Environmental Risk Management Decision-Making in a Societal Context

Recent studies point to the need for improved understanding of environmental management frameworks designed to combine qualitative public and quantitative technical inputs in decision-making processes. Flux in public perception and concern about risks imply frameworks must be iterative in nature and incorporate a variety of assessment triggers in the form of decision points. A conceptual model is proposed here to explain the de facto operation of standard risk analytic frameworks within the broader sociopolitical milieu of public policy. The model is presented as a decision flow diagram that emphasizes setting environmental management goals based on societal input and the formulation of decision criteria for selecting management actions to achieve those goals. Prospective and retrospective decision control points operate to select management options that, respectively, avoid or reduce actual or predicted effects. Feedback loops that modify risk management outcomes are identified. Technical and scientific inputs (i.e., risk analysis) are assigned an essential information role within the framework and are responsible for informing the management process with the results of appropriately conducted and reviewed investigations. The proposed model is intended primarily to indicate how environmental risk management decision-making and associated technical assessments may be influenced by social pressures. It is hoped this understanding will lead to analytical transparency and better public communication of the environmental implications of policy options.     

Patch assessment in foraging flocks of European starlings: evidence for the use of public information

A field experiment was carried out to determine whether group-foragingstarlings (Sturnus vulgaris) use public information to helpthem estimate the quality of an artificial resource patch anddepart accordingly. Three kinds of information are potentiallyavailable in a group: patch-sample information, pre-harvestinformation, and public information. These three types of informationcan be combined into four patch assessment strategies: (1) patch-samplealone; (2) patch-sample and pre-harvest; (3) patch-sample andpublic; and (4) patch-sample, pre-harvest, and public. Dependingon the foraging environment we presented to the starlings, eachassessment strategy made a unique set of predictions concerningthe patch departure decisions of pairs of birds based on differencesin their foraging success. The environment was manipulated intwo ways: by altering the variability in patch quality and bychanging compatibility, the ease with which individual birdscould simultaneously acquire both patch-sample and public information.Our observations on patch persistence and departure order demonstratethat the starlings used a combination of patch-sample and publicinformation, but not pre-harvest information, to estimate thequality of the experimental patch. Moreover, our results suggestthat starlings use public information only when it is easilyavailable and ignore it under incompatible conditions. Thisstudy provides the first evidence of public information usein a patch assessment problem.     

REEXAMINATION OF THE ETHICS OF PLACEBO USE IN CLINICAL PRACTICE

A placebo is a substance or intervention believed to be inactive, but is administered by the healthcare professional as if it was an active medication. Unlike standard treatments, clinical use of placebo usually involves deception and is therefore ethically problematic. Our attitudes toward the clinical use of placebo, which inevitably includes deception or withholding information, have a tremendous effect on our practice regarding truth‐telling and informed consent. A casual attitude towards it weakens the current practice based on shared decision‐making and mutual trust between patients and healthcare professionals. Issues concerning the clinical use of placebo are thus intimately related to patient‐provider relationships, the public's trust in medicine, and medical education. A review of recent survey studies suggests that the clinical use of placebo appears to be fairly well accepted among healthcare professionals and is common in clinical settings in various countries. However, we think that an ethical discussion is urgently needed because of its controversial nature. If judged to be ethically wrong, the practice should end. In the present paper, we discuss the ethicality of the clinical use of placebo with deception and argue against it, concluding that it is unethical and should be banned. We will show that most arguments in favor of the clinical use of placebo can be refuted and are therefore incorrect or weak. These arguments will be presented and examined individually. Finally, we will briefly consider issues relevant to the clinical use of placebo without deception.     

Mixed company: a framework for understanding the composition and organization of mixed‐species animal groups

Mixed‐species animal groups (MSGs) are widely acknowledged to increase predator avoidance and foraging efficiency, among other benefits, and thereby increase participants' fitness. Diversity in MSG composition ranges from two to 70 species of very similar or completely different phenotypes. Yet consistency in organization is also observable in that one or a few species usually have disproportionate importance for MSG formation and/or maintenance. We propose a two‐dimensional framework for understanding this diversity and consistency, concentrating on the types of interactions possible between two individuals, usually of different species. One axis represents the similarity of benefit types traded between the individuals, while the second axis expresses asymmetry in the relative amount of benefits/costs accrued. Considering benefit types, one extreme represents the case of single‐species groups wherein all individuals obtain the same supplementary, group‐size‐related benefits, and the other extreme comprises associations of very different, but complementary species (e.g. one partner creates access to food while the other provides vigilance). The relevance of social information and the matching of activities (e.g. speed of movement) are highest for relationships on the supplementary side of this axis, but so is competition; relationships between species will occur at points along this gradient where the benefits outweigh the costs. Considering benefit amounts given or received, extreme asymmetry occurs when one species is exclusively a benefit provider and the other a benefit user. Within this parameter space, some MSG systems are constrained to one kind of interaction, such as shoals of fish of similar species or leader–follower interactions in fish and other taxa. Other MSGs, such as terrestrial bird flocks, can simultaneously include a variety of supplementary and complementary interactions. We review the benefits that species obtain across the diversity of MSG types, and argue that the degree and nature of asymmetry between benefit providers and users should be measured and not just assumed. We then discuss evolutionary shifts in MSG types, focusing on drivers towards similarity in group composition, and selection on benefit providers to enhance the benefits they can receive from other species. Finally, we conclude by considering how individual and collective behaviour in MSGs may influence both the structure and processes of communities.     

