Sustainability: a Dissent

Abstract:  Broadly conceived and considered in its many usages, sustainability has grave defects as a planning goal, particularly when used by conservationists: it confuses means and ends; it is vague about what is being sustained and who or what is doing the sustaining; it is uninspiring; it is little more than Pinchot-era conservation (and thus ignores the many lessons learned since then); it need not be linked to land, to the land's functioning, or to any ecological science; it need not include a moral component; it is consistent with the view of humans as all-powerful manipulators of the planet; and, in general, it is such a malleable term that its popularity provides only a facade of consensus. When sustainability is defined broadly to include the full range of economic and social aspirations, it poses the particular risk that ecological and biodiversity concerns will be cast aside in favor of more pressing human wants. Given these many defects, the conservation movement should discard the term in favor of a more alluring goal, attentive to nature and its ecological functioning. A sound goal would incorporate and distill the considerable ecological and moral wisdom accumulated since Pinchot's day while giving conservationists the rhetorical tools needed to defend the land against competing pressures. In our view, conservation would be well served by an updated variant of "land health," Aldo Leopold's ecologically grounded goal from the 1940s. Land health as an independent understanding should set the essential terms of how we live and enjoy the earth, providing the framework within which we pursue our many social and economic aims.     

Soil properties and crop productivity as influenced by flyash incorporation in soil

Field experiments were carried out during 1996–97at Gulawathi, Muthiani and Salarpur Villages, IARI Farm, NewDelhi and NCPP Campus, Dadri to evaluate changes in soilcharacteristics and growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.),mustard (Brassica juncea L.), lentil (Lence esculentaMoench.), rice (Oryza sativa L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) byvarying amounts of flyash addition (up to 50t ha^-1) in soils atsowing/transplanting time of crops. Flyash addition in areasadjoining NCPP Thermal Power Plant, Dadri, Ghaziabad, U.P.ranged from 5–12 t ha^-1 yr^-1 in 1995–96. Shoot and root growthand yield of test crops at different locations after flyashincorporation resulted in beneficial effects of flyashaddition in most cases. The silt dominant texture of flyashimproved loamy sand to sandy loam textures of the surfacesoils at the farmers' fields. The increased growth in yield ofcrops with flyash incorporation was possibly due tomodifications in soil moisture retention and transmissioncharacteristics, bulk density, physico-chemical characterssuch as pH and EC and organic carbon content. The response offlyash addition in the soil on soil health and cropproductivity needs to be evaluated on long-term sustainableaspects.     

Characterization of microbial communities from coastal waters using microarrays

Molecular methods, including DNA probes, were used to identify and enumerate pathogenic Vibrio species in the Chesapeake Bay; our data indicated that Vibrio vulnificus exhibits seasonal fluctuations in number. Our work included a characterization of total microbial communities from the Bay; development of microarrays that identify and quantify the diversity of those communities; and observation of temporal changes in those communities. To identify members of the microbial community, we amplified the 16S rDNA gene from community DNA isolated from a biofilm sample collected from the Chesapeake Bay in February, 2000. The resultant 75 sequences were 95% or more similar to 7 species including two recently described Shewanella species, baltica and frigidimarina, that have not been previously isolated from the Chesapeake. When the genera of bacteria from biofilm after culturing are compared to those detected by subcloning amplified 16S fragments from community DNA, the cultured sample exhibited a strong bias. In oysters collected in February, the most common bacteria were previously unknown. Based on our 16S findings, we are developing microarrays to detect these and other microbial species in these estuarine communities. The microarrays will detect each species using four distinct loci, with the multiple loci serving as an internal control. The accuracy of the microarray will be measured using sentinel species such as Aeromonas species, Escherichia coli, and Vibrio vulnificus. Using microarrays, it should be possible to determine the annual fluctuations of bacterial species (culturable and non-culturable, pathogenic and non-pathogenic). The data may be applied to understanding patterns of environmental change; assessing the health of the Bay; and evaluating the risk of human illness associated with exposure to and ingestion of water and shellfish.     

