Bioeconomic meta-modelling of Indonesian agroforests as carbon sinks

In many areas of developing countries, economic and institutional factors often combine to give farmers incentives to clear forests and repeatedly plant food crops without sufficiently replenishing the soils. These activities lead to large-scale land degradation and contribute to global warming through the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. We investigate whether agroforestry systems might alleviate these trends when carbon-credit payments are available under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol. A meta-modelling framework is adopted, comprising an econometric-production model of a smallholding in Sumatra. The model is used within a dynamic-programming algorithm to determine optimal combinations of tree/crop area, tree-rotation length, and firewood harvest. Results show the influence of soil-carbon stocks and discount rates on optimal strategies and reveal interesting implications for joint management of agriculture and carbon.bio-economic meta-modelling, Indonesia, agroforestry, carbon credits, dynamic programming, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Optimal Land-Use Decisions in the Presence of Carbon Payments and Fertilizer Subsidies: An Indonesian Case Study

The Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol provides the opportunity for smallholders to receive financial rewards for adopting tree-based systems that are sustainable. In this paper a meta-model is developed to simulate interactions between trees, crops and soils under a range of management regimes for a smallholding in Sumatra. The model is used within a dynamic-programming algorithm to determine optimal tree/crop areas, tree-rotation lengths, firewood-harvest and fertilizer application rates for a landholder faced with deteriorating land quality and opportunities to receive carbon credits and fertiliser subsidies. It is found th at profit maximising management strategies depend on initial soil quality. For example, incentives to participate in carbon projects only exist when the soil is degraded because the opportunity cost of the forgone crop production is low. Also, when soil-carbon stocks are low only trees should be grown and residues added to the soil to increase carbon stocks until a threshold level is reached, when it becomes optimal to switch to a steady-state system of crops with fertiliser. In this case, tree rotation lengths depend on carbon and fertiliser prices; where increases in these prices decrease the opportunity cost of growing trees and allow for longer rotations. If, however, the initial soil-carbon stock is high, the profit-maximising strategy is to grow only crops and use fertiliser, which initially depletes the soil of carbon until a steady state is reached and maintained.Land Economics/Use,

Tree-crop interactions and their environmental and economic implications in the presence of carbon-sequestration payments

Growing trees with crops has environmental and economic implications. Trees can help prevent land degradation and increase biodiversity while at the same time allow for the continued use of the land to produce agricultural crops. In fact, growing trees alongside crops is known to improve both the productivity and sustainability of the land. However, due to high labour-input requirements, high costs of establishment, and delayed revenue returns, trees are often not economically attractive to landholders. Because of the Kyoto Protocol, and the growing emphasis on market-based solutions to environmental problems, the ability of trees to sequester and store CO2 has altered the economic landscape of agroforestry systems. The economic and management implications of carbon-sequestration payments on agroforestry systems are addressed in this study using a bioeconomic modelling approach. An agroforestry system in Indonesia is simulated using a biophysical process model. A general economic analysis of this system, from the standpoint of individual landholders, is then developed and the implications for management and policy are discussed.agroforestry, bioeconomics, tree/crop interactions, carbon credits, baselines, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use,

Carbon-accounting methods and reforestation incentives

The emission of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, and the consequent potential for climate change are the focus of increasing international concern. Temporary land-use change and forestry projects (LUCF) can be implemented to offset permanent emissions of carbon dioxide from the energy sector. Several approaches to accounting for carbon sequestration in LUCF projects have been proposed. In the present paper, the economic implications of adopting four of these approaches are evaluated in a normative context. The analysis is based on simulation of Australian farm–forestry systems. Results are interpreted from the standpoint of both investors and landholders. The role of baselines and transaction costs are discussed.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Opioids depress cortical centers responsible for the volitional control of respiration

Respiratory depression limits provision of safe opioid analgesia and is the main cause of death in drug addicts. Although opioids are known to inhibit brainstem respiratory activity, their effects on cortical areas that mediate respiration are less well understood. Here, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine how brainstem and cortical activity related to a short breath hold is modulated by the opioid remifentanil. We hypothesized that remifentanil would differentially depress brain areas that mediate sensory-affective components of respiration over those that mediate volitional motor control. Quantitative measures of cerebral blood flow were used to control for hypercapnia-induced changes in blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal. Awareness of respiration, reflected by an urge-to-breathe score, was profoundly reduced with remifentanil. Urge to breathe was associated with activity in the bilateral insula, frontal operculum, and secondary somatosensory cortex. Localized remifentanil-induced decreases in breath hold-related activity were observed in the left anterior insula and operculum. We also observed remifentanil-induced decreases in the BOLD response to breath holding in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, the cerebellum, and periaqueductal gray, brain areas that mediate task performance. Activity in areas mediating motor control (putamen, motor cortex) and sensory-motor integration (supramarginal gyrus) were unaffected by remifentanil. Breath hold-related activity was observed in the medulla. These findings highlight the importance of higher cortical centers in providing contextual awareness of respiration that leads to appropriate modulation of respiratory control. Opioids have profound effects on the cortical centers that control breathing, which potentiates their actions in the brainstem

A New Approach to the Synthesis of Conjugated Polymer: Nanocrystal Composites for Heterojunction Optoelectronics

We report a simple one pot process for the preparation of lead sulphide (PbS) nanocrystals in the conjugated polymer MEH-PPV, and we demonstrate electronic coupling between the two components.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, accepted Chem. Comm

