Extractability of elements in sugar maple xylem along a gradient of soil acidity

Dendrochemistry has been used for the historical dating of pollution. Its reliability is questionable due primarily to the radial mobility of elements in sapwood. In the present study, the extractability of seven elements was characterized to assess their suitability for the monitoring of environmental conditions. Nine mature sugar maple trees (Acer saccharum Marsh.), a wide-ranging species in eastern North America that has suffered decline in past decades, were sampled in three Quebec watersheds along a soil acidity gradient. Five-year groups of annual tree rings were treated by sequential chemical extractions using extractants of varying strength (deionized H2O, 0.05 M HCl, and concentrated HNO(3)) to selectively solubilize the elements into three fractions (water-soluble, acid-soluble, and residual). Monovalent K; divalent Ba, Ca, Cd, Mg, Mn; and trivalent Al cations were found mostly in the water-soluble, acid-soluble, and residual fractions, respectively. Forms more likely to be mobile within the tree (water-soluble and acid-soluble) do not seem to be suitable for temporal monitoring because of potential lateral redistribution in sapwood rings. However, certain elements (Cd, Mn) were responsive to current soil acidity and could be used in spatial variation monitoring. Extractability of Al varied according to soil acidity; at less acidic sites, up to 90% of Al was contained in the residual form, whereas on very acidic soils, as much as 45% was found in the water-soluble and acid-soluble fractions. Sequential extractions can be useful for determining specific forms of metals as key indicators of soil acidification.     

Empirical models based on the universal soil loss equation fail to predict sediment discharges from Chesapeake Bay catchments

The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and its derivatives are widely used for identifying watersheds with a high potential for degrading stream water quality. We compared sediment yields estimated from regional application of the USLE, the automated revised RUSLE2, and five sediment delivery ratio algorithms to measured annual average sediment delivery in 78 catchments of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. We did the same comparisons for another 23 catchments monitored by the USGS. Predictions exceeded observed sediment yields by more than 100% and were highly correlated with USLE erosion predictions (Pearson r range, 0.73-0.92; p < 0.001). RUSLE2-erosion estimates were highly correlated with USLE estimates (r = 0.87; p < 001), so the method of implementing the USLE model did not change the results. In ranked comparisons between observed and predicted sediment yields, the models failed to identify catchments with higher yields (r range, -0.28-0.00; p > 0.14). In a multiple regression analysis, soil erodibility, log (stream flow), basin shape (topographic relief ratio), the square-root transformed proportion of forest, and occurrence in the Appalachian Plateau province explained 55% of the observed variance in measured suspended sediment loads, but the model performed poorly (r(2) = 0.06) at predicting loads in the 23 USGS watersheds not used in fitting the model. The use of USLE or multiple regression models to predict sediment yields is not advisable despite their present widespread application. Integrated watershed models based on the USLE may also be unsuitable for making management decisions.     

Monitoring Contrasting Land Management in the Savanna Landscapes of Northern Australia

We compared measures of ecosystem state across six adjacent land-tenure groups in the intact tropical savanna landscapes of northern Australia. Tenure groups include two managed by Aboriginal owners, two national parks, a cluster of pastoral leases, and a military training area. This information is of relevance to the debate about the role of indigenous lands in the Australian conservation estate. The timing and frequency of fire was determined by satellite imagery; the biomass and composition of the herb-layer and the abundance of large feral herbivores by field surveys; and weediness by analysis of a Herbarium database. European tenures varied greatly in fire frequencies but were consistently burnt earlier in the dry season than the two Aboriginal tenures, the latter having intermediate fire frequencies. Weeds were more frequent in the European tenures, whilst feral animals were most abundant in the Aboriginal tenures. This variation strongly implies a signature of current management and/or recent environmental history. We identify indices suitable for monitoring of management outcomes in an extensive and sparsely populated landscape. Aboriginal land offers a unique opportunity for the conservation of biodiversity through the maintenance of traditional fire regimes. However, without financial support, traditional practices may prove unsustainable both economically and because exotic weeds and feral animals will alter fire regimes. An additional return on investment in Aboriginal land management is likely to be improved livelihoods and health outcomes for these disadvantaged communities.     

Volunteer Macroinvertebrate Monitoring: Tensions Among Group Goals,Data Quality,and Outcomes

Volunteer monitoring of natural resources is promoted for its ability to increase public awareness, to provide valuable knowledge, and to encourage policy change that promotes ecosystem health. We used the case of volunteer macroinvertebrate monitoring (VMM) in streams to investigate whether the quality of data collected is correlated with data use and organizers' perception of whether they have achieved these outcomes. We examined the relation between site and group characteristics, data quality, data use, and perceived outcomes (education, social capital, and policy change). We found that group size and the degree to which citizen groups perform tasks on their own (rather than aided by professionals) positively correlated with the quality of data collected. Group size and number of years monitoring positively influenced whether a group used their data. While one might expect that groups committed to collecting good-quality data would be more likely to use it, there was no relation between data quality and data use, and no relation between data quality and perceived outcomes. More data use was, however, correlated with a group's feeling of connection to a network of engaged citizens and professionals. While VMM may hold promise for bringing citizens and scientists together to work on joint conservation agendas, our data illustrate that data quality does not correlate with a volunteer group's desire to use their data to promote regulatory change. Therefore, we encourage scientists and citizens alike to recognize this potential disconnect and strive to be explicit about the role of data in conservation efforts.     

