Your company has been contacted by the regional governing board of a small city

Question

Your company has been contacted by the regional governing board of a small city known as Old Town. It is in a semi-arid region, but exists on the coast with a small river running through town and a scenic bay. The surrounding hills have been an agricultural region for a long time, including high levels of fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide additions. There are several large dairy farm operations along the river, just above entering the city. In the ocean, there is a newly developing aquaculture business that would like to “farm” tuna using swimming pens.

Your task is to design a system to protect the city, beaches, and ocean from 1) the inflow of dairy effluent and chemicals from agricultural waste, and 2) increases in antibiotic resistance of pathogens, while allowing the river to provide clean water to support the city and the aquaculture business. Part of your goal is to reduce the city’s carbon footprint (consider NEP in your answer). Describe and justify your solution. Draw in the relevant nutrient cycles (C, N, P, etc.) and how they are impacted by the activities in the region, AND how you would modify them to ameliorate the situation. List the groups of organisms involved with remediation in each case, and their biochemical pathways that contribute to the solutions you propose. Finally, be sure to describe the risk factors, environments of particular concern and possible mitigations for antibiotic resistance genes and pathogens.

Explanation / Answer

The biogeochemical cycling of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus must be understood in order to strengthen the scientific knowledge of a mitigation-based plan. The primary productivity of terrestrial as well coastal ecosystems must have sufficient levels for the sustenance of overall life in Old Town.

In terms of agriculture, a minimum amount of cropland should be used so as to reduce nutrient waste. Excess water mixed with such nutrients must be blocked from entering the river stream by planting trees having deep roots along the stream. Organic farming without the use of pesticides must be encouraged so that input of N, P to the river and the resulting eutrophication could be minimized.

The antibiotic resistance of pathogens can be curbed if the farmers treat their animals in an ethical way by vaccinating them only under veterinary supervision. The growth of bovines by voluntarily using vaccines must not be encouraged. Antibiotic medicines should not be given to animals under any circumstance.

Seagrasses must be planted in shallow coastal waters that can efficiently absorb carbon from the atmosphere, filters saline water, accumulates sediments and provide a natural habitat for co-existence of several organisms. The existence of seagrass on terrestrial and marine waters is essential as it solves major problems related to shoreline retreat and coastal erosion. This would be a vital step to increase the net ecosystem productivity as more amounts of carbon fixed from the atmosphere would go on to produce oxygen.  

People in cities must try and adopt a whole food plant-based or vegan diet (whichever of the two suits the nutritional needs of a person) and not let leaves and solid waste flow through drains outside their homes. This will definitely be a crucial step towards reducing the carbon footprint of the urbanized setup.

Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus cycling can thus be made more eco-friendly if there is a dedicated effort towards the planting of appropriate trees on land (to decrease carbon buildup in the atmosphere) and minimize Nitrogen and Phosphorus rich fertilizers' (that fixes N, P from the atmosphere) use by growing food organically using compost.

Coastal environments will be the most vulnerable to sea-level rise due to a possible carbon buildup in the atmosphere and a special attention must be given to the communities living along the shore. People must be aware of protocols related to disaster management and spread awareness among each other on the natural hazards like hurricanes, tsunamis, storm surge etc. to which they are most prone. Essential restoration of ecosystems is the key to make lives least vulnerable.

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