Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies

Forest certification provides an incentive for responsible forest management and has the potential to conserve biodiversity while increasing the livelihoods of the rural poor.  The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a leader in forest certification, has created 10 Principles to evaluate environmental, social, and economic aspects of forest operations worldwide.  Mexico was one of the first testing grounds for forest certification and has a history of national and international support for community forestry.  However, few community forest enterprises (CFEs) in Mexico have achieved forest certification.  To understand forest certification on-the-ground, this report presents case studies of two ejidos with CFEs in southeastern Mexico, with different histories of certification:  Tres Garantías, whose certification has recently been suspended, and Veinte de Noviembre, which applied for certification but was denied.  This investigation focuses on answering three main questions: 1) What are the challenges for forest certification for communities? 2) What are the perceived benefits of certification? and 3) How do community members rate 20 Key FSC criteria?  I collected data from public documents and interviews with over sixty forestry experts and community members at each ejido.  The main factors found to be limiting certification for these CFEs were the lack of basic environmental monitoring, the need for improved forest management plans, and the need for training to improve workers safety.  The annual costs of environmental monitoring, estimated to be approximately $30,000 pesos, was found to be a high expense for CFEs.  This expense impacts Veinte de Noviembre more than Tres Garantías because of their differing levels of valuable timber species.  Interviews with community members found a lack of knowledge and many misconceptions about what FSC certification entails.  This is most likely due to the fact that the ejidatarios are not part of forest monitoring or the technical aspects of forest management, but more involved in the harvesting, processing, and sale of timber.  Interviews with community members about the benefits of forest certification also found a lack of knowledge and misinformation.  The main perceived benefits of forest certification by community members were higher prices for certified wood and access to international markets, however interviews with forestry experts and community leaders found that these benefits are not actually being received by Tres Garantías as they are not able to export their wood as certified without the additional Chain of Custody certification.  Interviews with community members at Veinte de Noviembre found few ejidatarios knew about FSC certification.  Despite the lack of knowledge, ejidatarios voiced strong opinions about the value of 20 key FSC criteria, rating the majority as “very important”.  An evaluation of reforestation, the conservation of primary forests, and the distribution of protected areas were three criteria rated the highest in relative importance by community members, suggesting ejidatarios strongly agree with the environmental values imbedded in FSC’s standards.  Demand for certified forest products and funding for certification schemes continues to be supported by national and international NGOs, development agencies, and forestry programs.  Suggestions on how FSC can adapt its standards to be more inclusive of these CFEs without lowering standards are given, as well as suggestions to communities and forestry experts to further develop sustainable community forest operations.

The South Puget Sound Prairie Landscape Working Group is a 20‐year, multi‐organization partnership focusing on conserving and restoring native prairie grassland species in Washington State. This case study presents first‐hand perspectives, reflections, and lessons learned from key partners at The Washington Chapter of the Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Department of Defense at Joint Base Lewis‐McChord, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Wolf Haven International. The interview questions are focused on finding lessons learned from members of the different organizations on the partnering process. Interviews with some of the founding partners revealed that the original partnership began with just a small group of scientists and land managers with shared missions of protecting and restoring prairie habitat and species. Communication between partners was instrumental in sharing new information on techniques to control invasive species and propagate native prairie plants, as well as information on the population and habitat requirements for four species that are candidates for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Many of the partners share resources, and have worked together on multiple cross‐agency projects over the years, which has built strong working relationships between partner organizations, expanding the scale, scope, and funding of prairie conservation. All interviewees said conflicts between partners were infrequent. A system of prioritizing projects using sub groups made up of experts in the partnership has evolved to facilitate effective decision making. Many interviewees mentioned that shared goals and values enable them to get through personnel conflicts and agree on priorities for success. While this partnership is still in progress, interviewees gave suggestions on how to build personal relationships with partners to collaborate effectively, and shared advice on how to improve the partnership process.

