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USGS2017

Balancing stability and flexibility in adaptive governance: An analysis of tools available in U.S. environmental law

Adaptive governance must work “on the ground,” that is, it must operate through structures and procedures that the people it governs perceive to be legitimate and fair, as well as incorporating processes and substantive goals that are effective in allowing social-ecological systems (SESs) to adapt to climate change and other impacts. To address the continuing and accelerating alterations that climate change is bringing to SESs, adaptive governance generally will require more flexibility than prior governance institutions have often allowed. However, to function as good governance, adaptive governance must pay real attention to the problem of how to balance this increased need for flexibility with continuing governance stability so that it can foster adaptation to change without being perceived or experienced as perpetually destabilizing, disruptive, and unfair. Flexibility and stability serve different purposes in governance, and a variety of tools exist to strike different balances between them while still preserving the governance institution’s legitimacy among the people governed. After reviewing those purposes and the implications of climate change for environmental governance, we examine psychological insights into the structuring of adaptive governance and the variety of legal tools available to incorporate those insights into adaptive governance regimes. Because the substantive goals of governance systems will differ among specific systems, we do not purport to comment on what the normative or substantive goals of law should be. Instead, we conclude that attention to process and procedure (including participation), as well as increased use of substantive standards (instead of rules), may allow an increased level of substantive flexibility to operate with legitimacy and fairness, providing the requisite levels of psychological, social, and economic stability needed for communities to adapt successfully to the Anthropocene.

Ecology and Society↗

USGS2014

Social-ecological resilience and law

Environmental law envisions ecological systems as existing in an equilibrium state, reinforcing a rigid legal framework unable to absorb rapid environmental changes and innovations in sustainability. For the past four decades, “resilience theory,” which embraces uncertainty and nonlinear dynamics in complex adaptive systems, has provided a robust, invaluable foundation for sound environmental management. Reforming American law to incorporate this knowledge is the key to sustainability. This volume features top legal and resilience scholars speaking on resilience theory and its legal applications to climate change, biodiversity, national parks, and water law.

Book↗

USGS2005

How much is enough? The recurrent problem of setting measurable objectives in conservation

International agreements, environmental laws, resource management agencies, and environmental nongovernmental organizations all establish objectives that define what they hope to accomplish. Unfortunately, quantitative objectives in conservation are typically set without consistency and scientific rigor. As a result, conservationists are failing to provide credible answers to the question “How much is enough?” This is a serious problem because objectives profoundly shape where and how limited conservation resources are spent, and help to create a shared vision for the future. In this article we develop guidelines to help steer conservation biologists and practitioners through the process of objective setting. We provide three case studies to highlight the practical challenges of objective setting in different social, political, and legal contexts. We also identify crucial gaps in our science, including limited knowledge of species distributions and of large-scale, long-term ecosystem dynamics, that must be filled if we hope to do better than setting conservation objectives through intuition and best guesses.

BioScience↗

USGS2013

Can law foster social-ecological resilience?

Law plays an essential role in shaping natural resource and environmental policy, but unfortunately, many environmental laws were developed around the prevailing scientific understanding that there was a “balance of nature” that could be managed and sustained. This view assumes that natural resource managers have the capacity to predict the behavior of ecological systems, know what its important functional components are, and successfully predict the outcome of management interventions. This paper takes on this problem by summarizing and synthesizing the contributions to this Special Feature (Law and Social-Ecological Resilience, Part I: Contributions from Resilience 2011), focusing on the interaction of law and social-ecological resilience, and then offering recommendations for the integration of law and social-ecological resilience.

