Week 6: References

Although they are not widely acknowledged or publicised in the United States, ocean dead zones present huge challenges for the future in agricultural practice and water management.

Sources:
1.
MSNBC.com. 29 March 2004. MSNBC. 11 October 2008.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4624359/

This article has a great overview of the world epidemic of ocean dead zones. The focus of this article is quite broad, but it has some very useful information on what nations can do to help curb nitrogen emissions. The author(s) of this article are MSNBC staff and the credibility of that news agency is the credibility of this article. It cites the United Nations Yearbook report as well, which lends credibility.

2.
Microbial Life Education Resources. 06 October 2008. Microbial Life Education Resources. 12 October 2008
http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/topics/deadzone/

This article is more scientific, hypoxia is defined in this article.  Nitrogen and phosphorous runoff are cited as the main sources for hypoxia that creates some dead zones specifically in the Gulf of Mexico. This article gives lots of good factual information on where dead zones exist around the world, how large scale algal blooms lead to eutrophication and reduces benthic biomass and biodiversity. The author of this paper Monica Bruckner is a graduate student in the Department of Earth Sciences at Montana State University. The intended audience of this page is educators looking for information for their students.

3.
Juncosa, Barbara. "Suffocating Seas." Scientific American 299.4 (Oct. 2008): 20-22. Academic Search Premier.
EBSCO. University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK. 28 Oct. 2008
«http://libapps.uaf.edu:2056/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=34236087&site=ehost-live».

This scholarly article has quite a bit of information in it that details more about dead zones and the two different types of dead zones. The author has done her research and cites many sources throughout the article. The audience that this article is directed to is the thinking public that would be reading Scientific American. The topic is illuminated in this article by a combination of hard evidence of dead zones and some openendedness about the possibility of climate change having an effect on upwelling waters and hypoxia.

4.
NASA.  10 August 2004. NASA. 12 October 2008
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2004/0810deadzone.html

This webpage explains with images and text the effects of a dead zone. Specifically the Gulf of Mexico dead zone areas are focused on with this page, and the MODIS/Aqua images showing the difference in summertime blooms and wintertime blooms in the Gulf are helpful in seeing the effects. The author of this page is an employee of NASA who is relaying NASA's data on this subject on to the public. The audience of this article is the general public, learning about dead zones via NASA.

5.
Texas A&M University. "Into The Dead Zone: Galveston Researcher Examines Loss Of Marine Life."
ScienceDaily 7 May 2004. 28 October 2008
«http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2004/05/040507082408.htm».

This article has a large focus on scientific studies that were taking place at the time of the writing. These studies were investigating the levels of fertilizer in the bacteria found in the Gulf of Mexico dead zone. The author of this paper ScienceDaily, a research news organization which selects its articles from university researchers around the world. The audience of this article would be fellow researchers trying to find more information about dead zones, more specifically the Gulf of Mexico dead zone.

6.
Turner, R. Eugene, Rabalais, Nancy N., and Justic, Dubravko. "Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia: Alternate States and a Legacy" Environmental Science Technology, 10.1021/es071617k: 42, 7, 2323 - 2327,
http://libapps.uaf.edu:2196/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/2008/42/i07/html/es071617k.html

This paper highlights a 20 year study in the Gulf of Mexico on the oxygen levels associated with the large hypoxic area. The conclusion that nutrient loading is responsible for the hypoxic area is noted. This article has a view to the future and how the problem will only get worse unless it the nutrient loading practices are corrected now.

7.

Simon D. Donner, "Surf or turf: A shift from feed to food cultivation could reduce nutrient flux to the Gulf of Mexico," Global Environmental Change Volume 17, Issue 1, , Uncertainty and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, February 2007, Pages 105-113.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6VFV-4K8S5PS-3/2/7d453086ef39cde173db7a0e3c5f9999

This article shows a really interesting angle on the nitrogen runoff problem that is connected with hypoxia and dead zones. The authors theory which is shown in nitrogen a modeling system is that if farmers in the midwest United States moved away from feedlot crop production for meat animals and instead focused on human food crop production that nitrogen runoff and land use would drastically be reduced. This is mainly due to the efficiency of converting food into energy and how effectively we can do that by eating low on the food chain, vs feeding an animal to then eat ourselves, or eating high on the food chain.

8.

Donald A. Goolsby, William A. Battaglin, Brent T. Aulenbach, Richard P. Hooper, "Nitrogen flux and sources in the Mississippi River Basin", The Science of The Total Environment Volume 248, Issues 2-3, , 5 April 2000, Pages 75-86.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V78-4007P8H-3/2/a64175bc12e5105296dbf9624ea40a00)



This article has an in depth study of the origination and quantities of nitrate in the Mississippi River and its watershed in the Gulf of Mexico. The interconnectedness of the Mississippi Rivers high nitrate levels and the large algae blooms and subsequent dead zones is noted.  All of this data connects with the increased use of fertilizers in modern agriculture and the large scale farming that is done along the Mississippi River Basin which drains nearly 40% of the United States.
 
9.

Marc O. Ribaudo, Ralph Heimlich, Mark Peters, "Nitrogen sources and Gulf hypoxia: potential for environmental credit trading", Ecological Economics Volume 52, Issue 2, , 25 January 2005, Pages 159-168.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6VDY-4F4NYGS-4/2/bf002c8e57aa923084baa7e5c6957617)



Covering the concept of credit trading and buying for agricultural release of nitrogen. This article goes into detail about the idea of creating a nitrogen release credit system for farmers, this system would significantly reduce the nitrogen release from farming, but would also significantly increase agricultural commodity price. This increased price for a domestic commodity would in turn spur an international rise in large scale farming thus spreading the dead zone problem wider. Interesting proposal and point of view from these authors.

