Kraft mill residues effects on Monterey pine growth and soil microbial activity

The production of bleached Kraft pulp generates inorganic and organic residues that are usually deposited on the soil surface or land-filled. Studies conducted to address the impact of these wastes on the environment are scarce. In this work, Monterey pine (Pinus radiata D. Don), an important tree for pulping, was evaluated for germination and development under greenhouse conditions in forest soils exposed to solid residues of the cellulose industry using the Kraft process. Soils exposed to 10 to 60% ashes, 10 to 70% fly ashes, or 10 to 30% dregs allowed substantial seed germination and seedling growth. In contrast, soils exposed to low proportions of brown rejects, grits, or a mixture of all these residues were detrimental for germination, plant growth, or both. The strongest negative effect (no germination) was observed with as low as 10% grits. The changes in pH and/or water content caused by solid wastes did not correlate with detrimental effects observed in various soil-residue combinations. No significant changes in the microbial community of soils exposed to these solid residues were observed by determination of culturable counts, or by terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the microbial community DNA. The presence of organic residues did not affect the ability of the soil microbial community to remove typical pulp bleaching chloroaromatics. However, inorganic wastes strongly decreased the removal of such compounds.     

Nutrient and sediment removal by a restored wetland receiving agricultural runoff

Few studies have measured removal of pollutants by restored wetlands that receive highly variable inflows. We used automated flow-proportional sampling to monitor the removal of nutrients and suspended solids by a 1.3-ha restored wetland receiving unregulated inflows from a 14-ha agricultural watershed in Maryland, USA. Water entered the wetland mainly in brief pulses of runoff, which sometimes exceeded the 2500-m3 water holding capacity of the wetland. Half of the total water inflow occurred in only 24 days scattered throughout the two-year study. Measured annual water gains were within 5% of balancing water losses. Annual removal of nutrients differed greatly between the two years of the study. The most removal occurred in the first year, which included a three-month period of decreasing water level in the wetland. In that year, the wetland removed 59% of the total P, 38% of the total N, and 41% of the total organic C it received. However, in the second year, which lacked a drying period, there was no significant (p > 0.05) net removal of total N or P, although 30% of the total organic C input was removed. For the entire two-year period, the wetland removed 25% of the ammonium, 52% of the nitrate, and 34% of the organic C it received, but there was no significant net removal of total suspended solids (TSS) or other forms of N and P. Although the variability of inflow may have decreased the capacity of the wetland to remove materials, the wetland still reduced nonpoint-source pollution.     

The value of disappearing beaches: A hedonic pricing model with endogenous beach width

Beach nourishment is a policy used to rebuild eroding beaches with sand dredged from other locations. Previous studies indicate that beach width positively affects coastal property values, but these studies ignore the dynamic features of beaches and the feedback that nourishment has on shoreline retreat. We correct for the resulting attenuation and endogeneity bias in a hedonic property value model by instrumenting for beach width using spatially varying coastal geological features. We find that the beach width coefficient is nearly five times larger than the OLS estimate, suggesting that beach width is a much larger portion of property value than previously thought. We use the empirical results to parameterize a dynamic optimization model of beach nourishment decisions and show that the predicted interval between nourishment projects is closer to what we observe in the data when we use the estimate from the instrumental variables model rather than OLS. As coastal communities adapt to climate change, we find that the long-term net value of coastal residential property can fall by as much as 52% when erosion rate triples and cost of nourishment sand quadruples.     

Optimizing voluntary compliance in marine protected areas: a comparison of recreational fisher and enforcement officer perspectives using multi-criteria analysis

A comprehensive list of planning criteria for optimizing compliance in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) was compiled and used to compare the views of recreational fishers and compliance officers for facilitating voluntary compliance in the Port Stephens - Great Lakes Marine Park (PSGLMP). Expert working groups were tasked separately with: 1) criteria identification and weighting; 2) scoring of no-take zones; 3) prioritizing and determining uncertainty; and 4) analysis of results and sensitivity testing. Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) revealed that both groups had similar perspectives and recommendations, despite weighting the individual planning criteria differently. Significantly, "manageability" scores for no-take zones from MCA appeared to correlate well with past numbers of enforcement actions recorded for each zone. This provides empirical evidence that adopting manageability criteria during the planning of MPAs could lead to a marked increase in voluntary compliance. As a result, greater consideration to compliance planning during MPA design and zoning is recommended in order to optimize voluntary compliance. Whilst the majority of no-take zones in the PSGLMP case study were evaluated as being relatively effective in terms of optimizing voluntary compliance, there remains considerable potential to improve design, management and use of the poorer performing zones. Finally, the study highlighted the value of recreational fisher engagement in MPA planning processes to maximize voluntary compliance and manageability.     

