Amir Hass

Chicken manure biochar as liming and nutrient source for acid Appalachian soil.

Acid weathered soils often require lime and fertilizer application to overcome nutrient deficiencies and metal toxicity to increase soil productivity. Slow-pyrolysis chicken manure biochars, produced at 350 and 700°C with and without subsequent steam activation, were evaluated in an incubation study as soil amendments for a representative acid and highly weathered soil from Appalachia. Biochars were mixed at 5, 10, 20, and 40 g kg into a Gilpin soil (fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Hapludult) and incubated in a climate-controlled chamber for 8 wk, along with a nonamended control and soil amended with agronomic dolomitic lime (AgLime). At the end of the incubation, soil pH, nutrient availability (by Mehlich-3 and ammonium bicarbonate diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid [AB-DTPA] extractions), and soil leachate composition were evaluated. Biochar effect on soil pH was process- and rate-dependent. Biochar increased soil pH from 4.8 to 6.6 at the high application rate (40 g kg), but was less effective than AgLime. Biochar produced at 350°C without activation had the least effect on soil pH. Biochar increased soil Mehlich-3 extractable micro- and macronutrients. On the basis of unit element applied, increase in pyrolysis temperature and biochar activation decreased availability of K, P, and S compared to nonactivated biochar produced at 350°C. Activated biochars reduced AB-DTPA extractable Al and Cd more than AgLime. Biochar did not increase NO in leachate, but increased dissolved organic carbon, total N and P, PO, SO, and K at high application rate (40 g kg). Risks of elevated levels of dissolved P may limit chicken manure biochar application rate. Applied at low rates, these biochars provide added nutritional value with low adverse impact on leachate composition.

Sequential Selective Extraction Procedures for the Study of Heavy Metals in Soils, Sediments, and Waste Materials—a Critical Review

The authors review selected protocols of sequential selective extraction procedure that are used to characterize the geochemical distribution of heavy metals in soils, wastes, and sediments. They discuss the development of earlier protocols, their modifications, and the extent to which a given protocol pertains to different conditions. Emphasis is given to the considerations that led to a choice of reagents for each step and to their order in the sequence. Published studies are used as case studies to critically evaluate the implied geochemical components of operationally defined extraction steps. Also assessed are possible effects of subsequent extraction steps and conditions on the selective dissolution of the solid components and their operational definitions.

Ecosystem Services of Woody Crop Production Systems

Short-rotation woody crops are an integral component of regional and national energy portfolios, as well as providing essential ecosystem services such as biomass supplies, carbon sinks, clean water, and healthy soils. We review recent USDA Forest Service Research and Development efforts from the USDA Biomass Research Centers on the provisioning of these ecosystem services from woody crop production systems. For biomass, we highlight productivity and yield potential, pest susceptibility, and bioenergy siting applications. We describe carbon storage in aboveground woody biomass and studies assessing the provision of clean and plentiful water. Soil protection and wildlife habitat are also mentioned, in the context of converting lands from traditional row-crop agriculture to woody production systems.

Chelant-enhanced heavy metal uptake by Eucalyptus trees under controlled deficit irrigation.

We tested the hypothesis that controlled deficit irrigation (CDI) of the fast growing, salinity resistant Eucalyptus camaldulensis tree with timely EDTA application can enhance sediment clean-up while minimizing leaching of metal complexes. 220-L lysimeters containing a sand-metal-polluted sludge mixture. Established saplings were irrigated with tap or desalinized (RO) water with/without 4-times daily addition of EDTA, EDDS and citric acid. In the 2nd season (2008/9) the chelates were added at 2 mM for ≈ 70 summer days. Diagnostic leaves and soil solution compositions were regularly monitored, the latter by applying prescribed leaching at an overall leaching percentage of ≈ 0.4%. While the three chelants solubilized sludge metals in batch extraction, EDDS often being the more efficient chelant, EDTA only was effective in the soil system. Leachate and leaves peak average concentrations in EDTA treatment vs. the control treatments were: Cd: 200 mg L(-1) vs. 1.0 and 67 vs. 21 mg kg(-1); Cu: 90 vs. 1.5 mg L(-1) and 17 vs. 3.0 mg kg(-1); Ni: 60 mg L(-1) vs. 14 and 20 vs. 6.0 mg kg(-1); Pb: >44 vs. 0.1 mg L(-1) and 9.0 vs. 1.0 mg kg(-1); and Zn: 650 vs. 4.0 mg L(-1) and 200 vs. 70 mg kg(-1), all respectively. Peak average leachate EDTA concentration was >60 mM, yet acclimating soil microflora gradually degraded most all the EDTA. In incubation study, EDDS and EDTA half-lives in acclimated lysimeter media were 5-11 days and ≥ 27 days, respectively. It suggests that sustainable phytoextraction of heavy metals is feasible under careful CDI with EDTA (yet not with biodegradable chelants) augmentation at low doses. Despite that the eucalypt was highly salinity (and EDTA) resistant, CDI using RO water further reduces soil solution salinity, thus increasing the usefulness of this remediation technique.

