• Energy Research
• 6. Clean water close
• US close
• DE close
• FR close

Dataset compiled by Yushu Xia and Michelle Wander for the Soil Health Institute. Data were recovered from peer reviewed literature reporting results for three soil quality indicators (SQIs) (β-glucosidase (BG), fluorescein diacetate (FDA) hydrolysis, and permanganate oxidizable carbon (POXC)) in terms of their relative response to management where soils under grassland cover, no-tillage, cover crops, residue return and organic amendments were compared to conventionally managed controls. Peer-reviewed articles published between January of 1990 and May 2018 were searched using the Thomas Reuters Web of Science database (Thomas Reuters, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Google Scholar to identify studies reporting results for: “β-glucosidase”, “permanganate oxidizable carbon”, “active carbon”, “readily oxidizable carbon”, and “fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis”, together with one or more of the following: “management practice”, “tillage”, “cover crop”, “residue”, “organic fertilizer”, or “manure”. Records were tabulated to compare SQI abundance in soil maintained under a control and soil aggrading practice with the intent to contribute to SQI databases that will support development of interpretive frameworks and/or algorithms including pedo-transfer functions relating indicator abundance to management practices and site specific factors. Meta-data include the following key descriptor variables and covariates useful for development of scoring functions: 1) identifying factors for the study site (location, year of initiation of study and year in which data was reported), 2) soil textural class, pH, and SOC, 3) depth and timing of soil sampling, 4) analytical methods for SQI quantification, 5) units used in published works (i.e. equivalent mass, concentration), 6) SQI abundances, and 7) statistical significance of difference comparisons. *Note: Blank values in tables are considered unreported data.

A promising route to transition wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs) from energy-consuming to net energy-positive is to retrofit existing facilities with process modifications, residual biosolid upcycling, and effluent thermal energy recovery. This study assesses the economics and life cycle environmental impacts of three proposed retrofits of WWTFs that consider thermochemical conversion technologies, namely, hydrothermal liquefaction, slow pyrolysis, and fast pyrolysis, along with advanced bioreactors. The results are in turn compared to the reference design, showing the retrofitting design with hydrothermal liquefaction, and an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket has the highest net present value (NPV) of $177.36MM over a 20-year plant lifetime despite 15% higher annual production costs than the reference design. According to the ReCiPe method, chlorination is identified as the major contributor for most impact categories in all cases. There are several uncertainties embedded in the techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment, including the discount rate, capital investment, sewer rate, and prices of main products; among which, the price of biochar presents the widest variation from $50 to $1900/t. Sensitivity analyses reveal that the variation of discount rates causes the most significant changes in NPVs. The impact of the biochar price is more pronounced in the slow pyrolysis-based pathway compared to the fast pyrolysis since biochar is the main product of slow pyrolysis.

Common to the Committee on Statistics of Drilling District 12 area are the recent exploration activities associated with the Central North American rift system or Mid-Continent geophysical anomaly (MGA), a major feature that runs from the Lake Superior area south into Kansas. For the last several years, much preliminary geologic and geophysical work has been undertaken, which usually proceeds a major play. The primary purpose is to test the Cambrian and Precambrian sediments know to have oil seeps in Wisconsin and Michigan. In 1984, Texaco USA drilled the first deep test, which was in Kansas. Although the well was apparently a dry hole, Texaco's findings have not been released. Kansas had a very active year with 7,451 completions, 45 more than those reported in 1983. The success rate of all wells drilled for oil or gas (7,307) was 57.5%, down slightly from 59.3% in 1983. Drilling for oil continued to predominate with 3,783 oil wells and 419 gas wells completed. Total footage was 22,486,535, up 4% from 1983. The average depth of a test drilled for oil or gas was 3,026 ft. In Missouri, the number of wells drilled for oil or gas declined 17% from 1983 levels. Most drilling continued to be in the western part of the state. A deep test in Vernon County penetrated 2,080 ft of Precambrian rocks. In Nebraska, 12 new discoveries were made in the western part of the state. Seven found new oil reserves, and 5 were tight holes; all were classified as new-field wildcats. The average depth was 5,465 ft in the 7 discoveries where the operator reported the total depth. In Mills County, Iowa, 4 wildcats were drilled to the Cambrian with depths from 3,000 to 3,300 ft. All were located approximately 35 mi north of the Tarkio field in northwestern Missouri. It is estimated that 2,000,000 ac are leased in Iowa along the MGA. In Minnesota, 400,000 ac were leased during 1984. The leases were concentrated mainly along the MGA from Duluth to the Iowa border. About 1,000 mi of Vibroseis was run across this feature. In Wisconsin, regional geophysical surveys along the MGA have been run. Companies are now doing more detailed seismic work. Acreage leased from October 1983 to January 1985 was estimated at 214,000 ac. A dry hole was drilled 1,000 ft into quartzite in Barron County.

