Narrowing the gap between climate science and adaptation action: The role of boundary chains

AbstractBoundary organizations play a critical role at the interface between science and decision making. They create, protect and sustain an interactive space for co-production of science and decision-making while simultaneously bridging the two domains. In this special issue we advance the concept of boundary chains, whereby two or more boundary organizations link together synergistically to influence one another and to leverage each other’s resources and strengths to achieve shared goals. In this process both the level of complementary and embeddedness between these organizations is critical for achieving these goals. Through a series of case studies focusing primarily but not exclusively on climate information use in the United States, we aim to advance scholarship in the field by examining innovation among boundary organizations and testing the boundary chain concept. In doing so, we focus on boundary chains both as a theoretical construct to re-think the structure, function, and adaptability of boundary organizations and as a practical strategy to further increase the usability of climate knowledge for adaptation action across a wider range of users

Creating synergy with boundary chains: Can they improve usability of climate information?

AbstractBoundary organizations facilitate and negotiate the interface between science production and use to improve information usability particularly for climate adaptation. To support the increasing demand for usable climate information and enable adaptation, boundary organizations themselves must innovate to foster more efficient production of usable science and more effective networks of producers and users. A recent innovation centers on the idea of boundary chains, whereby boundary organizations work together to increase efficiencies such as leveraging human and social resources. While this idea holds promise, more work is needed to better understand how and why boundary organizations work together to improve information usability and other beneficial outcomes. In this perspective for the special issue, we propose a new conceptual framework for exploring why and how boundary chains form and for evaluating whether or not they are successful. We then apply the framework to case studies that are discussed in more detail in this special issue. Our framework hinges on the notion that boundary chains that are successful are those that create synergy. In turn, synergy depends on a combination of complementarity, putting two kinds of inputs together results in greater output than either each engaging partner could deliver on their own, and embeddedness, the choices and actions on one side are at least partially influenced by and dependent upon the choices and actions of the other side and vice versa

Integrating Science and Policy: Climate Change Assessments and Water Resources Management.

This research investigates the supply of climate information by two NOAA RISAs and the use of that information by water managers across five states in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and the Southwest (SW) United States. A survey (n=2,651) of water managers at Community Water Systems (i.e., non-RISA clients) was conducted to examine information sources, collaborations, and barriers to and drivers of climate information use. Interviews of water managers who worked with the RISAs (i.e., RISA clients) were also conducted to better understand water managers’ use climate information for decision making and for building resilience to climate variability and change. The goal of this mixed method approach was to compare information production and use across: (1) the two RISA programs and regions, (2) decision scales, and (3) RISA clients and non-RISA clients. Results indicate a high rate of information use among RISA clients in both regions that suggests RISAs are successfully bridging the science-policy gap to meet varied decision needs of their clients across scales and distance. However, RISA information use among non-RISA clients was much lower, suggesting RISAs are not able to effectively serve information needs of the broader population of water managers across a large region. The regional RISA comparison revealed a more collaborative approach dominated in the PNW while a more consultative approach dominated in the SW for clients and non-clients using RISA information. Collaboration is important for facilitating the use of climate change information. A trade-off between collaboration and consultation was observed suggesting the provision and subsequent use of climate change information requires more intense interactions. The comparison between client and non-client RISA users suggest that a managed boundary is important particularly for conveying uncertain information. When the boundary between RISA scientists and their clients is managed, information is used even though concern about uncertainty persists. Lastly, findings suggest local water manager clients and non-client information users exhibit more resilience potential than water managers who do not use RISA information. Also, RISAs, acting as part of a knowledge-action system, help states build resilience potential to climate variability and change across scales of decision-making.Ph.D.Natural Resources and EnvironmentUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78814/1/orange_1.pd

Understanding Greenhouse Growers’ Willingness to Use Municipal Recycled Water on Food Crops: The Need for Tailored Outreach Coupled with Deep Engagement to Increase Adoption

Increasing demand on agricultural water resources have caused a greater need for the use of municipal recycled wastewater (MRW) globally. However, in the United States, greenhouse growers have been slow to use it in their greenhouse operations. In this study, we seek to understand the factors that motivate and limit use of MRW among US growers. Using national survey data from 2019 through 2020, we developed a logistic regression model to understand the many factors influencing growers’ willingness to use MRW on food crops. We find that MRW quality is a primary concern and that growers’ willingness to use MRW is shaped by their direct and indirect knowledge of MRW, garnered from their own and others’ experiences using it. Given these findings, improving adoption of MRW requires collective experiential learning opportunities that gather target audiences with educators, policymakers, end users, and local authorities to simultaneously provide hands-on experience tailored to growers’ particular knowledge and concerns with feedback from peers

Alix is required for activity-dependent bulk endocytosis at brain synapses

In chemical synapses undergoing high frequency stimulation, vesicle components can be retrieved from the plasma membrane via a clathrin-independent process called activitydependent bulk endocytosis (ADBE). Alix (ALG-2-interacting protein X/PDCD6IP) is an adaptor protein binding to ESCRT and endophilin-A proteins which is required for clathrinindependent endocytosis in fibroblasts. Alix is expressed in neurons and concentrates at synapses during epileptic seizures. Here, we used cultured neurons to show that Alix is recruited to presynapses where it interacts with and concentrates endophilin-A during conditions triggering ADBE. Using Alix knockout (ko) neurons, we showed that this recruitment, which requires interaction with the calcium-binding protein ALG-2, is necessary for ADBE. We also found that presynaptic compartments of Alix ko hippocampi display subtle morphological defects compatible with flawed synaptic activity and plasticity detected electrophysiologically. Furthermore, mice lacking Alix in the forebrain undergo less seizures during kainate-induced status epilepticus and reduced propagation of the epileptiform activity. These results thus show that impairment of ADBE due to the lack of neuronal Alix leads to abnormal synaptic recovery during physiological or pathological repeated stimulations

Phosphatidylserine-exposing extracellular vesicles in body fluids are an innate defence against apoptotic mimicry viral pathogens

Some viruses are rarely transmitted orally or sexually despite their presence in saliva, breast milk, or semen. We previously identified that extracellular vesicles (EVs) in semen and saliva inhibit Zika virus infection. However, the antiviral spectrum and underlying mechanism remained unclear. Here we applied lipidomics and flow cytometry to show that these EVs expose phosphatidylserine (PS). By blocking PS receptors, targeted by Zika virus in the process of apoptotic mimicry, they interfere with viral attachment and entry. Consequently, physiological concentrations of EVs applied in vitro efficiently inhibited infection by apoptotic mimicry dengue, West Nile, Chikungunya, Ebola and vesicular stomatitis viruses, but not severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, human immunodeficiency virus 1, hepatitis C virus and herpesviruses that use other entry receptors. Our results identify the role of PS-rich EVs in body fluids in innate defence against infection via viral apoptotic mimicries, explaining why these viruses are primarily transmitted via PS-EV-deficient blood or blood-ingesting arthropods rather than direct human-to-human contact