Xinqiang Liang

Effect of nitrification inhibitor DMPP on nitrogen leaching, nitrifying organisms, and enzyme activities in a rice-oilseed rape cropping system.

DMPP (3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate) has been used to reduce nitrogen (N) loss from leaching or denitrification and to improve N supply in agricultural land. However, its impact on soil nitrifying organisms and enzyme activities involved in N cycling is largely unknown. Therefore, an on-farm experiment, for two years, has been conducted, to elucidate the effects of DMPP on mineral N (NH4(+)-N and NO3(-)-N) leaching, nitrifying organisms, and denitrifying enzymes in a rice-oilseed rape cropping system. Three treatments including urea alone (UA), urea + 1% DMPP (DP), and no fertilizer (CK), have been carried out. The results showed that DP enhanced the mean NH4(+)-N concentrations by 19.1%--24.3%, but reduced the mean NO3(-)-N concentrations by 44.9%--56.6% in the leachate, under a two-year rice-rape rotation, compared to the UA treatment. The population of ammonia oxidizing bacteria, the activity of nitrate reductase, and nitrite reductase in the DP treatment decreased about 24.5%--30.9%, 14.9%--43.5%, and 14.7%--31.6%, respectively, as compared to the UA treatment. However, nitrite oxidizing bacteria and hydroxylamine reductase remained almost unaffected by DMPP. It is proposed that DMPP has the potential to either reduce NO3(-)-N leaching by inhibiting ammonia oxidization or N losses from denitrification, which is in favor of the N conversations in the rice-oilseed rape cropping system.

Manure biochar influence upon soil properties, phosphorus distribution and phosphatase activities: A microcosm incubation study

Using manure-derived-biochar as an alternative phosphorus (P) source has bright future prospects to improve soil P status. A 98-day microcosm incubation experiment was set up for two soils which were amended with manure biochar at proportions of 0, 0.5% and 1.5%. Swine manure samples were air-dried and manure biochar was prepared by pyrolysis at 400 °C for 4 h. As determined by P-31 nuclear magnetic resonance ((31)P NMR) spectroscopy, manure biochar mainly increased the contents and fractions of orthophosphate and pyrophosphate in two soils, while decreased those of monoesters (P<0.05). At the end of incubation, 1.5% of manure biochar raised soil pH by 0.5 and 0.6 units, cation exchange capacity by 16.9% and 32.2%, and soil total P by 82.1% and 81.1% for silt loam and clay loam soils, respectively, as compared with those soils without biochar. Simultaneously, 1.5% of manure biochar decreased acid phosphomonoesterase activities by 18.6% and 34.0% for clay loam and silt loam, respectively; while it increased alkaline phosphomonoesterase activities by 28.5% and 95.1% for clay loam and silt loam, respectively. The enhancement of soil P availability after manure biochar addition was firstly due to the orthophosphate and pyrophosphate as the major P species in manure biochar which directly increased contents of soil inorganic P, and also attributed to the decomposition of some organic P like monoesters by enhanced alkaline phosphomonoesterase activities from manure biochar addition.

Complementary Phosphorus Speciation in Agricultural Soils by Sequential Fractionation, Solution P Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, and Phosphorus K-edge X-ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure Spectroscopy.

Ultisols in China need phosphorus (P) fertilization to sustain crop production but are prone to P loss in runoff. Balancing P inputs and loss requires detailed information about soil P forms because P speciation influences P cycling. Analytical methods vary in the information they provide on P speciation; thus, we used sequential fractionation (SF), solution P nuclear magnetic resonance (P-NMR), and P K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy to investigate organic P (P) and inorganic P (P) species in Chinese Ultisols managed for different crops and with different fertilizer inputs in the first study to combine these techniques to characterize soil P. Sequential fractionation showed that moderately labile NaOH-P was the largest P pool in these soils, P varied from 20 to 47%, and residual P ranged from 9 to 31%. Deoxyribonucleic acid (1-5%) and -inositol hexakisphosphate (-IHP, 4-10%) were the major P forms from P-NMR. Orthophosphate diesters determined by NMR were significantly correlated with labile NaHCO-P in SF ( > 0.981; < 0.001). Soil P was shown to be predominantly associated with iron and soluble calcium (Ca) by XANES. Furthermore, XANES identified hydroxyapatite in the soil receiving the highest rates of Ca-phosphate fertilizer, which had the highest HCl-P pool by SF, and also identified IHP (7%) in the soil with the highest proportion of -IHP from P-NMR. These results strongly suggest that a combined use of SF, solution P-NMR, and P K-edge XANES spectroscopy will provide the comprehensive information about soil P species needed for effective soil P management.

