The Virtue of Simplicity

In this paper we explore material simplicity, defined as the virtue disposing us to act appropriately within the sphere of our consumer decisions. Simplicity is a conscientious and restrained attitude toward material goods that typically includes (1) decreased consumption and (2) a more conscious consumption; hence (3) greater deliberation regarding our consumer decisions; (4) a more focused life in general; and (5) a greater and more nuanced appreciation for other things besides material goods, and also for (6) material goods themselves. It is to be distinguished from simple-mindedness, a return to nature, or poverty. Simplicity overlaps with traditional virtues such as temperance, frugality, and wisdom, and sustains and enables traditional virtues such as justice and generosity. Simplicity is a virtue because it furthers human flourishing, both individual and social, and sustains nature’s ecological flourishing. For analytic purposes, we consider six areas in which simplicity can make important contributions: (1) basic individual flourishing, (2) basic societal flourishing, (3) individual freedom or autonomy, (4) the acquisition of knowledge, (5) living meaningfully, and (6) preserving and protecting nonhuman beings. The proven failure of materialism to secure subjective happiness or objective flourishing argues for the practice of voluntary simplicity and for the radical reform of modern consumer societies.     

Improving ozone modeling in complex terrain at a fine grid resolution: Part I – examination of analysis nudging and all PBL schemes associated with LSMs in meteorological model

Meteorological variables such as temperature, wind speed, wind directions, and Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) heights have critical implications for air quality simulations. Sensitivity simulations with five different PBL schemes associated with three different Land Surface Models (LSMs) were conducted to examine the impact of meteorological variables on the predicted ozone concentrations using the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) version 4.5 with local perspective. Additionally, the nudging analysis for winds was adopted with three different coefficients to improve the wind fields in the complex terrain at 4-km grid resolution. The simulations focus on complex terrain having valley and mountain areas at 4-km grid resolution. The ETA M–Y (Mellor–Yamada) and G–S (Gayno–Seaman) PBL schemes are identified as favorite options and promote O₃ formation causing the higher temperature, slower winds, and lower mixing height among sensitivity simulations in the area of study. It is found that PX (Pleim–Xiu) simulation does not always give optimal meteorological model performance. We also note that the PBL scheme plays a more important role in predicting daily maximum 8-h O₃ than land surface models. The results of nudging analysis for winds with three different increased coefficients' values (2.5, 4.5, and 6.0 × 10^?4 s^?1) over seven sensitivity simulations show that the meteorological model performance was enhanced due to improved wind fields, indicating the FDDA nudging analysis can improve model performance considerably at 4-km grid resolution. Specifically, the sensitivity simulations with the coefficient value (6.0 × 10^?4) yielded more substantial improvements than with the other values (2.5 and 4.5 × 10^?4). Hence, choosing the nudging coefficient of 6.0 × 10^?4 s^?1 for winds in MM5 may be the best choice to improve wind fields as an input, as well as, better model performance of CMAQ in the complex terrain area. As a result, a finer grid resolution is necessary to evaluate and access of CMAQ results for giving a detailed representation of meteorological and chemical processes in the regulatory modeling. A recommendation of optimal scheme options for simulating meteorological variables in the complex terrain area is made.     

Variations in pesticide leaching related to land use, pesticide properties, and unsaturated zone thickness

Pesticide leaching through variably thick soils beneath agricultural fields in Morgan Creek, Maryland was simulated for water years 1995 to 2004 using LEACHM (Leaching Estimation and Chemistry Model). Fifteen individual models were constructed to simulate five depths and three crop rotations with associated pesticide applications. Unsaturated zone thickness averaged 4.7 m but reached a maximum of 18.7 m. Average annual recharge to ground water decreased from 15.9 to 11.1 cm as the unsaturated zone increased in thickness from 1 to 10 m. These point estimates of recharge are at the lower end of previously published values, which used methods that integrate over larger areas capturing focused recharge in the numerous detention ponds in the watershed. The total amount of applied and leached masses for five parent pesticide compounds and seven metabolites were estimated for the 32-km2 Morgan Creek watershed by associating each hectare to the closest one-dimensional model analog of model depth and crop rotation scenario as determined from land-use surveys. LEACHM parameters were set such that branched, serial, first-order decay of pesticides and metabolites was realistically simulated. Leaching is predicted to be greatest for shallow soils and for persistent compounds with low sorptivity. Based on simulation results, percent parent compounds leached within the watershed can be described by a regression model of the form e(-depth) (a ln t1/2-b ln K OC) where t1/2 is the degradation half-life in aerobic soils, K OC is the organic carbon normalized sorption coefficient, and a and b are fitted coefficients (R2 = 0.86, p value = 7 x 10(-9)).     

