3 Sep 2021

Captive-Rearing Duration May Be More Important Than Environmental Enrichment for Enhancing Turtle Head-Starting Success

Abstract: Raising captive animals past critical mortality stages for eventual release (head-starting) is a common conservation tactic. Counterintuitively, post-release survival can be low. Post-release behavior affecting survival could be influenced by captive-rearing duration and housing conditions. Practitioners have adopted environmental enrichment to promote natural behaviors during head-starting such as raising animals in naturalistic enclosures. Using 32 captive-born turtles (Terrapene carolina), half of which were raised in enriched enclosures, we employed a factorial design to explore how enrichment and rearing duration affected post-release growth, behavior, and survival. Six turtles in each treatment (enriched or unenriched) were head-started for nine months (cohort one). Ten turtles in each treatment were head-started for 21 months (cohort two). At the conclusion of captive-rearing, turtles in cohort two were overall larger than cohort one, but unenriched turtles were generally larger than enriched turtles within each cohort. Once released, enriched turtles grew faster than unenriched turtles in cohort two, but we otherwise found minimal evidence suggesting enrichment affected post-release survival or behavior. Our findings suggest attaining larger body sizes from longer captive-rearing periods to enable greater movement and alleviate susceptibility to predation (the primary cause of death) could be more effective than environmental enrichment alone in chelonian head-starting programs where substantial predation could hinder success.

2 Sep 2021

Spatial and Temporal Variance of Soil and Meteorological Properties Affecting Sensor Performance—Phase 2

ABSTRACT: An approach to increasing sensor performance and detection reliability for buried objects is to better understand which physical processes are dominant under certain environmental conditions. The present effort (Phase 2) builds on our previously published prior effort (Phase 1), which examined methods of determining the probability of detection and false alarm rates using thermal infrared for buried-object detection. The study utilized a 3.05 × 3.05 m test plot in Hanover, New Hampshire. Unlike Phase 1, the current effort involved removing the soil from the test plot area, homogenizing the material, then reapplying it into eight discrete layers along with buried sensors and objects representing targets of interest. Each layer was compacted to a uniform density consistent with the background undisturbed density. Homogenization greatly reduced the microscale soil temperature variability, simplifying data analysis. The Phase 2 study spanned May–November 2018. Simultaneous measurements of soil temperature and moisture (as well as air temperature and humidity, cloud cover, and incoming solar radiation) were obtained daily and recorded at 15-minute intervals and coupled with thermal infrared and electro-optical image collection at 5-minute intervals.

1 Sep 2021

In Situ Measurements of Directional Wave Spectra from an Unmanned Aerial System

Purpose: This Coastal and Hydraulics Engineering Technical Note (CHETN) describes the ability to measure the directional-frequency spectrum of sea surface waves based on the motion of a floating unmanned aerial system (UAS). The UAS used in this effort was custom built and designed to land on and take off from the sea surface. It was deployed in the vicinity of an operational wave sensor, the 8 m* array, at the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Field Research Facility (FRF) in Duck, NC. While on the sea surface, an inertial navigation system (INS) recorded the response of the UAS to the incoming ocean waves. Two different INS signals were used to calculate one-dimensional (1D) frequency spectra and compared against the 8 m array. Two-dimensional (2D) directional-frequency spectra were calculated from INS data using traditional single-point-triplet analysis and a data adaptive method. The directional spectrum compared favorably against the 8 m array.

30 Aug 2021

Photo-transformation of Aqueous Nitroguanidine and 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one: Emerging Munitions Compounds

Abstract: Two major components of insensitive munition formulations, nitroguanidine (NQ) and 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO), are highly water soluble and therefore likely to photo-transform while in solution in the environment. The ecotoxicities of NQ and NTO solutions are known to increase with UV exposure, but a detailed accounting of aqueous degradation rates, products, and pathways under different exposure wavelengths is currently lacking. Here, we irradiated aqueous solutions of NQ and NTO over a 32-h period at three ultraviolet wavelengths (254 nm, 300 nm, and 350 nm) and analyzed their degradation rates and transformation products. NQ was completely degraded by 30 min at 254 nm and by 4 h at 300 nm, but it was only 10% degraded after 32 h at 350 nm. Mass recoveries of NQ and its transformation products were >80% for all three wavelengths, and consisted of large amounts of guanidine, nitrate, and nitrite, and smaller amounts of cyanamide, cyanoguanidine, urea, and ammonium. NTO degradation was greatest at 300 nm with 3% remaining after 32 h, followed by 254 nm (7% remaining) and 350 nm (20% remaining). Mass recoveries of NTO and its transformation products were high for the first 8 h but decreased to 22e48% by 32 h, with the major aqueous products identified as ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, and a urazole intermediate. Environmental half-lives of NQ and NTO in pure water were estimated as 4 and 6 days, respectively. We propose photo-degradation pathways for NQ and NTO supported by observed and quantified degradation products and changes in solution pH.

