Land use effects on pesticides in sediments of prairie pothole wetlands in North and South Dakota.

Prairie potholes are the dominant wetland type in the intensively cultivated northern Great Plains of North America, and thus have the potential to receive pesticide runoff and drift. We examined the presence of pesticides in sediments of 151 wetlands split among the three dominant land use types, Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), cropland, and native prairie, in North and South Dakota in 2011. Herbicides (glyphosate and atrazine) and fungicides were detected regularly, with no insecticide detections. Glyphosate was the most detected pesticide, occurring in 61% of all wetlands, with atrazine in only 8% of wetlands. Pyraclostrobin was one of five fungicides detected, but the only one of significance, being detected in 31% of wetlands. Glyphosate was the only pesticide that differed by land use, with concentrations in cropland over four-times that in either native prairie or CRP, which were equal in concentration and frequency of detection. Despite examining several landscape variables, such as wetland proximity to specific crop types, watershed size, and others, land use was the best variable explaining pesticide concentrations in potholes. CRP ameliorated glyphosate in wetlands at concentrations comparable to native prairie and thereby provides another ecosystem service from this expansive program.

Effects of land-use change and fungicide application on soil respiration in playa wetlands and adjacent uplands of the U.S. High Plains.

With the increased use of fungicides in cultivated regions such as the southern High Plains (SHP), U.S., unintentional runoff and drift as well as direct overspray during aerial application lead to environmental exposures that may influence soil microbial communities and related biogeochemical functioning. Our goal was to examine the effects of two popular fungicides Headline (pyraclostrobin) and Quilt (azoxystrobin/propiconazole) on respiration from soil microbial communities in playa wetlands embedded in cropland and native grassland and their adjacent watersheds. We monitored fungicide effects (at levels of 0, .1×, 1× and 10× the label rate) by measuring respiration from plant matter amended soils collected from 6 cropland and 6 grassland playas and uplands. In addition, differences in microbial community structure among land use types were determined by measuring ergosterol levels in cropland and native grassland playas and uplands. Native grassland playas and their associated watersheds had up to 43% higher soil respiration rates than cropland playas and watersheds, indicating higher soil microbial activity. Application of either fungicide had no effect on soil respiration at any concentration in either land use type or habitat type (playa/watershed). Native grassland playas and watersheds had 3 and 1.6 times higher ergosterol content than cropland playas and watersheds. The lack of soil respiration response to fungicide application does not necessarily suggest that fungicides used in this study do not affect non-target soil microbial communities due to potential compensation by other biota. Future studies should further elucidate existing microorganism communities in playas and their watersheds.

Homeward bound: the safety of discharging postappendectomy patients directly home from the recovery room.

The discharge of the patients directly from the recovery room after appendectomy has only recently been described in the literature. Because the 30-day readmission rate is used as a surrogate for safety and as a means to identify complications from appendicitis, it is our aim to demonstrate that the 30-day readmission rate of patients with acute appendicitis discharged from the recovery room is not higher than that of a control group and that from other studies in the literature for traditional hospital discharge. The operating room electronic database at Kaiser Riverside and Kaiser Moreno Valley hospitals was used to identify all appendectomies from September 1, 2008, to April 30, 2013. During that span, 2044 appendectomies were performed. Eight hundred seventy (43%) were discharged from the recovery room. Of these patients, 861 (99%) had a laparoscopic appendectomy. The average time from anesthesia end time until discharge from the recovery room was 2 hours 42 minutes. There were 12 (1.4%) total readmissions with nine (1%) related to previous appendectomy compared with one (0.9%) in the control group. None of the readmissions were the result of early life-threatening problems such as bleeding, bowel injury, intraperitoneal bladder injury, or stump leak. Patients with acute appendicitis who were discharged home from the recovery room did not have an increased incidence of 30-day readmission when compared with traditional hospital discharge.

Land use and conservation reserve program effects on the persistence of playa wetlands in the High Plains.

