Farm factors associated with reducing Cryptosporidium loading in storm runoff from dairies

A systems approach was used to evaluate environmental loading of Cryptosporidium oocysts on five coastal dairies in California. One aspect of the study was to determine Cryptosporidium oocyst concentrations and loads for 350 storm runoff samples from dairy high use areas collected over two storm seasons. Selected farm factors and beneficial management practices (BMPs) associated with reducing the Cryptosporidium load in storm runoff were assessed. Using immunomagnetic separation (IMS) with direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) analysis, Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected on four of the five farms and in 21% of storm runoff samples overall. Oocysts were detected in 59% of runoff samples collected near cattle less than 2 mo old, while 10% of runoff samples collected near cattle over 6 mo old were positive. Factors associated with environmental loading of Cryptosporidium oocysts included cattle age class, 24 h precipitation, and cumulative seasonal precipitation, but not percent slope, lot acreage, cattle stocking number, or cattle density. Vegetated buffer strips and straw mulch application significantly reduced the protozoal concentrations and loads in storm runoff, while cattle exclusion and removal of manure did not. The study findings suggest that BMPs such as vegetated buffer strips and straw mulch application, especially when placed near calf areas, will reduce environmental loading of fecal protozoa and improve stormwater quality. These findings are assisting working dairies in their efforts to improve farm and ecosystem health along the California coast.     

Interactions between chromium and sulfur metabolism in Brassica juncea

The effects of chromate on sulfate uptake and assimilation were investigated in the accumulator Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. Seven-day-old plants were grown for 2 d under the following combination of sulfate and chromate concentration: (i) no sulfate and no chromate (-S), (ii) no sulfate and 0.2 mmol L(-1) chromate (-S +Cr), (iii) 1 mmol L(-1) sulfate and no chromate (+S), or (iv) 1 mmol L(-1) sulfate and 0.2 mmol L(-1) chromate (+S +Cr). Despite the toxic effects exerted by chromate as indicated by altered level of reducing sugars and proteins in leaves, the growth of B. juncea was only weakly reduced by chromate, and no variation in chlorophyll a and b was measured, regardless of S availability. Chromium (Cr) was stored more in roots than in leaves, and the maximum Cr accumulation was measured in -S +Cr plants. The significant decrease of the sulfate uptake rates observed in Cr-treated plants was accompanied by a repression of the root low-affinity sulfate transporter (BjST1), suggesting that the transport of chromate in B. juncea may involve sulfate carriers. Once absorbed, chromate induced genes involved in sulfate assimilation (ATP-sulfurylase: atps6; APS-reductase: apsr2; Glutathione synthethase: gsh2) and accumulation of cysteine and glutathione, which may suggest that these reduced S compounds play a role in Cr tolerance. Together, our findings indicate that when phytoremediation technologies are used to recover Cr-contaminated areas, the concentration of sulfate in the plant growth medium must be considered because it may influence the ability of plants to accumulate and tolerate Cr.     

Rethinking the contribution of drained and undrained grasslands to sediment-related water quality problems

Grass vegetation has been recommended for use in the prevention and control of soil erosion because of its dense sward characteristics and stabilizing effect on the soil. A general assumption is that grassland environments suffer from minimal soil erosion and therefore present little threat to the water quality of surface waters in terms of sediment and sorbed contaminant pollution. Our data question this assumption, reporting results from one hydrological year of observations on a field-experiment monitoring overland flow, drain flow, fluxes of suspended solids, total phosphorus (TP), and molybdate-reactive phosphorus (<0.45 mum) in response to natural rainfall events. During individual rainfall events, 1-ha grassland lysimeters yield up to 15 kg of suspended solids, with concentrations in runoff waters of up to 400 mg L(-1). These concentrations exceed the water quality standards recommended by the European Freshwater Fisheries Directive (25 mg L(-1)) and the USEPA (80 mg L(-1)) and are beyond those reported to have caused chronic effects on freshwater aquatic organisms. Furthermore, TP concentrations in runoff waters from these field lysimeters exceeded 800 mug L(-1). These concentrations are in excess of those reported to cause eutrophication problems in rivers and lakes and contravene the ecoregional nutrient criteria in all of the USA ecoregions. This paper also examines how subsurface drainage, a common agricultural practice in intensively managed grasslands, influences the hydrology and export of sediment and nutrients from grasslands. This dataset suggests that we need to rethink the conceptual understanding of grasslands as non-erosive landscapes. Failure to acknowledge this will result in the noncompliance of surface waters to water quality standards.     