Ecology and Society↗

USGS2016

The challenges and opportunities in cumulative effects assessment

The cumulative effects of increasing human use of the ocean and coastal zone have contributed to a rapid decline in ocean and coastal resources. As a result, scientists are investigating how multiple, overlapping stressors accumulate in the environment and impact ecosystems. These investigations are the foundation for the development of new tools that account for and predict cumulative effects in order to more adequately prevent or mitigate negative effects. Despite scientific advances, legal requirements, and management guidance, those who conduct assessments—including resource managers, agency staff, and consultants—continue to struggle to thoroughly evaluate cumulative effects, particularly as part of the environmental assessment process. Even though 45 years have passed since the United States National Environmental Policy Act was enacted, which set a precedent for environmental assessment around the world, defining impacts, baseline, scale, and significance are still major challenges associated with assessing cumulative effects. In addition, we know little about how practitioners tackle these challenges or how assessment aligns with current scientific recommendations. To shed more light on these challenges and gaps, we undertook a comparative study on how cumulative effects assessment (CEA) is conducted by practitioners operating under some of the most well-developed environmental laws around the globe: California, USA; British Columbia, Canada; Queensland, Australia; and New Zealand. We found that practitioners used a broad and varied definition of impact for CEA, which led to differences in how baseline, scale, and significance were determined. We also found that practice and science are not closely aligned and, as such, we highlight opportunities for managers, policy makers, practitioners, and scientists to improve environmental assessment.

Environmental Impact Assessment Review↗

USGS2018

Extending the habitat concept to the airspace

Habitat is one of the most familiar and fundamental concepts in the fields of ecology, animal behavior, and wildlife conservation and management. Humans interact with habitats through their senses and experiences and education to such a degree that their perceptions of habitat have become second nature. For this reason, it may be difficult at first to accept the airspace as habitat, an area that is invisible, untouchable, highly dynamic, and its occupants difficult to see. Nonetheless, the habitat concept, by definition and in practice, applies readily to the airspace. Some ecological and behavioral processes including habitat selection, foraging, and reproduction are operational in the airspace, while others, particularly those mediated by resource limitation such as territoriality, are likely uncommon if present at all. The behaviors of flying animals increasingly expose them to anthropogenic hazards as development of the airspace accelerates. This exacerbates the need to identify approaches for managing these human–wildlife conflicts in aerial habitats, especially where human safety or at-risk populations are concerned. The habitat concept has proven useful in shaping environmental law and policy to help mitigate these conflicts. It remains to be seen whether current law can bend to include a more expansive concept of habitat that includes the airspace.

Book chapter↗

USGS2011

Geochemical and isotopic study of soils and waters from an Italian contaminated site: Agro Aversano (Campania)

Lead isotope applications have been widely used in recent years in environmental studies conducted on different kinds of sampled media. In the present paper, Pb isotope ratios have been used to determine the sources of metal pollution in soils and waters in the Agro Aversano area. During three different sampling phases, a total of 113 surface soils (5-20. cm), 20 samples from 2 soil profiles (0-1. m), 11 stream waters and 4 groundwaters were collected. Major element concentrations in sampled media have been analyzed by the ICP-MS technique. Surface soils (20 samples), all soil profiles and all waters have been also analyzed for Pb isotope compositions by thermal ionization (TIMS). The geochemical data were assessed using statistic methods and cartographically elaborated in order to have a clear picture of the level of disturbance of the area. Pb isotopic data were studied to discriminate between anthropogenic and geologic sources. Our results show that As (5.6-25.6. mg/kg), Cu (9-677. mg/kg), Pb (22-193. mg/kg), Tl (0.53-3.62. mg/kg), V (26-142. mg/kg) and Zn (34-215. mg//kg) contents in analyzed soils, exceed the intervention limits fixed by the Italian Environmental Law for residential areas in some of the sampled sites, while intervention limit for industrial areas is exceeded only for Cu concentrations. Lead isotopic data, show that there is a high similarity between the ratios measured in the leached soil samples and those deriving from anthropic activities. This similarity with anthropogenic Pb is also evident in the ratios measured in both groundwater and stream water samples. ?? 2010 Elsevier B.V.

