Simulating Spatial Pattern and Dynamics of Military Training Impacts for Allocation of Land Repair Using Images

The land management of US Army installations requires information on land conditions and their history for planning future military training activities and allocation of land repair. There is thus a strong need for methodology development to estimate the land conditions and cumulative military training impacts for the purpose of repair and restoration. In this study, we simulated at Fort Riley, USA, spatial patterns and temporal dynamics of military training impacts on land conditions quantified as percent ground cover using an image-aided spatial conditional co-simulation algorithm. Moreover, we estimated the historical percent ground cover as a measure of the cumulative impacts, and then calculated the allocation of land repair and restoration based on both current and historical land conditions. In addition, we developed a loss function method for allocation of land repair and restoration. The results showed: (1) this co-simulation algorithm reproduced spatial and temporal variability of percent ground cover and provided estimates of uncertainties with the correlation coefficients and root mean square errors between the simulated and observed values varying from 0.63 to 0.88 and from 23% to 78%, respectively; (2) with and without the cumulative impacts, the obtained spatial patterns of the land repair categories were similar, but their land areas differed by 5% to 40% in some years; (3) the combination of the loss function with the co-simulation made it possible to estimate and computationally propagate the uncertainties of land conditions into the uncertainties of expected cost loss for misallocation of land repair and restoration; and (4) the loss function, physical threshold, and probability threshold methods led to similar spatial patterns and temporal dynamics of the land repair categories, however, the loss function increased the land area by 5% to 30% for intense and moderate repairs and decreased the area by 5% to 30% for no repairs and light repairs for most of the years. This approach provided the potential to improve and automate the existing land rehabilitation and maintenance (LRAM) system used for the land management of the U.S. Army installations, and it can be applied to the management of other civil lands and environments. In conclusion, this study overcame the important gaps that exist in the methodological development and application for simulating land conditions and cumulative impacts due to human activities, and also in the methods for the allocation of land for repair and restoration.     

Acute effects of Fe₂O₃, TiO₂, ZnO and CuO nanomaterials on Xenopus laevis

Metal oxide nanomaterials have exhibited toxicity to a variety of aquatic organisms, especially microbes and invertebrates. To date, few studies have evaluated the toxicity of metal oxide nanomaterials on aquatic vertebrates. Therefore, this study examined effects of ZnO, TiO₂, Fe₂O₃, and CuO nanomaterials (20-100 nm) on amphibians utilizing the Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay Xenopus (FETAX) protocol, a 96 h exposure with daily solution exchanges. Nanomaterials were dispersed in reconstituted moderately hard test medium. These exposures did not increase mortality in static renewal exposures containing up to 1000 mg L⁻¹ for TiO₂, Fe₂O₃, CuO, and ZnO, but did induce developmental abnormalities. Gastrointestinal, spinal, and other abnormalities were observed in CuO and ZnO nanomaterial exposures at concentrations as low as 3.16 mg L⁻¹ (ZnO). An EC₅₀ of 10.3 mg L⁻¹ ZnO was observed for total malformations. The minimum concentration to inhibit growth of tadpoles exposed to CuO or ZnO nanomaterials was 10 mg L⁻¹. The results indicate that select nanomaterials can negatively affect amphibians during development. Evaluation of nanomaterial exposure on vertebrate organisms are imperative to responsible production and introduction of nanomaterials in everyday products to ensure human and environmental safety.     

Aluminum water treatment residuals as permeable reactive barrier sorbents to reduce phosphorus losses

Two aluminum water treatment residuals (Al-WTRs) from water treatment plants in Manatee County, FL and Punta Gorda, FL were evaluated as potential permeable reactive barrier (PRB) media to reduce groundwater phosphorus (P) losses. Short-term (<24 h) P sorption kinetics and long-term P sorption capacity were determined using batch equilibration studies. Phosphorus desorption was characterized following P loadings of 10, 20, 30, 40 and >70 g kg⁻¹. Sorption and desorption studies were conducted on the <2.0 mm material and three size fractions within the <2.0 mm material. The effect of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) on P retention was determined by reacting Al-WTRs with P-spiked groundwater samples of varying initial DOC concentrations. Phosphorus sorption kinetics were rapid for all size fractions of both Al-WTRs (>98% P sorption effectiveness at shaking times ?2 h). The effect of DOC was minimal at <150 mg DOC L⁻¹, but modest reductions (<22%) in P sorption effectiveness occurred at 587 mg DOC L⁻¹. The P sorption capacities of the Manatee and Punta Gorda Al-WTRs (<2.0 mm) are ∼44 g kg⁻¹ and >75 g kg⁻¹, respectively, and the lifespan of an Al-WTR PRB is likely many decades. Desorption was minimal (<2% of the P sorbed) for cumulative P loadings <40 g kg^-l, but increased (<9% of the P sorbed) at cumulative P loads >70 g kg⁻¹. The <2.0 mm Manatee and Punta Gorda Al-WTRs are regarded as ideal PRB media for P remediation.     