30 Aug 2021

Variation in Inhibitor Effects on qPCR Assays and implications for eDNA Surveys

Abstract: Aquatic environmental DNA (eDNA) surveys are sometimes impacted by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) inhibitors. We tested varying concentrations of different inhibitors (humic, phytic, and tannic acids; crude leaf extracts) for impacts on quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays designed for eDNA surveys of bighead and silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis and Hypophthalmichthys molitrix). We also tested for inhibition by high concentrations of exogenous DNA, hypothesizing that DNA from increasingly closely related species would be increasingly inhibitory. All tested inhibitors impacted qPCR, though only at very high concentrations — likely a function, in part, of having used an inhibitor-resistant qPCR solution. Closer phylogenetic relatedness resulted in inhibition at lower exogenous DNA concentrations, but not at relatively close phylogenetic scales. Inhibition was also influenced by the qPCR reporter dye used. Importantly, different qPCR assays responded differently to the same inhibitor concentrations. Implications of these results are that the inclusion of more than one assay for the same target taxa in an eDNA survey may be an important countermeasure against false negatives and that internal positive controls may not, in the absence of efforts to maximize inhibition compatibility, provide useful information about the inhibition of an eDNA assay.

27 Aug 2021

Development of Three-Dimensional Wetting and Drying Algorithm for the Geophysical Scale Transport Multi-Block Hydrodynamic Sediment and Water Quality Transport Modeling System (GSMB)

Introduction: The Environmental Laboratory (EL) and the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL) have jointly completed a number of large-scale hydrodynamic, sediment and water quality transport studies. EL and CHL have successfully executed these studies utilizing the Geophysical Scale Transport Modeling System (GSMB). The model framework of GSMB is composed of multiple process models as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 shows that the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) accepted wave, hydrodynamic, sediment and water quality transport models are directly and indirectly linked within the GSMB framework. The components of GSMB are the two-dimensional (2D) deep-water wave action model (WAM) (Komen et al. 1994, Jensen et al. 2012), data from meteorological model (MET) (e.g., Saha et al. 2010 http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/2010BAMS3001.1), shallow water wave models (STWAVE) (Smith et al. 1999), Coastal Modeling System wave (CMS-WAVE) (Lin et al. 2008), the large-scale, unstructured two-dimensional Advanced Circulation (2D ADCIRC) hydrodynamic model (http://www.adcirc.org), and the regional scale models, Curvilinear Hydrodynamics in three dimensions-Multi-Block (CH3D-MB) (Luong and Chapman 2009), which is the multi-block (MB) version of Curvilinear Hydrodynamics in three-dimensions-Waterways Experiments Station (CH3D-WES) (Chapman et al. 1996, Chapman et al. 2009), MB CH3D-SEDZLJ sediment transport model (Hayter et al. 2012), and CE-QUAL Management - ICM water quality model (Bunch et al. 2003, Cerco and Cole 1994). Task 1 of the DOER project, “Modeling Transport in Wetting/Drying and Vegetated Regions,” is to implement and test three-dimensional (3D) wetting and drying (W/D) within GSMB. This technical note describes the methods and results of Task 1. The original W/D routines were restricted to a single vertical layer or depth-averaged simulations. In order to retain the required 3D or multi-layer capability of MB-CH3D, a multi-block version with variable block layers was developed (Chapman and Luong 2009). This approach requires a combination of grid decomposition, MB, and Message Passing Interface (MPI) communication (Snir et al. 1998). The MB single layer W/D has demonstrated itself as an effective tool in hyper-tide environments, such as Cook Inlet, Alaska (Hayter et al. 2012). The code modifications, implementation, and testing of a fully 3D W/D are described in the following sections of this technical note.

