Environmental pollution may contribute to racial/ethnic disparities In Alzheimer’s disease risk, says new study

Peer-Reviewed Publication

KECK SCHOOL OF MEDICINE OF USC

 

IMAGE: JIU-CHIUAN CHEN, MD, SCD view more 

CREDIT: RICHARD CARRASCO

Fine particle pollution may be one reason why Black women have double the risk of developing Alzheimer’s than white women, suggests new research from the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

For decades, research has shown the risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease in the United States is dramatically higher among African American populations than in non-Hispanic white populations. Scientists have suspected a variety of contributing factors, but the underlying reasons have remained unclear.

Now, a new study in The Journals of Gerontology, conducted in collaboration with researchers across the country, points to environmental neurotoxins – specifically, ambient fine particles in the air known as PM2.5 – as possible culprits in the disproportionate number of African American, particularly Black women, affected by dementia.

Zeroing in on fine particle pollution as a factor in racial/ethnic disparities

 “Data increasingly show that older people are more likely to develop dementia if they live in locations with high PM2.5, and African American populations are more likely to live in neighborhoods near polluting facilities – like power-generating and petrochemical plants – that emit the particulate matter,” said corresponding author Jiu-Chiuan Chen, MD, associate professor of population and public health sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “Our study demonstrates that older Black women live in locations with higher levels of PM2.5, and we ask whether their elevated exposure could account for the higher numbers of Alzheimer’s cases. The evidence does reveal a positive association.”

After adjusting for risk factors such as smoking, education, income, diabetes, hypertension and BMI, Black women still had roughly two times greater a risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease than white women, the researchers found.

Chen and his colleagues report two major novel findings in their study, both with important implications. The first is that the increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease in older Black women may be partly explained by their elevated exposure to PM2.5; the second is that older Black women are more susceptible to its adverse effects.

“Our work offers the scientific community an important perspective on the study of dementia; namely, that we must have a greater awareness of environmental racism that can impact brain aging and disproportionately affect people of color,” Chen says. “There is also a key regulatory takeaway, which is that we have to continue enforcing the Clean Air Act, with its mandate to provide a safe margin for air quality that will protect the health of susceptible populations.”

Air pollution and brain health

The study grew out of a long-standing partnership between USC faculty and researchers with the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study based at Wake Forest University. This research focused on studying Black women compared to non-Hispanic white women, because Black women carry the greatest burden of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in the US. As it begins to unravel the complexities of racial disparities in Alzheimer’s disease, the study also elucidates the need for future research.

“Our study suggests that PM2.5 may contribute to the difference in Alzheimer’s disease risk based on race, and we also demonstrated that older African American women may be more susceptible to the particulate matter, but we still don’t know why,” Chen says. “Why are these particles more neurotoxic to Black women than to non-Hispanic whites? Going forward, we plan to look for answers by studying the effects of things like nutrition and brain structure.”

When he was first recruited to USC in 2009, Chen set out to develop a new research program to study the health effects of air pollution exposure beyond its well-known impact on airways and lungs. “At the time, I was one of the first faculty members studying environmental influences on brain health,” Chen recalls. “Today, the university has several leading programs, funded by the National Institutes of Health, examining how air pollution exposures affect neurodevelopment and brain aging. An increasing number of USC faculty are trying to better understand whether and why air pollution can cause more damage to the human brains in minority populations or communities with social disadvantages.  Our study is just the beginning of vital scientific work that needs to be done.”

About the Study

Additional authors of the study include Diana Younan, PhD, Xinhui Wang, PhD, Margaret Gatz, PhD, Meredith Braskie, PhD and Helena Chui, MD, from USC; Tara Greunewald, PhD, from Chapman University; Marc Serre, PhD and William Vizuete, PhD, from University of North Carolina; Nancy Woods, PhD, from the University of Washington School of Nursing; Ka Kahe, MD, ScD, from Columbia University Irving Medical Center; Lorena Garcia, DrPH, from the University of California, Davis; Fred Lurmann, MS, from Sonoma Technology, Inc; JoAnn Manson, MD, DrPH, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Robert Wallace, MD, University of Iowa College of Public Health; and Mark Espeland, PhD, Wake Forest School of Medicine.