10.

Eugenia J. Olguin, Gloria Sanchez, Gabriel Mercado, "Cleaner production and environmentally sound biotechnology for the prevention of upstream nutrient pollution in the Mexican coast of the Gulf of Mexico", Ocean & Coastal Management Volume 47, Issues 11-12, , Integrated Coastal Management in the Gulf of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem, 2004, Pages 641-670.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6VG5-4FGXXBJ-1/2/7951fd27509898fad9f9a1c44e2e2812)



This article shows the present state of the Mexico Gulf Coast nitrogen concentrations, but also proposes that a new strategy for pollution prevention is needed along the Mississippi River Basin in the United States. This solution would be using water reuse and recycling methods, reduction of water use generally and wastewater reclamation instead of runoff. All of these methods are proposed using cost effective biotechnologies like anaerobic digestion, Phycoremediation for nutrient removal from organic enriched wastewater and Phytoremediation for nutrient removal from wastewater.

11.

Martin C. Heller, Gregory A. Keoleian, "Assessing the sustainability of the US food system: a life cycle perspective", Agricultural Systems Volume 76, Issue 3, , June 2003, Pages 1007-1041.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6T3W-45TY553-1/2/b4d2d9d406f874de143cc68447d3538b)



This article is about the flawed large scale agricultural practices of the central United States and possibilities of a stronger, and more sustainable food production system. There is a focus on the environmental impacts of the current pesticide and fertilizer laden methods that are largely practiced as a money saving solution for a tight margins farmer. The solutions this article proposes range from improved practices and use of land to organic production of crops. There is also mention of using agri-environmental benefits for farmers who were working to prevent negative impact of pollution runoff.

12.

Dubravko Justic, Nancy N. Rabalais, R. Eugene Turner, "Coupling between climate variability and coastal eutrophication: Evidence and outlook for the northern Gulf of Mexico", Journal of Sea Research Volume 54, Issue 1, , Contrasting Approaches to Understanding Eutrophication Effects on Phytoplankton, July 2005, Pages 25-35.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6VHH-4G1WYFD-2/2/375015ee61a4b501a20a79255aa1cc31)


This article goes in depth about eutrophication and how it is created by algeal blooms which produce a low oxygen environment. This is shown to be an effect of improper agriculture practices, specifically fertilizer runoff.  Global warming is mentioned in this article as well and the outlook for a warmer earth and ocean dead zones is a dark and bad one. This article is directed towards a scientific community who already has background on this topic.

13.

C. Rabouille, D.J. Conley, M.H.Dai, W.-J. Cai, C.T.A. Chen, B. Lansard, R. Green, K. Yin, P.J. Harrison, M. Dagg, B. McKee, "Comparison of hypoxia among four river-dominated ocean margins: The Changjiang (Yangtze), Mississippi, Pearl, and Rhone rivers", Continental Shelf Research Volume 28, Issue 12, , Coastal Ecosystem Responses to Changing Nutrient Inputs from Large Temperate and Subtropical Rivers, 15 July 2008, Pages 1527-1537.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6VBJ-4S21TS9-2/2/71fc7aefd2357b3d1cdd0db16eb32654)


This article details the similarities and differences of hypoxia in river systems. The study was done on 4 different rivers, including the Mississippi. this study shows how weather, wind and shelf depth can affect how long hypoxic periods can last, and how much they can affect. This article has some interesting facts about how wind and water temperature can affect the movement of water.

14.

Donald M. Anderson, Joann M. Burkholder, William P. Cochlan, Patricia M. Glibert, Christopher J. Gobler, Cynthia A. Heil, Raphael M. Kudela, Michael L. Parsons, J. E. Jack Rensel, David W. Townsend, Vera L. Trainer, Gabriel A. Vargo, "Harmful algal blooms and eutrophication: Examining linkages from selected coastal regions of the United States", Harmful AlgaeIn Press, Corrected Proof, , Available online 6 September 2008.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B73D7-4TCR1SK-1/2/bfdd8bb0f45b0eb971576e6796b06a70)



This article cites many sources of data on HABs or harmful algae blooms in different ecosystems around the United States. These HABs have been linked to organic processes and inorganic human made processes.
Overall, these algae blooms seem to be more man made and getting worse. This article was written for the scientific community and is almost getting outside of my understanding of scientific data.

15.
Booth, M.S. and Campbell, C. "Spring Nitrate Flux in the Mississippi River Basin: A Landscape Model with Conservation Applications" 
Environmental Science Technology,

41,
15,
5410 -
5418,

2007, 
10.1021/es070179e

http://libapps.uaf.edu:2196/cgi-bin/article.cgi/esthag/2007/41/i15/html/es070179e.html

This article examines the relationship between hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico from agricultural runoff in the Mississippi River Basin and the necessity for change in our agricultural practices. The largest runoff culprits were fertilizer runoff and animal waste runoff. Both of these sources can be controlled with a bit of effort. This paper suggests that Federal Government policy and farm spending would not be negatively impacted by some changes that would put an economic focus on cleaning up our water runoff.