Lessons from Developing Methods to Study the Relationship of Energy and Water Savings to Housing Conditions and Resident Health

Energy- and water-saving have been promoted as ways of saving money while there has been controversy about the effects (if any) of such measures on resident health. In public housing in the US, energy saving has taken the form of Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPC) that pay for renovations out of future savings. In an attempt to test feasibility and pilot research methods we conducted a study of the relationship between gas and water use, exterior heat sensor locations, and basement ventilation with indices developed from resident-reported living conditions and health symptoms in a single housing development. The data sources that we had available to us were not ideal. In particular, we were unable to obtain water use data that coincided in time with our health survey data. Also, we did not have enough surveys in buildings with high water or gas use and had to pool those buildings with other buildings for analysis. Nevertheless, we found several associations between our measures of energy use and resident reports of health symptoms. The associations that we found were generally in the direction that energy and water savings were associated with fewer symptoms and fewer environmental problems. There is a need for studies that obtain better input data but that generally follow the approach we developed.     

Integrated models to support multiobjective ecological restoration decisions

Many objectives motivate ecological restoration, including improving vegetation condition, increasing the range and abundance of threatened species, and improving species richness and diversity. Although models have been used to examine the outcomes of ecological restoration, few researchers have attempted to develop models to account for multiple, potentially competing objectives. We developed a combined state‐and‐transition, species‐distribution model to predict the effects of restoration actions on vegetation condition and extent, bird diversity, and the distribution of several bird species in southeastern Australian woodlands. The actions reflected several management objectives. We then validated the models against an independent data set and investigated how the best management decision might change when objectives were valued differently. We also used model results to identify effective restoration options for vegetation and bird species under a constrained budget. In the examples we evaluated, no one action (improving vegetation condition and extent, increasing bird diversity, or increasing the probability of occurrence for threatened species) provided the best outcome across all objectives. In agricultural lands, the optimal management actions for promoting the occurrence of the Brown Treecreeper (Climacteris picumnus), an iconic threatened species, resulted in little improvement in the extent of the vegetation and a high probability of decreased vegetation condition. This result highlights that the best management action in any situation depends on how much the different objectives are valued. In our example scenario, no management or weed control were most likely to be the best management options to satisfy multiple restoration objectives. Our approach to exploring trade‐offs in management outcomes through integrated modeling and structured decision‐support approaches has wide application for situations in which trade‐offs exist between competing conservation objectives.     

Geophysical and Hydrologic Monitoring of Air Sparging Flow Behavior: Comparison of Two Extreme Sites

The distribution of air around injection wells is an important determinant of the effectiveness, design, and cost of air sparging remediation systems. High-level air sparging field tests were conducted at two sites for the purpose of determining the pattern of airflow under widely different subsurface conditions. One site consisted of relatively homogeneous dune sand (Site A). The other consisted of highly heterogeneous glacial till (Site B). At both sites, cross-borehole electrical resistance tomography (ERT) was used to image the principal region of airflow in the saturated zone. The response of conventional monitoring data was compared with the ERT results. At Site A, the principal region of airflow was approximately symmetric about the sparge well and only 2.4 m in radius. At Site B, the pattern of airflow was much more complex and had a major horizontal component. In both site studies, conventional monitoring data provided a much more ambiguous indication of the region of airflow in the saturated zone than did ERT. The investigations at these two sites demonstrate that, while the exact distribution of injected air is not readily discernible by conventional monitoring, the character of the airflow pattern can be recognized when appropriate physical response data are collected. Such response data can be used to evaluate site suitability for air sparging and to improve the system design and operation.     

Correlation between nectar supply and aggression in territorial honeyeaters: causation or coincidence?

Summary A fundamental prediction of food-based economic models of territoriality is that animals will not defend territories if food is so abundant that defense will not improve access to food. Several studies of nectar-feeding birds support this prediction, with territoriality being rare or absent in years when nectar was particularly abundant. However, these results could potentially be an artefact of changes in bird density with nectar availability, and in at least some cases the correlations between territory defense and nectar availability could be purely coincidental. This paper reports the first experimental test of whether cessation of territory defense in nectar-feeding birds results from a direct response to abundance of nectar. New holland honeyeaters Phylidonyris novaehollandiae and white-cheeked honeyeaters P. nigra show pronounced changes in their levels of territorial aggression over the 7–8 months that they breed. These changes are predictable from economic considerations in that the birds are least aggressive in the months when nectar is extremely abundant. I tested whether the birds were responding to changes in nectar availability by providing sugar-water feeders at neutral locations that were easily accessible to territory holders, but far enough away from territories that intrusion rates were unaffected. I tested for responses at two time scales feeders were put out for 48-h periods in 1987, and were left out continuously from January to October 1988. The only effect was that territory holders visited feeders instead of flowers when floral nectar was scarce. They continued to defend their territories aggressively at those times, showed seasonal changes in aggressiveness similar to birds on a site without feeders, and did not shift their territories toward feeders. I conclude that the observed changes in aggressiveness are not responses to changes in nectar availability, and suggest alternative explanations.     

Transport of Sewage Sludge From the 106-Mile Site - Results From an October Survey

Approximately 8 million tons of sewage sludge were disposed of annually at the 106-Mile Deepwater Municipal Sludge Dump Site (106-Mile Site) between 1987 and 1990. Beginning in 1988 and continuing to the present, the focus of monitoring at the 106-Mile Site moved towards improved understanding of the fate of the sludge. A survey conducted in October 1989 was designed to (1) detect the presence of any sludge particles that settle rapidly following disposal, (2) determine if sludge could be detected in the surface waters at locations away from the immediate disposal site, and (3) determine if water quality was degraded, by assessing whether the Environmental Protection Agency's marine water quality criteria were being exceeded.

The survey showed that the sludge does have a rapidly settling component composed of organic floc. mineral grains, and other heavy, gritlike particles, all of which are relatively large. These particles may settle at rates of between 8 and 180 m h^-1 and may reach the sea floor within 1 to 13 days following disposal. Even though a rapidly settling component is present in the sludge, a significant fraction of the sludge was detectable in the form of intact sludge plumes in the upper 35 m of the water column at least 15 km from the Site. in addition, unique tracers of sludge such as xylem tracheids and Clostridium perfringens plus elevated total suspended solids and trace metals concentrations, were found at locations up to 40 km from the Site. the presence of these tracers correspond with in situ transmissometry data suggesting that a fraction of the sludge was remaining in the near-surface waters above the seasonal pycnocline. Concentrations of metals were below EPA chronic marine water quality criteria, which indicates that the water quality downstream of the Site was not impaired. the detection of sludge downstream of the 106-Mile Site is consistent with the southwestward movement of the surface water mass during the survey, as recorded by satellite-tracked surface drifters and current vectors derived from a current meter moored at 100-m depth immediately west of the Site. Near-surface transport was generally towards the southwest at a speed of approximately 22 cm s^-1*.     

A laboratory technique for investigation of diffusion and transformation of volatile organic compounds in low permeability media

A laboratory diffusion cell technique that permits spatial and temporal estimates of porewater concentrations over short intervals suitable for estimation of effective diffusion coefficients (De) and degradation rate constants (k) of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in saturated low permeability media is presented. The diffusion cell is a sealed cylinder containing vapour reservoirs for sampling, including a vapour reservoir source and an array of vapour-filled "mini-boreholes", which are maintained water- and sediment-free by slightly negative porewater pressures. The vapour reservoirs were sampled by Solid Phase Micro-Extraction (SPME), resulting in minimal disturbance to the experimental system. Porewater concentrations are estimated from the measured vapour concentrations. Experiments were conducted using a non-reactive medium and five VOCs with a range in partitioning properties. Calibration experiments showed that equilibrium partition coefficients could be used for calculating concentrations in the vapour reservoir source from concentrations in the SPME coating after a 1-min microextraction and that the reservoir concentration was insignificantly affected by sampling. However, equilibrium was not reached during the one-min extraction of the boreholes; the microextraction reduced the borehole vapour concentrations, leading to diffusion of VOCs from porewater into the vapour-filled borehole. Thus, empirical partitioning coefficients were required for the determination of porewater VOC concentrations. The experimental data and numerical modelling indicate masses extracted by SPME extraction are relatively small, with minimal perturbation on processes studied in diffusion experiments. This technique shows promise for laboratory investigation of diffusion and transformation processes in low permeability media.     

Effects of interactions between anthropogenic stressors and recurring perturbations on ecosystem resilience and collapse

Insights into declines in ecosystem resilience and their causes and effects can inform preemptive action to avoid ecosystem collapse and loss of biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human well-being. Empirical studies of ecosystem collapse are rare and hampered by ecosystem complexity, nonlinear and lagged responses, and interactions across scales. We investigated how an anthropogenic stressor could diminish ecosystem resilience to a recurring perturbation by altering a critical ecosystem driver. We studied groundwater-dependent, peat-accumulating, fire-prone wetlands known as upland swamps in southeastern Australia. We hypothesized that underground mining (stressor) reduces resilience of these wetlands to landscape fires (perturbation) by diminishing groundwater, a key ecosystem driver. We monitored soil moisture as an indicator of ecosystem resilience during and after underground mining. After landscape fire, we compared responses of multiple state variables representing ecosystem structure, composition, and function in swamps within the mining footprint with unmined reference swamps. Soil moisture declined without recovery in swamps with mine subsidence (i.e., undermined), but was maintained in reference swamps over 8 years (effect size 1.8). Relative to burned reference swamps, burned undermined swamps showed greater loss of peat via substrate combustion; reduced cover, height, and biomass of regenerating vegetation; reduced postfire plant species richness and abundance; altered plant species composition; increased mortality rates of woody plants; reduced postfire seedling recruitment; and extirpation of a hydrophilic animal. Undermined swamps therefore showed strong symptoms of postfire ecosystem collapse, whereas reference swamps regenerated vigorously. We found that an anthropogenic stressor diminished the resilience of an ecosystem to recurring perturbations, predisposing it to collapse. Avoidance of ecosystem collapse hinges on early diagnosis of mechanisms and preventative risk reduction. It may be possible to delay or ameliorate symptoms of collapse or to restore resilience, but the latter appears unlikely in our study system due to fundamental alteration of a critical ecosystem driver. Efectos de las interacciones entre los estresantes antropogénicos y las perturbaciones recurrentes sobre la resiliencia y el colapso de los ecosistemas     

An integrated approach for predicting fates of reintroductions with demographic data from multiple populations

We devised a novel approach to model reintroduced populations whereby demographic data collected from multiple sites are integrated into a Bayesian hierarchical model. Integrating data from multiple reintroductions allows more precise population-growth projections to be made, especially for populations for which data are sparse, and allows projections that account for random site-to-site variation to be made before new reintroductions are attempted. We used data from reintroductions of the North Island Robin (Petroica longipes), an endemic New Zealand passerine, to 10 sites where non-native mammalian predators are controlled. A comparison of candidate models that we based on deviance information criterion showed that rat-tracking rate (an index of rat density) was a useful predictor of robin fecundity and adult female survival, that landscape connectivity and a binary measure of whether sites were on a peninsula were useful predictors of apparent juvenile survival (probably due to differential dispersal away from reintroduction sites), and that there was unexplained random variation among sites in all demographic rates. We used the two best supported models to estimate the finite rate of increase (λ) for populations at each of the 10 sites, and for a proposed reintroduction site, under different levels of rat control. Only three of the reintroduction sites had λ distributions completely >1 for either model. At two sites, λ was expected to be >1 if rat-tracking rates were <5%. At the other five reintroduction sites, λ was predicted to be close to 1, and it was unclear whether growth was expected. Predictions of λ for the proposed reintroduction site were less precise than for other sites because distributions incorporated the full range of site-to-site random variation in vital rates. Our methods can be applied to any species for which postrelease data on demographic rates are available and potentially can be extended to model multiple species simultaneously.     

Comparison of mercury and methylmercury in northern pike and Arctic grayling from western Alaska rivers

In western Alaska, mercury (Hg) could be a potential health risk to people whose diet is primarily fish-based. In 2000, total Hg (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) were examined in northern pike (Esox lucius) and Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) from two watersheds in western Alaska, the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. Whitefish (Coregonus sp.) were also examined from the Kuskokwim River. Pike from the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers had mean concentrations of THg in muscle of 1.506 and 0.628 mg/kg wet wt, respectively. The mean concentrations of THg in grayling muscle from these rivers were 0.264 and 0.078 mg/kg, respectfully. Whitefish had a mean THg concentration in muscle of 0.032 mg/kg. MeHg, in pike and grayling constituted nearly 100% of the THg concentrations; the proportion was less in whitefish. A significant positive correlation between Hg levels and fish length was also found. Generally, there were no changes in Hg concentrations in pike or grayling over the last several years. Only pike from theYukon River had THg concentrations that exceeded the USFDA action level for human consumption of edible fish (1 mg/kg). Human hazard index for pike was > or = 1 for both adults and children, indicating a potential for toxic concern, especially among children. Further studies are needed to determine the environmental and human health impacts associated with these Hg concentrations in western Alaska, especially in the context of potentially increased consumption of resident fishes when anadromous salmon catches are reduced.