Dataset compiled by Yushu Xia and Michelle Wander for the Soil Health Institute. Data were recovered from peer reviewed literature reporting results for three ‘Tier 2’ indicators (β-glucosidase (BG), fluorescein diacetate (FDA) hydrolysis, and permanganate oxidizable carbon (POXC)) in terms of their relative response to management where soils under cover crops, grassland cover, organic amendments and residue return compared to conventionally managed controls. Peer-reviewed articles published between January of 1990 and December 2017 were searched using the Thomas Reuters Web of Science database (Thomas Reuters, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Google Scholar to identify studies reporting results for: “β-glucosidase”, “permanganate oxidizable carbon”, “active carbon”, “readily oxidizable carbon”, and “fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis”, together with one or more of the following: “management practice”, “tillage”, “cover crop”, “residue”, “organic fertilizer”, or “manure”. Records were tabulated to compare SQI abundance in soil maintained under a control (conventional cropping with that found under soil health promoting practice) and soil aggrading practice with the intent to contribute to SQI databases that will support development of interpretive frameworks and/or algorithms including pedo-transfer functions relating indicator abundance to management practices and site specific factors. Meta-data include key descriptor variables and covariates useful for development of scoring functions which include: 1) identifying factors for the study site (location, year of initiation of study and year in which data was reported), 2) soil textural class and pH, 3) depth of sampling, 4) analytical methods for quantification (i.e.: loss on ignition, combustion), 5) units used in published works (i.e.: equivalent mass, concentration), 6) SOC class (L,M,H), and 7) statistical significance of difference comparisons.

Global change drivers that modify the quality and quantity of litter inputs to soil affect greenhouse gas fluxes, and thereby constitute a feedback to climate change. Carbon cycling in the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) River Delta, a subarctic wetland system, is influenced by landscape variations in litter quality and quantity generated by herbivores (migratory birds) that create ‘grazing lawns’ of short stature, nitrogen-rich vegetation. To identify the mechanisms by which these changes in litter inputs affect soil carbon balance, we independently manipulated qualities and quantities of litter representative of levels found in the Y-K Delta in a fully factorial microcosm experiment. We measured carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes from these microcosms weekly. To help us identify how litter inputs influenced greenhouse gas fluxes, we sequenced soil fungal and bacterial communities, and measured soil microbial biomass carbon, dissolved carbon, inorganic nitrogen, and enzyme activity. We found that positive correlations between litter input quantity and CO2 flux were dependent upon litter type, due to differences in litter stoichiometry and changes to the structure of decomposer communities, especially the soil fungi. These community shifts were particularly pronounced when litter was added in the form of herbivore feces, and in litter input treatments that induced nitrogen limitation (i.e., senesced litter). The sensitivity of carbon cycling to litter quality and quantity in this system demonstrates that herbivores can strongly impact greenhouse gas fluxes through their influence on plant growth and tissue chemistry.

The Marsh Ecology Research Program (MERP) was a long-term interdisciplinary study on the ecology of prairie wetlands. A scientific team from a variety of disciplines (hydrology, plant ecology, invertebrate ecology, vertebrate ecology, nutrient dynamics, marsh management) was assembled to design and oversee a long-term experiment on the effects of water-level manipulation on northern prairie wetlands. Ten years of fieldwork (1980 -1989), combines a routine long-term monitoring program and a series of short-term studies, generated a wealth of new and diverse information on the ecology and function of prairie wetlands (Murkin, Batt, Caldwell, Kadlec and van der Valk, 2000). This data set includes belowground macrophyte production data, collected as part of the vegetation section of MERP. Determination of aquatic macrophyte annual net primary production is vital to the understanding of the dynamics of freshwater marshes. Macrophyte biomass, both live and dead, is a major storage compartment for carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in a marsh and a major potential energy and nutrient source for the faunal component of the marsh ecosystem. Macrophyte communities are also essential structural components of the habitat of both invertebrates and vertebrates. The major objective of the long-term monitoring of aquatic macrophytes was to determine the impact of the wet-dry cycle on macrophyte above and belowground net annual production. Standard harvest techniques were used because they were the most direct, simple and reliable techniques available for estimating net annual primary production of macrophytes per unit area (van der Valk, 1989). In order to estimate net annual belowground macrophyte production, core samples of the belowground biomass were harvested in the late spring and in the fall. Shoot initiation early in the growing season depletes most of the belowground standing crop, and therefore spring sampling was done quickly (within 2 weeks) to capture this state. Underground biomass then reaches its seasonal maxima in the fall and was captured with the fall sampling. The resulting differences between the fall and spring standing crop biomass provided an estimate of net belowground macrophyte production (van der Valk, 1989). References: Murkin, H.R., B.D.J. Batt, P.J. Caldwell, J.A. Kadlec and A.G. van der Valk. 2000a. Introduction to the Marsh Ecology Research Program. In Prairie Wetland Ecology: The Contribution of the Marsh Ecology Research Program. (Eds) H.R. Murkin, A.G. van der Valk and W.R. Clark. pp. 3-15. Ames: Iowa State University Press. van der Valk, A. 1989. Macrophyte production. In Marsh Ecology Research Program: Long-term Monitoring Procedures Manual. (Eds.) E.J. Murkin and H.R. Murkin, pp. 23-29. Manitoba, Canada: Delta Waterfowl Research Station.

