Visualizing reductive dechlorination in support of intrinsic bioremediation using multivariate plots and GIS

Demonstrating intrinsic bioremediation requires not only that the right types of evidence be gathered, but also that those data be analyzed at an appropriate level of detail and presented in a manner that clearly illustrates the key trends to the target audience. The goal of this study was to develop one type of multivariate pattern diagram, the pie diagram, for clearly and efficiently presenting data demonstrating the occurrence of reductive dechlorination at sites contaminated by chlorinated ethenes. The pie diagrams were created using normalized ethenes molar concentrations to estimate and illustrate the changes in the concentrations of contaminants and metabolic intermediates that could be attributed to biodegradative processes. Spatial pie‐diagram maps illustrating the normalized chlorinated‐ethenes data were produced using geographic information system (GIS) software. Application of this visualization tool is demonstrated using an example data set and is compared with a conventional x‐y graph of the data. The trends elucidated on the basis of the pie diagrams, coupled with additional site evidence of natural attenuation (e.g., electron donor and acceptor data), are shown to provide a consistent interpretation of the site data. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

ASSEMBLY OF MAP‐BASED STREAM NARRATIVES TO FACILITATE STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN WATERSHED MANAGEMENT1

ABSTRACT: Watershed stewardship activities throughout North America have evolved into a process that requires more involvement in planning and decision making by community stakeholders. Active involvement of all stakeholders in the process of watershed stewardship is dependent on effective exchange of information among participants, and active involvement of a wide range of stakeholders from “communities of place” as well as those from “communities of interest.” We developed a map‐based stream narrative tool as a means to: (a) assemble a wealth of incompletely documented, “traditional” ecological or natural history observations for rivers or streams; and (b) promote a higher level of active involvement by community stakeholders in contributing to information‐based, watershed management. Creation of stream narratives is intended for use as a tool to actively engage local stakeholders in the development of a more comprehensive information system to improve management for multiple stewardship objectives in watersheds. Completion of map‐based stream narrative atlases provides a valuable supplement to other independent efforts to assemble observations and knowledge about land‐based natural resources covering entire watersheds. We are confident that completion of stream narrative projects will make a valuable addition to the information and decision making tools that are currently available to the public and resource agencies interested in advancing the cause of community‐based approaches to watershed and ecosystem management.     

Developing Institutional Capacity at the Regional Level: The Development of a Coastal Forum in the North West of England

This paper examines the process of establishing a coastal forum in the North West region of England. The North West Coastal Forum is one of the first attempts at the establishment of a regional forum in England and is especially notable for the role played by the Government Office for the North West in its formation. The paper examines the relationships between the key agencies involved and, in particular, the key role played by the Government Office for the North West in promoting and establishing the forum and how this has influenced its organization, structure and composition. It provides a critical analysis of the apparent and potential strengths and weaknesses of the forum as an example of a partnership approach to the planning and management of coastal issues in the North West. The conclusions are not only of relevance to the future development of the forum within the North West of England, and to the potential establishment of similar coastal fora elsewhere, but are also of much broader interest as a case example of the development of institutional capacities and collaborative partnership approaches to planning issues at the regional level in the wider context of the changing nature of regional governance in the UK and the enhanced 'regional partnership' role being embraced by the government offices for the regions.     

A STATISTICAL SIMULATION TECHNIQUE FOR NORTHERN NEW JERSEY MONTHLY PRECIPITATION1

A 30-year record of monthly precipitation for Northern New Jersey was analyzed for its statistical components. With a weak annual periodicity eliminated, the series was found to be random. The data for each month were fit with a gamma distribution using Thom's suggested best estimates of the distribution parameters. A one-thousand-year simulated monthly precipitation series was generated using random values from the twelve gamma distributions. The statistical properties of the simulated and sample time series agreed well. Numerous anomalous precipitation regimes were observed in the simulated data.     

Rapid interphase analysis for prenatal diagnosis of translocation carriers using subtelomeric probes

Interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) has become an accepted laboratory technique for the rapid and preliminary prenatal assessment of chromosome aneuploidy. The introduction of subtelomeric FISH probes now allows for the molecular–cytogenetic analysis of terminal chromosome rearrangements. In a prospective study, we examined the prenatal use of subtelomeric probes on interphase cells to rapidly detect the carrier status of a fetus when a parent carried a known reciprocal or Robertsonian chromosome translocation. Three of the cases were identified as being abnormal. All cases were confirmed by routine cytogenetic analysis. These findings clearly demonstrated the utility of this technique and these probes to rapidly and correctly identify balanced and unbalanced chromosome anomalies of a fetus that could result from parental translocations. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The establishment of foraging flocks in house sparrows: risk of predation and daily temperature

Summary The foraging decisions of animals often reflect a trade-off between the risk of predation and efficient foraging. One way an animal may reduce the risk of predation, and hence exploit a resource patch in relative safety, is by foraging in a group. Solitary pioneer sparrows often recruit others to a food source by making chirrup calls in order to establish foraging flocks. This study describes the decisions of house sparrows that arrive at food resources of different risks of predation. Four feeding sites at different distances from a perching site and from an observer were presented to sparrows. When the feeder was adjacent to the perching site and far from the observer, the pioneers chirruped less frequently and were more likely to forage alone than when the feeder was in the other three positions. There were differences in the scanning behaviour of sparrows at these sites, suggesting that they were responding to different risks of predation. Furthermore, the chirrup rates of pioneer sparrows in this study and a previous study were found to be negatively correlated with maximum daily temperature. This is consistent with the hypothesis that energy requirements may affect the flock establishment decisions of sparrows, and that the benefits of foraging in flocks may be greater at lower temperatures.     

