Municipal sludge management: Health aspects of crop uptake of cadmium from sludge-amended soil and recommendations for regulation

Regulations have been proposed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to promote the proper management of sludge disposal on croplands. The application of municipal sludge to croplands raises serious questions concerning the increase in dietary levels of metals resulting from metal uptake by crops. A model is presented that affords a quantitative estimate of the dietary increase of metals when foods are derived from sludge-amended soil. If a diet or part of a diet is derived completely from sludge-amended soil, it is likely to be excessive in cadmium and pose a clear health hazard. Recommendations designed to reduce the potential health threat of excessive metals in the diet are presented.     

Weed manipulation for insect pest management in corn

Populations of insect pests and associated predaceous arthropods were sampled by direct observation and other relative methods in simple and diversified corn habitats at two sites in north Florida during 1978 and 1979. Through various cultural manipulations, characteristic weed communities were established selectively in alternate rows within corn plots.Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda J. E. Smith) incidence was consistently higher in the weed-free habitats than in the corn habitats containing natural weed complexes or selected weed associations. Corn earworm (Heliothis zea Boddie) damage was similar in all weed-free and weedy treatments, suggesting that this insect is not affected greatly by weed diversity. Only the diversification of corn with a strip of soybean significantly reduced corn earworm damage.In one site, distance between plots was reduced. Because predators moved freely between habitats, it was difficult to identify between-treatment differences in the composition of predator communities. In the other site, increased distances between plots minimized such migrations, resulting in greater population densities and diversity of common foliage insect predators in the weed-manipulated corn systems than in the weed-free plots. Trophic relationships in the weedy habitats were more complex than food webs in monocultures.Predator diversity (measured as mean number of species per area) and predator density was higher in com plots surrounded by mature, complex vegetation than at those surrounded by annual crops. This suggests that diverse adjacent areas to crops provide refuge for predators, thus acting as colonization sources.     

WATER QUALITY FROM TWO SMALL FORESTED WATERSHEDS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS1

Two intermittent streams on oak-hickory watersheds in southern Illinois were gaged with a V-notched weir and sampled with an automatic water sampler. For three years data were collected on flow volume and water quality. Flow volumes show large variations between years and watersheds. Samples were analyzed for Na⁺, K⁺, Ca⁺⁺, Mg⁺⁺, P, and NO^-₃. Water quality was consistently high, although there were significant differences between watersheds. A baseline for water quality has been established for comparison after one of the watersheds is clearcut at a later date.     

HYDROLOGIC EFFECTS OF THE TONKAWA CREEK FLOOD ABATEMENT PROGRAM1

ABSTRACT: Floodwater-retarding impoundments, controlling 68 percent of the drainage area of Tonkawa Creek, a Washita River tributary in southwestern Oklahoma, have reduced the total flow volume about 36 percent over a 5-year period. Analyses showed the reduction occurred primarily in the less-than-2.5-cfs flow range, indicating the base flow regime has been altered. However, channelizing the downstream, mild-sloped, 3.6 miles of Tonkawa Creek that flows across a Washita River terrace increased the flow volume fourfold at the outlet. A double-masscurve analysis of water yield from a 1,127-square-mile Washita basin segment versus an untreated tributary showed the yield has not changed after 25 percent of the tributary area had been treated. Therefore, the flow reduction caused by structures is being offset by increased yields from channelization.     

Soil organic carbon dynamics of croplands in European Russia: estimates from the “model of humus balance”

The Model of Humus Balance was used to estimate the influence of climate effects and changing agricultural practices on carbon (C) levels in soddy–podzolic soils in the Russian Federation for the years 2000–2050. The model was linked with a spatial database containing soil, climate and farming management layers for identification of spatial change of C sequestration potential. Analysis of relationships between C, soil texture and climate indicated that compared with a business-as-usual scenario, adaptation measures could increase the number of polygons storing soil organic carbon (SOC) by 2010–2020. The rate of possible C loss is sensitive to the different climate scenarios, with a maximum potential for SOC accumulation expected in 2030–2040, thereafter decreasing to 2050. The effect is most pronounced for the arid part of the study area under the emission scenario with the highest rate of increase in atmospheric CO₂ concentration, supporting findings from the dynamic SOC model, RothC. C sequestration during the study period was permanent for clay and clay loam soils with a C content of more than 2%, suggesting that C sequestration should be focused on highly fertile, fine-textured soils. We also show that spatial heterogeneity of soil texture can be a source of uncertainty for estimates of SOC dynamics at the regional scale. Figures in color are available at     