The impact of alum addition on organic P transformations in poultry litter and litter-amended soil

Poultry litter treatment with alum (Al(2)(SO(4))(3) . 18H(2)O) lowers litter phosphorus (P) solubility and therefore can lower litter P release to runoff after land application. Lower P solubility in litter is generally attributed to aluminum-phosphate complex formation. However, recent studies suggest that alum additions to poultry litter may influence organic P mineralization. Therefore, alum-treated and untreated litters were incubated for 93 d to assess organic P transformations during simulated storage. A 62-d soil incubation was also conducted to determine the fate of incorporated litter organic P, which included alum-treated litter, untreated litter, KH(2)PO(4) applied at 60 mg P kg(-1) of soil, and an unamended control. Liquid-state (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance indicated that phytic acid was the only organic P compound present, accounting for 50 and 45% of the total P in untreated and alum-treated litters, respectively, before incubation and declined to 9 and 37% after 93 d of storage-simulating incubation. Sequential fractionation of litters showed that alum addition to litter transformed 30% of the organic P from the 1.0 mol L(-1) HCl to the 0.1 mol L(-1) NaOH extractable fraction and that both organic P fractions were more persistent in alum-treated litter compared with untreated litter. The soil incubation revealed that 0.1 mol L(-1) NaOH-extractable organic P was more recalcitrant after mixing than was the 1.0 mol L(-1) HCl-extractable organic P. Thus, adding alum to litter inhibits organic P mineralization during storage and promotes the formation of alkaline extractable organic P that sustains lower P solubility in the soil environment.     

Measuring the Impact of Urbanization on Channel Widths Using Historic Aerial Photographs and Modern Surveys1

Abstract: Land use in a watershed is commonly held to exert a strong influence on trunk channel form and process. Land use changes act over human time‐scales, which are short enough to measure effects on channels directly using historic aerial photographs. We show that high‐resolution topographic surveys for the channels of paired watersheds in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, are comparable, but have channel widths that have changed dramatically in the past five decades. The two watersheds, Little Lehigh Creek and Sacony Creek, are similar in most aspects except in their respective amount of urban land use. Aerial photographs of the urbanized Little Lehigh Creek show that a majority of the measured widths (67 of 85) were statistically wider in 1999 than in 1947. In contrast, the measured widths from the agricultural Sacony Creek are more evenly distributed among those that widened (18), narrowed (28), and those that were statistically unchanged (6) from 1946 to 1999. From 1946 to 1999 the only section of Sacony Creek that widened was that reach downstream of the only sizable urban area in the watershed. The current land use in Sacony Creek watershed resembles that of 1946, while the Little Lehigh Creek watershed has more than tripled its urban area. These data, in concert with other recent hydrologic data from the watersheds suggest that the increase in urban area‐generated peak discharges is the mechanism behind the widening that occurred in the Little Lehigh Creek. These wider channels can affect water quality, aquatic habitat, suspended sediment loads, and river esthetics.     

A modeling study of coarse particulate matter pollution in Beijing: regional source contributions and control implications for the 2008 Summer Olympics

In the last 10 yr, Beijing has made a great effort to improve its air quality. However, it is still suffering from regional coarse particulate matter (PM10) pollution that could be a challenge to the promise of clean air during the 2008 Olympics. To provide scientific guidance on regional air pollution control, the Mesoscale Modeling System Generation 5 (MM5) and the Models-3/Community Multiscale Air Quality Model (CMAQ) air quality modeling system was used to investigate the contributions of emission sources outside the Beijing area to pollution levels in Beijing. The contributions to the PM10 concentrations in Beijing were assessed for the following sources: power plants, industry, domestic sources, transportation, agriculture, and biomass open burning. In January, it is estimated that on average 22% of the PM10 concentrations can be attributed to outside sources, of which domestic and industrial sources contributed 37 and 31%, respectively. In August, as much as 40% of the PM10 concentrations came from regional sources, of which approximately 41% came from industry and 31% from power plants. However, the synchronous analysis of the hourly concentrations, regional contributions, and wind vectors indicates that in the heaviest pollution periods the local emission sources play a more important role. The implications are that long-term control strategies should be based on regional-scale collaborations, and that emission abatement of local sources may be more effective in lowering the PM10 concentration levels on the heavy pollution days. Better air quality can be attained during the Olympics by placing effective emission controls on the local sources in Beijing and by controlling emissions from industry and power plants in the surrounding regions.     

