Regional planning for the siting of local evaporation basins for the disposal of saline irrigation drainage: development and testing of a GIS-based suitability approach

In order to prevent salinisation of the streams of the Riverine Plain of the Murray-Darling Basin in southern Australia, evaporation basins are used to dispose of saline irrigation drainage water. Local on-farm (individual landholder) and community (shared between multiple landholders) basins are increasingly being used to prevent export of salt outside irrigation districts. There are questions regarding the availability of land suitable for these basins and their impact on the surrounding environment. We describe the use of currently available spatial data to assist in regional planning for the environmentally safe use of these basins. A GIS-based approach was developed using suitability criteria expected to minimise the risk of off-site effects of basin leakage. The criteria were proximity to surface water features, urban areas and infrastructure, water table depth and salinity, and soil hydraulic conductivity. The approach was applied to all of the major irrigation districts at 1:250,000, the scale at which data are available over the entire Riverine Plain. Confidence in well-defined parameters such as proximity to infrastructure, urban areas and surface water features was higher than for those involving interpolated point data such as water table depth, salinity, and hydraulic conductivity. Most critically, hydraulic conductivity, the most important factor for basin leakage, was found to be unreliable at this scale. Use of higher resolution data (up to 1:100,000) available for two of the irrigation districts improved confidence in both water table depth and salinity but not in hydraulic conductivity. Despite these limitations, it was found that: (i) on-farm basins can only be used on an opportunistic basis in the eastern irrigation districts, but can be widely used in the western districts; (ii) community basins can be used anywhere there is suitable land; and (iii) the results raise serious questions as to whether there is enough suitable land in the eastern districts to dispose of all of the drainage water that is produced.     

How Socio-Economic Conditions Influence Forest Policy Development in Central and South-East Europe

In this article, several findings on socio-economic conditions derived from national reports and a web-based questionnaire are discussed and related to the changing role of forestry and the future forest policy development. A number of Central and South-eastern European countries taking part in a SEE-ERA-NET project ReForMan project (www.reforman.de) participated in data acquisition: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Germany, Serbia and Slovenia. The aim of the research was to illustrate the present structure of forestry sector, as well as investigate newly emerging topics in forestry of Central and South-eastern Europe. The results indicated certain patterns in attitudes and perceptions among stakeholders that can be related to socio-economic conditions defined for each country. Clear differences between member and non-member countries exist only in level of implementation of EU legislation. Results showed consensus on main threats to the forests among all countries, but also some country specifics in perceptions of factors influencing forestry, their importance and professional competencies. These results could be additionally explained by influence of historical conditions which shaped development of forest sector in SEE region especially in its organizational dimension as well as in perceived role of forestry expressed through recognition of main forest functions. The influence of European forest policy processes in the region is evident through adaptation of EU legislation and perceived implications of international processes on national levels. Based on this observation, two possible options for future development of the forestry sector can be foreseen: (i) focusing on the productive function of forests and fostering its' sustainable use; or (ii) putting an emphasis on environmental and social issues. In both cases supporting public participation in decision-making processes is recommendable. Another conclusion based on perceived medium to low professional competencies to cope with new topics, that there is lack of confidence and need for professional support in decisionmaking processes.     

Defining Chlorophyll-a Reference Conditions in European Lakes

The concept of “reference conditions” describes the benchmark against which current conditions are compared when assessing the status of water bodies. In this paper we focus on the establishment of reference conditions for European lakes according to a phytoplankton biomass indicator—the concentration of chlorophyll-a. A mostly spatial approach (selection of existing lakes with no or minor human impact) was used to set the reference conditions for chlorophyll-a values, supplemented by historical data, paleolimnological investigations and modelling. The work resulted in definition of reference conditions and the boundary between “high” and “good” status for 15 main lake types and five ecoregions of Europe: Alpine, Atlantic, Central/Baltic, Mediterranean, and Northern. Additionally, empirical models were developed for estimating site-specific reference chlorophyll-a concentrations from a set of potential predictor variables. The results were recently formulated into the EU legislation, marking the first attempt in international water policy to move from chemical quality standards to ecological quality targets.     

Soilaluminum, Iron, and Phosphorus Dynamics in Response to Long-Term Experimental Nitrogen and Sulfur Additions at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine, USA

Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) containing compounds affects soil chemistry in forested ecosystems through (1) acidification and the depletion of base cations, (2) metal mobilization, particularly aluminum (Al), and iron (Fe), (3) phosphorus (P) mobilization, and (4) N accumulation. The Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM) is a long-term paired whole-watershed experimental acidification study demonstrating evidence of each of these acidification characteristics in a northeastern U.S. forested ecosystem. In 2003, BBWM soils were studied using the Hedley fractionation procedure to better understand mechanisms of response in soil Al, Fe, and P chemistry. Soil P fractionation showed that recalcitrant P was the dominant fraction in these watersheds (49%), followed by Al and Fe associated P (24%), indicating that a majority of the soil P was biologically unavailable. Acidification induced mobilization of Al and Fe in these soils holds the potential for significant P mobilization. Forest type appears to exert important influences on metal and P dynamics. Soils supporting softwoods showed evidence of lower Al and Fe in the treated watershed, accompanied by lower soil P. Hardwood soils had higher P concentrations in surface soils as a result of increased biocycling in response to N additions in treatments. Accelerated P uptake and return in litterfall overshadowed acidification induced P mobilization and depletion mechanisms in hardwoods.     

