GROUND WATER QUALITY IMPLICATIONS OF SOIL CONSERVATION MEASURES: AN ECONOMIC PERSPECTWE1

ABSTRACT: An evaluation of the intermedia movement of pesticides applied under various land management systems already in place, or to be implemented, under the Conservation Reserve and Conservation Compliance programs is presented. The simulation modeling approach followed in this analysis consists of a mathematical programming model and leaching/surface runoff, Pesticide Root Zone Model (PRZM) models. Special care was taken to ensure that the physical model was sensitive to the chemical characteristics of individual pesticides and the important physical changes brought about by different agricultural practices. Results show that, although these programs as now planned, increase farm income and achieve soil conservation goals, they may adversely affect ground water quality. Also, depending on soil and location characteristics, there are tradeoffs between surface and ground water quality implications. Hence, if these programs are to address water quality problems, the recommended practices must be evaluated for their impact on water quality, particularly in potentially vulnerable areas.     

Cumulative Effects Assessment on the Middle Humber: Barriers Overcome,Benefits Derived

Legislative changes under European Union Directive 97/11/EEC require environmental assessment to have regard to the effects resulting from “cumulation with other projects”. This is a special case of cumulative effects assessment (CEA). Such an assessment has been carried out on the Humber estuary, where the likely effects of several major concurrent developments were examined and assessed in a collaborative exercise by the developers involved, in order to obtain necessary consents from various authorities. Developers, statutory consultees, local authorities and other consenting authorities were questioned to ascertain satisfaction with this CEA process and to gain insight into how easily the approach may be applied elsewhere, as well as the value of such work in identifying desirable mitigation and monitoring. In this example, a number of theoretical barriers to CEA have been avoided or overcome; these are examined and the benefits of the collaborative effort are explored.     

FARM INCOME AND GROUND WATER QUALITY IMPLICATIONS FROM REDUCING SURFACE WATER SEDIMENT DELWERIES1

ABSTRACT: The potential surface water and ground water quality tradeoff implications from the nonpoint source provisions of the 1987 Water Quality Act are investigated in this paper using a national linear programming model developed at Iowa State University and modified by the Economic Research Service and the Leaching Evaluation of Agricultural Chemicals (LEACH) Handbook developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The linear programming model is used to maximize net farm revenue using optimal combinations of crop rotations and tillage practices for each region of the United States given natural resource constraints. The LEACH handbook is used to determine the relative potential for pesticides to leach below the root zone for different soil types, hydrologic conditions, pesticides used, and tillage practices. The results indicate that imposing a surface water quality erosion constraint aimed at reducing sediment concentrations results in a larger decrease in farm income than imposing a uniform 5 ton per acre per year erosion constraint. Both constraints could result in regional improvement in ground water quality in some regions of the country while decreasing ground water quality in other regions.     

Nest platforms increase aggressive behavior in common loons

Artificial manipulations of habitat, such as those that incorporate adding nesting boxes or platforms for birds, often enhance the breeding success of threatened animals. However, such alterations are likely to have unintended behavioral and ecological effects that might negatively impact the target species or others in its community. We conducted a controlled study to investigate the effect of artificial nesting platforms on aggressive behavior and reproductive success of male common loons (Gavia immer). Males residing on territories to which platforms were added produced longer territorial "yodels" (reflecting willingness to escalate a contest), experienced increased levels of confrontation and aggression with territorial intruders, and experienced increased rates of territorial displacement by intruders. Surprisingly, males of treatment territories also experienced lower productivity. Therefore, in addition to providing novel empirical support of sequential assessment models of animal contests that predict contest escalation with increasing resource quality, this study is one of a few to show that tools used to mitigate habitat loss can negatively impact reproductive fitness in a threatened species.     

Correlates of extra-pair fertilization success in hooded warblers

We examined correlates of extra-pair fertilization (EPF) success in the hooded warbler (Wilsonia citrina), a species where females pursue extra-pair matings. The good genes hypothesis predicts that females choose extra-pair mates with morphological or behavioral traits that reflect differences in male genetic quality. EPFs were common, as 35.3% (42/119) of broods contained extra-pair young (EPY) and 26.7% (95/356) of nestlings were the result of EPFs. There was a strong skew in male EPF success which increased the variance in annual male mating success 2–3 fold. However, male morphology did not predict EPF success, as extra-pair males were not older or larger than the males they cuckolded. Likewise, there were no significant correlations between the proportion of extra-pair young in a brood and male size or age. The good genes hypothesis predicts that high-quality males will be consistently preferred as genetic mates, but the number of young sired by a male with his social mate was not consistent from one year to the next. There was a significant negative correlation between female age and proportion of EPY produced, which could result if older females obtain higher-quality social mates. We found no strong evidence that females choose extra-pair mates for good genes, but females may use behavioral rather than morphological cues to assess relative male quality. Received: 31 May 1996 / Accepted after revision: 17 October 1996