Applications of behavioral science to biodiversity management in agricultural landscapes: conceptual mapping and a California case study

Regime shifts of major salinity constituents (Ca, Mg, Na, K, SO₄, Cl, HCO₃, and NO₃) in the lower Salinas River, an agricultural ecosystem, can have major impacts on ecosystem services central to continued agricultural production in the region. Regime shifts are large, persistent, and often abrupt changes in the structure and dynamics of social-ecological systems that occur when there is a reorganization of the dominant feedbacks in the system. Monitoring information on changes in the system state, controlling variables, and feedbacks is a crucial contributor to applying sustainability and ecosystem resilience at an operational level. To better understand the factors driving salinization of the lower Salinas River on the central coast of California, we examined a 27-year record of concentrations of major salinity constituents in the river. Although limited in providing an understanding of solute flux behavior during storm events, long-term “grab sampling” datasets with accompanying stream discharges can be used to estimate the actual history of concentrations and fluxes. We developed new concentration–discharge relationships to evaluate the dynamics of chemical weathering, hydrological processes, and agricultural practices in the watershed. Examinations of long-term records of surface water and groundwater salinity are required to provide both understanding and perspective towards managing salinity in arid and semi-arid regions while also enabling determination of the influence of external climatic variability and internal drivers in the system. We found that rock weathering is the main source of Ca, Mg, Na, HCO₃, and SO₄ in the river that further enables ion exchange between Ca, Mg, and Na. River concentrations of K, NO₃, and Cl were associated with human activities while agricultural practices were the major source of K and NO₃. A more direct anthropogenic positive trend in NO₃ that has persisted since the mid-1990s is associated with the lag or memory effects of field cropping and use of flood irrigation. Event to inter-year scale patterns in the lower Salinas River salinity are further controlled by antecedent hydrologic conditions. This study underscores the importance of obtaining long-term monitoring records towards understanding watershed changes-of-state and time constants on the range of driving processes.

     

Life‐cycle assessment of in situ thermal remediation

A detailed cradle‐to‐grave life‐cycle assessment (LCA) of an in situ thermal treatment remedy for a chlorinated‐solvent‐contaminated site was performed using process LCA. The major materials and activities necessary to install, operate, monitor, and deconstruct the remedy were included in the analysis. The analysis was based on an actual site remedy design and implementation to determine the potential environmental impacts, pinpoint major contributors to impacts, and identify opportunities for improvements during future implementation. The Electro‐Thermal Dynamic Stripping Process (ET‐DSP?) in situ thermal technology coupled with a dual‐phase extraction and treatment system was evaluated for the remediation of 4,400 yd³ of tetrachloroethene‐ and trichloroethene‐impacted soil, groundwater, and bedrock. The analysis was based on an actual site with an estimated source mass of 2,200 lbs of chlorinated solvents. The remedy was separated into four stages: remedy installation, remedy operation, monitoring, and remedy deconstruction. Environmental impacts were assessed using Sima Pro software, the ecoinvent database, and the ReCiPe midpoint and endpoint methods. The operation stage of the remedy dominated the environmental impacts across all categories due to the large amount of electricity required by the thermal treatment technology. Alternate sources of electricity could significantly reduce the environmental impacts of the remedy across all impact categories. Other large impacts were observed in the installation stage resulting from the large amount of diesel fuel, steel, activated carbon, and asphalt materials required to implement the technology. These impacts suggest where opportunities for footprint reductions can be found through best management practices such as increased materials reuse, increased recycled‐content materials use, and clean fuels and emission control technologies. Smaller impacts were observed in the monitoring and deconstruction stages. Normalized results show the largest environmental burdens to fossil depletion, human toxicity, particulate matter formation, and climate‐change categories resulting from activities associated with mining of fossil fuels for use in electricity production. In situ thermal treatment can reliably remediate contaminated source areas with contaminants located in low‐permeability zones, providing complete destruction of contaminants in a short amount of time, quick return of the site to productive use, and minimized quantities of hazardous materials stored in landfills for future generations to remediate. However, this remediation strategy can also result in significant emissions over a short period of time. It is difficult to quantify the overall value of short‐term cleanups with intense treatment emissions against longer‐term cleanups with lower treatment emissions because of the environmental, social, and economic trade‐offs that need to be considered and understood. LCA is a robust, quantitative tool to help inform stakeholder discussions related to the remedy selection process, trade‐off considerations, and environmental footprint‐reduction opportunities, and to complement a broader toolbox for the evaluation of sustainable remediation strategies. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The assimilation of contaminants from suspended sediment and algae by the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha

