The environmental movement and its critics

The history and nature of the new environmental movement in the United States are reviewed. Since understanding of a social movement is enhanced by learning the views and perceptions of outsiders, the continuing debate between the environmental movement and its critics is examined. First, disagreements over the nature and the severity of the so-called environmental crisis are described. Second, the ideological differences between environmentalists and their critics are reviewed, particularly their contrasting views of man, society, nature, and economic growth. Finally, the political critique of the movement is examined, with attention given to the composition of the membership, the alleged superficiality of its proposed solutions to environmental problems, and the alleged discrimination against both poor people in the United States and the poor nations.     

Late pleistocene population dynamics: An alternative view

An attempt is made to argue for a more dynamic view of huntergatherer population behavior in place of the largely static one that has been widely accepted. Following a review of how the concept of carrying capacity has been used in both huntergatherer and ecological studies, attention is drawn to the role of stochastic factors in producing fluctuations over time among populations that are small in size. Some of the implications of this alternative view are briefly discussed.Research supported in part by NIH Grant GM 20467-03.This is a revised version of a paper presented at the symposium, Systems and Their Environments, at the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, 1973, New Orleans.     

Evolution, origin and age of lineages in the Californian and Mediterranean floras

This paper addresses some of the conceptual issues involved in the analysis of the age and origin of mediterranean‐climate plant taxa, paying particular attention to three topics: (1) the importance of an explicit time frame in the definition of biogeographical origins, (2) the distinction between the age of traits and the age of taxa, and (3) the idea of mediterranean‐type ecosystems as environmental islands. (1) In California, recent analyses demonstrate that the diversity of species derived from different biogeographical origins is significantly correlated with temperature and precipitation gradients. These patterns support the hypothesis that niche conservatism is an important factor structuring modern diversity gradients. However, depending on how far back in time one looks, a species may be assigned to different origins; future discussions of biogeographical origins need to address the appropriate time frame for analysis. (2) Past research has demonstrated distinctive trait syndromes among woody plants of the Mediterranean, Chile, California and Mexico, and proposed that the syndromes are associated with lineages of different age in these floras. Reanalysis of individual traits demonstrates greater variability among regions than previously reported. The classification of plants into ‘old’ and ‘new’ genera is re‐evaluated, and it is suggested that greater attention be paid to the age of traits, rather than to the age of taxa, especially at an arbitrary rank such as genus. (3) The idea of mediterranean‐climate regions as ‘climatic islands’ is examined. Space–time diagrams of climate enable one to view the emergence of distinctive climatic regions in a continental context. The terms ‘synclimatic’ and ‘anticlimatic’ are proposed, referring to migration routes that parallel climate contours in space and time versus those that cross contours (including the case of geographic stasis in the face of climate change), respectively. Mediterranean‐climate regions have served as important case studies in plant ecology and evolution, and merit continued close examination in the light of continued advances in phylogenetics and palaeoecology.     

The effects of an unpredictable precipitation regime on vernal pool hydrology

1. Vernal pools are small precipitation‐fed temporary wetlands once common in California. They are known for their numerous narrowly endemic plant and animal species, many of which are endangered. These pools experience the typical wet season/dry season regime of Mediterranean climates. Their hydrological characteristics are determined by a complex interaction between the highly variable climate and topographic relief. 2. Hypotheses regarding the effects on ponding of total precipitation, storm intensity and pattern were examined using long‐term weather records combined with two decades of data on the length and depth of inundation in 10 individual pools. Similarly, data on pool landscape position and microtopography allowed examination of the interactions between topography and rainfall amount and pattern. 3. The total amount of precipitation and length of inundation were strongly correlated. Landscape position affected ponding duration, with collector pools holding water longer than headwater pools. Basin microtopography interacted with climatic variability to determine the nature and extent of within‐basin microhabitats sufficiently different in hydrological and/or soil conditions to support or exclude individual species. The effect on hydroperiod of precipitation concentrated in a few months rather than spread more evenly over the season depended on total precipitation. 4. Changes in climate, the mound‐and‐depression landscape or pool microtopography could have profound impacts on the hydrology of individual pools as well as the array of hydrological conditions in the system. Given the individualistic responses of the numerous endemic species supported by vernal pools, any of these environmental changes could diminish their sustainability and increase the risk of species extinction. Conservation, restoration and management decisions should take these factors into account.     

Patterns of variation in desiccation resistance in a set of recombinant inbred lines in Drosophila melanogaster

Desiccation, resulting from extremely dry environmental conditions, is a serious obstacle to the survival of organisms. Water is vital for the maintenance of intracellular structure and prevents the irreversible formation of aggregates, an occurrence leading to loss of cellular function. To characterize genetic variation in desiccation stress resistance (DSR) in Drosophila melanogaster Meigen, an intercontinental set of recombinant inbred lines (RIL) is used. Flies are exposed to a low humidity environment (<10% relative humidity) at a constant temperature of 25 °C. Desiccation stress resistance is higher in RIL derived from a backcross to the parental stock sensitive to heat stress (from Denmark) than in RIL derived from the reciprocal backcross to the heat‐stress resistant stock (from Australia). Composite interval mapping reveals significant quantitative trail loci (QTL) for DSR in the set of RIL. Both major and minor effects QTL are detected, suggesting a complex genetic architecture. When compared with a previous investigation performed on the same set of RIL, the present study indicates that not all traits of resistance to environmental stressors are affected in the same direction by segregating co‐localized QTL.     

Indoor environmental study and post occupancy evaluation in an office environment

1. 1. The objective of this paper is to investigate the indoor environment from the viewpoint of interaction between physical environment and the human responses. The field survey has been conducted over 1 year.

2. 2. A continuous measurement has been carried out for 1 week and distribution of variables have been measured for 1 day.

3. 3. The attitude of workers was investigated by a questionnaire.

4. 4. As the result, average luminance represented more than 1000 lx in the new building, in contrast with less tha 300 lx in the existing building.

5. 5. There was a significant difference of the occupants' response to the light environment between the two buildings.

6. 6. Measured thermal conditions are on the edge of the ASHRAE comfort envelope in summer, and in the neighborhood of the lower dry limit of the envelope in spring.

7. 7. The occupants' evaluations were remarkably changed before and after the moving. The office environment is better than that of the factory.

Energy and Carbon Management Systems

This article examines an important class of information system that serves as the foundation for corporate energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting: energy and carbon management systems (ECMS). Investors, regulators, customers, and employees increasingly demand that organizations provide information about their organizational energy use and GHG emissions. However, there is little transparency about how organizations use ECMS to meet such demands. To shed light on ECMS implementation and application, we collected extensive qualitative interview data from two service‐sector organizations: one that uses a spreadsheet‐based ECMS and another that implemented an ECMS provided by a third‐party vendor. Our analysis of collected data revealed numerous challenges in the areas of business processes, managerial capabilities, data capture and integration, and data quality. Though our study is built on only two organizations and requires confirmation in large‐sample surveys, we provide several recommendations for organizations regarding ECMS. We also provide suggestions for future studies to build on our tentative results.