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Nitrate: processes, patterns and management
194
Buok r~~~~~~
Yet whether the reader keen to be better informed on landscape sensitivity who struggles through all the chapters will feet adequately rewarded by the endeavour is much more apen to question, particularly at a cost of &65! Geomorphology is alive and well, but perhaps it could find a better way of selling its wares.
R. .I. Rice Drpurtment of Geography, University of Leicesw
Burt, T. P., Heathwaite, A. L. and Trudgili, S. T. (edS) b&‘&C?:~FOCfWt3, ~Qif~~~ Qnd ~Q~~g~~~F~f. Chichester: Wiley, 1993. 444 pp. &5 hardback. Recent years have seen a growing concern for the increasing nitrate concentrations which have been reported in many rivers, lakes and groundwater bodies and which have in turn been linked to increasing fertilizer use. Thus, for example, available statistics indicate that fertilizcr.“N use in fhe UK increased by more than 900 per cent between 1945 and 1985, and that over the past 20 years nitrate concentrations in some UK rivers have increased by up to four times. Furthermore, in several areas of the UK, nitrate concentrations in river waters are close to, and sometimes exceed, the WHO recommended Iimit for water for human consumption, and many groundwdter sources now also exceed this limit, in view of these trends, the possible health problems associated with high nitrate Ievels in drinking water and its role in causing eutrophication of lakes, reservoirs and other water bodies, nitrate is attracting increasing attention as a major environmental problem and considerable effort is being directed towards developing effective strategies for its control. Against this background, the editors of this volume have identified the need, first, to draw together material relating to the many different aspects of the nitrate problem and, secondly, to present a broad geographical and ~ydr~logjca~ perspective which emphasizes the importance of the drainage basin as the fundamentai unit of study. This volume, which incorporates contributions from 20 authors and is focused explicitiy at the research level, rather than a popular readership, aims to fulfil this need. To achieve its aim, the book is divided into three major sections. The first, which contains seven chapters and accounts for nearly half of the book, presents an introductory overview of the nitrate issue (Heathwaite, Burt and Trudgill), and orovides imnortant background information on nitrogen cycling in the -atmosphere (Wayne), aericultural soils fVinten and Smith). forest soils (van Miegroet and Johnson), surfaee waters and lakes (Heathwaite), wetlands (Howard”W~iljams and Dowries),, and marine waters (Owens). Inevitably, these chapters pface considerabie
emphasis on the complexities of the nitrogen cycle, as distinct from the behaviour of nitrate per se, since knowledge of the former is essential for an understanding of the latter. However, in several of the contributions there could perhaps have been a more explicit attempt to emphasize those aspects of the nitrogen cycle concerned particularly with the production and fate of nibate. This is, after all, the focus of the book, and general information cm the nitrogen cycle can be readily found in several other publications. The chapters dealing with wetlands and marine waters are the most suceessfui in this respect. Some readers will also inevitably question the inctusion of substantial chapters dcating with the atmosphere and marine waters in a se&on which is expiicitly concerned with catchment ecosystems. The second section focuses more specifically on the mobilization, transport and fate of nitrate within the hydrological system and thus provides a contribution which is more clearly distinctive. The three chapters deal with groundwater (Burt and Trudgill), nitrate losses from agricultural land (Armstrong and Burt), and surface waters (Johnes and Burt). Their coverage varies in both depth and breadth, but they provide effective and useful reviews of the key features of nitrate occurrence in the environment and serve to emphasize both its high degree of mobility and the need for a catchment-scale perspective. In the third and final section, the coverage of the book broadens to embrace the implications and management potential of changes in agricultural practice (Parkinson) and of changing land use (Burt and Haycock), treatment processes for nitrate removal from water supplies (Hall and Croll), and the legal background (Ball). Again, these chapters draw together a wide range of disparate yet important material which is central to a full understanding of the nitrate issue. The book concludes with -a valuable review of the politics underlvinr the nitrate issue (O’Riordan and Bentham): and a useful prognosis of future