A theoretical overview of the relationship between the resource curse and genuine savings as an indicator for “weak” sustainability

This paper shows the strong relation between the factors that lead to the resource curse (RC) and factors that lead to a decline of genuine savings (GS). There is substantial empirical evidence that economies that rely predominantly on their natural resources are also characterized by slower economic growth. This so‐called RC is commonly traced back to the fact that natural resources' generate rents that are independent of a country's economic performance, which can lead to suboptimal reinvestments of this consumed natural capital. We argue that the factors responsible for the RC also have a negative effect on GS, a concept that measures “weak” sustainable development by considering reinvestment of natural capital rents in physical and human capital. We discuss whether the RC hampers possibilities for resource abundant countries to obtain sufficiently high rates of GS, and find indeed many reasons why resource‐dependent countries have problems achieving positive GS rates. We survey both areas of research, emphasizing the influence of the exogenous and endogenous determinants of economic growth, which are usually used to theoretically and empirically explain the RC on the three different forms of capital considered by GS. We specify why most countries suffering from the RC have negative GS rates and explain in detail where the linkages are. This overview could help with potential advancements in the explanation of GS through the inclusion of RC effects.     

Bioaccumulation and the soil factors affecting the uptake of arsenic in earthworm, Eisenia fetida

To better understand arsenic (As) bioaccumulation, a soil invertebrate species was exposed to 17 field soils contaminated with arsenic due to mining activity. Earthworms (Eisenia fetida) were kept in the soils for 70 days under laboratory conditions, as body burden increased and failed to reach equilibrium in all soils. After 70 days of exposure, XANES spectra determined that As was biotransformed to a highly reduced form. Uptake kinetics for As was calculated using one compartment model. Stepwise multiple regression suggested that sorbed As in soils are bioaccessible, and uptake is governed by soil properties (iron oxide, sulfate, and dissolved organic carbon) that control As mobility in soils. As in soil solution are highly related to uptake rate except four soils which had relatively high chloride or phosphate. The results imply that uptake of As is through As interaction with soil characteristics as well as direct from the soil solution. Internal validation showed that empirically derived regression equations can be used for predicting As uptake as a function of soil properties within the range of soil properties in the data set.     

Modeling water and sediment contamination of Lake Pontchartrain following pump-out of Hurricane Katrina floodwater

Levee failure and overtopping as a result of Hurricane Katrina caused major flooding of New Orleans, Louisiana. Floodwaters, which were contaminated with heavy metals, organic chemicals, and fecal coliform bacteria (FCB), were pumped into neighboring Lake Pontchartrain during dewatering. The impact of levee failure on water and benthic sediment concentrations in the lake was investigated by applying a numerical water quality model coupled to a three-dimensional, numerical hydrodynamic model. The model was used to compute water and benthic sediment concentrations throughout the lake for lead, arsenic, benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), and 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene (DDE), and water concentrations for FCB. Computed concentrations resulting from actual pumped discharges with levee failure and overtopping were compared to computed concentrations resulting from pumped discharges without levee failure or overtopping, and concentrations from both sets of conditions were compared to ecological water and sediment quality screening guideline values. The model indicated that incremental increases above pre-Katrina benthic sediment concentrations are about a factor of 10 greater with dewatering of the floodwaters than with dewatering of storm water without flooding. However, these increases for the metals are small relative to pre-Katrina concentrations. The results showed that the ecological screening-level sediment quality guideline values were exceeded for BaP and DDE in areas near the south shoreline of the lake as a result of floodwater pump-out, whereas, this was not the case for storm water removal without flooding. The model showed that lake water column concentrations should be about the same during both dewatering conditions regardless of whether there is flooding or not.     

Nutrient-impregnated charcoal: an environmentally friendly slow-release fertilizer

The widespread contamination of surface and ground water quality from the heavy use of fertilizer in modern agriculture is the current concern. Therefore, this study was carried out to develop a slow-release fertilizer using charcoal. The morphology of the charcoal impregnated fertilizer was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This study also evaluated the release patterns of N, P, and K from impregnated charcoal using a simulated soil solution and distilled water as leaching solutions. The patterns of N, P, and K releases were examined in both static and continuous-flow conditions for 360 h. Releases of N, P, and K from impregnated charcoal were found to be slow and steady. However, the release trends of N, P, and K were higher in soil solution than distilled water under both the above conditions. Dissolution occurred when N, P, and K were released in the above leached solutions. As a result, the fertilizer impregnated charcoal could be developed as slow-release type fertilizer to minimize the contamination.     

Source identification and characterization of the accumulating non-biodegradable organics in Korean reservoirs

An increase in the chemical oxygen demand (COD) has been noticed in most Korean reservoirs. Therefore, this research systematically investigated the causes of organic accumulation. Samples of soil affecting the quality of water of reservoirs were collected at various sources and analyzed for their organic characteristics. The COD to biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) ratio was used as the key parameter in the evaluation of non-biodegradable (NBD) organic accumulation in the reservoirs. Soil samples containing plant roots were agitated, with the supernatant showing COD/BOD ratios of less than 2.8, while those of the composted tree leaves were greater than 5.0, suggesting that humic substances produced in forest areas are a major cause of NBD organic accumulation in reservoirs. In addition, the organic fractionation of the leachate from leaching tests showed that of the various types of hydrophobic natural organic matter (NOM), the larger molecular weight humic acid makes a greater contribution than fulvic acid to the increase in the NBD COD in Korean reservoirs.     

