Welcoming,Wild Animals,and Obligations to Assist

Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics - Committee composition is a recurrent theme within the literature on Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs). The ability of IACUCs...     

Pluralism,The Ethical Matrix,and Coming to Conclusions

The ethical matrix approach was developed by Prof Ben Mepham and his colleagues at the University of Nottingham in the early 1990s. Since then the approach has received increasing attention and has been used by several researchers in different projects related to assessing ethical impacts of different food production technologies and other policy options of societal concern. The ethical matrix is sometimes understood simply as a checklist of ethical concerns, but might also be seen as a guide to coming to conclusions on moral questions. The problem I discuss in this paper relates to how using the ethical matrix method as a decision guide can be combined with respecting pluralism. The aim of the paper is to suggest a framework making it possible to – at the same time – enhance public justification of judgments and respect pluralism. I argue that pluralism is fundamental to the ethical matrix approach; I distinguish between intuitionist principled pluralism and societal value pluralism; and I show how both kinds of pluralism imply restrictions on how conclusions can be made. No substantive moral decision principles can be allowed. Still, I argue, decision principles of a more epistemological or procedural character can be acceptable even within pluralism. The pragmatist principle of inquiry is defended as an account of moral problem solving compatible with both principled pluralism and value pluralism. When an ethical matrix is used within such a participatory inquiry process substantive conclusions can be drawn.     

Nitrogen loads through baseflow, stormflow, and underflow to Rehoboth Bay, Delaware

A detailed study of water and nitrogen (N) discharge from a small, representative subwatershed of Rehoboth Bay, Delaware, was conducted to determine total N loads to the bay. The concentrations of ammonium (NH4(+)), nitrate + nitrite (NO3(-) + NO2(-)), and dissolved and particulate organic N were determined in baseflow and storm waters discharging from Bundicks Branch from October 1998 to April 2002. A novel hydrographic separation model that accounts for significant decreases in baseflow during storm events was developed to estimate N loads during unsampled storms. Nitrogen loads based on gauged flows alone (7100-19,100 kg/yr) significantly underestimated those based on land use-land cover (LULC) and estimated N export factors from different classes of LULC (32,000-40,600 kg/yr). However, when ungauged underflow and associated N loads were included in the total loads (25,500-33,800 kg/yr), there was much better agreement with LULC export models. This suggests that in permeable coastal plain sediments, underflow contributes significantly to N fluxes to estuarine receiving waters, particularly in drier years. Based on the similarity in LULC, N loads from the Bundicks Branch subwatershed were used to estimate upland loads to the entire Rehoboth Bay Watershed (259,000-316,000 kg/yr). These N loads from the watershed were much greater than those from direct atmospheric deposition (49,000-64,500 kg/yr) and from a local wastewater treatment plant (9700-13,700 kg/yr). While the watershed was the principal source of N at all times during the year, the relative contributions from the watershed, wastewater, and direct atmospheric deposition varied predictably with season.     

Change,and vulnerability to natural hazard: Chiswell,dorset

Summary The occurrence of disastrous manifestations of hazard are not usually unique events. In analysis of the causes and effects of these occurrences there are problems for analysts, academics and policy-makers in the understanding of long-term perspectives as the context for recent events and future policies. Understanding will be made initially, but necessarily, more complex by the variety of standpoints of different interest groups in the affected community, and of the community at large. Physical permanence of a community cannot beassumed in a changing environmental condition. Vulnerability to the sea has increased during the thousand years of Chiswell's existence, and is continuing to do so. Understanding of this changing state by various groups in society, and their administrators, is the key to the selection and effectiveness of interacting social and technological measures whether undertaken specifically against hazard or not. The extent to which technology can be effectively mobilised and implemented to ensure prolonged community permanence may only be assessed by detailed analysis of environmental phenomena on the one hand, and by comparison with social adjustments on the other. Social adjustments cannot be compared until those options are made realistically available by the authorities elected for their administration. The condition of vulnerability is not static. Analysis and assessment of short- and longer-term issues is at once a multi-disciplinary process calling for a fusion of physical and earth sciences, social sciences, and political and administrative processes. That these sciences and processes are themselves evolving, and are not static, is as true as for vulnerability itself. That all are in short- and long-term processes of change must be understood if each is to be integrated with the other for maximum comprehensive and effective response to natural hazard.     

