Irrigation of Landfill Leachates in Energy Forests — A Technique to Recover Nutrients from Municipal Solid Wastes

From an ecological point of view it is important to close nutrient cycles by recirculating mineral nutrients from the urban society back to agriculture and forestry, and thereby obtaining a sustainable resource utilisation. A part of this cycle is illustrated by irrigation of bioreactor landfill leachates on short rotation forests. This paper presents a budget for nutrients and heavy metals, beginning with the leachates and ending with the harvested tree fraction. The hypotheses were: The applied minerals deliver nutrients to the trees. The nutrient content in the accumulating biomass corresponds to the amount of mineral nutrients applied. The concentrations of heavy metals in the trees will remain low. The uptake of elements in birch was for P 35%, Ca 1. 2%, Cd 64%, Cu 10%, Mn 19%, Ni 0. 11%, and for Zn 26% of the supplied amounts. It was concluded that nutrients, with some exceptions, are supplied in sufficient amounts from the irrigated leachates to achieve optimal biomass growth, that the amounts of ions immobilised by the plants were significantly lower compared to the applied amounts, and that the concentrations of heavy metals are not increasing in the trees after irrigation. The overall conclusion is that a leachate irrigation system is efficient if the available vegetated land area is large enough for effective nutrient uptake, but the nutrient ratio may need to be balanced to meet the needs of the plants.     

A large scale mastitis control programme in Somerset.

The results of a mastitis control programme operated in south west England for three years are given. Farmers participating in the full mastitis control group agreed to treat each cow at drying off with 500 mg benzathine cloxacillin in each quarter, to have their milking machines tested and to correct any faults, and to practise teat dipping. Data covering cell counts, milk production, milk quality and clinical mastitis, were assessed from herds taking part in the programme. Cell counts were analysed from all 507 herds taking part in the programme. Milk production records for the full mastitis control group (188 herds) over a three year period are discussed, and these results compared with milk production figures from Milk Marketing Board records from herds in the south west of England which were carrying out no specific mastitis control programme. The milk quality data compare the findings in 159 herds in the full mastitis control programme with those in 247 herds in the partial and no mastitis control groups. Cases of clinical mastitis during the three year period were recorded in 73 herds in the full mastitis control group. The problems of applying the control routines are presented with observations on clinical mastitis, bulk milk cell count, milk production and milk quality. After three years, herds in the programme had on average increased milk production by 75 gallons a cow, achieved a 14.6 per cent reduction in the incidence of clinical mastitis, and improved the milk total solids percentage by one milk quality payment class.     

Capillaria hepatica in a dog and a hedgehog

A liver infection with Capillaria hepatica is described, having been found for the first time in Switzerland in a dog and a hedgehog. After a literature review of cases known among man and animals, we present our own pathological findings. Furthermore, the parasite's life cycle is discussed.     

The pace of shifting climate in marine and terrestrial ecosystems

Climate change challenges organisms to adapt or move to track changes in environments in space and time. We used two measures of thermal shifts from analyses of global temperatures over the past 50 years to describe the pace of climate change that species should track: the velocity of climate change (geographic shifts of isotherms over time) and the shift in seasonal timing of temperatures. Both measures are higher in the ocean than on land at some latitudes, despite slower ocean warming. These indices give a complex mosaic of predicted range shifts and phenology changes that deviate from simple poleward migration and earlier springs or later falls. They also emphasize potential conservation concerns, because areas of high marine biodiversity often have greater velocities of climate change and seasonal shifts.