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Organic Matter: Management
Published in Brian D. Fath, Sven E. Jørgensen, Megan Cole, Managing Soils and Terrestrial Systems, 2020
R. Cesar Izaurralde, Carlos C. Cerri
Depending on its frequency and kind, tillage changes the soil biophysical environment in ways that affect the net mineralization of nutrients and the release of carbon. These changes can be described in terms of increases or decreases in soil porosity, disruption of soil aggregates, and redistribution in the proportion of soil aggregate size, as well as alteration of energy and water fluxes. All these changes enhance, at least temporarily, the conversion of organic C into CO2[10] and the net release of nutrients from SOM. Much of the success of past agricultural practices relied heavily on the control of decomposition processes through tillage operations to satisfy plant nutrient demands. All this came at a price, however, for a heavy reliance on soil nutrients to feed crops without proper replenishment led to the worldwide declines of SOM.[11]
Electric Energy Systems—An Overview
Published in Antonio Gómez-Expósito, Antonio J. Conejo, Claudio Cañizares, Electric Energy Systems, 2017
Ignacio J. Pérez-Arriaga, Hugh Rudnick, Michel Rivier Abbad
In any event, it must be borne in mind that even generation facilities that use renewable energy and are considered to be the most environment-friendly technologies, have an adverse impact. The most numerous, namely hydroelectric power plants, which have existed ever since electric power was first industrialized, change the surroundings radically. Some of its ill-effects are alteration of hydrology, disturbance of habitats, or even transformation of the microclimate, not to mention the risk of accidents that can spell vast ecological and human disaster. Other more recent technologies also have adverse consequences: wind, the disturbance of natural habitats and noise; solar, land occupancy, and the pollution inherent in the manufacture of the components required for the cells, and more specifically, the heavy metals present in their waste products; the use of biomass has the same drawbacks as conventional steam plants, although the effect is less intense, no SO2 is emitted and, if properly managed, it is neutral with respect to CO2 emissions. In fact, all electricity generation activities have one feature in common, namely the occupation of land and visual impact, but the area involved and the (not necessarily proportional) extent of social rejection vary considerably with technology and specific local conditions.
Planning permission
Published in Ray Tricker, Samantha Alford, Building Regulations in Brief, 2017
In the context of the planning permission, ‘building works’ includes: major alteration to an existing buildingconstruction of new buildingssignificant changes to the use of a building or piece of land.
Flow alteration by diversion hydropower in tributaries to the Salween river: a comparative analysis of two streamflow prediction methodologies
Published in International Journal of River Basin Management, 2022
M. H. Alipour, Kelly M. Kibler, Babak Alizadeh
Hydrologic alteration significantly modifies natural habitat of animals and vegetation, and can irreversibly harm the ecosystem. Flow regime of rivers and water quality can be highly changed. It also affects the channel and riparian areas which are highly sensitive to the hydrological cycle (Rosenberg et al., 2000). Postel (1998) describes the significant disruption to the natural conditions of a river due to flow regulations: ‘Large dams and river diversions have proven to be primary destroyers of aquatic habitat, contributing substantially to the destruction of fisheries, the extinction of species, and the overall loss of the ecosystem services on which the human economy depends. Their social and economic costs have also risen markedly over the past two decades’.
A multi-criteria risk-based approach for optimal planning of SuDS solutions in urban flood management
Published in Urban Water Journal, 2022
Mozhgan Karami, Kourosh Behzadian, Abdollah Ardeshir, Azadeh Hosseinzadeh, Zoran Kapelan
Ever-growing urbanisation involving replacing vegetative and open areas with buildings, pavements and roads over the recent decades has increased impervious surface areas in urban catchments. All this has resulted in the alteration of natural water systems by dramatically increasing surface runoff volume and peak flow, decreasing the groundwater resources due to decreasing infiltration and percolation rates (Ahiablame and Shakya 2016; Brun and Band 2000; Brandes, Cavallo, and Nilson 2005; Wang, Lyons, and Kanehl 2003), increasing flood risks (Konrad 2003) and decreasing water quality by increasing the pollution of receiving water bodies (Ahiablame and Shakya 2016). The excessive runoff in urban areas collects contaminants from impervious surface areas and discharges them into receiving water bodies such as lakes, rivers and wetlands. Hence, the conversion of permeable surfaces of open land to impervious surfaces and the loss of the water-retaining function of soil in urban areas would change the hydrologic cycle (Booth and Leavitt 1999). Kim et al. (2016) applied SWAT model to evaluate the impacts of land use changes in an urbanised catchment and obtained positive and high correlation between intensity of developed lands and the amount of surface runoff. The traditional approach for flood risk management in urban areas is to collect and dispose of the flood runoff as soon as possible. This approach conveys the surface runoff out of the urban areas using structural methods and diversion channels, which generally results in the increase of the pollution loads discharged into the receiving water bodies as well as high construction costs and emission of greenhouse gases (Mikulincer and Shaver 2007).