Monitoring Regional Riparian Forest Cover Change Using Stratified Sampling and Multiresolution Imagery1

Claggett, Peter R., Judy A. Okay, and Stephen V. Stehman, 2010. Monitoring Regional Riparian Forest Cover Change Using Stratified Sampling and Multiresolution Imagery. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 46(2):334-343. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00424.x Abstract: The Chesapeake Bay watershed encompasses 165,760 km² of land area with 464,098 km of rivers and streams. As part of the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort, state and federal partners have committed to restoring 26,000 miles (41,843 km) of riparian forest buffers. Monitoring trends in riparian forest buffers over large areas is necessary to evaluate the efficacy of these restoration efforts. A sampling approach for estimating change in riparian forest cover from 1993/1994 to 2005 was developed and implemented in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, to exemplify a method that could be applied throughout the Bay watershed. All stream reaches in the county were stratified using forest cover change derived from Landsat imagery. A stratified random sample of 219 reaches was selected and forest cover change within the riparian buffer of each sampled reach was interpreted from high-resolution aerial photography. The estimated footprint of gross change in riparian forest cover (i.e., the sum of gross gain and gross loss) for the county was 1.83% (SE = 0.22%). Stratified sampling taking advantage of a priori knowledge of locations of change proved to be a practical and efficient protocol for estimating riparian forest buffer change at the county scale and the protocol would readily extend to much broader scale monitoring.     

Distribution and ecological risk of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in sediments from the Mediterranean coastal environment of Egypt

Organochlorine contamination in the Mediterranean coastal environment of Egypt was assessed based on 26 surface sediments samples collected from several locations on the Egyptian coast, including harbors, coastal lakes, bays, and estuaries. The distribution and potential ecological risk of contaminants is described. Organochlorine compounds (OCs) were widely distributed in the coastal environment of Egypt. Concentrations of PCBs, DDTs, and chloropyrifos ranged from 0.29 to 377 ng g⁻¹ dw, 0.07 to 81.5 ng g⁻¹ dw, and below the detection limit (DL) to 288 ng g⁻¹ dw, respectively. Other organochlorinated pesticides (OCP) studied were 1–2 orders of magnitude lower. OCP and PCBs had higher concentrations at Burullus Lake, Abu Qir Bay, Alexandria Eastern Harbor, and El Max Bay compared to other sites. OCP and PCB contamination is higher in the vicinity of possible input sources such as shipping, industrial activities and urban areas. PCB congener profiles indicated they were derived from more than one commercially available mixture. The ratios of commercial chlordane and heptachlor metabolites indicate historical usage; however, DDT and HCHs inputs at several locations appear to be from recent usage. The concentrations of PCBs and DDTs are similar to those observed in sediments from coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea. Ecotoxicological risk from DDTs and PCBs is greatest in Abu Qir Bay, Alexandria Harbor, and El-Max Bay.     

Smokeless Stacks—Industry’s Big Problem

There seems to be a general impression on the part of the public and many technical people that dust collecting systems on the open hearth furnace are simply a matter of giving a contract for a duplicate system to that previously installed; signing a check for a sum to cover the cost of the cleaning equipment itself, pressing the start-up button and then sitting back to receive the plaudits of a grateful community. This paper will briefly present some of the problems common to all of the installations to date. It will also explain why the cost of the cleaning equipment itself is such a small portion of the total cost.     

The Effect of Building Fan Operation on Indoor-Outdoor Dust Relationships

As part of an energy conservation program recently implemented by the Bell System, fans in many telephone equipment buildings now operate only when necessary to bring the temperature within allowable limits, rather than continuously. In the study reported here the effects of fan operation on indoor-outdoor dust relationships were monitored at 2 representative telephone offices. Automatic dichotomous samplers were used to collect fine and coarse aerosol particles inside telephone equipment buildings at Wichita, KS and Lubbock, TX. At both sites, outdoor samples (roof top) were collected at the same time as the indoor samples. During the tests the building fans were repetitively cycled between 2-week intervals of continuous fan operation and 2-week intervals of intermittent fan operation. The indoor dust concentrations typically increased when the fans were off. The results indicate that this increase was due to loss of constant filtration, but not due to loss of building pressurlzation (i.e., filtration of the recirculated air is largely responsible for the lower dust levels when the fans are running continuously). An expression is derived for the relative dust increase when the building fans are switched off. Among other factors, the relative increase is directly proportional to the efficiency of the building filters and to the rate at which air is recirculated through them. The present findings can be extended to similar buildings.     