This study was supported by the Alzheimer’s Association (AARF-19-591356); the National Institute on Aging (R01AG033078, RF1AG054068, P01AG055367, P50AG05142); the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (5P30ES007048); and the Wake Forest Alzheimer’s Disease Core Center (P30AG049638–01A1). The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) programs are funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, and US Department of Health and Human Services. The Women's Health Initiative Memory Study was funded as an ancillary study to the WHI by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Wake Forest University; the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; and the National Institute of Aging.

About Keck School of Medicine

Founded in 1885, the Keck School of Medicine of USC is one of the nation’s leading medical institutions, known for innovative patient care, scientific discovery, education and community service. Medical and graduate students work closely with world-renowned faculty and receive hands-on training in one of the nation’s most diverse communities. They participate in cutting-edge research as they develop into tomorrow’s health leaders. With more than 900 resident physicians across 50 specialty and subspecialty programs, the Keck School is the largest educator of physicians practicing in Southern California.

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JOURNAL

The Journals of Gerontology Series A

DOI

10.1093/gerona/glab231 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Alzheimer’s Disease Risk: Role of Exposure to Ambient Fine Particles

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

12-Aug-2021

Disclaimer: AAA

A COMMON PROBLEM IN 19th & 20th CENTURY ANTHROPOLOGY

Forensic anthropological work dealing with ancestry may mistakenly support the idea that racial differences are biological

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

(Boston)— Forensic anthropologists analyze skeletal remains to help identify people.  A new study highlights how this work, specifically dealing with ancestry, may inadvertently support the idea that racial differences are biological.

“While forensic anthropologists understand that race is social, our literature problematically does not articulate this. All research dealing with documenting differences (or similarities) in human populations needs to use appropriate terminology that does not support white supremacy or racial claims,” explains corresponding author Sean Tallman, PhD, RPA, assistant professor of anatomy and neurobiology at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM).

While modern practitioners have shifted terminology from “race” to “ancestry” to describe regionally patterned human skeletal variation, the degree to which they have changed or critiqued long-embedded classification approaches remains unclear.

Forensic anthropology has lagged behind other anthropological sub-disciplines in its conceptualizations and engagement with "race" and "ancestry" and the processes behind human population variation, which may unwittingly propagate the disproven notion that racial differences are biological.

Researchers performed a content analysis of forensic anthropological literature from 1966 to 2020 that deals with "race" and "ancestry" and found that the two terms—used to describe regionally patterned human skeletal variation—were infrequently defined (13 percent and 12 percent respectively) and while "ancestry" first supplanted "race" in the early 1990s, it remained in use until 2013, long after the bigger field of biological anthropology ceased its use.

Additionally, the researchers found that only 59 percent of authors used population histories, population structures or micro-evolutionary forces to explore the processes that drive regionally patterned human biological variation and have the potential to create differences between human populations. Approximately 25 percent of authors critiqued the use of "race" or "ancestry" to explore human population variation or incorporated more nuanced theoretical frameworks like embodiment theory (four percent) to explain how structural societal inequities become physiologically embodied.

According to Tallman, all research dealing with documenting differences (or similarities) in human populations needs to use appropriate terminology. “In essence, our oversimplification of the complex processes that pattern human skeletal variability has left the field’s research vulnerable to be used to support biomedical claims for biological differences between social racial groups in healthcare and treatments,” he adds.  

The researchers believe it is important to be cognizant how majority-white perspectives may limit the relevance of forensic anthropological research and propagate the exclusion of Black, Indigenous, Latinx and other people of color. “The field needs to do better in deploying terminology, in discussions of the forces patterning human skeletal variability and in ensuring inclusion,” says Tallman.

These findings appear online in the journal Forensic Anthropology.

 

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JOURNAL

Forensic Anthropology

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Literature review

ARTICLE TITLE

Assumed Differences; Unquestioned Typologies-- The Oversimplification of Race and Ancestry in Forensic Anthropology

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

26-Aug-2021

HUMAN RIGHTS VS RELIGIOUS RITES

Cultural backlash: Is LGBTQ progress an attack on Christianity?

Research also identifies how leaders can harness religious value to encourage acceptance

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS

Is Christianity under attack in the United States? It depends on whom you ask. Some church leaders and politicians claim recent LGBTQ progress — such as the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing same-sex couples the right to marry — is an attack on Christianity.

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis sought to understand whether that sentiment is widely shared by other Christians. Their findings from five separate studies conducted over 3½ years shed light on the root causes and consequences of such “zero-sum beliefs” — a belief that social gains for one group necessarily involves losses for the other — about Christianity and the LGBTQ community, and offer possible interventions to reduce such all-or-nothing beliefs.

