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Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been established across the globe to mitigate the effects of multiple stressors on marine communities. In many locations, MPAs have generated positive effects on fish communities, but the impacts of fishing pressure—the primary stressor MPAs seek to manage—have not been well investigated. We examined changes in fish biomass inside and outside of no-take MPAs over 14 years in central California, USA. Using data from the community-based science program, the California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program, we tested which environmental and human-induced stressors most influence the strength of MPA responses. While temperature and productivity were included in the best fit model, we found that fine-scale fishing effort data, following reserve implementation, best explained the spatial variation in fish community responses to MPAs. Specifically, differences in fish biomass between MPAs and sites open to fishing were larger for reserves near heavily fished locations and these areas exhibited the highest rate of change in fish biomass, indicating strong positive effects of the MPA on the most heavily exploited fish communities. As MPAs continue to be used as a prominent conservation strategy in coastal systems, managers should consider both the suite of human-induced (socio-ecological interactions) and environmental conditions that may alter MPA success as well as establish long-term monitoring programs to fully assess the functionality of marine reserves into the future. [Display omitted] • Positive effects of no-take marine reserves did not accumulate until 7 years post-implementation and varied by location. • Fishing effort in reference sites after reserve establishment best explain spatial variation in fish responses to protection. • Both human-induced and environmental conditions that may alter reserve success should be considered in future reserve design. • Long-term monitoring programs are vital to fully assess the functionality of MPAs into the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surveys using conservation detection dogs have grown increasingly popular as an efficient means to gather monitoring data, particularly for elusive and low-density species such as carnivores. Working with dogs can greatly increase the area surveyed for wildlife and the detection rate of survey targets. Due to the confounding effects of scent dispersion and dog movement, however, it can be difficult to estimate the area searched in a survey. Additionally, although detection dogs have been used in studies under a wide range of air temperature, humidity, and wind conditions, little research has examined how environmental factors affect detection dogs' effectiveness for wildlife surveys. Between 2003 and 2005, we trained 2 dogs to assist us with surveys for mammalian carnivore scats in northern California. We conducted controlled search trials to assess how the dogs' scat detection rates were affected by the distance of scats from the transect search line, as well as variation in six environmental factors. Both dogs detected >75% of scats located within 10 m, and the dogs' detection rates decreased with increasing distance of scats from the transect line. Among environmental factors, precipitation was the most important variable explaining variation in scat detection rates for both dogs. Precipitation likely degrades or removes scats from the landscape over time, and detection rates increase as scat begins to accumulate following the last substantial (>5 mm) rain event of the year. If scat accumulation is not controlled for in ecosystems with a strong seasonal pattern of rainfall, it could lead to considerable bias in study results. We recommend that researchers report the conditions under which conservation detection dog surveys took place and analyze how detection rates vary as a function of distance, temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind, and other locally important environmental factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the greenhouse gas reduction goals of California. It states that to be able to achieve such goals, the state must first address the emerging problem of uncontrolled community growth. It mentions the Senate Bill 375 by senator Darrell Steinberg which would aid the advocacy of California in reducing greenhouse gas through reshaping its communities into more sustainable, walkable communities with alternative transportation options and increased quality of life. It also notes that the bill would direct the Air Resource Board (ARB) to set greenhouse gas reduction targets for the regions of the state and align transportation, housing, and regional land use plans with it.

Reports that United States Judge Royce Lambarth blocked a collaboration between Yellowstone National Park and the biodiversity company Diversa, San Diego, California. Plan to exploit the park's commercial potential; Failure of the park to provide a full environmental impact statement; The enzyme Taq polymerase in the park's geothermal springs; Comments from Diversa's Jay Short.