Assessing the ‘usability’ of climate change research for decision-making: A case study of the Canadian International Polar Year     

James D. Ford  Maggie Knight  Tristan Pearce 《Global Environmental Change》2013,23(5):1317-1326

The creation of ‘usable science’ is widely promoted by many environmental change focused research programs. Few studies however, have examined the relationship between research conducted as part of such programs and the decision-making outcomes that the work is supposed to advance, and is constrained by limited methodological development on how to empirically assess the ‘usability’ of science. Herein, this paper develops a conceptual model and assessment rubric to quantitatively and systematically evaluate the usability of climate change research for informing decision-making. We focus on the process through which data is collected, analyzed and reported and examine the extent to which key principles of usable science are integrated into project design, using grant proposals as our data source. The approach is applied to analyze climate change research conducted as part of the International Polar Year in Canada, with 23 projects identified as having explicit goals to inform decision-making.While the creation of usable science was promoted by funded projects in the International Polar Year, this was not generally reflected in research design: fewer than half determined objectives with input of decision makers, decision context was not widely considered, and knowledge users were not widely reported to be engaged in assessing the quality of data or in resolving conflict in evidence. The importance of science communication was widely emphasized, although only 8/23 projects discussed tailoring specific results for end user needs. Thus while International Polar Year research has made significant advances in understanding the human dimensions of Arctic climate change, key attributes necessary for determining success in linking science to decision-making (pertinence, quality, timeliness) were not captured by many projects. Integrating these attributes into research design from the outset is essential for creating usable science, and needs to be at the forefront of future research programs which aim to advance societal outcomes. The framework for assessing usability here, while developed and tested in an Arctic climate change context, has broader applicability in the general environmental change field.  相似文献   

Layered Jurassic intrusions in Antarctica     

V. S. Semenov  V. M. Mikhailov  E. V. Koptev-Dvornikov  A. B. Ford  O. G. Shulyatin  S. V. Semenov  D. A. Tkacheva 《Petrology》2014,22(6):547-573

The paper addresses the current understanding of the inner structure of the layered intrusions at Dufek Massif in the Pensacola Mountains and the Utpostane and Muren intrusions in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, which are still poorly known to Russian geologists. The magmatic events at approximately 180 Ma, including the emplacement of layered intrusions, are thought to had predated the breakup of the Gondwana supercontinent. The spatiotemporal similarities of the intrusions determine the importance of the problem of whether they were produced by a single or more than one parental magmas, which are thought to have been derived under the effect of a superplume.  相似文献   

An investigation into intersex amphipods and a possible association with aquaculture     

Ford AT  Read PA  Jones TL  Michino F  Pang Y  Fernandes TF 《Marine environmental research》2007,64(4):443-455

The amphipod, Echinogammarus marinus, is common in sheltered coastal inlets, such as estuaries and sea lochs, in Scotland and exhibits increased levels of intersex in some contaminated areas. Sea lochs are commonly the location for coastal aquaculture development, and some chemicals used in fish-farming are specifically designed to target the crustacean nervous system. Therefore it was hypothesised that these chemicals may also affect neuro-endocrine pathways, causing morphological and reproductive abnormalities in non-target Crustacea. Based upon this hypothesis, Echinogammarus marinus amphipods from two different Scottish sea lochs containing salmon farms were investigated. Morphology, intersexuality, and the incidence of microsporidian parasites were recorded at sites close and at distance from fish-farms. Results suggest a higher incidence of intersexuality at sites within sea lochs, comparable to that observed in industrially contaminated sites elsewhere in Scotland. The data suggest that fish farming activity may influence the observed distributions of intersexuality within lochs. Intersex specimens were more likely to be infected by microsporidian parasites than non-intersex specimens. Normal females were found more likely to be infected by microsporidian parasites at sites associated with high intersexuality, suggesting the parasite as the probable feminiser. The cause(s) for the observed patterns of intersexuality are unclear, although suggestions relating to discharges from fish farms are discussed.  相似文献   

Successful Eelgrass (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Zostera marina</Emphasis>) Restoration in a Formerly Eutrophic Estuary (Boston Harbor) Supports the Use of a Multifaceted Watershed Approach to Mitigating Eelgrass Loss     

Alison S. Leschen  Kathryn H. Ford  N. Tay Evans 《Estuaries and Coasts》2010,33(6):1340-1354

