Human Diets and Animal Welfare: the Illogic of the Larder

Few moral arguments have been made against vegetarian diets. One exception is the “Logic of the Larder:” We do animals a favor by purchasing their meat, eggs, and milk, for if we did not purchase these products, fewer animals would exist. This argument fails because many farm animals have lives that are probably not worth living, while others prevent a significant number of wild animals from existing. Even if this were not so, the purchase of animal products uses resources that could otherwise be used to bring a much greater number of animals into existence.     

Tillage erosion and its effect on soil properties and crop yield in Denmark

Tillage erosion had been identified as a major process of soil redistribution on sloping arable land. The objectives of our study were to investigate the extent of tillage erosion and its effect on soil quality and productivity under Danish conditions. Soil samples were collected to a 0.45-m depth on a regular grid from a 1.9-ha site and analyzed for 137Cs inventories, as a measure of soil redistribution, soil texture, soil organic carbon (SOC) contents, and phosphorus (P) contents. Grain yield was determined at the same sampling points. Substantial soil redistribution had occurred during the past decades, mainly due to tillage. Average tillage erosion rates of 2.7 kg m(-2) yr(-1) occurred on the shoulderslopes, while deposition amounted to 1.2 kg m(-2) yr(-1) on foot- and toeslopes. The pattern of soil redistribution could not be explained by water erosion. Soil organic carbon and P contents in soil profiles increased from the shoulder- toward the toeslopes. Tillage translocation rates were strongly correlated with SOC contents, A-horizon depth, and P contents. Thus, tillage erosion had led to truncated soils on shoulderslopes and deep, colluvial soils on the foot- and toeslopes, substantially affecting within-field variability of soil properties. We concluded that tillage erosion has important implications for SOC dynamics on hummocky land and increases the risk for nutrient losses by overland flow and leaching. Despite the occurrence of deep soils across the study area, evidence suggested that crop productivity was affected by tillage-induced soil redistribution. However, tillage erosion effects on crop yield were confounded by topography-yield relationships.     

Sustainable land application: an overview

Man has land-applied societal nonhazardous wastes for centuries as a means of disposal and to improve the soil via the recycling of nutrients and the addition of organic matter. Nonhazardous wastes include a vast array of materials, including manures, biosolids, composts, wastewater effluents, food-processing wastes, industrial by-products; these are collectively referred to herein as residuals. Because of economic restraints and environmental concerns about land-filling and incineration, interest in land application continues to grow. A major lesson that has been learned, however, is that the traditional definition of land application that emphasizes applying residuals to land in a manner that protects human and animal health, safeguards soil and water resources, and maintains long-term ecosystem quality is incomplete unless the earning of public trust in the practices is included. This overview provides an introduction to a subset of papers and posters presented at the conference, "Sustainable Land Application," held in Orlando, FL, in January 2004. The USEPA, USDA, and multiple national and state organizations with interest in, and/or responsibilities for, ensuring the sustainability of the practice sponsored the conference. The overriding conference objectives were to highlight significant developments in land treatment theory and practice, and to identify future research needs to address critical gaps in the knowledge base that must be addressed to ensure sustainable land application of residuals.     

The effect of Na and Ca salts on MSWI bottom ash activation for reuse as a pozzolanic admixture

In this study the possibility of both chemical and combined chemical + thermal activation of municipal solid waste incinerator bottom ash was investigated. A number of chemical activators including Na₂SiO₃·9H₂O, NaOH, Na₂SO₄ and CaCl₂·2H₂O were individually added at varying concentrations to bottom ash/Portland cement mixtures having different bottom ash contents. The effect of the selected compounds was evaluated in terms of macroscopic properties including mechanical strength and composition of cementitious materials/water slurries. The results showed that Na-based activators were not capable of improving the characteristics of the cementitious products if compared to Portland cement under both normal and accelerated curing. Conversely, the use of calcium chloride at 40 °C-curing did promote the pozzolanic properties of bottom ash, leading to UCS values of 45.5 and 60.0 MPa after 10 and 20 days, respectively, as opposed to a value of 43.6 MPa obtained after 28 days for Portland cement under normal curing conditions.     

Green roof stormwater retention: effects of roof surface, slope, and media depth

Urban areas generate considerably more stormwater runoff than natural areas of the same size due to a greater percentage of impervious surfaces that impede water infiltration. Roof surfaces account for a large portion of this impervious cover. Establishing vegetation on rooftops, known as green roofs, is one method of recovering lost green space that can aid in mitigating stormwater runoff. Two studies were performed using several roof platforms to quantify the effects of various treatments on stormwater retention. The first study used three different roof surface treatments to quantify differences in stormwater retention of a standard commercial roof with gravel ballast, an extensive green roof system without vegetation, and a typical extensive green roof with vegetation. Overall, mean percent rainfall retention ranged from 48.7% (gravel) to 82.8% (vegetated). The second study tested the influence of roof slope (2 and 6.5%) and green roof media depth (2.5, 4.0, and 6.0 cm) on stormwater retention. For all combined rain events, platforms at 2% slope with a 4-cm media depth had the greatest mean retention, 87%, although the difference from the other treatments was minimal. The combination of reduced slope and deeper media clearly reduced the total quantity of runoff. For both studies, vegetated green roof systems not only reduced the amount of stormwater runoff, they also extended its duration over a period of time beyond the actual rain event.     

