Municipal sustainable development possibilities along the US-Mexico border: an interdisciplinary evaluation effort

After 15 years of created, the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission (BECC, in Spanish COCEF, Comisión de Cooperación Ecológica Fronteriza) is interested in measuring sustainability in the Mexican municipalities along the US-Mexico border. BECC is a bi-national organization created by the Governments of United States and Mexico to help conserve, protect and enhance the environment in the region. This assessment of municipal sustainability helps understand the impact of the BECC actions and guide plans and projects on the region. Sustainability is evaluated through a series of indices. Each one is the result of comparative interpretation of indicators based on a graphic display of weighted interactions of environmental, social, and economic nature. The assessment is conducted through workshops with a group of experts in BECC and Utah State University. Scores, percentages, and rankings are produced by an interactive computer application allowing a stronger and detailed diagnosis for each municipal unit.Peer Reviewe

Adaptive Trading: Experimenting with Unlikely Partners

This is the published version

The megalopolises in East Asia. Comparative study of Chongqing, Sudogwon and Keihanshin

Las megalópolis de la municipalidad de Chongqing en China, el área del Sudogwon en Corea del Sur y la conurbación del Keihanshin en Japón son regiones modernas en las que su desarrollo histórico, su economía globalizada y sus dinámicas socio-espaciales presentan una conjunción perfecta para el estudio comparativo de ciudades en la región de Asia Oriental. El objetivo es exponer, desde una dimensión histórica, descriptiva y experimental, los procesos históricos que han llevado a estas áreas hasta las regiones superpobladas que son hoy en día con el fin de comparar dichos procesos en unas conclusiones finales. Se describen el contexto histórico, la problemática de los usos del suelo, la contaminación, el desarrollo económico y las infraestructuras necesarias para la correcta dinámica de los territorios mencionados. Los resultados muestran que estas tres áreas han crecido de forma paralela y con similitudes entre las que destacan el continuo y desmesurado incremento de población y vivienda, el desarrollo de infraestructuras clave o la fuerte inversión llevada a cabo por los estados en todas ellas. No obstante, la creación de la presa de las Tres Gargantas en Chongqing, la descentralización de la ciudad de Seúl en el Sudogwon o las inversiones en el Keihanshin tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial han sido características fundamentales para entender la dinámica de las regiones en la actualidad.The megalopolises of the Chongqing municipality in China, the Sudogwon area in South Korea and the Keihanshin conurbation in Japan are modern regions in which their historical development, globalized economy and socio-spatial dynamics present a perfect combination for the comparative study of cities in East Asia. The aim is to explain, from a historical, descriptive and experimental dimension, the historical processes that have led these areas to the overpopulated regions that are nowadays in order to compare these processes in final conclusions. The difficulties of pollution and land uses or the required transport and infrastructures for the correct dynamics of the aforementioned territories are described among others. The results show that these three areas have grown in a parallel way and with similarities among which stand out the continuous and excessive increase of population and housing, the development of key infrastructures or the strong investment carried out by the states in all of them. However, the creation of the Three Gorges Dam in Chongqing, the decentralization of the city of Seoul in Sudogwon or the investments in Keihanshin after the Second World War have been essential features to understand the currently dynamics of each region.Universidad de Sevilla. Grado en Estudios de Asia Orienta

Spatial variability in plant and soil properties on New Zealand seabird islands, and the effects of introduced rats

