Modelling nitrogen fluxes at the landscape scale

The distribution and impacts of different nitrogen pollutants are inextricably linked. To understand the problem fully, the interactions between the different pollutants need to be taken into account. This is particularly important when it comes to abatement techniques, since measures to reduce emissions of one nitrogen pollutant can often lead to an increase in another. This project represents a step towards greater understanding of these issues by linking together new and existing nitrogen flux models into a larger framework. The modelling framework has been constructed and some of the nitrogen flows between fields, farms and the atmosphere have been modelled for a UK study area for typical farm management scenarios.     

Nitrous Oxide in Agricultural Drainage Waters Following Field Fertilisation

Dissolved nitrous oxide (N₂O), nitrate (NO₃ ^-), and ammonium (NH₄ ⁺) concentrations in an agricultural field drain were intensively measured over the period of field nitrogen (N) fertilisation and for several weeks thereafter. Supersaturations of dissolved N₂O were observed in field drain waters throughout the study. On entry to an open drainage ditch, concentrations of dissolved N₂O rapidly decreased and a total N₂O-N emission via this pathway of 13.2 g over the period of study (45 days) was calculated. This compared with a predicted emission of the order of 300 g, based on measured losses of NO₃ ^- and NH₄ ⁺ in the field drainage water, and the default IPCC emission factor of 0.01 kg N₂O-N per kg Nentering rivers and estuaries. In contrast to widespread evidence of a clear relationship between the amount of N applied to agricultural land and subsequent direct N₂O emission from the soil surface, the relationship between the amount of N₂O in soil drainage waters and the amount of N applied was poor. We conclude that the complexity, both spatially and temporally, of the processes ultimately responsible for the amount of N₂O in agricultural drainage waters make a straightforward relationship between N₂O concentration and N application rate unlikely in all but the simplest of systems.     

TEMPORAL CHANGES IN THE YADKIN RIVER FLOW VERSUS SUSPENDED SEDIMENT CONCENTRATION RELATIONSHIP1

ABSTRACT: Dynamic linear models (DLM) and seasonal trend decomposition (STL) using local regression, or LOESS, were used to analyze the 50‐year time series of suspended sediment concentrations for the Yadkin River, measured at the U.S. Geological Survey station at Yadkin College, North Carolina. A DLM with constant trend, seasonality, and a log₁₀ streamflow regressor provided the best model to predict monthly mean log₁₀ suspended sediment concentrations, based on the forecast log likelihood. Using DLM, there was evidence (odds approximately 69:1) that the log₁₀ streamflow versus log₁₀ suspended sediment concentration relationship has changed, with an approximate 20 percent increase in the log₁₀ streamflow coefficient over the period 1981 to 1996. However, sediment concentrations in the Yadkin River have decreased during the decade of the 1990s, which has been accompanied by a concomitant increase in streamflow variability. Although STL has been shown to be a versatile trend analysis technique, DLM is shown to be more suitable for discovery and inference of structural changes (trends) in the model coefficient describing the relationship between flow and sediment concentration.     

TRANSIENT RESPONSE FUNCTIONS FOR CONJUNCTIVE WATER MANAGEMENT IN THE SNAKE RIVER PLAIN,IDAHO1

ABSTRACT: Increasing demands on western water are causing a mounting need for the conjunctive management of surface water and ground water resources. Under western water law, the senior water rights holder has priority over the junior water rights holder in times of water shortage. Water managers have been reluctant to conjunctively manage surface water and ground water resources because of the difficulty of quantification of the impacts to surface water resources from ground water stresses. Impacts from ground water use can take years to propagate through an aquifer system. Prediction of the degree of impact to surface water resources over time and the spatial distribution of impacts is very difficult. Response functions mathematically describe the relationship between a unit ground water stress applied at a specific location and stream depletion or aquifer water level change elsewhere in the system. Response functions can be used to help quantify the spatial and temporal impacts to surface water resources caused by ground water pumping. This paper describes the theory of response functions and presents an application of transient response functions in the Snake River Plain, Idaho. Transient response functions can be used to facilitate the conjunctive management of surface and ground water not only in the eastern Snake River Plain basin, but also in similar basins throughout the western United States.     

Toward a psychological and cultural model of downsizing

Organizational downsizing is often counterproductive and applied irrespective of past financial performance. The popularity of this tactic leads to the question of whether an executive's propensity to downsize is linked to characteristics such as uncertainty avoidance and risk tolerance, which can be examined at either an individual or societal level. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Detecting the signal of atmospheric N deposition in recent national-scale vegetation change across Britain

Model estimates of NO_y and NH_x deposition across Britain for 1996 (5 km square resolution) were applied as explanatory variables to account for national-scale, fine-grained changes in plant species composition between 1990 and 1998. Plant species data were recorded from up to 27 fixed plots located within a stratified random sample of 596 1 km². The response variable was a cover-weighted Ellenberg fertility score for each plot. Analyses were carried out separately for woodlands, semi-natural grasslands and heaths/bogs. Most of the variation in the botanical response variable occurred between plots within squares and so could not be explained by the model deposition data. NH_x deposition estimates accounted for significant, but small components of between 1 km² variation in the change in Ellenberg score in grasslands (5.6%) and heath/bogs (9.8%) but not woodlands. NO_y deposition estimates were not significantly associated with vegetation change. Linear models provided the best fit and the slope of the relationship was lower for heath/bogs than grasslands. Further signal attribution at sub-kilometre square scales requires the development of fine-grained models of N deposition that can be generalised across regional sampling domains.     