The findings are published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, a leading empirical social psychology journal. They show that zero-sum beliefs (ZSBs) are most common among conservative Christians and are shaped by their understandings of Christian values and the Bible and in response to religious institutions.

“Many Christians have come to see themselves as being on the losing side of the culture wars,” said Clara L. Wilkins, principal investigator and associate professor of psychological and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences. “Christians may perceive that an America where same sex marriage is legal is one in which they have lost their sway and are now victimized.

“This is especially common among conservative Christians, who also are more likely to believe that Christianity is a defining feature of being American. As a result, they see themselves as being at odds with LGBTQ individuals, who are perceived as having increasing social influence.”

Wilkins and Lerone A. Martin, co-principal investigator and director of American culture studies at Washington University, conducted five studies between July 2016 and December 2019 to explore the extent to which Christians endorse ZSBs about their relationships with LGBTQ individuals. For four of the five studies, they surveyed approximately 2,000 self-identified, heterosexual, cisgender and predominately white Christian Americans.

The February 2019 United Methodist Church (UMC) vote on language regarding human sexuality provided an opportunity for Wilkins and Martin to examine the role of church authorities in shaping attitudes. For this naturalistic experiment, they collected data in a sample of 321 United Methodists recruited at churches in St. Louis County and at the UMC General Conference.

The research was funded by the Templeton Religion Trust and as part of the Self, Virtue, and Public Life Project, a three-year research initiative based at the Institute for the Study of Human Flourishing at the University of Oklahoma. 

Key findings from the studies include:

• Conservative Christians reported that bias against Christians is currently as severe as bias against LGBTQ people. Christians and LGBTQ individuals agreed that bias toward LGBTQ people has decreased in recent years. However, the significance of this reality differed. Christians saw the decrease of LGBTQ bias as corresponding to more bias against Christians, while LGBTQ did not see that increase. In a separate study, Christians — when reflecting on religious values — reported an increased level of perceived conflict with LGBTQ people. This suggests ZSBs are a function of Christian religion and values.
   
• ZSBs are driven by symbolic threats, not realistic threats. White Christians are concerned recent social changes threaten their social influence, namely their ability to instill and enforce their notions of Christian values upon broader society — not realistic threats, such as loss of livelihood. Simply reminding white Christians about a changing cultural climate in which their influence is waning was sufficient to increase their perception of Christians’ victimization and perceived conflict with LGBTQ people.
   
• Social institutions play an important role in shaping prejudice. The final study demonstrated that when the United Methodist Church voted to uphold same-sex marriage bans, the relationship between ZSBs and prejudice became stronger, which suggests that UMC Christians may have felt sanctioned to express their bias because of the institutional decision.
  
  “The church is a strong moral authority with the potential to shape norms and attitudes toward sexual minorities like court rulings have shifted attitudes on same sex marriage,” the authors wrote.
   
• Faith communities, clergy and elected officials can harness religious values not for discrimination, but for public virtue and acceptance. In the fourth study, participants either read a Bible passage about acceptance or an excerpt from a poem by Kahlil Gibran. Fundamentalists Christians — those who believe that the Bible is the literal and inerrant word of God — did not vary in ZSB endorsement based on condition. However, mainline Christians who reflected on Bible passages encouraging acceptance were significantly less likely to endorse ZSBs. They also reported greater support for same-sex marriage and lower sexual prejudice relative to the control condition.
  
  “We found this take-away very interesting in light of how religion, evangelicalism in particular, is often associated with strict definitions of civic belonging. Our research found that biblical faith can also lead to broad civic acceptance,” said Martin, who also is an associate professor in the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics. 

Two steps forward, one step back

Since taking office, President Joe Biden has reversed bans on transgender people’s participation in the military and has reaffirmed protection for LGBTQ federal employees. He also made historic appointments, including Pete Buttigieg as the first openly gay secretary in the presidential Cabinet and Rachel Levine, the first openly transgender federal official. In Delaware, Sarah McBride also made history as the first openly transgender state senator in U.S. history.

Applauded by LGBTQ people and advocates, these momentous changes have sparked outrage by opponents. They argue that the growing acceptance of LGBTQ individuals impedes the ability of Christians to practice their faith — as if gains for one group necessarily involved losses for the other. For example, then-Sen. Jeff Sessions described the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling as an “effort to secularize” the country “by force and intimidation.”