The impacts of biodiesel feedstock production systems in South Africa: An application of a Partial Equilibrium Model to the Eastern Cape Social Accounting Matrix

In this paper the impacts of biodiesel feedstock production in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa is assessed through the application of a Partial Equilibrium Model to the Eastern Cape Social Accounting Matrix, using canola production in the Province as an ‘external shock’. Six economic indicators were estimated. The results show that investment in biodiesel production in the Eastern Cape will generate, in 2007 terms, an additional GDP of R18.1 million and 410 employment opportunities per annum, R24.3 million per annum over an assumed lifetime of 20 years in capital formation, R2.1 million additional income generated in low income households, increase in government revenue, and a positive balance of payment. These indicators imply that, given the parameters that are accounted for in a Partial Equilibrium Model, every Rand invested in canola projects in the Eastern Cape will, overall, be of socio-economic advantage to the Province. It is envisaged that further applications of such models may lead to a better understanding of the implications of biofuels in the South African economy, and thereby inform decision- and policy-making in terms of the sustainability of biofuels production systems in general

Rare, Threatened and Endangered Species of Oregon (2019)

The Oregon Biodiversity Information Center (ORBIC) is part of the Institute for Natural Resources (INR) located at Portland State University (PSU). ORBIC maintains extensive databases of Oregon biodiversity, concentrating on rare and endangered plants, animals and ecosystems. Since its creation in 1979 as the Oregon Natural Heritage Program, ORBIC has been part of the Natural Heritage network. ORBIC is a constituent member of NatureServe, a non-profit organization with a mission to provide the scientific basis for effective conservation action. NatureServe and Oregon manage data using standards and protocols used across the U.S., Canada, and much of Latin America. ORBIC has a primary mission to track the distribution and status of all of Oregon’s flora and fauna, including all vertebrates and vascular plants, and as many invertebrates, fungi, and lichens as is possible. For species considered to be at-risk in Oregon or across the planet, location and population data is managed for all of the observations and occurrences in the state. These data, and the knowledge of the many professional and amateur biologists across the state, provide the basis of the status information in this boo

Academic Library and Publisher Collaboration: Utilizing an Institutional Repository to Maximize the Visibility and Impact of Articles by University Authors

The George A. Smathers Libraries (Libraries) (http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/) at the University of Florida (UF) (http://www.ufl.edu/) and Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com) have embarked on a pilot project to maximize visibility, impact, and dissemination of articles by UF researchers who have published in Elsevier journals. Article links and metadata are automatically delivered to UF’s Institutional Repository, the IR@UF (http://ufdc.ufl.edu/ir), in the IR@UF-Elsevier Collection (http://ufdc.ufl.edu/ielsevier). The metadata, with links for approximately 31,000 articles by UF authors, is made possible through integration of the IR@UF with the ScienceDirect application programming interfaces (APIs) (https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/sciencedirect/support/institutional-repository) that are freely available to libraries. Access to the full text on ScienceDirect is available for all institutional repository users affiliated with a subscribing institution. In the next phase users without subscriptions will be able to access the manuscripts of articles published from 2013 forward. This will be done by embedding metadata and links to accepted manuscripts available on ScienceDirect into the IR@UF. We will conduct user and usability testing of this cross-platform user experience. This article provides an overview of the project’s current status, how it works, what it delivers, and next steps expanding the project to include articles by UF authors from other publishers. It concludes with strategic considerations, future developments, and reflections on the value of library/publisher collaboration

Knowledge co-production for Indigenous adaptation pathways: transform post-colonial articulation complexes to empower local decision-making

Co-production between scientific and Indigenous knowledge has been identified as useful to generating adaptation pathways with Indigenous peoples, who are attached to their traditional lands and thus highly exposed to the impacts of climate change. However, ignoring the complex and contested histories of nation-state colonisation can result in naïve adaptation plans that increase vulnerability. Here, through a case study in central Australia, we investigate the conditions under which co-production between scientific and Indigenous knowledge can support climate change adaptation pathways among place-attached Indigenous communities. A research team including scientists, Ltyentye Apurte Rangers and other staff from the Central Land Council first undertook activities to co-produce climate change presentations in the local Arrernte language; enable community members to identify potential adaptation actions; and implement one action, erosion control. Second, we reflected on the outcomes of these activities in order to unpack deeper influences. Applying the theory of articulation complexes, we show how ideologies, institutions and economies have linked Indigenous societies and the establishing Australian nation-state since colonisation. The sequence of complexes characterised as frontier, mission, pastoral, land-rights, community-development and re-centralisation, which is current, have both enabled and constrained adaptation options. We found knowledge co-production generates adaptation pathways when: (1) effective methods for knowledge co-production are used, based on deeply respectful partnerships, cultural governance and working together through five co-production tasks—prepare, communicate, discuss, bring together and apply; (2) Indigenous people have ongoing connection to their traditional territories to maintain their Indigenous knowledge; (3) the relationship between the Indigenous people and the nation-state empowers local decision-making and learning, which requires and creates consent, trust, accountability, reciprocity, and resurgence of Indigenous culture, knowledge and practices. These conditions foster the emergence of articulation complexes that enable the necessary transformative change from the colonial legacies. Both these conditions and our approach are likely to be relevant for place-attached Indigenous peoples across the globe in generating climate adaptation pathways