Best management practices compliance monitoring approaches for forestry in the eastern United States

Many of the eastern states that have published best management practices (BMPs) or forest management guidelines have also developed compliance monitoring programs to assess the application of these BMPs or guidelines on public and private forest land. The approaches among these states to collecting on-site monitoring data (measuring compliance) and evaluating sites are variable. A survey of eastern states found that almost all southern states monitor application of BMPs, but proportionally fewer of the northern states have established compliance monitoring programs. The state forestry agencies provide the leadership for these programs in most of the eastern states. States that monitor tend to evaluate all public and private forest landowner categories located within their states. In general, northern states monitor a broader array of site resources (e.g., cultural resources, visual quality) as compared to southern states which focus on water quality and wetlands protection. However, northern states focus their monitoring on timber harvesting, forest road construction and maintenance as compared to southern states which tend to monitor a broader array of forest management activities (e.g., site preparation, reforestation). When selecting sites for monitoring, the most common approach is to select some sites from all landowner categories within the state. Many states do not specify any criteria to identify sites for monitoring so that all sites have an equal chance for selection. Some states do use specific criteria to filter sites for monitoring, most commonly size of forest management activity and proximity to water.     

MODELING SEDIMENT AND PHOSPHORUS LOSSES IN AN AGRICULTURAL WATERSHED TO MEET TMDLs1

ABSTRACT: This paper studies the effectiveness of alternative farm management strategies at improving water quality to meet Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) in agricultural watersheds. A spatial process model was calibrated using monthly flow, sediment, and phosphorus (P) losses (1994 to 1996) from Sand Creek watershed in south‐central Minnesota. Statistical evaluation of predicted and observed data gave r² coefficients of 0.75, 0.69, and 0.49 for flow (average 4.1 m³/s), sediment load (average 0.44 ton/ha), and phosphorus load (average 0.97 kg/ha), respectively. The calibrated model was used to evaluate the effects of conservation tillage, conversion of crop land to pasture, and changes in phosphorus fertilizer application rate on pollutant loads. TMDLs were developed for sediment and P losses based on existing water quality standards and guidelines. Observed annual sediment and P losses exceeded these TMDLs by 59 percent and 83 percent, respectively. A combination of increased conservation tillage, reduced application rates of phosphorus fertilizer, and conversion of crop land to pasture could reduce sediment and phosphorus loads by 23 percent and 20 percent of existing loads, respectively. These reductions are much less than needed to meet TMDLs, suggesting that control of sediment using buffer strips and control of point sources of phosphorus are needed for the remaining reductions.     

BIOECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF SELECTED CONSERVATION PRACTICES ON SOIL EROSION AND FRESHWATER FISHERIES1

ABSTRACT: Farmers can generate environmental benefits (improved water quality and fisheries and wildlife habitat), but they may not be able to quantify them. Furthermore, farmers may reduce their incomes from managing lands to produce these positive externalities but receive little monetary compensation in return. This study simulated the relationship between agricultural practices, water quality, fish responses to suspended sediment and farm income within two small watersheds, one of a cool water stream and one of a warm water stream. Using the Agricultural Drainage and Pesticide Transport (ADAPT) model, this study related best management practices (BMPs) to calculated instream suspended sediment concentrations by estimating sediment delivery, runoff, base flow, and streambank erosion to quantify the effects of suspended sediment exposure on fish communities. By implementing selected BMPs in each watershed, annual net farm income declined $18,000 to $28,000 (1 to 3 percent) from previous levels. “Lethal” fish events from suspended sediments in the cool water watershed decreased by 60 percent as conservation tillage and riparian buffers increased. Despite reducing suspended sediments by 25 percent, BMPs in the warm water watershed did not reduce the negative response of the fisheries. Differences in responses (physical and biological) between watersheds highlight potential gains in economic efficiency by targeting BMPs or by offering performance based “green payments.”     

Human milk contamination by nine organochlorine pesticide residues (OCPs)

Abstract

Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are widely used around the world as insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, nematicides, and rodenticides. Despite banned in Brazil, the usage remains occurring in many countries. The persistence and extreme mobility of OCPs contribute to the contamination of the environment and the human body. The OCPs bioaccumulation in adipose tissue triggers the excretion into human milk during breastfeeding. Hence, the present study determined eighteen OCPs residues in the breast milk of mothers from the Western Region of Bahia State, Brazil. Nine different residue species were found, including beta-Hexachlorocyclohexane (9.24?±?0.00?ng g^?1 fat), delta- Hexachlorocyclohexane (22.15?±?10.48?ng g^?1 fat), Heptachlor (58.08?±?74.13?ng g^?1 fat), Aldrin (142.65?±?50.65?ng g^?1 fat), Dieldrin (774.62?±?472.68?ng g^?1 fat), Endosulfan I (408.44?±?245.51?ng g^?1 fat), Dichloro-diphenyl-dichloro-ethylene (29.17?±?22.42?ng g^?1 fat), Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane (28.87?±?0.00?ng g^?1 fat) and Methoxychlor (1699.67?±?797.43?ng g^?1 fat). The Methoxychlor presence in all samples may reveal a recent exposure, while Dieldrin and Endosulfan I analyses can point to distant past exposure.     

