College and university environmental programs as a policy problem (part 1): integrating knowledge, education, and action for a better world?

The environmental sciences/studies movement, with more than 1000 programs at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, is unified by a common interest??ameliorating environmental problems through empirical enquiry and analytic judgment. Unfortunately, environmental programs have struggled in their efforts to integrate knowledge across disciplines and educate students to become sound problem solvers and leaders. We examine the environmental program movement as a policy problem, looking at overall goals, mapping trends in relation to those goals, identifying the underlying factors contributing to trends, and projecting the future. We argue that despite its shared common interest, the environmental program movement is disparate and fragmented by goal ambiguity, positivistic disciplinary approaches, and poorly rationalized curricula, pedagogies, and educational philosophies. We discuss these challenges and the nature of the changes that are needed in order to overcome them. In a subsequent article (Part 2) we propose specific strategies for improvement.     

Identifying priority areas for ecosystem service management in South African grasslands

Grasslands provide many ecosystem services required to support human well-being and are home to a diverse fauna and flora. Degradation of grasslands due to agriculture and other forms of land use threaten biodiversity and ecosystem services. Various efforts are underway around the world to stem these declines. The Grassland Programme in South Africa is one such initiative and is aimed at safeguarding both biodiversity and ecosystem services. As part of this developing programme, we identified spatial priority areas for ecosystem services, tested the effect of different target levels of ecosystem services used to identify priority areas, and evaluated whether biodiversity priority areas can be aligned with those for ecosystem services. We mapped five ecosystem services (below ground carbon storage, surface water supply, water flow regulation, soil accumulation and soil retention) and identified priority areas for individual ecosystem services and for all five services at the scale of quaternary catchments. Planning for individual ecosystem services showed that, depending on the ecosystem service of interest, between 4% and 13% of the grassland biome was required to conserve at least 40% of the soil and water services. Thirty-four percent of the biome was needed to conserve 40% of the carbon service in the grassland. Priority areas identified for five ecosystem services under three target levels (20%, 40%, 60% of the total amount) showed that between 17% and 56% of the grassland biome was needed to conserve these ecosystem services. There was moderate to high overlap between priority areas selected for ecosystem services and already-identified terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity priority areas. This level of overlap coupled with low irreplaceability values obtained when planning for individual ecosystem services makes it possible to combine biodiversity and ecosystem services in one plan using systematic conservation planning.     

Chromated copper arsenate-treated fence posts in the agronomic landscape: soil properties controlling arsenic speciation and spatial distribution

Soils adjacent to chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated fence posts along a fence line transecting different soil series, parent material, drainage classes, and slope were used to determine which soil properties had the most influence on As spatial distribution and speciation. Metal distribution was evaluated at macroscopic (total metal concentration contour maps) and microscopic scales (micro-synchrotron X-ray fluorescence maps), As speciation was determined using extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, and redox status and a myriad of other basic soil properties were elucidated. All geochemical parameters measured point to a condition in which the mobilization of As becomes more favorable moving down the topographic gradient, likely resulting through competition (Meh-P, SOM), neutral or slightly basic pH, and redox conditions that are favorable for As mobilization (higher Fe(II) and total-Fe concentrations in water extracts). On the landscape scale, with hundreds of kilometers of fence, the arsenic loading into the soil can be substantial (～8-12 kg km). Although a significant amount of the As is stable, extended use of CCA-treated wood has resulted in elevated As concentrations in the local environment, increasing the risk of exposure and ecosystem perturbation. Therefore, a move toward arsenic-free alternatives in agricultural applications for which it is currently permitted should be considered.     

Nitrate controls methyl mercury production in a streambed bioreactor

Organic carbon bioreactors provide low-cost, passive treatment of a variety of environmental contaminants but can have undesirable side effects in some cases. This study examines the production of methyl mercury (MeHg) in a streambed bioreactor consisting of 40 m3 of wood chips and designed to treat nitrate (NO?) in an agricultural drainage ditch in southern Ontario (Avon site). The reactor provides 30 to 100% removal of NO?-N concentrations of 0.6 to 4.4 mg L(-1), but sulfate (SO?(2-)) reducing conditions develop when NO? removal is complete. Sulfate reducing conditions are known to stimulation the production of MeHg in natural wetlands. Over one seasonal cycle, effluent MeHg ranged from 0.01 to 0.76 ng L(-1) and total Hg ranged from 1.3 to 3.4 ng L(-1). During all sampling events when reducing conditions were only sufficient to promote NO?(-) reduction (or denitrification) ( = 5, late fall 2009, winter 2010), MeHg concentrations decreased in the reactor and it was a net sink for MeHg (mean flux of -5.1 μg m(-2) yr(-1)). During all sampling events when SO?(2-) reducing conditions were present ( = 6, early fall 2009, spring 2010), MeHg concentrations increased in the reactor and it was a strong source of MeHg to the stream (mean flux of 15.2 μg m(-2) yr(-1)). Total Hg was consistently removed in the reactor (10 of 11 sampling events) and was correlated to the total suspended sediment load ( r2 = 0.69), which was removed in the reactor by physical filtration. This study shows that organic carbon bioreactors can be a strong source of MeHg production when SO?(2-) reducing conditions develop; however, maintaining NO?-N concentrations > 0.5 mg L suppresses the production of MeHg.     