Are leaves that fall from imidacloprid-treated maple trees to control Asian longhorned beetles toxic to non-target decomposer organisms?

The systemic insecticide imidacloprid may be applied to deciduous trees for control of the Asian longhorned beetle, an invasive wood-boring insect. Senescent leaves falling from systemically treated trees contain imidacloprid concentrations that could pose a risk to natural decomposer organisms. We examined the effects of foliar imidacloprid concentrations on decomposer organisms by adding leaves from imidacloprid-treated sugar maple trees to aquatic and terrestrial microcosms under controlled laboratory conditions. Imidacloprid in maple leaves at realistic field concentrations (3-11 mg kg(-1)) did not affect survival of aquatic leaf-shredding insects or litter-dwelling earthworms. However, adverse sublethal effects at these concentrations were detected. Feeding rates by aquatic insects and earthworms were reduced, leaf decomposition (mass loss) was decreased, measurable weight losses occurred among earthworms, and aquatic and terrestrial microbial decomposition activity was significantly inhibited. Results of this study suggest that sugar maple trees systemically treated with imidacloprid to control Asian longhorned beetles may yield senescent leaves with residue levels sufficient to reduce natural decomposition processes in aquatic and terrestrial environments through adverse effects on non-target decomposer organisms.     

Carbon monoxide from composting due to thermal oxidation of biomass

Emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) were observed from decomposing organic wastes and litter under laboratory, pilot composting plant, and natural conditions. Field studies included air from inside a compost heap of about 200 m3, emissions from composting of livestock wastes at a biologically operating farm, and leaf litter pile air samples. The concentration of CO was up to 120 micromol mol(-1) in the compost piles of green waste, and up to 10 micromol mol(-1) in flux chambers above livestock waste windrow composts. The mean CO flux rates were approximately 20 mg CO m(-2) h(-1) for compost heaps of green waste, and varied from 30 to 100 mg CO m(-2) h(-1) for fresh dung windrows. Laboratory studies using a temperature and ventilation-controlled substrate container were performed to elucidate the origin of CO, and included hay samples of fixed moisture content at temperatures between 5 and 65 degrees C, including nonsterilized as well as sterilized samples. The concentration of CO was up to 160 micromol mol(-1) in these experiments, and Arrhenius-type plot analyses resulted in activation energies of 65 kJ mol(-1) for thermochemically produced CO from the nonsterilized compost substrate. Sterilized samples showed dramatically reduced CO2 but virtually unchanged CO emissions, albeit at a slightly lower activation energy, likely a result of the high-temperature sterilization. Though globally and regionally these CO emissions are only a minor source, thermochemically produced CO emissions might affect local air quality in and near composting facilities.     

Water quality effects of clearcut harvesting and forest fertilization with best management practices

Nine small (2.5 ha) and four large (70-135 ha) watersheds were instrumented in 1999 to evaluate the effects of silvicultural practices with application of best management practices (BMPs) on stream water quality in East Texas, USA. Two management regimes were implemented in 2002: (i) conventional, with clearcutting, herbicide site preparation, and BMPs and (ii) intensive, which added subsoiling, aerial broadcast fertilization, and an additional herbicide application. Watershed effects were compared with results from a study on the same small watersheds in 1981, in which two combinations of harvesting and mechanical site preparation without BMPs or fertilization were evaluated. Clearcutting with conventional site preparation resulted in increased nitrogen losses on the small watersheds by about 1 additional kg ha(-1) each of total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) and nitrate-nitrogen (NO(3)-N) in 2003. First-year losses were not significantly increased on the large watershed with a conventional site preparation with BMPs. Fertilization resulted in increased runoff losses in 2003 on the intensive small watersheds by an additional 0.77, 2.33, and 0.36 kg ha(-1) for NO(3)-N, TKN, and total phosphorus, respectively. Total loss rates of ammonia nitrogen (NH(4)-N) and NO(3)-N were low overall and accounted for only approximately 7% of the applied N. Mean loss rates from treated watersheds were much lower than rainfall inputs of about 5 kg ha(-1) TKN and NO(3)-N in 2003. Aerial fertilization of the 5-yr-old stand on another large watershed did not increase nutrient losses. Intensive silvicultural practices with BMPs did not significantly impair surface water quality with N and P.     

