Role of organic acids in enhancing the desorption and uptake of weathered p,p'-DDE by Cucurbita pepo

Experiments were conducted to assess the effect of seven organic acids [succinic, tartaric, malic, malonic, oxalic, citric, ethylene-diaminetetraacetic (EDTA)] over a concentration range of two orders of magnitude (0.001-0.10 M) on the abiotic desorption of weathered p,p'-DDE and the extraction of polyvalent inorganic ions from soil. At 0.05 M all organic acids significantly increased contaminant desorption by 19-80%. Organic acids also increased the aqueous concentration of eight inorganic constituents extracted from soil, with at least a six-fold increase in the release of Al, Fe, Mn, and P at 0.001 M. Zucchini seedlings grown for 28 d in soil containing weathered p,p'-DDE (300 ng/g, dry weight) were periodically amended with distilled water, citric or oxalic acids (0.01 M). Plants receiving water removed 1.7% of the p,p'-DDE from the soil. Seedlings amended with citric or oxalic acids removed 2.1 and 1.9% of the contaminant, respectively, and contained up to 66% more contaminant in the shoot system than unamended vegetation. A second crop of untreated (distilled water) zucchini in the same soil removed more contaminant than the first crop (2.5%), although the addition of organic acids did not further enhance contaminant uptake. The data indicate that the addition of low molecular weight organic acids causes the partial dissolution of the soil structure through the chelation of inorganic structural ions, potentially enhancing bioavailability and having implications for the phytoremediation of persistent organic pollutants in soil.     

A passive air sampler for characterizing the vertical concentration profile of gaseous phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in near soil surface air

Air-soil exchange is an important process governing the fate of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). A novel passive air sampler was designed and tested for measuring the vertical concentration profile of 4 low molecular weight PAHs in gaseous phase (PAH_LMW4) in near soil surface air. Air at various heights from 5 to 520 mm above the ground was sampled by polyurethane foam disks held in down-faced cartridges. The samplers were tested at three sites: A: an extremely contaminated site, B: a site near A, and C: a background site on a university campus. Vertical concentration gradients were revealed for PAH_LMW4 within a thin layer close to soil surface at the three sites. PAH concentrations either decreased (Site A) or increased (Sites B and C) with height, suggesting either deposition to or evaporation from soils. The sampler is a useful tool for investigating air-soil exchange of gaseous phase semi-volatile organic chemicals.     

NUTRIENT AND β17‐ESTRADIOL LOSS IN RUNOFF WATER FROM POULTRY LITTERS1

ABSTRACT: A main water quality concern is accelerated eutrophication of fresh waters from nonpoint source pollution, particularly nutrient transport in surface runoff from agricultural areas and confined animal feeding operations. This study examined nutrient and β₁₇‐estradiol concentrations in runoff from small plots where six poultry litters were applied at a rate of about 67 kg/ha of total phosphorus (TP). The six poultry litter treatments included pelleted compost, pelleted litter, raw litter, alum (treated) litter, pelleted alum litter, and normal litter (no alum). Four replicates of the six poultry litter treatments and a control (plots without poultry litter application) were used in this study. Rainfall simulations at intensity of 50 mm/hr were conducted immediately following poultry litter application to the plots and again 30 days later. Composite runoff samples were analyzed for soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), ammonia (NH₄), nitrate (NO₃), TP, total nitrogen (TN) and β₁₇‐estradiol concentrations. In general, poultry litter applications increased nutrient and β₁₇‐estradiol concentrations in runoff water. Ammonia and P concentrations in runoff water from the first simulation were correlated to application rates of water extractable NH₄ (R²= 0.70) and P (R²= 0.68) in the manure. Results suggest that alum applications to poultry litter in houses in between flocks is an effective best management practice for reducing phosphorus (P) and β₁₇‐estradiol concentrations in runoff and that pelleted poultry litters may increase the potential for P and β₁₇‐estradiol loss in runoff water. Inferences regarding pelleted poultry litters should be viewed cautiously, because the environmental consequence of pelleting poultry litters needs additional investigation.     

Separating the effects of partial submergence and soil oxygen demand on plant physiology

In wetlands, a distinct zonation of plant species composition occurs along moisture gradients, due to differential flooding tolerance of the species involved. However, "flooding" comprises two important, distinct stressors (soil oxygen demand [SOD] and partial submergence) that affect plant survival and growth. To investigate how these two flooding stressors affect plant performance, we executed a factorial experiment (water depth x SOD) for six plant species of nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor conditions, occurring along a moisture gradient in Dutch dune slacks. Physiological, growth, and biomass responses to changed oxygen availability were quantified for all species. The responses were consistent with field zonation, but the two stressors affected species differently. Increased SOD increased root oxygen deprivation, as indicated by either raised porosity or increased alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity in roots of flood-intolerant species (Calamagrostis epigejos and Carex arenaria). While SOD affected root functioning, partial submergence tended more to reduce photosynthesis (as shown both by gas exchange and 13C assimilation), leaf dark respiration, 13C partitioning from shoots to roots, and growth of these species. These processes were especially affected if the root oxygen supply was depleted by a combination of flooding and increased SOD. In contrast, the most flood-tolerant species (Juncus subnodulosus and Typha latifolia) were unaffected by any treatment and maintained high internal oxygen concentrations at the shoot : root junction and low root ADH activity in all treatments. For these species, the internal oxygen transport capacity was well in excess of what was needed to maintain aerobic metabolism across all treatments, although there was some evidence for effects of SOD on their nitrogen partitioning (as indicated by 865N values) and photosynthesis. Two species intermediate in flooding tolerance (Carex nigra and Schoenus nigricans) responded more idiosyncratically, with different parameters responding to different treatments. These results show that partial submergence and soil flooding are two very different stressors to which species respond in different ways, and that their effects on physiology, survival, and growth are interactive. Understanding species zonation with water regimes can be improved by a better appreciation of how these factors affect plant metabolism independently and interactively.     

GIS‐Based Stream Classification in a Mountain Watershed for Jurisdictional Evaluation

This study analyzed stream characteristics in a mountain watershed in southwestern Colorado and developed a three‐level hierarchical classification scheme using national datasets to demonstrate jurisdictional evaluation as “waters of the United States (U.S.)” under U.S. Clean Water Act Section 404 at the watershed scale. The National Hydrography Dataset and USGS StreamStats were used with field observations to classify streams in the 53 km² Cement Creek Watershed based on flow duration (Level 1), stream order (Level 2), and other biophysical metrics (Level 3). Kruskal‐Wallis tests and discriminant analysis showed significant differences among Level 2 classes. Level 3 classification used cluster analysis for stream length, distance to the downstream traditional navigable water (TNW), and the ratio of mean annual flow from the source stream to the TNW. Results showed all perennial and intermittent streams are jurisdictional relatively permanent waters (RPWs), which include over a third of all streams, 64% are intermittent or ephemeral, and almost half are ephemeral first order. All ephemeral reaches are non‐RPWs requiring significant nexus evaluation to determine jurisdiction. These ephemeral first‐order streams can contribute 5% of the annual flow to the TNW at the confluence, while the Cement Creek main stem contributes 21% of the TNW flow. The study demonstrated that the classification provides key biophysical and regulatory information to aid jurisdictional evaluations in mountain watersheds.     

Spatial Patterns of Macrobenthic Communities in Shallow-Water Tidal Embayments and Their Association with Environmental Factors

This study examines the distribution, composition, and structure of benthic communities in nine shallow-water semienclosed embayments on Cape Cod, southeastern Massachusetts. The spatial patterns were used to associate benthic characteristics with local environmental factors. Field data from multiple years were collected to measure macrofaunal abundance, community composition, and environmental characteristics. Multivariate statistics were used to analyze the spatial variations of species composition and the abundance of benthic macrofauna. Canonical ordination, specifically redundancy analysis, was used to determine the relative importance of the environmental factors (nutrients and habitat factors) being studied. The analyses demonstrate that the benthic communities in the shallow tidal embayments are clearly clustered in association with the local environments. Species composition and community structure of the benthic macrofauna are significantly correlated with water column parameters, especially with phytoplankton biomass, total nitrogen, and dissolved oxygen.     

Atmospheric Tracer Techniques and Gas Transport in the Primary Aluminum Industry

The results of 35 Individual SF₆ tracer tests conducted in Norway during 1978 demonstrate the applicability of tracer techniques to the study of a wide variety of pollutant transport problems found in the primary aluminum industry. Tracer methods were employed to determine the efficiency of the pollutant control system over a single reduction cell under a variety of operating conditions. Two tests conducted during normal operation gave efficiencies equal to 100 ±19% and 79 ± 12%, while a test performed during the occurrence of an anode effect yielded an efficiency equal to 66 ± 22%.

Tracer investigations of flow in the wake of a smelter hall indicated that between 1 % and 11 % of secondary, roof-top emissions can become entrained in the recirculation cavity and reenter the hall through the ventilation fresh air supply. These reentry rates were observed for release heights as high as 8 m above the existing roof exhaust duct. Tracer dispersion data collected within 20 building heights of the smelter agreed very well with extrapolations of McEIroy- Pooler dispersion curves for an urban area. Dispersion curves determined from a previous wind tunnel study of flow downwind of an isolated building underestimated dispersion downwind of the vs.melter complex.

