No abstract

The management of grassed buffer strips proved to be an efficient remediation technique in controlling nitrogen losses to surface water. In south Belgium, agri-environmental policies have encouraged farmers to seed buffer strips along rivers, in zones where the soil was previously devoted to agricultural production. We wanted to assess how important denitrification is in a buffer strip in comparison with a cropped field. The study investigated the denitrifiying enzyme activity (DEA) of two contiguous buffer strips with different management stories. The eastern part of the buffer strip was seeded in 1999. The western part of the buffer strip is a piece of crop field abandoned by the farmer 20 years ago and not managed for the last 10 years. This experimental study demonstrates that the denitrification enzyme activity in a riparian buffer strip is significantly higher than in the adjacent cropped field (3.67 and 2.12 mgNkg(-1)d(-1) respectively). The DEA was significantly different between the two buffer strips under comparison, assessing that the management of the buffer strips has a dominant effect on DEA. The old unmown buffer strip is potentially more efficient in the nitrate removal process than the 6-year-old seeded buffer strip.

RésuméConsidérant la complexité d'établir un lien entre la dose et l'effet en matière de nuisance olfactive, et par là la difficulté d'apporter une réponse satisfaisante aux riverains subissant la nuisance, les expériences de terrain rapportent la prépondérance des situations conflictuelles. Ces dernières étant dommageables à la recherche de solution, cet article questionne le potentiel de l'observatoire des odeurs comme méthode, non seulement de caractérisation des émissions olfactives, mais aussi de résolution de conflit. Les objectifs qu'il poursuit classiquement sont mis en regard des écueils relevés par la pratique. La capacité du processus à produire un équilibrage du rapport de force entre les parties prenantes et à fournir une matière première sur laquelle baser des définitions communes ouvre les portes d'une négociation possible. Sans cette dernière, la définition d'un niveau acceptable de la nuisance restera conceptuelle et contestable. Mots-clésconflit, odeur, nuisance, observatoire des odeurs, réseau de riverains, négociations, VDI3883 -Partie 2 AbstractConsidering the complexity to understand the dose/effect relationship in odour nuisance, and so to provide a satisfactory response to residents, field experiments report the preponderance of situations conflicts in case of odour annoyance. This article tries to understand the potential of the odor observatory as a method not only for characterizing odour emissions but also to resolve conflicts. The ability of the process (to allow the balance of power between stakeholders ; to provide common definitions) opens the door to possible negotiation. Without this negotiation, the definition of an acceptable level of nuisance would remain conceptual and questionable.