Managing forest ecosystem services for hydropower production

In many countries, hydropower development is rapidly becoming a focus of green growth policies. This represents a significant opportunity for ecosystem services-based land management that integrates environmental and development goals to benefit the hydropower sector and support economic growth. In this study, we present an approach for targeting ecosystem-provision investment in hydropower catchments coupled with hydrologic modeling to quantify the benefits of soil and water conservation activities. We demonstrate the application of this approach in five hydropower facility catchments in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India. The results show that there is a high potential for targeted soil and water conservation to increase sediment retention services that benefit hydropower facilities (up to a 44% reduction in sediment transported from uplands into streams), although this benefit is distributed non-uniformly across catchments and levels of investment. The extent to which services can be improved is strongly driven by current land use and management practices that impact how and where conservation activities can be located. Iterative use of the method described here, in a process of stakeholder engagement and capacity-building, enables policy makers to determine the optimal mix of land management strategies and budget allocation to maximize service improvements that support hydropower production.     

A SUPERCRITICAL FLUME FOR MEASURING SEDIMENT-LADEN STREAMFLOW1

ABSTRACT: After 25 years of operation on ephemeral streams in the semiarid Southwest, this supercritical flume has provided more than 350 station-years of reliable streamflow data, even under freezethaw conditions experienced at elevations of 1,500 to 2,100 m, in Arizona. The flume has also provided streamflow data during flood periods produced by high intensity summer thunderstorm conditions, where considerable sediment and other debris was moved downstream.     

基于“国家公顷”模型的福建省2012年生态足迹分析

生态足迹是分析和评价国家或地区可持续发展的重要指标。为更加准确地核算小尺度生态足迹,修正了传统生态足迹模型中的均衡因子与产量因子,运用"国家公顷"生态足迹模型,对福建省2012年的生态足迹进行计算。结果表明,福建省2012年的人均生态足迹为1.155372nhm2,人均生态赤字为0.806598nhm2。福建省的人口消费需求超过了自然生态系统的承载能力,可持续发展状况不容乐观。     

Importance of information on tillage practices in the modelling of environmental processes and in the use of environmental indicators

Tillage has been and will always be integral to crop production. Tillage can result in the degradation of soil, water, and air quality. Of all farm management practices, tillage may have the greatest impact on the environment. A wide variety of tillage equipment, practices and systems are available to farmers, providing opportunities to enhance environmental performance. These opportunities have made tillage a popular focus of environmental policies and programs such as environmental indicators for agriculture. This paper provides a very brief examination of the role of tillage in crop production, its effect on biophysical processes and, therefore, its impact on the environment. Models of biophysical processes are briefly examined to demonstrate the importance of tillage relative to other farm management practices and to demonstrate the detail of tillage data that these models can demand. The focus of this paper is an examination of the use of information on tillage in Canada's agri-environmental indicators initiative, National Agri-environmental Health Analysis and Reporting Program (NAHARP). Information on tillage is required for several of the indicators in NAHARP. The type of data used, its source, and its quality are discussed. Recommendations regarding the collection of tillage data and use of tillage information are presented.     

高能重离子辐照下国产RPV钢A508-3的硬化行为

目的 研究在563 K的温度条件下,高能重离子辐照导致国产RPV钢A508-3的硬化行为。方法 使用回旋加速器提供的352.8 MeV Fe²¹⁺对A508-3钢试样进行辐照,使其依次达到0.15、0.30、1.50 dpa的损伤水平。借助辐照终端的梯度减能装置,在样品表面至25 μm的深度范围内产生一个准均匀分布的原子离位损伤坪区,并使用纳米压痕仪和维氏显微硬度计测量了试样的硬度。结果 考虑到压痕尺寸效应的影响,采用Nix-Gao模型对硬度数据进行拟合,由于高能Fe离子产生了较厚的损伤区,辐照试样中的软基效应明显减弱。辐照后的试样出现明显的硬化现象,且随着辐照剂量的增大,硬化增量有饱和趋势。通过辐照前和辐照至0.15 dpa试样的微硬度数据,得出其与纳米硬度之间的线性关系(Hv0=0.85 H0)。结论 借助A508-3辐照前后的硬度数据,计算发现试样的屈服强度增量与辐照剂量之间存在一种幂函数关系,这为A508-3钢中子-离子辐照硬化的映射关系研究提供了基础数据。