Effects of mineral surfaces on pyrene partitioning to well-characterized humic substances

Mineral surfaces can alter the ability of humic substances (HS) to bind hydrophobic organic contaminants. In this study, complete adsorption (i.e., to avoid HS adsorptive fractionation effects) of a small subset of well-characterized terrestrial and aquatic HS on kaolinite and hematite significantly changed their subsequent organic carbon-normalized partition coefficients K(ads)(oc) for pyrene relative to their original respective dissolved organic carbon-normalized partition coefficients K(dis)(oc). Parallel experiments with ultrafiltration (UF) fractions obtained from purified Aldrich humic acid (PAHA) (Aldrich Chemical, Milwaukee, WI) gave similar results. The heterogeneity among the PAHA UF fractions was examined via their mineral surface adsorption characteristics and their subsequent ability to bind pyrene. As expected, variations in maximum adsorption densities (q(max)), Langmuir adsorption constants (K(q)), and pyrene K(ads)(oc) values were observed among the PAHA UF fractions. However, general trends of q(max), K(q), and pyrene log K(ads)(oc) values for the PAHA UF fractions versus the logarithm of their weight-average molecular weights (MW(w)) did not typically match the corresponding trends obtained with the four aquatic and terrestrial HS. In general, an ideal mixture competitive adsorption model gave reasonable predictions for PAHA sorption to kaolinite and hematite based on their corresponding UF isotherm parameters. Ideal mixture predictions of pyrene partitioning to adsorbed PAHA from the corresponding UF fraction results were better for kaolinite versus hematite, indicating that the underlying mineral surface can alter the effects of HS heterogeneity on hydrophobic organic contaminant sorption.     

Phosphorus transfer in surface runoff from intensive pasture systems at various scales: a review

Phosphorus transfer in runoff from intensive pasture systems has been extensively researched at a range of scales. However, integration of data from the range of scales has been limited. This paper presents a conceptual model of P transfer that incorporates landscape effects and reviews the research relating to P transfer at a range of scales in light of this model. The contribution of inorganic P sources to P transfer is relatively well understood, but the contribution of organic P to P transfer is still relatively poorly defined. Phosphorus transfer has been studied at laboratory, profile, plot, field, and watershed scales. The majority of research investigating the processes of P transfer (as distinct from merely quantifying P transfer) has been undertaken at the plot scale. However, there is a growing need to integrate data gathered at a range of scales so that more effective strategies to reduce P transfer can be identified. This has been hindered by the lack of a clear conceptual framework to describe differences in the processes of P transfer at the various scales. The interaction of hydrological (transport) factors with P source factors, and their relationship to scale, require further examination. Runoff-generating areas are highly variable, both temporally and spatially. Improvement in the understanding and identification of these areas will contribute to increased effectiveness of strategies aimed at reducing P transfers in runoff. A thorough consideration of scale effects using the conceptual model of P transfer outlined in this paper will facilitate the development of improved strategies for reducing P losses in runoff.     

An economic evaluation of livestock odor regulation distances

Setback regulations-legislated distances that livestock production facilities must be removed from surrounding properties-are meant to mitigate odor impacts. If the setback length is too short, then there is evidence that surrounding properties and people suffer uncompensated damages. If, on the other hand, setback lengths are too long, then livestock producers may be paying more than that required to compensate for odor-related environmental damages. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of Kentucky's livestock production facility setbacks on the value of surrounding properties and farm financial management decisions. This paper develops a model of the benefits of livestock odor reduction and the livestock odor abatement cost associated with setback lengths paid by producers. The results of this investigation indicate that the mandated setback lengths for Kentucky are too short. Livestock production firms are worse off under longer setback lengths, but the losses to surrounding home owners far exceed the firm gains at the mandated setbacks. A finding of this study is that the firm has no incentive to completely protect the legislated setback length. Livestock producers in compliance with the relevant setback length may feel protected from odor lawsuits despite damage being done to surrounding property. This suggests that the perceived threat of lawsuit is currently low in the state of Kentucky. Both industry and public goals could be met from further research including location and economic impact of livestock production.     

Cosolvent effect on the catalytic reductive dechlorination of PCE

Reductive dechlorination of chlorinated organic contaminants is an effective approach to treat this widespread group of environmentally hazardous substances. Metalloporphyrins can be used to catalyze reduction reactions by shuttling electrons from a reducing agent (electron donor) to chlorinated organic contaminants, thus rendering them to non-chlorinated acetylene, ethylene or ethane as major products. Iron, nickel and vanadium oxide tetraphenyl porphyrins (TPPs) were used as models of non-soluble metalloporphyrins that are common in subsurface environments, and hence may inflect on the ability to use natural ones. The effect of cosolvents on metalloporphyrins is demonstrated to switch the reduction of tetrachlorethylene (PCE) from no reaction to complete PCE transformation within 24 h and the production of final non-chlorinated compounds. Variations in product distributions for the different metalloporphyrins indicate that changes in the core metal can influence reaction rates and effective pathways. Furthermore, different cosolvents can generate varied product distributions, again suggesting that different pathways and/or rates are operative in the reduction reactions. Comparison of different cosolvent effects on PCE reduction using vitamin B12--a soluble natural metalloporphyrinogen--as the catalyst shows less pronounced differences between reactions in various cosolvent solutions versus only aqueous solution.