Blowing Smoke in Yellowstone: Air Quality Impacts of Oversnow Motorized Recreation in the Park

Snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park has been shown to impact air quality, with implications for the safety and welfare of Park staff and other Park resource values. Localized impacts have been documented at several high-use sites in the Park, but the broader spatial variability of snowmobile emissions and air quality was not understood. Measurements of 87 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were made for ambient air sampled across the Park and West Yellowstone, Montana, during 2 days of the 2002–2003 winter use season, 1 year before the implementation of a new snowmobile policy. The data were compared with similar data from pristine West Coast sites at similar latitudes. Backward trajectories of local air masses, alkyl nitrate-parent alkane ratios, and atmospheric soundings were used to identify the VOC sources and assess their impact. Different oversnow vehicle types used in the Park were sampled to determine their relative influence on air mass pollutant composition. VOCs were of local origin and demonstrated strong spatiotemporal variability that is primarily influenced by levels of snowmobile traffic on given road segments at different times of day. High levels of snowmobile traffic in and around West Yellowstone produced consistently high levels of benzene, toluene, and carbon monoxide.     

Effects of Flow Augmentations in the Snake River Basin on Farms Profitability1

Abstract: For over 10 years, several species of salmon have been identified as either threatened or endangered in the Snake River Basin of Idaho. The United States Bureau of Reclamation, in cooperation with the National Marine Fisheries Service, has proposed a variety of plans to increase stream flows in the Snake River Basin to facilitate movement by juvenile salmon smolts to the ocean. This research examines two of the flow augmentation plans proposed by the Bureau of Reclamation as well as two alternative plans, one founded purely on existing priority‐based water rights and another geared toward minimizing the effects of flow augmentations on farms profitability. Results from a basin‐wide model of agricultural production in the Snake River Basin, the Snake River Agricultural Model, present evidence that (1) older water rights are used towards production of less valuable crops, (2) flow augmentation scenarios have unequal effects on farms profitability across agricultural regions within the basin, and (3) irrigation water is valued from US$4 to US$59 an acre‐foot.     

Comparison of 85Kr and 3H Apparent Ground‐Water Ages for Source Water Vulnerability in the Collyer River Catchment,Maine1

Abstract: Apparent ground‐water ages as determined by the noble gas isotope ⁸⁵Kr and the water isotope ³H are compared. Refined gas extraction methodology at the wellhead permits efficient collection of Kr for ⁸⁵Kr isotope enrichment. ⁸⁵Kr isochrones elucidate areas of much younger ground‐water ages than ³H. Declining ³H activities in the catchment prevent its correlation with the youngest measured ⁸⁵Kr ages. Source water for most drinking water supplies in the Collyer River catchment is recharged within 40 years BP (2004). Mean‐age (τ) transport modeling suggests uncertainty of ground‐water ages is greatest in the central basin area.     

Streambank Soil and Phosphorus Losses Under Different Riparian Land‐Uses in Iowa1

Abstract: Phosphorus and sediment are major nonpoint source pollutants that degrade water quality. Streambank erosion can contribute a significant percentage of the phosphorus and sediment load in streams. Riparian land‐uses can heavily influence streambank erosion. The objective of this study was to compare streambank erosion along reaches of row‐cropped fields, continuous, rotational and intensive rotational grazed pastures, pastures where cattle were fenced out of the stream, grass filters and riparian forest buffers, in three physiographic regions of Iowa. Streambank erosion was measured by surveying the extent of severely eroding banks within each riparian land‐use reach and randomly establishing pin plots on subsets of those eroding banks. Based on these measurements, streambank erosion rate, erosion activity, maximum pin plot erosion rate, percentage of streambank length with severely eroding banks, and soil and phosphorus losses per unit length of stream reach were compared among the riparian land‐uses. Riparian forest buffers had the lowest streambank erosion rate (15‐46 mm/year) and contributed the least soil (5‐18 tonne/km/year) and phosphorus (2‐6 kg/km/year) to stream channels. Riparian forest buffers were followed by grass filters (erosion rates 41‐106 mm/year, soil losses 22‐47 tonne/km/year, phosphorus losses 9‐14 kg/km/year) and pastures where cattle were fenced out of the stream (erosion rates 22‐58 mm/year, soil losses 6‐61 tonne/km/year, phosphorus losses 3‐34 kg/km/year). The streambank erosion rates for the continuous, rotational, and intensive rotational pastures were 101‐171, 104‐122, and 94‐170 mm/year, respectively. The soil losses for the continuous, rotational, and intensive rotational pastures were 197‐264, 94‐266, and 124‐153 tonne/km/year, respectively, while the phosphorus losses were 71‐123, 37‐122, and 66 kg/km/year, respectively. The only significant differences for these pasture practices were found among the percentage of severely eroding bank lengths with intensive rotational grazed pastures having the least compared to the continuous and rotational grazed pastures. Row‐cropped fields had the highest streambank erosion rates (239 mm/year) and soil losses (304 tonne/km/year) and very high phosphorus losses (108 kg/km/year).     

European monitoring for raptors and owls: state of the art and future needs

Sixty-four percent of the 56 raptor and owl species that occur in Europe have an unfavorable conservation status. As well as requiring conservation measures in their own right, raptors and owls function as useful sentinels of wider environmental "health," because they are widespread top predators, relatively easy to monitor, and sensitive to environmental changes at a range of geographical scales. At a time of global acknowledgment of an increasing speed of biodiversity loss, and new, forward-looking and related European Union biodiversity policy, there is an urgent need to improve coordination at a pan-European scale of national initiatives that seek to monitor raptor populations. Here we describe current initiatives that make a contribution to this aim, particularly the current "MEROS" program, the results of a questionnaire survey on the current state of national raptor monitoring across 22 BirdLife Partners in Europe, the challenges faced by any enhanced pan-European monitoring scheme for raptors, and some suggested pathways for efficiently tapping expertise to contribute to such an initiative.