Kinetics of particulate organic matter removal as a response to bioflocculation in aerobic biofilm reactors.

Recent research has identified that the major fraction of chemical oxygen demand in domestic wastewaters is in particulate form. The research presented herein develops the kinetics of particle removal as a response to bioflocculation at the surface of aerobic biofilms. This study focuses on the removal of particles that are maintained in aqueous suspension after 30 minutes of gravity settling. It is helpful to consider the particulate organics removal process in biofilms as the sum of four steps, namely (1) external transport of the particles to the biofilm surface, (2) bioflocculation, (3) organic particulate hydrolysis, and (4) diffusion and reaction of the solubilized organics by the bacterial cells comprising the biofilm. Organic (native corn starch) and inorganic particle (Min-U-Sil 10 [U.S. Silica Company, Berkeley Springs, West Virginia]) suspensions, with micronutrients, were continuously fed to a rotating disc biofilm reactor to verify a first-order kinetic expression that has been used to describe bioflocculation and to demonstrate that bioflocculation is the primary particle removal mechanism. Extracellular polymeric substances were extracted and quantified to describe the role they play in the bioflocculation process.     

Costs and benefits of capsaicin-mediated control of gut retention in dispersers of wild chilies

A fundamental way in which animal-dispersed plants can influence the viability and distribution of dispersed seeds is through control of retention time in the guts of dispersers. Using two species of wild chilies and their dispersers, we examined how chemical and physical properties of fruits and seeds mediate this interaction. Capsicum chacoense is polymorphic for pungency, occurs in Bolivia, and is dispersed mostly by elaenias. Capsicum annuum is not polymorphic, occurs in Arizona (USA), and is dispersed mostly by thrashers. We first tested whether capsaicin, the substance responsible for the pungency of chilies, affects gut retention time of seeds in primary dispersers. Capsaicin slowed gut passage of seeds but did so in a manner that differed greatly between bird species because the constipative effects of capsaicin occurred only after an 80-minute time lag. Elaenias in Bolivia held only 6% of C. chacoense seeds for > 80 minutes, whereas thrashers in Arizona held 78% of C. annuum seeds for > 80 minutes. Next we examined the effects of retention time on seed viability and germination. Increased retention resulted in a greater proportion of seeds germinating in C. annuum, had no effects on non-pungent C. chacoense, and had negative effects on pungent C. chacoense. These divergent effects are explained by differences in seed coat morphology: seed coats of pungent C. chacoense are 10-12% thinner than those of the other two types of seeds. Thus, longer retention times damaged seeds with the thinnest seed coats. In C. annuum, seed viability remained high regardless of retention time, but germination increased with retention, suggesting a role for scarification. Thus, in C. annuum, fruit chemistry appears well matched with seed morphology and disperser physiology: capsaicin extends gut retention for most seeds, resulting in greater seed scarification and higher germination rates. Increased retention of pungent C. chacoense seeds is detrimental, but because the primary consumers have short retention times, capsaicin slows only a small proportion of seeds, minimizing negative effects. These results illustrate the importance of context in studies of fruit secondary metabolites. The same chemical can have different impacts on plant fitness depending on its morphological, physiological, and ecological context.     

Metapopulation persistence in a dynamic landscape: more habitat or better stewardship?

Habitat loss and fragmentation has created metapopulations where there were once continuous populations. Ecologists and conservation biologists have become interested in the optimal way to manage and conserve such metapopulations. Several authors have considered the effect of patch disturbance and recovery on metapopulation persistence, but almost all such studies assume that every patch is equally susceptible to disturbance. We investigated the influence of protecting patches from disturbance on metapopulation persistence, and used a stochastic metapopulation model to answer the question: How can we optimally trade off returns from protection of patches vs. creation of patches? We considered the problem of finding, under budgetary constraints, the optimal combination of increasing the number of patches in the metapopulation network vs. increasing the number of protected patches in the network. We discovered that the optimal trade-off is dependent upon all of the properties of the system: the species dynamics, the dynamics of the landscape, and the relative costs of each action. A stochastic model and accompanying methodology are provided allowing a manager to determine the optimal policy for small metapopulations. We also provide two approximations, including a rule of thumb, for determining the optimal policy for larger metapopulations. The method is illustrated with an example inspired by information for the greater bilby, Macrotis lagotis, inhabiting southwestern Queensland, Australia. We found that given realistic costs for each action, protection of patches should be prioritized over patch creation for improving the persistence of the greater bilby during the next 20 years.