Vegetation changes associated with barrier-dune construction on the outer banks of North Carolina

Manmade dunes are used to stabilize the barrier islands of the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States so that they are more amenable to development. Although this strategy has stabilized extensive sections of the barrier-island substrate, it has also caused significant ecological changes. The rate and pattern of the resulting vegetation changes along the Outer Banks of North Carolina were determined using sequential aerial photography. Successional trends have been altered in favor of more stable woody communities.     

Mine-drainage treatment wetland as habitat for herptofaunal wildlife

Land reclamation techniques that incorporate habitat features for herptofaunal wildlife have received little attention. We assessed the suitability of a wetland, constructed for the treatment of mine-water drainage, for supporting herptofaunal wildlife from 1988 through 1990 using diurnal and nocturnal surveys. Natural wetlands within the surrounding watershed were also monitored for comparison. The treatment wetland supported the greatest abundance and species richness of herptofauna among the sites surveyed. Abundance was a function of the frog density, particularly green frogs (Rana clamitans) and pickerel frogs (R. palustris), while species richness was due to the number of snake species found. The rich mix of snake species present at the treatment wetland was believed due to a combination of an abundant frog prey base and an amply supply of den sites in rock debris left behind from earlier surface-mining activities. Nocturnal surveys of breeding male frogs demonstrated highest breeding activity at the treatment wetland, particularly for spring peepers (Hyla crucifer). Whole-body assays of green frog and bullfrog (R. catesbeiana) tissues showed no differences among sites in uptake of iron, aluminum, and zinc; managanese levels in samples from the treatment wetland were significantly lower than those from natural wetlands. These results suggest that wetlands established for water quality improvement can provide habitat for reptiles and amphibians, with the species composition dependent on the construction design, the proximity to source populations, and the degree of acidity and heavy-metal concentrations in drainage waters.     

Building audits into tqem measurement systems at P&G

This article discusses an approach to building environmental compliance audits into an effective TQEM measurement system. With this approach, companies can move their existing programs from just “meeting the law” to being viewed as “leaders in environmental excellence.” The benefit of this change is that local communities are more likely to allow their environmental leaders the operating flexibility that minimizes cost and the necessary permits for expansion.     

DISCHARGE CHARACTERISTICS OF PERFORATED PIPE FOR USE IN INFILTRATION TRENCHES1

ABSTRACT: Infiltration trenches are an effective stormwater management alternative for the control of urban runoff from small areas. Perforated pipes buried within the gravel of an infiltration trench are used to distribute the inflowing runoff along the length of the trench. Laboratory tests are described that characterize the hydraulics of the orifices in perforated pipes. The results show that the steady-state exfiltration of water from the pipe into a surrounding gravel trench can be described by the orifice equation.     

ANALYZING THE IMPACT OF LAND USE ON SEWER SERVICE AREA PLANNING1

ABSTRACT: The density and distribution of land uses has important consequences for the planning of sewerage systems and for the costs of these systems. This paper examines these consequences using a simplified service area model. The model determines the area to be served by a central waste treatment plant, where alternative on-lot disposal systems are also available. The model is applied to various urban area configurations, which are summarized by their total populations and by their population density distributions. Both minimum regional cost and minimum local cost service area configurations are determined. In addition, the sensitivity of the model to the parameters of the cost and population density functions is assessed. It is found that the model is most sensitive to the parameters of the collection cost function.     

Reviews

Planning theory

Andreas Faludi

Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1973. Hard cover £4.75, flexi‐cover £3.

PLANNING AND THE INNOVATION PROCESS (Progress in Planning, Vol. 1, Part 3)

Ray Jefferson

Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1973

THRESHOLD ANALYSIS MANUAL

Scottish Development Department H.M.S.O., London, 1973. £6

THE PLANNER IN SOCIETY: THE CHANGING ROLE OF A PROFESSION

David Eversley

Faber and Faber, London, 1973. £4.75.

SUB‐REGIONAL PLANNING STUDIES: AN EVALUATION

T. M. Cowling and G. C. Steeley

Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1973. £3.80

SKETCHBOOKS OF PAOLO SOLERI

Paolo Soleri.

M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England, 1971.

ARCOLOGY: THE CITY IN THE IMAGE OF MAN.

Paolo Soleri.

M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England, 1969.

FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED AND THE AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL TRADITION

Albert Fein

George Braziller, New York. $10.00 cloth. $3.95 paper.

ECOLOGY AND RECLAMATION OF DEVASTED LAND (2 vols.) ed. Russel Hutnick and Grant Davis

Gordon and Breach, New York, 1973. £25.00.

MAN MADE THE LAND: Essays in English Historical Geography

Ed. Alan R. H. Baker and J. B. Harley.

David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1973. £5.25.

THE UNKNOWN URBAN REALM (Vol. 2, Europe 2,000, Project 3, Urbanization, Planning Human Environment in Europe)

U. Neveling, R. Sulzer, W. Ubbens, G. Wersig.

Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, 1973.     

ACUTE RESIDUAL TOXICITY OF SEVERAL DISINFECTANTS IN DOMESTIC AND INDUSTRIAL WASTE WATER1

ABSTRACT: This study determined the acute toxicity of waste water disinfected with chlorine, bromine chloride, or ozone. The residual toxicity of effluent dechlorinated with sulfur dioxide was also tested. Toxicity tests were conducted with cyprinid, salmonid, and centrarchid fishes, as well as several species of fresh water macroinvertebrates. Residual chlorine exhibited the greatest toxicity of the disinfectants tested; dechlorination with sulfur dioxide effectively eliminated the toxicity of chlorinated effluent. Residual ozone produced mortality in test animals only under special conditions where subjects were exposed to effluent immediately after it was contacted with ozone, and chlorobrominated effluent was more toxic to salmonids than chlorinated effluent.