That outrage has political implications. While the number of white evangelical Christians has decreased significantly in recent years — from 23% in 2006 to 14% in 2020, according to a Public Religion Research Institute survey — their political influence continues to grow.

“The political influence of white evangelicals goes beyond their numerical representation, in part because of their historic willingness to Americanize Christianity through mass media, laissez-faire capitalism and pragmatic political partnerships. This blending of Christianity and Americanism has helped white evangelicals create a broad community that extends beyond their stated theological and institutional commitments,” Martin said.

“Whether with the phonograph, radio, television or the internet, white evangelicals have traditionally used mass media as a bullhorn. These electric pulpits have enabled white evangelicals to disseminate their messages of Christian nationalism, culture wars and cultural grievances and political conservatism to a far-reaching constituency.

“These gospel seeds often find fertile grounds amongst political partners beyond the narrow theological confines of white evangelicalism. Politicians, many of which are not even evangelicals or committed to evangelical theology, pick up the cause and trumpet evangelical cultural and social concerns during their campaigns in an attempt to cater to white evangelical voters. These voters in turn crown such political actors as their leaders in a political bargain where the ends justify the means. In this way, the numbers of self-proclaimed evangelicals may be small, but their political influence is sizable. The election of President Donald Trump, the January insurrection and the increase in anti-LGBTQ legislation are just a few examples.”

Indeed, recent social advancements have spurred an increase in anti-LGBTQ legislation fueled in part by conservative Christian groups. According to Wilkins and Martin, the Human Rights Campaign predicted that this will be a record-setting year for anti-LGBTQ legislation with as many as 250 bills introduced in state legislatures in 2021 alone.

Research also offers glimmer of hope

While the research may seem disheartening at first glance, Wilkins and Martin insist it contains a hopeful message.

“In particular, our data suggests that perceived conflict between groups is not inevitable,” they said. “In fact, we were able to successfully lower the extent to which mainline Christians perceive that LGBTQ gains come at a cost for Christians by having them reflect on biblical acceptance. According to recent analyses, mainline Christians now outnumber more conservative groups.

“In other words, we identified an intervention to successfully lower ZSBs for most Christians.”

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JOURNAL

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

DOI

10.1037/pspi0000363 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Is LGBT progress seen as an attack on Christians?: Examining Christian/sexual orientation zero-sum beliefs.

Comparing the pathogen numbers in backyard and commercial composts

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CARL R. WOESE INSTITUTE FOR GENOMIC BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

 

IMAGE: FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: NESLIHAN AKDENIZ, HELEN NGUYEN, AND YUQING MAO INVESTIGATED DIFFERENT COMPOST SAMPLES TO COMPARE THE NUMBER OF PATHOGENS AND ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE GENES. view more 

CREDIT: JILLIAN NICKEL

Compost—organic material that is added to soil to help plants grow—is widely used by gardeners because it improves soil health and reduces the amount of organic waste in landfills. Although several studies have looked at commercial composts, very few have investigated backyard compost samples. In a new study, researchers have measured the number of pathogens in both types of compost.

“The main difference between backyard and commercial compost is the composition. Backyard compost is made from plant-based materials like vegetable scraps and coffee grounds because online tutorials recommend them. Additionally, animal-source materials are harder to compost. On the other hand, many of the commercial composts are made from farm manure,” said Yuqing Mao, a graduate student in the Nguyen lab.

Regardless of the source, the process of composting usually, but not always, gets rid of pathogens because it involves multiple stages of high heat. “There may be some pathogens that survive, either because they are heat resistant or they get introduced at a later stage,” Mao said.

The researchers collected samples of backyard compost from two gardeners at Urbana-Champaign and used six types of commercial compost, which were bought from the supermarket. They also used two control samples: soil that has never been treated with compost and immature compost, which has not been put through the high-temperature treatment. They extracted DNA samples and used qPCR to identify and measure the abundance of specific genes.

“We looked at airborne and foodborne pathogens. People are usually more concerned with the latter because they use the compost to grow vegetables,” Mao said. The researchers looked at the foodborne pathogens Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica and the airborne pathogens Mycobacterium spp., Legionella pneumophila, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Since bacteria have very long DNA sequences, the study focused on genetic markers—genes that are unique to each organism.