Watershed cultivation and subsequent soil erosion remains the greatest threat to the service provisioning of playa wetlands in the High Plains. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) plants perennial vegetation cover on cultivated lands including playa watersheds, and therefore, the program influences sediment deposition and accumulation in playas. Our objective was to measure the effects of the CRP on sediment deposition by comparing sediment depth and present/historic size characteristics in 258 playas among three High-Plains subregions (northern, central, and southern) and the three dominant watershed types: cropland, CRP, and native grassland. Sediment depth and resultant volume loss for CRP playas were 40% and 57% lower than cropland playas, but 68% and 76% greater than playas in native grassland. Playas in CRP had remaining volumes exceeding those of cropland playas. Grassland playas had nearly three times more original playa volume and 122% greater wetland area than CRP playas. Overall, playas were larger in the south than other subregions. Sediment depth was also three times greater in the south than the north, which resulted in southern playas losing twice as much total volume as northern playas. However, the larger southern playas provide more remaining volume per playa than those in other subregions. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of proper watershed management in preserving playa wetland ecosystem service provisioning in the High Plains. Furthermore, we identify regional differences in playas that may influence management decisions and provide valuable insight to conservation practitioners trying to maximize wetland services with limited resources.

Effects of agricultural tillage and sediment accumulation on emergent plant communities in playa wetlands of the U.S. High Plains.

Identifying community assembly filters is a primary ecological aim. The High Plains, a 30 million ha short-grass eco-region, is intensely cultivated. Cultivation disturbance, including plowing and eroded soil deposition down-slope of plowing, influences plant composition in depressional wetlands, such as playas, within croplands. We evaluated influences of wetland cultivation and sediment deposition on plant composition in playas embedded within croplands (46 plowed and 32 unplowed) and native grasslands (79) across 6 High Plains' states. Sediment accumulation ranged from 7 to 78 cm in cropland and 1 to 35 cm in grassland playas. Deeper sediments and plowing each decreased wetland plant richness, 28% and 70% respectively in cropland wetlands. Sediment depth reduced richness 37% in small grasslands playas while it increased richness 22% in larger ones, suggesting moderate disturbance increased richness when there were nearby propagule sources. Sediment depth was unrelated to species richness in plowed wetlands, probably because plowing was a strong disturbance. Plowing removed perennial plants from vegetation communities. Sediment accumulation also influenced species composition in cropland playas, e.g., probability of Eleocharis atropurpurea increased with sediment depth, while probability of Panicum capillare decreased. In grassland playas, observed lighter sediment depths did not influence species composition after accounting for wetland area. Sediment accumulation and plowing shift wetland plant communities toward annual species and decrease habitat connectivity for wetland-dependent organisms in cropland playas over 39,000 and 23,400 ha respectively. Conservation practices lessening sediment accumulation include short-grass buffer strips surrounding wetlands. Further, wetland tillage, allowed under federal agricultural conservation programs, should be eliminated.

Prospective trial of a treatment algorithm for the management of the anterior cruciate ligament-injured knee.

BACKGROUND: Specific guidelines for operative versus nonoperative management of anterior cruciate ligament injuries do not yet exist. HYPOTHESIS: Surgical risk factors can be used to indicate whether reconstruction or conservative management is best for an individual patient. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective nonrandomized controlled clinical trial; Level of evidence, 2. METHODS: Patients were classified as high, moderate, or low risk using preinjury sports participation and knee laxity measurements. Early anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (within 3 months of injury) was recommended to high-risk patients and conservative care to low-risk patients. It was recommended that moderate-risk patients have either early reconstruction or conservative care, according to the day of presentation. Assessment of subjective outcomes, activity, physical measurements, and radiographs was performed at mean follow-up of 6.6 years. RESULTS: Early phase conservative management resulted in more late phase meniscus surgery than did early phase reconstruction at all risk levels (high risk, 25% vs 6.5%; moderate risk, 37% vs 7.7%, P = .01; low risk, 16% vs 0%). Early- and late-reconstruction patients' Tegner scores increased from presurgery to follow-up (P < .001) but did not return to preinjury levels. Early-reconstruction patients had higher rates of degenerative change on radiographs than did nonreconstruction patients (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Early phase reconstruction reduced late phase knee laxity, risk of symptomatic instability, and the risk of late meniscus tear and surgery. Moderate- and high-risk patients had similar rates of late phase injury and surgery. Reconstruction did not prevent the appearance of late degenerative changes on radiographs. Relationship between bone contusion on initial magnetic resonance images and the finding of degenerative changes on follow-up radiographs were not detected. The treatment algorithm used in this study was effective in predicting risk of late phase knee surgery.