Virtual phosphorus ore requirement of Japanese economy

Phosphorus is indispensable for agricultural production. Hence, the consumption of imported food indirectly implies the import of phosphorus resources. The global consumption of agricultural products depends on a small number of ore-producing countries. For sustainable management of phosphorus resources, the global supply and demand network should be clarified. In this study, we propose the virtual phosphorus ore requirement as a new indicator of the direct and indirect phosphorus requirements for our society. The virtual phosphorus ore requirement indicates the direct and indirect demands for phosphorus ore transformed into agricultural products and fertilizer. In this study, the virtual phosphorus ore requirement was evaluated for the Japanese economy in 2005. Importantly, the results show that our society requires twice as much phosphorus ore as the domestic demand for fertilizer production. The phosphorus contained in “eaten” agricultural products was only 12% of virtual phosphorus ore requirement.     

Mini-review on river eutrophication and bottom improvement techniques,with special emphasis on the Nakdong River

Water quality in rivers is vital to humans and to maintenance of biotic and ecological integrity. During the Four Major Rivers restoration of South Korea, remarkable attempts have been made to decrease external nutrient loads and moveable weirs were designed to discharge silt that may deposit in pools. However, recently eutrophication of the Nakdong River, which was limited to the lower reaches, is seen to be spreading upstream. The reduction of external nutrient loads to rivers is a long-term goal that is unlikely to lead to reductions in algal blooms for many years because of the time required to implement effective land management strategies. It would therefore be desirable to implement complementary strategies. Regulating the amount of water released is effective at preventing algae blooms in weir pools; so, the relationship between discharge, stratification and bloom formation should be understood in this regard. However, pollutants are likely to accumulate in the riverbed upstream from release points. Thus, to control phosphorus levels, total phosphorus density should be lowered by applying in-river techniques as well. As many ecosystem properties are controlled by multiple processes, simultaneous river bottom improvement techniques, such as combined dissolved oxygen supply and nutrient inactivation, are likely to be effective. The purpose of this review is to present a series of technological approaches that can be used to improve the river bottom area and hence sediment nutrient release, and to illustrate the application of these techniques to the Nakdong River.     

Can arbuscular mycorrhiza and fertilizer management reduce phosphorus runoff from paddy fields?

Our study sought to assess how much phosphorus (P) runoff from paddy fields could be cut down by fertilizer management and inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. A field experiment was conducted in Lalin River basin, in the northeast China: six nitrogen–phosphorus–potassium fertilizer levels were provided (0, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% of the recommended fertilizer supply), with or without inoculation with Glomus mosseae. The volume and concentrations of particle P (PP) and dissolved P (DP) were measured for each runoff during the rice growing season. It was found that the seasonal P runoff, including DP and PP, under the local fertilization was 3.7 kg/ha, with PP, rather than DP, being the main form of P in runoff water. Additionally, the seasonal P runoff dropped only by 8.9% when fertilization decreased by 20%; rice yields decreased with declining fertilization. We also found that inoculation increased rice yields and decreased P runoff at each fertilizer level and these effects were lower under higher fertilization. Conclusively, while rice yields were guaranteed arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculation and fertilizer management would play a key role in reducing P runoff from paddy fields.     

The relationship between light intensity and nutrient uptake kinetics in six freshwater diatoms

In order to find effective measures to control diatom blooms, a better understanding of the physiological characteristics of nutrient uptake in diatoms is needed. A study of P and Si-uptake kinetics for diatom species from two light regimes was conducted at low (LL), moderate (ML) and high light intensities (HL) (2, 25 and 80 μmol photons/(m²·sec)), respectively. The results showed that P uptake of diatoms was heavily influenced by historic light regimes. P affinity changed with growth and photosynthetic activity. The lowest half saturation constant for P uptake (K_m(P)) was under HL for high-light adapted diatoms while the lowest half-saturation constant for low-light adapted diatoms was observed under LL. The Si half-saturation constant (K_m(Si)) increased with increasing light intensities for pennate diatoms but decreased for centric diatoms. Diatom volumes were correlated with the maximum Si uptake rates (V_m(Si)) at HL and K_m(Si) at ML and HL for six diatom species. Our results imply that when we assess the development of diatom blooms we should consider light intensity and cell volume in addition to ambient Si or P concentration. The relationship between light intensity and P-uptake suggests that we can find suitable methods to control diatom blooms on the basis of reducing phytoplankton activity of P-uptake and photosynthesis simultaneously.     

Detecting Temporal Change in Watershed Nutrient Yields

Meta-analyses reveal that nutrient yields tend to be higher for watersheds dominated by anthropogenic uses (e.g., urban, agriculture) and lower for watersheds dominated by natural vegetation. One implication of this pattern is that loss of natural vegetation will produce increases in watershed nutrient yields. Yet, the same meta-analyses also reveal that, absent land-cover change, watershed nutrient yields vary from one year to the next due to many exogenous factors. The interacting effects of land cover and exogenous factors suggest nutrient yields should be treated as distributions, and the effect of land-cover change should be examined by looking for significant changes in the distributions. We compiled nutrient yield distributions from published data. The published data included watersheds with homogeneous land cover that typically reported two or more years of annual nutrient yields for the same watershed. These data were used to construct statistical models, and the models were used to estimate changes in the nutrient yield distributions as a result of land-cover change. Land-cover changes were derived from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD). Total nitrogen (TN) yield distributions increased significantly for 35 of 1550 watersheds and decreased significantly for 51. Total phosphorus (TP) yield distributions increased significantly for 142 watersheds and decreased significantly for 17. The amount of land-cover change required to produce significant shifts in nutrient yield distributions was not constant. Small land-cover changes led to significant shifts in nutrient yield distributions when watersheds were dominated by natural vegetation, whereas much larger land-cover changes were needed to produce significant shifts when watersheds were dominated by urban or agriculture. We discuss our results in the context of the Clean Water Act.     

