Chlorinated Hydrocarbon Contaminants in Grebes and Seaducks Wintering on the Coast of British Columbia, Canada: 1988–1993

Grebe and seaduck species were collected during late winter at industrial and reference sites along coastal British Columbia, and during spring migration in the Yukon Territory, from 1988 to 1993. Liver and/or breast muscle were analyzed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs), biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine (OC) pesticides, and chlorophenol-related compounds. Piscivorous species, including western grebes (Aechmophorus occidentalis) and common mergansers (Mergus merganser), contained highest levels of all contaminants. DDE and PCBs were detectable in all species analyzed, but were at low levels (<50 and 100 g/kg [sum PCBs] wet weight, respectively) in all but some grebe and merganser samples. Highest DDE concentration (229 g/kg) was in liver of common mergansers collected at Port Alberni in 1989, and that of PCB (2300 g/kg) in breast muscle of western grebes collected in 1992 from the same site. The interspecific PCDD/PCDF pattern was similar to that of the OC pesticides and PCBs, with the fish-eating species containing highest concentrations. The only congener detected in all samples was 2,3,7,8-TCDF, although 2,3,7,8-TCDD was regularly present. Generally, of all samples collected in 1989, those from the bleached-kraft pulp mill (BKPM) site at Port Alberni were the most contaminated with PCDDs and PCDFs. Of the chlorophenolic compounds measured, only pentachlorophenol was routinely detected, typically at levels below 5 g/kg. Traces of 3,4,5,6-tetrachloroguaiacol, 5-chloroguaiacol and 4,5-dichloroguaiacol were also detected in a few samples, mainly from a BKPM site at Prince Rupert. By 1992, after changes to pulp mill bleaching processes and restrictions in chlorophenolic anti-sapstain use, PCDD and PCDF concentrations were substantially lower compared to 1989 in all species sampled and no longer posed a concern for human consumers. International TCDD-toxic equivalents (I-TEQs) in some western grebe samples were within the range of concentrations associated with sublethal effects in waterbird species (200–400 ng/kg).     

Book reviews

Our Stolen Future. How man-made chemicals are threatening our fertility, intelligence and survival. T. Colborn, J. P. Myers & D. Dumanoski, 1996, Boston, Little, Brown, 306 pp. ISBN 0 316 87546, £18.99

Environmental Sociology: a social constructionist perspective. John Hannigan, 1995, London, Routledge, ISBN 0 415 112 559, £12.99

Citizen Science: a study of people, expertise and sustainable development. Alan Irwin, 1995, London, Routledge, ISBN 0 415 130 107, £13.99

The True Costs of Road Transport. David Maddison, David Pearce, Olof Johansson, Edward Calthrop, Todd Litman & Eric Verhoef, 1996, London, Earthscan, 242 pp. ISBN 185 383 2685, £10.95

Car Dependence: a report for the RAC Foundation for Motoring and the Environment. RAC Foundation for Motoring and the Environment, 1995, London, 154 pp. ISBN 086211355 5

Local Sustainability: turning sustainable development into practical action in our communities. Roger Few (Ed.), Leicester Environment City Trust, 1996, Leicester, Environ Trust, 100 pp., £28.00, [Available from: Environ Parkfield, Western Park, Leicester, LE3 6HX, UK]

Successful Environment Management in a Week. Mark Yoxon, 1996, London, Hodder & Stoughton, 96 pp. ISBN 0 340 66374 X, £6.99

Principles of Environmental and Resource Economics. H. Folmer, H. Landis Gabel & H. Opschoor (Eds), 1995, Aldershot, Edward Elgar, 512 pp. ISBN 1 85898 224 3, £85.00

The Contingent Valuation of Environmental Resources: methodological issues and research needs. David Bjornstad & James R. Khan (Eds), 1996, Cheltenham, UK and Brookfield USA, Edward Elgar, ISBN 1 858983215

Towards Sustainability. Peter Martin & Colin Hutchinson, 1996, London, Office for Public Management, £5.45

Conservation and the Consumer: understanding environmental concern. Paul Hackett, 1995, London, Routledge, 229 pp. ISBN 0 415 08096 7, £45.00     

