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We examined bird and bat mortality at a new 89-turbine windfarm constructed in an environmentally sensitive area in north-central Iowa. The windfarm became operational in November 2001. It is located in cropland between three Wildlife Management Areas (WMA's) with historically high bird use. In the past, migrant and resident waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, and songbirds moved between the WMA's through the area now occupied by the windfarm. Studies of bird collision mortality in California and elsewhere raised concerns about the possibility of mortalities in this area. From April 15, 2003 and December 15, 2003 we searched for dead animals under 26 randomly selected turbines. Six 76.2 m by 3.0 m transects were maintained...
This article offers a critical review of eight tradable permit markets: water permits at Fox River, Wisconsin; the U.S. leaded gasoline phase-out; sulfur dioxide credits under the U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990; the Regional Clean Air Incentives Market (RECLAIM) for controlling ozone and acid rain in Southern California; renewable energy credit trading at the regional level in the United States; individual transferrable quotas for fisheries at the national level in New Zealand; carbon credits traded under the European Union-Emissions Trading Scheme; and carbon offsets permitted under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol. By "critical" the article does not fully weigh the costs and benefits...
Implementation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) has resulted in the restoration of >2 million ha of wetland and grassland habitats in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR). Restoration of habitats through these programs provides diverse ecosystem services to society, but few investigators have evaluated the environmental benefits achieved by these programs. We describe changes in wetland processes, functions, and ecosystem services that occur when wetlands and adjacent uplands on agricultural lands are restored through Farm Bill conservation programs. At the scale of wetland catchments, projects have had positive impacts on water storage,...
Models that treat innovations to the price of energy as predetermined with respect to U.S. macroeconomic aggregates are widely used in the literature. For example, it is common to order energy prices first in recursively identified VAR models of the transmission of energy price shocks. Because exactly identifying assumptions are inherently untestable, this approach in practice has required an act of faith in the empirical plausibility of the delay restriction used for identification. An alternative view that would invalidate such models is that energy prices respond instantaneously to macroeconomic news, implying that energy prices should be ordered last in recursively identified VAR models. In this paper, we propose...
Models that treat innovations to the price of energy as predetermined with respect to U.S. macroeconomic aggregates are widely used in the literature. For example, it is common to order energy prices first in recursively identified VAR models of the transmission of energy price shocks. Because exactly identifying assumptions are inherently untestable, this approach in practice has required an act of faith in the empirical plausibility of the delay restriction used for identification. An alternative view that would invalidate such models is that energy prices respond instantaneously to macroeconomic news, implying that energy prices should be ordered last in recursively identified VAR models. In this paper, we propose...
Models that treat innovations to the price of energy as predetermined with respect to U.S. macroeconomic aggregates are widely used in the literature. For example, it is common to order energy prices first in recursively identified VAR models of the transmission of energy price shocks. Because exactly identifying assumptions are inherently untestable, this approach in practice has required an act of faith in the empirical plausibility of the delay restriction used for identification. An alternative view that would invalidate such models is that energy prices respond instantaneously to macroeconomic news, implying that energy prices should be ordered last in recursively identified VAR models. In this paper, we propose...
Some analysts think that biomass offers great potential as a renewable fiel for electricity generation. Biomass’ emissions of greenhouse gases, over its whole fiel cycle, are relatively insignificant when compared to even the “cleanest” of the fossil energy technologies — natural gas. Yet, the external costs (and benefits) of biomass fuel cycles, which stem from impacts other than those associated with greenhouse gases, are not necessarily trivial. Some of these impacts are similar to those that result from the combustion of fossil fbels. Other impacts are unique to biomass fiel cycles. This report describes methods to estimate many of the more important external costs (and benefits) of biomass fiel cycles.
Because of the inevitable depletion of fossil fuels and the corresponding release of carbon to the environment, the global energy future is complex. Some of the consequences may be politically and economically disruptive, and expensive to remedy. For the next several centuries, fuel requirements will increase with population, land use, and ecosystem degradation. Current or projected levels of aggregated energy resource use will not sustain civilization as we know it beyond a few more generations. At the same time, issues of energy security, reliability, sustainability, recoverability, and safety need attention. We supply a top-down, qualitative model—the surety model—to balance expenditures of limited resources...
In response to the increasing global demand for energy, on exploration and development are expanding into frontier areas of the Arctic, where slow-growing tundra vegetation and the underlying permafrost Soils are Very sensitive to disturbance. The creation of vehicle trails on the tundra from seismic exploration for on has accelerated in the past decade, and the cumulative impact represents a geographic footprint that covers a greater extent of Alaska's North Slope tundra than all other direct human impacts combined. Seismic exploration for on and gas was conducted on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, USA, in the winters of 1984 and 1985. This study documents recovery Of vegetation...
We investigated the bioavailability via diet of spiked benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and 2,2',5,5'-tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB-52) from different carbonaceous (non-carbonate, carbon containing) particle types to clams (Macoma balthica) collected from San Francisco Bay. Our results reveal significant differences in absorption efficiency between compounds and among carbonaceous particle types. Absorption efficiency for PCB-52 was always greater than that for BaP bound to a given particle type. Among particles, absorption efficiency was highest from wood and diatoms and lowest from activated carbon. Large differences in absorption efficiency could not be simply explained by comparatively small differences in the particles' total...
