Sisters in sustainability: municipal partnerships for social,environmental, and economic growth

While debates about sustainable development tend to focus on national- and international-scale problems, sustainability programs and research generally focus on the regional, county, municipal, or even household level. Less research has focused on evaluating the benefits of pairing two cities (i.e., sister city partnerships) with different needs and capabilities to jointly enhance the potential for sustainable practices between the cities. Given shrinking state and federal budgets and the nascent national climate policy, how might US cities use existing resources to achieve greater levels of sustainability? This paper presents a new data-driven mathematical tool—the partnership assessment for intra-regional sustainability—that city planners can use to explore the prospects for improving sustainability practices by leveraging existing resources and establishing synergistic partnerships with neighboring cities. The efficacy of the tool is assessed through the presentation of a Southern California case study and the results of a psychological survey of Southern California residents. Results indicate that cities of different size and scale would benefit from synergistic sustainability programs that pool the resources and needs of both cities. The paper concludes with a discussion of potential societal implications, methodological issues, and barriers to implementation.     

The effect of nitrogen deposition on the species richness of acid grasslands in Denmark: a comparison with a study performed on a European scale

The effect of atmospheric nitrogen deposition on the species richness of acid grasslands was investigated by combining data from a large Danish monitoring program with a large European data set, where a significant non-linear negative effect of nitrogen deposition had been demonstrated (Stevens et al., 2010). The nitrogen deposition range in Denmark is relatively small and when only considering the Danish data a non-significant decrease in the species richness with nitrogen deposition was observed. However, when both data sets were combined, then the conclusion of the European survey was further corroborated by the results of the Danish monitoring. Furthermore, by combining the two data sets a more comprehensive picture of the threats to the biodiversity of acid grasslands emerge; i.e., species richness in remnant patches of acid grassland in intensively cultivated agricultural landscapes is under influence not only from nitrogen deposition, but also from current and historical land use.     

Mechanisms of enhanced mobilisation of trace metals by anionic surfactants in soil

Long-term applications of small concentrations of surfactants in soil via wastewater irrigation or pesticide application may enhance trace metal solubility. Mechanisms by which anionic surfactants (Aerosol 22, SDS and Biopower) affect trace metal solubility were assessed using batch, incubation and column experiments. In batch experiments on seven soils, the concentrations of Cu, Cd, Ni and Zn in the dissolved fraction of soils increased up to 100-fold at the high application rates, but increased less than 1.5-fold below the critical micelle concentration. Dissolved metal concentrations were less than 20% affected by surfactants in long-term incubations (70 days) up to the largest dose of 200 mg C kg⁻¹ soil. Leaching soil columns with A22 (100-1000 mg C L⁻¹) under unsaturated conditions increased trace metal concentrations in the leachates 2-4 fold over the control. Correlation analysis and speciation modelling showed that the increased solubility of metals upon surfactant application was more related to the solubilisation of soil organic matter from soil than to complexation of the metals with the surfactant. Organic matter from soil was solubilised in response to a decrease of solution Ca²⁺ as a result of Ca-surfactant precipitation. At environmentally relevant concentrations, surfactant application is unlikely to have a significant effect on trace metal mobility.     

Instream sensor results suggest soil–plant processes produce three distinct seasonal patterns of nitrate concentrations in the Ohio River Basin

The Ohio River Basin (ORB) is responsible for 35% of total nitrate loading to the Gulf of Mexico yet controls on nitrate timing require investigation. We used a set of submersible ultraviolet nitrate analyzers located at 13 stations across the ORB to examine nitrate loading and seasonality. Observed nitrate concentrations ranged from 0.3 to 2.8 mg L⁻¹ N in the Ohio River's mainstem. The Ohio River experiences a greater than fivefold increase in annual nitrate load from the upper basin to the river's junction with the Mississippi River (74–415 Gg year⁻¹). The nitrate load increase corresponds with the greater drainage area, a 50% increase in average annual nitrate concentration, and a shift in land cover across the drainage area from 5% cropland in the upper basin to 19% cropland at the Ohio River's junction with the Mississippi River. Time-series decomposition of nitrate concentration and nitrate load showed peaks centered in January and June for 85% of subbasin-year combinations and nitrate lows in summer and fall. Seasonal patterns of the terrestrial system, including winter dormancy, spring planting, and summer and fall growing-harvest seasons, are suggested to control nitrate timing in the Ohio River as opposed to controls by river discharge and internal cycling. The dormant season from December to March carries 51% of the ORB's nitrate load, and nitrate delivery is high across all subbasins analyzed, regardless of land cover. This season is characterized by soil nitrate leaching likely from mineralization of soil organic matter and release of legacy nitrogen. Nitrate experiences fast transit to the river owing to the ORB's mature karst geology in the south and tile drainage in the northwest. The planting season from April to June carries 26% of the ORB's nitrate and is a period of fertilizer delivery from upland corn and soybean agriculture to streams. The harvest season from July to November carries 22% of the ORB's nitrate and is a time of nitrate retention on the landscape. We discuss nutrient management in the ORB including fertilizer efficiency, cover crops, and nitrate retention using constructed measures.     