Analysis of the nitrifying bacterial community in BioCube sponge media using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and microelectrodes

There is growing interest in the development of more cost-effective and retrofit technologies for the upgrade and expansion of existing wastewater treatment plants with extreme space constraints. A free-floating sponge media (BioCube) process, using a 24L lab scale reactor, was operated to study the nitrification profiles and microbial community. The COD removal efficiencies were maintained, at an average of 95%, with the mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) inside the BioCube sponge media maintained at 12,688mg/L. The nitrification removal efficiencies were between 92% and 100%, with an average value of 99%. From the results of microelectrode measurements, the ammonium ion concentration was found to rapidly decrease from the surface of the BioCube sponge media to a depth of 2mm due to chemical reactions carried out by ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) species. Multi-fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) has been used to investigate the spatial distributions of various microbial activities within reactors. Microbial communities were targeted using different oligonucleotide probes specific to AOB and nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB). There were a large number of AOB populations, but these were not uniformly distributed in the biofilm compared to the NOB populations.     

Habitat and Biodiversity of On-Farm Water Storages: A Case Study in Southeast Queensland, Australia

On-farm water storages (locally known as farm dams or farm ponds) are an important part of many agricultural landscapes, as they provide a reliable source of water for irrigation and stock. Although these waterbodies are artificially constructed and morphologically simple, there is increasing interest in their potential role as habitat for native flora and fauna. In this article, we present results from a case study which examined the habitat characteristics (such as water physical and chemical parameters, benthic metabolism, and macrophyte cover) and the macrophyte and macroinvertebrate biodiversity of eight farm ponds on four properties in the Stanley Catchment, Southeast Queensland, Australia. Each landowner was interviewed to allow a comparison of the management of the ponds with measured habitat and biodiversity characteristics, and to understand landowners’ motivations in making farm pond management decisions. The physical and chemical water characteristics of the study ponds were comparable to the limited number of Australian farm ponds described in published literature. Littoral zones supported forty-five macroinvertebrate families, with most belonging to the orders Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Odonata, and Diptera. Invertebrate community composition was strongly influenced by littoral zone macrophyte structure, with significant differences between ponds with high macrophyte cover compared to those with bare littoral zones. The importance of littoral zone macrophytes was also suggested by a significant positive relationship between invertebrate taxonomic richness and macrophyte cover. The landowners in this study demonstrated sound ecological knowledge of their farm ponds, but many had not previously acknowledged them as having high habitat value for native flora and fauna. If managed for aquatic organisms as well as reliable water sources, these artificial habitats may help to maintain regional biodiversity, particularly given the large number of farm ponds across the landscape.     

Integrated Modular Modeling of Water and Nutrients From Point and Nonpoint Sources in the Patuxent River Watershed1

Abstract: We present a simple modular landscape simulation model that is based on a watershed modeling framework in which different sets of processes occurring in a watershed can be simulated separately with different models. The model consists of three loosely coupled submodels: a rainfall‐runoff model (TOPMODEL) for runoff generation in a subwatershed, a nutrient model for estimation of nutrients from nonpoint sources in a subwatershed, and a stream network model for integration of point and nonpoint sources in the routing process. The model performance was evaluated using monitoring data in the watershed of the Patuxent River, a tributary to the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, from July 1997 through August 1999. Despite its simplicity, the landscape model predictions of streamflow, and sediment and nutrient loads were as good as or better than those of the Hydrological Simulation Program‐Fortran model, one of the most widely used comprehensive watershed models. The landscape model was applied to predict discharges of water, sediment, silicate, organic carbon, nitrate, ammonium, organic nitrogen, total nitrogen, organic phosphorus, phosphate, and total phosphorus from the Patuxent watershed to its estuary. The predicted annual water discharge to the estuary was very close to the measured annual total in terms of percent errors for both years of the study period (≤2%). The model predictions for loads of nutrients were also good (20‐30%) or very good (<20%) with exceptions of sediment (40%), phosphate (36%), and organic carbon (53%) for Year 1.     

Human Instability in Flood Flows1

Abstract: Loss of human stability in flood flows and consequent drowning are a high personal hazard. In this paper, we review past experimental work on human instability. The results of new experiments by the Flood Hazard Research Centre (FHRC) are also reported. These new results show that low depth/high velocity flood waters are more dangerous than suggested based on previous experimental work. It is discussed how human instability can be related to two physical mechanisms: moment instability (toppling) and friction instability (sliding). Comparison of the test results with these physical mechanisms suggests that the occurrence of instability in the tests by FHRC is related to friction instability. This mechanism appears to occur earlier than moment instability for the combination of shallow depth and high flow velocity. Those concerned to identify locations where high flood flows could be a threat to human life need to modify their hazard assessments accordingly.     

Generation of Monthly Precipitation Under Climate Change for the Upper Blue Nile River Basin,Ethiopia1

Abstract: This work develops a methodology to project the future precipitation in large river basins under limited data and climate change while preserving the historical temporal and spatial characteristics. The computationally simple and reliable conditional generation method (CGM) is presented and applied to generate reliable monthly precipitation data in the upper Blue Nile River Basin of Ethiopia where rain‐fed agriculture is prevalent. The results showed that the temporal analysis with the CGM performs better to reproduce the historical long‐term characteristics than other methods, and the spatial analysis with the CGM reproduced the historical spatial structure accurately. A 100‐year time series analysis using the outcomes of the six general circulation models showed that precipitation changes by the 2050s (2040 through 2069) can be ?7 to 28% with a mean increase of about 11%. The seasonal results showed increasing wet conditions in all seasons with changes of mean precipitation of 5, 47, and 6% for wet, dry, and mild seasons, respectively.