长期施肥下浙江稻田不同颗粒组分有机碳的稳定特征

依托浙江水网地区稻田长期定位施肥试验(1996~2013年),利用固态13C核磁共振波谱技术,研究长期不同施肥措施下土壤各颗粒组分有机碳含量及其化学结构特征.结果表明,与不施肥对照(CK)相比,秸秆与化肥配施(NPKRS)、栏肥与化肥配施(NPKOM)、单施化肥(NPK)和单施栏肥(OM)处理均显著(P0.05)增加了砂粒(2~0.02 mm)、粉粒(0.02~0.002mm)和黏粒(0.002 mm)组分中有机碳含量;而单施秸秆(RS)处理仅显著增加砂粒组分有机碳含量.此外,与单施化肥处理相比,有机肥和化肥配施促进了新增有机碳在粉粒和黏粒组分的分配,更有利于新增有机碳的稳定.应用13C-NMR波谱技术进行结构表征,结果表明粉粒和黏粒组分有机碳的化学结构存在明显差异,粉粒组分烷氧碳、芳香碳的相对含量高于黏粒,而烷基碳、羰基碳的相对含量低于黏粒.长期有机肥与化肥配施下粉粒和黏粒烷基碳相对含量较单施有机肥处理分别降低9.1%~11.9%和13.7%~19.9%,烷氧碳的相对含量则分别增加2.9%~6.3%和13.4%~22.1%,表明有机肥与化肥配施处理降低了粉粒和黏粒组分有机碳的分解程度.长期单施化肥处理下粉粒和黏粒组分有机质的芳化度和疏水性低于单施有机肥处理和不施肥处理,有机质的矿化稳定性较低.长期有机肥与化肥配施,尤其是NPKOM处理,通过增加化学抗性化合物和碳水化合物的积累,并且减缓活性组分的分解提高粉粒和黏粒组分有机碳含量,是促进稻田土壤有机碳可持续积累的有效措施.     

国外高绩效人力资源实践：理论回顾、分析与展望

顺应组织发展要求构建有效人力资源管理模式,增强企业的持续竞争力,已经成为战略人力资源管理的热点之一。通过梳理近年来相关研究成果,剖析国外高绩效人力资源实践的概念及其构成。从员工态度和行为、组织资本、组织能力等方面指出高绩效人力资源实践的结果变量。根据实证研究相关文献,梳理高绩效人力资源实践与企业绩效的内在关联性。在此基础上,提出高绩效人力资源实践的未来研究方向,为相关理论和实证研究提供指导。     

Social representations of governance for change towards sustainability: perspectives of sustainability advocates

There is a substantial body of literature on public understandings of large-scale ‘environmental’ phenomena such as climate change and resource degradation. At the same time, political science and economics analyse the governance arrangements to deal with such issues. These realms of research rarely meet: there has been little research into people’s understandings of the governance of environmental change. This study adds a psychological perspective to governance research by investigating social representations of governance that promotes societal change towards sustainability, and related practices. It examines data from qualitative interviews with sustainability-interested people in seven European countries (n = 105). The analysis identified building blocks of representations suitable as an analytical framework for future research on governance representations. The diversity of their content reflected a range of pathways to societal change. Representations often seemed to have a creative function as a guiding vision for individuals’ own practices, but their wider transformative potential was constrained.     

Applying Statistical Causal Analyses to Agricultural Conservation: A Case Study Examining P Loss Impacts

Estimating the effect of agricultural conservation practices on reducing nutrient loss using observational data can be confounded by factors such as differing crop types and management practices. As we may not have the full knowledge of these confounding factors, conventional statistical meta‐analysis methods can be misleading. We discuss the use of two statistical causal analysis methods for quantifying the effects of water and soil conservation practices in reducing P loss from agricultural fields. With the propensity score method, a subset of data was used to form a treatment group and a control group with similar distributions of confounding factors. With the multilevel modeling method, data were stratified based on important confounding factors, and the conservation practice effect was evaluated for each stratum. Both methods resulted in similar estimates of the conservation practice effect (total P load reduction avg. ~70%). In addition, both methods show evidence of conservation practices reducing the incremental increase in total P export per unit increase in fertilizer application. These results are presented as examples of the types of outcomes provided by statistical causal analyses, not to provide definitive estimates of P loss reduction. The enhanced meta‐analysis methods presented within are applicable for improved assessment of agricultural practices and their effects and can be used for providing realistic parameter values for watershed‐scale modeling.     

Institutional Constraints on Cost‐Effective Water Management: Selenium Contamination in Colorado's Lower Arkansas River Valley

Ground and surface water selenium (Se) contamination is problematic throughout the world, leading to harmful impacts on aquatic life, wildlife, livestock, and humans. A groundwater reactive transport model was applied to a regional‐scale irrigated groundwater system in the Lower Arkansas River Basin in southeastern Colorado to identify management practices that remediate Se contamination. The system has levels of surface water and groundwater Se concentrations exceeding the respective chronic standard and guidelines. We evaluate potential solutions by combining the transport model with an assessment of the cost to employ those practices. We use a framework common in economics and engineering fields alike, the Pareto frontier, to show the impact of four different best management practices on the tradeoffs between Se and cost objectives. We then extend that analysis to include institutional constraints that affect the economic feasibility associated with each practice. Results indicate that although water‐reducing strategies have the greatest impact on Se, they are the hardest for farmers to implement given constraints common to western water rights institutions. Therefore, our analysis shows that estimating economic and environmental tradeoffs, as is typically done with a Pareto frontier, will not provide an accurate picture of choices available to farmers where institutional constraints should also be considered.