scholarly journals Cautions on using the Before-After-Control-Impact design in environmental effects monitoring programs

FACETS ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 212-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.E. Smokorowski ◽  
R.G. Randall
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Baci Design ◽  
Impact Monitoring ◽  
Monitoring Programs ◽  
Post Impact ◽  
Impact Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Environmental Effects Monitoring

Often the Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) design is suggested as being a statistically powerful experimental design in environmental impact studies. If the timing and location of the impact are known and adequate pre-data are collected, the BACI design is considered optimal to help isolate the effect of the development from natural variability. This paper presents 9 years of results from a long-term BACI experiment tested using a range of statistical models and post-impact monitoring designs. To explore suboptimal designs that are often utilized in environmental effects monitoring, the same data were also explored assuming either no control system was available (Before-After only), or that no pre-impact data were available (Control-Impact only). The results of the BACI design were robust to the statistical model used, and the BACI design was able to detect effects from the impact that the two suboptimal designs failed to detect. However, the BACI design demonstrated different conclusions depending on the number and configuration of post-impact years included in the analysis. Our results reinforce the idea that caution should be employed when using, or interpreting results from, a BACI design in an environmental impact study, but demonstrate that a well-designed BACI remains one of the best models for environmental effects monitoring programs.

Developing Triggers for Environmental Effects Monitoring Programs for Trout‐Perch in the Lower Athabasca River (Canada)

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (9) ◽  
pp. 1890-1901 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce W. Kilgour ◽  
Kelly R. Munkittrick ◽  
Liza Hamilton ◽  
Catherine L. Proulx ◽  
Keith M. Somers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Athabasca River ◽  
Monitoring Programs ◽  
Environmental Effects Monitoring

scholarly journals The discontinuity of environmental effects monitoring in the Lower Athabasca region of Alberta, Canada: institutional challenges to long-term monitoring and cumulative effects management

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua G. Cronmiller ◽  
Bram F. Noble
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Environmental Monitoring ◽  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Institutional Arrangements ◽  
Cumulative Effects ◽  
Regulatory Decision ◽  
Monitoring Programs

Long-term regional environmental monitoring, coupled with shorter-term and more localized monitoring carried out under regulatory permitting processes, is foundational to identifying, understanding, and effectively managing cumulative environmental effects. However, monitoring programs that emerge to support cumulative effects science are often short-lived initiatives or disconnected from land use planning and regulatory decision making. This paper examines the history and evolution of environmental monitoring in the Lower Athabasca region of Alberta, Canada, and the enabling and constraining influences of institutional arrangements. Methods involved a review of regional-scale monitoring programs based on an analysis of monitoring agency mandates, performance reports, and external program reviews, supplemented by discussions with monitoring program or agency key informants to triangulate results. Results show that monitoring to support cumulative effects understanding in the Lower Athabasca has advanced considerably, especially since the mid-1990s, but its relevance to, and impact on, cumulative effects management and decision making has been stifled by institutional arrangements. Monitoring has been episodic, reflecting shifting priorities and competing mandates; criticized by stakeholders based on concerns about transparency, credibility, influence over decision making; and characterized by short-lived commitments by the agencies involved. This has generated significant uncertainty about the stability of institutional arrangements to support long-term environmental monitoring, and tensions between the need for scientific autonomy for credible science whilst ensuring the pursuit of monitoring questions that are relevant to the day-to-day needs of regulatory decision makers. Regional monitoring programs require, at a minimum, clear vision and agreed-upon monitoring questions that are of scientific and management value, meaningful and balanced stakeholder engagement, and a clear governance process to ensure credibility and influence of monitoring results on decision making.

Is Youth Football Safe? An Analysis of Youth Football Head Impact Data

Neurosurgery ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-382
Author(s):  
Robert F Heary ◽  
Neil Majmundar ◽  
Roxanne Nagurka
Keyword(s):  
Monitoring System ◽  
High Intensity ◽  
Head Injuries ◽  
School Level ◽  
Head Impacts ◽  
Impact Monitoring ◽  
Youth Football ◽  
Football Team ◽  
Impact Data

