Effective education and communication strategies to promote environmental engagement : The role of social-psychological mechanisms

Communicators of climate change seek ways to better educate and motivate individuals to personally commit to sustainable, energy-saving activities. However, critical psychological and social barriers to conservation make this task challenging. Behavioral scientists are well aware of the difficulties that individuals and groups have in responding effectively to information surrounding climate change, and have used these insights to develop a number of techniques to aid in persuading people of the importance of the climate change issue, and motivating adaptive behavioral responses. This report consolidates research findings from behavioral economics, decision science, and social psychology to explore key insights and evidence around effective climate change education strategies and interventions aimed at enhancing conservation behaviors. We explore key findings from the behavioral and decision sciences, including analyses of cognitive bias, choice architecture, social influences, values, and communication strategies. In addition, we discuss a set of international, academic-private partnerships that used interventions suggested by behavioral science and psychological theory to dramatic effects. These in-depth case studies demonstrate how practitioners and researchers have put research insights and principles into practice. We conclude by addressing implications for policymakers

Integrated assessment of oyster reef ecosystem services: Quantifying Denitrification Rates and Nutrient Fluxes

Measurements of nutrient exchange were made in restored oyster reefs and creek sediments in 2014 and 2015 in Harris Creek, Maryland, USA. Rates of ammonium, nitrate and di-nitrogen fluxes were much higher in reef environments than in sediments, and rates of oxygen uptake reflected high inputs of biodeposits. The rate of denitrification was related to oyster biomass and oyster numbers. The shallow nature of the restoration allows light to reach the bottom and benthic microalgal photosynthesis affects the net nutrient exchange with the bottom. After several years, oyster restoration has increased denitrification in Harris Creek, though observations in mature upper Choptank restored reefs are higher. The trajectory of increase of the nutrient ecosystem services is positive and will be followed over time

An updated model for estimating the TMDL-related benefits of oyster reef restoration Harris Creek, Maryland, USA

In 2014, a user-friendly, web-accessible model was developed that allowed restoration practitioners and resource managers to easily estimate the TMDLrelated benefits of oyster reef (Crassostrea virginica) restoration per unit area, run restoration scenarios in Harris Creek, MD to optimize restoration planning and implementation, and calculate the benefits of the chosen plan. The model was rooted in scientifically defensible data and was readily transferrable to systems throughout the Chesapeake Bay and Eastern Shore. The model operated in five vertically well-mixed boxes along the main axis of the creek. Exchanges among creeks were computed using a tidal prism approach and were compared to exchanges provided from a high resolution 3D hydrodynamic model. Watershed inputs for the model were obtained for the Harris Creek sub-watershed from the Phase V Chesapeake Bay Program Watershed Model. The base model simulated daily concentrations over an annual cycle of chlorophyll-a, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), dissolved oxygen, total suspended solids, the biomass of benthic microalgae, and the water column and sediment pools of labile organic carbon (C) and associated N and P. Water quality data for model forcing and calibration were obtained from the Chesapeake Bay Program, the Choptank Riverkeeper, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. An oyster sub-model was coupled to this base model to compute the volume of water filtered, removal of phytoplankton, suspended solids, and associated nutrients via filtration, recycling of nutrients and consumption of oxygen by oyster respiration, production of feces, N and P accumulation in oyster tissues and shell, oyster-enhanced denitrification, and N and P burial associated with restored reefs. The completed model was served online and operated through a web browser, enabling users to conduct scenario analysis by entering box-specific values for acres restored, restored oyster density, and restored oyster size, as well as the economic value of associated N and P removal. The updated model incorporates all aspects of the previous model but replaces oyster related data collected outside Harris Creek with site-specific data, and now includes restored oyster populations and water quality data through 2016. It also incorporates the impacts of two common, reef-associated filter feeding organisms: the hooked mussel Ischadium recurvum and the sea squirt Molgula manhattensis. Additional data collected in Harris Creek and incorporated into the model include: biomass of benthic microalgae, biogeochemical fluxes in relation to oyster biomass, and the biomass density and distribution of the dominant non-oyster reef filter feeders (I. recurvum, and M. manhattensis). The revised model incorporates an improved estimate of annual oyster growth, uses an improved method for estimating N and P sequestered in tissues and shells, and accounts for the prerestoration oyster population in Harris Creek. The model also incorporates data on the filtration capacity of I. recurvum and M. manhattensis in relation to C. virginica collected as part of a previous study (not in Harris Creek) by Kellogg and Newell (unpublished data)