“We did not find any Salmonella in our samples and E. coli was only present in the immature compost sample, meaning that if the compost is made properly, it is unlikely that they will get contaminated by foodborne pathogens,” Mao said. “On the other hand, we found that L. pneumophilia was present in four of the commercial samples but not in the other samples. The other two airborne pathogens were found in both backyard and commercial compost samples.”

Unfortunately, the qPCR method cannot distinguish between live and dead pathogens. The researchers hope that they can improve the method to detect only the viable cells so that they can better assess the threat to humans. Additionally, they would like to study more samples to validate their conclusions.

The group also looked at the number of antibiotic resistance genes across the samples. Bacterial communities that have higher frequencies of these genes are more likely to spread them, resulting in a dangerous problem. “Overall, the immature compost samples have the highest abundance of antibiotic resistance genes, indicating that the high heat during composting may degrade some of these genes,” Mao said.

It is unclear how the airborne pathogens are finding their way into the compost samples. The researchers are now trying to understand the source of contamination better so that they can help protect gardeners. “We also want to look at what composting conditions work best to remove these pathogens and the antibiotic resistance genes,” said Helen Nguyen (IGOH), Ivan Racheff Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Mao has prepared a set of guidelines for gardeners who are interested in using animal manure composting, which can be found here.

The paper “Quantification of pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes in backyard and commercial composts” was published in Science of The Total Environment and can be found at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149197. Neslihan Akdeniz, a clinical assistant professor in agricultural and biological engineering, is a co-author on the paper and lent her expertise in composting with livestock manure.

The work was funded by the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, and the United States Department of Agriculture.

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DOI

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149197 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

ARTICLE TITLE

Quantification of pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes in backyard and commercial composts

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

21-Jul-2021

Disclaimer: AAAS an

Upper Missouri River Basin Study identifies strategies to meet future water demands and improve drought resiliency

Reports and Proceedings

BUREAU OF RECLAMATION

 

IMAGE: CANYON FERRY RESERVOIR, PART OF THE UPPER MISSOURI RIVER BASIN. view more 

CREDIT: BUREAU OF RECLAMATION

The Bureau of Reclamation released the Missouri River Headwaters Basin Study that provides options to meet the increased water demand and a change in the timing of the snowmelt runoff in the Missouri River Basin above Fort Peck Reservoir. The basin covers about 50,000 square miles and is the primary water source for 320,000 people and about 1.1 million acres of irrigated lands.

"In a large basin such as the Missouri, there are many challenges to consider in planning for a sustainable future," Chief Engineer David Raff said. "The basin study provides the foundation for the stakeholders and Reclamation to work together and improve drought resiliency."

The study identified challenges facing Upper Missouri Basin's water supply. Key challenges include:

• Increasing annual water supply compared to recent history.
• Shifting earlier peak snowpack will lead to an earlier snowmelt-driven runoff.
• Changing runoff may lead to more flooding during the winter and spring seasons and water supply shortages later in the irrigation season. 
• Increasing water demand due to a warming climate, expanded irrigation and population growth.
• Decreasing rain in the summer, increasing the reliance on reservoir storage.

The study partners developed and evaluated potential strategies to meet the challenges within the basin. The strategies include:

• Providing water for future uses through water from Canyon Ferry Reservoir and Lake Elwell.
• Providing water for future municipal, domestic, and industrial uses in the Gallatin Valley.
• Increasing canal and on-farm irrigation efficiencies.
• Releasing ecological flows from Canyon Ferry Reservoir and Lake Elwell.
• Changes water management strategies in the Sun River Basin.
• Creating new off-stream storage in the Lower Musselshell River Basin.
• Developing water management strategy for increased drought resilience.

Reclamation partnered with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to develop this basin study. In addition, the U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center and Montana State University - Bozeman participated in the development of this basin study. Numerous water districts participated in the basin study's development, and the study team communicated with the Blackfeet Tribe Water Resources Director. 

The Missouri River Headwaters Basin Study is part of Reclamation's WaterSMART Program. View the full report at www.usbr.gov/watersmart/bsp. In addition, Reclamation will host a webinar on September 15, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time to share the results of the study. To join the webinar, click here. 

WaterSMART is the Department of the Interior's sustainable water initiative that uses the best available science to improve water conservation and help water resource managers identify strategies to narrow the gap between supply and demand. For more information on the WaterSMART program, visit www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART.