TMDL Implementation in Agricultural Landscapes: A Communicative and Systemic Approach

Increasingly, total maximum daily load (TMDL) limits are being defined for agricultural watersheds. Reductions in non-point source pollution are often needed to meet TMDL limits, and improvements in management of annual crops appear insufficient to achieve the necessary reductions. Increased adoption of perennial crops and other changes in agricultural land use also appear necessary, but face major barriers. We outline a novel strategy that aims to create new economic opportunities for land-owners and other stakeholders and thereby to attract their voluntary participation in land-use change needed to meet TMDLs. Our strategy has two key elements. First, focused efforts are needed to create new economic enterprises that capitalize on the productive potential of multifunctional agriculture (MFA). MFA seeks to produce a wide range of goods and ecosystem services by well-designed deployment of annual and perennial crops across agricultural landscapes and watersheds; new revenue from MFA may substantially finance land-use change needed to meet TMDLs. Second, efforts to capitalize on MFA should use a novel methodology, the Communicative/Systemic Approach (C/SA). C/SA uses an integrative GIS-based spatial modeling framework for systematically assessing tradeoffs and synergies in design and evaluation of multifunctional agricultural landscapes, closely linked to deliberation and design processes by which multiple stakeholders can collaboratively create appropriate and acceptable MFA landscape designs. We anticipate that application of C/SA will strongly accelerate TMDL implementation, by aligning the interests of multiple stakeholders whose active support is needed to change agricultural land use and thereby meet TMDL goals.     

Death awareness and organizational behavior

This Incubator introduces scholars to death awareness research. We explicate how mortality salience can be studied in conjunction with workplace behavior. Using the Terror Management Theory (TMT) framework, we explore morality salience in combination with several workplace phenomena, including aggression, discrimination, and punishment; and, several ideas for future research are suggested. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental investigation of fast flame propagation in stratified hydrogen–air mixtures in semi-confined flat layers

This paper presents results of an experimental investigation on fast flame propagation and the deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) and following detonation propagation in a semi-confined flat layer filled with stratified hydrogen–air mixtures. The experiments were performed in a transparent, rectangular channel open from below. The combustion channel has a width of 0.3 m and a length of 2.5 m. The effective layer thickness in the channel was varied by using different linear hydrogen concentration gradients. The method to create quasi-linear hydrogen concentration gradients that differ in the range and slope is also presented. The ignited mixtures were accelerated quickly to sonic flame speed in the first obstructed part of the channel. The interaction of the fast flame propagation with different obstacle set-ups was studied in the second part of the channel. The experimental results show an initiation of DDT by one additional metal grid in the obstructed semi-confined flat layer. Detonation propagation and failed detonation propagation were observed in obstructed and unobstructed parts of the channel.     

Benefits and Challenges of Linking Green Infrastructure and Highway Planning in the United States

Landscape-level green infrastructure creates a network of natural and semi-natural areas that protects and enhances ecosystem services, regenerative capacities, and ecological dynamism over long timeframes. It can also enhance quality of life and certain economic activity. Highways create a network for moving goods and services efficiently, enabling commerce, and improving mobility. A fundamentally profound conflict exists between transportation planning and green infrastructure planning because they both seek to create connected, functioning networks across the same landscapes and regions, but transportation networks, especially in the form of highways, fragment and disconnect green infrastructure networks. A key opportunity has emerged in the United States during the last ten years with the promotion of measures to link transportation and environmental concerns. In this article we examined the potential benefits and challenges of linking landscape-level green infrastructure planning and implementation with integrated transportation planning and highway project development in the United States policy context. This was done by establishing a conceptual model that identified logical flow lines from planning to implementation as well as the potential interconnectors between green infrastructure and highway infrastructure. We analyzed the relationship of these activities through literature review, policy analysis, and a case study of a suburban Maryland, USA landscape. We found that regionally developed and adopted green infrastructure plans can be instrumental in creating more responsive regional transportation plans and streamlining the project environmental review process while enabling better outcomes by enabling more targeted mitigation. In order for benefits to occur, however, landscape-scale green infrastructure assessments and plans must be in place before integrated transportation planning and highway project development occurs. It is in the transportation community’s interests to actively facilitate green infrastructure planning because it creates a more predictable environmental review context. On the other hand, for landscape-level green infrastructure, transportation planning and development is much more established and better funded and can provide a means of supporting green infrastructure planning and implementation, thereby enhancing conservation of ecological function.     

Ecological Settings and State Economies as Factor Inputs in the Provision of Outdoor Recreation

State parks play a substantial role in the provision of outdoor recreation opportunities within the United States. Park operators must make crucial decisions in how they allocate capital expenditures, labor, and parkland to maintain recreation opportunities. Their decisions are influenced, in part, by the ecological characteristics of their state’s park system as well as the vitality of their state’s economy. In this research, we incorporate the characteristics of states’ ecosystems and their local economies into a formal production analysis of the states’ park systems from the years 1986 to 2011. Our analysis revealed all three factors of production were positive and inelastic. Expenditures on labor had the largest effect on both park utilization and operational expenditures. Our analysis also found a large degree of variability in the effects of ecological characteristics on both utilization and operating expenditures. Parkland utilization and operational expenditures were more elastic in areas such as Oceania and Mediterranean California relative to other ecological regions. These findings lead us to conclude that state park operators will experience variable levels of difficulty in both accommodating increasing demands for recreation from state parks and maintaining the existing quality of outdoor recreation provided within their system.