Environmental and agronomic implications of water table and nitrogen fertilization management

Nitrate (NO3-) pollution of surface and subsurface waters has become a major problem in agricultural ecosystems. Field trials were conducted from 1996 to 1998 at St-Emmanuel, Quebec, Canada, to investigate the combined effects of water table management (WTM) and nitrogen (N) fertilization on soil NO3- level, denitrification rate, and corn (Zea mays L.) grain yield. Treatments consisted of a combination of two water table treatments: free drainage (FD) with open drains at a 1.0-m depth from the soil surface and subirrigation (SI) with a design water table of 0.6 m below the soil surface, and two N fertilizer (ammonium nitrate) rates: 120 kg N ha(-1) (N120) and 200 kg N ha(-1) (N200). Compared with FD, SI reduced NO3(-)-N concentrations in the soil profile by 37% in spring 1997 and 2% in spring 1998; and by 45% in fall 1997 and 19% in fall 1998 (1 mg NO3(-)-N L(-1) equals approximately 4.43 mg NO3- L(-1)). The higher rate of N fertilization resulted in greater levels of NO3(-)-N in the soil solution. Denitrification rates were higher in SI than in FD plots, but were unaffected by N rate. The N200 rate produced higher yields than N120 in 1996 and 1997, but not 1998. Corn yields in SI plots were 7% higher than FD plots in 1996 and 3% higher in 1997, but 25% lower in 1998 because the SI system was unable to drain the unusually heavy June rains, resulting in waterlogging. These findings suggest that SI can be used as an economical means of reducing NO3- pollution without compromising crop yields during normal growing seasons.     

Genetic diversity in some perennial plant species with-in short distances

Distinct morphophysiological variations observed for over 2 years with-in short distances among four perennial plants indicated genetic diversity among the lines growing at three places. The isozyme and SDS polyacrylamide gel banding patterns as genetic markers were used to investigate four perennial species, namely Dalbergia sissoo Roxb., Delonix regia (Boj.) Refin., Cassia fistula L. and Calotropis procera R. Br. Plant materials collected from three locations (Agra, Gwalior and Lucknow) differing in climo-edaphic variables were examined for 4 enzyme systems, viz., esterase, polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase (EST, PPO, PRX and SOD). Among the four isozymes SOD and PRX revealed best discriminating power. Protein banding patterns as well as zymogram revealed that Dalbergia sissoo growing at Gwalior was closer to that of Agra; Delonix regia depicted highest similarity between Lucknow and Agra and Calotropis procera of Lucknow location was more closer to Gwalior than Agra. The results confirm genetic diversity in the species as a means of adaptation to differing climo-edaphic variables.     

A comparative study on the decomposition of edible and non-edible oil cakes in the Gangetic alluvial soil of West Bengal

An experiment has been conducted under laboratory conditions to investigate the effect of decomposition of two edible oil cakes, viz. mustard cake (Brassica juncea L) and groundnut cake (Arachis hypogaea L), and two non-edible oil cakes, viz. mahua cake (Madhuca indica Gmel) and neem cake (Azadirachta indica Juss), at the rate of 5.0 t ha^?1 on the changes of microbial growth and activities in relation to transformations and availability of some plant nutrients in the Gangetic alluvial (Typic Haplustept) soil of West Bengal, India. Incorporation of oil cakes, in general, highly induced the proliferation of total bacteria, actinomycetes, and fungi, resulting in greater retention and availability of oxidizable C, N, and P in soil. As compared to untreated control, the highest stimulation of total bacteria and actinomycetes was recorded with mustard cake (111.9 and 84.3 %, respectively) followed by groundnut cake (50.5 and 52.4 %, respectively), while the fungal colonies were highly accentuated due to the incorporation of neem cake (102.8 %) in soil. The retention of oxidizable organic C was highly increased due to decomposition of non-edible oil cakes, more so under mahua cake (14.5 %), whereas edible oil cakes and groundnut cake in particular exerted maximum stimulation (16.7 %) towards the retention of total N in soil. A similar trend was recorded towards the accumulation of available mineral N in soil and this was more pronounced with mustard cake (45.6 %) for exchangeable NH₄ ⁺ and with groundnut cake (63.9 %) for soluble NO₃ ^?. The highest retention of total P (46.9 %) was manifested by the soil when it was incorporated with neem cake followed by the edible oil cakes; while the available P was highly induced due to the addition of edible oil cakes, the highest being under groundnut cake (23.5 %) followed by mustard cake (19.6 %).     

Chemically modified silica gel with 1-{4-[(2-hydroxy-benzylidene)amino]phenyl}ethanone: Synthesis, characterization and application as an efficient and reusable solid phase extractant for selective removal of Zn(II) from mycorrhizal treated fly-ash samples

1-{4-[(2-hydroxy-benzylidene)amino]phenyl}ethanone functionalized silica gel was synthesized and used as a highly efficient, selective and reusable solid phase extractant for separation and preconcentration of trace amount of Zn(II) from environmental matrices. The adsorbent was characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), elemental analysis,¹³C CPMAS NMR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and BET surface area analysis. The dependence of zinc extraction on various analytical parameters such as pH, type and amount of eluent, sample flow rate and interfering ions were investigated in detail. The material exhibited superior adsorption efficiency for Zn(II) with high metal loading capacity of 1.0 mmol/g under optimum conditions. After adsorption, the recovery (> 98%) of metal ions was accomplished using 1.0 mol/L HNO₃ as an eluent. The sorbent was also regenerated by microwave treatment in milder acidic environment (0.1 mol/L HNO₃). The lower detection limit and preconcentration factor of the present method were found out to be 0.04 μg/L and 312.5 respectively. The modified silica surface possessed excellent selectivity for the target analytes and the adsorption/desorption process remained effective for at least ten consecutive cycles. The optimized procedure was successfully implemented for the extraction of Zn(II) from mycorrhizal treated fly ash and pharmaceutical samples with reproducible results.     