problems and solutions (Heathwaite, Burt and Trudgilij. Each of the chapters contained in the book affords a useful source of reference for those interested in the many different facets of the nitrate issue and the editors have undoubtedly rendered a useful service to this community by bringing together material dealing with such diverse aspects as nitrogen cycling in wetlands, river behaviour, management issues, and the legal and political background to the implementation of control strategies, in a singIe volume. However, the success of an edited volume of this nature must also be assessed in terms of whether the whole represents more than the sum of the individual parts. In this context, the book certain@ succeeds in demonstrating the wideranging nature of the nitrate issue and in ernphas~ziI~g the need for a mul~disci~Ijnary
Book reviews catchment-based perspective. This in itself is an important achievement. The involvement of one or more of the editors in the authorship of seven of the chapters and the frequent references to their collaborative work in the Slapton catchments has also greatly helped in unifying the ideas and material presented. More could, however, have been done to integrate the individual contributions, particularly the earlier chapters dealing with the nitrogen cycle, and to ensure greater uniformity in terms of depth and breadth of coverage. Some chapters provide substantive reviews of the topics covered, whereas others are less wideranging and are largely based on a limited number of case studies. This reader encountered particular difficulty in deciding whether the coverage was being purposely limited to the UK or if a wider brief was intended. Some chapters focus almost
19.5
exclusively on the UK, whereas others attempt to include material relating to both the rest of Europe and North America. In contrast, the chapter on nitrogen cycling in forest soils is based largely on work undertaken in US forests and it is difficult to transpose findings on the impact of rooting pigs and insect infestations to the UK scene. Such limitations are, however, essentially minor considerations and an almost inevitable feature of an edited work. This volume undoubtedly represents an important addition to the literature and deserves to be widely consulted and read by those with an interest in this important field of environmental pollution and management. Des Walling Department
ofGeography,
University of Exeter
Buok r~~~~~~
Yet whether the reader keen to be better informed on landscape sensitivity who struggles through all the chapters will feet adequately rewarded by the endeavour is much more apen to question, particularly at a cost of &65! Geomorphology is alive and well, but perhaps it could find a better way of selling its wares.
R. .I. Rice Drpurtment of Geography, University of Leicesw
Burt, T. P., Heathwaite, A. L. and Trudgili, S. T. (edS) b&‘&C?:~FOCfWt3, ~Qif~~~ Qnd ~Q~~g~~~F~f. Chichester: Wiley, 1993. 444 pp. &5 hardback. Recent years have seen a growing concern for the increasing nitrate concentrations which have been reported in many rivers, lakes and groundwater bodies and which have in turn been linked to increasing fertilizer use. Thus, for example, available statistics indicate that fertilizcr.“N use in fhe UK increased by more than 900 per cent between 1945 and 1985, and that over the past 20 years nitrate concentrations in some UK rivers have increased by up to four times. Furthermore, in several areas of the UK, nitrate concentrations in river waters are close to, and sometimes exceed, the WHO recommended Iimit for water for human consumption, and many groundwdter sources now also exceed this limit, in view of these trends, the possible health problems associated with high nitrate Ievels in drinking water and its role in causing eutrophication of lakes, reservoirs and other water bodies, nitrate is attracting increasing attention as a major environmental problem and considerable effort is being directed towards developing effective strategies for its control. Against this background, the editors of this volume have identified the need, first, to draw together material relating to the many different aspects of the nitrate problem and, secondly, to present a broad geographical and ~ydr~logjca~ perspective which emphasizes the importance of the drainage basin as the fundamentai unit of study. This volume, which incorporates contributions from 20 authors and is focused explicitiy at the research level, rather than a popular readership, aims to fulfil this need. To achieve its aim, the book is divided into three major sections. The first, which contains seven chapters and accounts for nearly half of the book, presents an introductory overview of the nitrate issue (Heathwaite, Burt and Trudgill), and orovides imnortant background information on nitrogen cycling in the -atmosphere (Wayne), aericultural soils fVinten and Smith). forest soils (van Miegroet and Johnson), surfaee waters and lakes (Heathwaite), wetlands (Howard”W~iljams and Dowries),, and marine waters (Owens). Inevitably, these chapters pface considerabie
