Micromorphology and chemistry of airborne particles in Brussels during agriculture working periods in surrounding region

The main objective of our research was to compare the airborne particle micromorphology and chemistry in the Brussels environment during agriculture working periods in the surrounding farming region. We used specific methods and instrumentation that are adapted to the climate peculiarities of the Brussels region, the period of investigations (12 months) and the proposed objectives. For the agricultural works we defined the following six periods: before sowing, sowing, after sowing, before harvest, harvest and after harvest. The results indicate a possible temporal correlation between agricultural work periods and airborne particle concentration, micromorphology and chemistry in the Brabant-Brussels region. For wheat and corn plant-growth periods, the average particle size, defined as the area obtained by a planar projection of the particulate, showed important variations in time. For sugar beet and endive, the average area size variations are less important. The roughness and sphericity parameters for the growth periods of the four different plants also showed significant differences. Many of the larger particulates (> 10 microm) are aggregates of even finer particles coated with many still finer ones. The airborne particle chemistry averages (atomic percentage At%), showed that three constituents (Si, S and Fe) dominate all the samples (except for particles 3-10 microm in size, which contain a relatively large percentage of Al). Applying similar investigation methods to study the correlations between airborne particle dynamics in urban zones and the agriculture working periods in their surrounding regions could be of interest to better understand the complexity of the PM problematic.     

Effects of golpar (<Emphasis Type=Italic>Heracleum persicum</Emphasis> Desf.) and probiotics in drinking water on performance,carcass characteristics,organ weights,blood plasma constituents,and immunity of broilers

Increasing levels of Heracleum persicum (golpar) in drinking water were studied in broilers. Two hundred and forty-one-day-old male chickens were allocated to one of six treatments: control, without added phytogenics nor probiotics in drinking water, and probiotics at recommended manufacturer’s level (P) or 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 ml/l of golpar extract solution (G1, G1.5, G2, and G2.5 treatments, respectively) in drinking water. As a result of this study, no linear or quadratic trends in the feed intake (FI) and feed conversion rate (FCR) due to golpar supplementation were found. Body weight gain, final body weight, and relative carcass weight showed a positive linear response with increasing levels of golpar supplementation. Neither golpar nor probiotics had effects on the percentages of edible parts of the carcass. Golpar supplementation levels caused a linear negative response of the albumin content in blood plasma, whereas both abdominal fat as percentage of carcass weight and uric acid levels in blood plasma linearly increased. The effects on Ig responses were only observed at 42 days of age and were similar in probiotics and the highest level of golpar supplementation. Based on our results, both probiotics and golpar supplementation could improve broiler performance and immune function.     

Landform Classification for Land Use Planning in Developed Areas: An Example in Segovia Province (Central Spain)

Landform-based physiographic maps, also called land systems inventories, have been widely and successfully used in undeveloped/rural areas in several locations, such as Australia, the western United States, Canada, and the British ex-colonies. This paper presents a case study of their application in a developed semi-urban/suburban area (Segovia, Spain) for land use planning purposes. The paper focuses in the information transfer process, showing how land use decision-makers, such as governments, planners, town managers, etc., can use the information developed from these maps to assist them. The paper also addresses several issues important to the development and use of this information, such as the goals of modern physiography, the types of landform-based mapping products, the problem of data management in developed areas, and the distinctions among data, interpretations, and decisions.     

Choosing policy instruments for controlling ozone depleting substances in a developing context: the case of Chile

Chile ratified the Montreal Protocol in 1990 which sets out an agenda for the reduction and then elimination of ozone depleting substances (ODS); however, by 1998 the country had not yet defined a strategy to encourage greater compliance, so that in the same year the National Environmental Commission decided to examine the policy options available. This paper examines the process followed to develop this strategy. As a first step it was necessary to look at how far the implicit policy of "business as usual" could be stretched without jeopardizing Chile's compliance obligations. A second step included quantifying compliance costs and their impact on different policy instruments and so policy choice. Finally, the attitudes of decision-makers or participants were identified, by interviews with officials of the different public agents involved, in order to weigh their views about policy. A strategy was proposed, based on this information, which the Chilean regulator has used, although not in its entirety. The methodology developed could well be useful for developing-country Protocol signatories building their own appropriate compliance strategy.     

An Ecological Integrity Index for Littoral Wetlands in Agricultural Catchments of Semiarid Mediterranean Regions

The main goal of the present study was to develop an ecological integrity index for littoral wetland management and conservation in semiarid Mediterranean areas that have been highly impacted by agriculture, including the selection of pressure and state indicators at landscape and wetlands scales that reflect the status, condition, and trends of wetlands ecosystems. We used a causality framework based on the relationship between pressure of anthropogenic activities and the ecological state of wetlands and their catchments, integrating environmental, biologic, economic, and social issues. From the application of 51 indicators in 7 littoral wetlands in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula, we selected 12 indicators (5 at catchment scale and 7 at wetland scale) to constitute the ecological integrity index proposed. The potential nitrogen export per area at catchment scale and the potential relative nitrogen export from the area surrounding the wetlands were the best pressure single predictors of state indicators with a causal relationship with environmental meaning. Wetlands in catchments with more agriculture had less ecological integrity than those in less impacted areas. A wide riparian zone in some wetlands acts as a buffer area, diminishing the effects of intensive agriculture. The index of ecological integrity developed here has a number of essential characteristics that make it a useful tool for ecosystem managers and decision-makers. The index can be used to (1) assess and control ecological integrity, (2) diagnose probable causes of ecological impairment, (3) establish criteria for protecting and restoring wetland ecosystems, and (4) integrate catchment management. Published online     

