Book reviews

URBANIZATION AND COMMUNITY BUILDING IN MODERN NORWAY

J. S. Tortenson, M. F. Metcalfe, T. F. Rasmussen

Urbana Press, Oslo 1985. 312 pp., figs and tables.

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT POLICY

R. Riddell

Gower, 1985. £18.50

REVIEW OF SERVICE INDUSTRIES: A GEOGRAPHICAL APPRAISAL

P. W. Daniels

Methuen, 1985. £27.50.

ARABIC‐ISLAMIC CITIES: BUILDING AND PLANNING PRINCIPLES

Besim Selim Hakim

KPI Ltd., London, 1986. pp. 192. £46 (h/b)

FIFTY YEARS OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Sheila Harvey and Stephen Rettig

The Landscape Press, 1985. £12.50

CAPABILITY BROWN AND THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ENGLISH LANDSCAPE

Roger Turner

Weidenfeld & Nicholson. £16.95.     

Using Multimedia Modeling to Expedite Site Characterization

GOAL, SCOPE AND BACKGROUND: This paper uses two case studies of U.S. Department of Energy nuclear weapons complex installations to illustrate the integration of expedited site characterization (ESC) and multimedia modeling in the remedial action decision making process. CONCEPTUAL SITE MODELS, MULTIMEDIA MODELS, AND EXPEDITED SITE CHARACTERIZATION: Conceptual site models outline assumptions about contaminates and the spatial/temporal distribution of potential receptors. Multimedia models simulate contaminant transport and fate through multiple environmental media, estimate potential human exposure via specific exposure pathways, and estimate the risk of cancer and non-cancer health outcomes. ESC relies on using monitoring data to quantify the key components of an initial conceptual site model that is modified iteratively using the multimedia model. CASE STUDIES: Two case studies are presented that used the ESC approach: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Pantex. LANL released radionuclides, metals, and organic compounds, into canyons surrounding the facility. The Pantex Plant has past waste management operations which included burning chemical wastes in unlined pits, burying wastes in unlined landfills, and discharging plant wastewaters into on-site surface waters. CONCLUSIONS: The case studies indicate that using multimedia models with the ESC approach can inform assessors about what, where, and how much site characterization data needs to be collected to reduce the uncertainty associated with risk assessment. Lowering the degree of uncertainty reduces the time and cost associated with assessing potential risk and increases the confidence that decision makers have in the assessments performed.     

Assessing Landowner Activities Related to Birds Across Rural-to-Urban Landscapes

Fluctuations of bird abundances in the Midwest region of the United States have been attributed to such factors as landscape change, habitat fragmentation, depredation, and supplemental feeding. However, no attempt has been made to estimate the collective role of landowner activities that may influence birds across a landscape. To investigate how landowners might influence birds when the majority (> 90%) of land is privately owned, we surveyed all 1694 private domestic landowners living on three breeding bird survey routes (120 km) that represent a continuum of rural-to-urban landscapes in Southeastern Michigan from October through December 2000. Our survey was designed to investigate (1) the proportion of landowners involved in bird feeding, providing bird houses, planting or maintaining vegetation for birds, gardening, landscaping, applying fertilizer, and applying pesticides or herbicides; (2) whether differences existed between urban, suburban, and rural landowner activities; and (3) whether landowners that carried out a given activity were sociodemographically different from those who did not. Of the 968 respondents (58.5% response rate), 912 (94%) carried out at least one of the activities on their land and the average landowner carried out 3.7 activities. A total of 65.6% fed birds, 45.7% provided bird houses, 54.6% planted or maintained vegetation for birds, 72.7% gardened, 72.3% landscaped, 49.3% applied fertilizer, and 25.2% applied pesticides or herbicides. Significant differences existed between the landscapes, with rural landowners having more bird houses and applying pesticides or herbicides in greater frequency. Similarly, urban landowners had a greater density of bird feeders and houses, but planted or maintained vegetation in the lowest frequency. Participation in activities varied by demographic factors, such as age, gender, and occupation. Scaling each activity to all landowners, including nonrespondents, across all landscapes indicates that between 14% and 82% of landowners may be engaged in a particular activity, with application of pesticides or herbicides having the least potential involvement (13.9%–55.4%) and gardening having the greatest potential involvement (40.1%–81.6%). Taken collectively, our results indicate that landowners are both intentionally and unintentionally engaged in a wide range of activities that are likely to influence bird populations.     

