Towards an Integrative Psychological Model for Climate Change Mitigation Behavior among Managers in the Tourism Industry

The aims of the current paper are to provide an extensive review of the theoretical and empirical evidence on which current climate change mitigation efforts are based and to advance a new model of the determinants of mitigation behavior. The study was based on the review of relevant literature. The model specifically demonstrates the interplay between human values, attitude, knowledge, emotions and social norms as determinants of broad and greater levels of mitigation behaviours. The model is complemented by adding age and sex as confounders. It indicates the possible interrelationships between these factors with their joint effects being emphasized. The model addresses a concern that most business-level climate change policies ought to be integrative, but are unfortunately, not. Detailed knowledge of psychological determinants is useful for policy makers to provide favorable conditions in support of business level climate change mitigation measures and how it can be used to measure and compare the impacts of the determinants so as to generate more applicable mitigation measures in optimizing climate change policies now and in the future.

Efecto de la riqueza de especies y estructura de la vegetación en el almacenamiento de carbono en sistemas agroforestales de la Amazonía, Bolivia / Effect of species richness and vegetation structure on carbon storage in agroforestry systems in the Southern Amazon of Bolivia

Resumen Los sistemas agroforestales diversos concilian la producción de alimentos, la conservación de la biodiversidad y la provisión de servicios ecosistémicos como el secuestro de carbono atmosférico. Sin embargo, el papel de la riqueza florística sobre la producción de carbono en la biomasa de estos sistemas no está claro. Este estudio evaluó el efecto de la riqueza de especies y la estructura de la vegetación sobre el carbono en la biomasa de diferentes sistemas agroforestales, en la Amazonía Sur de Bolivia. Para eso, fueron estudiados 25 sistemas agroforestales y 4 bosques secundarios, en los departamentos de Santa Cruz y Beni. En cada sistema se instalaron parcelas circulares de 1 963 m2, donde la vegetación (árboles, arbustos y herbáceas) y necromasa (hojarasca, ramas y árboles muertos) fueron muestreados. Se utilizó funciones lineales y logarítmicas para evaluar el efecto de la riqueza y estructura de la vegetación sobre el carbono; y la partición de la varianza para examinar el efecto puro y compartido de las variables riqueza y estructura. Las regresiones mostraron una relación positiva fuerte de la riqueza de especies sobre el carbono de la biomasa (r2 = 0.74; P < 0.001). En la partición de la varianza, el 85.7 % de la variabilidad del carbono fue explicada por la riqueza, estructura y variación de la estructura. De forma aislada, la riqueza explicó el 12.7 %, la estructura el 8.8 % y la variación de la estructura el 4.8 %. Estos resultados confirman que el carbono en la biomasa sobre el suelo aumenta con la riqueza de especies y la variación estructural de la vegetación. Por lo tanto, sistemas agroforestales más biodiversos y estratificados son más eficientes en el uso de los recursos y pueden contribuir con la mitigación del cambio climático.(AU)

Abstract Diverse agroforestry systems conciliate food production, biodiversity conservation, and the provision of ecosystem services as atmospheric carbon sequestration. However, the role of floristic richness in the production of biomass in these systems is not clear. This study evaluated the effect of species richness and vegetation structure on aboveground biomass carbon in different agroforestry systems in the Southern Amazon of Bolivia. For that, 25 agroforestry systems and 4 secondary forests were studied in the departments of Santa Cruz and Beni. In each system, a 1 963 m2 circular plot was installed, where the vegetation (trees, shrubs and herbaceous) and necromass (leaf litter, branches and dead trees) were sampled. Linear and logarithmic functions were used to evaluate the effect of vegetation richness and structure on carbon, and the variance partition was used to examine the pure and shared effect of the richness and vegetation structure variables on carbon. Regressions showed a positive strong relationship between species richness and carbon (r2 = 0.74; P < 0.001). The partition of carbon variance showed that richness, structure and variation of the structure explained 85.7 %. Alone the richness explained 12.7 %, the structure 8.8 % and the variation of the structure 4.8 %. These results confirm that carbon in the aboveground biomass increases with species richness and structural variation of the vegetation. Therefore, more biodiverse and stratified agroforestry systems are more efficient in the use of resources and can contribute to climate change mitigation.(AU)

Carbon Sequestration Potential of Agricultural Crops in Designed Plant Growth Chamber.