Comparison of methods for determining biogeochemical fluxes from a restored oyster reef

Oyster reef restoration can significantly increase benthic denitrification rates. Methods applied to measure nutrient fluxes and denitrification from oyster reefs in previous studies include incubations of sediment cores collected adjacent to oyster clumps, benthic chambers filled with intact reef segments that have undergone in situ equilibration and ex situ incubation, and cores with single oysters. However, fluxes of nutrients vary by orders of magnitude among oyster reefs and methods. This study compares two methods of measuring nutrient and metabolic fluxes on restored oyster reefs: incubations including intact segments of oyster reef and incubations containing oyster clumps without underlying sediments. Fluxes of oxygen (O-2), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), ammonium (NH4+), combined nitrate and nitrite (NO2/3-), di-nitrogen (N-2), and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) were determined in June and August in Harris Creek, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, USA. Regression of fluxes measured from clumps alone against those measured from intact reef segments showed significant positive relationships for O-2, DIC, NH4+, and SRP (R-2 = 0.920, 0.61, 0.26, and 0.52, respectively). Regression of clump fluxes against the oyster tissue biomass indicates significant positive relationships for O-2 and NH4+, marginally significant and positive relationships for DIC and N-2, and no significant relationship for NO2/3- or SRP. Although these results demonstrate that the incubation of oyster clumps without underlying sediments does not accurately represent biogeochemical fluxes measured from the whole oyster and sediment community, this work supports the need to understand the balance between the metabolism of oysters and local sediments to correctly estimate biogeochemical rates

Linking structural and functional characteristics of restored oyster reefs : A Restoration Project in the Virginia Coast Reserve

Eighteen native oyster reefs (16-m2 each) were restored using six oyster densities (0, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 250 adult oysters m-2) with three replicates of each density at an intertidal site in The Nature Conservancy’s Virginia Coast Reserve. Reef construction was successful and continues to provide a range of oyster biomass densities useful for exploring relationships between oyster reef structural and functional parameters. Between April 2012 and July 2013, a science-based monitoring program explored quantitative relationships between structural and functional characteristics of these restored reefs. Structural parameters examined included oyster abundance, oyster size/biomass, surface shell volume, reef topographic complexity and sediment characteristics. Functional parameters included denitrification rates and macrofaunal abundance and biomass. Relationships between reef structural parameters and functional parameters were complex and variable. As of July 2014, these reefs continue to serves as a platform for continued studies of the relationships between reef structural and functional characteristics

The Grizzly, April 1, 2015

UC Stand Plans New Multi-Gender Fashion Show • Woodstock Receives Award • Experiences from Model UN • Ursinus Alum is Succeeding in the Business World • Women and Minorities on Wikipedia Examined • Opinion: The Challenges of Transferring to Ursinus • Tennis Teams Ace Early Slatehttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1929/thumbnail.jp

Age, puberty and attractiveness judgments in adolescents

Previous work has suggested that judgments of the attractiveness of some facial and vocal features change during adolescence. Here, over 70 Czech adolescents aged 12–14 made forced-choice attractivenessjudgments on adolescent faces manipulated in symmetry, averageness and femininity, and on adolescent opposite-sex voices manipulated in fundamental frequency (perceived as pitch), and completed questionnaires on pubertal development. Consistent with typical adult judgments, adolescents selected the symmetric, average and feminine male and female faces as more attractive significantly more often than the asymmetric, non-average and masculine faces respectively. Moreover, preferences for symmetric faces were positively associated with adolescents’ age and stage of pubertal development. Unexpectedly, voice pitch did not significantly influence adolescents’ attractivenessjudgments. Collectively, these findings present new evidence using refined methodology that adolescent development is related to variation in attractivenessjudgments