Since their invasion into the Great Lakes, zebra mussels, Dreissena polymorpha, have increased the water clarity in Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie due to their extensive particle filtration. Because these particles contain sorbed contaminants, the potential for contaminant accumulation from both suspended sediment and algae were examined. Sediment or algae were dosed with selected radiolabeled polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon congeners and/or hexachlorobiphenyl (HCBP). Assimilation efficiencies were measured and depended on food quality. Zebra mussels, 17 ± 2 mm long, assimilated 58.3 ± 13.5% of the pyrene and 44.7 ± 5.8% of the benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) from sediment particles with a particle clearance rate of 493 – 897 ml/g tissue/h. However, assimilation efficiencies were 91.7 ± 3.7% for pyrene, 91.9 ± 1.4% for BaP, 96.6 ± 1.4% for chrysene, and 97.7 ± 0.5% for HCBP from suspended algae. Algal particle clearance rates for the mussels ranged from 47 – 143 ml/g tissue/h. Thus, zebra mussels efficiently accumulated non-polar contaminants sorbed to algae, while a smaller fraction of the sediment-associated contaminant was bioavailable. Furthermore, the contaminants sorbed onto suspended sediment particles were quickly removed from the water and deposited as pseudofeces. The pseudofeces production was positively correlated with filtration rate and suspended particle concentrations.     

Spatial and temporal variation of resource limitation in Chesapeake Bay

We report nutrient addition bioassays at 18 stations in Chesapeake Bay (USA) to assess resources limiting phytoplankton growth. Data were pooled from several sampling programs conducted from 1989 to 1994. Spatially, light and P limitation declined from low salinity regions to high salinity regions, as N limitation increased. This spatial pattern was driven primarily by freshwater inflows with high N/P and seawater inflows with low N/P. Seasonally, there was a marked progression of winter light limitation, spring P limitation, and summer N limitation at mesohaline and polyhaline stations. The seasonal pattern appeared to be caused by temperature, mixing, river discharge, and sediment P fluxes. At high salinity stations, we also observed winter N limitation (caused by DIN depletion prior to spring nitrate delivery), and at lower salinity stations there was fall P limitation (caused by reaeration of bottom sediments). At tidal fresh stations, turbidity and nutrient concentrations resulted in continuous light limitation, except at some stations in summer. Interannual decreases in light limitation and increases in N and P limitation appear to represent improvements in water quality. Received: 31 October 1997 / Accepted: 18 December 1998     

An ultra-clean firn core from the Devon Island Ice Cap, Nunavut, Canada, retrieved using a titanium drill specially designed for trace element studies

An electromechanical drill with titanium barrels was used to recover a 63.7 m long firn core from Devon Island Ice Cap, Nunavut, Canada, representing 155 years of precipitation. The core was processed and analysed at the Geological Survey of Canada by following strict clean procedures for measurements of Pb and Cd at concentrations at or below the pg g(-1) level. This paper describes the effectiveness of the titanium drill with respect to contamination during ice core retrieval and evaluates sample-processing procedures in laboratories. The results demonstrate that: (1) ice cores retrieved with this titanium drill are of excellent quality with metal contamination one to four orders of magnitude less than those retrieved with conventional drills; (2) the core cleaning and sampling protocols used were effective, contamination-free, and adequate for analysis of the metals (Pb and Cd) at low pg g(-1) levels; and (3) results from 489 firn core samples analysed in this study are comparable with published data from other sites in the Arctic, Greenland and the Antarctic.     

