Abstract: It has long been believed that council-manager governments with professionally trained public managers are more efficiency oriented and insulated from political pressure than mayor-council governments. Despite the general acceptance of this conventional wisdom, empirical evidence to support the predicted differences in policy has been extremely hard to come by. Most studies have found no direct effect of form of government on expenditures or policy; the effect of local institutions has been indirect, working to amplify or reduce supplier or demander preferences. In contrast, this paper examines a unique dataset of sustainability efforts in governmental operations and the community, and reports evidence that forms of government are an important direct influence on the approach that communities take to sustainability. Council-manager government systems have a significant positive effect on efforts directed to governmental operations, but a negative effect on community efforts.

Abstract: Fontanile is a Po Valley (Italy) quasi-natural lowland spring built in the middle age. This paper identifies options for the conservation of the Fontanile water dependent ecosystem, using scenarios and simulations, and exploring different policy options. Three modeling analysis have been performed: the first was carried out for estimating groundwater contamination and recharge from above, the second for evaluating the function of vegetative filter strip on the surface water quality and the last one for testing pesticide drift reduction due to the vegetative filter strip. Uncertainty characterization included climate change projections. Despite the nitrate concentration in water could favorite the eutrophication phenomena, this not occurs because of the low phosphate concentration in water and of the presence of arboreal shade. Therefore, the protection strategies must focus on sustaining desirable water quantity conditions. Water saving and conservation technologies that improve the agricultural productivity but reduce the Fontanile water flow and large buffer strips that have a limited efficacy due to the Fontanile hydrological settings can be judged as ecological traps. Inefficient irrigation systems, good agricultural practices, integrated pest management and arboreal filter strip can preserve the quality of those ecosystems. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Abstract: Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases will require the development of carbon management technologies that are not currently available or that are not currently cost-effective. While market mechanisms such as carbon pricing must play a central role in stimulating the development of these technologies, governmental policy aimed at fostering carbon management technologies and lowering their costs must also play a part. Both types of policies will form part of an optimal greenhouse gas control portfolio.
This article develops a framework of international trade and investment law insofar as they may affect carbon management technologies. While it is commonly perceived that international trade law and investment law usually constrains the development of environmental policy, the flipside is often ignored. In addition to discussing how carbon management policy might be constrained, this article also identifies opportunities within the framework of international trade and investment law in which carbon management technologies might be advanced or supported.

Abstract: In this study, we present a unique high-resolution Holocene record of oceanographic and climatic change based on analyses of diatom assemblages combined with biomarker data from a sediment core collected from the Vega Drift, eastern Antarctic Peninsula (EAP). These data add to the climate framework already established by high-resolution marine sedimentary records from the Palmer Deep, western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). Heavy sea ice conditions and reduced primary productivity were observed prior to 7.4ka B.P. in relation with the proximity of the glacial ice melt and calving. Subsequent Holocene oceanographic conditions were controlled by the interactions between the Westerlies-Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC)-Weddell Gyre dynamics. A warm period characterized by short seasonal sea ice duration associated with a southern shift of both ACC and Westerlies field persisted until 5ka B.P. This warm episode was then followed by climate deterioration during the middle-to-late Holocene (5 to 1.9ka B.P.) with a gradual increase in annual sea ice duration triggered by the expansion of the Weddell Gyre and a strong oceanic connection from the EAP to the WAP. Increase of benthic diatom species during this period was indicative of more summer/autumn storms, which was consistent with changes in synoptic atmospheric circulation and the establishment of low- to high-latitude teleconnections. Finally, the multicentennial scale variability of the Weddell Gyre intensity and storm frequency during the late Holocene appeared to be associated with the increased El Nino-Southern Oscillation frequency.

Abstract: Eddy covariance (EC) estimates of carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes and energy balance are examined to investigate the functional responses of a mature mangrove forest to a disturbance generated by Hurricane
Wilma on October 24, 2005 in the Florida Everglades. At the EC site, high winds from the hurricane
caused nearly 100% defoliation in the upper canopy and widespread tree mortality. Soil temperatures
down to −50 cm increased, and air temperature lapse rates within the forest canopy switched from
statically stable to statically unstable conditions following the disturbance. Unstable conditions allowed
more efficient transport of water vapor and CO2 from the surface up to the upper canopy layer. Signifi-
cant increases in latent heat fluxes (LE) and nighttime net ecosystem exchange (NEE) were also observed
and sensible heat fluxes (H) as a proportion of net radiation decreased significantly in response to the
disturbance. Many of these impacts persisted through much of the study period through 2009. However,
local albedo and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer) data (the Enhanced Vegetation Index) indicated a substantial proportion of active leaf area recovered before the EC measurements
began 1 year after the storm. Observed changes in the vertical distribution and the degree of clumping
in newly emerged leaves may have affected the energy balance. Direct comparisons of daytime NEE values from before the storm and after our measurements resumed did not show substantial or consistent
differences that could be attributed to the disturbance. Regression analyses on seasonal time scales were
required to differentiate the storm’s impact onmonthly average daytime NEE fromthe changes caused by
interannual variability in other environmental drivers. The effects of the storm were apparent on annual
time scales, and CO2 uptake remained approximately 250 g Cm−2
yr−1
lower in 2009 compared to the
average annual values measured in 2004–2005. Dry season CO2 uptake was relatively more affected by
the disturbance than wet season values. Complex leaf regeneration dynamics on damaged trees during
ecosystem recovery are hypothesized to lead to the variable dry versus wet season impacts on daytime
NEE. In contrast, nighttime CO2 release (i.e., nighttime respiration) was consistently and significantly
greater, possibly as a result of the enhanced decomposition of litter and coarse woody debris generated
by the storm, and this effect was most apparent in the wet seasons compared to the dry seasons. The
largest pre- and post-storm differences in NEE coincided roughly with the delayed peak in cumulative
mortality of stems in 2007–2008. Across the hurricane-impacted region, cumulative tree mortality rates
were also closely correlated with declines in peat surface elevation. Mangrove forest–atmosphere interactions are interpreted with respect to the damage and recovery of stand dynamics and soil accretion
processes following the hurricane.

Abstract: PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Understanding the relationship between plants and changing abiotic factors is necessary to document and anticipate the impacts of climate change.
METHODS: We used data from long-term research sites at Barrow and Atqasuk, Alaska, to investigate trends in abiotic factors (snow melt and freeze-up dates, air and soil temperature, thaw depth, and soil moisture) and their relationships with plant traits (inflorescence height, leaf length, reproductive effort, and reproductive phenology) over time.
KEY RESULTS: Several abiotic factors, including increasing air and soil temperatures, earlier snowmelt, delayed freeze-up, drier soils, and increasing thaw depths, showed nonsignificant tendencies over time that were consistent with the regional warming pattern observed in the Barrow area. Over the same period, plants showed consistent, although typically nonsignificant tendencies toward increasing inflorescence heights and reproductive efforts. Air and soil temperatures, measured as degree days, were consistently correlated with plant growth and reproductive effort. Reproductive effort was best predicted using abiotic conditions from the previous year. We also found that varying the base temperature used to calculate degree days changed the number of significant relationships between temperature and the trait: in general, reproductive phenologies in colder sites were better predicted using lower base temperatures, but the opposite held for those in warmer sites.
CONCLUSIONS: Plant response to changing abiotic factors is complex and varies by species, site, and trait; however, for six plant species, we have strong evidence that climate change will cause significant shifts in their growth and reproductive effort as the region continues to warm.