DESIGNING AND TESTING A PARK-BASED VISITOR SURVEY

This technical report is part of a broader national project ‘Systematic and strategic collection and use of visitor information in protected area management’, funded by Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre (STCRC), and conducted in partnership with protected area agencies across Australia. The aim of this report is to provide a systematic approach to using a set of core variables to collect data in a way that can be consistently applied across Australian protected areas. This information is most relevant to park-level management, but is also of central interest for corporate reporting. An associated aim was to develop and test a questionnaire for collecting these data. The questionnaire was developed and tested in collaboration with the WA Department of Environment and Conservation (WA DEC) and Parks Australia (PA). Surveys were conducted in Yanchep National Park, a moderately sized peri-urban park managed by WA DEC, in April 2008 and in Booderee National Park, NSW, which encompasses marine features and a botanic garden, and is managed by Parks Australia (PA), in January 2009. In WA following the survey, a focus group was held with staff to obtain their feedback on the efficacy of the questionnaire. The following recommendations are based on statistical analyses of the results, feedback from the focus group, and the observations of the researchers conducting the surveys

Justifying and resisting public park commercialisation: The battle for Battersea Park

Urban parks have always been contested and contradictory spaces: highly ordered and elitist, yet valued as democratic places and public amenities. In an era of neoliberal austerity there are greater pressures for parks to pay for themselves and the associated commercialisation often exacerbates conflicts between park users and managing authorities. This paper focuses on how their increased use as venues for commercial events affects the publicness of urban parks. This issue is explored via the case of Battersea Park in London which was used as a venue for Formula E motor races in 2015 and 2016. These events disrupted park access during race weekends, but also in the periods when the venue was assembled / disassembled. The events were resisted by a community action group whose campaigning eventually resulted in the decision by Formula E to cease racing in Battersea Park. The paper analyses how Formula E events were justified and opposed using a form of rhetorical analysis inspired by the work of Michael Billig. Interviews were undertaken with key stakeholders involved in the case and their arguments were analysed to reveal different ways of thinking about public parks. The dispute is understood as one underpinned by different interpretations of who and what a park is for, and by contrasting views on the impact of interruptions to everyday routines. The Formula E events reduced public access, but the dispute surrounding the events arguably made Battersea Park more public by generating debate and by provoking local activists to defend their park

Expanding Stereochemical and Skeletal Diversity Using Petasis Reactions and 1,3-Dipolar Cycloadditions

A short and modular synthetic pathway using intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions and yielding functionalized isoxazoles, isoxazolines, and isoxazolidines is described. The change in shape of previous compounds and those in this study is quantified and compared using principal moment-of-inertia shape analysis.Chemistry and Chemical Biolog

Introduction to the special issue "in-depth study of air pollution sources and processes within Beijing and its surrounding region (APHH-Beijing)"

© 2019 Author(s). The Atmospheric Pollution and Human Health in a Chinese Megacity (APHH-Beijing) programme is an international collaborative project focusing on understanding the sources, processes and health effects of air pollution in the Beijing megacity. APHH-Beijing brings together leading China and UK research groups, state-of-the-art infrastructure and air quality models to work on four research themes: (1) sources and emissions of air pollutants; (2) atmospheric processes affecting urban air pollution; (3) air pollution exposure and health impacts; and (4) interventions and solutions. Themes 1 and 2 are closely integrated and support Theme 3, while Themes 1-3 provide scientific data for Theme 4 to develop cost-effective air pollution mitigation solutions. This paper provides an introduction to (i) the rationale of the APHH-Beijing programme and (ii) the measurement and modelling activities performed as part of it. In addition, this paper introduces the meteorology and air quality conditions during two joint intensive field campaigns-a core integration activity in APHH-Beijing. The coordinated campaigns provided observations of the atmospheric chemistry and physics at two sites: (i) the Institute of Atmospheric Physics in central Beijing and (ii) Pinggu in rural Beijing during 10 November-10 December 2016 (winter) and 21 May-22 June 2017 (summer). The campaigns were complemented by numerical modelling and automatic air quality and low-cost sensor observations in the Beijing megacity. In summary, the paper provides background information on the APHH-Beijing programme and sets the scene for more focused papers addressing specific aspects, processes and effects of air pollution in Beijing

In situ ozone production is highly sensitive to volatile organic compounds in Delhi, India