Environmental Auditing—A Timely and Effective Tool

The requirements of environmental regulations imposed on industry are complex and expensive. As these regulations have developed, corporate compliance programs have had to become more sophisticated. For many, this means that an environmental auditing program is now timely (or overdue) for organizing their approach to meeting the constraints of these regulations. Contributing to this timeliness is a renewed emphasis by regulators on enforcement activities. This paper discusses what environmental auditing is and what it consists of, gives examples from a few approaches which are currently being used, and reviews some of its benefits and liabilities.     

Intermittent agitation of liquid manure: effects on methane,microbial activity,and temperature in a farm-scale study

Liquid manure storages are a significant source of methane (CH₄) emissions. Farmers commonly agitate (stir) liquid manure prior to field application to homogenize nutrients and solids. During agitation, manure undergoes mechanical stress and is exposed to the air, disrupting anaerobic conditions. This on-farm study aimed to better understand the effects of agitation on CH₄ emissions, and explore the potential for intentional agitation (three times) to disrupt the exponential increase of CH₄ emissions in spring and summer. Results showed that agitation substantially increased manure temperature in the study year compared to the previous year, particularly at upper- and mid-depths of the stored manure. The temporal pattern of CH₄ emissions was altered by reduced emissions over the subsequent week, followed by an increase during the second week. Microbial analysis indicated that the activity of archaea and methanogens increased after each agitation event, but there was little change in the populations of methanogens, archaea, and bacteria. Overall, CH₄ emissions were higher than any of the previous three years, likely due to warmer manure temperatures that were higher than the previous years (despite similar air temperatures). Therefore, intermittent manure agitation with the frequency, duration, and intensity used in this study is not recommended as a CH₄ emission mitigation practice.

Implications: The potential to mitigate methane emissions from liquid manure storages by strategically timed agitation was evaluated in a detailed farm-scale study. Agitation was conducted with readily-available farm equipment, and targeted at the early summer to disrupt methanogenic communities when CH₄ emissions increase exponentially. Methane emissions were reduced for about one week after agitation. However, agitation led to increased manure temperature, and was associated with increased activity of methanogens. Overall, agitation was associated with similar or higher methane emissions. Therefore, agitation is not recommended as a mitigation strategy.     

Effect of fresh green waste and green waste compost on mineral nitrogen, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide from a Vertisol

Incorporation of organic waste amendments to a horticultural soil, prior to expected risk periods, could immobilise mineral N, ultimately reducing nitrogen (N) losses as nitrous oxide (N₂O) and leaching. Two organic waste amendments were selected, a fresh green waste (FGW) and green waste compost (GWC) as they had suitable biochemical attributes to initiate N immobilisation into the microbial biomass and organic N forms. These characteristics include a high C:N ratio (FGW 44:1, GWC 35:1), low total N (<1%), and high lignin content (>14%). Both products were applied at 3 t C/ha to a high N (plus N fertiliser) or low N (no fertiliser addition) Vertisol soil in PVC columns. Cumulative N₂O production over the 28 day incubation from the control soil was 1.5 mg/N₂O/m², and 11 mg/N₂O/m² from the control + N. The N₂O emission decreased with GWC addition (P < 0.05) for the high N soil, reducing cumulative N₂O emissions by 38% by the conclusion of the incubation. Analysis of mineral N concentrations at 7, 14 and 28 days identified that both FGW and GWC induced microbial immobilisation of N in the first 7 days of incubation regardless of whether the soil environment was initially high or low in N; with the FGW immobilising up to 30% of available N. It is likely that the reduced mineral N due to N immobilisation led to a reduced substrate for N₂O production during the first week of the trial, when soil N₂O emissions peaked. An additional finding was that FGW + N did not decrease cumulative N₂O emissions compared to the control + N, potentially due to the fact that it stimulated microbial respiration resulting in anaerobic micro sites in the soil and ultimately N₂O production via denitrification. Therefore, both materials could be used as post harvest amendments in horticulture to minimise N loss through nitrate-N leaching in the risk periods between crop rotations. The mature GWC has potential to reduce N₂O, an important greenhouse gas.     

