Human Diets and Animal Welfare: the Illogic of the Larder

Few moral arguments have been made against vegetarian diets. One exception is the “Logic of the Larder:” We do animals a favor by purchasing their meat, eggs, and milk, for if we did not purchase these products, fewer animals would exist. This argument fails because many farm animals have lives that are probably not worth living, while others prevent a significant number of wild animals from existing. Even if this were not so, the purchase of animal products uses resources that could otherwise be used to bring a much greater number of animals into existence.     

A multi-objective optimisation approach to water management

The management of river basins is complex especially when decisions about environmental flows are considered in addition to those concerning urban and agricultural water demand. The solution to these complex decision problems requires the use of mathematical techniques that are formulated to take into account conflicting objectives. Many optimization models exist for water management systems but there is a knowledge gap in linking bio-economic objectives with the optimum use of all water resources under conflicting demands. The efficient operation and management of a network of nodes comprising storages, canals, river reaches and irrigation districts under environmental flow constraints is challenging. Minimization of risks associated with agricultural production requires accounting for uncertainty involved with climate, environmental policy and markets. Markets and economic criteria determine what crops farmers would like to grow with subsequent effect on water resources and the environment. Due to conflicts between multiple goal requirements and the competing water demands of different sectors, a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework was developed to analyze production targets under physical, biological, economic and environmental constraints. This approach is described by analyzing the conflicts that may arise between profitability, variable costs of production and pumping of groundwater for a hypothetical irrigation area.     

Effects of commercial diazinon and imidacloprid on microbial urease activity in soil and sod

Diazinon [O,O-diethyl O-2-isopropyl-6-methyl(pyrimidine-4-yl) phosphorothioate] and imidacloprid [1-(1-[6-chloro-3-pyridinyl]methyl)-N-nitro-2-imidazolidinimine] are applied to lawns for insect control simultaneously with nitrogenous fertilizers such as urea, but their potential effect on urease activity and nitrogen availability in turfgrass management has not been evaluated. Urease activity in enzyme assays, washed cell assays, and soil slurries was examined as a function of insecticide concentration. Intact cores from field sites were used to assess the effect of insecticide application on urease activity in creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris Huds.) and bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) sod. Bacterial urease from Bacillus pasteurii and plant urease from jack bean [Canavalia ensiformis (L.) DC.] were unaffected by the insecticides. Both insecticides inhibited the growth of Proteus vulgaris, a urease-producing bacterium, but only diazinon significantly reduced urease activity in washed cells; neither insecticide inhibited urease activity in sonicated cells. Neither diazinon nor imidacloprid inhibited urease activity in Woolper soil (fine, mixed, mesic Typic Argiudoll) slurries, but diazinon slightly inhibited urease activity in Maury soil (fine, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Paleudalf) slurries. Imidacloprid had no effect on urease activity in creeping bentgrass or bluegrass sod at up to 10 times the commercial application rate. Diazinon briefly, but significantly, reduced urease activity in bluegrass sod. Co-application of imidacloprid and urea appears to be benign with respect to urease activity in soil and sod. Diazinon, in contrast, appears to have a significant, short-term, inhibitory effect on the microbial urease-producing community, but that effect depends on soil type.     

BASE FLOW TRENDS IN URBANIZING WATERSHEDS OF THE DELAWARE RIVER BASIN1

Rapid land development is raising concern regarding the ability of urbanizing watersheds to sustain adequate base flow during periods of drought. Long term streamflow records from unregulated watersheds of the lower to middle Delaware River basin are examined to evaluate the impact of urbanization and imperviousness on base flow. Trends in annual base flow volumes, seven‐day low flows, and runoff ratios are determined for six urbanizing watersheds and four reference watersheds across three distinct physiographic regions. Hydrograph separation is used to determine annual base flow and stormflow volumes, and nonparametric trend tests are conducted on the resulting time series. Of the watersheds examined, the expected effects of declining base flow volumes and seven‐day low flows and increasing stormflows are seen in only one watershed that is approximately 20 percent impervious and has been subject to a net water export over the past 15 years. Both interbasin transfers and hydrologic mechanisms are invoked to explain these results. The results show that increases in impervious area may not result in measurable reductions in base flow at the watershed scale.     

Science in the public process of ecosystem management: lessons from Hawaii, Southeast Asia, Africa and the US Mainland

Partnerships and co-operative environmental management are increasing worldwide as is the call for scientific input in the public process of ecosystem management. In Hawaii, private landowners, non-governmental organizations, and state and federal agencies have formed watershed partnerships to conserve and better manage upland forested watersheds. In this paper, findings of an international workshop convened in Hawaii to explore the strengths of approaches used to assess stakeholder values of environmental resources and foster consensus in the public process of ecosystem management are presented. Authors draw upon field experience in projects throughout Hawaii, Southeast Asia, Africa and the US mainland to derive a set of lessons learned that can be applied to Hawaiian and other watershed partnerships in an effort to promote consensus and sustainable ecosystem management. Interdisciplinary science-based models can serve as effective tools to identify areas of potential consensus in the process of ecosystem management. Effective integration of scientific input in co-operative ecosystem management depends on the role of science, the stakeholders and decision-makers involved, and the common language utilized to compare tradeoffs. Trust is essential to consensus building and the integration of scientific input must be transparent and inclusive of public feedback. Consideration of all relevant stakeholders and the actual benefits and costs of management activities to each stakeholder is essential. Perceptions and intuitive responses of people can be as influential as analytical processes in decision-making and must be addressed. Deliberative, dynamic and iterative decision-making processes all influence the level of stakeholder achievement of consensus. In Hawaii, application of lessons learned can promote more informed and democratic decision processes, quality scientific analysis that is relevant, and legitimacy and public acceptance of ecosystem management.     