A review of the identification and detection of heavy metal ions in the environment by voltammetry

Currently, environmental pollution by heavy metals is a global problem. Therefore, it is crucial to develop effective detection techniques to determine the levels of heavy metal contamination in various mediums. Voltammetry is a highly sensitive electrochemical method used for the in situ detection of heavy metal ions. This study investigates the current trends related to electrode modification, developments in materials, and optimization of the experimental parameters. We discuss the sensing performance of four kinds of nanomaterials capable of inorganic modification (metal nanoparticles, metal oxides, carbonaceous nanomaterials, and their nanocomposites). The impact of several important factors, such as the deposition potential and time, buffer solution types, and pH on the sensitivity, reproducibility, stability, and anti-interference ability of the detection process, especially with regard to the co-detection of several heavy metal ions, was reviewed. We noted that in addition to the application of voltammetry to water-related issues, it is suitable for rapid and simple identification and analyses of heavy metals in polluted soil and other mediums. Thus, it is important to conduct additional research on the application of voltammetry to this area.

Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus accumulation and partitioning, and C:N:P stoichiometry in late-season rice under different water and nitrogen managements.

Water and nitrogen availability plays an important role in the biogeochemical cycles of essential elements, such as carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), in agricultural ecosystems. In this study, we investigated the seasonal changes of C, N and P concentrations, accumulation, partitioning, and C:N:P stoichiometric ratios in different plant tissues (root, stem-leaf, and panicle) of late-season rice under two irrigation regimes (continuous flooding, CF; alternate wetting and drying, AWD) and four N managements (control, N0; conventional urea at 240 kg N ha−1, UREA; controlled-release bulk blending fertilizer at 240 kg N ha−1, BBF; polymer-coated urea at 240 kg N ha−1, PCU). We found that water and N treatments had remarkable effects on the measured parameters in different plant tissues after transplanting, but the water and N interactions had insignificant effects. Tissue C:N, N:P and C:P ratios ranged from 14.6 to 52.1, 3.1 to 7.8, and 76.9 to 254.3 over the rice growing seasons, respectively. The root and stem-leaf C:N:P and panicle C:N ratios showed overall uptrends with a peak at harvest whereas the panicle N:P and C:P ratios decreased from filling to harvest. The AWD treatment did not affect the concentrations and accumulation of tissue C and N, but greatly decreased those of P, resulting in enhanced N:P and C:P ratios. N fertilization significantly increased tissue N concentration, slightly enhanced tissue P concentration, but did not affect tissue C concentration, leading to a significant increase in tissue N:P ratio but a decrease in C:N and C:P ratios. Our results suggested that the growth of rice in the Taihu Lake region was co-limited by N and P. These findings broadened our understanding of the responses of plant C:N:P stoichiometry to simultaneous water and N managements in subtropical high-yielding rice systems.

Mineral-nitrogen leaching and ammonia volatilization from a rice-rapeseed system as affected by 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate.

3,4-Dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) was validated as an effective nitrification inhibitor to reduce nitrate leaching. Its effects on ammonia (NH(3)) volatilization were not clear, especially on farmland scale with crop rotations. In this study, on-farm experiments at the Jiaxing (JX) and Yuhang (YH) sites in Taihu Lake Basin, China were conducted to evaluate the effect of DMPP application on mineral nitrogen (N) (NH(4)-N and NO(3)-N) leaching and NH(3) volatilization losses in a rice-rapeseed cropping system. Treatments included urea alone (UA), urea + 1% DMPP (UD), and no fertilizer (CK). The results show that DMPP reduced NO(3)-N leaching fluxes by 44.9 to 59.9% and increased NH(4)-N leaching fluxes by 13.0 to 33.3% at two sites during rice and rape seasons compared with urea alone. Reductions in mineral-N leaching fluxes by DMPP in two seasons at the JX and YH sites were 9.5 and 14.3 kg N ha(-1), respectively, compared with UA treatment. The application of DMPP had no significant effects on NH(3) volatilization loss fluxes at either site. The rice and rapeseed yields were 5.3 to 7.4% higher in UD plots than in UA plots at two sites. These results that indicate DMPP could reduce leaching losses of mineral-N from crop fields and promote grain yields by conserving more applied N in soil in rice-rapeseed rotation systems.

