon and Liberia, where we conducted qualitative interviews with small-scale fish harvesters, fish processors, traders, and consumers. We found that the implementation of COVID-19 safety and health protocol initiatives impacted the entire fish value chain, which contributed to [...]
Conserving rhinos by legal trade: Insights from a choice experiment on rhino horn consumers
Published: 2021-04-11
Subjects: Agricultural and Resource Economics, Economic Theory, Economics, Environmental Studies, Social and Behavioral Sciences
A legal rhino horn trade is suggested to reduce poaching. To examine this proposition we conducted a choice experiment with 345 rhino horn consumers in Vietnam investigating their preferences for legality, source, price and peer experience of medicinal efficacy as attributes in their decision to purchase rhino horn. We calculated consumers’ willingness to pay for each attribute level. Consumers [...]
Supporting actionable science for environmental policy: Advice for funding agencies from decision makers
Published: 2021-04-01
Subjects: Environmental Policy, Environmental Studies, Life Sciences, Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Successful incorporation of scientific knowledge into environmental policy and decisions is a significant challenge. Although studies on how to bridge the knowledge-action gap have grown rapidly over the last decade, few have investigated the roles, responsibilities, and opportunities for funding bodies to meet this challenge. In this study we present a set of criteria gleaned from interviews [...]
Applying the FEW nexus concept at the local scale
Published: 2021-04-01
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Social and Behavioral Sciences
The food-energy-water (FEW) nexus describes interactions among domains that yield gains or tradeoffs when analyzed together rather than independently. In a project about renewable energy in rural Alaska communities, we applied this concept to examine the implications for sustainability and resilience. The FEW nexus provided a useful framework for identifying the cross-domain benefits of renewable [...]
Hutchinsons ecological niche for individuals
Published: 2021-03-31
Subjects: Animal Studies, Environmental Studies, Social and Behavioral Sciences
We here develop a concept of an individualized niche in analogy to Hutchison’s population-level concept of the ecological niche. We consider the individualized (ecological) niche as the range of environmental conditions under which a particular individual has expected lifetime reproductive success of ≥1. Our concept is essentially ecological primarily in the sense of fit of individual phenotypes [...]
Temporal Change Detection Analysis of Monroe County, NY tree cover from 2009 to 2017
Published: 2021-03-16
Subjects: Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Studies, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Other Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Urban Studies and Planning
Forests provide many ecosystem services which are enjoyed by nearby residing communities. This includes pollution and flood mitigation, carbon sequestration, oxygen production, food, fuel, education, recreation, and aesthetics. These ecosystem services also come from urban and suburban forests. Urban ecosystems, specifically urban green spaces services have been noted to improve human health [...]
Wildlife gardening: an urban nexus of social and ecological relationships
Published: 2021-03-04
Subjects: Biodiversity, Environmental Studies, Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Biodiversity in urban environments continues to decline, alongside diminution of human connections with nature and community. An integrated ethic and practice of caring for one’s human and ecological community could help address these issues. Here, we describe how wildlife gardening can be such a pathway. We snapshot related social dynamics and human wellbeing benefits, highlighting a case study [...]
COVID-19 restrictions and recreational fisheries in Ontario, Canada: preliminary insights from an online angler survey
Published: 2020-12-18
Subjects: Biology, Environmental Studies, Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
The COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding public health mitigation strategies have altered many facets of human life. And yet, little is known about how public health measures have impacted complex socio-ecological systems such as recreational fisheries. Using a web-based online snowball survey, we targeted resident anglers in Ontario, Canada, to obtain preliminary insight on how the pandemic has [...]
Land use-induced spillover: priority actions for protected and conserved area managers
Published: 2020-11-23
Subjects: Agricultural and Resource Economics, Biodiversity, Communication, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Policy, Environmental Studies, Geography, Health Policy, Immunity, Immunology and Infectious Disease, Immunology of Infectious Disease, International and Area Studies, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Other Immunology and Infectious Disease, Other Medicine and Health Sciences, Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration, Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation, Population Biology, Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration, Public Health, Public Policy, Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Veterinary Medicine
Earth systems are under ever greater pressure from human population expansion and intensifying natural resource use. Consequently, novel micro-organisms that cause disease are emerging, dynamics of pathogens in wildlife are altered by land use change bringing wildlife and people in closer contact. We provide a brief overview of the processes governing ‘land use-induced spillover’, emphasising [...]
Reducing land use-induced spillover risk by fostering landscape immunity: policy priorities for conservation practitioners
Published: 2020-10-15
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Animal Studies, Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Studies, Forest Sciences, Immunity, Immunology and Infectious Disease, Immunology of Infectious Disease, Immunopathology, International and Area Studies, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Parasitology, Population Biology, Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration, Science and Technology Studies, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Systems Biology
Anthropogenic land use change is the major driver of zoonotic pathogen spillover from wildlife to humans. In response to the global spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (the agent of COVID-19 disease), there have been renewed calls for landscape conservation as a disease preventive measure. While protected areas are a vital conservation tool for wildlands, more than 50% of habitable land is now [...]
Transformation and endurance of Indigenous hunting: Kadazandusun-Murut bearded pig hunting practices amidst oil palm expansion and urbanization in Sabah, Malaysia
Published: 2020-10-01
Subjects: Environmental Studies, Social and Behavioral Sciences
**This article has now been published in the journal People and Nature. The final, peer-reviewed version of the article can be found at: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10250** [...]
A fine balance: specialized questioning techniques and their use in conservation
Published: 2020-10-01
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Studies, Life Sciences, Other Social and Behavioral Sciences, Research Methods in Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Conservationists measuring noncompliance with rules about the exploitation of natural resources often need to ask sensitive questions. However, respondents can introduce bias through distorting their answers to direct questions, due to social norms and/or the risk of legal sanctions. Specialized Questioning Techniques (SQTs) are often a more suitable approach to counteracting respondent bias, as [...]
GoogleTrends reflects the abundance of the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus): a call for the web-based surveillance of invasive alien vector species
Published: 2020-09-23
Subjects: Entomology, Environmental Studies, Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) is becoming widespread in Europe, where it can transmit some major arboviruses, including Chikungunya and Dengue. While surveillance initiatives are being implemented and harmonized between states, the spread of A.albopictus is outrunning them and cost-effective surveillance tools are needed. In this study, we tested whether on-line searches on Google [...]
Shifting to broad patterns of interests in conservation culturomics with Bayesian dynamic factor analysis
Published: 2020-09-16
Subjects: Environmental Studies, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Biological invasions are a major driver of global change and the target of many public policies. However, we still do not know whether they attract the interest of laypeople and motivate them to know more about this topic. We modeled the temporal evolution of on-line searches about general terms regarding invasive alien species in Italy, on Wikipedia and Google. Wikipedia pages about biological [...]