Peter Woodbury - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Peter Woodbury

This study expanded on our previous regional study of sediment sources in central New York by usi... more This study expanded on our previous regional study of sediment sources in central New York by using 137Cs and other tracers to quantify the relative importance of sediment producing processes in the upper Susquehanna watershed. We sampled recently eroded sediments in a suite of watersheds in the upper Susquehanna basin of NY with contrasting historical and current land uses, and differing geomorphic and stream channel characteristics, focusing on likely high sediment-producing areas to identify subbasins with high levels of sediment contributed by bank erosion. By fingerprinting stream sediment sources, we hope to improve the basis for conceptualizing the process of erosion and sediment delivery and for devising and implementing effective sediment control programs. The most effective work with sediment tracers has involved the analysis of nuclear bomb-derived and natural fallout radionuclides that bond to sediment. Fallout radionuclides generally are retained in the upper few cm of ...

Table S1. Constraints applied to account for sustainability of biomass feedstock. Table S2. Equip... more Table S1. Constraints applied to account for sustainability of biomass feedstock. Table S2. Equipment used to harvest product for quantifying embodied energy and fuel use. Table S3. Stand life, average yields, and average lime and N rates for feedstock production. Table S4. Key steps in processingÂ pathways. Table S5. Scale of plant and type of primary product from biomass feedstocks. Figure S1. Visual abstract. (DOCX 61 kb)

We developed matrices representing historical area transitions between forest and other land uses... more We developed matrices representing historical area transitions between forest and other land uses. We projected future transitions on the basis of historical transitions and econometric model results. These matrices were used to drive a model of changes in soil and forest floor carbon stocks. Our model predicted net carbon emission from 1900 until 1982, then sequestration until 2030, with little subsequent change. However, the northeast region showed substantial carbon sequestration from 1900 to the present. From 1990 to 2004, afforestation caused sequestration averaging 17 Tg C yr À1 : 6 Tg C yr À1 in soil and 11 Tg C yr À1 in forest floor. Deforestation caused emission averaging 12 Tg C yr À1 : 3 Tg C yr À1 from soil and 9 Tg C yr À1 from forest floor. However, these effects were only 5% of the total change in carbon stocks in all forestland.

of existing information to generate hypotheses about adverse ecological effects, select assessmen... more of existing information to generate hypotheses about adverse ecological effects, select assessment endpoints, and develop an actions intended to address them have complex ramifications

Stream water exports of nutrients and pollutants to water bodies integrate internal and external ... more Stream water exports of nutrients and pollutants to water bodies integrate internal and external watershed processes that vary in both space and time. In this paper, we explore nitrate (NO3) fluxes for the 326 km 2 mixed-land use Fall Creek watershed in central New York for 1972–2005, and consider internal factors such as changes in land use/land cover, dynamics in agricultural production and fertilizer use, and external factors such as atmospheric deposition. Segmented regression analysis was applied independently to dormant and growing seasons for three portions of the period of record, which indicated that stream water NO3 concentrations increased in both dormant and

Carbon sequestration through forest growth provides a low-cost approach for meeting state and nat... more Carbon sequestration through forest growth provides a low-cost approach for meeting state and national goals to reduce net accumulations of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Total forest ecosystem carbon stocks include "pools" in live trees, standing dead trees, understory vegetation, down dead wood, forest floor, and soil. Determining the level of carbon stocksin forest ecosystems has become a concern of governments, businesses, and many organizations. This article provides examples of inventory-based calculations and identifies resources that are available for analysts and planners to develop large-scale carbon estimates consistentwith totals for US forests. Estimates can be based on current regional averages classified accordingto region, forest type, ownership, or stand size class; on stand-level inventory data, measured or calculated; or on locally specific information, such as individual tree sizes or other data acquired from sampling a specific forest.

While considerable attention has been paid to the land application of sewage sludges and composte... more While considerable attention has been paid to the land application of sewage sludges and composted sewage sludges in the U.S. during the last twenty years, land application of municipal solid waste (MSW) composts has received comparatively little attention. However, there has been a recent resurgence of interest in this topic as other options for solid waste disposal such as landfilling and incineration become less publicly acceptable and increasingly costly. As interest in MSW composting increases, one of the concerns that must be addressed is the extent to which the low concentrations of heavy metals and metalloids (metal-like elements) present in MSW compost may adversely affect plant growth, soil organisms, water quality and animal and human health. This fact sheet focuses primarily on how these elements are taken up by plants growing in soil to which MSW composts have been added. A brief discussion of the effects of these elements on soil organisms and water quality is also inc...

