Impact of soil management and two botanical insecticides on urease and invertase activity

Yard waste compost provides an organic amendment useful for improving soil structure and nutrient status. The activities of the enzymes hydrolyzing urea (urease) and sucrose (invertase) in the rhizosphere of potato plants were determined under field conditions. Soil urease and invertase activities were monitored in compost amended soil, grass buffer strips, and in adjacent bare soils during 35 d following soil treatment. Soil urease activity was increased by application of yard waste compost compared to untreated soil which provide evidence of increased soil microbial population following application of compost. Some transitional effects on urease activities were observed following Pyrethrins and Neemix-4E application, these effects were neither drastic nor prolonged enough to be considered deleterious to the soil microorganisms and their activities important to soil fertility. No relationship was found between invertase activity and the three management practices or soil organic matter content. It is suggested that application of botanical insecticides like pyrethrins and Neemix-4E may be useful in delaying urea fertilizer mineralization to maintain N in a form less leachable, so that the duration of N availability to plants is prolonged. The present study may also provide information on urease activity as a sensitive bioindicator of soil quality that reflects the effects of land management on soil quality and may assist land managers in monitoring long-term productivity and sustainability of agricultural lands.     

An empirical investigation of European drivers' self-assessment

PROBLEM: Evaluating motorists through self-assessment has attracted much interest in recent literature, which is mainly due to the profound impact various parameters of self-assessment can have on the way motorists deal with hazardous traffic situations. Much of the previous work in this area has been hampered both by the lack of adequate sample sizes and, because of the small samples, the evaluation methodologies used. METHOD: This paper extends previous research in two significant directions: (a) it uses the SARTRE 2 database, which provides more than 17,000 questionnaires from most European countries; and (b) it employs the ordered probit modeling approach, which recognizes the latent nature of self-assessment and explicitly links its dimensions to a set of relevant explanatory variables such as age, gender, region, and income. RESULTS: The results indicate that drivers who rate themselves as both more dangerous and faster than others are, generally, younger men, with higher incomes, break the speed limit more frequently, avoid wearing seat belts, and have been involved in more accidents in the past than other drivers. Interestingly, more experienced and more highly educated drivers assess their driving as less dangerous, but admit to driving faster than other drivers. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The methodology used and the results obtained can be a significant help in identifying drivers with high and low self-assessment ratings, which can be useful in planning and implementing road safety information campaigns.     

Uncertainty analysis of predicted disturbance from off-road vehicular traffic in complex landscapes at fort hood

The US Army Engineering Research Development Center (ERDC) uses a modified form of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) to estimate spatially explicit rates of soil erosion by water across military training facilities. One modification involves the RUSLE support practice factor (P factor), which is used to account for the effect of disturbance by human activities on erosion rates. Since disturbance from off-road military vehicular traffic moving through complex landscapes varies spatially, a spatially explicit nonlinear regression model (disturbance model) is used to predict the distribution of P factor values across a training facility. This research analyzes the uncertainty in this model's disturbance predictions for the Fort Hood training facility in order to determine both the spatial distribution of prediction uncertainty and the contribution of different error sources to that uncertainty. This analysis shows that a three-category vegetation map used by the disturbance model was the greatest source of prediction uncertainty, especially for the map categories shrub and tree. In areas mapped as grass, modeling error (uncertainty associated with the model parameter estimates) was the largest uncertainty source. These results indicate that the use of a high-quality vegetation map that is periodically updated to reflect current vegetation distributions, would produce the greatest reductions in disturbance prediction uncertainty.     

Availability and access of financial support for renewables: issues and an illustrative innovation

This paper examines issues related to increasing the market penetration of renewable forms of energy in developing countries. It particularly focuses on availability and access of financial support for investments relating to renewable energy and a case study is presented illustrating innovative financing. While the main focus of the discussion is on renewable energy (RE) attention is also devoted to energy efficiency (EE) projects and investment. An underlying premise is that, if RE projects are to reach their market potential, they must be fiscally sustainable and the appropriate promotion of such fiscally sustainable RE projects yields multiple environmental and developmental synergies. Commercial viability is not primarily a question of technology. There is a broad range of RE products with proven performance and commercial operation in selected market situations. The challenge of extending this market penetration is to establish the institutional, organizational and financial conditions under which a commercial market for these products can develop, particularly in developing countries. This article reflects current emphasis on increased private participation in the energy sector, as well as policy reform at the national level.     