From a watershed perspective, Boston Harbor, MA, USA is an ideal site for eelgrass restoration due to major wastewater improvements. Therefore, by focusing on site selection and transplant methods, high survival and expansion rates were recorded at four large eelgrass-restoration sites planted in Boston Harbor as partial mitigation for a pipeline construction project. Transplanted sites met and exceeded reference and donor bed habitat function after 2 years. Hand planting and seeding in checkerboard-patterned transplant plots were efficient and effective methods for jump-starting eelgrass growth over large areas. Although restoration through planting can be successful, it is highly site specific. Even using a published site-selection model, intensive fieldwork was required to identify sites at fine enough scale to ensure successful planting. Given the effort required to identify scarce potential sites, we recommend that future focus includes alternative mitigation strategies that can more adequately prevent eelgrass loss and address water quality degradation which is the leading cause of dieback, site unsuitability for planting, and lack of natural re-colonization.  相似文献   

John Whitehurst (1713–1788): philosopher, geologist, horologist and engineer     

Trevor D. Ford 《Geology Today》2002,18(3):100-107

Among the late 18th-century pioneers of geological science was John Whitehurst. He set the scene for the early Derbyshire geologists, White Watson and John Farey, whose books were not published until 1811, long after Whitehurst's death. But Whitehurst's ideas went beyond Derbyshire; he looked at the global situation in his book An Inquiry into the Original State & Formation of the Earth (1778, 1786). Whitehurst was a founder member of the influential Lunar Society and a close friend of many philosophers of the period.  相似文献   

HST WFPC2 Line and Continuum Images of NGC 1068     

L.L. Dressel  Z.I. Tsvetanov  G.A. Kriss  H.C. Ford 《Astrophysics and Space Science》1997,248(1-2):85-90

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Lead miners' soughs in Derbyshire     

Trevor D. Ford  Jim Rieuwerts 《Geology Today》2007,23(2):57-62

Long before the science of geology was established, the Derbyshire lead miners used elementary practical geology in laying out the lines of their soughs, or drainage levels, to gain any possible advantage of easier excavation. Their objective was to lower the water table, so as to make the deeper parts of mineral veins available for exploitation.  相似文献   

Environmental change in karst areas   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

D. C. Ford 《Environmental Geology》1993,21(3):107-109

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An oxygen‐ and hydrogen‐isotope study of the Panguna porphyry‐copper deposit,Bougainville     

J. H. Ford  D. C. Green 《Australian Journal of Earth Sciences》2013,60(1-2):63-80

Hydrogen‐ and oxygen‐isotope analyses of biotite (19), sericite (8), chlorite (2), quartz (27), and total rocks (37) from the Panguna porphyry‐copper deposit on Bougainville Island, place important constraints on the origin of the hydrothermal fluids responsible for mineralization and alteration in the mine region. Early high‐temperature amphibole‐magnetite alteration resulted from magmatic‐hydrothermal fluids. Several lines of evidence indicate 500°C as a realistic average temperature for mineralization, development of quartz veins, and biotitization processes. On the basis of mineral isotope data, responsible fluids could represent either ¹⁸O‐shifted ground‐waters or magmatic‐hydrothermal fluids at submagmatic temperatures. Independent evidence, as well as total‐rock ¹⁸O data, support the magmatic‐hydrothermal model.

Late‐stage sericitization processes probably resulted from fluids produced by ¹⁸O shifting of groundwaters during the evolution of the propylitic zone. Outermost quartz veins and biotitization conceivably resulted from fluids similar to those that caused sericitization, indicating that some interaction between relatively cool, ¹⁸O‐poor meteoric waters and the ore fluids occurred near the margins of the deposit. The origin of the chlorite‐sericite alteration cannot be resolved solely by isotope studies.  相似文献   

The Ediacara member of the Rawnsley quartzite: The context of the Ediacara assemblage (late precambrian,flinders ranges)     

R. J. F. Jenkins  C. H. Ford  J. G. Gehling 《Australian Journal of Earth Sciences》2013,60(1-2):101-119

The Ediacara fossil assemblage occurs widely in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia, in a single, readily mappable stratigraphic interval—the Ediacara Member of the Rawnsley Quartzite, which is part of the Pound Subgroup of the Wilpena Group. The Member occurs low in the Rawnsley Quartzite and consists of siltstones, medium‐ to thick‐bedded sandstones, and heterolithic units of intercalated siltstone and sandstone. Features such as rhythmical bedding and flaser bedding, interference and flat‐topped ripples, winnowed coarse sand residues, abundant clay galls, and rare desiccation cracks suggest that the heterolithic siltstone/sandstone units represent intertidal deposits. The rich body‐fossil assemblage occurs chiefly in these deposits of probable intertidal origin, and for the most part appears to represent organisms stranded by the tide away from their normal habitat. Associated bioturbation structures include horizontal, penetrative (post‐depositional) burrows, but vertical dwelling burrows have not been found; the Pound Subgroup evidently pre‐dates their widespread appearance.

The Rawnsley Quartzite appears to have been deposited during cycles of marine transgression, with the Ediacara Member inferred to have accumulated in environments varying from shallow shelf to tidally influenced lagoons sheltered by barrier bars.  相似文献