Spatial patterns in the abundance of species are determined by local abiotic and biotic conditions, and by the movement of individuals among localities. For species distributed among discrete habitat “islands”, such as zooplankton distributed among lakes, local conditions within lakes often dominate low movement rates among lakes to determine the composition of communities. Here, we ask whether the same abiotic and biotic environmental conditions can generate spatial patterns in the distribution of zooplankton within a lake where there are high horizontal movement rates. We conducted three spatial surveys of zooplankton communities in Lake Mývatn, Iceland, a moderately sized (37 km2) shallow lake with a high outflow rate. The pelagic zooplankton community showed strong spatial structure (spatial autocorrelation), with species composition varying with spatial variation in chlorophyll‐a, the abundance of Anabaena (cyanobacteria), lake depth, light extinction coefficient, and temperatu...

There are many reasons why microbial community composition is difficult to model. For example, the high diversity and high rate of change of these communities make it challenging to identify causes of community turnover. Furthermore, the processes that shape community composition can be either deterministic, which cause communities to converge upon similar compositions, or stochastic, which increase variability in community composition. However, modeling microbial community composition is possible only if microbes show repeatable responses to extrinsic forcing. In this study, we hypothesized that environmental stress acts as a deterministic force that shapes microbial community composition. Other studies have investigated if disturbances can alter microbial community composition, but relatively few studies ask about the repeatability of the effects of disturbances. Mechanistic models implicitly assume that communities show consistent responses to stressors; here, we define and quant...

The chironomids of Lake Mývatn show extreme population fluctuations that affect most aspects of the lake ecosystem. During periods of high chironomid densities, chironomid larvae comprise over 90% of aquatic secondary production. Here, we show that chironomid larvae substantially stimulate benthic gross primary production (GPP) and net primary production (NPP), despite consuming benthic algae. Benthic GPP in experimental mesocosms with 140,000 larvae/m2 was 71% higher than in mesocosms with no larvae. Similarly, chlorophyll a concentrations in mesocosms increased significantly over the range of larval densities. Furthermore, larvae showed increased growth rates at higher densities, possibly due to greater benthic algal availability in these treatments. We investigated the hypothesis that larvae promote benthic algal growth by alleviating nutrient limitation, and found that (1) larvae have the potential to cycle the entire yearly external loadings of nitrogen and phosphorus during th...

The importance of environmental disturbances as drivers of ecological communities depends not only on the magnitude of the disturbance, but also on the disturbance‐specific sensitivity of the community. Organisms that alter the physical structure of their surroundings can affect the sensitivity of their habitat to environmental disturbance, and may alter the potential for disturbance to shape ecological communities. Such organisms therefore act as ecosystem engineers by indirectly modifying the resources available to other species. The benthos of shallow, eutrophic Lake Mývatn, Iceland, is frequently disturbed by wind events that lead to sediment resuspension. The impact of wind, however, depends on the abundance of midges (Chironomidae) whose larval tubes bind sediment and reduce wind‐driven resuspension. Here, we investigate the long‐term effect of fluctuations in midge abundance on the benthic cladoceran community using two lake sediment cores representing 30 and 140 years of dep...

The transfer of materials such as nutrients from one ecosystem to another can establish gradients that affect the distribution and performance of species. We examined how a natural resource gradient influences the density and flowering of butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris), a carnivorous plant. Mývatn, a lake in Iceland, produces large midge populations, generating a gradient in midge abundance on shore. The midge gradient was associated with butterwort flowering probability, which decreased by roughly 50% moving away from the shore. In a midge addition experiment, plants receiving midges had a four-fold increase in their subsequent likelihood of flowering, implicating carnivory in the flowering gradient. Nonetheless, the density of butterworts increased with distance from shore, in negative association with soil nutrient content and the abundance of grass species. This suggests that the positive effect of the midge gradient on butterwort flowering is overwhelmed by the negative effect of competition with grasses.

