Community-based conservation interventions can only be successful in the long term if their aims and activities are accepted by local people. A key determinant of acceptability is the perceived ...fairness of the distribution of the costs and benefits of the intervention. We examined the opportunities and challenges posed by benefit distribution in community-based Payment for Environmental Services (PES) interventions through a case study from Menabe, Madagascar. The intervention appears to be an overall success, with individuals reporting high levels of perceived fairness of payment distribution and a high proportion of individuals expressing overall net benefit. Nevertheless, a lack of adequate benefits accruing to those individuals facing high agricultural opportunity costs and evidence of sub-groups in the community reaping excessive benefits was noted across communities, and instances of poor governance were observed as a barrier to success in some communities. We present solutions to address these key challenges in the design and implementation of community-based PES interventions.
OBJECTIVES
The study compared procedural outcomes and long-term survival for patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of a chronic total coronary artery occlusion (CTO) with a ...matched non-CTO cohort to determine whether successful PCI of a CTO is associated with improved survival.
BACKGROUND
Percutaneous coronary intervention of a CTO is a common occurrence, and the long-term survival for patients with successful PCI of a CTO has not been clearly defined.
METHODS
Between June 1980 and December 1999, a total of 2,007 consecutive patients underwent PCI for a CTO. Utilizing propensity scoring methods, a matched non-CTO cohort of 2,007 patients was identified and compared to the CTO group. The cohorts were stratified into successful and failed procedures.
RESULTS
The in-hospital major adverse cardiac event (MACE) rate was 3.8% in the CTO cohort. Technical success has improved over the last 10 years (overall 74.4%, slope 1.0%/yr, p = 0.02, R
2 = 49.9%) as did procedural success (overall 69.9%, slope 1.2%/yr, p = 0.02, R
2 = 51.5%) without a concomitant increase in in-hospital MACE rates (slope 0.1%/yr, p = 0.7). There was a distinct 10-year survival advantage for successful CTO treatment compared with failed CTO treatment (73.5% vs. 65.1%, p = 0.001). The CTO versus non-CTO 10-year survival was the same (71.2% vs. 71.4%, p = 0.9). Diabetics in the CTO cohort had a lower 10-year survival compared with nondiabetics (58.3% vs. 74.3%, p < 0.0001).
CONCLUSIONS
These data represent follow-up of the largest reported series of patients undergoing PCI for a CTO. The 10-year survival rates for matched non-CTO and the CTO cohorts were similar. Success rates have continued to improve without an accompanying increase in MACE rates. A successfully revascularized CTO confers a significant 10-year survival advantage compared with failed revascularization.
There are concerns that Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) may fail to deliver potential biodiversity cobenefits if it is focused on high carbon areas. We explored ...the spatial overlaps between carbon stocks, biodiversity, projected deforestation threats, and the location of REDD+ projects in Indonesia, a tropical country at the forefront of REDD+ development. For biodiversity, we assembled data on the distribution of terrestrial vertebrates (ranges of amphibians, mammals, birds, reptiles) and plants (species distribution models for 8 families). We then investigated congruence between different measures of biodiversity richness and carbon stocks at the national and subnational scales. Finally, we mapped active REDD+ projects and investigated the carbon density and potential biodiversity richness and modeled deforestation pressures within these forests relative to protected areas and unprotected forests. There was little internal overlap among the different hotspots (richest 10% of cells) of species richness. There was also no consistent spatial congruence between carbon stocks and the biodiversity measures: a weak negative correlation at the national scale masked highly variable and nonlinear relationships island by island. Current REDD+ projects were preferentially located in areas with higher total species richness and threatened species richness but lower carbon densities than protected areas and unprotected forests. Although a quarter of the total area of these REDD+ projects is under relatively high deforestation pressure, the majority of the REDD+ area is not. In Indonesia at least, first‐generation REDD+ projects are located where they are likely to deliver biodiversity benefits. However, if REDD+ is to deliver additional gains for climate and biodiversity, projects will need to focus on forests with the highest threat to deforestation, which will have cost implications for future REDD+ implementation.
Emamectin benzoate (an avermectin chemotherapeutant administered to fish as an in-feed treatment) has been used to treat infestations of sea lice Lepeophtheirus salmonis on farmed Atlantic salmon ...Salmo salar in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada, since 1999. This retrospective study examined the effectiveness of 114 emamectin benzoate treatment episodes from 2004 to 2008 across 54 farms. Study objectives were to establish whether changes in the effectiveness of emamectin benzoate were present for this period, examine factors associated with treatment outcome, and determine variables that influenced differences in L. salmonis abundance after treatment. The analysis was carried out in 2 parts: first, trends in treatment effectiveness and L. salmonis abundance were explored, and second, statistical modelling (linear and logistic regression) was used to examine the effects of multiple variables on post-treatment abundance and treatment outcome. Post-treatment sea lice abundance increased in the later years examined. Mean abundance differed between locations in the Bay of Fundy, and higher numbers were found at farms closer to the mainland and lower levels were found in the areas around Grand Manan Island. Treatment effectiveness varied by geographical region and decreased over time. There was an increased risk for unsuccessful treatments in 2008, and treatments applied during autumn months were more likely to be ineffective than those applied during summer months.