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2014Seabirds are ecosystem engineers with two major impacts on island ecosystems: they bring large quantities of marine nutrients to the terrestrial environment in the form of guano, carcasses, feathers, eggs, and spilled food, and they disturb the soil surface. Burrowing seabirds can denude the soil surface of all seedlings and leaf litter, plowing them under and loosening the soil. However, seabirds are colonial, and burrows are not evenly spaced over the surface of an island, producing spatial variability within a single island that might reveal how seabird activities control island ecosystem function. In this dissertation I review seabird island ecology in general, focusing on how introduced predators have reduced seabird populations, interrupting seabird activities and altering island ecology. I then describe three studies designed to quantify the effects of seabirds on soil and plant properties within individual islands and compare these patterns across islands varying in seabird density, especially where seabirds have declined because of invasive rats (Rattus spp.). I used geostatistics to quantify the spatial variance in seabird burrows and various soil and plant properties (including soil and leaf N) within six islands of low, intermediate, and high burrow density. I found that burrow density was not a good predictor at within-island scales, and though the variance of some soil properties (pH, soil δ¹⁵N, and soil compaction) peaked on intermediate islands as expected, variables reflecting the soil N cycle (net ammonification and net nitrification potential, NH₄⁺ and NO₃⁻) continued to increase in variability on very highdensity seabird islands. Ecosystem properties clearly responded to seabirds at different spatial scales, possibly because seabirds deposit guano at different spatial scales than they dig. Using data within three rat-invaded and three rat-free islands, I used structural equ tation models to examine seabird influences on N cycling. I found some mechanisms that were constant across islands, such as seabird-related decreases in soil water and pH, but other mechanisms differed between invaded and uninvaded islands, suggesting that rats alter seabird control over island N cycles, thus manifesting an alternative island state which may or may not be reversible. Finally, I investigated whether plants can use ammonia (NH₃ gas) volatilized from seabird islands, measuring NH₃ concentrations across 10 islands and within a single island where I also experimentally manipulated plant N demand. Both rat-invaded and rat-free islands produced meaningful concentrations of NH₃ gas, and multiple plant species including Melicytus ramiflorus and Coprosma macrocarpa used it for up to 20% and 30% (respectively) of their total leaf N. Plant N demand modified NH₃ uptake, suggesting that plants located not on seabird colonies, but downwind, may benefit the most from this gaseous N source. I suggest that future studies attempt to estimate thresholds of burrow density at which seabird-controlled ecosystem properties can recover from rat invasion.Chapter 1. General introduction -- Chapter 2. The state of seabird island ecology: current synthesis and global outlook -- Chapter 3. Seabirds as agents of spatial heterogeneity on New Zealand's offshore islands -- Chapter 4. Rat invasion alters seabird control over island nitrogen cycles -- Chapter 5. Foliar uptake of seabird-derived ammonia on New Zealand's offshore islands -- Chapter 6. General conclusion

A Comparison of Land Use and Nonpoint Source Pollution in the Cedar River Tributaries in Iowa

A comparative water analysis on major Cedar River tributaries was conducted to determine nutrient and sediment concentration, nutrient loads, and watershed land use during the spring and summer of 2002. The Cedar River watershed is located on a primarily agricultural land, and has a drainage area of20,242 km2. The watershed extends from southern Minnesota to southeastern Iowa, where it joins the Iowa River which subsequently flows into the Mississippi River. Past studies have concluded that the Cedar River contributes much of the nutrients entering the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. These nutrients then contribute to the zone of hypoxia in the Gulf. From April 28, 2002 until September 28, 2002, weekly samples were taken from six of the eight major tributaries that contribute flow to the Cedar River. Discharge data were obtained from continuously monitoring U.S. Geological Survey stations. Measured water quality parameters were those found in highly agricultural watersheds, including nitrate-N, total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) and suspended sediments in the water column, and sediment phosphorus in the bedload. Watershed land use data were obtained from 2002 Landsat satellite photography. The results of this study indicate that of the six tributaries studied, Black Hawk Creek had the highest average nitrate-N (8.2 mg/L), sediment P (355.1 µgig), and suspended sediment (438.1 mg/L) concentrations. Black Hawk Creek also had the highest percentage of row crop agriculture (82%). Beaver Creek had the highest average total dissolved P concentrations (136.5 µg/L). This study concluded that the most impaired water body entering the Cedar River during this investigation was Black Hawk Creek. Regression analysis between water quality variables and land use indicates that water quality is dependent on certain watershed characteristics. The most statistically significant relationship was the negative correlation between nitrate-N concentrations and watershed areas (p value = 0.0078). The other highly significant relationship was the negative correlation between suspended sediment concentration and Conservation Reserve Protection (CRP) acreage (p value= 0.0151). Future studies of water quality and watershed land uses should take into consideration more than row crop percentages. Also, suspended sediment load should be quantitatively investigated