A SEDIMENT RESUSPENSION AND WATER QUALITY MODEL OF LAKE OKEECHOBEE1

ABSTRACT: The influence of sediment resuspension on the water quality of shallow lakes is well documented. However, a search of the literature reveals no deterministic mass-balance eutrophication models that explicitly include resuspension. We modified the Lake Okeechobee water quality model - which uses the Water Analysis Simulation Package (WASP) to simulate algal dynamics and phosphorus, nitrogen, and oxygen cycles - to include inorganic suspend. ed solids and algorithms that: (1) define changes in depth with changes in volume; (2) compute sediment resuspension based on bottom shear stress; (3) compute partition coefficients for ammonia and ortho-phosphorus to solids; and (4) relate light attenuation to solids concentrations. The model calibration and validation were successful with the exception of dissolved inorganic nitrogen species which did not correspond well to observed data in the validation phase. This could be attributed to an inaccurate formulation of algal nitrogen preference and/or the absence of nitrogen fixation in the model. The model correctly predicted that the lake is light-limited from resuspended solids, and algae are primarily nitrogen limited. The model simulation suggested that biological fluxes greatly exceed external loads of dissolved nutrients; and sediment-water interactions of organic nitrogen and phosphorus far exceed external loads. A sensitivity analysis demonstrated that parameters affecting resuspension, settling, sediment nutrient and solids concentrations, mineralization, algal productivity, and algal stoichiometry are factors requiring further study to improve our understanding of the Lake Okeechobee ecosystem.     

DESERT HOUSE: A DEMONSTRATION/EXPERIMENT IN EFFICIENT DOMESTIC WATER AND ENERGY USE1

ABSTRACT: In May 1993, a single-family home and adjoining information center opened to the public at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. Desert House is designed as an example of what can be achieved today using available technology to improve residential water and energy efficiency. The home is expected to reduce water and energy use by 40 percent compared with that for the typical three-bedroom, single-family residence in the Phoenix area. Water-conserving features include: landscape design employing low-water use plants, minimum turf area, mulch around plants to reduce evaporation, and drip irrigation system; spa cover for evaporation reduction; rainwater harvesting; low-flow shower heads, faucets, and toilets; and graywater reuse system. The home will be occupied by a family and monitored for water and energy use by computer. Visitors are able to access real time water and energy use data about the home, as well as tour the information center, technical exhibits, surrounding landscape, and the home when it is open (one afternoon a week).     

The mine permitting process

A comparison is presented between environmental regulations and the regulatory institutions of Chile and the USA. There are two important points to the comparison. First, is one system more efficient than the other? Second, does each system result in a comparable level of environmental protection? While an answer to the latter question requires a baseline of data that is currently unavailable, the question of efficiency can be addressed. The Chilean system is found to be more centralized than that of the USA, with more definitive timelines for the permitting process. The US system is more complex and offers more opportunities for public participation in the permitting process. An unequivocal statement as to which is best or most efficient depends on one's perspective regarding the trade off between economic development and environmental quality.     

Wilderness campsite impacts: Do managers and visitors see them the same?

Human-induced impacts from recreational use of wilderness continue to be a significant management challenge, threatening the integrity of the wilderness resource and the quality of visitor experiences. Campsite impacts are of particular concern to managers. One approach to this problem is the Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) planning system, which focuses attention on the question, “How much change in wilderness conditions is acceptable?” The research reported here compares and contrasts wilderness manager and visitor perceptions of theacceptability of different levels of campsite impacts,amount of impact, and perceptual zoning of wilderness. The results reinforce previous findings regarding differences between managers and visitors. Management implications are discussed.     

Effects of forest clearcutting in New England on stream macroinvertebrates and periphyton

Clearcutting may alter stream biota by changing light, temperature, nutrients, sediment particle size, or food in the stream. We sampled macroinvertebrates during late summer of 1979 in first and second order headwater streams draining both two- and three-year-old clearcuts and nearby uncut reference areas in northern New England, USA. Periphyton were sampled throughout the summer by placing microscope slides in these streams for 13–37 days. Periphyton cell densities on these slides following incubation were about six times higher in cutover than in reference streams. Green algae (Chlorophyceae) accounted for a higher proportion of total cell numbers in cutover than in reference streams, whereas diatoms (Bacillariophyceae) dominated the reference streams. The macroinvertebrate density in cutover streams was 2–4 times greater than that in the reference streams, but the number of taxa collected was similar in both cutover and reference streams. Higher numbers of mayflies (Ephemeroptera) and/or true flies (Diptera) in the cutover streams accounted for the differences. Because nutrient concentrations in the cutover streams were nearly the same as those in the reference streams, these differences in macroinvertebrate and periphyton densities were apparently caused by higher light levels and temperature in the streams in the clearcuts. Leaving buffer strips along streams will reduce changes in stream biology associated with clearcutting.Contribution from the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, USDA Forest Service, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA.