Towards a common Mediterranean framework for beach nourishment projects

Integrated Coastal Zone Management as a strategy for achieving conservation and sustainable multiple use of the coastal zone includes various types of management initiatives. Due to natural phenomena such as tides and winds and to social and economic activities, coastal areas undergo transformation. Coastal erosion and the disappearance of beaches as a result of wrong planning decisions and lack of effective legislation are among the most damaging effects and to reverse them requires application of a series of engineering techniques. Beach nourishment projects as a way towards shore protection and utilization through recreational purposes in the Spanish and Italian coasts are noteworthy in this respect. In beach nourishment projects, the roles of various entities, both public and private, should be clearly indicated and in the evaluation and execution stage a series of questions should be answered for the successful completion of any nourishment project. Past projects in the Mediterranean and experiences from recent Italian projects in Anzio and Nettuno confirm this. For example, dredging of the entrance channel of the port of Anzio enabled middle-sized ferryboats once again to enter the port (which had not been possible before). This will in turn increase the tourism potential of the town. Nourishment of two beaches at these sites prevented further erosion and provided more area for recreational purposes. Expected economic contribution of beach nourishments to the regional authority was estimated for Nettuno and Anzio; the resulting theoretical payback period was found to be 3 yr for the former and 15 yr for the latter.     

Is Indonesian peatland loss a cautionary tale for Peru? A two-country comparison of the magnitude and causes of tropical peatland degradation

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change - Indonesia and Peru harbor some of the largest lowland tropical peatland areas. Indonesian peatlands are subject to much greater...     

Near-surface monitoring for the ZERT shallow CO2 injection project

As part of a collaborative effort operated by the Zero Emission Research and Technology Center (ZERT), a series of two shallow releases of CO₂ was performed at a test site in Bozeman, MT. The purpose of the experiment was to simulate possible leakage scenarios from a carbon capture and storage operation in order to further develop and verify monitoring technologies used to characterize and quantify the release of CO₂. The project included collaboration with several research groups and organizations. Presented here are the results of soil–gas monitoring conducted by researchers from the National Energy Technology Laboratory, including CO₂ flux measurement, soil–gas analysis, perfluorocarbon tracer monitoring, and soil resistivity measurements. Together, these methods proved to be effective in detecting and characterizing leakage in the near-surface.     

The impact of swidden decline on livelihoods and ecosystem services in Southeast Asia: A review of the evidence from 1990 to 2015

Global economic change and policy interventions are driving transitions from long-fallow swidden (LFS) systems to alternative land uses in Southeast Asia’s uplands. This study presents a systematic review of how these transitions impact upon livelihoods and ecosystem services in the region. Over 17 000 studies published between 1950 and 2015 were narrowed, based on relevance and quality, to 93 studies for further analysis. Our analysis of land-use transitions from swidden to intensified cropping systems showed several outcomes: more households had increased overall income, but these benefits came at significant cost such as reductions of customary practice, socio-economic wellbeing, livelihood options, and staple yields. Examining the effects of transitions on soil properties revealed negative impacts on soil organic carbon, cation-exchange capacity, and aboveground carbon. Taken together, the proximate and underlying drivers of the transitions from LFS to alternative land uses, especially intensified perennial and annual cash cropping, led to significant declines in pre-existing livelihood security and the ecosystem services supporting this security. Our results suggest that policies imposing land-use transitions on upland farmers so as to improve livelihoods and environments have been misguided; in the context of varied land uses, swidden agriculture can support livelihoods and ecosystem services that will help buffer the impacts of climate change in Southeast Asia.     