Integrated BIosphere Simulator (IBIS) yield and nitrate loss predictions for Wisconsin maize receiving varied amounts of nitrogen fertilizer

Agriculture in the U.S. Midwest faces the formidable challenge of improving crop productivity while simultaneously mitigating the environmental consequences of intense management. This study examined the simultaneous response of nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N) leaching losses and maize (Zea mays L.) yield to varied fertilizer N management using field observations and the Integrated BIosphere Simulator (IBIS) model. The model was validated against six years of field observations in chisel-plowed maize plots receiving an optimal (180 kg N ha(-1)) fertilizer N application and in N-unfertilized plots on a silt loam soil near Arlington, Wisconsin. Predicted values of grain yield, harvest index, plant N uptake, residue C to N ratio, leaf area index (LAI), grain N, and drainage were within 20% of observations. However, simulated NO3-N leaching losses, NO3-N concentrations, and net N mineralization exhibited less interannual variability than observations, and had higher levels of error (20-65%). Potential effects of 30% higher (234 kg N ha(-1)) and 30% lower (126 kg N ha(-1)) fertilizer N use (from optimal) on NO3-N leaching loss and maize yield were simulated. A 30% increase in fertilizer N use increased annual NO3-N leaching by 56%, while yield increased by only 1%. The NO3-N concentration in the leachate solution at 1.4 m below the soil surface was 30.7 mg L(-1). When fertilizer N use was reduced by 30% (from optimal), annual NO3-N leaching losses declined by 42% after seven years, and annual average yield only decreased by 8%. However, NO3-N concentration in the leachate solution remained above 10 mg L(-1) (11.3 mg L(-1)). Clearly, nonlinear relationships existed between changes in fertilizer use and NO3-N leaching losses over time. Simulated changes in NO3-N leaching were greater in magnitude than fertilizer N use changes.     

Demonstrating Floodplain Uncertainty Using Flood Probability Maps1

Abstract: The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood maps depict the 100‐year recurrence interval floodplain boundary as a single line. However, because of natural variability and model uncertainty, no floodplain extents can be accurately defined by a single line. This article presents a new approach to floodplain mapping that takes advantage of accepted methodologies in hydrologic and hydraulic analysis while including the effects of uncertainty. In this approach, the extents of computed floodplain boundaries are defined as a continuous map of flood probabilities, rather than as a single line. Engineers and planners can use these flood probability maps for viewing the uncertainty of a floodplain boundary at any recurrence interval. Such a flood probability map is a useful tool for visualizing the uncertainty of a floodplain boundary and represents greater honesty in engineering technologies that are used for flood mapping. While institutional barriers may prevent adoption of such definitions for use in graduated flood insurance rates (as most other insurance industries use to account for relative risks), the methods open the door technically to such a reality.     

The commons dilemma

Whenever a short-term or local need in the exploitation of a scarce natural resource must be pitted against its long-term use or the needs of the larger community, the commons dilemma arises. The study of commons dilemmas originated in agricultural economies but has importance in all resource management areas. Psychologists have recently found it to be a useful paradigm in the study of decision-making behavior.This paper reviews the commons dilemma as it has been used in three areas of psychological research: games theory, animal and human territorial behavior, and behavior reinforcement. In the first area, results show how communication within groups operates in cooperation/competition situations. In the second, the effects of social and political ideologies are examined. In the third, the implications of the commons dilemma with regard to breaking out of social traps are discussed. Throughout, the relevance of this basic psychological research to rational resource management is made clear. An extensive bibliography of relevant original research is provided.     

The material resources for the iron and steel industries

The future supplies of iron ore, coking coal and ferrous scrap are discussed. There is no likelihood of the resources of iron ore being exhausted until well into the twenty-first century. Coking coal, on the other hand, is in shorter supply but it is being eked out by blending with non-coking coal and by making blast furnaces more efficient. Briquettes made completely from non-coking coal will play a part in iron making in the future. To ensure greater flexibility in steel making, hydrocarbons are being considered as possible substitutes for coal. Scrap has always played an important part in steel making and the amount recycled is increasing every year. But more effort is needed, for example, to ensure that the steel in car scrap is fully utilised and that refuse is efficiently recycled. Steel making increasingly demands the scrap to have few impurities and to be in uniform sized pieces. A cryogenic method of preparing such scrap is described. A futuristic way of extracting iron, non-ferrous metals and other saleeable by-products from refuse, by using redundant blast furnaces, is also discussed.     

Recycling and recovery routes for incinerated sewage sludge ash (ISSA): A review

The drivers for increasing incineration of sewage sludge and the characteristics of the resulting incinerated sewage sludge ash (ISSA) are reviewed. It is estimated that approximately 1.7 million tonnes of ISSA are produced annually world-wide and is likely to increase in the future. Although most ISSA is currently landfilled, various options have been investigated that allow recycling and beneficial resource recovery. These include the use of ISSA as a substitute for clay in sintered bricks, tiles and pavers, and as a raw material for the manufacture of lightweight aggregate. ISSA has also been used to form high density glass–ceramics. Significant research has investigated the potential use of ISSA in blended cements for use in mortars and concrete, and as a raw material for the production of Portland cement. However, all these applications represent a loss of the valuable phosphate content in ISSA, which is typically comparable to that of a low grade phosphate ore. ISSA has significant potential to be used as a secondary source of phosphate for the production of fertilisers and phosphoric acid. Resource efficient approaches to recycling will increasingly require phosphate recovery from ISSA, with the remaining residual fraction also considered a useful material, and therefore further research is required in this area.