Element Levels in Snakes in South Carolina: Differences Between a Control Site and Exposed Site on the Savannah River Site

Levels of 18 elements, including lead, mercury, selenium, and uranium, were examined in three species of snakes from an exposed and reference site on the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site in South Carolina. We tested the hypotheses that there were no differences as a function of species, and there were no difference between the exposed and control site for blood and muscle (tail) samples for banded water snake (Nerodia fasciata), brown water snake (N. taxispilota) and cottonmouth (Akistrodon piscivorous). The banded water snakes collected were significantly smaller than the other two species. For blood, there were significant species differences only for barium, copper, selenium, uranium and zinc, while for muscle tissue there were significant interspecific differences in aluminum, arsenic, barium, cobalt, cesium, copper, iron, lead, mercury, manganese, strontium, vanadium and zinc, suggesting that muscle tissue in the tail is a better indicator of potential interspecific differences. It is also easier logistically to collect tail tissue than blood. Where one species had significantly higher levels than the other species in muscle tissue levels, cottonmouth had higherlevels of five elements (aluminum, cobalt, lead, mercury, vanadium), brown water snake had two (lead, strontium), and banded water snake had only barium. There were few significant differences between the control and reference site for levels of blood, but several for muscle tissue. All three species had significantly higher levels of arsenic and manganese at Tim's Branch than the reference site, and nickel and uranium were significantly higher for banded watersnake and cottonmouth, the larger species. Individuals with high exposure of one element were exposed to high levels of other elements.     

Twenty-year inter-annual trends and seasonal variations in precipitation and stream water chemistry at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine, USA

Mean annual concentration of ${\textrm{SO}}_{4}^{2-}$ in wet-only deposition has decreased between 1988 and 2006 at the paired watershed study at Bear Brook Watershed in Maine, USA (BBWM) due to substantially decreased emissions of SO₂. Emissions of NO_x have not changed substantially, but deposition has declined slightly at BBWM. Base cations, ${\textrm{NH}}_{4}^{+}$ , and Cl^??? concentrations were largely unchanged, with small irregular changes of <1 μeq L^???1 per year from 1988 to 2006. Precipitation chemistry, hydrology, vegetation, and temperature drive seasonal stream chemistry. Low flow periods were typical in June–October, with relatively greater contributions of deeper flow solutions with higher pH; higher concentrations of acid-neutralizing capacity, Si, and non-marine Na; and low concentrations of inorganic Al. High flow periods during November–May were typically dominated by solutions following shallow flow paths, which were characterized by lower pH and higher Al and DOC concentrations. Biological activity strongly controlled ${\textrm{NO}}_{3}^{-}$ and K^?+?. They were depressed during the growing season and elevated in the fall. Since 1987, East Bear Brook (EB), the reference stream, has been slowly responding to reduced but still elevated acid deposition. Calcium and Mg have declined fairly steadily and faster than ${\textrm{SO}}_{4}^{2-}$ , with consequent acidification (lower pH and higher inorganic Al). Eighteen years of experimental treatment with (NH₄)₂SO₄ enhanced acidification of West Bear Brook’s (WB) watershed. Despite the manipulation, ${\textrm{NH}}_{4}^{+}$ concentration remained below detection limits at WB, while leaching of ${\textrm{NO}}_{3}^{-}$ increased. The seasonal pattern for ${\textrm{NO}}_{3}^{-}$ concentrations in WB, however, remained similar to EB. Mean monthly concentrations of ${\textrm{SO}}_{4}^{2-}$ have increased in WB since 1989, initially only during periods of high flow, but gradually also during base flow. Increases in mean monthly concentrations of Ca^2?+?, Mg^2?+?, and K^?+? due to the manipulation occurred from 1989 until about 1995, during the depletion of base cations in shallow flow paths in WB. Progressive depletion of Ca and Mg at greater soil depth occurred, causing stream concentrations to decline to pre-manipulation values. Mean monthly Si concentrations did not change in EB or WB, suggesting that the manipulation had no effect on mineral weathering rates. DOC concentrations in both streams did not exhibit inter- or intra-annual trends.     

Beyond men and women: a critical perspective on gender and disaster

Consideration of gender in the disaster sphere has centred almost exclusively on the vulnerability and capacities of women. This trend stems from a polarised Western understanding of gender as a binary concept of man—woman. Such an approach also mirrors the dominant framing of disasters and disaster risk reduction (DRR), emphasising Western standards and practices to the detriment of local, non‐Western identities and experiences. This paper argues that the man—woman dichotomy is an insufficient construct with which to address the gendered dimensions of a disaster as it fails to capture the realities of diverse gender minorities in non‐Western contexts. The paper presents case studies from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Samoa, where gender minorities display specific patterns of vulnerability associated with their marginal positions in society, yet, importantly, also possess a wide array of endogenous capacities. Recognition of these differences, needs, skills, and unique resources is essential to moving towards inclusive and gender‐sensitive DRR.