Determination of arsenic in grain and soil by hydride nondispersive atomic fluorescence method

Quantity of trace arsenic in grain and soil was determined by hydride nondispersive atomic fluorescence method.Optimum conditions of measurement were selected in the experiment including the pH of the medium, reductive agent, the concentration and flowing velocity of KBH4, rate of carrier gas and atomized temperature. The reference sample of rice C was determined and the linear relationship of the calibration curve was plotted, indicating that the method was highly precise. In the experiment of recovery rate, the method was quite satisfactory.Based on the determination of hundreds of samples, it is proved that atomic fluorescence method is rapid, sensitive and low in interference. It is very efficient on determination of trace arsenic in soils and grains, especially in grains.     

Cobalt in alluvial Egyptian soils as affected by industrial activities

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Molecular behavior and interactions with microbes during anaerobic degradation of bio-derived DOM in waste leachate

It is the key to control bio-derived dissolved organic matters (DOM) in order to reduce the effluent concentration of wastewater treatment, especially for waste leachate with high organic contaminants. In the present study, the anaerobic degradation of aerobically stabilized DOM was investigated with DOM substrate isolated through electrodialysis. The degradation of bio-derived DOM was confirmed by reduction of 15% of total organic carbon in 100 days. We characterized the molecular behavior of bio-derived DOM by coupling molecular and biological information analysis. Venn based Sankey diagram of mass features showed the transformation of bio-derived DOM mass features. Occurrence frequency analysis divided mass features into six categories so as to distinguish the fates of intermediate metabolites and persistent compounds. Reactivity continuum model and machine learning technologies realized the semi-quantitative determination on the kinetics of DOM mass features in the form of pseudo-first order, and confirmed the reduction of inert mass features. Furthermore, network analysis statistically establish relationship between DOM mass features and microbes to identify the active microbes that are able to utilize bio-derived DOM. This work confirmed the biological technology is still effective in controlling recalcitrant bio-derived DOM during wastewater treatment.     

西北地区高速公路建设中的水土保持

就西北地区高速公路建设的水土流失特点进行了分析，并提出了工程防范措施。     

含纤维素废水生物水解的应用研究

提取植物或动物纤维所产生的高浓有机废水，含短小纤维、木质素、纤维素、半纤维素、蜡质、果胶及其分解产物(糖、脂肪酸、醇等)，较难生物处理，属含纤维素废水。试验研究和生产应用表明，生物水解对含纤维素废水中高分子有机物，可予分解并提高度水可生化性：在常温、PH约9．5时，水解池污泥浓度达6．5～16．0g/L，容积负荷达2．9kgCOD／m^3．d，COD去除率为24—36％，VFA提高3．9—5．1倍，BOD／COD提高12～16％。分析认为：中温、酸性，纤维素、木素含量低时，水解效果应更好。     

Relation between some variations of soil and surface vegetatio and desertization in agriculture-pasture interlacing zone an example from Kangbao County,North Hebei,China

The studied agriculture-pasture interlacing zone has its specific natural conditions,at which the natural systems are unstable ,their self-regulation capability is low and the equilibrium is easily broken, and hence the habitat is fairly vulnerable.During last 20 years the increasing population and livestock ,over-reclamation,over-pasturing,over-deforesting, and other intensified negative human activities in the zone resulted in coarsening of surface soil,decrease of organic mater content in soil, reduction of vegetation coverage ,variation and degradation of flora structure, and hence in desertization of the land, although average of gales and sandstorms some decreased and the climate tended to be better in the region.However, the frequent sandstorms occurring in the springs of last and present years has attracted much attention.Investigations confirmed that the main cause for the phenomena is the unreasonable human activites rater than the natural factors.     

云南土壤钴元素背景值及其特征研究

对云南省土壤钴元素背景值进行了采样分析,结果显示:云南土壤钴元素含量呈对数正态分布,中位值16.0mg/kg,几何均值14.88mg/kg,95%置信区间0.92~41.17mg/kg,背景值高于全国,接近南方部分地区。并对其特征进行了研究。