Land use and management practices

Chan KY, Heenan DP (1999) Microbial-induced soil aggregate stability under different crop rotations. Biol Fertil Soils 30 29-32 Chantigny MH (2003) Dissolved and water-extractable organic matter in soils a review on the influence of land use and management practices. Geoderma 113 357-380... 

The U.S. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 required careful analysis of the consequences of any federally funded project. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 established guidelines for handling, transport, and hauling of hazardous materials, such as required in cleanup of soil contaminants. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 established, for the hrst time, strict mles on legal liability for soil contamination. CERCLA stimulated identihcation and cleanup of thousands of contaminated land sites, and consequently raised awareness of property buyers and sellers to make soil contamination a focal issue of land use and management practices (US-EPA 2007c). 

The management of land use and agricultural practices in relation to the protection of particularly valuable and vulnerable natural resources. 

Over 200,000 new oil and gas wells are expected to be drilled in the next decade, which points to the value of the oil and gas sector to the national economy. Currently, there are over 90,000 producible and service holes on federal leased land alone. The BLM, in evaluating lease applications for drilling on pubhc lands, uses best management practices (BMPs) to reduce areas of disturbance and minimize the environmental effects of a well site. BLM says that these BMPs, along with a commitment to sound environmental practices by the oil and gas industry, can significantly reduce the impacts associated with new energy development to wildlife habitat, scenic quality, water quality, and other resources. 

The distribution of SOC with depth is attributed mainly to continuous input and decomposition of soil organic matter (SOM), and correlates directly with soil development and SOM turnover (Chen et al. 2005). Regional, continental or global models are useful to understand SOM dynamics according to land use changes and management practices (Cole et al. 

For the purposes of these field studies, a test system is defined as a specific tract of land managed in part through use of pesticides. Test systems are normally limited to one crop or land use type and may include row crops, grains, fruits or golf courses. The tract of land, of course, has associated biota that are present naturally or as part of the management practices. These biota are also part of the test system and are normally described as test species or species of interest. Selection of test systems is critical to evaluate wildlife exposure scenarios in a sufficient number of sites within appropriate geographic regions. 

This book examines five methods used for concentrate management, namely disposal to surface water, disposal to sewerage, deep well injection, land applications and evaporation ponds. In particular, the book focuses on the design, siting, cost, and environmental impacts of these methods. While these methods are widely practiced in a variety of settings already, there are many limitations that restrict the use of certain disposal options in particular locations. 

By using renewable carbon from biomass, an improvement in the CO2 balance can be achieved. However, significant effects beyond the impacts on greenhouse gas emissions are possible, e.g., soil modification, eutrophication, impact on biodiversity, land requirements and water consumption. These aspects depend on different factors like feedstock type, scale of production, cultivation and land-management practices, location and downstream processing routes. The environmental implications of agriculture are sometimes difficult to assess by the LCA methodology and require further research. 

Other costs which were identified but not included in many of the studies, primarily because of the difficulty in quantifying their effect, are costs from increased weed resistance to herbicides replacing the triazines direct labor and management costs of developing and using new weed control practices and increased erosion damage costs, such as siltation of lakes, subsequent water recreation reduction, and lower land productivity. The economic impact due to weeds becoming resistant to the triazines was found to be minor. 

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