Calibration and Certification of Audit Devices for Transmissometers

Abstract

Speciated fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) data collected as part of the Speciation Trends Network at four sites in the Midwest (Detroit, MI; Cincinnati, OH; Indianapolis, IN; and Northbrook, IL) and as part of the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments program at the rural Bondville, IL, site were analyzed to understand sources contributing to organic carbon (OC) and PM_2.5 mass. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) was applied to available data collected from January 2002 through March 2005, and seven to nine factors were identified at each site. Common factors at all of the sites included mobile (gasoline)/secondary organic aerosols with high OC, diesel with a high elemental carbon/OC ratio (only at the urban sites), secondary sulfate, secondary nitrate, soil, and biomass burning. Identified industrial factors included copper smelting (North–brook, Indianapolis, and Bondville), steel/manufacturing with iron (Northbrook), industrial zinc (North–brook, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Detroit), metal plating with chromium and nickel (Detroit, Indianapolis, and Bondville), mixed industrial with copper and iron (Cincinnati), and limestone with calcium and iron (Bondville). PMF results, on average, accounted for 96% of the measured PM_2.5 mass at each site; residuals were consistently within tolerance (±3), and goodness–of–fit (Q) was acceptable. Potential source contribution function analysis helped identify regional and local impacts of the identified source types. Secondary sulfate and soil factors showed regional characteristics at each site, whereas industrial sources typically appeared to be locally influenced. These regional factors contributed approximately one third of the total PM_2.5 mass, on average, whereas local mobile and industrial sources contributed to the remaining mass. Mobile sources were a major contributor (55–76% at the urban sites) to OC mass, generally with at least twice as much mass from nondiesel sources as from diesel. Regional OC associated with secondary sulfate and soil was generally low.     

Measuring Inorganic and Alkyl Lead Emissions from Stationary Sources

Described are the results from studies done to provide test methods for state and local air pollution control agencies to measure accurately the lead emissions from stationary source stacks as required in the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for Lead. Separate test methods were developed for measuring inorganic lead and alkyl lead compounds. Inorganic lead is collected in a standard particulate sampling train, digested with 50% (V/V) nitric acid and 3% hydrogen peroxide and analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry. Alkyl lead compounds are collected in iodine monochloride and analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry without prior solvent extraction. Standard solutions of inorganic lead in dilute nitric acid are used to calibrate the spectrophotometer in both methods. The inorganic lead test method was evaluated using baghouse dust samples from a primary copper and a primary lead smelter and stack samples from a lead recovery furnace, a primary battery manufacturing plant, a gray iron foundry and a secondary lead smelter. The alkyl lead method was evaluated using alkyl lead motor mix fluids and samples from an alkyl lead manufacturing plant vent stack.     

Nutrient and sediment losses under simulated rainfall following manure incorporation by different methods

Incorporation of manure into cultivated soils is generally recommended to minimize nutrient losses. A 3-yr study was conducted to evaluate sediment and nutrient losses with different tillage methods (moldboard plow, heavy-duty cultivator, double disk, and no-incorporation) for incorporation of beef cattle manure in a silage barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cropping system. Runoff depths, sediment losses, and surface and subsurface nutrient transfers were determined from manured and unmanured field plots at Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. A Guelph rainfall simulator was used to generate 30 min of runoff. Sediment losses among our tillage treatments (137.4-203.6 kg ha(-1)) were not significantly different due to compensating differences in runoff depths. Mass losses of total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) in surface runoff were greatest from the no-incorporation (NI) treatments, with reductions in TP loads of 14% for double disk (DD), 43% for cultivator (CU), and 79% for moldboard plow (MP) treatments. Total N load reductions in 2002 were 26% for DD, 70% for CU, and 95% for MP treatments compared to the NI treatments. Nutrient losses following incorporation of manure with the DD or CU methods were not significantly different from the NI treatments. Manure treatments generally had lower runoff depths and sediment losses, and higher phosphorus and nitrogen losses than the control treatments. Subsurface concentrations of NH4-N, NO3-N, and TN were greatest from the MP treatments, whereas subsurface phosphorus concentrations were not affected by tillage method. Tillage with a cultivator or double disk minimized combined surface and subsurface nutrient losses immediately after annual manure applications.