Allow "nonuse rights" to conserve natural

resources

New research published in Science magazine on

 conservation leasing

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PROPERTY AND ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH CENTER

Bozeman, MT—PERC Vice President of Research Shawn Regan and PERC Senior Fellows Bryan Leonard, Christopher Costello, and Dominic Parker along with Suzi Kerr, Andrew Plantinga, James Salzman, V. Kerry Smith, and Temple Stoellinger published a paper, “Allow ‘nonuse rights’ to conserve natural resources” (August 27, 2021), in Science on the role non-use rights play in conserving natural resources. 

Traditionally, natural resources in the United States have been managed for productive uses, meaning resource extraction. To acquire and maintain leases of publicly owned resources such as oil and gas, timber, and rangelands, the resources must be put to certain “productive uses.” Purchasing rights to natural resources to conserve them, rather than for extraction, is typically not an option.

The authors argue that “use-it-or-lose-it” requirements, coupled with narrow definitions of valid “uses,” limit environmental groups from participating in markets to conserve publicly managed natural resources. Such restrictions can bias resource management in favor of extractive uses, even when environmental groups are willing to pay more. By allowing for non-use rights, environmentalists can express their values in the marketplace, rather than relying on political, legal, or administrative processes.

“If environmental groups are willing to pay more to protect an area than industry groups are to develop it, then the land clearly ought to be protected,” says author Shawn Regan on the subject of what he calls conservation leasing. 

If done thoughtfully, allowing for non-use rights can improve the status quo of public resource management for the following reasons:

• Non-use rights can reveal the economic value of conservation.
• Environmentalists have shown interest in participating in such markets, and granting them further access through non-use rights could expand conservation efforts.
• Non-use rights, if secure and well-defined, could deliver more lasting conservation outcomes that are not dependent upon shifting political winds.
• A rights-based approach allows for greater flexibility in responding to changing market and environmental conditions — for example, those posed by a changing climate.
• A rights-based approach can limit conflict by compensating existing leaseholders.

This paper is the result of a PERC workshop that brought together experts in resource management, economics, and conservation to think creatively about how to extend market tools like price signals and property rights to natural resource conservation. 

PERC—the Property and Environment Research Center—is a 40-year-old nonprofit research institute dedicated to improving environmental quality through markets and property rights. Located in Bozeman, Montana, PERC’s staff and associated scholars conduct original research that applies market principles to resolve environmental problems.

More information, including a copy of the paper, can be found online at the Science press package at https://www.eurekalert.org/press/scipak/. You will need your user ID and password to access this information

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JOURNAL

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.abi4573 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Commentary/editorial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Allow "nonuse rights" to conserve natural resources

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

27-Aug-2021

Bidding on a better future

Archaic laws prevent conservationists from bidding on public resources; experts think this should change

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SANTA BARBARA

 

IMAGE: A PUMPJACK BRINGS OIL TO THE SURFACE IN BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA ON A SITE LEASED FROM THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT. view more 

CREDIT: JOHN CICCARELLI, BLM

In 2016, environmental activist Terry Tempest Williams purchased drilling rights to 450 hectares of federal land in Utah. She created a company and began paying rental fees on the lease. But when Tempest Williams revealed that she intended to keep the oil in the ground, the Bureau of Land Management canceled the leases. They argued that she violated the “diligent development requirement” of the 1920 Mineral Leasing Act, which requires lessees to “exercise reasonable diligence in developing and producing” their leases.

Tempest Williams’ experience highlights the “use it or lose it” stipulation common to many of the laws governing public resources in the U.S. and around the world: You can’t lease public resources with the intent to leave them be. A group of scientists, economists and lawyers at several universities, including UC Santa Barbara, say it’s time for this requirement to go. The authors argue their case for creating a free market in an article featured in the prestigious journal Science.

“We have 19th century laws in conflict with 21st century values,” said co-author James Salzman, Bren distinguished professor of environmental law at UC Santa Barbara.

“When our public lands laws were written in the 1800s and early 1900s, the goal was to make as much productive use of the lands as quickly as possible,” he continued. “The idea of just leaving the lands as they are was not possible. The only valid uses were extraction – logging, mining, grazing — you name it.”

Many professionals in resource management are aware of this issue, but it hasn’t reached the public ear, the authors explained. And the first step in changing the laws is for people to realize what the problem is. “The goal of this project is to say to the public, ‘Hey. This is crazy. And you should know about it,’ ” Salzman said.

