Potential topsoiling strategies for enhancement of vegetation diversity on mined lands

Topsoiling methods may exert a strong influence on diversity of vegetation on mined lands. Actual. potential, and/or hypothetical effects of various topsoil application and management practices on diversity both within and among plant communities are discussed. Specific partices/principles addressed include direct place topsoiling, supplemental top-dressing, multiple lift topsoiling, topsoil management, topsoil depth, and selective soil handling.     

Impact of canal development on intertidal microalgal productivity: Comparative assessment of Patterson Lakes and Ralphs Bay,South East Australia

We assessed the potential impact of a proposed canal development in an estuarine sandflat at Ralphs Bay, Tasmania on intertidal microalgal productivity and species composition, by comparing it over summer and winter seasons with a well- established (30 year old) canal estate at Patterson Lakes, Victoria. Pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) fluorometry was used to generate a relative measure of photosynthetic performance, which combined with microalgal chlorophyll biomass and irradiance provides an assessment of potential primary productivity. We present a sophisticated mathematical model for calculating benthic microalgal production and the contribution to total primary production, taking into account sediment light attenuation as estimated from sediment grain size. Ralphs Bay had a total productive microalgal biomass of 44 mg chlorophyll a m⁻² which was six times higher than Patterson Lakes, while the relative productivity of Ralphs Bay was four times greater compared to Patterson Lakes where productivity was virtually absent in the subtidal zone of the canal waterway. Ralphs Bay exhibited a more or less homogeneous spatial distribution of microphytobenthos biomass but this was subject to some seasonal variation in species composition, abundance and productivity. By contrast, at Patterson Lakes biomass distribution, diversity and productivity was highly spatially variable in the canal system in both seasons. Patterson Lakes exhibited 60% lower microphytobenthos species richness than Ralphs Bay but little variation in species composition occurred between seasons in the canal estate. This suggests that the dominant diatom species in Patterson Lakes, Pinnularia yarrensis, Gyrosigma balticum and Pleurosigma salinarum, are well adapted to the disturbance regime within the canal estate. The proposed canal development at Ralphs Bay is estimated to cause a decrease in microalgal productivity by both reducing available marine substrate (66% reduction) and replacing productive intertidal phytobenthic habitat with nonproductive canal substrate. These combine to cause a decline in productivity of 92% with significant flow-on effects predicted for higher trophic levels such as migratory wading birds.     

Trace Metal Distribution and Enrichment in Benthic, Estuarine Sediments: Southport Broadwater, Australia

The distribution and enrichment of selected trace metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sn, Zn) in benthic sediments of the Southport Broadwater, a semi-enclosed coastal body of water adjacent to the Gold Coast city, south-eastern Queensland, Australia, was studied with the objective of assessing the extent and degree of sediment contamination. Sediment samples from the 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm depth intervals of 32 sites within the Southport Broadwater and surrounding residential canals were analysed for particle size distribution, pH, organic C and ‘near-total’ major (Al, Ca, Fe, Mn) and trace (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sn, Zn) metal contents. Sediment contamination for each trace metal was assessed by (1) comparison with Australian sediment quality guidelines, (2) calculation of the index of geoaccumulation based on regional background values, and (3) geochemical normalisation against Al (i.e. the abundance of alumino-silicate clay minerals). Based on this approach, the results indicate that submerged sediments in the study area are not presently enriched with Cd, Cr or Ni, with the spatial distribution of these metals being very well explained by the abundance of alumino-silicate clay minerals. However, several sites were strongly enriched with Cu, Pb, Sn and Zn, arising from sources related to either urban runoff or vessel maintenance activities. The study indicates that several varying approaches are needed for a satisfactory assessment of contaminant enrichment in estuarine sediments.     

What Is Ecosystem Management?