DISPOSAL OF SEWAGE EFFLUENT AND BIOSOLIDS IN EUCALYPTUS PLANTATIONS: A LYSIMETER SIMULATION STUDY

Abstract: Reduced soil leaching under nutrient-rich sewage effluent irrigation and biosolids compost application was tested as means to control leaching of nutrients, organic carbon, heavy metals and enteric bacteria. Two-hundred liters, sand-packed lysimeters were either applied with biosolids compost (at rates equivalent to 125 and 625 Mg/ha) or not applied, and 3-times daily surface drip irrigated with either oxidation ponds effluents or fertilized fresh water. Irrigation peaked at nearly 60 L/day·lysimeter. Lysimeters were planted with a Eucalyptus camaldulensis tree, and leaching of planted lysimeters was either intermittent or at leaching fraction (LF) of 0.2. Without a tree the LF was near 1. Results from the 2nd year of the experiment are presented. The trees resisted the increasing salinization of the soil solution caused by the combination of low LF and frequent irrigation. Applied nitrogen was nearly completely intercepted in the soil-tree system, which was less efficient with respect to phosphorus. The fate of P in the studied system was governed by uptake and precipitation, the latter probably being retarded by low Ca and Mg activities (despite their overall high concentrations). Leaching of heavy metals was minimal even at the heavy biosolids application rate. Counts of fecal coliforms in the leachates were most often nil under LF 1, yet they were substantial under low leaching. Still, the overall recoveries of the bacteria in the leachate corresponded to the LF in a bell-shaped pattern, with maximum recoveries of 5-40% at LF 0.2. The main parameter that positively correlated with this recovery pattern was the leachate BOD. Hence, the simulation study showed that inasmuch as the trees withstood elevated salinity levels and the soil-plant system effectively intercepted organic and inorganic pollutants and bacteria, yet its long term sustainability (in terms of salinization and sodicity) should not be overlooked. 433

Environmental Technologies of Woody Crop Production Systems

Soil erosion, loss of productivity potential, biodiversity loss, water shortage, and soil and water pollution are ongoing processes that decrease or degrade provisioning (e.g., biomass, freshwater) and regulating (e.g., carbon sequestration, soil quality) ecosystem services. Therefore, developing environmental technologies that maximize these services is essential for the continued support of rural and urban populations. Genotype selection is a key component of these technologies, and characteristics of the species used in short rotation woody biomass systems, as well as the silvicultural techniques developed for short rotation woody crops are readily adapted to environmental applications. Here, we describe the development of such woody crop production systems for the advancement of environmental technologies including phytoremediation, urban afforestation, forest restoration, and mine reclamation. The primary goal of these collective efforts is to develop systems and tools that can help to mitigate ecological degradation and thereby sustain healthy ecosystems across the rural to urban continuum.

Transcriptome Analysis of Invasive Plants in Response to Mineral Toxicity of Reclaimed Coal-Mine Soil in the Appalachian Region.

Efficient postmining reclamation requires successful revegetation. By using RNA sequencing, we evaluated the growth response of two invasive plants, goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria L.) and mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), grown in two Appalachian acid-mine soils (MS-I and -II, pH ∼ 4.6). Although deficient in macronutrients, both soils contained high levels of plant-available Al, Fe and Mn. Both plant types showed toxicity tolerance, but metal accumulation differed by plant and site. With MS-I, Al accumulation was greater for mugwort than goutweed (385 ± 47 vs 2151 ± 251 μg g-1). Al concentration was similar between mine sites, but its accumulation in mugwort was greater with MS-I than MS-II, with no difference in accumulation by site for goutweed. An in situ approach revealed deregulation of multiple factors such as transporters, transcription factors, and metal chelators for metal uptake or exclusion. The two plant systems showed common gene expression patterns for different pathways. Both plant systems appeared to have few common heavy-metal pathway regulators addressing mineral toxicity/deficiency in both mine sites, which implies adaptability of invasive plants for efficient growth at mine sites with toxic waste. Functional genomics can be used to screen for plant adaptability, especially for reclamation and phytoremediation of contaminated soils and waters.

Determination of Phosphate in Selective Extractions for Soil Iron Oxides by the Molybdenum Blue Method in an Automated Continuance Flow Injection System

Phosphorus (P) mobility and bioavailability in soil depend on the pools in which it resides. The identification of such pools is essential for the full understanding of P behavior in soil. We evaluated the molybdenum-blue ascorbic-acid method in an automated continuous flow injection analyzer (MB-FIA) to analyze P in two selective soil extractions for soil iron oxide (i.e., the acid ammonium oxalate, AAO, and citrate–dithionite, CD, procedures). Uninterrupted development of the color reaction was obtained at citrate and oxalate concentrations less than 50 mM and 35 mM, corresponding to molybdate/citrate and molybdate/oxalate molar ratios of 2.4 and 3.4, respectively. High precision (% RSD, 1.7 ± 1.3% for CD and 2.9 ± 3.7% for AAO), accuracy, and recoveries (105.7 ± 1.0% for CD and 99.8 ± 3.8% for AAO) were obtained. This study demonstrates the utility of the MB-FIA system for the determination of AAO- and CD-extractable inorganic P.