Public preferences for ecological indicators used in Everglades restoration

The Everglades is one of the largest wetland ecosystems in the world covering almost 18,000 square miles from central Florida southward to Florida Bay. Over the 20th century, efforts to drain the Everglades for agriculture and development severely damaged the ecosystem so that today roughly 50% of the historic flow of water through the Everglades has been diverted elsewhere. In an attempt to restore the Everglades, the U.S. Congress authorized the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) in 2000, expected to cost over $16 billion and to take several decades to complete. We used the results from a stated preference choice experiment (SPCE) survey of Florida households to estimate the willingness to pay for several ecological attributes related to CERP performance indicators likely to be impacted by Everglades restoration. We also used a latent class model (LCM) to explore preference heterogeneity among respondents. On average, survey respondents were willing to pay for improvements in all of the attributes included in the survey, namely increased populations of wading birds, American alligators, endangered snail kites, and spotted seatrout, and reduced polluted discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers. Willingness to pay was highest for reduced polluted discharges from Lake Okeechobee.Data Availability: All relevant data are available at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/9AG7Z.S1 Table. Comparison between the demographics of the survey sample respondents and the Florida population based on 2010 U.S. Census information. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234051.s001S2 Table. Regression results from conditional logit model with willingness to pay estimates. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234051.s002The Everglades Foundationhttp://www.plosone.orghj2020Mammal Research Institut

Panamanian Grandmothers' Family Relationships and Adjustment to Having a Grandchild with a Disability

The purpose of this article was to explore the family relationships and role adjustment of grandmothers in the Republic of Panama who have a grandchild with special needs. Thirty Panamanian grandmothers of children with a disability were interviewed using a standardized format and non-directive probing. Categories of analysis were established only after the data was fully collected and reviewed. The results indicate that for most Panamanian grandmothers, their changes in family relationships are not dramatic when they have a grandchild with a disability; however, 25% clearly report a deteriorated relationship with their son-in-laws. They view their relationship with their grandchild with a disability to be one that provides a mixture of affection, love, acceptance and patience. In the area of role adjustment, they see a need to become more involved in areas that include assisting their grandchildren and/or her family with caregiving and household responsibilities, economic and medical support, or in areas related to school/academic, spiritual or recreational activities. With respect to emotional adjustment, Panamanian grandmothers of children with disabilities distinguish themselves from grandmothers in the United States, by experiencing reduced emotional stress and dwelling less on personal loss, grief, or role stigma. The implications are that there appear to be universal beliefs and adjustment factors that Panamanian grandmothers of grandchildren with disabilities experience. However, culture appears to have a genuine influence that results in subtle but unique differences from their U.S. counterparts.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

On-Site Experience Effect on Stakeholders’ Preferences of Forest Management

An understanding of how public preferences vary among different stakeholders toward forest management policies would be helpful in the forest policy design and administration process. In this study, we investigate the preferences toward forest management policies of three stakeholder groups-woodlot owners, environmentalists, and the general public. We used a stated-preference survey to elicit information about stakeholder preferences for forest management practices at Holt Research Forest in Maine. The survey was administered to each group both before and after an on-site experience at the forest. We specifically investigated how information and experience acquired through the on-site experience would influence the preferences of each group. We also conducted a latent class analysis to further explore the preference heterogeneity among survey participants. The results show differences in preferences for forest management policies between stakeholders with the preferences of woodlot owners differing substantially from environmentalists and the general public both before and after the on-site experience. The on-site experience did not have a substantial impact on woodlot owners. In contrast, it increased the consistency of choice decisions among environmentalists and the public

Fire Risk and the Economics of Sequestering Carbon in Forests

The impact of fire risk on slash pine (Pinus elliottii) plantations managed for the joint production of carbon and timber benefits was investigated. A Hartman model for determining the optimal rotation age and Land Expectation Value (LEV) for a stand with both carbon and timber benefits was extended to include the risk of fire. Information from this model was then used to determine optimal rotation age, LEV, carbon supply and timber supply as a function of fire risk and the price of carbon. The results indicate that fire risk reduces all of these variables and this reduction is greater for higher carbon prices. These results suggest that landowner's would respond less to a carbon market when the level of fire risk is relatively high

Economic analysis of slash pine forest carbon sequestration in the southern U. S.

carbon sequestration global warming slash pine optimal rotation timber supply

Re: Variation in kidney stone composition within the United States

© Copyright 2018, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2018. Introduction and Objectives: Kidney stone incidence has been known to vary with temperature and climate. However, little is known about any variation in the composition of kidney stones across different regions of the United States. We attempted to evaluate whether stone composition changes depending on region. Methods: We were given access to de-identified data from LABCORPs database of kidney stone composition from August 1, 2016, to October 24, 2016, for states in seven representative areas of the country: Virginia, Minnesota, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, California, and Texas. We analyzed each component of kidney stones with optical microscopy supplemented with Fourier-Transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectrometry using both the percentage of the stone that was composed of that component as well as a binary variable coded none vs any. Univariate associations between component and state were examined using chi-square or Fisher\u27s exact test for the binary indicator, and analysis of variance for the continuous percentage. The same set of analyses was used for decade of age vs each component. The association between age and state was examined using analysis of variance. Results: Data were available for 4335 kidney stones, from patients in the 7 states mentioned. The most common components across all stones were calcium oxalate monohydrate and calcium phosphate (both present in 93% of stones), calcium oxalate dihydrate (in 57% of stones), and uric acid (in 12% of stones). Stone composition did not vary widely across regions, except for uric acid stones, which were more prevalent in Florida compared to other states, with an odds ratio of 1.43 (95% confidence interval 1.12, 1.83). Conclusion: Kidney stone composition does not vary widely by region within the United States. Although temperature and humidity play a role in stone incidence, there does not appear to be a large variation between different climates, with the exception of uric acid stone formation in Florida