Estimating Forest Ecosystem Evapotranspiration at Multiple Temporal Scales With a Dimension Analysis Approach1

Abstract:  It is critical that evapotranspiration (ET) be quantified accurately so that scientists can evaluate the effects of land management and global change on water availability, streamflow, nutrient and sediment loading, and ecosystem productivity in watersheds. The objective of this study was to derive a new semi‐empirical ET modeled using a dimension analysis method that could be used to estimate forest ET effectively at multiple temporal scales. The model developed describes ET as a function of water availability for evaporation and transpiration, potential ET demand, air humidity, and land surface characteristics. The model was tested with long‐term hydrometeorological data from five research sites with distinct forest hydrology in the United States and China. Averaged simulation error for daily ET was within 0.5 mm/day. The annual ET at each of the five study sites were within 7% of measured values. Results suggest that the model can accurately capture the temporal dynamics of ET in forest ecosystems at daily, monthly, and annual scales. The model is climate‐driven and is sensitive to topography and vegetation characteristics and thus has potential to be used to examine the compounding hydrologic responses to land cover and climate changes at multiple temporal scales.     

Watershed Evapotranspiration Increased due to Changes in Vegetation Composition and Structure Under a Subtropical Climate1

Abstract: Natural forests in southern China have been severely logged due to high human demand for timber, food, and fuels during the past century, but are recovering in the past decade. The objective of this study was to investigate how vegetation cover changes in composition and structure affected the water budgets of a 9.6‐km² Dakeng watershed located in a humid subtropical mountainous region in southern China. We analyzed 27 years (i.e., 1967‐1993) of streamflow and climate data and associated vegetation cover change in the watershed. Land use/land cover census and Normalized Difference of Vegetation Index (NDVI) data derived from remote sensing were used to construct historic land cover change patterns. We found that over the period of record, annual streamflow (Q) and runoff/precipitation ratio did not change significantly, nor did the climatic variables, including air temperature, Hamon’s potential evapotranspiration (ET), pan evaporation, sunshine hours, and radiation. However, annual ET estimated as the differences between P and Q showed a statistically significant increasing trend. Overall, the NDVI of the watershed had a significant increasing trend in the peak spring growing season. This study concluded that watershed ecosystem ET increased as the vegetation cover shifted from low stock forests to shrub and grasslands that had higher ET rates. A conceptual model was developed for the study watershed to describe the vegetation cover‐streamflow relationships during a 50‐year time frame. This paper highlighted the importance of eco‐physiologically based studies in understanding transitory, nonstationary effects of deforestation or forestation on watershed water balances.     

Method to Partition Between Attached and Unattached E. coli in Runoff From Agricultural Lands1

Abstract: Remediation of waters impaired by bacterial indicators is usually dictated by total maximum daily load plans, which are heavily dependent on fate and transport modeling of bacterial indicators. Nonpoint source pollution models are most frequently used to assess bacterial transport to surface waters and most models typically simulate bacterial transport as a dissolved pollutant. Previous studies have found that cells preferentially attach to sediments; however, a variety of techniques have been used to assess attachment including filtration, fractional filtration, and centrifugation. In addition, a variety of chemical and physical dispersion techniques are used to release attached and bioflocculated cells from particulates. Here we developed and validated an easy‐to‐replicate laboratory procedure for separation of unattached from attached E. coli which will also identify particle sizes to which E. coli preferentially attach. Physical and chemical dispersion techniques were evaluated and a combined hand shaker treatment for 10 min followed by dilutions in 1,000 mg/l of Tween 85 significantly increased total E. coli concentrations by 31% when compared with a control. In order to separate unattached from attached fractions, two commonly used techniques, fractional filtration, and centrifugation were combined. The filtration and centrifugation treatments did not reduce E. coli concentrations when compared with a control (p > 0.05), indicating that damage was not inflicted upon the E. coli cells during the separation procedure.     

Environmental and social impacts of electricity utilization: broadening the debate

Exposure of small laboratory animals to power-frequency high-voltage electric fields was reported to have endocrinological effects, including changes in pineal melatonin levels. It has been assumed that these results are directly attributable to electric-field effects, but this article suggests that air ionization, produced by corona activity at the animals’ body surfaces, may have been biologically active and could be relevant to the interpretation of some epidemiological and other studies. Although presently a matter of dispute, there is evidence that atmospheric ionization may be biologically active and could provide an alternative explanation for at least some apparent electromagnetic field interactions with biological subjects. Consideration of the electricity utilization environment as a whole, rather than one selected component, could allow the introduction of lower-cost, precautionary and putative hazard remediation measures.