An appreciation of public lands for more than their extractive value is a relatively recent phenomenon, added co-author Andrew Plantinga, an environmental economist at UCSB’s Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. The environmental movement in the 1970s saw a huge shift in public appreciation for nature.

At the same time, economists, ecologists and Earth scientists began to recognize the importance of natural benefits like biodiversity and ecosystem services. Not only are intact ecosystems important for wildlife, they discovered; these systems also provide palpable benefits to society such as clean drinking water, pest control and fish stocks, among many other things. These are all services that cost time and money to replace in the form of filtration plants, pesticides and fish hatcheries, to name a few.

There’s also been a growing interest from communities in the health of their local environment. 

“Under current rules, I think many people feel powerless to make any substantive impact on those ecosystem services,” said co-author Christopher Costello, director of UCSB’s Environmental Markets Lab and Bren School professor. “The problem is, if you’re worried about wildlife conservation, oppose gas fracking in your backyard or want to keep water in the stream for fish, what do you do? There’s no way to ‘buy’ those goods like you would buy a loaf of bread or running shoes.”

There’s now a great demand for conservation, so why haven’t the rules changed with the times?

“Laws are sticky,” Salzman remarked. “Once you’ve got a law in place, you get vested interests who don’t want things to change.”

And since extraction is a prerequisite for bidding on public resources, conservationists cannot join and bid on public lands to achieve their goals. Instead, a huge component of environmental action and philanthropy in the U.S. is directed toward lobbying in the interest of changing policies and regulations.

Unfortunately, policy changes are often fickle. There’s growing exasperation over the flip-flop of environmental regulations across administrations and a desire for more durable interventions. Everyone is frustrated by the mercurial rules, regardless of whether they favor more or less extraction. “Uncertainty is never good for the economy,” Costello said. “And it can be even worse for the environment.”

The authors maintain that the laws need to be changed so that people who don’t want to extract resources can bid for the same licenses and permits as those who do. Essentially, if bidding is allowed for use of public lands, those who favor non-use should be able to compete against traditional extractive interests. This would completely change the sector. “Rather than focusing on legislation that determines how resources get used, we can think about this as a market and let the highest values be expressed,’” Plantinga explained.

Granted, there is the possibility that people interested in extraction will have more purchase power and buy all the rights, but that’s the way the market works right now, Salzman pointed out. It may sound odd, he noted, but we need more bidders, not fewer.

The authors aren’t proposing that all public resources be opened up to bidding. They firmly believe that current protections should be kept in place. However, when public resources are offered for sale, they argue that everyone should be allowed to bid on the rights.

Opening up public lands to non-use also empowers smaller groups. Consider a community concerned about the Gunnison sage-grouse, critically endangered by habitat loss from oil and gas development. The options available right now mostly involve petitioning state and federal agencies to make sweeping changes, a task far beyond the resources of most individuals and local organizations.

“Imagine that instead of fighting endless, costly and often fruitless court battles, the same community could buy up a bunch of mineral rights, and choose not to extract the oil,” Costello said. “That would be an asset that they now own.” 

Updating the laws, the researchers say, will allow the true value of public resources to be revealed in an environmental market. It will give different groups equal footing in auctions, and create a more stable, actionable path toward conservation, to the benefit of both industry and the environment.

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JOURNAL

SCIENCE

When humans disturb marine mammals, it’s hard to know the long-term impact

Scientists are developing new tools to determine when short-term changes in behavior caused by human activities have biological significance for protected populations

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SANTA CRUZ

 

IMAGE: DIFFERENT REPRODUCTIVE STRATEGIES CAN LEAD TO DIFFERENCES IN THE RESILIENCE OF A SPECIES TO DISTURBANCE BY HUMAN ACTIVITIES. THE NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL IS A “CAPITAL BREEDER”--THE FEMALE STORES ENERGY FOR NURSING HER PUP DURING A LONG FORAGING MIGRATION. AFTER GIVING BIRTH, THE MOTHER DOES NOT NEED TO LEAVE HER PUP TO FEED. view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO BY DAN COSTA

From seismic surveys and Navy sonar to fisheries and shipping, many human activities in the ocean environment cause short-term changes in the behaviors of marine mammals. A longstanding challenge for scientists and regulatory agencies alike has been to understand the biological significance of those changes in terms of their overall impact on affected populations of animals.