Sustainable land application: an overview

Man has land-applied societal nonhazardous wastes for centuries as a means of disposal and to improve the soil via the recycling of nutrients and the addition of organic matter. Nonhazardous wastes include a vast array of materials, including manures, biosolids, composts, wastewater effluents, food-processing wastes, industrial by-products; these are collectively referred to herein as residuals. Because of economic restraints and environmental concerns about land-filling and incineration, interest in land application continues to grow. A major lesson that has been learned, however, is that the traditional definition of land application that emphasizes applying residuals to land in a manner that protects human and animal health, safeguards soil and water resources, and maintains long-term ecosystem quality is incomplete unless the earning of public trust in the practices is included. This overview provides an introduction to a subset of papers and posters presented at the conference, "Sustainable Land Application," held in Orlando, FL, in January 2004. The USEPA, USDA, and multiple national and state organizations with interest in, and/or responsibilities for, ensuring the sustainability of the practice sponsored the conference. The overriding conference objectives were to highlight significant developments in land treatment theory and practice, and to identify future research needs to address critical gaps in the knowledge base that must be addressed to ensure sustainable land application of residuals.     

A multi-objective optimisation approach to water management

The management of river basins is complex especially when decisions about environmental flows are considered in addition to those concerning urban and agricultural water demand. The solution to these complex decision problems requires the use of mathematical techniques that are formulated to take into account conflicting objectives. Many optimization models exist for water management systems but there is a knowledge gap in linking bio-economic objectives with the optimum use of all water resources under conflicting demands. The efficient operation and management of a network of nodes comprising storages, canals, river reaches and irrigation districts under environmental flow constraints is challenging. Minimization of risks associated with agricultural production requires accounting for uncertainty involved with climate, environmental policy and markets. Markets and economic criteria determine what crops farmers would like to grow with subsequent effect on water resources and the environment. Due to conflicts between multiple goal requirements and the competing water demands of different sectors, a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework was developed to analyze production targets under physical, biological, economic and environmental constraints. This approach is described by analyzing the conflicts that may arise between profitability, variable costs of production and pumping of groundwater for a hypothetical irrigation area.     

Effects of commercial diazinon and imidacloprid on microbial urease activity in soil and sod

Diazinon [O,O-diethyl O-2-isopropyl-6-methyl(pyrimidine-4-yl) phosphorothioate] and imidacloprid [1-(1-[6-chloro-3-pyridinyl]methyl)-N-nitro-2-imidazolidinimine] are applied to lawns for insect control simultaneously with nitrogenous fertilizers such as urea, but their potential effect on urease activity and nitrogen availability in turfgrass management has not been evaluated. Urease activity in enzyme assays, washed cell assays, and soil slurries was examined as a function of insecticide concentration. Intact cores from field sites were used to assess the effect of insecticide application on urease activity in creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris Huds.) and bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) sod. Bacterial urease from Bacillus pasteurii and plant urease from jack bean [Canavalia ensiformis (L.) DC.] were unaffected by the insecticides. Both insecticides inhibited the growth of Proteus vulgaris, a urease-producing bacterium, but only diazinon significantly reduced urease activity in washed cells; neither insecticide inhibited urease activity in sonicated cells. Neither diazinon nor imidacloprid inhibited urease activity in Woolper soil (fine, mixed, mesic Typic Argiudoll) slurries, but diazinon slightly inhibited urease activity in Maury soil (fine, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Paleudalf) slurries. Imidacloprid had no effect on urease activity in creeping bentgrass or bluegrass sod at up to 10 times the commercial application rate. Diazinon briefly, but significantly, reduced urease activity in bluegrass sod. Co-application of imidacloprid and urea appears to be benign with respect to urease activity in soil and sod. Diazinon, in contrast, appears to have a significant, short-term, inhibitory effect on the microbial urease-producing community, but that effect depends on soil type.     

Behavioral aspects of sperm competition in cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis (Sepioidea: Cephalopoda)

Sexual selection studies in cephalopods indicate that sperm competition is a central feature of their mating systems, yet this has not been studied experimentally in any detail. In 1998 we staged 20 matings of the cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis L., in the laboratory. Males rapidly initiated mating in the “head-to-head” position, with no apparent courtship. Mating lasted an average of 10 min (range 7 to 14 min). For the first 6 min (on average 63% of the mating duration), the male flushed strong jets of water directly at the female's buccal membrane, which sometimes resulted in the expulsion of parts of spermatangia placed there in recent matings. Then, in a single discrete movement that lasted an average of only 14 s, the male's modified fourth left arm – the hectocotylus – wrapped around a single large bundle of spermatophores (ca. 150 to 300) and transferred them to the female's buccal membrane. For the remainder of the mating (average 3 min, range 1.5 to 5.0 min), the hectocotylus repeatedly broke the spermatophores open, and manipulated them, so that sperm were released and many spermatangia were attached along the ventral buccal membrane, near the paired seminal receptacles. Approximately 140 spermatangia were attached in rows 3 to 5 deep around the ventral buccal membrane in a single mating; the rest were usually discarded during mating. Histology revealed that each of the seminal receptacles consists of a series of sperm storage bulbs connected by a central duct, which leads to a single pore at the surface of the buccal membrane. Baseline data on sperm motility were obtained, but the mechanism by which sperm enter the seminal receptacle remains unknown. Females seemed to initiate termination of mating, then males guarded their mates temporarily. These results, combined with other recent laboratory experiments, provide evidence that sperm competition may be a major feature of the mating system of S. officinalis. Received: 4 January 1999 / Accepted: 18 May 1999