Identifying evaluation considerations for the recovery and restoration from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill: An initial appraisal of stakeholder concerns and values.

Understanding what can be achieved and what should be avoided by environmental management decisions requires an understanding of values, or what is cared about in a decision. Decision analysis provides tools and processes for constructing objectives that transparently reflect the values being considered in environmental management decisions. The present study demonstrates parts of the initial decision analysis steps for identifying a decision context and constructing objectives for the recovery and long-term restoration of the Gulf of Mexico following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. From a review of multiple reports, including those developed by policy makers and nongovernmental organizations, a preliminary structuring of concerns and considerations into objectives was derived to highlight features of importance in the recovery from the spill and long-term restoration. The fundamental objectives constructed for the long-term restoration context reflect broader concerns regarding well-being and quality of life. When developed through stakeholder engagement processes, clarifying objectives can potentially 1) lend insight into the values that can be affected, 2) meaningfully include stakeholders in the decision-making process, 3) enhance transparency and communication, and 4) develop high-impact management strategies reflecting broad public interests. This article is a US government work and is in the public domain in the United States of America.

Phytoplankton community composition in nearshore coastal waters of Louisiana.

Phytoplankton community compositions within near-shore coastal and estuarine waters of Louisiana were characterized by group diversity, evenness, relative abundance and biovolume. Sixty-six taxa were identified in addition to eight potentially harmful algal genera including Gymnodinium sp. Phytoplankton group diversity was lowest at Vermillion Bay in February 2008, but otherwise ranged between 2.16 and 3.40. Phytoplankton evenness was also lowest at Vermillion Bay in February 2008, but otherwise ranged between 0.54 and 0.77. Dissolved oxygen increased with increased biovolume (R² = 0.85, p < 0.001) and biovolume decreased with increased light attenuation (R² = 0.34, p = 0.007), which supported the importance of light in regulating oxygen dynamics. Diatoms were dominant in relative abundance and biovolume at almost all stations and all cruises. Brunt-Väisälä frequency was used as a measure of water column stratification and was negatively correlated (p = 0.02) to diatom relative percent total abundance.

A classification of U.S. estuaries based on physical and hydrologic attributes.

A classification of U.S. estuaries is presented based on estuarine characteristics that have been identified as important for quantifying stressor-response relationships in coastal systems. Estuaries within a class have similar physical and hydrologic characteristics and would be expected to demonstrate similar biological responses to stressor loads from the adjacent watersheds. Nine classes of estuaries were identified by applying cluster analysis to a database for 138 U.S. estuarine drainage areas. The database included physical measures of estuarine areas, depth and volume, as well as hydrologic parameters (i.e., tide height, tidal prism volume, freshwater inflow rates, salinity, and temperature). The ability of an estuary to dilute or flush pollutants can be estimated using physical and hydrologic properties such as volume, bathymetry, freshwater inflow and tidal exchange rates which influence residence time and affect pollutant loading rates. Thus, physical and hydrologic characteristics can be used to estimate the susceptibility of estuaries to pollutant effects. This classification of estuaries can be used by natural resource managers to describe and inventory coastal systems, understand stressor impacts, predict which systems are most sensitive to stressors, and manage and protect coastal resources.

Assessing the risks associated with biotechnology : The regulatory problem

In examining the regulatory problem posed by biotechnology, three areas must be considered: 1. the potential benefits to manking, 2. the generation of profits to industry, and 3. the mitigation of isk presented to human helath and the environment. Predictive and analytical tools must be developed and used by regulators to ensure that the rewards of genetic engineering to both mankind and industry are realized with minimal consequence.(AU)