Aim: Climate change is becoming one of the major global environment concerns. The earth’s climate is predicted to change due to release of greenhouse gases and there is an urgent need for stabilizing the increasing levels of carbon dioxide in atmosphere. Soil carbon sequestration is considered as one of the promising options for mitigating the climate change impacts. The aim of the current study is to assess the carbon sequestration potential of the crops of the agricultural importance at elevated levels of CO2 in designed plant growth chamber. Place and Duration of Study: School of Environment and Sustainable Development, Central University of Gujarat, India, between November 2013 to June 2014. Methodology: Plant growth chamber has been designed of dimension 66×24×25 inches for assessing the carbon sequestration potential of the selected agricultural crops Triticum aestivum, Sorghum vulgare and Vigna radiata in green house. The plants were grown using the pot culture technique in mycorrhizal soil. The CO2 was induced into the plant growth chamber after every five days at the rate of 5 Litres per minute to maintain the level of carbon dioxide upto 500±50 ppm into the plant growth chamber and plant’s growth was studied. Soil’s physico-chemical parameters, plant’s morphological and biochemical characteristics were studied in each plant. Results: The study reveals the carbon content estimated in the form of organic carbon, total carbon and organic matter was high in Vigna radiata at elevated CO2 levels, than ambient levels, followed by Sorghum vulagare and Triticum aestivum. Also organic nitrogen accumulation was increased in response of elevated CO2 conditions, highest being found in samples of Vigna radiata. Morphological and biochemical characteristics of crops also got influenced under elevated CO2 levels. Plant height and plant biomass accumulation was found to be higher in Triticum aestivum, followed by Sorghum vulgare and Vigna radiata, whereas shoot and root length was measured to be highest in Sorghum vulgare, then in Vigna radiata and Triticum aestivum. Biochemical analysis revealed that total chlorophyll content was highest in Sorghum vulgare as compared to other two species at elevated conditions. Protein content increased in response to elevated CO2 conditions, it was found to be highest in Triticum aestivum. Conclusion: It can be inferred from this study that CO2 has influence on both soil’s and properties of plant’s growing in it. It was observed that C3 crops Triticum aestivum and Vigna radiata were more efficient in using the elevated carbon dioxide levels and hence will prove useful in mitigating the impacts of climate change with the help of sequestration of carbon both in plant and soil. Sorghum vulgare being a C4 also showed potential for carbon sequestration and can be considered for the same after further more research.

Local Level Complexities in Governance of Climate Change Mitigation Practices and Adaptation Measures in U. S. Cities.

While global negotiations regarding climate change between nations are underway around the world, locally scaled policies and measures for climate protection and resilience are drafted and implemented by municipalities across the globe. These political units, with their small contributions to the much larger issue at hand are unable to fully receive adequate gains of their policies for their local stakeholders, as theory states that local level administrators would find it difficult to reduce emissions for the benefit of the global citizenry. In other words, municipalities are concerned with the provision of locallybased public goods and services. For climate policies however, they are locally producing a global public good. On the other hand, local level leaders have an advantage as they control many of the factors related to emissions, such as land use decisions, residential and commercial regulations, transit options and solid waste disposal. This is perhaps fitting due to the nature of the place-based vulnerability where impacts are experienced in the forms of inundation, heat waves, bushfires or rising sea levels. Additionally, due to their structure, it is comparatively easier to implementing such policies successfully than many international policy makers who have struggled with such goals or milestones due to added complications. This essay will explore the rudimentary complexities at the city level and observe the paradox of participation and engagement in sustainable addressing global climate change.