Using Multiple Watershed Models to Predict Water,Nitrogen, and Phosphorus Discharges to the Patuxent Estuary1

Boomer, Kathleen M.B., Donald E. Weller, Thomas E. Jordan, Lewis Linker, Zhi‐Jun Liu, James Reilly, Gary Shenk, and Alexey A. Voinov, 2012. Using Multiple Watershed Models to Predict Water, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus Discharges to the Patuxent Estuary. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 1‐25. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2012.00689.x Abstract: We analyzed an ensemble of watershed models that predict flow, nitrogen, and phosphorus discharges. The models differed in scope and complexity and used different input data, but all had been applied to evaluate human impacts on discharges to the Patuxent River or to the Chesapeake Bay. We compared predictions to observations of average annual, annual time series, and monthly discharge leaving three basins. No model consistently matched observed discharges better than the others, and predictions differed as much as 150% for every basin. Models that agreed best with the observations in one basin often were among the worst models for another material or basin. Combining model predictions into a model average improved overall reliability in matching observations, and the range of predictions helped describe uncertainty. The model average was not the closest to the observed discharge for every material, basin, and time frame, but the model average had the highest Nash–Sutcliffe performance across all combinations. Consistently poor performance in predicting phosphorus loads suggests that none of the models capture major controls. Differences among model predictions came from differences in model structures, input data, and the time period considered, and also to errors in the observed discharge. Ensemble watershed modeling helped identify research needs and quantify the uncertainties that should be considered when using the models in management decisions.     

Non-motorized Winter Recreation Impacts to Snowmelt Erosion, Tronsen Basin, Eastern Cascades, Washington

Many recreation impact studies have focused on summer activities, but the environmental impact of winter recreation is poorly characterized. This study characterizes the impact of snowshoe/cross-country ski compaction and snowmelt erosion on trails. Trail cross-sectional profiles were measured before and after the winter season to map changes in erosion due to winter recreation. Compacted snow on the trail was 30 % more dense than snowpack off the trail before spring melt out. Snow stayed on the trail 7 days longer. Soil and organic material was transported after spring snowmelt with ?9.5 ± 2.4 cm² total erosion occurring on the trail transects and ?3.8 ± 2.4 cm² total erosion occurring on the control transect (P = 0.046). More material was transported on the trail than on the control, 12.9± 2.4 versus 6.0 ± 2.4 cm² (P = 0.055), however, deposition levels remained similar on the trail and on the control. Snow compaction from snowshoers and cross-country skiers intensified erosion. Trail gradient was found to be significantly correlated to net changes in material on the trail (R ² = 0.89, ρ = ?0.98, P = 0.005). This study provides a baseline, showing that non-motorized winter recreation does impact soil erosion rates but more studies are needed. Trail managers should consider mitigation such as water bars, culverts and avoiding building trails with steep gradients, in order to reduce loss of soils on trails and subsequent sedimentation of streams.     

National, holistic, watershed-scale approach to understand the sources, transport, and fate of agricultural chemicals

This paper is an introduction to the following series of papers that report on in-depth investigations that have been conducted at five agricultural study areas across the United States in order to gain insights into how environmental processes and agricultural practices interact to determine the transport and fate of agricultural chemicals in the environment. These are the first study areas in an ongoing national study. The study areas were selected, based on the combination of cropping patterns and hydrologic setting, as representative of nationally important agricultural settings to form a basis for extrapolation to unstudied areas. The holistic, watershed-scale study design that involves multiple environmental compartments and that employs both field observations and simulation modeling is presented. This paper introduces the overall study design and presents an overview of the hydrology of the five study areas.     