Total suspended solids (TSS), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) loads were calculated for all stages of the dam removal process (dewatering, breaching, and removal) at various points upstream, within, and downstream of Lowell Mill Impoundment on the Little River, North Carolina. The impoundment dewatering exported loads of TSS, DOC, and TDN which were all 1–2 orders of magnitude less than loads associated with historic floods. Conversely, floods exiting the former impoundment following dam removal produced TSS, DOC, and TDN loads comparable to, but slightly greater (1.2–1.75 times) than historic floods. Exported loads were greatest following the complete removal of the dam, most...
Climate change has significant effects on critical ecosystem functions such as carbon and water cycling. Vegetation and especially forest ecosystems play an important role in the carbon and hydrological cycles. Vegetation models that include detailed belowground processes require accurate soil data to decrease uncertainty and increase realism in their simulations. The MC2 DGVM uses three modules to simulate biogeography, biogeochemistry and fire effects, all three of which use soil data either directly or indirectly. This study includes a correlation analysis of the MC2 model to soil depth by comparing a subset of the model’s carbon and hydrological outputs using soil depth data of different scales and qualities....
Global climate change is predicted to increase the intensity and frequency of future drought, which in turn may be expected to induce a range of biogeochemical climate feedbacks. A combination of model simulations and observational studies of a recent wide-scale drought, suggested that the drought induced substantial terrestrial ecosystem carbon loss, but hypothesized mechanisms could not be evaluated via comparison to a control. Here, we investigated carbon-cycle responses to climate changes by combining results from a controlled 15-year ecosystem warming experiment in montane grassland with observational data from before and during the recent drought. We found that both experimental warming and real-world drought...
Although freeze–thaw cycles can alter soil physical properties and microbial activity, their overall impact on soil functioning remains unclear. This review addresses the effects of freeze–thaw cycles on soil physical properties, microorganisms, carbon and nutrient dynamics, trace gas losses and higher organisms associated with soil. I discuss how the controlled manipulation of freeze–thaw cycles has varied widely among studies and propose that, despite their value in demonstrating the mechanisms of freeze–thaw action in soils, many studies of soil freeze–thaw cycles have used cycle amplitudes, freezing rates and minimum temperatures that are not relevant to temperature changes across much of the soil...
The relationship between local ground water flows and NO(3)(-) transport to the channel was examined in three well transects from a natural, wooded riparian zone adjacent to the Shingobee River, MN. The hillslope ground water originated as recharge from intermittently grazed pasture up slope of the site. In the hillslope transect perpendicular to the stream, ground water NO(3)(-) concentrations decreased from approximately 3 mg N L(-1) beneath the ridge (80 m from the channel) to 0.01 to 1.0 mg N L(-1) at wells 1 to 3 m from the channel. The Cl(-) concentrations and NO(3)/Cl ratios decreased toward the channel indicating NO(3)(-) dilution and biotic retention. In the bankside well transect parallel to the stream,...
Although freeze?thaw cycles can alter soil physical properties and microbial activity, their overall impact on soil functioning remains unclear. This review addresses the effects of freeze?thaw cycles on soil physical properties, microorganisms, carbon and nutrient dynamics, trace gas losses and higher organisms associated with soil. I discuss how the controlled manipulation of freeze?thaw cycles has varied widely among studies and propose that, despite their value in demonstrating the mechanisms of freeze?thaw action in soils, many studies of soil freeze?thaw cycles have used cycle amplitudes, freezing rates and minimum temperatures that are not relevant to temperature changes across much of the soil profile in...
We examined bird and bat mortality at a new 89-turbine windfarm constructed in an environmentally sensitive area in north-central Iowa. The windfarm became operational in November 2001. It is located in cropland between three Wildlife Management Areas (WMA's) with historically high bird use. In the past, migrant and resident waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, and songbirds moved between the WMA's through the area now occupied by the windfarm. Studies of bird collision mortality in California and elsewhere raised concerns about the possibility of mortalities in this area. From April 15, 2003 and December 15, 2003 we searched for dead animals under 26 randomly selected turbines. Six 76.2 m by 3.0 m transects were maintained...
This project was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of using geothermal effluents for developing and maintaining waterfowl wetlands. Information in the document pertains to a seven State area the West where geothermal resources have development potential. Information is included on physiochemical characteristics of geothermal effluents; known effects of constituents in the water on a wetland ecosystem and water quality criteria for maintaining a viable wetland; potential of sites for wetland development and disposal of effluent water from geothermal facilities; methods of ‘disposal of effluents, including advantages of each method and associated costs; legal and Institutional constraints which could affect geothermal...
Costs and benefits of building energy efficiency are estimated as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Pittsburgh, PA and Austin, TX. The analysis includes electricity and natural gas consumption, covering 75% of building energy consumption in Pittsburgh and 85% in Austin. Two policy objectives were evaluated: maximize GHG reductions given initial budget constraints or maximize social savings given target GHG reductions. This approach evaluates the trade-offs between three primary and often conflicting program design parameters: initial capital constraints, social savings, and GHG reductions. Results suggest uncertainty in local stocks, demands, and efficiency significantly impacts anticipated outcomes....
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: Carbon markets, Design, carbon, markets, space