Abstract BACKGROUND The issue of whether sports-related head trauma at the youth level can result in long-term sequelae that may negatively impact the participant has been widely debated. OBJECTIVE To investigate head impacts in the Summit Youth Football League equipped with helmets using the Riddell InSite impact monitoring system. The monitoring system allowed for analysis of the number of impacts and severity of impacts by player. METHODS Data were obtained for all 20 members of the youth football team. Impacts were recorded as “low,” “medium,” and “high” intensity. RESULTS All 20 players participated in all practices and games throughout the season. No player suffered a concussion throughout the entire season. There were 817 recorded impacts throughout the season. This was an average of 41 impacts per player over the course of the season and fewer than 4 impacts per player per week. Only one impact registered as “high.” CONCLUSION We demonstrate that there are few head impacts over the course of an entire season at the middle school level. Guardian Caps, safe tackling techniques, and the age of participants may have contributed to the very low number of impacts recorded and the complete lack of injuries. This study only provides data demonstrating that youth football, when Guardian Caps and safe tackling techniques are enforced, does not appear to result in significant head impacts causing immediate head injuries. This study cannot comment on the safety of playing football at the collegiate or professional level.

scholarly journals Principles and Challenges for Multi-Stakeholder Development of Focused, Tiered, and Triggered, Adaptive Monitoring Programs for Aquatic Environments

Diversity ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 155
Author(s):  
Kelly R. Munkittrick ◽  
Tim J. Arciszewski ◽  
Michelle A. Gray
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Aquatic Environments ◽  
Paper Mills ◽  
Monitoring Programs ◽  
Adaptive Monitoring ◽  
Working Groups ◽  
Multi Stakeholder ◽  
Environmental Effects Monitoring

In Canada, there is almost 30 years of experience in developing tiered and triggered adaptive monitoring programs focused on looking at whether environmental concerns remain when pulp and paper mills, or metal mines, are in compliance with their discharge limits. These environmental effects monitoring programs were based on nationally standardized designs. Many of the programs have been developed through multi-stakeholder working groups, and the evolution of the program faced repeated frictions and differing opinions on how to design environmental monitoring programs. This paper describes key guidance to work through the initial steps in program design, and includes scientific advice based on lessons learned from the development of the Canadian aquatic environmental effects monitoring program.

A comparison of pre-industrial and present-day changes in Bosmina and Daphnia size structure from soft-water Ontario lakes

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 754-762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer B. Korosi ◽  
Andrew M. Paterson ◽  
Anna M. DeSellas ◽  
John P. Smol
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Size Structure ◽  
South Central ◽  
Zooplankton Size ◽  
Copepod Predation ◽  
Post Impact ◽  
North Temperate Lakes ◽  
Impact Data ◽  
Shield Lakes

Understanding the long-term controls on cladoceran size structure has important implications for aquatic ecosystems. Although there has been considerable interest in zooplankton size trends for Canadian Shield lakes, data are not available for zooplankton size structure prior to the period of anthropogenic disturbances. Here, we present pre- and post-impact size data for the common pelagic cladocerans Bosmina and Daphnia for 44 well-studied Shield lakes in south-central Ontario (Canada). We show that Daphnia were larger and that the length of Bosmina body appendages (mucrones and antennules) was longer in pre-industrial times than they are today. The reduction in Bosmina appendage length we observed may suggest a reduction in copepod predation pressure since pre-industrial times. Reduced maximum body size in Daphnia is a predicted response to a warming climate in north temperate lakes; however, we suggest that alternate explanations, specifically acidification and subsequent recovery following emission reductions, should also be explored as the primary drivers of Daphnia size changes in this lake set. Overall, our results highlight the importance of pre-impact data for understanding the long-term controls on cladoceran body size from pre-1850 to present.

scholarly journals Material Contact and Environmental Effects on Vitamin A Fortified Vegetable Frying Oil

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-33
Author(s):  
Sukmo Wening ◽  
Dewi Yuliyanti Andayani ◽  
Latifun Jayanti ◽  
Isti Christianti ◽  
Karyanto Mulyono ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin A ◽  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Prolonged Exposure ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Frying Oil ◽  
Linear Low Density Polyethylene ◽  
Commercial Grade ◽  
Material Contact ◽  
The Impact

Observations about the impact of environmental parameters and time, on fortified vegetable oil, using typical commercial grade linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) packaging during typical shelf-life conditions, are minimal. We tested the long-term (12 months) impact of temperature and illuminance (light: 100 to 150 lux and darkness <1 lux) on refined bleached deodorized palm olein (RBDPOL), fortified with vitamin A, and without antioxidant. Results showed degradation of fortified RBDPOL with 70 ppm vitamin A was  approximately 19% at 18-22oC in Light, 18% at 18-22oC in Darkness, 38% at 32-33oC in light and 24% 32-33oC in darkness. A similar trend was observed at 45 ppm vitamin A. Exposure to both heat and light impacted vitamin A degradation, but was primarily attributed to prolonged exposure at elevated temperature, irrespective of the packaging material. This short study validates extensive research by Silalahi et al., (2017), doi:10.1111/ijfs.13462 on the impact of environmental effects of fortified vegetable frying oil, during extensive storage life periods.