Policies, Regulations, and Eco-ethical Wisdom Relating to Ancient Chinese Fisheries

Marine ecosystems are in serious troubles globally, largely due to the failures of fishery resources management. To restore and conserve fishery ecosystems, we need new and effective governance systems urgently. This research focuses on fisheries management in ancient China. We found that from 5,000 years ago till early modern era, Chinese ancestors had been constantly enthusiastic about sustainable utilization of fisheries resources and natural balance of fishery development. They developed numerous rigorous policies and regulations to guide people to act on natural laws. Being detailed and scientific, the legal systems had gained gratifying enforcement, due to official efforts and folks’ voluntary participation in resource management. In-depth analyses show that people’s consciousness of ecological conservation was derived from the edification of kinds of ancient eco-ethical wisdom, such as totemism, nature worship, Zhou Yi, Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Mohism, etc. All this Chinese classical wisdom have the same cores: “Nature and Man in One” spirit, frugality and “All things are equal” concept. The findings show that eco-ethical thinking is never inconsistent with social ethic systems, and it’s of great importance to give legal effect to usual ecological moral claims and eco-ethical requirements of the public in protecting the environment. The eco-ethical wisdom is efficient in assisting and urging people to fulfill humans’ obligation for nature. Finally, it’s believed that present world fisheries management will benefit a lot from all these ancient Chinese thoughts and practices. People are expected to make the most of the eco-ethical wisdom, strengthen fishery legislation and fully stimulate their voluntary participation in both marine fishery resources conservation and fishery cyclic economy.     

Soil amendments, plant age, and intercropping impact p,p'-DDE bioavailability to Cucurbita pepo

Field experiments were conducted to optimize the phytoextraction of weathered p,p'-DDE (p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene) by Cucurbita subspecies. The effects of two soil amendments, mycorrhizae or a biosurfactant, on p,p'-DDE accumulation was determined. Also, p,p'-DDE uptake was assessed during plant growth (12, 26, 38, and 62 d), and cultivars that accumulate weathered p,p'-DDE were intercropped with cultivars known not to have that ability. Cucurbita pepo L. ssp. pepo accumulated large amounts of the contaminant, having stem bioconcentration factors, amounts of p,p'-DDE translocated, and contaminant phytoextraction that were 14, 9.9, and 5.0 times greater than C. pepo L. ssp. ovifera (L.) D.S. Decker, respectively. During 62 d, the stem BCF (bioconcentration factor) for p,p'-DDE in subspecies pepo remained constant and the total amount of contaminant accumulated was correlated with plant biomass (r(2) = 0.86). For subspecies ovifera, the stem BCF was highest at 12 d (1.5) but decreased to 0.39 by 62 d, and p,p'-DDE removal was not correlated with plant biomass. Mycorrhizal inoculation increased p,p'-DDE accumulation by both subspecies by an average 4.4 times. For subspecies pepo, mycorrhizae increased the percentage of contaminant extracted from 0.72 to 2.1%. Biosurfactant amendment also enhanced contaminant accumulation by both subspecies, although treatment reduced subspecies ovifera biomass by 60%. The biosurfactant had no effect on the biomass of subspecies pepo, increased the average contaminant concentration by 3.6-fold, and doubled the overall amount of p,p'-DDE removed from the soil. Soil amendments that enhance the mobility of weathered persistent organic pollutants will significantly increase the amount of contaminant phytoextraction by Cucurbita pepo.     

Decreased Runoff Response to Precipitation,Little Missouri River Basin,Northern Great Plains,USA

High variability in precipitation and streamflow in the semiarid northern Great Plains causes large uncertainty in water availability. This uncertainty is compounded by potential effects of future climate change. We examined historical variability in annual and growing season precipitation, temperature, and streamflow within the Little Missouri River Basin and identified differences in the runoff response to precipitation for the period 1976‐2012 compared to 1939‐1975 (n = 37 years in both cases). Computed mean values for the second half of the record showed little change (<5%) in annual or growing season precipitation, but average annual runoff at the basin outlet decreased by 22%, with 66% of the reduction in flow occurring during the growing season. Our results show a statistically significant (p < 0.10) 27% decrease in the annual runoff response to precipitation (runoff ratio). Surface‐water withdrawals for various uses appear to account for <12% of the reduction in average annual flow volume, and we found no published or reported evidence of substantial flow reduction caused by groundwater pumping in this basin. Results of our analysis suggest that increases in monthly average maximum and minimum temperatures, including >1°C increases in January through March, are the dominant driver of the observed decrease in runoff response to precipitation in the Little Missouri River Basin.     