Scaling Ecosystem Services to Reef Development : Effects of oyster density on nitrogen removal and reef community structure

Eighteen native oyster experimental reefs (16-m2 each) were restored using six oyster densities (0, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 250 adult oysters m-2) with three replicates of each density at each of two sites: one subtidal site in Onancock Creek, Virginia and one intertidal site in Hillcrest Oyster Sanctuary within The Nature Conservancy’s Virginia Coast Reserve. A science-based monitoring program explored quantitative relationships between structural and functional characteristics of these restored reefs. Structural parameters examined included oyster abundance, oyster size/biomass, surface shell volume, reef topographic complexity and sediment characteristics. Functional parameters included denitrification rates and macrofaunal abundance and biomass. Data were collected from the intertidal site during six sampling periods between April 2012 and July 2013 and from the subtidal site in April and June 2012. Relationships between reef structural parameters and functional parameters were complex and variable. As of July 2014, the intertidal reefs continue to serve as a platform for continued studies of the relationships between reef structural and functional characteristics

Little Things

We present LITTLE THINGS (Local Irregulars That Trace Luminosity Extremes, The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey) that is aimed at determining what drives star formation in dwarf galaxies. This is a multi-wavelength survey of 37 Dwarf Irregular and 4 Blue Compact Dwarf galaxies that is centered around HI-line data obtained with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) Very Large Array (VLA). The HI-line data are characterized by high sensitivity (less than 1.1 mJy/beam per channel), high spectral resolution (less than or equal to 2.6 km/s), and high angular resolution (~6 arcseconds. The LITTLE THINGS sample contains dwarf galaxies that are relatively nearby (less than or equal to 10.3 Mpc; 6 arcseconds is less than or equal to 300 pc), that were known to contain atomic hydrogen, the fuel for star formation, and that cover a large range in dwarf galactic properties. We describe our VLA data acquisition, calibration, and mapping procedures, as well as HI map characteristics, and show channel maps, moment maps, velocity-flux profiles, and surface gas density profiles. In addition to the HI data we have GALEX UV and ground-based UBV and Halpha images for most of the galaxies, and JHK images for some. Spitzer mid-IR images are available for many of the galaxies as well. These data sets are available on-line.Comment: In press in A

The Effect of Bacterial Infection on the Biomechanical Properties of Biological Mesh in a Rat Model

BACKGROUND: The use of biologic mesh to repair abdominal wall defects in contaminated surgical fields is becoming the standard of practice. However, failure rates and infections of these materials persist clinically. The purpose of this study was to determine the mechanical properties of biologic mesh in response to a bacterial encounter. METHODS: A rat model of Staphylococcus aureus colonization and infection of subcutaneously implanted biologic mesh was used. Samples of biologic meshes (acellular human dermis (ADM) and porcine small intestine submucosa (SIS)) were inoculated with various concentrations of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus [10(5), 10(9) colony-forming units] or saline (control) prior to wound closure (n = 6 per group). After 10 or 20 days, meshes were explanted, and cultured for bacteria. Histological changes and bacterial recovery together with biomechanical properties were assessed. Data were compared using a 1-way ANOVA or a Mann-Whitney test, with p<0.05. RESULTS: The overall rate of staphylococcal mesh colonization was 81% and was comparable in the ADM and SIS groups. Initially (day 0) both biologic meshes had similar biomechanical properties. However after implantation, the SIS control material was significantly weaker than ADM at 20 days (p = 0.03), but their corresponding modulus of elasticity were similar at this time point (p>0.05). After inoculation with MRSA, a time, dose and material dependent decrease in the ultimate tensile strength and modulus of elasticity of SIS and ADM were noted compared to control values. CONCLUSION: The biomechanical properties of biologic mesh significantly decline after colonization with MRSA. Surgeons selecting a repair material should be aware of its biomechanical fate relative to other biologic materials when placed in a contaminated environment