推进生物多样性保护与人类健康的共同发展——One Health

随着新冠肺炎(COVID-19)的暴发, 野生动物、生物多样性和人类健康的关系再次引起广泛讨论。近20年来, 国际社会对于生物多样性与健康的研究日益增多, 并将它作为生物多样性保护与研究的重要方向之一。One Health作为一个新的理念框架, 通过交叉学科的研究和行动来推动包括人、所有其他动物及环境的健康。这个理念被不同国家、国际组织及协定所接纳及推广, 包括《生物多样性公约》等。本文通过总结近些年生物多样性对健康的影响方式、One Health的定义与发展历史、进入生物多样性议程的过程, 提出中国应用One Health改进相关野生动物管理以降低公共卫生危机的可能性的建议, 以及One Health框架内增强生物多样性保护所需的研究方向。One Health在中国的应用与发展应重视生物多样性研究和保护在其中的作用, 利用在景观生态学、群落内物种关系动态变化、气候变化影响、土地利用变化模式与趋势的研究, 与人类健康相结合, 提高One Health在应对公共健康和环境健康风险方面的准确性与及时性。同时, 需要加强我国在野生动物管理方面的投入和力度, 增强生物多样性保护与公共健康的联系, 将预警与干预措施前移, 减少疾病暴发带来的社会经济成本。     

中国公众的国际野生动物保护意愿调查: 以非洲象为例

我国高度重视野生动物保护事业, 认真履行野生动物保护国际义务, 积极鼓励公众参与, 以扩大野生动物保护事业的公众基础。已有文献多关注了公众的国内野生动物保护意愿, 鲜有文献关注公众对国际野生动物的保护意愿, 难以为促进公众参与国际野生动物保护事业提供决策参考。本研究以全球旗舰物种非洲象(Loxodonta africana)为例, 结合非洲象保护的相关研究与实践, 构建拓展的计划行为理论框架, 通过线下和线上调研获取数据, 运用结构方程模型, 从态度、规范、知觉行为控制、过去经验及个体特征五个方面, 分析了我国公众的非洲象保护意愿及影响因素。结果表明: (1) 68.5%的公众具有非洲象保护愿意; (2)公众规范(系数为0.422)、过去经验(系数为0.253)、知觉行为控制(系数为0.160)、保护态度(系数为0.156)对保护意愿存在显著的正向影响; 男性公众(系数为-0.054)的保护意愿低于女性公众; 居住在西部地区的公众(系数为0.066)保护意愿更高; (3)模型整体通过了拟合检验, 表明研究结果具有稳健性。本研究的政策建议如下: (1)明确政策导向作用, 提升公众的道德义务感和社会责任感; (2)加强宣传教育, 丰富公众知识经验, 培育公众积极的保护态度; (3)拓宽保护参与渠道, 提高公众知觉行为控制; (4)制定合理方案, 提升保护宣教等实践活动成效。     

Understanding the key characteristics and challenges of pine barrens restoration: insights from a Delphi survey of forest land managers and researchers

Pine barrens are open‐canopy ecological communities once prevalent on sandy soils across the northern Great Lakes Region of the United States and Canada, though fire suppression and plantation forestry have now reduced them to a few isolated areas. Efforts to restore pine barrens are underway on some public lands, but lack of knowledge on the social and ecological issues and challenges that affect these projects impedes fuller progress. As a precursor to designing a public preference survey for pine barrens restoration, we sought input from those with expert knowledge about pine barrens. Using a three‐round modified Delphi survey, forest land managers and researchers identified the key characteristics of pine barrens and important current and future management challenges. Key characteristics were related to fire, landscape structure, plant and animal species, soils, and social themes. Current and future challenges were related to landscape, invasive species, social, economic, climate change, and science themes. Four social issues (education, fire acceptance, fire risk, aesthetics) were rated among the top current challenges but none of them maintained prominence as future challenges. Potential explanations for this shift are that the experts felt these social concerns would be resolved in time or that other issues, such as development pressures and budgets for carrying out restoration, would become greater future challenges. Our approach can be used by managers and researchers to better understand the ecosystems they seek to restore and to communicate with public stakeholders about restoration efforts.     

Research and effectiveness of anti-viral drugs against COVID-19; global public intervention to prevent coronavirus and to improve human health

Since the first case report on COVID-19, its transmission took place rapidly across the globe. Currently, it is reported to be spread into a total of 216 countries and territories. The suppression on industrial and gasoline burning activities accompanied after COVID-19 lock down favorably boosted the nature to restore its deteriorated sections such as in air with the improved Air quality index and in water bodies with the natural tone of purity. Increased use of anti-viral drugs along with herbal therapies has been observed at mass scale as global intervention to prevent the disease. The use of personal protective equipment and disinfection strategies for the control of pandemic has dramatically increased the pollution of plastic and medical waste. This article aims to forecast and highlight the evidence-based impact/changes (+ive and -ive) of coronavirus on the environment, global interventions to prevent the disease along with the levels of effectiveness of personal used protective equipment to stop the spread of coronavirus.     

Objective and Perceived Risk Estimates of Travel Modes in the Norwegian Public

The aim of this study was to identify groups of travel mode users, based on objective risk estimates, and examine overall differences in demographic characteristics, perceived risk, worry, perceived control when using travel modes, trust in authorities, and safety motivation. The results were based on a self-completion questionnaire survey about risk perception and travel mode use in a representative sample of the Norwegian public (n = 1864). In addition, aggregate-level data on accidents in transport were used to establish the “objective risk” for various travel modes. The respondents were split into two clusters. The first cluster was characterized by a relatively greater objective risk for accidents related to public travel modes as well as related to being a pedestrian, while the second cluster was characterized by a higher risk level related to motorized private modes of transportation. There was a significant overall difference in the risk estimates among the members of the two clusters. There was also an overall difference in risk perception and other risk-related judgments due to which risk estimate-based cluster the respondents belonged. Associations between objective risk estimates, perceived risk, and worry are discussed in relation to cluster differences in objective risk.