Effect of heavy metals and phenol on bacterial decolourisation and COD reduction of sucrose-aspartic acid Maillard product

Melanodins are amino-carbonyl complex, predominantly present in sugarcane molasses based distillery wastewater as major source of colourant. The microbial decolourisation of melanoidin is a challenge due to its binding property with other co-pollutants of distillery waste. Results revealed that the presence of Zn2+ (2.00-20.00 mg/L) in melanoidin solution (1200 mg/L) stimulated the bacterial growth and sucrose-aspartic acid Maillard product (SAA) decolourisation as compared to control, while Fe 3+ and Mn2+ at the same concentration inhibited the process. However, the presence of phenol (100 mg/L) along with Zn2+ , Fe3+ and Mn2+ suppressed the bacterial growth, SAA decolourisation and MnP activity. The shrinkage and reduced number of bacterial cell count at higher concentration of heavy metals in presence of phenol was also observed under scanning electron microscope.     

Assessment of trace metal contamination in the core sediment of Ramsar wetland (Kabar Tal), Begusarai,Bihar (India)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The concentration of trace metals Mn, Pb, Ni, Zn, and Cu in the core sediment from Kabar Tal wetland was analyzed to understand the level of...     

天津市PM2.5中氮含量及同位素的昼夜及季节变化

为研究天津市大气气溶胶中氮的来源,分析了2016年夏、冬两季昼夜采集的细颗粒物气溶胶（PM_2.5）中无机离子浓度和氮同位素组成（δ¹⁵N）.结果显示：天津市冬季平均PM_2.5质量浓度（207 μg/m³）远高于夏季（40.1 μg/m³）,冬季PM_2.5的δ¹⁵N值（+5.1‰）低于夏季（+10.7‰）,即夏季PM_2.5较冬季更富集¹⁵N;夏季PM_2.5中NH₄⁺的平均浓度高于c（NO₃^–）,但是冬季NO₃^–浓度最高,其次是c（NH₄⁺）>c（SO₄^2–）;此外,通过对比昼夜样品,夏季PM_2.5中氮含量和氮同位素组成在昼夜均表现出明显差异,而冬季不明显.结果表明,天津市夏季气溶胶中含氮化合物在昼夜受海陆风的影响,即白天受海洋气溶胶影响较大而夜间则为陆源气溶胶物质影响,然而冬季受东亚季风的影响削弱了海陆风对海陆间大气气溶胶的交换作用,且在冬季化石燃料燃烧源氮贡献较大.     

Newly developed Fe3O4–Cr2O3 magnetic nanocomposite for photocatalytic decomposition of 4-chlorophenol in water

Chlorophenols, typically 4-chlorophenols are highly toxic and non-biodegradable organic contaminants which pose serious threat to the environment, particularly when released into aqueous medium. The removal of these pollutants by efficient method has received worldwide concern in recent past. A new Fe_3O_4–Cr_2O_3 magnetic nanocomposite was synthesized by wet chemical method under ultrasonic irradiation. Microstructure and morphology of the nanocomposite were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction(XRD),Fourier transform infrared(FT-IR), and a transmission electron microscope(TEM). Magnetic and optical properties were studied by a vibrating sample magnetometer(VSM) and an ultraviolet–visible(UV–Vis) spectrophotometer respectively. The magnetic nanocomposite(MNC) was used as photocatalyst for effective decomposition of 4-chlorophenol in water under ultraviolet(UV) irradiation.     

Utilisation of steel slags as neutralising agents in biooxidation of a refractory gold concentrate and their influence on the subsequent cyanidation

A study on the possibilities to utilise steel slag as neutralising agent in biooxidation of a refractory gold concentrate has been done with reference to commercial grade slaked lime. The idea has been to reduce the operating costs for neutralisation in the biooxidation plant, which is known to be the second largest operating cost. Other benefits would be savings in cost for landfilling of slag, possibilities to recycle elements present in the slag and savings of virgin limestone deposits. The slags used were an EAF slag and a slag from ladle refining; both originating from Swedish scrap based steel-making. Continuous biooxidation of the refractory gold concentrate was conducted in a single-stage 5 L reactor at a retention time of 56 h. The neutralisation capacity was determined by comparing the amount needed, per ton of feed concentrate added, to maintain the desired pH of 1.5 during steady state operation. Slaked lime had the highest neutralisation capacity with 110 kg/ton feed followed by ladle slag and EAF slag with values of 152 and 267 kg/ton feed, respectively. Sulphide mineral oxidation was similar and high in all cases although the ladle slag results were slightly better. Gold recoveries after cyanide leaching on the residues obtained were also similar and were in the range of 86-89%. However, the cyanide consumption expressed as kilogram cyanide per ton of concentrate fed to biooxidation, was double in the case of ladle slag and three times as much for the EAF slag compared to the slaked lime experiment. The increased cyanide consumption could not be explained only by the increased amount of elemental sulphur obtained in the slag experiments. The elemental sulphur formed had different reactivities as seen from the thiocyanate formation and cyanide losses due to thiocyanate formation were 16%, 32% and 40% for EAF slag, slaked lime and ladle slag, respectively. It is concluded that the ladle slag could be a possible replacement for limestone if they are mixed in proper proportions so that the microbial carbon dioxide demand is met whereas the EAF slag is less suitable due to the very fine reaction products obtained which gave operational problems with filtration and washing. To come further, experiments with the normal multi-stage biooxidation set-up with total retention time of 120 h should be performed which would increase the sulphur oxidation and eventually also reduce the cyanide consumption.