Informal institutions governing the use of wild species are present in many societies. A system of prohibitions known as fady is central to Malagasy culture. We examined whether fady that relate to ...the use of natural resources in the eastern rainforests of Madagascar play an important conservation role. Prohibitions ranged from strict taboos in which a species or area was forbidden by the ancestors to social norms that concerned acceptable behavior when harvesting wild species. Strict taboos offered real protection to threatened species, such as the lemur Propithecus edwardsi and the carnivore Cryptoprocta ferox. Taboos also reduced pressure on some economically important endemic species by preventing their sale or limiting the harvest season. Despite their value for conservation, the taboos did not appear to originate from attempts to sustainably manage resources. Nevertheless, social norms, in which the sanction was social disapproval rather than supernatural retribution, encouraged sustainable harvesting practices for tenrecs (Tenrec ecudatus) and pandans (Pandanus spp.). Unfortunately, the social norms concerning methods of harvesting pandans appeared to be breaking down in villages surrounding Ranomafana National Park, and we suggest that the imposition of external conservation rules is weakening traditional management. Informal institutions are important to conservation because they suggest ways of improving cultural understanding and conservation communication. Food taboos influence societal preferences, which affect the wider demand for a species. Most important, where capacity to enforce external conservation rules is limited, informal institutions may provide the only effective regulations. Informal institutions should receive greater attention from conservation biologists so that local people's conservation roles can be acknowledged fairly and so that potential synergies with conservation objectives can be realized.
1. Fundamental ecological research is both intrinsically interesting and provides the basic knowledge required to answer applied questions of importance to the management of the natural world. The ...100th anniversary of the British Ecological Society in 2013 is an opportune moment to reflect on the current status of ecology as a science and look forward to high-light priorities for future work. 2. To do this, we identified 100 important questions of fundamental importance in pure ecology. We elicited questions from ecologists working across a wide range of systems and disciplines. The 754 questions submitted (listed in the online appendix) from 388 participants were narrowed down to the final 100 through a process of discussion, rewording and repeated rounds of voting. This was done during a two-day workshop and thereafter. 3. The questions reflect many of the important current conceptual and technical pre-occupations of ecology. For example, many questions concerned the dynamics of environmental change and complex ecosystem interactions, as well as the interaction between ecology and evolution. 4. The questions reveal a dynamic science with novel subfields emerging. For example, a group of questions was dedicated to disease and micro-organisms and another on human impacts and global change reflecting the emergence of new subdisciplines that would not have been foreseen a few decades ago. 5. The list also contained a number of questions that have perplexed ecologists for decades and are still seen as crucial to answer, such as the link between population dynamics and life-history evolution. 6. Synthesis. These 100 questions identified reflect the state of ecology today. Using them as an agenda for further research would lead to a substantial enhancement in understanding of the discipline, with practical relevance for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem function.
•Community Forest Management is not a guarantee of forest conservation.•Community forestry allowing commercial forest use did not reduce deforestation.•Community forestry not allowing commercial ...forest use reduced deforestation.•Differentiating among types of community forestry is important in impact evaluation.
Community Forest Management (CFM) is a widespread conservation approach in the tropics. It is also promoted as a means by which payment for ecosystem services schemes can be implemented. However, evidence on its performance is weak. We investigated the effectiveness of CFM at reducing deforestation from 2000 to 2010 in Madagascar. To control for factors confounding impact estimates, we used statistical matching. We also contrasted the effects of CFM by whether commercial use of forest resources is allowed or not. We cannot detect an effect, on average, of CFM compared to no CFM, even when we restricted the sample to only where information suggests effective CFM implementation on the ground. Likewise, we cannot detect an effect of CFM where commercial use of natural resources is allowed. However, we can detect a reduction in deforestation in CFM that does not permit commercial uses, compared to no CFM or CFM allowing commercial uses. Our findings suggest that CFM and commercial use of forest resources are not guarantees of forest conservation and that differentiating among types of CFM is important.
One hundred isolates of Staphylococcs aureus were collected in a laboratory serving several hospitals and clinics in southeastern Wisconsin and tested for mupirocin susceptibility. Only two isolates ...of S. aureus showed mupirocin resistance. The mupirocin-resistant isolates were from hospitalized patients with positive blood cultures.
Improving patients' quality of life is a primary indication for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), yet little is known about patient characteristics associated with greater quality-of-life ...improvement from the procedure. This study was conducted to identify patient characteristics associated with quality-of-life benefit after PCI.
A consecutive series of 1518 patients undergoing PCI in nonacute myocardial infarction settings were prospectively enrolled into an observational study documenting their postprocedural health status. We examined univariate and multivariable associations between baseline patient characteristics and quality of life 1 year after the procedure using the disease-specific Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) to quantify the impact of patients' coronary disease on their quality of life. Baseline angina frequency and physical function were the strongest predictors of quality-of-life improvement 1 year after PCI. In comparing patients without angina to those experiencing monthly, weekly, and daily angina, the quality-of-life improvements (mean+/-SEM) were 21.4+/-2.1, 30.7+/-2.2, and 34.6+/-2.6 points greater (P<0.001). Patients with mild, moderate, and severe physical limitation improved 13.8+/-1.9, 20.0+/-2.1, and 13.5+/-3.5 points more than those with minimal baseline physical limitation (P<0.001). These findings were maintained in multivariable models correcting for baseline differences in demographic, clinical, disease-severity, and health-status variables.
Preprocedural angina frequency is the most important prognostic indicator of quality-of-life improvement after PCI. Although substantial quality-of-life benefits are attained in most patients with preprocedural angina, more careful consideration of the potential benefits and risks of the procedure are needed in asymptomatic patients.
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