Greenhouse evaluation and environmental impact assessment of different urine-derived struvite fertilizers as phosphorus sources for plants

A selection of six urine-derived struvite fertilizers generated by innovative precipitation technologies was assessed for their quality and their effectiveness as phosphorus sources for crops. Struvite purity was influenced by drying techniques and magnesium dosage. In a greenhouse experiment, the urine fertilizers led to biomass yields and phosphorus uptakes comparable to or higher than those induced by a commercial mineral fertilizer. Heavy metal concentrations of the different struvite fertilizers were below the threshold limits specified by the German Fertilizer and Sewage Sludge Regulations. The computed loading rates of heavy metals to agricultural land were also below the threshold limits decreed by the Federal Soil Protection Act. Urine-derived struvite contributed less to heavy metal inputs to farmland than other recycling products or commercial mineral and organic fertilizers. When combined with other soil conditioners, urine-derived struvite is an efficient fertilizer which covers the magnesium and more than half of the phosphorus demand of crops.     

Rapid ecosystem shifts in peatlands: linking plant physiology and succession

Stratigraphic records from peatlands suggest that the shift from a rich fen (calcareous fen) to an ombrotrophic bog can occur rapidly. This shift constitutes a switch from a species-rich ecosystem to a species-poor one with greater carbon storage. In this process, the invasion and expansion of acidifying bog species of Sphagnum (peat mosses) play a key role. To test under what conditions an acidifying bog species could invade a rich fen, we conducted three experiments, contrasting the bog species S. fucsum with the rich-fen species S. warnstorfii and S. teres. We first tested the effect of calcareous water by growing the three species at different constant height above the water table (HWT; 2, 7, and 14 cm) in a rich-fen pool and measured maximum photosynthetic rate and production and difference in length growth as an indicator of competition. In none of the species was the photosynthetic capacity negatively affected when placed at low HWT, but S. fuscum was a weaker competitor at low HWT. In our second experiment we transplanted the three species into microhabitats with different and naturally varying HWT in a rich fen. Here, S. fuscum nearly ceased to photosynthesize when transplanted to low HWT (brown moss carpet), while it performed similarly to the two rich-fen species at the intermediate level (S. warnstorfii hummock level). In contrast to S. fuscum, the rich-fen sphagna performed equally well in both habitats. The brown moss carpet was seasonally flooded, and in our third experiment we found that S. fuscum, but not S. teres, was severely damaged when submerged in rich-fen water. Our results suggest two thresholds in HWT affecting the ecosystem switch: one level that reduces the risk of submergence and a higher one that makes bog sphagna competitive against the rich-fen species.     

Editorial to the topical collection “From sensory perception to behavior”

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology - The killing of young by unrelated males is widespread in the animal kingdom. In short-lived small rodents, females can mate immediately after delivery...     

COST MINIMIZATION OF NUTRIENT REDUCTION IN WATERSHED MANAGEMENT USING LINEAR PROGRAMMING1

ABSTRACT: Linear programming is applied to identify the least cost strategy for reaching politically specified phosphorus and total suspended solids reduction targets for the Fox-Wolf river basin in Northeast Wisconsin. The programming model uses data collected on annualized unit reduction costs associated with five categories of sources of phosphorus and total suspended solids discharge in each of the 41 sub-watersheds in the basin to determine the least cost management strategy. Results indicate that: (1) cost-effective nutrient reduction requires careful selection of geographic areas and source categories to address throughout the watershed; (2) agricultural sources are the most cost-effective to address in the basin; and (3) care should be exercised in setting nutrient reduction targets, given that there are likely to be significantly increasing marginal costs of nutrient reduction; the model predicts that lowering the most restrictive target by 33 percent would cut reduction expenditures by about 75 percent. Policy implications of the model include support for the investigation and potential development of institutional arrangements that enable cost-effective nutrient reduction activities to occur, such as the creation of an agency with authority over a given watershed, coordinated watershed management activities, or nutrient trading programs.     

Basal area growth of sugar maple in relation to acid deposition,stand health,and soil nutrients

Previous studies have shown in noncalcareous soils that acid deposition may have increased soil leaching of basic cations above the input rate from soil weathering and atmospheric depositions. This phenomenon may have increased soil acidity levels, and, as a consequence, may have reduced the availability of these essential nutrients for forest growth. Fourteen plots of the Forest Ecosystem Research and Monitoring Network in Québec were used to examine the relation between post-industrial growth trends of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) and acid deposition (N and S), stand decline rate, and soil exchangeable nutrient concentrations. Atmospheric N and S deposition and soil exchangeable acidity were positively associated with stand decline rate, and negatively with the average tree basal area increment trend. The growth rate reduction reached on average 17% in declining stands compared with healthy ones. The results showed a significant sugar maple growth rate reduction since 1960 on acid soils. The appearance of the forest decline phenomenon in Québec can be attributed, at least partially, to soil acidification and acid deposition levels.