Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Water Resources

About: Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Water Resources is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Groundwater & Groundwater recharge. The organization has 1230 authors who have published 1358 publications receiving 35801 citations.

Nutritional constraints in terrestrial and freshwater food webs

Abstract: Biological and environmental contrasts between aquatic and terrestrial systems have hindered analyses of community and ecosystem structure across Earth's diverse habitats. Ecological stoichiometry1,2 provides an integrative approach for such analyses, as all organisms are composed of the same major elements (C, N, P) whose balance affects production, nutrient cycling, and food-web dynamics3,4. Here we show both similarities and differences in the C:N:P ratios of primary producers (autotrophs) and invertebrate primary consumers (herbivores) across habitats. Terrestrial food webs are built on an extremely nutrient-poor autotroph base with C:P and C:N ratios higher than in lake particulate matter, although the N:P ratios are nearly identical. Terrestrial herbivores (insects) and their freshwater counterparts (zooplankton) are nutrient-rich and indistinguishable in C:N:P stoichiometry. In both lakes and terrestrial systems, herbivores should have low growth efficiencies (10–30%) when consuming autotrophs with typical carbon-to-nutrient ratios. These stoichiometric constraints on herbivore growth appear to be qualitatively similar and widespread in both environments.

Textile dye wastewater characteristics and constituents of synthetic effluents : a critical review

Abstract: Textile industries are responsible for one of the major environmental pollution problems in the world, because they release undesirable dye effluents. Textile wastewater contains dyes mixed with various contaminants at a variety of ranges. Therefore, environmental legislation commonly obligates textile factories to treat these effluents before discharge into the receiving watercourses. The treatment efficiency of any pilot-scale study can be examined by feeding the system either with real textile effluents or with artificial wastewater having characteristics, which match typical textile factory discharges. This paper presents a critical review of the currently available literature regarding typical and real characteristics of the textile effluents, and also constituents including chemicals used for preparing simulated textile wastewater containing dye, as well as the treatments applied for treating the prepared effluents. This review collects the scattered information relating to artificial textile wastewater constituents and organises it to help researchers who are required to prepare synthetic wastewater. These ingredients are also evaluated based on the typical characteristics of textile wastewater, and special constituents to simulate these characteristics are recommended. The processes carried out during textile manufacturing and the chemicals corresponding to each process are also discussed.

Sustainable sediment management in reservoirs and regulated rivers: Experiences from five continents

Abstract: By trapping sediment in reservoirs, dams interrupt the continuity of sediment transport through rivers, resulting in loss of reservoir storage and reduced usable life, and depriving downstream reaches of sediments essential for channel form and aquatic habitats. With the acceleration of new dam construction globally, these impacts are increasingly widespread. There are proven techniques to pass sediment through or around reservoirs, to preserve reservoir capacity and to minimize downstream impacts, but they are not applied in many situations where they would be effective. This paper summarizes collective experience from five continents in managing reservoir sediments and mitigating downstream sediment starvation. Where geometry is favorable it is often possible to bypass sediment around the reservoir, which avoids reservoir sedimentation and supplies sediment to downstream reaches with rates and timing similar to pre-dam conditions. Sluicing (or drawdown routing) permits sediment to be transported through the reservoir rapidly to avoid sedimentation during high flows; it requires relatively large capacity outlets. Drawdown flushing involves scouring and re-suspending sediment deposited in the reservoir and transporting it downstream through low-level gates in the dam; it works best in narrow reservoirs with steep longitudinal gradients and with flow velocities maintained above the threshold to transport sediment. Turbidity currents can often be vented through the dam, with the advantage that the reservoir need not be drawn down to pass sediment. In planning dams, we recommend that these sediment management approaches be utilized where possible to sustain reservoir capacity and minimize environmental impacts of dams.