Environmental Science & Technology

In the long term, food systems must heed natural resource limits. Localized production and dietar... more In the long term, food systems must heed natural resource limits. Localized production and dietary changes are often suggested as potential solutions. However, no U.S. analyses fully evaluate the feasibility to scale localization across a range of diets. We therefore modeled the biophysical capacity for regional food systems based on agricultural land area and productivity, population, and 7 diet scenarios ranging in meat-intensity, from current consumption to vegan. We estimated foodshed size, colloquially known as "food miles" for 378 U.S. metropolitan centers, in a hypothetical nationwide closed system that prioritizes localized food. We found that foodshed size (weighted average distance traveled) for three land types ranged from 351-428 km (cultivated cropland), 80-492 km (perennial forage cropland), and 117-799 km (grazing land). Localized potential varies regionally: foodsheds are generally larger in the populous Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest than in the Northwest and the center of the country. However, depending on consumption of animal-based foods, a sizable proportion of the population could meet its food needs within 250km: from 35%-53% (cultivated cropland), 39%-94% (perennial forage cropland, 100% for vegan), and 26%-88% (grazing land, 100% for ovolacto-vegetarian and vegan). All seven scenarios leave some land unused. This reserve capacity might be used to supply food to the global market, grow bioenergy crops, or for conservation.

Energy, Sustainability and Society

Background: Since the industrial revolution, human population and fossil energy consumption have ... more Background: Since the industrial revolution, human population and fossil energy consumption have steadily increased. With concerns over fossil energy impact on air quality and global climate, there is increasing interest in collection and conversion of non-fossil energy feedstocks. These finite renewable feedstocks (biomass, solar, wind) provide a challenge based on their land-limited supply and temporal availability. Consequently, society needs methodologies to increase end-user efficiency to maximize the energetic utility and sociological benefit from the finite land base. Methods: This paper presents a methodology for evaluating whole system effectiveness from a finite unit of biomass feedstock. By analyzing conversion of raw energy inputs into final energy services (FES) delivered in the form of transport or heat to society, we assess the FES returned on energy investment (ERoEI fes). Comparison of ERoEI fes across 11 different conversion pathways illustrates the relative delivered social benefit of each pathway derived from the same finite feedstock. Results: We found previously that New York (NY) could sustainably produce 14.2 Tg/y of biomass feedstocks from agriculture and forestry (equivalent to 7% of NY's primary energy consumption of 3.9 EJ). We found that high value FES as a percentage of energy in the biomass feedstock ranged from 5 to 15% for transport and 12 to 71% for heat (residential or commercial). However, the FES provided for six pathways was more than 2-fold higher if co-products were used. This method (1) internalizes energetic processing and use losses (2) to compare pathways and systems (3) that maximize services and value derived from land-limited sustainably harvested resources (4) thus providing a holistic approach increasing the value of a unit of land to generate primary energy resources, sustainably. Conclusion: This case study provides a framework to assess a range of conversion pathways for any finite energy feedstock for society. Across all biomass types and conversion processes, the replicable ERoEI fes methodology provides a foundation for decision-makers to compare FES delivered and then develop policies that reap the most benefit per unit of finite feedstock, thus assisting in more effective transition away from fossil-based feedstocks.

Environmental Science & Policy

Abstract Robust quantification of the environmental performance of agricultural management practi... more Abstract Robust quantification of the environmental performance of agricultural management practices is critical both for ensuring regulatory compliance and for creating accountability in voluntary environmental markets and corporate sustainability commitments. Because environmental impacts cannot be measured under all conditions and on all farms, models are required. However, models must be used appropriately if predictions of environmental performance are to be reliable. To assist policymakers and stakeholders, we define a 7-step process for model selection and use, and present a case study applying this 7-step process to greenhouse gas emissions from corn (Zea mays L.) fields in the USA. Based on this case study and other examples from the literature, we suggest that all models are limited by the data available to validate them for different combinations of cropping systems, management practices, site conditions, and types of environmental performance. Additionally, both statistical and process models are much more reliable for making predictions of environmental performance for multiple fields and years than for predictions of a single location and year. We suggest that using this 7-step process will help improve predictions of environmental performance for regulatory and voluntary purposes at local, state, and national scales.

Bioscience, 2018

Farmers, food supply-chain entities, and policymakers need a simple but robust indicator to demon... more Farmers, food supply-chain entities, and policymakers need a simple but robust indicator to demonstrate progress toward reducing nitrogen pollution associated with food production. We show that nitrogen balance-the difference between nitrogen inputs and nitrogen outputs in an agricultural production system-is a robust measure of nitrogen losses that is simple to calculate, easily understood, and based on readily available farm data. Nitrogen balance provides farmers with a means of demonstrating to an increasingly concerned public that they are succeeding in reducing nitrogen losses while also improving the overall sustainability of their farming operation. Likewise, supply-chain companies and policymakers can use nitrogen balance to track progress toward sustainability goals. We describe the value of nitrogen balance in translating environmental targets into actionable goals for farmers and illustrate the potential roles of science, policy, and agricultural support networks in help...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Oct 31, 2017

