To improve nitrogen removal performance of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), it is essential to understand the behavior of nitrogen cycling communities, which comprise various microorganisms. This study characterized the quantity and diversity of nitrogen cycling genes in various processes of municipal WWTPs by employing two molecular-based methods:most probable number-polymerase chain reaction (MPN-PCR) and DNA microarray. MPN-PCR analysis revealed that gene quantities were not statistically different among processes, suggesting that conventional activated sludge processes (CAS) are similar to nitrogen removal processes in their ability to retain an adequate population of nitrogen cycling microorganisms. Furthermore, most processes in the WWTPs that were researched shared a pattern:the nirS and the bacterial amoA genes were more abundant than the nirK and archaeal amoA genes, respectively. DNA microarray analysis revealed that several kinds of nitrification and denitrification genes were detected in both CAS and anaerobic-oxic processes (AO), whereas limited genes were detected in nitrogen removal processes. Results of this study suggest that CAS maintains a diverse community of nitrogen cycling microorganisms; moreover, the microbial communities in nitrogen removal processes may be specific.
A generic ecosystem model has been developed for estimating the potential production of shellfish culture and the effect of that cultivation on the pelagic ecosystem in sheltered coastal waters. The model describes the dynamics of a simple food web, nutrient cycling and growth of shellfish. The design of the model is closely tied to the temporal and spatial scales that are important in determining the sustainable production level for a particular embayment. The pelagic ecosystem, mussel energetics, population dynamics and hydrodynamics are coupled to allow fully dynamic predictions of the effect of the shellfish density. When applied to Beatrix Bay, an intensive culture embayment in the Pelorus Sound of New Zealand, the model successfully captured main features of the observed system behaviour. The hydrodynamic regime of the bay controls mussel growth and production. Although high fluxes of water into the bay suppress nutrient and carbon cycling signals in the system, the model simulations demonstrated that the mussel cultivation can have considerable effects on the ecosystem of the bay including food depletion and nutrient cycling. One of the most obvious effects is nutrient enhancement through mussel excretion at low cultivation densities, which promotes primary production particularly during the N-limitation period in summer. The sensitivity analysis identified uncertainty in some parameters and indicated areas for which experimental studies could lead to model improvement. The modelling exercise has established a primary predictive tool for managing mussel aquaculture of a coastal embayment to estimate relationships between the stock level and the growth rate of mussels, and the potentially achievable harvest and stocking density. 相似文献
We make a theoretical study of nitrogen cycling in a model of a grazing system with five compartments. The rates of uptake of nutrient by plants and herbivores are allowed nonlinear forms which involve no a priori assumptions about whether the system is subject to top-down or bottom-up control. We derive a method of piecewise linear approximation which allows analytical study of the system. We then use this method to investigate the properties of the equilibrium states of the system, and in particular whether the system favours donor- or recipient-control, the grazing optimization problem, and the potential benefits of herbivory to plant growth. We are able to generalise our results to all uptake functions of the same qualitative class as those considered, and to show that in general the system will tend to a stable equilibrium state of donor-controlled herbivory. In this model, the presence of the ‘right’ class of herbivore is not only beneficial to plant growth in certain circumstances, but can be essential to their survival, allowing plants to co-exist with herbivores under conditions in which they would be unable to survive alone. 相似文献
The nitrogen(N)distribution and cycling of atmosphere-plant-soil system in the typical meadow Calamagrostis angustifolia wetland (TMCW)and marsh meadow Calamagrostis angustifolia wetland(MMCW)in the Sanjiang plain were studied by a compartment model.The results showed that the N wet deposition amount was 0.757 gN/(m~2.a),and total inorganic N(TIN)was the main body (0.640 gN/(m~2.a)).The ammonia volatilization amounts of TMCW and MMCW soils in growing season were 0.635 and 0.687 gN/m~2, and the denitrification gaseous lost amounts were 0.617 and 0.405 gN/m~2,respectively.In plant subsystem,the N was mainly stored in root and litter.Soil organic N was the main N storage of the two plant-soil systems and the proportions of it were 93.98% and 92.16%, respectively.The calculation results of N turnovers among compartments of TMCW and MMCW showed that the uptake amounts of root were 23.02 and 28.18 gN/(m~2.a)and the values of aboveground were 11.31 and 6.08 gN/(m~2.a),the re-translocation amounts from aboveground to root were 5.96 and 2.70 gN/(m~2.a),the translocation amounts from aboveground living body to litter were 5.35 and 3.38 gN/(m~2.a),the translocation amounts from litter to soil were larger than 1.55 and 3.01 gN/(m~2.a),the translocation amounts from root to soil were 14.90 and 13.17 gN/(m~2.a),and the soil(0-15 cm)N net mineralization amounts were 1.94 and 0.55 gN/(m~2.a), respectively.The study of N balance indicated that the two plant-soil systems might be situated in the status of lacking N,and the status might induce the degradation of C.angustifolia wetland. 相似文献