Journal of Geochemical Exploration↗

USGS2018

Geochemical and Pb isotopic characterization of soil, groundwater, human hair, and corn samples from the Domizio Flegreo and Agro Aversano area (Campania region, Italy)

A geochemical survey was carried out to investigate metal contamination in the Domizio Littoral and Agro Aversano area (Southern Italy) by means of soil, groundwater, human hair and corn samples. Pb isotope ratios were also determined to identify the sources of metals. Specifically, the investigation focused on topsoils ( n = 1064), groundwater ( n = 26), 25 human hair ( n = 24) and corn samples ( n = 13). Topsoils have been sampled and analysed in a previous study for 53 elements (including potentially harmful ones), and determined by ICP-MS after dissolving with aqua regia. Groundwater was analysed for 72 elements by ICP-MS and by ICP-ES. Samples of human hair were prepared and analysed for 16 elements by ICP-MS. Dried corn collected at several farms were also analysed for 53 elements by ICP-MS. The isotopic ratios of 206 Pb/ 207 Pb and 208 Pb/ 207 Pb in selected topsoil ( n = 24), groundwater ( n = 9), human hair ( n = 9) and corn ( n = 4) samples were analysed from both eluates and residues to investigate possible anthropogenic contamination and geogenic contributions. All data were processed and mapped by ArcGis software to produce interpolated maps and contamination factor maps of potentially harmful elements, in accordance with Italian Environmental Law (Legislative Decree 152/06). Results show that soil sampling sites are characterized by As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Se, and Zn contents exceeding the action limits established for residential land use (RAL) and, in some cases, also the action limits for industrial land use (IAL) as established by Legislative Decree 152/06. A map of contamination factors and a map showing the degrees of contamination indicate that the areas in the municipalities of Acerra, Casoria and Giugliano have been affected by considerable anthropogenic-related pollution. To interpret the isotopic data and roughly estimate proportion of Pb from an anthropogenic source we broadly defined possible natural and anthropogenic Pb end-member fields based on literature data. For example, we summarized data for Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei volcanic rocks, gasoline, and aerosol deposits. Lead isotope data show mixing between geogenic and anthropogenic sources. Topsoil, groundwater, human hair and corn samples show a greater contribution from geogenic sources like the Yellow Tuff (from Campi Flegrei) and volcanic rocks from Mt. Vesuvius. Aerosols, fly ash and gasoline (anthropogenic sources) have also been contributors. In detail, 46% of the topsoil residues, 96% of topsoil leachates, 88% of groundwater, 90% of human hair, and 25% of corn samples indicate that > 50% percent of the lead in this area can be ascribed to anthropogenic activity.

Campania region↗

USGS2015

Soil geochemical survey of abandoned mining sites in the Eastern-Central Peloritani Mountains, Sicily, Italy

This investigation focused on topsoils ( n = 122) and vertical profiles ( n = 6) distributed over an area of 250 km 2 in the eastern-central Peloritani Mountains, northeastern Sicily. Georeferenced concentration of 53 elements (including potentially harmful ones), determined by ICP-MS after an aqua regia leach, were used to produce geochemical maps by means of a GIS-aided spatial interpolation process. Results show that there are two distinct areas: the larger, located between the Fiumendinisi, Budali and Ali villages, and the other between C. Postlioni and Femmina Morta, which contain anomalous As (up to 727 mg/kg), Sb (up to 60 mg/kg), Ag (up to 1 mg/kg) and Au (up to 0.1 mg/kg) concentrations. Most of the investigated areas have high contamination levels for As, Zn, Sb, and Pb that exceed the threshold values (As = 20 mg/kg, Zn = 150 mg/kg, Sb = 10 mg/kg and Pb = 100 mg/kg) established for soils by the Italian Environmental Law ( Decreto Legislativo 2006 , number 152). The isotopic ratios of 206 Pb/ 207 Pb and 208 Pb/ 207 Pb have been measured in selected soils on both leaches [using 1M HNO 3 –1.75M HCl (50:50)] and residues thereof. Soil leach reflects possible anthropogenic contamination, whereas soil residues indicate geogenic contributions. Results suggest that most of contamination in the soils is related to the presence of sulphide and sulphosalt rock-forming minerals in the surveyed area. The soil fraction contains a Pb value >1600 mg/kg and has ratios of 1.1695 for 206 Pb/ 207 Pb and 2.4606 for 208 Pb/ 207 Pb. Only one soil leach isotopic composition could reflect possible anthropogenic contamination. The correlation among As, Zn, Pb contents v. Pb isotopic signatures of 206 Pb/ 207 Pb indicates that surface and deep soils collected from profiles are dominated by geogenic compositions.