This is a two-hundred-year long dataset of the annual average, minimum, and maximum discharges at five stations draining the Mississippi River watershed: at Clinton, IA, Herman, MO, St. Louis, MO, Louisville, KY, and Vicksburg, MS. The data are useful to test for increases in the three discharge metrics, and correlations with air pressure differentials represented in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) Index. These data may be useful for climate change assessments through modeling or synthetic assessments using other data sets. Search of archival records published by the Mississippi River Commission (Corps. of Engineers) and the U.S. Geological Survey

We estimated numbers of individuals for each species, using a backpack electroshocker with standard electrofishing procedures. We used block nets to provide closure at the ends of the segment during years when the stream reach was flowing. We used a two-pass removal depletion method to estimate abundances within segments. After placing captured fish in aerated coolers filled with stream water, we identified fish to species and categorized them by life stage (juvenile or adult) based on standard length, and then returned the fish to the same section of stream. In 2011 (the first year), size data for R. balteatus were only available for the first 30 fish caught (sampling in 2011 was focused mainly on R. osculus, and L. copei, for a mark-recapture study that is reported elsewhere). However, we recorded number captured of R. balteatus for each segment and pass of the stream reach. We calculated the ratio of adult to juvenile life stages of the first 30 fish, and used that ratio to estimate the R. balteatus life stage distribution (adult or juvenile) for additional segments for 2011 only. To estimate abundances, we used a maximum-likelihood population estimator (Microfish, Van Deventer 1998). The data has been given both as the estimate generated by the maximum-likelihood population estimate, as well as a log transformed version of the original estimate.  Climate change projections in the western United States suggest that snowpack levels and winter precipitation will decline, but mean annual precipitation levels will remain unchanged. Mountain streams that once saw a constant source of water from snowpack will begin to see large seasonal variation in flow. Increased stream intermittency will create significant conservation risks for fish species; however, few studies have examined the abundance responses of fish in high elevation streams to the shift from perennial to intermittent flow. To determine the effects of stream intermittency on fish abundance in a montane stream, we quantified changes in abundance for five species over a five-year period that exhibited extreme variation in streamflow. Responses varied by species and life stage, suggesting that the shift from perennial to intermittent flow will cause significant declines in abundance for some species. Northern leatherside chub, may experience large decreases in their range as the availability of perennial streams decreases. The study of drought effects on fish abundance will be crucial to the conservation of biodiversity in montane regions of the world. Data is provided in a .xlsx file. It can be opened on Excel, Google Sheets, or Apple Numbers.

As climate change continues to increase air temperature in high-altitude ecosystems, it has become critical to understand the controls and scales of aquatic habitat vulnerability to warming. Here we used a nested array of high-frequency sensors, and advances in time-series models, to examine spatiotemporal variation in thermal vulnerability in a model Sierra Nevada watershed. Stream thermal sensitivity to atmospheric warming fluctuated strongly over the year and peaked in spring and summer—when hot days threaten invertebrate communities most. The reach scale (~50 m) best captured variation in summer thermal regimes. Elevation, discharge, and conductivity were important correlates of summer water temperature across reaches, but upstream water temperature was the paramount driver—supporting that cascading warming occurs downstream in the network. Finally, we used our estimated summer thermal sensitivity and downscaled projections of summer air temperature to forecast end-of-the-century stream warming, when extreme drought years like 2020-2021 become the norm. We found that 25.5% of cold-water habitat may be lost under business-as-usual RCP 8.5 (or 7.9% under mitigated RCP 4.5). This estimated reduction suggests that 27.2% of stream macroinvertebrate biodiversity (11.9% under the mitigated scenario) will be stressed or threatened in what was previously cold‑water habitat. Our quantitative approach is transferrable to other watersheds with spatially‑replicated time series and illustrates the importance of considering variation in the vulnerability of mountain streams to warming over both space and time. This approach may inform watershed conservation efforts by helping identify, and potentially mitigate, sites and time windows of peak vulnerability. Please see the README.md document. Please see the README.md document.