Efforts to Reduce Mortality to Hydroelectric Turbine-Passed Fish: Locating and Quantifying Damaging Shear Stresses

Severe fluid forces are believed to be a source of injury and mortality to fish that pass through hydroelectric turbines. A process is described by which laboratory bioassays, computational fluid dynamics models, and field studies can be integrated to evaluate the significance of fluid shear stresses that occur in a turbine. Areas containing potentially lethal shear stresses were identified near the stay vanes and wicket gates, runner, and in the draft tube of a large Kaplan turbine. However, under typical operating conditions, computational models estimated that these dangerous areas comprise less than 2% of the flow path through the modeled turbine. The predicted volumes of the damaging shear stress zones did not correlate well with observed fish mortality at a field installation of this turbine, which ranged from less than 1% to nearly 12%. Possible reasons for the poor correlation are discussed. Computational modeling is necessary to develop an understanding of the role of particular fish injury mechanisms, to compare their effects with those of other sources of injury, and to minimize the trial and error previously needed to mitigate those effects. The process we describe is being used to modify the design of hydroelectric turbines to improve fish passage survival.     

Screening maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein levels and human parvovirus antibodies

The association between gestational infection with human parvovirus (B19) and fetal loss has increased interest in this virus and demand for diagnostic testing. However, serological assays for B19 are not yet widely available. Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP) testing is commonly used during the second trimester to screen for various fetal defects. We attempted to determine whether an elevated level of MSAFP would be an appropriate indication for B19-specific tests. Over a 26-month period, MSAFP tests were performed at Michigan State University for 21 392 women. Sera remaining after that testing were stored frozen. Of these, 22 case samples—from women with MSAFP levels greater than 3·0 multiples of the median (MOM) and pregnancies that ended in fetal loss—and 44 matched control samples—from women with MSAFP levels greater than 0·4 and less than 2·2 MOM and live births at term—were tested for B19 antibodies. None of the 66 samples was IgM positive, while 33 (50 per cent) were IgG positive. The presence of IgG was not significantly associated with case or control status (matched odds ratio=0·77, 95 per cent confidence interval 0·28–2·11). These findings are consistent with other studies indicating prior infection in approximately half of adults and suggest that elevated screening MSAFP levels, in the absence of other evidence of B19 infection, should not prompt B19-specific testing.     

Trisomy 12 mosaicism in phenotypically normal fetuses following prenatal detection

We report three cases of amniocentesis in which mosaicism for trisomy 12 was detected in two or more independent cultures. The parents elected to terminate the pregnancy in all three cases. Follow-up studies in two of the cases confirmed the mosaicism in fetal tissues (in subcutaneous tissue in one case; in fetal lung in the other), but not in blood. No fetal anomalies were evident by ultrasound or at autopsy. These results along with other reported cases demonstrate the difficulty in counselling for mosaic trisomy 12.     

The dispersion of the Buncefield oil fire plume: An extreme accident without air quality consequences

The dispersion of pollutants from the huge Buncefield oil depot fire that occurred on 11 December 2005 is simulated using a regional Eulerian chemistry-transport model. We analyse the transport and mixing of the fire plume. We show that the hot plume never reached the ground. Instead, it pierced the thin wintertime boundary layer and was injected into the free troposphere at higher altitudes. This is in agreement with data from many air quality stations. This high injection was fortunate because the fine aerosol particles (PM₁₀) mass column generated by the fire smoke exceeded that of ordinary pollution by an order of magnitude. Our regional chemistry-transport modelling is able to predict the early development of the plume dispersion, as shown by a qualitative comparison between simulated PM₁₀ columns and a satellite image obtained by the EOS-TERRA-MODIS sensor.If the accident had occurred in summer when boundary layers are much deeper and convective, a severe degradation in air quality due to PM₁₀ could have occurred, as shown by a sensitivity simulation assuming a similar fire during one of the hottest days of August 2003. The modelled impact of the fire on regional and European air quality levels strongly depends on the altitude reached by the buoyant plume, as shown by a set of sensitivity simulations with variable injection heights. However, in all cases we found that the fire only affected surface aerosol concentrations without increasing photochemical pollution.