Peloritani Mountains, Sicily↗

USGS1999

The mineral economy of Brazil--Economia mineral do Brasil

This study depicts the Brazilian government structure, mineral legislation and investment policy, taxation, foreign investment policies, environmental laws and regulations, and conditions in which the mineral industry operates. The report underlines Brazil's large and diversified mineral endowment. A total of 37 mineral commodities, or groups of closely related commodities, is discussed. An overview of the geologic setting of the major mineral deposits is presented. This report is presented in English and Portuguese in pdf format.

Data Series↗

USGS2006

Rates, trends, causes, and consequences of urban land-use change in the United States

Over the past 200 years, changes to the Nation's urban areas have been dramatic. Changes that have occurred relate both to the location of urban centers, as well as to the spatial extent of land dedicated to urban uses. Urban areas at the beginning of the 19th century were located primarily along major rivers or bodies of water, as waterways provided the most efficient means for transporting goods and people. As railroads became prominent, urban areas were able to expand or develop away from the water's edge. Geographic features such as steep slopes, wetlands, and lack of freshwater impeded settlement. In 1902, the National Reclamation Act was passed and with it came funding for the construction of water storage and transportation systems. This encouraged urban expansion in the arid west. After World War II, the Nation's urban areas continued to expand outward away from the city center as populations migrated to the margins of urban areas, where land was less expensive and the environment was less polluted. In 1956, the Federal Highway Act and the building of Interstate highways further facilitated urban expansion across the Unite States. Rural towns, small industrial centers, and farmland were engulfed by expanding urban centers. Over the past 200 years, numerous social, cultural, economic, and political incentives have encouraged urban expansion. In the 1800s, the industrial revolution influenced where people lived and worked. Many people shifted from agricultural production in rural areas to factory work in urban centers. Advances in transportation systems, such as rail transport in the 19th and early 20th centuries, followed by the mass production of the automobile and convenient air travel, facilitated a mobile society and a national economy. Economic growth and a population boom after World War II spurred increased suburbanization-the shifting of residential areas to the outlying section of a city or to a separate municipality-on the fringe of urban areas. Other economic and political incentives that shaped the urban environment included Federally backed home loans, credit and tax mechanisms that encouraged new development, and less restrictive municipal ordinances regarding building codes, environmental laws, and zoning regulations. Throughout the past two centuries land use changes associated with increasing urbanization have had impacts that resonate at local, regional, and even national scales. Landscape changes resulting from urbanization can be mapped and studied over time. Understanding these changes requires a study of the causes of change as related to social, economic, and political influences. Understanding these changes also requires analysis of how urbanization physically spreads across the landscape. The knowledge gained from studying urban land-use change can be helpful when it flows into local, regional, and national decisionmaking that relates to land-use decisions that impact the people, the economy, and the environment. Deriving a correlation between physical change and the explanations of the causes of change can help anticipate and mitigate the impacts of future change. Throughout the past two centuries changes to the Nation's urban areas are inextricably linked to population changes. The Nation's population started growing slowly along the eastern seaboard during the 17th and 18th centuries, accelerated in the second half of the 19th century, and then continued steadily spreading westward throughout the next hundred years. Currently, nearly 80 percent of the U.S. population resides in urban areas. Land area dedicated to urban use continues to expand, although differently than it has in the past. Most newly urbanized areas are much less densely populated and less intensively developed than they were 50 to 100 years ago.