27 Aug 2021

A Framework and Pilot Tool for the Risk-based Prioritization and Grouping of Nano-enabled Consumer Products

Abstract: The use of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in consumer products has expanded rapidly, revealing both innovative improvements over conventional materials, and the potential for novel risks to human health and the environment. As the number of new nano-enabled products and the volume of toxicity data on ENMs continues to grow, regulatory agencies like the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) – a small, independent federal agency responsible for protecting consumers from unreasonable risks associated with product use – will require the ability to screen and group a diverse array of nano-enabled consumer products based on their potential risks to consumers. Such prioritization would allow efficient allocation of limited resources for subsequent testing and evaluation of high-risk products and materials. To enable this grouping and prioritization for further testing, we developed a framework that establishes a prioritization score by evaluating a nano-enabled product's potential hazard and exposure, as well as additional consideration of regulatory importance. We integrate the framework into a pilot version software tool and, using a hypothetical case study, we demonstrate that the tool can effectively rank nano-enabled consumer products and can be adjusted for use by agencies with different priorities. The proposed decision-analytical framework and pilot-version tool presented here could enable a regulatory agency like the CPSC to triage reported safety concerns more effectively and allocate limited resources more efficiently.

27 Aug 2021

Methods for Simultaneous Determination of Legacy and Insensitive Munition (IM) Constituents in Aqueous, Soil/Sediment, and Tissue Matrices

Abstract: Currently, no standard method exists for analyzing insensitive munition (IM) compounds in environmental matrices, with or without concurrent legacy munition compounds, resulting in potentially inaccurate determinations. The primary objective of this work was to develop new methods of extraction, pre-concentration, and analytical separation/quantitation of 17 legacy munition compounds along with several additional IM compounds, IM breakdown products, and other munition compounds that are not currently included in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Method 8330B. Analytical methods were developed to enable sensitive, simultaneous detection and quantitation of the 24 IM and legacy compounds, including two orthogonal high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) column separations with either ultraviolet (UV) or mass spectrometric (MS) detection. Procedures were developed for simultaneous extraction of all 24 analytes and two surrogates (1,2-dinitrobenzene, 1,2-DNB; o-NBA) from high- and low-level aqueous matrices and solid matrices, using acidification, solid phase extraction (SPE), or solvent extraction (SE), respectively. The majority of compounds were recovered from four tissue types within current limits for solids, with generally low recovery only for Tetryl (from 4 to 62%). A preparatory chromatographic interference removal procedure was adapted for tissue extracts, as various analytical interferences were observed for all studied tissue types.

26 Aug 2021

Sustainable Infrastructure in Conflict Zones: Police Facilities’ Impact on Perception of Safety in Afghan Communities

Abstract: The notion of sustainable infrastructure for the delivery of social services is to fulfill basic human needs; in war-torn societies, human safety is a critical basic need. The relationship between sustainable infrastructure development and human safety remains under-researched in Afghan neighborhoods. Therefore, this study examined the effectiveness of the police facilities constructed for stability enhancement in Afghan communities. To do so, this study used Afghans’ polling datasets on the police presence and the public safety perceptions, including newly collected survey data related to the influence of the police facilities on human safety and other factors contributing to the neighborhoods’ well-being. The datasets are organized with a multilevel structure in which different individuals are sampled within neighborhoods and analyzed using a multilevel model approach to capture the randomness of the responses. The results showed that police facilities are more important to perceptions of safety in less safe areas and that Afghans in villages perceived themselves as safer than in urban areas, relative to their own immediate region. Those perceiving themselves as being safer were older, more highly educated, and widowed respondents. Overall, Afghans perceived the police facilities as institutional symbol for promoting improvements and opportunities for fulfilling basic human safety need.

25 Aug 2021

Hydrologic Analysis of Field Delineated Ordinary High Water Marks for Rivers and Streams

Abstract: Streamflow influences the distribution and organization of high water marks along rivers and streams in a landscape. The federal definition of ordinary high water mark (OHWM) is defined by physical and vegetative field indicators that are used to identify inundation extents of ordinary high water levels without any reference to the relationship between streamflow and regulatory definition. Streamflow is the amount, or volume, of water that moves through a stream per unit time. This study explores regional characteristics and relationships between field-delineated OHWMs and frequency-magnitude streamflow metrics derived from a flood frequency analysis. The elevation of OHWM is related to representative constant-level discharge return periods with national average return periods of 6.9 years using partial duration series and 2.8 years using annual maximum flood frequency approaches. The range in OHWM return periods is 0.5 to 9.08, and 1.05 to 11.01 years for peaks-over-threshold and annual maximum flood frequency methods, respectively. The range of OHWM return periods is consistent with the range found in national studies of return periods related to bankfull streamflow. Hydraulic models produced a statistically significant relationship between OHWM and bank-full, which reinforces the close relationship between the scientific concept and OHWM in most stream systems.