WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS FOR CARBONATE AQUIFERS IN GRAZED LAND WATERSHEDS1

ABSTRACT: Water quality indicators of two agriculturally impacted karst areas in southeastern West Virginia were studied to determine the water quality effects of grazing agriculture and water quality trends following initiation of water quality improvement programs. Both areas are tributaries of the Greenbrier River and received funding for best management practices under the President's Initiative for Water Quality and then under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). After 11 years of study there was little evidence to suggest that water quality improved in one area. Three and a half years of study in the other area showed little evidence of consistent water quality improvement under EQIP. Lack of consistent water quality improvement at the catchment scale does not imply that the voluntary programs were failures. Increased livestock numbers as a result of successful changes in forage management practices may have overridden water quality improvements achieved through best management practices. Practices that target well defined contributing areas significantly impacting aquifer water quality might be one way to improve water quality at catchment scales in karst basins. For example, a significant decrease in fecal coliform concentrations was observed in subterranean drainage from one targeted sinkhole after dairy cattle were permanently excluded from the sinkhole.     

Mapping shifts in spatial synchrony in grassland birds to inform conservation planning

Spatial synchrony, defined as the correlated fluctuations in abundance of spatially separated populations, can be caused by regional fluctuations in natural and anthropogenic environmental population drivers. Investigations into the geography of synchrony can provide useful insight to inform conservation planning efforts by revealing regions of common population drivers and metapopulation extinction vulnerability. We examined the geography of spatial synchrony and decadal changes in these patterns for grassland birds in the United States and Canada, which are experiencing widespread and persistent population declines. We used Bayesian hierarchical models and over 50 years of abundance data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey to generate population indices within a 2° latitude by 2° longitude grid. We computed and mapped mean local spatial synchrony for each cell (mean detrended correlation of the index among neighboring cells), along with associated uncertainty, for 19 species in 2, 26-year periods, 1968–1993 and 1994–2019. Grassland birds were predicted to increase in spatial synchrony where agricultural intensification, climate change, or interactions between the 2 increased. We found no evidence of an overall increase in synchrony among grassland bird species. However, based on the geography of these changes, there was considerable spatial heterogeneity within species. Averaging across species, we identified clusters of increasing spatial synchrony in the Prairie Pothole and Shortgrass Prairie regions and a region of decreasing spatial synchrony in the eastern United States. Our approach has the potential to inform continental-scale conservation planning by adding an additional layer of relevant information to species status assessments and spatial prioritization of policy and management actions. Our work adds to a growing literature suggesting that global change may result in shifting patterns of spatial synchrony in population dynamics across taxa with broad implications for biodiversity conservation.     

Effectiveness of conservation easements in agricultural regions

Conservation easements are a standard technique for preventing habitat loss, particularly in agricultural regions with extensive cropland cultivation, yet little is known about their effectiveness. I developed a spatial econometric approach to propensity‐score matching and used the approach to estimate the amount of habitat loss prevented by a grassland conservation easement program of the U.S. federal government. I used a spatial autoregressive probit model to predict tract enrollment in the easement program as of 2001 based on tract agricultural suitability, habitat quality, and spatial interactions among neighboring tracts. Using the predicted values from the model, I matched enrolled tracts with similar unenrolled tracts to form a treatment group and a control group. To measure the program's impact on subsequent grassland loss, I estimated cropland cultivation rates for both groups in 2014 with a second spatial probit model. Between 2001 and 2014, approximately 14.9% of control tracts were cultivated and 0.3% of treated tracts were cultivated. Therefore, approximately 14.6% of the protected land would have been cultivated in the absence of the program. My results demonstrate that conservation easements can significantly reduce habitat loss in agricultural regions; however, the enrollment of tracts with low cropland suitability may constrain the amount of habitat loss they prevent. My results also show that spatial econometric models can improve the validity of control groups and thereby strengthen causal inferences about program effectiveness in situations when spatial interactions influence conservation decisions.     

Soil fertility dynamics in runoff-capture agriculture, Canary Islands, Spain

In the extremely arid (∼150 mm yr⁻¹) eastern Canary Islands of Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and La Graciosa, agriculture has been sustained for decades by a traditional runoff-capture (RC) farming system known as “gavias”. Although the main goal of these systems is to increase water supply for crops, making unnecessary conventional irrigation, a secondary and equally important factor is that this system allows for sustainable agricultural production without addition of chemical or organic fertilizers. A field study was conducted to assess the impact of long-term agriculture (>50 yr) on soil fertility and to evaluate key factors affecting the nutrient sustainability of RC agricultural production. Soil fertility and nutrient dynamics were studied through chemical characterization of the arable layer (0-25 cm) of RC agricultural plots, adjacent natural soils (control) not affected by runoff and cultivation, and sediments contributed by a series of RC events. Results showed that RC soils have enhanced fertility status, particularly because they are less affected by salinity and sodicity (mean electrical conductivity = 1.8 dS m⁻¹ vs. 51.0 dS m⁻¹ in control soils; mean exchangeable sodium percentage = 11.1% vs. 30.6% in control soils), and have higher water and nutrient holding capacities (mean clay plus silt contents ≈87% vs. 69% in control soils). In general, sediments transported with the runoff and deposited in RC plots (average sediment yield ≈ 46 ton ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹), contain sufficient nutrients to prevent a progressive reduction of essential plant nutrients below natural levels in spite of nutrient uptake and removal by the harvested crop. Average additions of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium with the runoff sediments were 33.6, 35.3 and 48.8 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, respectively. Results of this study show how a crop production system can be sustained in the long term by natural hydrological and biogeochemical catchment processes. This system maintains a nutrient balance that is not based on energy-intensive inputs of fertilizers, but is integrated in natural nutrient cycling processes, unlike other tropical farming agroecosystems.     