Professional Paper↗

USGS2017

Critical mineral resources of the United States—An introduction

Many changes have taken place in the mineral resource sector since the publication by the U.S. Geological Survey of Professional Paper 820, “United States Mineral Resources,” which is a review of the long-term United States resource position for 65 mineral commodities or commodity groups. For example, since 1973, the United States has continued to become increasingly dependent on imports to meet its demands for an increasing number of mineral commodities. The global demand for mineral commodities is at an alltime high and is expected to continue to increase, and the development of new technologies and products has led to the use of a greater number of mineral commodities in increasing quantities to the point that, today, essentially all naturally occurring elements have several significant industrial uses. Although most mineral commodities are present in sufficient amounts in the earth to provide adequate supplies for many years to come, their availability can be affected by such factors as social constraints, politics, laws, environmental regulations, land-use restrictions, economics, and infrastructure. This volume presents updated reviews of 23 mineral commodities and commodity groups viewed as critical to a broad range of existing and emerging technologies, renewable energy, and national security. The commodities or commodity groups included are antimony, barite, beryllium, cobalt, fluorine, gallium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, indium, lithium, manganese, niobium, platinum-group elements, rare-earth elements, rhenium, selenium, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, vanadium, and zirconium. All these commodities have been listed as critical and (or) strategic in one or more of the recent studies based on assessed likelihood of supply interruption and the possible cost of such a disruption to the assessor. For some of the minerals, current production is limited to only one or a few countries. For many, the United States currently has no mine production or any significant identified resources and is largely dependent on imports to meet its needs. As a result, the emphasis in this volume is on the global distribution and availability of each mineral commodity. The environmental issues related to production of each mineral commodity, including current mitigation and remediation approaches to deal with these challenges, are also addressed. This introductory chapter provides an overview of the mineral resource classifications, terms, and definitions used in this volume. A review of the history of the use and meaning of the term “critical” minerals (or materials) is included as an appendix to the chapter.

Professional Paper↗

USGS1984

Ground-water models as a management tool in Florida

Highly sophisticated computer models provide powerful tools for analyzing historic data and for simulating future water levels, water movement, and water chemistry under stressed conditions throughout the ground-water system in Florida. Models that simulate the movement of heat and subsidence of land in response to aquifer pumping also have potential for application to hydrologic problems in the State. Florida, with 20 ground-water modeling studies reported since 1972, has applied computer modeling techniques to a variety of water-resources problems. Models in Florida generally have been used to provide insight to problems of water supply, contamination, and impact on the environment. The model applications range from site-specific studies, such as estimating contamination by wastewater injection at St. Petersburg, to a regional model of the entire State that may be used to assess broad-scale environmental impact of water-resources development. Recently, groundwater models have been used as management tools by the State regulatory authority to permit or deny development of water resources. As modeling precision, knowledge, and confidence increase, the use of ground-water models will shift more and more toward regulation of development and enforcement of environmental laws. (USGS)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗

USGS1975

History of fish toxicants in the United States

Many bodies of water have been overrun with fish species that are undesirable for the well-being of endemic aquatic biota and are of little or no interest to anglers. This situation has resulted from the transplanting of fish, creation of new waters, increasing fishing pressure and changing water quality. Although as many as 30 toxicants have been tried, only about 30 major piscicides have been used in rehabilitation programs to remove the unwanted species. Explicit knowledge of the mode of action of toxicants in the environment and improvements in fish farming, have permitted fishery managers to reduce the amount of control chemical that is applied to obtain a desired result. The number and volume of waters being reclaimed have increased, but this trend may change soon because environmental laws involving the use of registered pesticides are becoming more restrictive. Registration research has established the safety of some fish toxicants but has eliminated others. Only four piscicides are presently registered (or nonfood use application: antimycin and rotenone as general fish toxicants and 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) and Bayluscide as selective lampricides.

Special Publication↗

USGS2000

Natural remediation in the Great Lakes

Overall, the existence of stricter environmental laws during the last 30 years and a reduction in the manufacturing base in the Great Lakes has resulted in improvement in conditions in harbors, rivers, and nearshore waters. Problems remain, such as the inability to dredge certain harbors and remove sediments because of lack of disposal facilities for contaminated sediments. Because of the wide extent of of contaminated sediments in the Great Lakes, much work remains to be done to document the condition of contaminated areas and the degree to which remediation of these areas is occurring from biotic and abiotic natural processes.