Behavioral aspects of sperm competition in cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis (Sepioidea: Cephalopoda)

Sexual selection studies in cephalopods indicate that sperm competition is a central feature of their mating systems, yet this has not been studied experimentally in any detail. In 1998 we staged 20 matings of the cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis L., in the laboratory. Males rapidly initiated mating in the “head-to-head” position, with no apparent courtship. Mating lasted an average of 10 min (range 7 to 14 min). For the first 6 min (on average 63% of the mating duration), the male flushed strong jets of water directly at the female's buccal membrane, which sometimes resulted in the expulsion of parts of spermatangia placed there in recent matings. Then, in a single discrete movement that lasted an average of only 14 s, the male's modified fourth left arm – the hectocotylus – wrapped around a single large bundle of spermatophores (ca. 150 to 300) and transferred them to the female's buccal membrane. For the remainder of the mating (average 3 min, range 1.5 to 5.0 min), the hectocotylus repeatedly broke the spermatophores open, and manipulated them, so that sperm were released and many spermatangia were attached along the ventral buccal membrane, near the paired seminal receptacles. Approximately 140 spermatangia were attached in rows 3 to 5 deep around the ventral buccal membrane in a single mating; the rest were usually discarded during mating. Histology revealed that each of the seminal receptacles consists of a series of sperm storage bulbs connected by a central duct, which leads to a single pore at the surface of the buccal membrane. Baseline data on sperm motility were obtained, but the mechanism by which sperm enter the seminal receptacle remains unknown. Females seemed to initiate termination of mating, then males guarded their mates temporarily. These results, combined with other recent laboratory experiments, provide evidence that sperm competition may be a major feature of the mating system of S. officinalis. Received: 4 January 1999 / Accepted: 18 May 1999     

Ammonia emission from grassland and livestock production systems in the UK

Emissions of ammonia were measured from livestock excreta and fertilisers applied to grass swards, from grazed paddocks, from decomposing grass herbage and from an animal house containing dairy cows. Emissions from urine, dung, slurry and fertilisers were determined using a system of wind tunnels with each tunnel covering an area of 1 m(2). Emissions from grazed swards were determined using a micrometeorological mass balance method. From the results of these measurements, together with other published information, an inventory for ammonia emissions has been calculated for grassland and livestock production systems over the UK as a whole. It is estimated that emissions from grassland and cattle and sheep production amount to about 230 kt NH(3)-N annually, while emissions from pig and poultry production amount to about 40 kt and 80 kt NH(3)-N, respectively.     

The fate of metal contaminated sediments in Foundry Cove, New York

The distribution of heavy metal contaminated sediments in Foundry Cove, a freshwater embayment of the Hudson River, was examined twelve years after the discharging of wastes from a battery factory had ceased. Concentrations of Cd, Ni and Co were measured in surficial sediments (top 5 cm) and seven detailed depth profiles. Comparison with earlier surveys showed that metal levels of surficial sediments have been considerably reduced throughout the cove. Evidence suggests that this reduction may be largely due to burial rather than transport of metals out of the cove or a redistribution (via sediment resuspension and redeposition) within the cove. This is suggested by the presence of a peak in metal concentrations at a depth of several centimetres in depositional environments, a calculation showing the loss of waterborne cadmium to be much less than the amount of cadmium lost from the surficial sediment, and the absence of increased pollution in the cleaner parts of the cove. Despite improvement, metal levels remain extremely high, including a persistent 'hot-spot' with levels higher than 10 000 ppm Cd.     

Dissolved organic matter fractions formed during composting of winery and distillery residues: evaluation of the process by fluorescence excitation-emission matrix

The aim of the present paper is to assess the maturity degree reached by different samples of several mixtures from winery and distillery residues composted using the Rutgers composting system, by means of excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy. The composts were sampled once a week for about 200d. EEM spectra indicate the presence of different fluorophores. The fluorescence intensities of these peaks show trends related to the maturity of the composting samples selected. The "contour density" of EEM maps is strongly modified through time. We have used the quantitative method of fluorescence regional integration (FRI). The EEMs were delineated into five excitation-emission regions. The degree of compost maturity could be correlated with the percentage of the volumetric integration under the EEM within each region. Further refinement of these techniques should provide a relatively rapid method for assessing the suitability of the compost to soil application.     

Effects of bis(tributyltin)oxide on antipredator behavior in threespine stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus L.

Antipredator behavior was used as a parameter to detect effects caused by exposure to the organotin compound bis(tributyltin)oxide (TBTO). Three groups of threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) were exposed to 3, 9 and 27 ppb TBTO, respectively. A fourth control group was given the same treatment as the other three groups, but no TBTO. Antipredator behavior of the fish was evoked using a dummy heron (Ardea cinerea) bill. TBTO exposure caused significant changes in the spatial position of the fish in the aquarium (P(Loc)), their response to predator attack (P(Res)), recovery time (P(Rec)) and latency time (P(Lat)). Some of the effects were, however, reversible after the exposure was terminated. We suggest that behavior as an indicator of pollution may be used as an ecologically relevant integrative biomarker.