东莞市蔬菜基地土壤中喹诺酮类抗生素的污染特征研究

抗生素作为新兴环境污染物在区域农业土壤污染特征研究中鲜见报道.本文利用固相萃取-高效液相色谱-串联质谱分析方法,调查了东莞市18个区镇24个代表性蔬菜基地土壤中喹诺酮类抗生素(QNs)的含量与分布特征.结果表明,4种喹诺酮类化合物的检出率均在90%以上,以环丙沙星(平均含量24.93μg·kg-1)和恩诺沙星(平均含量...     

生态经济学视角下的循环农业：理论、实践与发展方向

农业经历了生态农业、化学农业到生态农业的变迁,生态农业是起点也是终点。发达国家饱尝了发展化学农业的苦果,随后转轨到生态农业的道路上,最后认识到只有发展循环农业才能够做到农业可持续发展。发达国家的循环农业特别强调生态内涵和变废为宝理念,政府的财政投入和科研投入力度很大。相比之下,我国虽然已经开始发展循环农业,但目前还并不普遍,化学农业还占有很大比例。学习吸收发达国家的经验,会让我国尽早走上循环农业的发展道路。循环农业是我国农业的发展方向,为了做到这一点,需要强化农业产业化力度、加大财政补贴力度和科研投入力度。     

Potential of microalgae as biopesticides to contribute to sustainable agriculture and environmental development

The loss of yields from agricultural production due to the presence of pests has been treated over the years with synthetic pesticides, but the use of these substances negatively affects the environment and presents health risks for consumers and animals. The development of agroecological systems using biopesticides represents a safe alternative that contributes to the reduction of agrochemical use and sustainable agriculture. Microalgae are able to biosynthesize a number of metabolites with potential biopesticidal action and can be considered potential biological agents for the control of harmful organisms to soils and plants. The present work aims to provide a critical perspective on the consequences of using synthetic pesticides, offering as an alternative the biopesticides obtained from microalgal biomass, which can be used together with the implementation of environmentally friendly agricultural systems.     

回归分析综合模型在农用地定级估价中的应用

为了使农用地级别划分和基准地价评估真正统一，以黄金坪水电站水库淹没区为例，将淹没区农用地划分为119个定级估价单元，在Arcmap／info，SPSS软件技术平台上，用回归分析法建立水库淹没区农用地定级因素与纯收益之间关系的综合模型，划分农用地级别，然后用收益还原法计算各级别基准地价。结果为：估算纯收益与实际纯收益间绝对误差为0．05元／m^2，相对误差为13．85％，相关系数达0．86；一级地价23元／m^2，二级地价19元／m^2，三级地价15元／m。，四级地价12元／m^2。表明：回归分析综合模型在淹没区农用地定级估价中取得了较理想的效果，使定级估价数据资料直接共享，省去了专家确定权重的难关，适合水库淹没区农用地市场不发育的现状。     

利用猪场废弃物发展生态农业的模式研究

规模养猪是专业化、集约化生产方式,也是农业产业化经营的发展趋势。如果养猪场产生的大量粪尿得不到妥善处置和充分利用,将对环境产生很大的危害。猪粪尿中含有大量的营养物质和生物质能,以猪粪尿厌氧发酵为纽带,充分利用沼液和沼渣作为发展种植业和渔业的肥料或饲料,形成“农林渔牧”生态农业体系,不仅有效促进农村经济发展、增加农民收入,而且能够保护生态环境、节约资源。剖析了小、中、大3类猪场以沼气建设为纽带发展生态农业的规律、生产模式、系统结构及其效果。结果表明,为了促进规模养猪健康发展,形成“农林渔牧”生态农业体系,养猪专业户必须增强节约资源、保护环境的社会责任感,政府要加强猪场污染物排放的监管,同时制定优惠政策引导和促进猪粪尿资源综合利用。     

Evolution Rules of Urban-rural Development and Inspiration for China’s Agriculture

Based on urban-rural contrast coefficient,this article designs the agriculture relative development index(ARDI) as indicators measuring the intensity of urban-rural dual structure which is comparable among the countries of the world.This article calculates ARDI of 40 countries from 1980 to 2004.The result shows that ARDI in the developed countries and most of the middle-income countries are rising and yet there are declines in most of the low-income countries.The result also showed that most countries’ ARDI...