USE OF A PREDICTIVE MODEL IN EVALUATING WATER CONSUMPTION CONSERVATION1

ABSTRACT: The effectiveness of water conservation policies on reduction of water consumption was evaluated by use of a multiple regression predictive model. Data were obtained from eight Iowa communities, with regard to water consumption and water conservation policies adopted during the drought of 1977. The proposed model, which takes precipitation, temperature, month effects, and uniqueness of communities into account, is considered superior to the use of simple percent changes in evaluating the significance of reduction in water consumption due to conservation efforts. Among the variety of policies reviewed, mandatory policies with per capita restrictions were found to be most effective. However, voluntary conservation policies also resulted in significant reduction in some communities located in close proximity to other communities with severer water shortages. High credibility of local governments as to water shortage information was singled out as the most important factor in successful conservation by water resource policymakers of these communities. Use of the proposed predictive model for water consumption was demonstrated. Recommendations regarding future water conservation were made.     

The rise and fall of the nature conservation movement in Japan in relation to some cultural values

The Japanese are traditionally regarded as nature-loving people, living in “harmony” with nature. However, this assumption is difficult to accept when observing the environmental problems in Japan. How can one explain the incongruities? Has the Japanese people's attitude toward nature changed as Japan has modernized? Is the concept of the nature-loving Japanese merely a myth? Is there another reason to explain this contradiction? This study shows political and economic origins of the paradox. The origin of the Japanese traditional idea of nature is fear and reverence of nature based on a primitive religion that developed in a rural subsistence living situation. Aesthetic and spiritual values of nature for cultural, educational, and intellectual entertainment were developed by the ruling class in the seventh century. Japan's first nature conservation movement, imported from the West, developed among the intellectual community and was advocated and promoted by the elite in the Meiji period (1868–1911). However, because deep commitment was lacking, the movement was abused by the military government before World War II. In the early 1970s the nature conservation movement seemed to be on the ascendancy, mainly because it was combined with the antipollution movement claiming the basic rights of survival. The Japanese nature conservation movement is still in the embryonic stage; in the future, the blending of some traditional resource management with the scientific philosophy of nature conservation may help promote the new wave of nature conservation in Japan.     

Birds transport nutrients to fragmented forests in an urban landscape.

The influence of urbanization on nutrient cycling is vaguely known. Here we document that birds, especially those increasing in urban areas (such as crows, Corvus macrorhynchos and C. corone), affect nutrient cycles. Using fecal traps, we measured phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) input from the excrement of birds in fragmented forests in an urban landscape. Sources of avian feces were examined on the basis of carbon (C), N, and P percentages and stable isotopes of delta15N and delta13C. Nitrogen and P input was aggregated in the urban landscape, being especially high at the forest where crows roosted during winter. The annual P input due to bird droppings (range 0.068-0.460 kg x ha(-1) x yr(-1); mean 0.167 kg x ha(-1) x yr(-1)) was 12.4% of the total of other pathways in typical forests and 52.9% in the evergreen forest where crows roosted. The annual N input due to bird droppings (range 0.44-3.49 kg x ha(-1) x yr(-1); mean 1.15 kg x ha(-1) x yr(-1)) was 5.2% of the total of other pathways in typical forests and 27.0% in the evergreen forest used by roosting crows. Expected sources of nutrients in feces included insects in the breeding season, fruits in autumn, and mammals and birds in winter. Stable isotopes suggested that the source of nutrients in forests used by roosting crows was from outside the forest. Therefore, birds played a significant role as transporters of nutrients from garbage (including fish, livestock, and/or C4 plants such as corn, with high delta15N and delta13C) in residential and business areas to fragmented evergreen forests, especially near their winter roosts.     

The potential of animal manure management pathways toward a circular economy: a bibliometric analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Improper disposal of animal waste is responsible for several environmental problems, causing eutrophication of lakes and rivers, nutrient overload in...