DYNAMICS OF SIMULATED EFFECTS OF IRRIGATION OVER DRYLAND FARMING IN SASKATCHEWAN1

ABSTRACT: Irrigation development in Saskatchewan was initiated as an instrument to bring forth regional stability through drought proofing and diversification in the agricultural sector. This development has been surrounded by controversies. Particularly, some critics questioning its economic value to the farmer. In this study, irrigation on a farm is compared as a growth alternative to the expansion of dryland farming. Under relatively conservative machine replacement policies, modest family withdrawals, government subsidized irrigation loans, and relatively favorable gross operating margins, irrigation can be a profitable undertaking in the South Saskatchewan River Basin.     

CLIMATE FACTOR FOR SMALL-BASIN FLOOD FREQUENCY1

ABSTRACT: A climate factor, C_T, (T = 2–, 25-, and 100-year recurrence intervals) that delineates regional trends in small-basin flood frequency was derived using data from 71 long-term rainfall record sites. Values of C_T at these sites were developed by a regression analysis that related rainfall-runoff model estimates of T-year floods to a sample set of 50 model calibrations. C_T was regionalized via kriging to develop maps depicting its geographic variation for a large part of the United States east of the 105th meridian. Kriged estimates of C_T and basin-runoff characteristics were used to compute regionalized T-year floods for 200 small drainage basins. Observed T-year flood estimates also were developed for these sites. Regionalized floods are shown to account for a large percentage of the variability in observed flood estimates with coefficients of determination ranging from 0.89 for 2-year floods to 0.82 for 100-year floods. The relative importance of the factors comprising regionalized flood estimates is evaluated in terms of scale (size of drainage area), basin-runoff characteristics (rainfall. runoff model parameters), and climate (C_T).     

CHEMISTRY RESPONSE OF TWO FORESTED WATERSHEDS TO ACID ATMOSPHERIC DEPOSITION1

ABSTRACT: The deposition and chemistry of precipitation were estimated for one year in two forest ecosystems in the South-Central United States. Precipitation, throughfall, litter leachate, and soil leachate were analyzed for a small catchment of pine-hardwoods in southeastern Oklahoma and for a catchment of loblolly pines (Pinus taeda L.) in northern Mississippi. In the pine-hardwood forest, 98 percent of the acid deposition was neutralized, 50 percent in the forest canopy, and 48 percent in the forest floor. In the pine forest, 75 percent of the acid deposition was neutralized, all in the forest floor. The pine-hardwood ecosystem accumulated sulfate, nitrate, and ammonia ions, and lost base cations. During seasons of deficient precipitation, dry deposition appeared to enrich the concentrations of hydrogen, nitrate, sulfate, and ammonia ions in throughfall samples at both locations.     

Long-term depletion of calcium and other nutrients in eastern US forests

Both harvest removal and leaching losses can deplete nutrient capital in forests, but their combined long-term effects have not been assessed previously. We estimated changes in total soil and biomass N, Ca, K, Mg, and P over 120 years from published data for a spruce-fir site in Maine, two northern hardwood sites in New Hampshire, central hardwood sites in Connecticut and Tennessee, and a loblolly pine site in Tennessee. For N, atmospheric inputs counterbalance the outputs, and there is little long-term change on most sites. For K, Mg, and P, the total pool may decrease by 2%–10% in 120 years depending on site and harvest intensity. For Ca, net leaching loss is 4–16 kg/ha/yr in mature forests, and whole-tree harvest removes 200–1100 kg/ha. Such leaching loss and harvest removal could reduce total soil and biomass Ca by 20%–60% in only 120 years. We estimated unmeasured Ca inputs from rock breakdown, root-zone deepening, and dry deposition; these should not be expected to make up the Ca deficit. Acid precipitation may be the cause of current high leaching of Ca. Although Ca deficiency does not generally occur now in acid forest soils, it seems likely if anthropogenic leaching and intensive harvest removal continue.     

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Air borne particulate distributions and their accumulation in tree canopies,Nottingham, UK

Summary The deposition of particulates emanating from the south of Nottingham, UK, where the coal-fired power station of Ratcliffe- on-Soar is an important industry was assessed using snow samples, dry deposition gauges, and precipitation gauges.Effects of leaf characteristics in terms of shape, surface area, presentation, and cuticular texture on particulate accumulation were examined. Leaves possessing a large surface area, rough cuticular surface and with a horizontal presentation, were particularly effective in the accumulation of particulates. The penetration of particulates through the foliar canopy is discussed.The senior author is Section Leader and Principal Lecturer in Ecology in the Department of Life Sciences at Trent Polytechnic.     

The development of private sheltered housing in Scotland: a changing market

The provision of sheltered housing for sale in Scotland has experienced rapid growth since the opening of the first scheme in 1982. Development has been geographically concentrated in a small number of inner city and rural (coastal) areas. The expectation of continued rapid expansion is unlikely if recent trends of slower growth continue. This paper uses evidence from interviews with developers and owners of sheltered and mainstream housing, to examine the possible future contribution of the private market. On the basis of such evidence it raises questions about the relevance of some existing planning policies.     

DROUGHT INDICATED IN CARBON-13/CARBON-12 RATIOS OF SOUTHWESTERN TREE RINGS1

ABSTRACT: Stomatal closure during periods of moisture deficiency should theoretically lead to elevated ¹³C/¹²C ratios as reduction of available CO₂ leads to diminished photosynthetic discrimination against ¹³C in favor of ¹²C. Stable-carbon isotope ratio chronologies developed from 5-yr tree-ring groups at 17 sites in six southwestern states were tested for a drought relationship by first fitting a spline curve to each chronology to remove the long-term trend and calculating indices as the ratio of actual to spline curve value. The time series of “Del Indices” so developed are significantly correlated with 5-yr mean Palmer Hydrological Drought Indices (post-1930 period) and reconstructed July Palmer Drought Severity Indices from respective areas. Overall, in the period since 1790, the driest pentads were 1900–04 and 1960–64, whereas the wettest were 1980–84 and 1915–19. Maps of drought represented for two pentads seem to be reasonable representations, although spatial correlations of Del Indices with PHDI were generally not significant. These Del Index drought reconstructions may provide a useful measure of past physiological response to drought (stomatal closure), although the present cost of analysis would prevent this from being a routine method.     

SOIL WATER CHARACTERISTICS OF TWO SOIL CATENAS IN ILLINOIS: IMPLICATIONS FOR IRRIGATION1

ABSTRACT: Soil water was monitored by neutron scattering in six soils, three each within two drainage catenas in east-central Illinois, over a 15-month time span. The prairie soils have formed in: (1) 76–152 cm of silt loam, eolian sediments (bess) over glacial till (Catlin-Flanagan-Drummer catena), and (2) bess greater than 152 cm in thickness (Tama-Ipava-Sable catena). We characterized the water content of these soils over the total time span and for wet and dry climatic subsets, as an aid to potential irrigation decisions. Soils of the thin bess, C-F-D catena dried out to lower water contents and had greater soil water variability than did the thick bess soils. Under wet conditions, soil water contents in the two catenas were quite similar. Alleviation of surface and subsurface drying via irrigation would thus be more advantageous to yields on the C-F-D soils than on the T-I-S soils.