Screening risk areas for sediment and phosphorus losses to improve placement of mitigation measures

Identification of vulnerable arable areas to phosphorus (P) losses is needed to effectively implement mitigation measures. Indicators for source (soil test P, STP), potential mobilization by erosion (soil dispersion), and transport (unit-stream power length-slope, LS) risks were used to screen the vulnerability to suspended solids (SS) and P losses in two contrasting catchments regarding topography, soil textural distribution, and STP. Soils in the first catchment ranged from loamy sand to clay loam, while clay soils were dominant in the second catchment. Long-term SS and total P losses were higher in the second catchment in spite of significantly lower topsoil STP. A higher proportion of areas in the second catchment were identified with higher risk due to the significantly higher risk of overland flow generation (LS) and a significantly higher mobilization risk in the soil dispersion laboratory tests. A simple screening method was presented to improve the placement of mitigation measures.     

Nitrogen availability in relation to vegetation changes resulting from grass encroachment in Dutch dry dunes

The encroachment of some tall grass species in open dune vegetation, as observed in a Dutch dry dune area, is considered unfavourable from a conservation viewpoint. This paper investigates differences in vegetation and soil properties between grass-dominated and still existing open dune grassland plots at four locations along the coast. Soil properties studied include nitrogen and phosphorus pools and nitrogen availability by mineralization. Vegetation properties included are above and below-ground biomass and nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in above-ground biomass. Systematic differences in N-pools between grass-dominated and open dune grassland plots were not observed. However, N-availability by mineralization and its turnover rates are higher in grass-dominated plots than in open dune grassland plots, as well as above and below-ground biomass. In open dune grassland plots, atmospheric N-input is an important source of N, whereas in grass-dominated plots mineralization largely exceeds atmospheric N-input. However, these observations do not explain the mosaic-like vegetation pattern. Grazing intensity is most likely the determinant factor in the dry dune system. It is concluded, that grass encroachment is probably triggered by atmospheric deposition and is enhanced by positive feedbacks in the N-cycle. The relevance of these results for restoration management is briefly discussed.     

Four kinds of capping materials for controlling phosphorus and nitrogen release from contaminated sediment using a static simulation experiment

• Lanthanum modified bentonite (LMB) can effectively absorb phosphorus (P). • Water treatment plant sludge (WTPS) capping is effective for controlling P release. •Aluminum-based P-inactivation agent (Al-PIA) is an efficient P control material. •The P adsorbed by WTPS and Al-PIA is mainly in the form of NAIP. We determined the effects of quartz sand (QS), water treatment plant sludge (WTPS), aluminum-based P-inactivation agent (Al-PIA), and lanthanum-modified bentonite (LMB) thin-layer capping on controlling phosphorus and nitrogen release from the sediment, using a static simulation experiment. The sediment in the experiment was sampled from Yundang Lagoon (Xiamen, Fujian Province, China), which is a eutrophic waterbody. The total phosphorus (TP), ammonium nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N), and total organic carbon (TOC) levels in the overlying water were measured at regular intervals, and the changes of different P forms in WTPS, Al-PIA, and sediment of each system were analyzed before and after the test. The average TP reduction rates of LMB, Al-PIA, WTPS, and QS were 94.82, 92.14, 86.88, and 10.68%, respectively, when the release strength of sediment TP was 2.26–9.19 mg/(m²·d) and the capping strength of the materials was 2 kg/m². Thin-layer capping of LMB, WTPS, and Al-PIA could effectively control P release from the sediment (P<0.05). However, thin-layer capping of LMB, Al-PIA, and QS did not significantly reduce the release of ammonium N and organic matter (P > 0.05). Based on our results, LMB, Al-PIA, and WTPS thin-layer capping promoted the migration and transformation of easily released P in sediment. The P adsorbed by WTPS and Al-PIA mainly occurred in the form of NAIP.     

化学沉淀法除磷和生物法除磷的比较

对化学沉淀法除磷和生物法除磷的机理作了较详细的阐述，并就两者在除磷效果，污泥产量，污泥处置，除磷费用方面进行了比较。结果表明，两种方法磷的去除率比较接近，总费用没有明显差别，其优点是，生物法除磷污泥产量少，而化学沉淀法除磷操作简便。     

An approach to optimise nutrient management in environmental sanitation systems despite limited data

The material flow analysis method can be used to assess the impact of environmental sanitation systems on resource consumption and environmental pollution. However, given the limited access to reliable data, application of this data-intensive method in developing countries may be difficult. This paper presents an approach allowing to develop material flow models despite limited data availability. Application of an iterative procedure is of key importance: model parameter values should first be assessed on the basis of a literature review and by eliciting expert judgement. If model outputs are not plausible, sensitive input parameters should be reassessed more accurately. Moreover, model parameters can be expressed as probability distributions and variable uncertainty estimated by using Monte Carlo simulation. The impact of environmental sanitation systems on the phosphorus load discharged into surface water in Hanoi, Vietnam, is simulated by applying the proposed approach.