An Institutional Analysis of Environmental Pollution Disputes in Taiwan: Cases of 'Self-Relief'

During the late 1980s and early 1990s in Taiwan, people's protests against environmental pollution often took the form of "self-relief," meaning that they attempted to fight polluters using their own resources, without relying on legal or administrative procedures. Why did such an extreme form of disputes become so widespread? What institutional changes did these movements bring about? These questions are analyzed using the analytical framework of "law and economics." Our research shows that "self-relief" functioned to a certain extent as a means of realizing quick compensation for victims, and for reflecting the opinions of local people concerning development projects; in addition, it served to promote the formulation of law and administrative systems. However, as it was based on direct negotiations between the parties concerned, the outcome of each dispute only reflected the transient balance of forces, and the experience gained in negotiations was not accumulated as a social norm.Environmental problems, Pollution, Democratization, Taiwan

Gulf Estuarine Research Society 2014 Meeting

Table of Contents: Thank You to Our Sponsors! (p. 3) -- About the Gulf Estuarine Research Society (p. 4) -- Student Travel Award winners (p. 5) -- Abbreviated Schedule (p. 7) -- 2014 Plenary Speaker – Dr. Michael Osland (p. 8) -- 2014 Plenary Speaker – Dr. Maggie Walser (p. 9) -- Full Schedule (p. 10) -- Poster Session Directory (p. 17) -- Oral Presentation Abstracts (p. 21) -- Poster Presentation Abstracts (p. 38) -- Things to Do in Port Aransas (p. 52) -- Greening the Meeting (p. 53) -- Map of University of Texas Marine Science Institute (p. 54)Coastal and Estuarine Research Foundation, Port Aransas, Gulf of Mexico Foundation, Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, Lotek Wireless Fish & Wildlife Monitoring, Sea Grant Mississippi-Alabama, Sea Grant Louisiana, Sea Grant Texas, The University of Austin Marine Science Institute, Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research ReserveMarine Scienc

On the Brink: Chesapeake's Native Oysters

This CBF report finds that Chesapeake Bay oysters are developing natural resistance to the diseases that have so devastated the Bay's oyster population in recent decades and calls for additional sanctuaries to repopulate the species

Achievements and Prospects of Functional Pavement

In order to further promote the development of functional pavement technology, a Special Issue entitled “Achievements and Prospects of Functional Pavement” has been proposed by a group of guest editors. To achieve this objective, the articles included in this Special Issue are related to different aspects of functional pavements, including green roads to decrease carbon emissions, noise, and pollution, safety pavements to increase skid resistance through water drainage and snow removal, intelligent roads for monitoring, power generation, temperature control and management, and durable roads to increase service life with new theories, new design methods, and prediction models, as highlighted in this editorial

Poultry Feeding

PDF pages: 3

2017 Texas Bays and Estuaries Meeting

Program for the 2017 Texas Bays and Estuaries Meeting held in Port Aransas, Texas, April 12-13, 2017.Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, Coastal Bend Bays Foundation, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute, Sea Grant Texas at Texas A&M University, Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, and Mission Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve.Marine Scienc

The Daily Texan

Texas Student Medi

A new species of Phyllophaga Harris from the island of Navassa in the Caribbean (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae)

The small Caribbean island of Navassa (U.S. possession) is unoccupied by humans, but recent surveys have detected a surprising number of endemic (precinctive) invertebrates. A new species of May beetle, Phyllophaga navassa, is here described and compared to the Hispaniolan Phyllophaga fauna

Shell Repair in Geukensia demissa and Predation Preferences of Callinectes sapidus: Do Crabs Target Mussels with Weakened Shells?

Atlantic blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus, are voracious predators that often leave damage on the shells of unconsumed ribbed marsh mussels, Geukensia demissa. The extent of shell damage and size-dependent tradeoffs in marsh mussel growth and repair, as well as the effects of shell damage on crab predation preferences, were determined in this thesis. A preliminary experiment investigated characteristics of damaged mussels in the field. Mussels (n = 30) were collected in the fall of 2011 within two ocean-dominated inlets along the South Carolina coast and were measured for size (length, width, height), area of damage, shell thickness, mass, and strength (crushing resistance). Shell damage was significantly different between inlets and shell repair was evident in damaged mussels. During the summer of 2012 three sizes of field-collected mussels (small: 20-30 mm, medium: 50-60 mm, large: \u3e60 mm) were damaged (undamaged 0%, moderate 33%, extensive 66% shell surface removed), caged in the mid-marsh, and sampled monthly. Changes in mussel characteristics (e.g., shell length, strength), were measured. In most cases, increased damage suppressed growth, however, only medium, moderately-damaged mussels repaired shells. Medium, moderately-damaged mussels also experienced a greater mortality rate, suggesting mussels enter a critical stage around 55 mm with increased energy demands for both growth and repair. Small mussels eschewed repair and focused entirely on growth, as larger sizes create a refuge from predation. Large mussels did not exhibit any signs of shell repair and had minimal growth, possibly instead prioritizing reproduction. A series of wet lab mesocosm experiments and field trials were conducted to determine if blue crabs target damaged mussels. In the wet lab mesocosms, crabs showed a significant preference for damaged and first-touched mussels. Crab consumed damaged mussels in 68% of all successful predation attempts and mussels touched-first in 73% of successful predation attempts. Unsuccessful crabs targeted undamaged mussels first more frequently than successful crabs (55% vs 33%). However, a preference for damaged mussels was not observed consistently in the field and may have been masked by various mitigating factors. Undamaged mussels survived significantly longer than damaged mussels in the mid-marsh but were consumed at equal rates on mudflats, oyster reefs, and in the low-marsh. Mussel survival was greater overall in the mid-marsh with large mussels (\u3e 60 mm) surviving significantly longer than medium (50-60 mm) and small (20-30 mm) mussels. Limited tidally-influenced inundation and densely distributed Spartina alterniflora stems likely increased survival by impeding access of large predators (e.g., blue crabs). The generally thicker shells of larger mussels also will increase predator time and effort required to breach shells successfully and should increase survival rates for large mussels. Both mussels and crabs play a vital role in maintaining healthy salt marsh systems and reductions in either population have dramatic consequences. Salt marshes are structured in part by the top-down control of blue crabs and recent die-offs of Spartina is suspected to be caused by declining blue crab numbers while salt marsh loss due to sea level rise is suspected to be exacerbated by declining mussel numbers. Pollution, overfishing, habitat destruction, and the various effects of climate change (e.g., temperature rise, ocean acidification, sea level rise, etc.) threaten crab and mussel populations. Mussel response to shell damage and the ability of crabs to detect weakened mussels may be increasingly important as environmental conditions deteriorate. Further research should investigate the effect of shell damage on mussel pumping and if changes in pumping influences crab predation. The latitudinal differences in crab and mussel growth and behavior should also be examined, as additional insight into mussel-crab dynamics would be useful for salt marsh conservation