scholarly journals Owens Valley and the Aqueduct

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 50-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Stringfellow
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Dust Control ◽  
Mono Lake ◽  
Owens Valley ◽  
Owens Lake ◽  
Local Opposition ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Impact

This timeline details the economic, social, and environmental impact that the Los Angeles Aqueduct had on the Owens Valley. It begins in the 19th century with the Paiute who lived in the valley, and covers local opposition to the aqueduct and attempts to sabotage it in the 1920s, controversial land sales, depletion of the valley water table, dust at the dry Owens Lake bed, the impact of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power on the region, the second aqueduct and Mono Lake, the 1991 long-term water agreement, and mitigation efforts including dust control at Owens Lake and the Lower Owens River Project. The material is drawn from Stringfellow's There It Is—Take It! project.

scholarly journals Post-Impact Faulting of the Holfontein Granophyre Dike of the Vredefort Impact Structure, South Africa, Inferred from Remote Sensing, Geophysics, and Geochemistry

Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Martin D. Clark ◽  
Elizaveta Kovaleva ◽  
Matthew S. Huber ◽  
Francois Fourie ◽  
Chris Harris
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Crater Floor ◽  
Impact Structure ◽  
Impact Melt ◽  
Geophysical Modeling ◽  
Tectonic Events ◽  
Post Impact ◽  
The Impact

Better characterization features borne from long-term crustal modification processes is essential for understanding the dynamics of large basin-forming impact structures on Earth. Within the deeply eroded 2.02 Ga Vredefort Impact Structure in South Africa, impact melt dikes are exposed at the surface. In this study, we utilized a combination of field, remote sensing, electrical resistivity, magnetic, petrographical, and geochemical techniques to characterize one such impact melt dike, namely, the Holfontein Granophyre Dike (HGD), along with the host granites. The HGD is split into two seemingly disconnected segments. Geophysical modeling of both segments suggests that the melt rock does not penetrate below the modern surface deeper than 5 m, which was confirmed by a later transecting construction trench. Even though the textures and clast content are different in two segments, the major element, trace element, and O isotope compositions of each segment are indistinguishable. Structural measurements of the tectonic foliations in the granites, as well as the spatial expression of the dike, suggest that the dike was segmented by an ENE–WSW trending sinistral strike-slip fault zone. Such an offset must have occurred after the dike solidified. However, the Vredefort structure has not been affected by any major tectonic events after the impact occurred. Therefore, the inferred segmentation of the HGD is consistent with long-term crustal processes occurring in the post-impact environment. These crustal processes may have involved progressive uplift of the crater floor, which is consistent with post-impact long-term crustal adjustment that has been inferred for craters on the Moon.

Repeated-measures regression designs and analysis for environmental effects monitoring programs

2014 ◽  
Vol 110 ◽  
pp. 84-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Paine ◽  
Marc A. Skinner ◽  
Bruce W. Kilgour ◽  
Elisabeth M. DeBlois ◽  
Ellen Tracy
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Monitoring Programs ◽  
Environmental Effects Monitoring

scholarly journals Impact of Cyclone Yaas 2021 Aggravated by COVID-19 Pandemic in the Southwest Coastal Zone of Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 13324
Author(s):  
Rizwana Subhani ◽  
Shahab E. Saqib ◽  
Md. Anishur Rahman ◽  
Mokbul Morshed Ahmad ◽  
Siriporn Pradit
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Zone ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Government Organizations ◽  
The People ◽  
Sanitation And Hygiene ◽  
The Government ◽  
Donor Agencies ◽  
Impact Data ◽  
The Impact

The severe tropical Cyclone Yaas hit on 26 May 2021 in 16 coastal districts of Bangladesh and affected 1.30 million people. Moreover, the study areas are highly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has increased the vulnerability of the people. Therefore, the objective of this study is to assess the impact of cyclone Yass aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic in the southwest coastal zone of Bangladesh. COVID-19-aggregated Cyclone Yaas impact data at the household level were collected from Kalapara Upozilla of Potuakhali district, the area most affected by Cyclone Yaas. A total of 196 households were surveyed, and a quantitative approach was applied to analyse the data. The results show that households in the study area were severely affected by Cyclone Yaas in terms of income, housing, food consumption patterns, and water sanitation and hygiene. The outcome also revealed that the affected households received relief from the government, international/non-government organizations, donor agencies, as well as adopted coping strategies such as obtaining credit, selling assets, reducing daily meal intake, and tapping into savings. These strategies may be useful for a temporary recovery but not for the long term. The results of the study will help policymakers to reform policies.

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