The Indian megacity of Delhi suffers from some of the poorest air quality in the world. While ambient NO₂ and particulate matter (PM) concentrations have received considerable attention in the city, high ground-level ozone (O₃) concentrations are an often overlooked component of pollution. O₃ can lead to significant ecosystem damage and agricultural crop losses, and adversely affect human health. During October 2018, concentrations of speciated non-methane hydrocarbon volatile organic compounds (C₂–C₁₃), oxygenated volatile organic compounds (o-VOCs), NO, NO₂, HONO, CO, SO₂, O₃, and photolysis rates, were continuously measured at an urban site in Old Delhi. These observations were used to constrain a detailed chemical box model utilising the Master Chemical Mechanism v3.3.1. VOCs and NOx (NO + NO₂) were varied in the model to test their impact on local O₃ production rates, P(O₃), which revealed a VOC-limited chemical regime. When only NOx concentrations were reduced, a significant increase in P(O₃) was observed; thus, VOC co-reduction approaches must also be considered in pollution abatement strategies. Of the VOCs examined in this work, mean morning P(O₃) rates were most sensitive to monoaromatic compounds, followed by monoterpenes and alkenes, where halving their concentrations in the model led to a 15.6 %, 13.1 %, and 12.9 % reduction in P(O₃), respectively. P(O₃) was not sensitive to direct changes in aerosol surface area but was very sensitive to changes in photolysis rates, which may be influenced by future changes in PM concentrations. VOC and NOx concentrations were divided into emission source sectors, as described by the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) v5.0 Global Air Pollutant Emissions and EDGAR v4.3.2_VOC_spec inventories, allowing for the impact of individual emission sources on P(O₃) to be investigated. Reducing road transport emissions only, a common strategy in air pollution abatement strategies worldwide, was found to increase P(O₃), even when the source was removed in its entirety. Effective reduction in P(O₃) was achieved by reducing road transport along with emissions from combustion for manufacturing and process emissions. Modelled P(O₃) reduced by ∼ 20 ppb h−1 when these combined sources were halved. This study highlights the importance of reducing VOCs in parallel with NOx and PM in future pollution abatement strategies in Delhi

Determinants of myocardial energetics and efficiency in symptomatic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Next to hypertrophy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is characterized by alterations in myocardial energetics. A small number of studies have shown that myocardial external efficiency (MEE), defined by external work (EW) in relation to myocardial oxidative metabolism (MVO2), is reduced. The present study was conducted to identify determinants of MEE in patients with HCM by use of dynamic positron emission tomography (PET) and cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). Twenty patients with HCM (12 men, mean age: 55.2 +/- 13.9 years) and 11 healthy controls (7 men, mean age: 48.1 +/- 10 years) were studied with [C-11]acetate PET to assess MVO2. CMR was performed to determine left ventricular (LV) volumes and mass (LVM). Univariate and multivariate analyses were employed to determine independent predictors of myocardial efficiency. Between study groups, MVO2 (controls: 0.12 +/- 0.04 ml center dot min(-1)center dot g(-1), HCM: 0.13 +/- 0.05 ml center dot min(-1)center dot g(-1), p = 0.64) and EW (controls: 9,139 +/- 2,484 mmHg center dot ml, HCM: 9,368 +/- 2,907 mmHg center dot ml, p = 0.83) were comparable, whereas LVM was significantly higher (controls: 99 +/- 21 g, HCM: 200 +/- 76 g, p < 0.001) and MEE was decreased in HCM patients (controls: 35 +/- 8%, HCM: 21 +/- 10%, p < 0.001). MEE was related to stroke volume (SV), LV outflow tract gradient, NH2-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and serum free fatty acid levels (all p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that SV ( = 0.74, p < 0.001) and LVM ( = -0.43, p = 0.013) were independently related to MEE. HCM is characterized by unaltered MVO2, impaired EW generation per gram of myocardial tissue and subsequent deteriorated myocardial efficiency. Mechanical external efficiency could independently be predicted by SV and LVM

Estimation of local and external contributions of biomass burning to PM2.5 in an industrial zone included in a large urban settlement