A methodological framework for improving air quality monitoring network layout. Applications to environment management

This work aims to provide a methodology framework which allows to improve the performance and efficiency of an air quality monitoring network (AQMN). It requires to be constituted by a minimum and reliable number of measurement sites. Nevertheless, the AQMN efficiency should be assessed over time, as a consequence of the possible emergence of new emission sources of air pollutants, which could lead to variations on their spatial distribution within the target area. PM₁₀ particles data monitored by the Community of Madrid's (Spain) AQMN between 2008 and 2017 were used to develop a methodology to optimize the AQMN performance. The annual spatial distribution of average PM₁₀ levels over the studied period monitored by all current stations vs those more representative was provided by a geographic information system (GIS), and the percentage of similarity between both postulates was quantified using simple linear regression (> 95%). As one innovative tool of this study, the practical application of the proposed methodology was validated using PM₁₀ particles data measured by AQMN during 2007 and 2018, reaching a similitude degree higher than 95%. The influence of temporal variation on the proposed methodological framework was around 20%.The proposed methodology sets criteria for identifying non-redundant stations within AQMN, it is also able to appropriately assess the representativeness of fixed monitoring sites within an AQMN and it complements the guidelines set by European legislation on air pollutants monitoring at fixed stations, which could help to tackle efforts to improve the air quality management.     

Managing erosion and water quality in agricultural watersheds by small detention ponds

Terrace-contouring systems with on-site water detention cannot be installed in areas of complex topography, small parceling and multi-blade moldboard plow use. However, field borders at the downslope end may be raised at the deepest part where runoff overtops to create detention ponds, which can be drained by subsurface tile outlets and act similar to terrace-contouring systems. Four of such detention ponds were monitored over 8 years. Monitored effects included the prevention of linear erosion down slope, the sediment trapping from upslope, the enrichment of major nutrients in the trapped and delivered sediments, the amount of runoff retained temporarily, the amount of runoff reduced by infiltration, the decrease in peak runoff rate and the decrease in peak concentrations of agrochemicals due to the mixing of different volumes of water within the detention ponds. The detention ponds had a volume of 30–260 m³ ha⁻¹ and trapped 54–85% of the incoming sediment, which was insignificantly to slightly depleted (5–25%) in organic carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen and clay as compared to the eroding topsoil, while the delivered sediment was strongly enriched (+70–270%) but part of this enrichment already resulted from the enrichment of soil loss. The detention ponds temporarily stored 200–500 m³ of runoff. A failure was never experienced. Due to the siltation of the pond bottom, the short filled time (1–5 days) and the small water covered area, infiltration and evaporation reduced runoff by less than 10% for large events. Peak runoff during heavy rains was lowered by a factor of three. Peak concentrations of agrochemicals (Terbutylazin) were lowered by a factor of two. The detention ponds created by raising the downslope field borders at the pour point efficiently reduced adverse erosion effects downslope the eroding site. They are cheap and can easily be created with on-farm machinery. Their efficiency is improved where they are combined with an on-site erosion control like mulch tillage because sediment and runoff input are reduced. Ponds had to be dredged only after the first year when on-site erosion control was not fully effective.     

Behavioral aspects of sperm competition in cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis (Sepioidea: Cephalopoda)

Sexual selection studies in cephalopods indicate that sperm competition is a central feature of their mating systems, yet this has not been studied experimentally in any detail. In 1998 we staged 20 matings of the cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis L., in the laboratory. Males rapidly initiated mating in the “head-to-head” position, with no apparent courtship. Mating lasted an average of 10 min (range 7 to 14 min). For the first 6 min (on average 63% of the mating duration), the male flushed strong jets of water directly at the female's buccal membrane, which sometimes resulted in the expulsion of parts of spermatangia placed there in recent matings. Then, in a single discrete movement that lasted an average of only 14 s, the male's modified fourth left arm – the hectocotylus – wrapped around a single large bundle of spermatophores (ca. 150 to 300) and transferred them to the female's buccal membrane. For the remainder of the mating (average 3 min, range 1.5 to 5.0 min), the hectocotylus repeatedly broke the spermatophores open, and manipulated them, so that sperm were released and many spermatangia were attached along the ventral buccal membrane, near the paired seminal receptacles. Approximately 140 spermatangia were attached in rows 3 to 5 deep around the ventral buccal membrane in a single mating; the rest were usually discarded during mating. Histology revealed that each of the seminal receptacles consists of a series of sperm storage bulbs connected by a central duct, which leads to a single pore at the surface of the buccal membrane. Baseline data on sperm motility were obtained, but the mechanism by which sperm enter the seminal receptacle remains unknown. Females seemed to initiate termination of mating, then males guarded their mates temporarily. These results, combined with other recent laboratory experiments, provide evidence that sperm competition may be a major feature of the mating system of S. officinalis. Received: 4 January 1999 / Accepted: 18 May 1999