Women Agricultural Landowners—Past Time to Put Them “On the Radar”

While women own 25% of the acres rented out for farming, little has been done in terms of federal policy that focuses on these women. In this policy analysis, we detail how (1) lack of data on these women landowners and (2) the invisibility of these women to federal natural resource and agricultural agency staff contribute to women nonoperating landowners (WNOLs) not being on the federal policy radar. We discuss how the persistence of these factors continues to marginalize WNOLs in federal agricultural policy, despite the mandate of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) agencies to be serving underserved populations such as WNOLs. Our study findings clearly illustrate a critical point: federal agricultural/conservation agencies are not fulfilling their mandate to reach WNOLs. Using data from USDA Production Regions in the United States, we detail how WNOLs are marginalized and provide specific policy recommendations to allow for intentional inclusion of these women.     

Thresholds of Adverse Effects of Macroalgal Abundance and Sediment Organic Matter on Benthic Habitat Quality in Estuarine Intertidal Flats

Confidence in the use of macroalgae as an indicator of estuarine eutrophication is limited by the lack of quantitative data on the thresholds of its adverse effects on benthic habitat quality. In the present study, we utilized sediment profile imagery (SPI) to identify thresholds of adverse effects of macroalgal biomass, sediment organic carbon (% OC) and sediment nitrogen (% N) concentrations on the apparent Redox Potential Discontinuity (aRPD), the depth that marks the boundary between oxic near-surface sediment and the underlying suboxic or anoxic sediment. At 16 sites in eight California estuaries, SPI, macroalgal biomass, sediment percent fines, % OC, and % N were analyzed at 20 locations along an intertidal transect. Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis was used to identify step thresholds associated with a transition from "reference" or natural background levels of macroalgae, defined as that range in which no effect on aRPD was detected. Ranges of 3–15 g dw macroalgae m^?2, 0.4–0.7 % OC and 0.05–0.07 % N were identified as transition zones from reference conditions across these estuaries. Piecewise regression analysis was used to identify exhaustion thresholds, defined as a region along the stress–response curve where severe adverse effects occur; levels of 175 g dw macroalgae m^?2, 1.1 % OC and 0.1 % N were identified as thresholds associated with a shallowing of aRPD to near zero depths. As an indicator of ecosystem condition, shallow aRPD has been related to reduced volume and quality for benthic infauna and alteration in community structure. These effects have been linked to reduced availability of forage for fish, birds and other invertebrates, as well as to undesirable changes in biogeochemical cycling.     

Experimental abiotic synthesis of methanol in seafloor hydrothermal systems during diking events

The abiotic synthesis of organic compounds in seafloor hydrothermal systems is one mechanism through which the subsurface environment could be supplied with reduced carbon. A flow-through, fixed-bed laboratory reactor vessel, the Catalytic Reactor Vessel (CRV) system, has been developed to investigate mineral–surface promoted organic synthesis at temperatures up to 400°C and pressures up to 30 MPa, conditions relevant to seafloor hydrothermal systems. Here we present evidence that metastable methanol can be directly synthesized from a gas-rich CO₂–H₂–H₂O mixture in the presence of a mineral substrate. Experiments have been performed without a substrate, with quartz, and with a mixture of quartz and magnetite. Temperatures and pressures in the experiments ranged from 200°C to 350°C and from 15 to 18 MPa, respectively. Maximum conversion of 5.8×10⁻⁴% CO₂ to CH₃OH per hour was measured using a mixture of magnetite and quartz in the reactor. After passivation of the stainless steel reactor vessel, experiments demonstrate that methanol is formed at temperatures up to 350°C in the presence of magnetite, and that the formation rate decreases over time. The experiments also show a loss of surface reactivity at 310°C and a regeneration of surface reactivity with increased temperature up to 350°C. Concentrations of CO₂ and H₂ used in the experiments simulate periodic, localized and dynamic conditions occurring within the seafloor during and immediately following magmatic diking events. High concentrations of CO₂ and H₂ may be generated by dike injection accompanied by exsolution of CO₂ and reaction of dissolved H₂O with FeO in the magma to form H₂. The experiments described here examine how the ephemeral formation of an H₂–CO₂-rich vapor phase within seafloor hydrothermal systems may supply reactants for abiotic organic synthesis reactions. These experiments show that the presence of specific minerals can promote the abiotic synthesis of simple organic molecules from common inorganic reactants such H₂O, CO₂ and H₂ under geologically realistic conditions.