A central pursuit of microbial ecology is to accurately model changes in microbial community composition in response to environmental factors. This goal requires a thorough understanding of the drivers of variability in microbial populations. However, most microbial ecology studies focus on the effects of environmental factors on mean population abundances, rather than on population variability. Here, we imposed several experimental disturbances upon periphyton communities and analyzed the variability of populations within disturbed communities compared with those in undisturbed communities. We analyzed both the bacterial and the diatom communities in the periphyton under nine different disturbance regimes, including regimes that contained multiple disturbances. We found several similarities in the responses of the two communities to disturbance; all significant treatment effects showed that populations became less variable as the result of environmental disturbances. Furthermore, multiple disturbances to these communities were often interactive, meaning that the effects of two disturbances could not have been predicted from studying single disturbances in isolation. These results suggest that environmental factors had repeatable effects on populations within microbial communities, thereby creating communities that were more similar as a result of disturbances. These experiments add to the predictive framework of microbial ecology by quantifying variability in microbial populations and by demonstrating that disturbances can place consistent constraints on the abundance of microbial populations. Although models will never be fully predictive due to stochastic forces, these results indicate that environmental stressors may increase the ability of models to capture microbial community dynamics because of their consistent effects on microbial populations. IMPORTANCE There are many reasons why microbial community composition is difficult to model. For example, the high diversity and high rate of change of these communities make it challenging to identify causes of community turnover. Furthermore, the processes that shape community composition can be either deterministic, which cause communities to converge upon similar compositions, or stochastic, which increase variability in community composition. However, modeling microbial community composition is possible only if microbes show repeatable responses to extrinsic forcing. In this study, we hypothesized that environmental stress acts as a deterministic force that shapes microbial community composition. Other studies have investigated if disturbances can alter microbial community composition, but relatively few studies ask about the repeatability of the effects of disturbances. Mechanistic models implicitly assume that communities show consistent responses to stressors; here, we define and quantify microbial variability to test this assumption.

Extremes of the hydrologic cycle will accompany global warming, causing precipitation intensity to increase, particularly in middle and high latitudes. During the twentieth
century, the frequency of major storms has already increased, and the total precipitation increase over this time period has primarily come from the greater number of heavy events.
The Great Lakes region is projected to experience a rise these extreme precipitation events.  For southern Wisconsin, the precipitation rate of the 10 wettest days was simulated using
a suite of seven global climate models from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report. For each ranking, the precipitation rate of
these very heavy events increases in the future. Overall, the models project that extreme precipitation events will become 10% to 40% stronger in southern Wisconsin, resulting in
greater potential for flooding, and for the waterborne diseases that often accompany high discharge into Lake Michigan.  Using 6.4 cm (2.5 in) of daily precipitation as the threshold for initiating combined sewer overflow into Lake Michigan, the frequency of these events is expected to rise by 50% to 120% by the end of this century. The combination of future thermal and hydrologic changes may affect the usability of recreational beaches. Chicago beach closures are
dependent on the magnitude of recent precipitation (within the past 24 hours), lake temperature, and lake stage. Projected increases in heavy rainfall, warmer lake waters, and
lowered lake levels would all be expected to contribute to beach contamination in the future.  The Great Lakes serve as a drinking water source for more than 40 million people.
Ongoing studies and past events illustrate a strong connection between rain events and the amount of pollutants entering the Great Lakes. Extreme precipitation under global warming projections may overwhelm the combined sewer systems and lead to overflow events that can threaten both human health and recreation in the region.

From the years 1906 to 2005, global average temperature has warmed by 0.74 C, and since 1961, sea level has risen on average by approximately 2 mm per year. 1 Arctic sea ice extent has declined by 7.4% per decade and snow cover and glaciers have diminished in both hemispheres. The rate of change in climate is faster now than in any period in the last 1000 years. According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in 90 years, average global temperatures will increase between 1.8 C and 4.0 C and sea level will rise between 18 and 59 cm . Extremes of the hydrologic cycle (eg, floods and droughts) are also expected to accompany global warming trends.

Extreme heat is an important weather hazard associated with excess mortality and morbidity. We determine the relative importance of heat exposure and the built environment, socioeconomic vulnerability, and neighborhood stability for heat mortality (Philadelphia, PA, USA) or heat distress (Phoenix, AZ, USA), using an ecologic study design. We use spatial Generalized Linear and Mixed Models to account for non-independence (spatial autocorrelation) between neighboring census block groups. Failing to account for spatial autocorrelation can provide misleading statistical results. Phoenix neighborhoods with more heat exposure, Black, Hispanic, linguistically and socially isolated residents, and vacant households made more heat distress calls. Philadelphia heat mortality neighborhoods were more likely to have low housing values and a higher proportion of Black residents. Our methodology can identify important risk factors and geographic areas to target interventions.