Availability of arsenic, copper, lead, thallium, and zinc to various vegetables grown in slag-contaminated soils

To anticipate a possible hazard resulting from the plant uptake of metals from slag-contaminated soils, it is useful to study whether vegetables exist that are able to mobilize a given metal in the slag to a larger proportion than in an uncontaminated control soil. For this purpose, we studied the soil to plant transfer of arsenic, copper, lead, thallium, and zinc by the vegetables bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. 'dwarf bean Modus'), kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes L.), mangold (Beta vulgaris var. macrorhiza ), lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. 'American gathering brown'), carrot (Daucus carota L. 'Rotin', 'Sperlings's'), and celery [Apium graveiolus var. dulce (Mill.) Pers.] from a control soil (Ap horizon of a Entisol) and from a contaminated soil (1:1 soil-slag mixtures). Two types of slags were used: an iron-rich residue from pyrite (FeS2) roasting and a residue from coal firing. The metal concentrations in the slags, soils, and plants were used to calculate for each metal and soil-slag mixture the plant-soil fractional concentration ratio (CRfractional,slag), that is, the concentration ratio of the metal that results only from the slag in the soil. With the exception of TI, the resulting values obtained for this quantity for As, Cu, Pb, and Zn and for all vegetables were significantly smaller than the corresponding plant-soil concentration ratios (CRcontrol soil) for the uncontaminated soil. The results demonstrate quantitatively that the ability of a plant to accumulate a given metal as observed for a control soil might not exist for a soil-slag mixture, and vice versa.     

Modeling Changes to Streamflow,Sediment, and Nutrient Loading from Land Use Changes Due to Potential Natural Gas Development

Natural gas development using hydraulic fracturing has many potential environmental impacts, but among the most certain is the land disturbance required to build the well pads and other infrastructure required to drill and extract the gas. We used the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model to investigate how natural gas development could impact streamflow and sediment, total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorous (TP) loadings in the upper Delaware River Basin (DRB), a relatively undeveloped watershed of 7,950 km² that lies above the Marcellus Shale formation. If gas development was permitted, our projections show the DRB could experience development of over 600 well pads to extract natural gas at build out, which, with supporting infrastructure (roads, gathering pipelines), could convert over 5,000 ha from existing land uses in the study area. In subbasins with development activity we found sediment, TN, and TP yields could increase by an average of 15, 0.08, and 0.03 kg/ha/yr, respectively (an increase of 2, 3, and 15%, respectively) for each one percent of subbasin land area converted into natural gas infrastructure. At the study area outlet on the Delaware River at Port Jervis, New York, we found increases in the annual average streamflow and sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus loads of up to 0.01, 0.2, 0.2, and 1%, respectively, for a rapid development year, and 0.08, 1.3, 2.0, and 11%, respectively, for the full development scenario. Editor's note : This paper is part of the featured series on SWAT Applications for Emerging Hydrologic and Water Quality Challenges. See the February 2017 issue for the introduction and background to the series.     

Macroinvertebrate Responses to Constructed Riffles in the Cache River,Illinois, USA

Stream restoration practices are becoming increasingly common, but biological assessments of these improvements are still limited. Rock weirs, a type of constructed riffle, were implemented in the upper Cache River in southern Illinois, USA, in 2001 and 2003–2004 to control channel incision and protect high quality riparian wetlands as part of an extensive watershed-level restoration. Construction of the rock weirs provided an opportunity to examine biological responses to a common in-stream restoration technique. We compared macroinvertebrate assemblages on previously constructed rock weirs and newly constructed weirs to those on snags and scoured clay streambed, the two dominant substrates in the unrestored reaches of the river. We quantitatively sampled macroinvertebrates on these substrates on seven occasions during 2003 and 2004. Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) biomass and aquatic insect biomass were significantly higher on rock weirs than the streambed for most sample periods. Snags supported intermediate EPT and aquatic insect biomass compared to rock weirs and the streambed. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordinations for 2003 and 2004 revealed distinct assemblage groups for rock weirs, snags, and the streambed. Analysis of similarity supported visual interpretation of NMDS plots. All pair-wise substrate comparisons differed significantly, except recently constructed weirs versus older weirs. Results indicate positive responses by macroinvertebrate assemblages to in-stream restoration in the Cache River. Moreover, these responses were not evident with more common measures of total density, biomass, and diversity.