Heterotrophic bacterial activities and treatment performance of surface flow constructed wetlands receiving woodwaste leachate.

Heterotrophic activities were investigated by measuring 3H-leucine incorporation to bacterial protein and 14C-glucose turnover in surface flow constructed wetlands receiving woodwaste leachate. No significant longitudinal variation was found in heterotrophic activities of bacterioplankton. An open wetland, a vegetated wetland, and a fertilized vegetated wetland were used to examine the effects of vegetation and ammonium nitrate amendment. There was not a significant difference in treatment performance among the three wetlands, except for a significant pH increase and more efficient volatile fatty acids removal in the fertilized wetland. The fertilized wetland had the highest leucine incorporation rate and shortest glucose turnover time accompanied by the lowest glucose mineralization percentage, followed by the open wetland, then the vegetated wetland. Planktonic and sedimentary bacteria contributed to the majority of the total heterotrophic activities; epiphytic bacteria played a minor role. Heterotrophic activities were influenced by the availability of nutrient, electron acceptor, and organic substrate.     

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in grey seals during their first year of life--are they thyroid hormone endocrine disrupters?

Blubber biopsy and blood samples were collected from weaned grey seal pups and juveniles in 1998 and 1999. The relationship between the concentration of total PDBEs in the blubber and the circulating concentrations of serum proteins, minerals and thyroid hormones was investigated. Fifty-four post-weaned pups were sampled and 55 first year juveniles, of which 13 were recaptured post-weaned pups. The median concentration of total PBDEs in the pups' blubber was 170 and 460 ng g(-1) in the first-year animals. Total blubber PBDEs contributed significantly to the prediction of circulating thyroid hormone concentrations, after controlling for age and condition. Cholesterol and albumin concentrations were also positively related to blubber PBDEs. The results of this study suggest a link between thyroid hormones and exposure to PBDEs in grey seals during their first year of life. Such an association is not alone sufficient evidence for a cause and effect relationship, however it is in accordance with the hypothesis that these compounds are endocrine disrupters in grey seal pups.     

Toward a high-rate enhanced biological phosphorus removal process in a membrane-assisted bioreactor.

A membrane enhanced biological phosphorus removal (MEBPR) process was studied to determine the impact of hydraulic retention time (HRT) and solids retention time (SRT) on the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrogen, and phosphorus from municipal wastewater. The MEBPR process was capable of delivering complete nitrification independent of the prevailing operating conditions, whereas a significant improvement in COD removal efficiency was observed at longer SRTs. In the absence of carbon-limiting conditions, the MEBPR process was able to achieve low phosphorus concentrations in the effluent at increasingly higher hydraulic loads, with the lowest HRT being 5 hours. The MEBPR process was also able to maintain optimal phosphorus removal when the SRT was increased from 12 to 20 days. However, at higher suspended solids concentrations, a substantial increase was observed in carbon utilization per unit mass of phosphorus removed from the influent. These results offer critical insights to the application of membrane technology for biological nutrient removal systems.     

The extraction and utilization of local and scientific geospatial knowledge within the Bluff oyster fishery, New Zealand

This paper assesses the Bluff oyster fishery in New Zealand as a case study in common pool resource management. It discusses ways in which modern information technology, augmented by low-tech data gathering strategies and community ethnography, can be used to produce an integrated scientific and local knowledge-inspired fishery database that lends itself to fostering collaboration in resource management and planning. The specific context and state of the oyster fishery in Bluff are described. Issues regarding undocumented and ephemeral intergenerational knowledge, much of which is geospatial in nature, on the fishery, the current crisis that many see in the future of the fishery, and a lack of cohesion or common sense of purpose between the stakeholder groups are discussed. It is argued that the digital resource that results from the integration of local and scientific knowledge and the potential community building processes that can ensue from collaboration and dialogue around this centrepiece are of central importance in developing an oyster fishery management plan that is holistic in concept and sustainable in purpose.     

Improving the Integration of Recreation Management with Management of Other Natural Resources by Applying Concepts of Scale from Ecology

In this article, we examine how issues of scale affect the integration of recreation management with the management of other natural resources on public lands. We present two theories used to address scale issues in ecology and explore how they can improve the two most widely applied recreation-planning frameworks. The theory of patch dynamics and hierarchy theory are applied to the recreation opportunity spectrum (ROS) and the limits of acceptable change (LAC) recreation-planning frameworks. These frameworks have been widely adopted internationally, and improving their ability to integrate with other aspects of natural resource management has significant social and conservation implications. We propose that incorporating ecologic criteria and scale concepts into these recreation-planning frameworks will improve the foundation for integrated land management by resolving issues of incongruent boundaries, mismatched scales, and multiple-scale analysis. Specifically, we argue that whereas the spatially explicit process of the ROS facilitates integrated decision making, its lack of ecologic criteria, broad extent, and large patch size decrease its usefulness for integration at finer scales. The LAC provides explicit considerations for weighing competing values, but measurement of recreation disturbances within an LAC analysis is often done at too fine a grain and at too narrow an extent for integration with other recreation and resource concerns. We suggest that planners should perform analysis at multiple scales when making management decisions that involve trade-offs among competing values. The United States Forest Service is used as an example to discuss how resource-management agencies can improve this integration.     

Idealized tracer transport models with time-varying transport: applications to ocean boundary currents

One-dimensional advection–diffusion and advection–diffusion–dilution (or “leaky-pipe”) models have been widely used to interpret a variety of geophysical phenomena. For example, in the ocean these tools have been used to interpret the penetration and spreading of tracers such as Chlorofluorocarbons(CFCs) along the Deep Western boundary current (DWBC). Usually, the transport coefficients of such models are taken to be constant in time, thus assuming the transport to be in steady state. Here, we relax this assumption and calculate tracer-signal variability in two simple 1D models for the boundary current having low-amplitude time-varying coefficients. Given a background tracer gradient due, for example, to a steady-state source in a boundary region, the resulting tracer field exhibits fluctuations due to the transport acting on the gradients. We compare the transport-induced tracer fluctuations to propagated fluctuations occurring in steady-state models with a periodic source in the boundary region. Using coefficients fitted to DWBC tracer observations, we find that in the North Atlantic propagated tracer fluctuations are larger, while in the sub-tropics transport-induced fluctuations dominate. This contrasts a common view that subtropical and tropical DWBC fluctuations in tracers such as CFCs, temperature and salinity anomalies are propagated signals from the northern formation region. However, the predicted transport-induced fluctuations in these models are still smaller than the observed fluctuations.     

Design and Application of High Voltage Power Supplies in Electrostatic Precipitation

Proper electrical energization methods and equipment are the keys to successful electrostatic precipitation. The design, operation, and application of conventional high voltage power supplies in this process are reviewed. Emphasis is on requirements and methods of achieving the high performance and reliability necessary in modern air pollution control systems. Typical field data on operations and effects in various precipitator applications, including high resistivity ash, high temperature, and/or high pressure gas treatment, are discussed.     

Solving Problems in the Electrical Energization of Electrostatic Precipitators

Achieving and maintaining continuous, reliable performance in electrostatic precipitators depends critically upon the proper design, application, operation, and maintenance of the high voltage electrical energization system. Common problems among these factors are discussed, and effects on performance are illustrated from field experience. Practical recommendations for solving problems and for preventing their occurrence in the electrical aspects of precipitation are presented for effective use by designers, operators, and maintenance personnel.