emphasis on the complexities of the nitrogen cycle, as distinct from the behaviour of nitrate per se, since knowledge of the former is essential for an understanding of the latter. However, in several of the contributions there could perhaps have been a more explicit attempt to emphasize those aspects of the nitrogen cycle concerned particularly with the production and fate of nibate. This is, after all, the focus of the book, and general information cm the nitrogen cycle can be readily found in several other publications. The chapters dealing with wetlands and marine waters are the most suceessfui in this respect. Some readers will also inevitably question the inctusion of substantial chapters dcating with the atmosphere and marine waters in a se&on which is expiicitly concerned with catchment ecosystems. The second section focuses more specifically on the mobilization, transport and fate of nitrate within the hydrological system and thus provides a contribution which is more clearly distinctive. The three chapters deal with groundwater (Burt and Trudgill), nitrate losses from agricultural land (Armstrong and Burt), and surface waters (Johnes and Burt). Their coverage varies in both depth and breadth, but they provide effective and useful reviews of the key features of nitrate occurrence in the environment and serve to emphasize both its high degree of mobility and the need for a catchment-scale perspective. In the third and final section, the coverage of the book broadens to embrace the implications and management potential of changes in agricultural practice (Parkinson) and of changing land use (Burt and Haycock), treatment processes for nitrate removal from water supplies (Hall and Croll), and the legal background (Ball). Again, these chapters draw together a wide range of disparate yet important material which is central to a full understanding of the nitrate issue. The book concludes with -a valuable review of the politics underlvinr the nitrate issue (O’Riordan and Bentham): and a useful prognosis of future problems and solutions (Heathwaite, Burt and Trudgilij. Each of the chapters contained in the book affords a useful source of reference for those interested in the many different facets of the nitrate issue and the editors have undoubtedly rendered a useful service to this community by bringing together material dealing with such diverse aspects as nitrogen cycling in wetlands, river behaviour, management issues, and the legal and political background to the implementation of control strategies, in a singIe volume. However, the success of an edited volume of this nature must also be assessed in terms of whether the whole represents more than the sum of the individual parts. In this context, the book certain@ succeeds in demonstrating the wideranging nature of the nitrate issue and in ernphas~ziI~g the need for a mul~disci~Ijnary
Book reviews catchment-based perspective. This in itself is an important achievement. The involvement of one or more of the editors in the authorship of seven of the chapters and the frequent references to their collaborative work in the Slapton catchments has also greatly helped in unifying the ideas and material presented. More could, however, have been done to integrate the individual contributions, particularly the earlier chapters dealing with the nitrogen cycle, and to ensure greater uniformity in terms of depth and breadth of coverage. Some chapters provide substantive reviews of the topics covered, whereas others are less wideranging and are largely based on a limited number of case studies. This reader encountered particular difficulty in deciding whether the coverage was being purposely limited to the UK or if a wider brief was intended. Some chapters focus almost
19.5
exclusively on the UK, whereas others attempt to include material relating to both the rest of Europe and North America. In contrast, the chapter on nitrogen cycling in forest soils is based largely on work undertaken in US forests and it is difficult to transpose findings on the impact of rooting pigs and insect infestations to the UK scene. Such limitations are, however, essentially minor considerations and an almost inevitable feature of an edited work. This volume undoubtedly represents an important addition to the literature and deserves to be widely consulted and read by those with an interest in this important field of environmental pollution and management. Des Walling Department
ofGeography,
University of Exeter