The total fluoride mass flow rate measured downwind of a smelter during wet, foggy conditions indicated that wet removal rates of fluorides are in the range 3.2 × 10^?4/s to 6.4 × 10^?4/s. Simulation of the source with several tracer point releases and simultaneous measurement of fluoride and tracer ground-level concentrations downwind of the smelter eliminated the need for measurements of vertical profiles of wind speed and fluoride concentration during the experiment.     

Urban ecological systems: scientific foundations and a decade of progress

Urban ecological studies, including focus on cities, suburbs, and exurbs, while having deep roots in the early to mid 20th century, have burgeoned in the last several decades. We use the state factor approach to highlight the role of important aspects of climate, substrate, organisms, relief, and time in differentiating urban from non-urban areas, and for determining heterogeneity within spatially extensive metropolitan areas. In addition to reviewing key findings relevant to each state factor, we note the emergence of tentative "urban syndromes" concerning soils, streams, wildlife and plants, and homogenization of certain ecosystem functions, such as soil organic carbon dynamics. We note the utility of the ecosystem approach, the human ecosystem framework, and watersheds as integrative tools to tie information about multiple state factors together. The organismal component of urban complexes includes the social organization of the human population, and we review key modes by which human populations within urban areas are differentiated, and how such differentiation affects environmentally relevant actions. Emerging syntheses in land change science and ecological urban design are also summarized. The multifaceted frameworks and the growing urban knowledge base do however identify some pressing research needs.     

Forecasting air quality time series using deep learning

This paper presents one of the first applications of deep learning (DL) techniques to predict air pollution time series. Air quality management relies extensively on time series data captured at air monitoring stations as the basis of identifying population exposure to airborne pollutants and determining compliance with local ambient air standards. In this paper, 8 hr averaged surface ozone (O₃) concentrations were predicted using deep learning consisting of a recurrent neural network (RNN) with long short-term memory (LSTM). Hourly air quality and meteorological data were used to train and forecast values up to 72 hours with low error rates. The LSTM was able to forecast the duration of continuous O₃ exceedances as well. Prior to training the network, the dataset was reviewed for missing data and outliers. Missing data were imputed using a novel technique that averaged gaps less than eight time steps with incremental steps based on first-order differences of neighboring time periods. Data were then used to train decision trees to evaluate input feature importance over different time prediction horizons. The number of features used to train the LSTM model was reduced from 25 features to 5 features, resulting in improved accuracy as measured by Mean Absolute Error (MAE). Parameter sensitivity analysis identified look-back nodes associated with the RNN proved to be a significant source of error if not aligned with the prediction horizon. Overall, MAE's less than 2 were calculated for predictions out to 72 hours.

Implications: Novel deep learning techniques were used to train an 8-hour averaged ozone forecast model. Missing data and outliers within the captured data set were replaced using a new imputation method that generated calculated values closer to the expected value based on the time and season. Decision trees were used to identify input variables with the greatest importance. The methods presented in this paper allow air managers to forecast long range air pollution concentration while only monitoring key parameters and without transforming the data set in its entirety, thus allowing real time inputs and continuous prediction.     

Laboratory study on leachability of five herbicides in South Australian soils

Abstract

Norflurazon, oxadiazon, oxyfluorfen, trifluralin and simazine are herbicides widely used in the vineyards of the Barossa Valley, South Australia. The leaching behaviour of norflurazon, oxadiazon, oxyfluorfen and trifluralin was investigated on four key soils in the Barossa Valley. Leaching potential on packed soil columns and actual mobility using intact soil columns were investigated. On the packed soil columns, norflurazon was the most leachable herbicide. More of the herbicides were detected in the leachates from the sandy soils (Mountadam and Nuriootpa) than from the clayey soils (Lyndoch and Tanunda). Organic matter is generally low in soils in the Barossa region. Porosity and saturated conductivity significantly affect herbicide movement and in the sandy Mountadam and Nuriootpa soils, the water flux is greater than for the higher clay content Lyndoch and Tanunda soils. Increasing the time interval between herbicide application and the incidence of “rainfall”; reduced the amounts of herbicides found in the leachates. The use of intact soil columns and including simazine for comparison showed that both norflurazon and simazine were present in the leachates. Simazine was the first herbicide to appear in leachates. Sectioning of the intact soil columns after leaching clearly demonstrated that norflurazon and simazine reached the bottom of the soil columns for all soils studied. Greater amounts of norflurazon were retained in the soil columns compared with simazine. The other herbicides were mostly retained in the initial sections of the soil columns.