Determining riverine sediment storage mechanisms of biologically reactive phosphorus in situ using DGT.

Phosphorus (P) is the main reason many surficial water bodies in the UK are currently failing to meet the chemical standards set by the Water Framework Directive (WFD). This work focuses on the role of sediments in the upper reaches of the River Taw in the South West of the UK. Point and diffuse sources of P have been identified as well as a number of mitigation measures applied or planned to address the issues. However, it is unknown what effect these sources have had on the river's sediments and how they will react to diminishing inputs of P into the water column in the future. The diffusive gradient in thin-films (DGT) method is utilised in situ to quantify and identify labile, potentially bioavailable P fluxes and potential storage mechanisms at sites of known diffuse and point P inputs. In the vicinity of a heavily contaminated point source, data present here shows that sediments are still acting as a sink. The proposed mechanism for this is the formation of a 'calcium cap' which provides a geochemical barrier between the sediment and overlying water to prevent loss of labile P. The strong correlation between calcium and total P under most circumstances supports this hypothesis. This conclusion provides some confidence that even though P concentrations in some sediments are significantly elevated, mobility between the sediment and overlying water is restricted. In the context of routine monitoring against WFD targets, the molybdenum blue method generally employed to determine soluble reactive phosphorus was shown to not be equivalent to the DGT labile P pool, especially at pristine or moderately point/diffuse influenced sites. This is likely due to desorption of weakly bound P from colloids, which is unavailable to DGT devices. These results have the potential to be scaled up to the full catchment or other catchments which exhibit similar physical and chemical sediment composition and provide a stronger foundation for management and target setting than current monitoring approaches

An assessment of intermediary roles in payments for ecosystem services schemes in the context of catchment management: An example from South West England

Payments for Ecosystems Services (PES) schemes are an underdeveloped component of the policy mix for catchment management in many countries. The importance of intermediaries to such schemes is acknowledged in the literature but few studies go beyond theory to evaluate practice. This paper analyses generic intermediary functions for PES. It then evaluates an innovative example from southwest England that provides illustrations, and some lessons regarding necessary capabilities and characteristics for intermediaries, and understanding of their form, functions and modalities. The ‘UpStream Thinking’ project was co-developed by a private water company and an environmental charity. The former translated effective demand from shareholders and water customers for improved raw water quality into finance, whilst the latter had capabilities for catchment-scale on-farm delivery and trusted acceptance as an intermediary. While any sector can potentially provide a PES intermediary, the value driven, not-for-profit and politically neutral voluntary sector proves to be a good fit. Such ‘boundary organisations’ are also well placed for horizontal coordination of catchment management authorities and actions

Catchment partnerships –better planning for our rivers and landscapes

We place increasing demands on our landscapes. Historically we have managed these spaces by prioritizing a single sector in a given location, for example farming, or recreation, or biodiversity, but this has failed toaddress the ways in which land, water and nature are interlinked. Catchment partnerships, rivers trusts and other environmental organisations are playing an increasingly important role by developing stakeholder engagement and partnership working, in order to understand the range of demands from society and where there are trade-offs or complementarity. This understanding leads to recognition of the need for effective holistic planning and collaborative management, and these approaches must be informed by the latest research and methods

Sailing through narrow straits: necessity, contingency, and language

This thesis examines necessary truth and defends a normative, or linguistic, account of it. Roughly, it holds that necessary truths state or follow from conceptual norms (i.e., norms that determine patterns of correct concept use). While the thesis touches upon logical and mathematical truth, its primary focus are those necessary truths typically expressed using natural language. The thesis has three parts. In Part I, I criticise metaphysical accounts of necessity and present and defend a normative account of it. At no point do I give a history of normative accounts, but clearly their roots are to be found in the first half of the twentieth century – in the works of Wittgenstein and Carnap, for example. In Part II, I consider whether language can sustain the normative account. Some argue that the account requires language to be regimented in a way that it is not. I show that while it requires a distinction in kind between empirical and conceptual principles, it nevertheless makes room for indeterminacy regarding whether a given statement is an empirical claim or follows from conceptual norms. Finally, in Part III, I consider the relationship between the world and our conceptual scheme. I argue that denying our concepts answer to the world does not mean that they cannot be justified. The normative account does not say that we have no reasons for categorising things in a certain way, but rather that natural facts, in combination with our interests, are fit to provide them. The purpose of the thesis is to show that normative accounts of necessity can be much more robust than they are often given credit for and needn’t have the malign implications often associated with them

Partnering for bioregionalism in England : a case study of the Westcountry Rivers Trust

The adoption of bioregionalism by institutions that are instrumental in river basin management has significant potential to resolve complex water resource management problems. The Westcountry Rivers Trust (WRT) in England provides an example of how localised bioregional institutionalisation of adaptive co-management, consensus decision-making, local participation, indigenous technical and social knowledge and 'win-win' outcomes can potentially lead to resilient partnership working. Our analysis of the WRT's effectiveness in confronting non-point source water pollution, previously impervious to centralised agency responses, provides scope for lesson-drawing on institutional design, public engagement and effective operation, although some evident issues remain

The relationship between radiological OA severity or body weight and outcomes following a structured education and exercise therapy program (GLA:D®) for people with knee osteoarthritis

BackgroundClinicians may presume people with higher bodyweight or greater OA severity do not respond to exercise therapy for knee osteoarthritis (OA), but few studies have examined this.ObjectiveTo examine the relationship between radiographical OA severity or bodyweight and pain and functional outcomes following a structured education and exercise therapy program (Good Life with OsteoArthritis from Denmark: GLA:D®).Methods33 participants with knee OA were assessed at baseline and week 8 following GLA:D®. Outcomes were pain (Visual analogue scale (VAS) 0–100), Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score-12 (KOOS-12 total), 40 m-fast-paced walk and 30-s chair stand. Multilevel models were used to define the severity of OA in medial, lateral and patellofemoral compartments using the Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) system and to examine the relationship between compartment severity, bodyweight and outcomes.ResultsNo meaningful relationships between bodyweight and response to GLA:D® were found for any outcome measures. Greater medial OA compartment severity was related to less improvement in pain, KOOS-12 and chair stand repetitions. However, all levels of lateral compartment severity had similar improvements, and greater patellofemoral compartment severity was related to more improvement for KOOS-12 and pain.ConclusionBodyweight may have little influence on a person's response to a structured education and exercise therapy program. While people with greater medial compartment severity were less likely to improve following the program, OA severity in the PF and lateral compartments was not a barrier to improvement

Improving coherence of ecosystem service provision between scales

© 2014 Elsevier B.V. High-level consensus about safeguarding ecosystem services for optimal benefits to society is not yet matched by transposition to field scale. Various 'societal levers' - markets, statutory legislation, common/civil law, market-based instruments and protocols - have evolved as a fragmented policy environment of incentives and constraints, influencing the freedoms of resource owners. This has produced mosaic landscapes reflecting both natural conditions and landowner aspirations. The Principles of the Ecosystem Approach serve as a framework to consider three case study sites: an English lowland estuary and two in Scotland. Societal levers today safeguard some socially valuable services, but the present policy environment is neither sufficient nor sufficiently integrated to achieve coherence between the choices of resource owners and wider societal aspirations for ecosystem service provision. The heterogeneity of societal levers protects freedom of choice, enables adaptive decision-making related to the properties of the natural resource, and makes allowance for changes in societal preferences. Resultant mosaic landscapes provide flexibility and resilience in ecosystem service production. However, further evolution of societal levers is required to bring about greater coherence of ecosystem service production from local to national/international scales. This paper explores how issues of scale, regulation and variability manifest in the ecosystem service framework