Trying harder: Developing a new sustainable strategy for the UK

The UK reviewed its National Sustainable Development Strategy during 2003 and 2004, and produced a new strategy — the third for the UK — in March 2005. Having established that the main weakness of the previous strategy was in its delivery, the review and the resulting new strategy set out to put a much stronger emphasis on delivery mechanisms. In support of this, the process included more participative ways for those involved in delivering to contribute their views and ideas, including web‐based dialogue, participative events and seminars, and community level discussions. The key points for the success of the project were the involvement of stakeholders; project management of the process; a marketing and communications strategy; cross‐departmental governance; and involvement of an external challenge function (fulfilled in the UK by the Sustainable Development Commission).     

Keys to success as an environmental consultant: Liability control,client satisfaction,and growth

Environmental consulting is a relatively new and rapidly growing field. It involves traditional engineering and construction risks as well as the specter of potential—and likely uninsured or uninsurable—liability for environmental conditions and professional errors. To succeed in today's litigious society, environmental consultants and contractors need to understand the risks inherent in their work. They must conduct their operations in a manner conducive to quality assurance, risk control, and effective project management. Constant and clear communication with the client is essential to a good working relationship and repeat business. Effective project control, risk management, file documentation, and contract negotiation are critical tools for profitable growth and our professional liability defense.     

INTERSTATE AND INTERNATIONAL AQUIFERS1

Many important groundwater aquifers cross state and national boundaries. The flow of water in these aquifers is not influenced by the boundaries but may be materially influenced by mans activities on one or both sides of a boundary. Interstate and international problems may develop because of excessive groundwater lowering on one side of a boundary affecting water users on the opposite side of the line. Similarly, intensive groundwater development along a surface stream may influence the amount of surface water that flows across a boundary. A third type of problem may develop when pumping on one side of the boundary induces poor quality water into an aquifer on the other side of the boundary. Several specific interstate and international aquifer problems are briefly described.     

Trace metals in the hair of habitants of the Ok Tedi region, Papua New Guinea

It has long been known that mining activity can markedly change the level and distribution of certain heavy metals in the adjacent environment. This pollution can be quite widespread and long lasting and often has deleterious effects on the health of local populations. In the present study scalp hair was used as the biopsy material because of its ease of collection and long history of use in this connection. Hair was collected from all the local villages in the vicinity of the mine site, as well as from Papua New Guinean nationals from other provinces, and European expatriates who were employed by the mining company and who were resident in the area. Hair from local people showed a remarkably high iron content by comparison with previously studied populations. The extreme variations in hair iron levels were reflected in the differential distribution of levels according to location, age and sex. Hair cadmium was also high in the population studied. Hair copper, lead, zinc and mercury all appeared to be within 'normal' limits by comparison with other general populations. These results are discussed in the context of the environmental and social impact of the mining operations on the local people.     

The localized environmental degradation of protected areas adjacent to bird feeding stations: a case study of the Australian brush-turkey Alectura lathami

This study investigated the potential for wildlife feeding to artificially increase population densities of the Australian brush-turkey, Alectura lathami and assessed the indirect adverse effects that this may have on surrounding forest floor vegetation. Census counts and observations of feeding activity conducted in recreation areas of Australia's Gold Coast hinterland confirmed that brush-turkey population densities were significantly elevated by the provision of food by humans. Brush-turkey densities were high at sites where birds are actively fed, moderate at sites where birds feed opportunistically and low at sites where humans have negligible impact on local food availability. Brush-turkeys caused significant environmental impact at sites where their population densities have been substantially elevated by active feeding. Across all sites, increases in brush-turkey density were accompanied by a significant decline in ground cover, leaf litter weight, seed density and seedling density. Natural environmental variables such as gradient, vegetation type and canopy cover did not explain the observed impacts. The impacts were consistent with those described in trampling studies and suggest that at high density, even small animals can have significant trampling impacts on their local environment. This study demonstrates that wildlife feeding can have detrimental impacts on the integrity of local environments and recommends greater consideration of small animals and their potential indirect impacts when regulating wildlife feeding in National Parks and other nature conservation areas.     