A new study led by scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, provides a comprehensive framework for conducting this type of assessment. Published August 25 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the paper synthesizes a huge amount of knowledge about marine mammals and research on the impacts of various disturbances.

Senior author Daniel Costa, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and director of the Institute of Marine Sciences at UC Santa Cruz, said he first began grappling with this problem decades ago when he was studying the impact of low-frequency sound on whales and other marine mammals. “We had measurable parameters that were statistically significant, but we didn’t know the biological significance of these changes in behavior. That bothered me, and it bothered a lot of other people in the field,” he said.

A 2005 report from the National Research Council led to the development of an approach, known as the Population Consequences of Disturbance (PCoD) framework, which can be used to assess the bioenergetic costs of behavioral changes. Since then, researchers have been developing quantitative models of PCoD for different species and types of disturbances.

“These models provide a lot of information, but we wanted to take a holistic approach by identifying the common themes and using those concepts to inform how wildlife managers and others can go about assessing the risks of a proposed activity,” said first author Kelly Keen, a UCSC graduate student who previously worked for the California State Lands Commission as an environmental scientist. “Coming from state government and having done a lot of risk assessments, I was interested in how these quantitative models can be applied.”

The new study highlights the importance of life history traits such as reproductive strategies, movement patterns, body size, and pace of life in determining the vulnerability of a species to different types of disturbances. For example, Costa explained how differences in breeding behavior can make California sea lions less resilient than northern elephant seals.

“The California sea lion lives paycheck to paycheck,” he said. “The mom has her pup on the beach, and then she goes out to sea to feed, comes back and suckles her pup, then goes back out and feeds again. She’s restricted to a relatively small area and can’t go far from the colony, so if there’s a disturbance that affects her feeding, that has a big impact because she doesn’t have money in the bank.”

Elephant seal moms, on the other hand, have money in the bank. They migrate great distances across the North Pacific Ocean, feeding and storing energy, so when they come back to the colony to give birth they can stay on the beach with their pup. “They don’t feed while they’re nursing, they just dump all that stored energy into the pup,” Costa said. “They’re more resilient because they cover such a large area while they’re feeding and can more easily avoid any given stressor.”

As a result, if there are both elephant seals and sea lions in an area where a proposed activity could disturb them, the sea lion population is likely to be at greater risk. Similarly, different considerations apply to species with a “live fast, die young” pace of life and a high reproductive rate, such as harbor porpoises, versus a large whale species that is slow to mature and reproduce.

“What regulators really want is a tool where you can plug in the numbers and the species and it spits out an answer,” Costa said. “We’re not there yet, but this is the next best thing. It tells you the key characteristics you need to consider in making a decision.”

In addition to life history features, the paper outlines the importance of the specific characteristics of the disturbance, including its location, duration, and frequency. Environmental conditions, including climate change, can also influence a population’s sensitivity to disturbances, Keen said.

“These models are steeped in the bioenergetics framework, so we looked at prey availability and how that could be affected by environmental conditions in a specific area, because if there is an overlapping disturbance in that area, that could have consequences for the population,” she said.

Costa noted that California’s coastal waters, with the most diverse marine mammal fauna in the world, is a particularly challenging place to do this type of risk assessment. Although he doesn’t expect to see new offshore oil development, the move toward renewable energy resources means a growing number of proposals to develop offshore wind and wave power in California.

“In deciding where to put something like that, a complete quantitative assessment is always going to be difficult,” Costa said. “With this conceptual process, we can at least make informed judgments. It’s a tool that can tell you what considerations you need to be thinking about.”

CAPTION

Different reproductive strategies can lead to differences in the resilience of a species to disturbance by human activities. The California sea lion is an “income breeder”--to acquire energy for lactation, the female has to leave her pup on the beach and go to sea repeatedly to feed.

CREDIT

Photo by Dan Costa

In addition to Keen and Costa, the coauthors of the paper are Roxanne Beltran, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCSC, and Enrico Pirotta, now at University College Cork (Ireland) and University of St. Andrews (U.K.). This work was supported by the E&P Sound and Marine Life Joint Industry Programme of the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR).

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

DOI

10.1098/rspb.2021.0325 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Systematic review

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Emerging themes in Population Consequences of Disturbance models

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

25-Aug-2021

COI STATEMENT

We declare we have no competing interests.