Simulating urban waste compost effects on carbon and nitrogen dynamics using a biochemical index

Composting has emerged as a valuable route for the disposal of urban waste, with the prospect of applying composts on arable fields as organic amendments. Proper management of urban waste composts (UWCs) requires a capacity to predict their effects on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in the field, an issue in which simulation models are expected to play a prominent role. However, the parameterization of soil organic amendments within such models generally requires laboratory incubation data. Here, we evaluated the benefit of using a biochemical index based on Van Soest organic matter fractions to parameterize a deterministic model of soil C and N dynamics, NCSOIL, as compared with a standard alternative based on laboratory incubation data. The data included C mineralization and inorganic N dynamics in samples of a silt loam soil (Typic Hapludalf) mixed with various types of UWC and farmyard manure. NCSOIL successfully predicted the various nitrogen mineralization-immobilization patterns observed, but underestimated CO(2) release by 10 to 30% with the less stable amendments. The parameterization based on the biochemical index achieved a prediction error significantly larger than the standard parameterization in only 10% of the tested cases, and provided an acceptable fit to experimental data. The decomposition rates and C to N ratios of compost organic matter varied chiefly according to the type of waste processed. However, 62 to 66% of their variance could be explained by the biochemical index. We thus suggest using the latter to parameterize organic amendments in C and N models as a substitute for time-consuming laboratory incubations.     

Preferential bromide and pesticide movement to tile drains under different cropping practices

Subsurface drainage systems are useful tools to study chemical leaching in soils. Our objective was to compare the breakthrough behavior of bromide, atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine) and metolachlor [2-chloro-N-(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl)-N-(2-methoxy-1-methylethyl) acetamid] to tile drains under two fall tillage practices (conventional tillage [CT] with a moldboard plow, and reduced tillage [RT] with a chisel plow) in field plots cultivated with corn (Zea mays L.). Leachate volume were greater in RT than in CT, with no statistical differences. Soil analysis showed that bromide migrated deeper in the soil profile than both herbicides, with little tillage effect. All chemicals were detected in drainage water at the same time and followed an event-driven behavior. Tillage had no effect on atrazine and metolachlor found in drainage water, while bromide concentration peaks were higher in RT than in CT in 1999. Concentration peaks were recorded earlier for atrazine and metolachlor than for bromide. Plots of cumulative relative chemical mass (cumulative mass divided by total mass measured in drainage) as a function of cumulative drainage were mostly linear for bromide, while they were S-shaped for both herbicides. Drainage that corresponded to 50% of relative cumulative mass ranged from 40 to 55% for bromide and from 5 to 28% for both herbicides. Rapid chemical movement to tile drains suggested that preferential flow was important in both CT and RT, and that these tillage practices had little influence on this phenomena.     

The integrated project AquaTerra of the EU sixth framework lays foundations for better understanding of river-sediment-soil-groundwater systems

The integrated project "AquaTerra" with the full title "integrated modeling of the river-sediment-soil-groundwater system; advanced tools for the management of catchment areas and river basins in the context of global change" is among the first environmental projects within the sixth Framework Program of the European Union. Commencing in June 2004, it brought together a multidisciplinary team of 45 partner organizations from 12 EU countries, Romania, Switzerland, Serbia and Montenegro. AquaTerra is an ambitious project with the primary objective of laying the foundations for a better understanding of the behavior of environmental pollutants and their fluxes in the soil-sediment-water system with respect to climate and land use changes. The project performs research as well as modeling on river-sediment-soil-groundwater systems through quantification of deposition, sorption and turnover rates and the development of numerical models to reveal fluxes and trends in soil and sediment functioning. Scales ranging from the laboratory to river basins are addressed with the potential to provide improved river basin management, enhanced soil and groundwater monitoring as well as the early identification and forecasting of impacts on water quantity and quality. Study areas are the catchments of the Ebro, Meuse, Elbe and Danube Rivers and the Brévilles Spring. Here we outline the general structure of the project and the activities conducted within eleven existing sub-projects of AquaTerra.     

Use of beryllium-7 to document soil redistribution following forest harvest operations

Rapid and reliable methods for documenting soil erosion associated with forest harvest operations are needed to support the development of best management practices for soil and water conservation. To address this need, the potential for using 7Be measurements to estimate patterns and amounts of soil redistribution associated with individual post-harvest events was explored. The 7Be technique, which was originally developed for use on agricultural land, was employed to estimate soil redistribution associated with a period of heavy rainfall within a harvested forest area located in the Lake Region of Chile (39 degrees 44'7' S, 73 degrees 10'39' W; 22% slope; and mean annual rainfall 2300 mm yr(-1)). The results provided by the 7Be technique were validated against direct measurements of soil gain or loss during the same period obtained using erosion pins. The information produced by the two approaches was similar. The results of this study demonstrate the potential for using 7Be measurements to document event-based erosion in recently harvested forest areas.