The evolving concept of ecosystem management is the focus of much current debate. To clarify discussion and provide a framework for implementation, I trace the historical development of ecosystem management, provide a working definition, and summarize dominant themes taken from an extensive literature review. The general goal of maintaining ecological integrity is discussed along with five specific goals: maintaining viable populations, ecosystem representation, maintaining ecological process (ie., natural disturbance regimes), protecting evolutionary potential of species and ecosystems, and accommodating human use in light of the above. Short-term policy implications of ecosystem management for several groups of key actors (scientists, policymakers, managers, citizens) are discussed. Long-term (> 100 years) policy implications are also reviewed including reframing environmental values, fostering cooperation, and evaluating success. Ecosystem management is not just about science nor is it simply an extension of traditional resource management; it offers a fundamental reframing of bow humans may work with nature.     

Development of a continuously stirred flow cell for investigating sorption mass transfer

This paper introduces a new reversible-flow design for a continuously stirred reactor used to study sorption mass transfer in soil and solvent systems. The stirred reactor has potential advantages over conventional packed column or batch reactors because it isolates intraparticle sorption rate limitations from advective-dispersive transport, yet allows changes to flux through the reactor for analysis of sorption kinetics under dynamic conditions. Previously, stirred reactors have often failed due to clogging of sediment on the effluent frit. The reverse-flow backwashing design allows longer life and higher confidence in maintaining mixed conditions than previous designs. Mass transfer 'rate coefficients estimated from stirred and column experiments are compared; both techniques produced results consistent with a published correlation. The data also show that fitted sorption mass transfer coefficients can be strongly dependent on the choice of equilibrium partition coefficient (i.e. batch or first-moment derived values), and that the conventional two-site sorption kinetics model fails to accurately predict sorption mass transfer in the presence of changing solvent velocity through the reactor.     

Bioavailability of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin from municipal incinerator fly ash to freshwater fish

The bioavailability of 2,3,7,8-TCDD from municipal incinerator fly ash to freshwater fish was determined. It was observed that carp exposed to fly ash containing all 22 TCDD isomers, or the solvent extract of the fly ash, retain only 2,3,7,8-TCDD. Exposures with fly ash appears to follow a dose response relationship for bioconcentration, however, the bioavailability of 2,3,7,8-TCDD was not directly related to the level of 2,3,7,8-TCDD in fly ash for two fly ash samples studied.     

Photochemical reduction of hexavalent chromium in glycerol-containing solutions

Hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] in the form of potassium dichromate was photochemically reduced to trivalent chromium [Cr(III)] in aqueous solutions containing glycerol. This reaction occurred rapidly during irradiation with either unfiltered sunlight or a UVA-emitting light source. Photochemical reduction of Cr(VI) was pH-dependent and did not occur in dilute solutions of sodium hydroxide. In acidified solutions, the reduction occurred at elevated rates and at lower concentrations of glycerol. This reaction was found to be dependent on the unsubstituted alcohol groups of glycerol since alpha-phosphoglycerol and beta-phosphoglycerol did not support the photochemical reduction of Cr(VI). These findings suggest that glycerol or related polyols can be used for the remediation of hexavalent (toxic) chromium at contaminated environmental sites.     

Gas-phase mercury reduction to measure total mercury in the flue gas of a coal-fired boiler

Gaseous elemental and total (elemental + oxidized) mercury (Hg) in the flue gas from a coal-fired boiler was measured by a modified ultraviolet (UV) spectrometer. Challenges to Hg measurement were the spectral interferences from other flue gas components and that UV measures only elemental Hg. To eliminate interference from flue gas components, a cartridge filled with gold-coated sand removed elemental Hg from a flue gas sample. The Hg-free flue gas was the reference gas, eliminating the spectral interferences. To measure total Hg by UV, oxidized Hg underwent a gas-phase, thermal-reduction in a quartz cell heated to 750 degrees C. Simultaneously, hydrogen was added to flash react with the oxygen present forming water vapor and preventing Hg re-oxidation as it exits the cell. Hg concentration results are in parts per billion by volume Hg at the flue gas oxygen concentration. The modified Hg analyzer and the Ontario Hydro method concurrently measured Hg at a field test site. Measurements were made at a 700-MW steam turbine plant with scrubber units and selective catalytic reduction. The flue gas sampled downstream of the selective catalytic reduction contained 2100 ppm SO2 and 75 ppm NOx. Total Hg measured by the Hg analyzer was within 20% of the Ontario Hydro results.