Better stewardship of land is needed to achieve the Paris Climate Agreement goal of holding warmi... more Better stewardship of land is needed to achieve the Paris Climate Agreement goal of holding warming to below 2 °C; however, confusion persists about the specific set of land stewardship options available and their mitigation potential. To address this, we identify and quantify "natural climate solutions" (NCS): 20 conservation, restoration, and improved land management actions that increase carbon storage and/or avoid greenhouse gas emissions across global forests, wetlands, grasslands, and agricultural lands. We find that the maximum potential of NCS-when constrained by food security, fiber security, and biodiversity conservation-is 23.8 petagrams of CO2 equivalent (PgCO2e) y-1 (95% CI 20.3-37.4). This is ≥30% higher than prior estimates, which did not include the full range of options and safeguards considered here. About half of this maximum (11.3 PgCO2e y-1) represents cost-effective climate mitigation, assuming the social cost of CO2 pollution is ≥100 USD MgCO2e-1 by ...

Conservation Ecology, 2000

Introduction Biotechnology and Agriculture Assessing the Risks and Benefits of Genetically Modifi... more Introduction Biotechnology and Agriculture Assessing the Risks and Benefits of Genetically Modified Crops Comparison to introduced species Scale and type of impacts Weighing risks and benefits Regulating risks Reforming agriculture

Journal of Environment Quality, 2016

Livestock manure can be a significant source of greenhouse gases (GHG) including methane (CH 4) a... more Livestock manure can be a significant source of greenhouse gases (GHG) including methane (CH 4) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O). However, GHG emissions are strongly affected by the type of waste management system (WMS) used. For example, CH 4 emissions increase substantially under anaerobic conditions that occur in many WMSs. There is a need for improved estimates at regional and national scales of the effect of WMSs on GHG emissions and identification of opportunities and associated costs to mitigate these emissions. As New York State is the fourth largest dairy producer in the country, our objectives were to quantify (i) the changes in WMS and associated GHG emissions over time, (ii) a methane conversion factor (MCF) derived from existing data from three covered manure storage units in New York, and (iii) the benefit and cost of installing covers and flares to destroy CH 4 from existing storage units. We found that GHG emissions from changing manure management increased from 0.7 Tg carbon dioxide equivalents per year (CO 2 e yr −1) in 1992 to 1.6 Tg CO 2 e yr −1 in 2012. We derived an MCF of 0.61 based on data from dairy manure storage units with covers that captured and flared CH 4 in 2010 and used this MCF to project GHG reductions for a statewide mitigation scenario in year 2022. This scenario, covering and flaring CH 4 from 662 manure storage units, mitigates 1.8 Tg CO 2 e annually or 62% of manure GHG (CH 4 and N 2 O) at an estimated

Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 1995

Currently, assessments of how environmental stresses such as tropospheric ozone affect forests em... more Currently, assessments of how environmental stresses such as tropospheric ozone affect forests employ point estimates of factors such as ozone dose and species sensitivity. However, there is substantial regional heterogeneity in such factors. Hence, we have developed an approach for incorporating probabilistic analysis in estimating ecological risk at a regional scale. As an example, we model the effects of tropospheric ozone on the growth of loblolly pine stands in the southeastern USA. Our approach links software capable of automated Monte Carlo simulation to a Geographic Information System in order to assess the influence of uncertainty in factors such as ozone dose, soil moisture availability, and climate on regional patterns of loblolly growth rate. We demonstrate that this methodology may improve assessments of ecological risk by quantitating regional patterns in the influence of various factors on the predicted response of forests to ozone as well as identifying regions in which uncertainty in model predictions is the greatest.

Advances in Agricultural Systems Modeling, 2016

The emergence of policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions motivated a rapid shift in eco... more The emergence of policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions motivated a rapid shift in ecosystem modeling, especially concerning agricultural and forest management effects on nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions and soil carbon (C). First, we review models for estimating GHG fluxes in agricultural and forest landscapes. Second, we investigate the interplay of models with institutions that develop and implement climate change policy. Limited GHG flux observations constrain our understanding of process controls, especially with respect to N 2 O flux. Even when simulation models explicitly include N 2 O flux, this capability is infrequently applied or validated. In the policy arena, tools used to estimate aboveground forest biomass C rely on robust inventory data. Such data are scarce outside of the industrialized world. Compared with biomass C, soil C storage in both forest and agricultural systems is difficult to quantify. Widely used estimates depend on critical assumptions such as the extent to which erosion contributes to C loss from fields and the mechanisms by which C is stabilized in soil, both of which are the subject of serious debate. As evidenced by at least one instance we explore, institutions dedicated to policy development and implementation can rapidly achieve a nuanced understanding of these limitations, given sufficient engagement of the research community. Our review illuminates challenges that affect land-based GHG mitigation initiatives as a result of current knowledge gaps, institutional capacity, and decision-making frameworks. We suggest key points that should be communicated to model users and raise questions that could be fruitfully addressed by model developers and consumers of modeled estimates.