New perspectives in the use of horizontal wells for assessment and remediation

Remediation technologies can sometimes be established, but are not prevalent, for a variety of reasons; however, they can be subject to the forces of change. In some cases, creative economics promotes new uses, but also process improvements can drive new applications and levels of acceptance. This is what is happening with the deployment of horizontal wells for site assessment and remediation. In essence, decreasing costs and a strategic shift, which can be characterized as “greater flexibility,” are two factors that have brought about a resurgence of horizontal well systems. The latter is specifically tied to moving from monolithic single well systems to segmented well systems and this article explains how this is a next‐generation advancement in site assessment and remediation. As one example, nested, discrete horizontal profiling brings additional accuracy to assessment at sites, especially those challenged by access issues and also provides more directed treatment operations with a unique flexibility in dynamic groundwater systems. Also, with horizontal nested well systems, conceptual site models can be significantly enhanced with new perspectives and, depending on the situation, may provide significant economic advantages in deployment. Finally, this technological advancement creates a new paradigm in contrast, or rather as an adjunct, to vertical profiling and high‐resolution site characterization. In fact, it opens up a new strategic approach that can be called high‐resolution contaminant distribution, because flexible horizontal segmented well systems can be used to navigate “up the spine of the plume” providing discretized data sets that illuminate contaminant distribution in new ways.     

Localizing Climate Change: Nordic Homeowners’ Interpretations of Visual Representations for Climate Adaptation

In recent years, effort has been put into developing various forms of climate visualization to create opportunities for people to explore and learn about local climate change risks and adaptation options. However, how target audiences make sense of such climate visualization has rarely been studied from a communication perspective. This paper analyses how Nordic homeowners made sense of a specific climate visualization tool, the VisAdapt? tool. Involving 35 homeowners from three cities in 15 group test sessions, this study analyses the interpretive strategies participants applied to make sense of and assess the relevance of the visualized data. The study demonstrates that participants employed a set of interpretive strategies relating to personal experience and well-known places to make sense of the information presented, and that critical negotiation of content played an important role in how participants interpreted the content.     

Production of polyhydroxyalkanoate during treatment of tomato cannery wastewater.

Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production was achieved using tomato cannery waste coupled with a mixed microbial culture during wastewater treatment. The two-stage PHA production process comprised a sequencing batch reactor (SBR), operating under a periodic feast-famine regime, to accomplish simultaneously wastewater treatment and selection of PHA-accumulating microbes, followed by a batch reactor for the production of PHA-rich biomass. The SBRs were efficient at removing soluble carbon (84%), ammonia (100%), and phosphorus (76%). Meanwhile, PHA-accumulating microbes were enriched under the SBR operating conditions, and PHA content on a cell-weight basis was within the range 7 to 11% in nonfiltered wastewater and 2 to 8% in filtered wastewater. Subsequently, batch studies were implemented with varying loading rates, ranging from 0.4 to 3.2 food-to-microorganism ratios. A maximum 20% PHA content on a cell-weight basis was obtained. Based on the experimental results, a PHA biosynthesis-degradation kinetic model was developed to (1) aid in the design of a pilot- or full-scale PHA production process coupled with wastewater treatment and (2) determine optimal conditions for harvest of PHA-rich biomass.     

A load model based on antecedent dry periods for pollutants in stormwater.

A load model for stormwater constituents is proposed that describes mass retained on the drainage area after previous storms, as a function of a weighted sum of previous antecedent dry periods. It was used to compute the event load for 14 constituents--zinc, copper, cadmium, nickel, chromium, lead, mercury, silver, total suspended solids (TSS), E. coli, fecal coliform, total soluble phosphorus, total phosphorus, and 5-day biochemical oxygen demand. The results show acceptable fits for most constituents based on over 400 rain events (2000 to 2004) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Considering the retained pollutant mass after one previous storm rather than assuming the area to be clean after the previous storm gives more accurate results for all constituents, except TSS and silver. The model can be used for mixed land-use areas. The ratios of deposition fluxes of zinc and individual metals were determined at a major parking lot producing a profile characteristic of automobile emissions.     

Solutions-oriented research for sustainability: Turning knowledge into action: This article belongs to Ambio’s 50th Anniversary Collection. Theme: Solutions-oriented research

In this perspective, we reflect upon the question: what processes may help transition scientific insights on sustainability issues into practice and thus contribute to tackling the complex, systemic sustainability problems of today? We use five forerunners in the field of providing and brokering knowledge for science informed real world solutions, all published in Ambio and highlighted in this Anniversary collection, as our starting point. We discuss how the authors present solutions, whom they tried to reach, and what was suggested—implicitly or explicitly—as the potential uptake processes for turning scientific knowledge into practice. With this as the starting point, we discuss how sustainability science, as a field vowed to action, has evolved in its views of actors, pathways for impacts, and the potential roles of research and researchers to promote sustainability transformations.     

Forest biomass accumulation is an important source of acidity to forest soils: Data from Swedish inventories of forests and soils 1955 to 2010

The input of acidity to Swedish forest soils through forestry between 1955 and 2010 is compared with the acid input from atmospheric deposition. Depending on region, input of acidity from forestry was the minor part (25–45%) of the study period’s accumulated acid input but is now the dominating source (140–270 mol_c ha⁻¹ year⁻¹). The net uptake of cations due to the increase in standing forest biomass, ranged between 35 and 45% of the forestry related input of acidity while whole-tree harvesting, introduced in the late 1990s, contributed only marginally (< 2%). The geographical gradient in acid input is reflected in the proportion of acidified soils in Sweden but edaphic properties contribute to variations in acidification sensitivity. It is important to consider the acid input due to increases in standing forest biomass in acidification assessments since it is long-term and quantitatively important.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01540-y.