The problem of estimating recent genetic connectivity in a changing world

Accurate understanding of population connectivity is important to conservation because dispersal can play an important role in population dynamics, microevolution, and assessments of extirpation risk and population rescue. Genetic methods are increasingly used to infer population connectivity because advances in technology have made them more advantageous (e.g., cost effective) relative to ecological methods. Given the reductions in wildlife population connectivity since the Industrial Revolution and more recent drastic reductions from habitat loss, it is important to know the accuracy of and biases in genetic connectivity estimators when connectivity has declined recently. Using simulated data, we investigated the accuracy and bias of 2 common estimators of migration (movement of individuals among populations) rate. We focused on the timing of the connectivity change and the magnitude of that change on the estimates of migration by using a coalescent‐based method (Migrate‐n) and a disequilibrium‐based method (BayesAss). Contrary to expectations, when historically high connectivity had declined recently: (i) both methods over‐estimated recent migration rates; (ii) the coalescent‐based method (Migrate‐n) provided better estimates of recent migration rate than the disequilibrium‐based method (BayesAss); (iii) the coalescent‐based method did not accurately reflect long‐term genetic connectivity. Overall, our results highlight the problems with comparing coalescent and disequilibrium estimates to make inferences about the effects of recent landscape change on genetic connectivity among populations. We found that contrasting these 2 estimates to make inferences about genetic‐connectivity changes over time could lead to inaccurate conclusions.     

Bacterial source tracking guides management of boat head waste in a coastal resort area

Fecal contamination of water bodies causes a public health problem and economic loss. To control such contamination management actions need to be guided by sound science. From 2007–2009 a study was undertaken to determine the sources of fecal bacteria contamination to the marine waters adjoining the Town of Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, USA. The research effort included sampling for fecal coliform and Enterococcus bacteria, sampling for optical brighteners, dye studies, and use of molecular bacterial source tracking techniques including polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and terminal restriction fragment polymorphism (T-RFLP) fingerprinting of the Bacteroides–Prevotella group. Of the 96 samples collected from nine locations during the study, the water contact standard for Enterococcus was exceeded on 13 occasions. The T-RFLP fingerprint analyses demonstrated that the most widespread source of fecal contamination was human, occurring in 38% of the samples, with secondary ruminant and avian sources also detected. Optical brightener concentrations were low, reflecting a lack of sewage line leakage or spills. A lack of sewer leaks and lack of septic systems in the town pointed toward discharge from boat heads into the marine waters as the major cause of fecal contamination; this was supported by dye studies. Based on these data, the Town initiated action to have the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declare the coastal waters (out to 3 nautical miles), the nearby Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and its tributaries a no-discharge zone (NDZ) to alleviate the human fecal pollution. The Town garnered supporting resolutions from other local communities who jointly petitioned the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources. This State regulatory agency supported the local government resolutions and sent an application for an NDZ to the EPA in April 2009. The EPA concurred, and in February 2010 the coastal waters of New Hanover County, NC, became the first marine area on the U.S. eastern seaboard between Delaware and the Florida Keys to be declared a no-discharge zone.     

Millennial‐Length Records of Streamflow From Three Major Upper Colorado River Tributaries1

Gray, Stephen T., Jeffrey J. Lukas, and Connie A. Woodhouse, 2011. Millennial‐Length Records of Streamflow From Three Major Upper Colorado River Tributaries. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(4):702‐712. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00535.x Abstract: Drought, climate change, and shifting consumptive use are prompting a widespread reassessment of water availability in the Upper Colorado River basin. Here, we present millennial‐length records of water year (October‐September) streamflow for key Upper Colorado tributaries: the White, Yampa, and Little Snake Rivers. Based on tree rings, these records represent the first paleohydrological reconstructions from these subbasins to overlap with a series of Medieval droughts (∼ad 800 to 1300). The reconstructions show marked interannual variability imbedded in nonstationary behavior over decadal to multidecadal time scales. These reconstructions suggest that, even in a millennial context, gaged flows from a handful of years (e.g., 1977 and 2002) were extremely dry. However, droughts of much greater duration and magnitude than any in the instrumental record were regular features prior to 1900. Likewise these reconstructions point to the unusual wetness of the gage period, and the potential for recent observations to paint an overly optimistic picture of regional water supplies. The future of the Upper Colorado River will be determined by a combination of inherent hydroclimatic variability and a broad range of human‐induced changes. It is then essential that regional water managers, water users, and policy makers alike consider a broader range of hydroclimatic scenarios than is offered by the gage record alone.