BackgroundPersons who experienced persecution in their home country may apply for asylum with the United States. This population has complex medical needs complicated by cultural and linguistic barriers. This report outlines the design and evaluation of the Patient History Project (PHxP), a collaborative program between the University of Michigan Asylum Collaborative (UMAC) and a local non-profit, Freedom House Detroit (FHD), to improve the quality of health care for asylum-seekers while training medical students to work with vulnerable populations.MethodsIn the PHxP, medical students trained by UMAC interviewed FHD residents and created electronic medical records that residents could share with subsequent medical providers. These sessions additionally provided an opportunity for asylum-seekers to rehearse health care utilization in the comfort of their home. Surveys of students and asylum-seekers, and a semi-structured interview with FHD staff, were conducted to evaluate the progra...

Background: Preserving traditional environmental knowledge about herbal medicine in the face of rapid environmental, economic and cultural change depends in part on the identification of traditionally used medicinal plants to their Latin binomial. When financial, legal, and/or time constraints prevent the collection of voucher specimens or the use of advanced molecular technologies, arguably the "gold standards" for plant identification, alternative methods such as photography and morphological descriptions may still be able to assist identification. There are unknowns about the relative accuracies of these different techniques. This paper compares the efficacy of several methods to correctly identify plants across five separate site visits in the province of Manabí, Ecuador. Methods: Plants that were identified to genus-, and species-level accuracy during each of the five site visits were totaled, and the type of data (expert consultation, written, photographic, and morphological) leading to the identification noted. Percentage accuracy was calculated as the number of unambiguous identifications to Latin binomial divided by the total number of common plant names recorded for each site visit. Results: Ninety-six common plant names were recorded across the five site visits, while each individual visit yielded information about 26-54 plants, reflecting significant overlap. In addition to interview data, site visit 4 uniquely collected additional photographic (34 plants) and morphological data (12 plants). Photographs were more effective in aiding identification to both genus (12) and species (4) than morphological data (4 genus and 0 species identifications). Percentage accuracy for the first four site visits ranged from 27-36%; site visit 5 yielded 91% accuracy, but only when considering a limited subset of the plants. Conclusions: Photographic, and morphological data can aid identification of medicinal plant species to Latin binomial when time, money and/or collection permits are lacking, but should not be considered reliable substitutes for plant voucher specimens or advanced molecular technologies.

We investigate implicit principles that inform folk moral judgments about mood enhancement. We presented a series of vignettes involving mood enhancement to lay participants via Amazon's Mechanical Turk platform. We hypothesized that in making intuitive moral determinations about the appropriateness of enhancement, participants would rely primarily on set points (specifically, how far away from "normal" a character's mood is prior to or after intervention). Contrary to our hypotheses, set point was not strongly predictive of enhancement judgments. Instead, participants' perception of the mood enhancement's effect on the long-term well-being of the character in the vignette was robustly correlated with participants' approval ratings for the enhancement. Long-term well-being predicted enhancement judgments even after controlling for perceived medical necessity (whether the character is perceived to have a medical need for mood improvement), indicating that long-term well-being does not simply serve as a proxy for medical judgments being applied to enhancement. This work highlights the centrality of well-being in folk judgments about enhancement and generates new considerations for adjudicating among competing views in the enhancement debate.

Background: Alcohol cessation improves mortality in alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD), but access to treatment is limited. To address this gap, implementation and early feasibility and outcomes of a multidisciplinary ALD clinic are described. Methods: The clinic comprised a hepatologist, psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse, and social worker. Patients included those with alcohol-associated cirrhosis or acute alcoholic hepatitis who were not in the transplant evaluation process, who had less than 6 months' sobriety and willingness to engage in alcohol use treatment. Psychosocial metrics in addition to routine hepatic