Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
presence of workers could increase human disturbance to wildlife. Limiting work
activities in the vicinity of any known active nesting sites would help protect wild-
life. Habitat alteration, including canopy cover and soil compaction, can degrade
habitat for native plant populations and provide for the establishment of invasive
plant species. After clearing a given area of biomass, additional seeding of highly
disturbed soils with native grasses and taking steps to prevent the spread of noxious
weeds could minimize impacts. However, a lower abundance of birds is sometimes
found in reforested areas compared with natural forest or grassland.
Water Resources
Agricultural land use can degrade water quality where it results in runoff or the migra-
tion of nutrients, pesticides, and other chemicals into surface water and groundwater.
Conversion of idle land to agriculture use would add to the degradation. Converting
annual crops to perennial crops reduces the requirement for pesticides and fertil-
izers. If the conversion of idle land requires irrigation, then water would have to
be withdrawn from surface water or groundwater sources. Large withdrawals could
affect the water availability for other uses. Sedimentation from road construction
and other ground-disturbing activities in forested regions could increase sedimenta-
tion levels in streams.
Land Use
Demand for increasing amounts of agricultural biomass feedstock would convert the
land and cropland pasture to cultivation of perennial crops such as grass and wood
crops. No change in land use in forests would occur as a result of clearing and thin-
ning to remove biomass.
Soils and Geologic Resources
Crop residue left in the field and tree residue left in the forest help to maintain soil
moisture, soil organic matter content, and soil carbon levels and to limit wind ero-
sion. Removing too much residue would be detrimental to the soil. Soil compac-
tion in agricultural operations would result from multiple passes of equipment for
crop residue collection. These impacts can be partially mitigated by converting land
from annual crop to perennial biomass crop production. This would increase the
organic matter content of the soils and maximize the potential benefits listed above.
The application of pesticides affects soil quality by adding toxic chemicals to the
soil. Converting annual crops to perennial crops reduces the requirement for pes-
ticides and fertilizers. Proper management of the type and quantities of pesticides
can reduce the impact. Soil compaction, erosion, and topsoil loss result from logging
operations. Biomass removal would utilize the same footprint as commercial har-
vesting activities and would not add to the amount of compacted or disturbed soil.
Paleontological Resources
Any paleontological resources present on the surface or buried below the surface of
existing agricultural areas have already been disturbed. The conversion of uncultivated
land to agricultural use to produce feedstock for biomass facilities would disturb pre-
viously undisturbed land and affect paleontological resources on or buried below the