Achieving optimum mechanical performance in metallic nanolayered Cu/X (X = Zr, Cr) micropillars

The selection and design of modern high-performance structural engineering materials such as nanostructured metallic multilayers (NMMs) is driven by optimizing combinations of mechanical properties and requirements for predictable and noncatastrophic failure in service. Here, the Cu/X (X = Zr, Cr) nanolayered micropillars with equal layer thickness (h) spanning from 5–125 nm are uniaxially compressed and it is found that these NMMs exhibit a maximum strain hardening capability and simultaneously display a transition from bulk-like to small-volume materials behavior associated with the strength at a critical intrinsic size h ~ 20 nm. We develop a deformation mode-map to bridge the gap between the interface characteristics of NMMs and their failure phenomena, which, as shrinking the intrinsic size, transit from localized interface debonding/extrusion to interface shearing. Our findings demonstrate that the optimum robust performance can be achieved in NMMs and provide guidance for their microstructure sensitive design for performance optimization.

Nutrient removal efficiency in a rice-straw denitrifying bioreactor

Rice straw was used as a carbon source in a denitrifying bioreactor, for the removal of nutrients from agricultural drainage. Nutrient removal efficiency was evaluated by: (a) nutrient loading rates (low, medium, and high); (b) hydraulic retention time, and (c) comparison with another carbon source (woodchip). The results show that concentrations of nitrate nitrogen (NO3(-)-N), ammonia nitrogen (NH4(+)-N), total nitrogen (TN), and orthophosphate phosphorus (PO4(3-)-P) in the rice-straw bioreactor effluents were reduced by 53%, 25%, 40%, and 35%, respectively, compared with influents at the medium nutrient loading rate (NO3(-)-N: 10-15 mg N L(-1), NH4(+)-N: 10-15 mg N L(-1), PO4(3-)-P: 1.0-1.5 mg P L(-1)) and long hydraulic retention time (HRT, 24h), with a corresponding denitrification rate (DR) of 0.40 mg N L(-1)h(-1). Moreover, the rice-straw bioreactor showed significantly higher (p<0.05) nutrient removal efficiency than the woodchip bioreactor at the medium nutrient loading rate and 24h HRT.

A novel approach combining self-organizing map and parallel factor analysis for monitoring water quality of watersheds under non-point source pollution

High content of organic matter in the downstream of watersheds underscored the severity of non-point source (NPS) pollution. The major objectives of this study were to characterize and quantify dissolved organic matter (DOM) in watersheds affected by NPS pollution, and to apply self-organizing map (SOM) and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) to assess fluorescence properties as proxy indicators for NPS pollution and labor-intensive routine water quality indicators. Water from upstreams and downstreams was sampled to measure dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations and excitation-emission matrix (EEM). Five fluorescence components were modeled with PARAFAC. The regression analysis between PARAFAC intensities (Fmax) and raw EEM measurements indicated that several raw fluorescence measurements at target excitation-emission wavelength region could provide similar DOM information to massive EEM measurements combined with PARAFAC. Regression analysis between DOC concentration and raw EEM measurements suggested that some regions in raw EEM could be used as surrogates for labor-intensive routine indicators. SOM can be used to visualize the occurrence of pollution. Relationship between DOC concentration and PARAFAC components analyzed with SOM suggested that PARAFAC component 2 might be the major part of bulk DOC and could be recognized as a proxy indicator to predict the DOC concentration.

Simple N Balance Assessment for Optimizing the Biochar Amendment Level in Paddy Soils

Excessive biochar amendment may lead to soil nitrogen (N) surplus and ammonium (NH4-N) deficiency. An incubation experiment was conducted to investigate impacts of six biochars on N balance and retention in paddy soils. Nitrogen balance is the changes of soil N contents before and after experiment, whereas N retention is the difference of soil N losses with and without biochar. Results showed total N and nitrate (NO3-N) contents in soils were enhanced with the increase of biochar levels, whereas NH4-N decreased. The biochar-scaled N retention potential (N retention divided by biochar level) was reduced with increase of biochar level. Given that soil total N and NO3-N balance was zero and NH4-N balance decreased by 30%, the optimum levels of biochar were 5 g kg1 for LB500 and BCB600, 10 g kg−1 for LB600, BCB500, and RSB500, and 30 g kg−1 for RSB600, respectively. This research highlights a simple N balance assessment can optimize biochar amendment.