Ecological impacts of arable intensification in Europe

Although arable landscapes have a long history, environmental problems have accelerated in recent decades. The effects of these changes are usually externalized, being greater for society as a whole than for the farms on which they operate, and incentives to correct them are therefore largely lacking. Arable landscapes are valued by society beyond the farming community, but increased mechanization and farm size, simplification of crop rotations, and loss of non-crop features, have led to a reduction in landscape diversity. Low intensity arable systems have evolved a characteristic and diverse fauna and flora, but development of high input, simplified arable systems has been associated with a decline in biodiversity. Arable intensification has resulted in loss of non-crop habitats and simplification of plant and animal communities within crops, with consequent disruption to food chains and declines in many farmland species. Abandonment of arable management has also led to the replacement of such wildlife with more common and widespread species. Soils have deteriorated as a result of erosion, compaction, loss of organic matter and contamination with pesticides, and in some areas, heavy metals. Impacts on water are closely related to those on soils as nutrient and pesticide pollution of water results from surface runoff and subsurface flow, often associated with soil particles, which themselves have economic and ecological impacts. Nitrates and some pesticides also enter groundwater following leaching from arable land. Greatest impacts are associated with simplified, high input arable systems. Intensification of arable farming has been associated with pollution of air by pesticides, NO2 and CO2, while the loss of soil organic matter has reduced the system's capacity for carbon sequestration. International trade contributes to global climate change through long distance transport of arable inputs and products. The EU Rural Development Regulation (1257/99) provides an opportunity to implement measures for alleviating ecological impacts of arable management through a combination of cross-compliance and agri-environment schemes. To alleviate the problems described in this paper, such measures should take account of opportunities for public/private partnerships and should integrate social, cultural, economic and ecological objectives for multifunctional land use.     

ESF Workshop

Dioxin and PCB monitoring programs for food and feeding stuff in most countries of the world, including many European Countries are currently inadequate. Better control of food production lines and food processing procedures is needed to minimize entry of dioxin to the food chain and will help to avoid dioxin contamination accidents. This would also improve the ability to trace back a possible contamination to its source. European guidelines for monitoring programs should be established to ensure comparable and meaningful results. These guidelines should define the minimum requirements for the design of monitoring programs, analytical methods, and quality assurance. Though data from Northern Europe shows that the general population exposure to dioxin and PCB has decreased during the last ten years these compounds continue to be a risk of accidental contamination of the food chain. The most prominent recent example is the Belgian dioxin contamination of feeding stuff in 1999. The Belgian dioxin contamination was not detected due to dioxin monitoring programs but by their direct biological effects seen in animals. Four other cases of dioxin contamination have been detected in Europe since 1997 due to local monitoring programs. One of them (citrus pulp pellets 1998) was in a much larger scale than the Belgian dioxin contamination. The general population's exposure to dioxins and PCBs is still in the same range (1-4 pg WHO-TEQ/kg body weight and day) as the recently revised WHO tolerable daily intake (TDI). There is concern that short-term high level exposure to dioxins, furans, and PCB may cause biological effects on the human fetal development and further research is required. Further actions to control sources building on considerable advances already made in many countries may need to be supplemented by measures to prevent direct contamination of feeding stuff or food to reduce general population exposure further.     

Airborne surveys of Swiss nuclear facility sites

Annually since 1989, biannually since 1994, the environs (approximately 50 km2) of the Swiss nuclear facilities are surveyed (by helicopters) flying the same survey lines. The equipment and the data processing software used for these surveys were built and developed at the Institute of Geophysics, ETH Zurich. For mapping of man-made radiation at or around nuclear facility sites a pixel representation and the MMGC (man-made gross count) ratio is used. So far no artificial radioactivity that could not be explained by the Chernobyl event (1986) or by earlier nuclear weapon tests was detected outside the fenced sites of the nuclear facilities.     

Radionuclide fluxes at a plant manufacturing dicalcium phosphate for domestic animals

We have studied a phosphate rock plant which produces dicalcium phosphate (DCP), used as a source of calcium and phosphorus for domestic animals. A by-product in the manufacturing process is calcium chloride which is used in the oil industry, the food industry and as road-salt. The objectives of our study were to describe the fluxes of radionuclides from the 238U decay series and to estimate the radiation doses to workers at the plant. The radionuclides in the phosphate rock were found to be in secular radioactive equilibrium with 238U, with an average activity concentration of 837 Bq kg-1. Separation and concentration processes were observed at different stages in the plant. Most of the 226Ra was found in the calcium chloride, while the major part of the 238U, about 950 Bq kg-1, was found in the dicalcium phosphate. The annual occupational effective dose to the workers was found to be below the 1 mSv limit recommended by ICRP (1991a) for the public. This study has shown a good example of an important non-nuclear industry with a high input of natural radionuclides with several conceivable pathways to man.     

Trace elements determination in lichens and in the airborne particular matter for the evaluation of the atmospheric pollution in a region of northern Italy

Lichens as biomonitors and neutron activation analysis as analytical technique have been employed to study the distribution of trace elements (TE) in a mountain region of north Italy (Biella) characterized by settlements of wool industry. Samples of airborne particulate matter collected onto filters, different species of lichens and samples of soils have been analyzed for the calculation of the enrichment factors (EFs) of more than 25 TE. By comparison of the corresponding EFs, the most suitable lichen species (Parmelia caperata) was selected as specific TE biomonitor of the area investigated. Samples of this lichen were collected and analyzed for the evaluation of the TE distribution in four different locations. The results obtained from the analysis of the lichens gave information about the predominant direction of pollutants transportation, while those related to the concentrations found in the air particulate allowed the evaluation of the degree of the local TE atmospheric pollution.     

Simulation of Live and Dead Phytomass Formation and Transformation in Optimized Agrocenoses

The formation and transformation of live and dead phytomass in agrocenoses with a complex horizontal structure are described. These processes are demonstrated to be specific and to be determined by differences in the horizontal structure. Only agrocenoses of a mosaic structure (with square parcels) have optimal conditions for these processes.     

Rendering the world unsafe: 'vulnerability' as western discourse

Disasters seem destined to be major issues of academic enquiry in the new century if for no other reason than that they are inseparably linked to questions of environmental conservation, resource depletion and migration patterns in an increasingly globalised world. Unfortunately, inadequate attention has been directed at considering the historical roots of the discursive framework within which hazard is generally presented, and how that might reflect particular cultural values to do with the way in which certain regions or zones of the world are usually imagined. This paper argues that tropicality, development and vulnerability form part of one and the same essentialising and generalising cultural discourse that denigrates large regions of world as disease-ridden, poverty-stricken and disaster-prone.     

The Information Cycle as a Framework for Defining Information Goals for Water-Quality Monitoring

/ The necessity to tailor information becomes increasingly urgent as the information revolution continues to generate ever-increasing flows of data and so-called information. From European experiences, a new approach for monitoring system design is suggested in this paper. In this approach, careful and detailed specification of information needs is a major contributing factor to the effectiveness of information products. To develop better specifications for information products, the process of collecting and transforming data into useful information requires careful thought and guidance. A dialogue between information users on one hand and information producers on the other is essential. This dialogue can be based on the information cycle, describing the continuous process from specifying information needs for water management and a strategy to collect information through data collection and data analysis up to utilization of information by water management. By following the respective steps in the information cycle, the process of information gathering can be completed. The cyclic character provides a quantitative means of connecting monitoring system design and operations with the information expectations and/or products required by management.