Ecosystem modeling with GIS

Management of natural resources is becoming a complex problem. To ensure sustainability of the resources, the manager must have better tools with which to make decisions. The development of simulation models that make use of GIS data bases is an emerging area of resource management. This paper examines several grid-based models and addresses the use of GIS programs to construct spatial dynamic models. Some considerations for the implementation of modeling using GIS data bases are provided. The capability to simulate ecosystem processes such as fire, erosion, and other factors will allow the resource manager to make more informed decisions by evaluating potential consequences on the computer.     

Changing corporate environmental philosophy: Project renewal gets companies started

Project RENEWAL is an innovative new environmental business project taking place in New Jersey. Project RENEWAL stands for Resource Efficiency Network to Eliminate Waste and Liability. The purpose of this project is to investigate and promote the linkages between ecology, technology, and business economics for the benefit of the economy and the environment. This is a collaborative effort, initially focused on equipment and inventory assets, between the business and environmental communities in order to explore new ways to increase business efficiency and profitability and also benefit the environment. Participants in the project include representatives from industry, consulting, local and state government, environmental agencies, trade groups and academia. This article will outline the background and initial framework of Project RENEWAL's initiatives. (The authors are open to comments, suggestions, criticism, and most importantly input from others who share their vision and are willing to cooperatively accelerate the change process).     

UV peroxidation with air stripping for optimized removal of VOCs from groundwater

No one remedial technology is best suited to treat every groundwater contaminant plume. This article describes how pilot testing and analytical evaluation targeted selection of two treatment technologies, UV peroxidation and air stripping, to be used in series to create a synergistic, cost-effective pump-and-treat system for the removal of VOCs from groundwater. Pilot plant size equipment was employed to treat the VOC-contaminated groundwater in order to obtain site-specific reaction rates and to develop full-scale design parameters. It was found that by using the two treatment technologies in combination, the influent concentration of 2,000 ppb total VOCs could be reduced to less than 1 ppb, thus meeting drinking water standards.     

INFLUENCING WATER LEGISLATWE DEVELOPMENT WHAT TO DO AND WHAT TO AVOID1

ABSTRACT: Whomever would affect water policy development must influence the water legislative process. This paper discusses in the context of the Model State Water Allocation Code the following ten ideas about doing that: (1) seek the right timing for enactment; (2) set modest goals; (3) prepare a well-drafted proposal; (4) recognize diversity by offering legislative choices; (5) consider the impacts of adoption; (6) make alliances; (7) respect executive influence; (8) become involved in legislative interaction; (9) be flexible; and (10) persist. Heeding these ideas, although not guaranteeing enactment, is sure to be educational for participants and useful to legislators.     

GEOMORPHIC AND PEDOLOGIC INFLUENCE ON SMALL-SCALE EPHEMERAL CHANNEL DIMENSION IN RANGELANDS1

ABSTRACT: Geomorphic processes may partly determine channel geometry. Soil particle uplift during freezing and thawing cycles and bank sloughing during wetting and drying periods were observed. Soil properties and channel dimension were measured to determine the dominant processes controlling channel geometry in eight small (mean area 0.096 km²) drainages in Logan Canyon, Utah. Soil cohesion was low (plasticity index > 15) for all but one of the drainages sampled. Basin scale geomorphic variables were examined to determine if they control channel dimension. Bankfull width was highly correlated to channel length and valley length with r² values of 0.85 and 0.84, respectively. A strong canonical correlation (0.64) showed that distance from the watershed divide, bank liquid limit, and bank sand content were effective predictor variables of bankfull width and depth. The interrelations between geomorphic and pedogenic processes were the strongest determinants of ephemeral channel dimension in this study.