Processes controlling carbon cycling in Antarctic glacier surface ecosystems

Glacier surface ecosystems, including cryoconite holes and cryolakes, are significant contributors to regional carbon cycles. Incubation experiments to determine the net production (NEP) of organic matter in cryoconite typically have durations of 6-24 hours, and produce a wide range of results, many of which indicate that the system is net heterotrophic. We employ longer term incubations to examine the temporal variation of NEP in cryoconite from the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica to examine the effect of sediment disturbance on system production, and to understand processes controlling production over the lifetimes of glacier surface ecosystems. The shorter-term incubations have durations of one week and show net heterotrophy. The longer term incubations of approximately one year show net autotrophy, but only after a period of about 40 days (~1000 hours). The control on net organic carbon production is a combination of the rate of diffusion of dissolved inorganic carbon from heterotrophic activity within cryoconite into the water, the rate of carbonate dissolution, and the saturation of carbonate in the water (which is a result of photosynthesis in a closed system). We demonstrate that sediment on glacier surfaces has the potential to accumulate carbon over timescales of months to years

Biogeochemical evolution of ponded meltwater in a High Arctic subglacial tunnel

Subglacial environments comprise ∼10 % of Earth's land surface, host active microbial ecosystems, and are important components of global biogeochemical cycles. However, the broadly inaccessible nature of subglacial systems has left them vastly understudied, and research to date has been limited to laboratory experiments or field measurements using basal ice or subglacial water accessed through boreholes or from the glacier margin. In this study, we extend our understanding of subglacial biogeochemistry and microbiology to include observations of a slushy pond of water that occupied a remnant meltwater channel beneath a polythermal glacier in the Canadian High Arctic over winter. The hydraulics and geochemistry of the system suggest that the pond water originated as late-season, ice-marginal runoff with less than ∼15 % solute contribution from subglacial sources. Over the 8 months of persistent sub-zero regional temperatures, the pond gradually froze, cryo-concentrating solutes in the residual water by up to 7 times. Despite cryo-concentration and the likely influx of some subglacial solute, the pond was depleted in only the most labile and biogeochemically relevant compounds, including ammonium, phosphate, and dissolved organic matter, including a potentially labile tyrosine-like component. DNA amplicon sequencing revealed decreasing microbial diversity with distance into the meltwater channel. The pond at the terminus of the channel hosted a microbial community inherited from late-season meltwater, which was dominated by only six taxa related to known psychrophilic and psychrotolerant heterotrophs that have high metabolic diversity and broad habitat ranges. Collectively, our findings suggest that generalist microbes from the extraglacial or supraglacial environments can become established in subglacial aquatic systems and deplete reservoirs of nutrients and dissolved organic carbon over a period of months. These findings extend our understanding of the microbial and biogeochemical evolution of subglacial aquatic ecosystems and the extent of their habitability.</p

Accountability in Nonprofit Governance: A Process-Based Study

Accountability is a crucial element of governance. Non-profit organisations are typically accountable to multiple stakeholders and often ‘do’ accountability in multiple ways. But what happens when a non-profit organisation is highly dependent on a single source of funding? This paper provides an empirical exploration of this issue. It draws on a longitudinal case study of one non-profit organisation in the UK that is highly dependent on a single funder to examine how accountability is constructed and enacted, with a focus on the board. It critically examines accountability processes through direct observation of board and committee meetings and in-depth interviews with board members. The analysis shows how board members work to construct broader forms of accountability beyond accountability to the funder, but then struggle to enact them. This paper provides in-depth insight into the challenges that non-profit board members face and offers a rare example of observational research on board behaviour

Political independence, accountability, and the quality of regulatory decision-making

Recent decades have seen a considerable increase in delegation to independent regulatory agencies, which has been justified by reference to the superior performance of these bodies relative to government departments. Yet, the hypothesis that more independent regulators do better work has hardly been tested. We examine the link using a comprehensive measure of the quality of work carried out by competition authorities in 30 Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries, and new data on the design of these organizations. We find that formal independence has a positive and significant effect on quality. Contrary to expectations, though, formal political accountability does not boost regulatory quality, and there is no evidence that it increases the effect of independence by reducing the risk of slacking. The quality of work is also enhanced by increased staffing, more extensive regulatory powers, and spillover effects of a more capable bureaucratic system

The Use of Evidence in Health Policy in Ghana: Implications for Accountability and Democratic Governance

The use of evidence in policymaking is often argued to improve accountability, effectiveness, and stakeholder involvement in policy decisions. The features of this practice, however, remain vague in the discourse of evidence-based policymaking, with the risk of obscuring important governance and legitimacy implications. In programme planning and evaluation especially, the use of evidence can be critical to translate technical measurements of policy achievements into political values for shaping future policy directions. This chapter presents a case study from Ghana to discuss how institutionalized evidentiary practices used in policy review affect aspects of governance. Drawing on interviews, we reflect on how the evidence review process—agreed in collaboration with development partners—links to the evidence advisory system and the accountability systems in place. We find that the uses of evidence promoted by international donors actually creates disconnect with the national accountability system in place, with implications for democratic governance

A Framework for Examining Accountability and Value for Money in the UK\u27s Private Finance Initiative

This paper seeks to develop a system for evaluating the implications of accountability and value-for-money (VFM) decisions in private finance initiative (PFI) projects from initiation through set-up, implementation and internal and external monitoring. By reviewing the extant literature on accountability and VFM, a model is developed for evaluating the implications of various types of accountability and VFM decisions on PFI projects. Most previous studies have considered either the accountability or VFM at the projects\u27 initial stages; little attention has been paid to the interrelationship between accountability and VFM issues in the evaluation of various PFI processes. This paper addresses these lacunae in the literature

Ethnographic research

This entry outlines three aspects of ethnographic research. First, we describe in what way ethnographic research implies a distinct way of knowing. Second, we discuss the use of qualitative methods in ethnographic research. Third, we take up the role of writing, which is both a way of documenting research as well as an analytical tool in the research process. The entry concludes with a summary of the strengths and limitations of ethnographic research in public administration and policy studies