Book chapter↗

USGS2011

Wind Turbines as Landscape Impediments to the Migratory Connectivity of Bats

Unprecedented numbers of migratory bats are found dead beneath industrial-scale wind turbines during late summer and autumn in both North America and Europe. Prior to the wide-scale deployment of wind turbines, fatal collisions of migratory bats with anthropogenic structures were rarely reported and likely occurred very infrequently. There are no other well-documented threats to populations of migratory tree bats that cause mortality of similar magnitude to that observed at wind turbines. Just three migratory species comprise the vast majority of bat kills at turbines in North America and there are indications that turbines may actually attract migrating individuals toward their blades. Although fatality of certain migratory species is consistent in occurrence across large geographic regions, fatality rates differ across sites for reasons mostly unknown. Cumulative fatality for turbines in North America might already range into the hundreds of thousands of bats per year. Research into the causes of bat fatalities at wind turbines can ascertain the scale of the problem and help identify solutions. None of the migratory bats known to be most affected by wind turbines are protected by conservation laws, nor is there a legal mandate driving research into the problem or implementation of potential solutions.

Environmental Law↗

USGS2014

Sources of endocrine-disrupting compounds in North Carolina waterways: a geographic information systems approach

The presence of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), particularly estrogenic compounds, in the environment has drawn public attention across the globe, yet a clear understanding of the extent and distribution of estrogenic EDCs in surface waters and their relationship to potential sources is lacking. The objective of the present study was to identify and examine the potential input of estrogenic EDC sources in North Carolina water bodies using a geographic information system (GIS) mapping and analysis approach. Existing data from state and federal agencies were used to create point and nonpoint source maps depicting the cumulative contribution of potential sources of estrogenic EDCs to North Carolina surface waters. Water was collected from 33 sites (12 associated with potential point sources, 12 associated with potential nonpoint sources, and 9 reference), to validate the predictive results of the GIS analysis. Estrogenicity (measured as 17β-estradiol equivalence) ranged from 0.06 ng/L to 56.9 ng/L. However, the majority of sites (88%) had water 17β-estradiol concentrations below 1 ng/L. Sites associated with point and nonpoint sources had significantly higher 17β-estradiol levels than reference sites. The results suggested that water 17β-estradiol was reflective of GIS predictions, confirming the relevance of landscape-level influences on water quality and validating the GIS approach to characterize such relationships.

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry↗

USGS2021

Survival and contaminants in imperiled and common riverine fishes assessed with an in situ bioassay approach

An in situ bioassay approach was used to determine whether aquatic contaminant stressors in a large Atlantic river ecosystem affect the survival of 3 fish species: the largemouth bass ( Micropterus salmoides , juveniles), the fathead minnow ( Pimephales promelas , adults), and the robust redhorse ( Moxostoma robustum , juveniles). Hatchery-propagated fish were placed into cages to assess site-specific survival in the Yadkin-Pee Dee River of North Carolina and South Carolina, USA. Contaminants were measured in caged fish and sediment and surface water at each site. No apparent longitudinal trends in fish survival were detected, and contaminant concentrations varied among sites. Juvenile largemouth bass and robust redhorse did not survive past 13 and 23 d, with corresponding Kaplan-Meier median survival estimates of 9.7 and 12.1 d, respectively. Survival of adult fathead minnows deployed in cages alongside the juvenile fish averaged 43% at the end of the 28-d exposure, with a 22-d median survival estimate. The intersex condition, an indicator of endocrine disruption, was not observed in any adult fathead minnow. Contaminant accumulation in surviving fathead minnows was apparent, with highest accumulated concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (34.6–93.4 ng/g dry wt), organochlorine pesticides (19.9–66.1 ng/g dry wt), and mercury (0.17–0.63 μg/g dry wt). Contaminants and other water quality stressors in this river system appear to detrimentally impact juvenile fish survival, with presumed effects at the fish assemblage and community levels.

North Carolina, South Carolina↗