Hydrologic and Phosphorus Export Behavior of Small Streams in Commercial Poultry‐Pasture Watersheds1

Romeis, J. Joshua, C. Rhett Jackson, L. Mark Risse, Andrew N. Sharpley, and David E. Radcliffe, 2011. Hydrologic and Phosphorus Export Behavior of Small Streams in Commercial Poultry‐Pasture Watersheds. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 1‐19. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00521.x Abstract: Few watershed‐scale studies have evaluated phosphorus export in streamflow from commercial poultry‐pasture operations. Continuous streamflow and mixed‐frequency water quality datasets were collected from nine commercial poultry‐pasture (AG) and three forested (FORS) headwater streams (2.4‐44 ha) in the upper Etowah River basin of Georgia to estimate total P (TP) loads and examine variability of hydrologic response and water quality of storm and nonstorm‐flow regimes. Data collection duration ranged from 18 to 22 months, and approximately 1,600 water quality samples were collected. Significant (p < 0.1) inverse relationships were detected between peak flow response variables and both drainage area and fraction of forest cover. Order‐of‐magnitude differences in TP and dissolved reactive P (DRP) concentration were observed between AG and FORS sites and among AG sites. TP yields of FORS sites ranged from 0.01 to 0.1 kg P/ha. Yields of AG sites ranged from 0.031 to 3.17 kg P/ha (median = 0.354 kg P/ha). With 95% confidence intervals, AG yields ranged from 0.025 to 13.1 kg P/ha. These small‐watershed‐scale yields were similar to field‐scale yields measured in other studies in other regions. TP yields were significantly related to area‐weighted Mehlich‐1 soil test P concentrations (p = 0.0073) and base‐flow water sample P concentrations (p ≤ 0.0005). Water quality sampling during base‐flow conditions may be a useful screening tool for P risk‐based management programs.     

A Multi‐Agency Nutrient Dataset Used to Estimate Loads,Improve Monitoring Design,and Calibrate Regional Nutrient SPARROW Models1

Saad, David A., Gregory E. Schwarz, Dale M. Robertson, and Nathaniel L. Booth, 2011. A Multi‐Agency Nutrient Dataset Used to Estimate Loads, Improve Monitoring Design, and Calibrate Regional Nutrient SPARROW Models. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(5):933‐949. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688. 2011.00575.x Abstract: Stream‐loading information was compiled from federal, state, and local agencies, and selected universities as part of an effort to develop regional SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes (SPARROW) models to help describe the distribution, sources, and transport of nutrients in streams throughout much of the United States. After screening, 2,739 sites, sampled by 73 agencies, were identified as having suitable data for calculating long‐term mean annual nutrient loads required for SPARROW model calibration. These sites had a wide range in nutrient concentrations, loads, and yields, and environmental characteristics in their basins. An analysis of the accuracy in load estimates relative to site attributes indicated that accuracy in loads improve with increases in the number of observations, the proportion of uncensored data, and the variability in flow on observation days, whereas accuracy declines with increases in the root mean square error of the water‐quality model, the flow‐bias ratio, the number of days between samples, the variability in daily streamflow for the prediction period, and if the load estimate has been detrended. Based on compiled data, all areas of the country had recent declines in the number of sites with sufficient water‐quality data to compute accurate annual loads and support regional modeling analyses. These declines were caused by decreases in the number of sites being sampled and data not being entered in readily accessible databases.     

Biomechanical response targets for physical and computational models of the pediatric trunk

Objectives: This paper quantifies pediatric thoracoabdominal response to belt loading to guide the scaling of existing adult response data and to assess the validity of a juvenile porcine abdominal model for application to the development of physical and computational models of the human child. Methods: Table-top belt-loading experiments were performed on 6, 7, and 15 year-old pediatric post-mortem human subjects (PMHS). Response targets are reported for diagonal belt and distributed loading of the anterior thorax and for horizontal belt loading of the abdomen. Results: The pediatric PMHS exhibited abdominal response similar to the swine, including the degree of rate sensitivity. The thoraces of the PMHS were as stiff as, or slightly more stiff than, published adult corridors. Conclusions: An assessment of age-related changes in thoracic stiffness suggests that the effective stiffness of the chest increases through the fourth decade of life and then decreases, resulting in stiffness values similar for children and elderly adults.     

A multilevel study of the relationships between diversity training,ethnic discrimination and satisfaction in organizations

The prevalence of diversity training has not been matched by empirical research on its effectiveness. Among the most notable gaps are an absence of attention to its impact on discrimination and limited consideration of organizational‐level factors. Results from employee surveys across 395 healthcare organizations reveal an effect of the extent of diversity training in organizations on ethnic minorities' experiences of discrimination. In addition, the results demonstrate that the consequences of ethnic discrimination for individuals' job attitudes are influenced by organizational‐level phenomenon. These findings highlight the importance of attending to ethnic discrimination as an outcome of diversity training with implications for employee attitudes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.