Discussion1-“Stream Temperature Relationships to Forest Harvest in Western Washington” by Michael M. Pollock,Timothy J. Beechie,Martin Liermann,and Richard E. Bigley2

Ice, George G., George W. Brown, John A. Gravelle, C. Rhett Jackson, Jeffrey T. Light, Timothy E. Link, Douglas J. Martin, Dale J. McGreer, and Arne E. Skaugset, 2010. Discussion –“Stream Temperature Relationships to Forest Harvest in Western Washington” by Michael M. Pollock, Timothy J. Beechie, Martin Liermann, and Richard E. Bigley. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 46(4): 838-842. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00441.x     

Bacterial stimulation of copper phytoaccumulation by bioaugmentation with rhizosphere bacteria

Copper contaminated areas pose environmental health risk to living organisms. Remediation processes are thus required for both crop production and industrial activities. This study employed bioaugmentation with copper resistant bacteria to improve phytoremediation of vineyard soils and copper mining waste contaminated with high copper concentrations. Oatmeal plant (Avena sativa L.) was used for copper phytoextraction. Three copper resistant bacterial isolates from oatmeal rhizosphere (Pseudomonas putida A1; Stenotrophomonas maltophilia A2 and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus A6) were used for the stimulation of copper phytoextraction. Two long-term copper contaminated vineyard soils (Mollisol and Inceptisol) and copper mining waste from Southern Brazil were evaluated. Oatmeal plants substantially extracted copper from vineyard soils and copper mining waste. As much as 1549 mg of Cu kg?1 dry mass was extracted from plants grown in Inceptisol soil. The vineyard Mollisol copper uptake (55 mg Cu kg?1 of dry mass) in the shoots was significantly improved upon inoculation of oatmeal plants with isolate A2 (128 mg of Cu kg?1 of shoot dry mass). Overall oatmeal plant biomass displayed higher potential of copper phytoextraction with inoculation of rhizosphere bacteria in vineyard soil to the extent that 404 and 327 g ha?1 of copper removal were respectively observed in vineyard Mollisol bioaugmented with isolate A2 (S. maltophilia) and isolate A6 (A. calcoaceticus). Results suggest potential application of bacterial stimulation of phytoaccumulation of copper for biological removal of copper from contaminated areas.     

Growing hot pepper for cabbage looper, Trichopulsia ni (Hübner) and spider mite, Tetranychus urticae (Koch) control

With the public perception that synthetic pesticides leave harmful residues in crop produce for human consumption, there has been increased interest in using natural products for pest control. The potential of using fruit extracts of hot pepper for controlling the cabbage looper, Trichopulsia ni (Hübner) and spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch is explored in this investigation. Crude extracts from fruits of Capsicum chinense, C. frutescens, C. baccatum, and C. annuum, were prepared and tested under laboratory conditions for their insecticidal and acaricidal performance. Mortality was greatest (94%) when fruit extract of accession PI-593566 (C. annuum) was sprayed on larvae of the cabbage looper, while crude extracts of accessions PI-241675 (C. frutescens) and PI-310488 (C. annuum) were repellent to the spider mite. We investigated differences in chemical composition of the crude fruit extracts that may explain the observed differences in mortality and repellency between accessions. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry spectrometric analysis revealed that capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin, the pungent components of pepper fruit, were not correlated with toxicity or repellency, indicating that the two capsaicinoids are not likely related to the efficacy of pepper fruit extracts. Major compounds in hot pepper fruit extracts were detected and identified as pentadecanoic acid methyl ester, hexadecanoic acid methyl ester, and octadecanoic acid methyl ester. Spectrometric analysis and toxicity to cabbage looper larvae revealed that pentadecanoic acid methyl ester is likely related to cabbage looper mortality. However, the concentration of pentadecanoic acid methyl ester in some accessions was insufficient to explain the observed mortality of cabbage looper and repellency of spider mite. Fruit extracts of accessions PI-593566 (C. annuum) and PI-241675 (C. frutescens) could be useful for managing populations of cabbage loopers and spider mites, which could reduce reliance on synthetic pesticides. Further study is needed to investigate performance of hot pepper extracts under ultra-violet light and field conditions.     

Thermal terrain modeling of spatial objects, a tool for environmental and climatic change assessment

The aim of the current research effort is to include biophysical multi-temporal data and more specifically land surface temperature (LST) in the terrain modeling process that traditionally was based only on digital elevation data processing. The terrain partition framework (spatial objects) is defined by the borderlines of prefecture authorities of Greece. Each object is represented by a set of attributes derived from the digital elevation data, and objects are organized into clusters on the basis of their terrain dependent representation. Finally, the terrain is segmented to regions on the basis of the multi-temporal LST data, each region presenting a different thermal signature. The thermal regions are used in the spatial objects parametric representation and a new index is devised (LST climatic index) expressing the biophysical suitability of spatial objects at moderate resolution scale.