Arranging public support to unfold collaborative modes of governance in rural areas

Raising collective agency is key to successful place-based development approaches. Existing policy arrangements have, however, been criticised, suggesting a need to effectuate more collaborative modes of governance. This paper shall contribute to a better understanding of how public support can best be arranged to raise collective agency for a more collaborative mode of governance in rural areas. The paper elaborates on findings of empirical investigations conducted within the EU FP7 project DERREG. It will be shown that differences in effectuating more collaborative modes of governance can partly be ascribed to different political dynamics, economic and demographic situations as well as the presence of a shared sense of place. To raise collective agency effectively requires a joint reconsideration and restructuring of the division of roles and tasks, including those of public administration. This can be supported by facilitating joint reflexivity among development actors and giving room for collaborative leadership and operational flexibility within policy arrangements

Catchment source contributions to the sediment-bound organic matter degrading salmonid spawning gravels in a lowland river, southern England

The ingress of particulate material into freshwater spawning substrates is thought to be contributing to the declining success of salmonids reported over recent years for many rivers. Accordingly, the need for reliable information on the key sources of the sediment problem has progressed up the management agenda. Whilst previous work has focussed on apportioning the sources of minerogenic fine sediment degrading spawning habitats, there remains a need to develop procedures for generating corresponding information for the potentially harmful sediment-bound organic matter that represents an overlooked component of interstitial sediment. A source tracing procedure based on composite signatures combining bulk stable 13C and 15N isotope values with organic molecular structures detected using near infrared (NIR) reflectance spectroscopy was therefore used to assess the primary sources of sediment-bound organic matter sampled from artificial spawning redds. Composite signatures were selected using a combination of the Kruskal–Wallis H-test, principal component analysis and GA-driven discriminant function analysis. Interstitial sediment samples were collected using time-integrating basket traps which were inserted at the start of the salmonid spawning season and extracted in conjunction with critical phases of fish development (eyeing, hatch, emergence, late spawning). Over the duration of these four basket extractions, the overall relative frequency-weighted average median (±95% confidence limits) source contributions to the interstitial sediment-bound organic matter were estimated to be in the order: instream decaying vegetation (39 ± b1%; full range 0–77%); damaged road verges (28 ± b1%; full range 0–77%); septic tanks (22 ± b1%; full range 0–50%), and; farm yard manures/slurries (11 ± b1%; full range 0–61%). The reported procedure provides a promising basis for understanding the key sources of interstitial sediment-bound organic matter and can be applied alongside apportionment for the minerogenic component of fine-grained sediment ingressing the benthos. The findings suggest that human septic waste contributes to the interstitial fines ingressing salmonid spawning habitat in the study area

Sources of sediment-bound organic matter infiltrating spawning gravels during the incubation and emergence life stages of salmonids

The biodegradation of organic matter ingressing spawning gravels in rivers exerts an oxygen demand which is believed to contribute to detrimental impacts on aquatic ecology including salmonids. Catchment management strategies therefore require reliable information on the key sources of sediment-bound organic matter. Accordingly, a novel source fingerprinting procedure based on analyses of bulk stable 13C and 15N isotope values and organic molecular structures detected using near infrared reflectance (NIR) spectroscopy was tested for assessing the primary sources of sediment-bound organic matter infiltrating artificial Atlantic salmon spawning redds in five rivers across England and Wales. Statistically-verified source fingerprints were identified using a combination of the Kruskal–Wallis H-test, principal component analysis and GA-driven discriminant function analysis. Interstitial sediment samples were obtained from artificial redds using retrievable basket traps inserted at the start of the salmonid spawning season and extracted subsequently in conjunction with critical juvenile phases (eyeing, hatch, emergence, late spawning) of fish development associated with incubation and emergence. Over the duration of these four basket extractions, the overall relative frequency-weighted average median source contributions to the interstitial sediment-bound organic matter sampled in the study rivers ranged between 26% (full uncertainty range 0–100%) and 44% (full uncertainty range 0–100%) for farm yard manures/slurries, 11% (full uncertainty range 0–75%) and 48% (full uncertainty range 0–99%) for damaged road verges, 16% (full uncertainty range (0–78%) and 52% (full uncertainty range (0–100%) for decaying instream vegetation and 4% (full uncertainty range 0–31%) and 10% (full uncertainty range (0–44%) for human septic waste. The results of mass conservation tests suggest that the procedure combining bulk 13C and 15N isotope values and NIR spectroscopy data on organic molecular structures is sensitive to the risks of significant non-conservative tracer behaviour in the fluvial environment and will therefore not necessarily work at all in-channel sites in all catchments