EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT OF POPULATIONS USING ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING,DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS,AND GIS1

ABSTRACT: Simulation of ground-water flow and fate of contaminants in the subsurface environment constitutes a major phase of most environmental assessment and site remediation studies. These simulation studies yield information on spatial and temporal distributions of contaminants in the subsurface media. An important use of this information is to conduct exposure assessment studies. Spatial and temporal distributions of both chemical concentrations and exposed populations render this integrated exposure analysis task rather difficult. Geographic Information Systems (GIS), on the other hand, provide a platform in which layered, spatially distributed databases can be manipulated with ease, thereby simplifying exposure analysis tasks significantly. In this paper, we describe procedures that combine the simulation models and demographic databases under a GIS platform to automate the exposure assessment phase of a typical health assessment study. Procedures developed herein significantly simplify the post-processing phase of the analysis, and render the overall task more ‘user friendly.’ A site-specific application is included as a demonstration of the proposed process.     

Social learning in a policy-mandated collaboration: community wildfire protection planning in the eastern United States

Policies such as the US Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA) mandate collaboration in planning to create benefits such as social learning and shared understanding among partners. However, some question the ability of top-down policy to foster successful local collaboration. Through in-depth interviews and document analysis, this paper investigates social learning and transformative learning in three case studies of Community Wildfire Protection Planning (CWPP), a policy-mandated collaboration under HFRA. Not all CWPP groups engaged in social learning. Those that did learned most about organisational priorities and values through communicative learning. Few participants gained new skills or knowledge through instrumental learning. CWPP groups had to commit to learning, but the design of the collaborative-mandate influenced the type of learning that was most likely to occur. This research suggests a potential role for top-down policy in setting the structural context for learning at the local level, but also confirms the importance of collaborative context and process in fostering social learning.     

Hydrologic analysis for coastal wetland restoration

Increasing recognition of the value of tidal wetlands has led to interest in how to restore and enhance areas that have been modified by human activity. The policy of recognizing restoration or enhancement as mitigation for destruction of other wetlands is controversial. Once policy questions are separated from technical questions, the steps in a successful project are straightforward A key element in the design of a successful project is quantitative hydraulic and hydrologic analysis of alternatives. Restoration projects at two sites in California used a combination of empirical geomorphic relationships, numerical modeling, and verification with field observations. Experience with these and other wetland restoration projects indicates the importance of longterm postproject monitoring, inspection, and maintenance     

Passive and active adaptive management: approaches and an example

Adaptive management is a framework for resource conservation that promotes iterative learning-based decision making. Yet there remains considerable confusion about what adaptive management entails, and how to actually make resource decisions adaptively. A key but somewhat ambiguous distinction in adaptive management is between active and passive forms of adaptive decision making. The objective of this paper is to illustrate some approaches to active and passive adaptive management with a simple example involving the drawdown of water impoundments on a wildlife refuge. The approaches are illustrated for the drawdown example, and contrasted in terms of objectives, costs, and potential learning rates. Some key challenges to the actual practice of AM are discussed, and tradeoffs between implementation costs and long-term benefits are highlighted.     

Nitrogen and phosphorus status of soils and trophic state of lakes associated with forage-based beef cattle operations in Florida

Forage-based livestock systems have been implicated as major contributors to deteriorating water quality, particularly for phosphorus (P) from commercial fertilizers and manures affecting surface and ground water quality. Little information exists regarding possible magnitudes of nutrient losses from pastures that are managed for both grazing and hay production and how these might impact adjacent bodies of water. We examined the changes that have occurred in soil fertility levels of rhizoma peanut (Arachis glabrata Benth.)-based beef cattle pastures (n = 4) in Florida from 1988 to 2002. These pastures were managed for grazing in spring followed by haying in late summer and were fertilized annually with P (39 kg P2O5 ha(-1)) and K (68 kg K2O ha(-1)). Additionally, we investigated trends in water quality parameters and trophic state index (TSI) of lakes (n = 3) associated with beef cattle operations from 1993 to 2002. Overall, there was no spatial or temporal buildup of soil P and other crop nutrients despite the annual application of fertilizers and daily in-field loading of animal waste. In fact, soil fertility levels showed a declining trend for crop nutrient levels, especially soil P (y = 146.57 - 8.14 x year; r2= 0.75), even though the fields had a history of P fertilization and the cattle were rotated into the legume fields. Our results indicate that when nutrients are not applied in excess, cow-calf systems are slight exporters of P, K, Ca, and Mg through removal of cut hay. Water quality in lakes associated with cattle production was "good" (30-46 TSI) based on the Florida Water Quality Standard. These findings indicate that properly managed livestock operations may not be major contributors to excess loads of nutrients (especially P) in surface water.