A total of 85 PM2.5 samples were collected at a site located in a large industrial zone (Porto Marghera, Venice, Italy) during a 1-year-long sampling campaign. Samples were analyzed to determine water-soluble inorganic ions, elemental and organic carbon, and levoglucosan, and results were processed to investigate the seasonal patterns, the relationship between the analyzed species, and the most probable sources by using a set of tools, including (i) conditional probability function (CPF), (ii) conditional bivariate probability function (CBPF), (iii) concentration weighted trajectory (CWT), and (iv) potential source contribution function (PSCF) analyses. Furthermore, the importance of biomass combustions to PM2.5 was also estimated. Average PM2.5 concentrations ranged between 54 and 16 μg m−3 in the cold and warm period, respectively. The mean value of total ions was 11 μg m−3 (range 1–46 μg m−3): The most abundant ion was nitrate with a share of 44 % followed by sulfate (29 %), ammonium (14 %), potassium (4 %), and chloride (4 %). Levoglucosan accounted for 1.2 % of the PM2.5 mass, and its concentration ranged from few ng m−3 in warm periods to 2.66 μg m−3 during winter. Average concentrations of levoglucosan during the cold period were higher than those found in other European urban sites. This result may indicate a great influence of biomass combustions on particulate matter pollution. Elemental and organic carbon (EC, OC) showed similar behavior, with the highest contributions during cold periods and lower during summer. The ratios between biomass burning indicators (K+, Cl−, NO3−, SO42−, levoglucosan, EC, and OC) were used as proxy for the biomass burning estimation, and the contribution to the OC and PM2.5 was also calculated by using the levoglucosan (LG)/OC and LG/PM2.5 ratios and was estimated to be 29 and 18 %, respectively

Developing a national approach to visitor data collection, management and use for protected areas: thoughts from Australian research and practice

Information on visitor numbers, activities, expectations and satisfaction is vital for protected areas managers on two counts: to assist in the provision of the services and facilities that visitors need and want; and to determine if managers have been efficient and effective in meeting these demands. This paper builds on a recently completed national study in Australia of visitor data collection and usage, and the future visitor data needs, of protected area management agencies. Australia is a federation of states and provides a challenging backdrop for developing a national approach as most responsibilities for protected areas rest with the states rather than the national government. Thus, the success of such an approach rests on cooperation rather than an overarching national regulatory responsibility. The study found that all protected area agencies collected visitor data, however, their approaches were highly variable in what was measured, how the measurements were applied and how data were managed and used. This variability was problematic because it becomes very difficult to determine issues of general importance for protected area management or to benchmark performance across areas. Based on these findings and knowledge of the institutional settings for protected area management in Australia, this paper poses some ideas for progressing a national approach for standardising the measures and measurement of key variables so that comparisons and benchmarking become possible and reliable. Core and supplementary visitor data variables can be identified, with the former being of national interest and hence requiring collection and storage under national coordination and guidance. Implementing such an approach will require working creatively and collaboratively within the current institutional settings

Visitor data needs of protected area agencies

This paper reports on the results of a major study on the needs of Australian protected area agencies in relation to visitor data. The overall aims were to improve data collection, management and use within protected area agencies, and to develop nationally consistent approaches to visitor data where appropriate. The study involved a comprehensive review of current practices in every agency within Australia. The review engaged with staff at all levels from heads of agency to individual park managers. The outcomes included the identification of: key visitor data needs at various management levels of the agencies; areas where current data collection, use and management practices needed to be improved; and significant gaps in current data collections. From this, a list of key data needs was generated, with some being designated as core’ and others as supplementary’. Core data needs were those that were seen as essential by every agency and where there were significant benefits to be gained by adopting a nationally consistent approach to data collection. These needs included aggregate estimates of state/territory-wide visitation, visitor profiles, visitor satisfaction, and key determinants of quality of experience. Supplementary data needs were those recognized as important for a range of specific management purposes, but where there was less value in ensuring consistency and sharing of information between agencies. The final phase involves developing indicators and testing methods and protocols for gathering, analyzing and disseminating the core data needs. The research team is currently working with a number of agencies on these tasks

Protected area visitor data collection and management: Emerging issues and gaps in current Australian practices

Protected area agencies are charged with the preservation, conservation and management of areas including wilderness, national parks and forests. These agencies are faced with increasing visitor numbers and decreasing budgets at a time where activities like tourism have to be managed alongside their traditional roles as natural resource managers. This paper reports on the outcomes of the first stage of a research project that seeks to guide a nationally consistent approach to visitor use data collection for protected area agencies. First, the paper provides a background literature review of approaches to visitor use data collection for protected area agencies. Second, the paper outlines the participatory action research approach used in the study where thirteen protected area agencies are collaborators in the research process. This approach ensures that the protected areas agencies data needs are central to the research outcomes and recognises the pragmatic organisational cultural issues associated with visitor data collection, management and use. The research process incorporates organisational networking at all levels from head office, regions, branches and individual parks involving management information systems, interviews, focus groups, presentations, briefings and follow-up contact. Third, the paper then presents the emergent themes that examine the issues and gaps in current visitor data collection, management and use systems. The paper concludes with discussion of the challenges to developing a national system of visitor data collection and use