Current issues and uncertainties in the measurement and modelling of air-vegetation exchange and within-plant processing of POPs

Air-vegetation exchange of POPs is an important process controlling the entry of POPs into terrestrial food chains, and may also have a significant effect on the global movement of these compounds. Many factors affect the air-vegetation transfer including: the physicochemical properties of the compounds of interest; environmental factors such as temperature, wind speed, humidity and light conditions; and plant characteristics such as functional type, leaf surface area, cuticular structure, and leaf longevity. The purpose of this review is to quantify the effects these differences might have on air/plant exchange of POPs, and to point out the major gaps in the knowledge of this subject that require further research. Uptake mechanisms are complicated, with the role of each factor in controlling partitioning, fate and behaviour process still not fully understood. Consequently, current models of air-vegetation exchange do not incorporate variability in these factors, with the exception of temperature. These models instead rely on using average values for a number of environmental factors (e.g. plant lipid content, surface area), ignoring the large variations in these values. The available models suggest that boundary layer conductance is of key importance in the uptake of POPs, although large uncertainties in the cuticular pathway prevents confirmation of this with any degree of certainty, and experimental data seems to show plant-side resistance to be important. Models are usually based on the assumption that POP uptake occurs through the lipophilic cuticle which covers aerial surfaces of plants. However, some authors have recently attached greater importance to the stomatal route of entry into the leaf for gas phase compounds. There is a need for greater mechanistic understanding of air-plant exchange and the 'scaling' of factors affecting it. The review also suggests a number of key variables that researchers should measure in their experiments to allow comparisons to be made between studies in order to improve our understanding of what causes any differences in measured data between sites.     

Phosphorus in waters from sewage sludge amended lysimeters

In surface waters, phosphorus (P) concentrations exceeding 0.05 mg liter(-1) may cause eutrophic conditions. This study was undertaken to measure total P concentrations in runoff and tile drainage waters from land receiving either inorganic fertilizer or anaerobically digested sewage sludge. Total P was measured in runoff and tile drainage waters during 2 years of sample collections from instrumented, large-scale lysimeters planted to corn (Zea mays L.). During the 3 years prior to monitoring P concentrations, six of the lysimeter plots had been amended with anaerobically digested sewage sludge which supplied 5033 kg P per ha. Additional sludge applications supplied 1058 and 1989 kg P per ha during the first and second years of monitoring operations, respectively. Another six lysimeters were annually treated with fertilizer which included P applications amounting to 112 kg ha(-1). For years 1 and 2, respectively, annual losses from lysimeters treated with sewage sludge were 4.27 and 0.35 kg P per ha in runoff and 0.91 from 0.91 and 0.51 kg Per P per ha in drainage waters. Parallel annual losses of P from lysimeters treated with superphosphate were 2.15 and 0.17 kg ha(-1) in runoff and 0.53 and 0.35 kg ha(-1) in tile drainage waters. Sludge applications did not significantly change absolute soil contents of organic P, but did decrease the per cent of total P present in organic forms. Sludge and soil, respectively, contained 21 and 36% of their total P contents in organic forms. In sludge and soil about 85 and 64% of their respective total inorganic P contents were associated with the Al and Fe fractions. Sludge applications significantly increased soil contents of P in the saloid (water-soluble plus P extracted with 1 N NH(4)Cl), Al, Fe and reductant soluble P fractions, but contents of Ca-bound P were not changed. Total P contents of the soil below a depth of 30 cm were not affected by sludge incorporated to a depth of about 15 cm by plowing.     

The influence of nitrogen deposition,competition and desiccation on growth and regeneration of Racomitrium lanuginosum (Hedw.) brid

Racomitrium lanuginosum shoot growth was studied under the combined effects of N deposition (0, 20, 40 and 60 kg N ha(-1) year(-1)). competition with Festuca ovina, and a drought pre-treatment. Moss regeneration from shoot fragments was also investigated. Growth was initially stimulated at the 60 kg N level. However, after 6 months, growth was lower in all N treatments than in the 0 kg N control. Reductions in shoot growth first became apparent in the pre-desiccated moss, while moss shoots grew longer when surrounded by a F. ovina canopy. Optimum regeneration occurred at 20-40 kg N on bare soil, and at 0-20 kg N under a F. ovina canopy. These results suggest that current N deposition in upland Wales is already detrimental to growth of this species, and to regeneration under certain conditions. This species may be affected under predicted climatic scenarios of increased summer drought in Britain.