Acidification of Red Pine Forest Soil Due to Acidic Deposition in Chunchon, Korea

The effect of acidic deposition on the soil under red pine forest in Chunchon, Korea was investigated. Precipitation, stream water, and soil solution chemistry were monitored at the watershed from 1997 to 1998. Acidity of the open-bulk precipitation was often neutralized by large amounts of ammonia (NH₃) that might have originated from livestock farming and fertilization. Estimated elemental budget at the watershed showed a positive correlation between loss of base cations and proton (H⁺) production due to nitrogen transformation in soil (ΔH⁺ _NT: ([NH₄ ⁺]_in-[NH₄ ⁺]_out)- ([NO₃ ^?]_in-[NO₃ ^?]_out)). When ΔH⁺ _NT increased, concentrations of nitrate in soil solutions also increased. Consequently, pH values of soil solutions decreased, although ion exchange with base cations contributed to buffer reaction. Since acid buffering capacity of the red pine forest soil was small, it was concluded that the input of ammonium nitrogen enhanced nitrification in soil thus causing soil acidification represented by loss of base cations from the watershed.     

Comparison of methanotrophic bacteria, methane oxidation activity, and methane emission in rice fields fertilized with anaerobically digested slurry between a fodder rice and a normal rice variety

Methane oxidation activity (MOA), methanotrophic bacteria (MOB), and CH₄ emission in a paddy field fertilized with anaerobically digested slurry were compared between two varieties: a fodder rice variety Leaf star (LS) and a normal rice variety Kinuhikari (KN). Average MOA and MOB per unit dry root were significantly higher in KN (7.1?μmol?g^?1 CH₄?g^?1 dry root h^?1 and 3.7?×?10⁷ MPN?g^?1 dry root, respectively) than in LS (4.3?μmol?g^?1 CH₄?g^?1 dry root h^?1, 2.1?×?10⁷ MPN?g^?1 dry root), although MOA in the rice root per whole plant was not significantly different since root biomass of LS (1.5?g dry root plant^?1) was significantly higher than that of KN (1.2?g dry root plant^?1). MOA in the soil ranged from 0.031 to 0.087?μmol?g^?1 CH₄?g^?1 dry soil h^?1, but there were no significant differences in both depths (0–5 and 5–15?cm) between the two rice varieties. MOA in the rhizosphere soil was significantly different between the rice varieties at flowering, but not at tillering. Methane emission in the field was lower and MOA and MOB in the rice root were higher in LS than in KN at tillering, but the reverse results were found at flowering and maturity stages. Total CH₄ emission during a growing period was not significantly different between LS (27.4?±?16.9?g CH₄?m^?2) and KN (24.0?±?19.5?g CH₄?m^?2). There was a significant negative relationship between CH₄ emission and rice root MOB (P?<?0.01) or MOA (P?<?0.05) and significant positive relationship was observed between root MOA and MOB (P?<?0.01). This study revealed that choice of rice variety might be an important environmental issue in paddy cultivation since it can influence MOA and MOB in rice root and rhizosphere soil which relate with CH₄ emission.     

Eco-friendly new products from enzymatically modified industrial lignins

Industrial lignins are by-products from the pulp and paper industry, as well as from other biomass-based industries. They are non-toxic, potentially of high value, inexpensive and available in large amounts. They possess highly reactive locations that can be enzymatically modified to develop new and environmentally friendly products.The oxidative enzymes produced by ligninolytic fungi are the catalysts that have mostly been used for the up-grading of these new technologies.This paper aims to provide a general picture of the variety of new and eco-friendly products that have recently been produced through enzyme-based technologies and using industrial lignins as raw materials, namely for the production of lignin-based copolymers by grafting, binders for wood composites, chelating agents, compositions for treating porous materials, coatings and paintings. In addition, it introduces fundamental aspects related to the enzymes used to modify the lignin structure to the interested readers that are not familiar with this field of research.     

Nitrogen balance in a paddy field planted with whole crop rice (Oryza sativa cv. Kusahonami) during two rice-growing seasons

This paper focuses on N balance in a paddy field planted with whole crop rice (Oryza sativa cv. Kusahonami). The experiment was conducted with two treatments during two rice-growing seasons: one was fertilized with N (160 kg N ha^–1; 16N plot) and the other unfertilized (0N plot); both plots were fertilized with P and K. The N input from precipitation was 15 and 12 kg N ha^–1 in 2002 and 2003, respectively. The N input from irrigation water reached as much as 123 and 69 kg N ha^–1 in 2002 and 2003, respectively. This was because irrigation water contained higher NO₃^– concentrations ranging from 4 to 8 mg N l^–1. The N uptake by rice plants was the major output: 118 and 240 kg N ha^–1 in the 0N and 16N plots in 2002 and 103 and 238 kg N ha^–1 in 2003, respectively. N losses by leaching were 4.8–5.3 and 6.5–7.3 kg N ha^–1 in 2002 and in 2003, respectively. Laboratory experiments were carried out to estimate the amounts of N₂ fixation and denitrification. Amount of N₂ fixation was 43 and 0 kg N ha^–1 in the 0N and 16N plots, respectively. Denitrification potential was quite high in both the plots, and 90% of the N input through irrigation water was lost through denitrification. Collectively, the total N inputs were relatively large due to irrigation water contaminated with NO₃^–, but N outflow loading, expressed as leaching–(irrigation water + precipitation + fertilizer), showed large negative values, suggesting that the whole crop rice field might serve as a constructed wetland for decreasing N.     

Response of denitrifying communities to successive soil freeze–thaw cycles

The effect of soil freeze–thaw cycles on the denitrification potential was examined based on the C₂H₂ inhibition method. The gross N₂O production curve of the soil sample (incubation with C₂H₂) showed minor changes between the freeze–thaw treatment and the unfrozen control. However, kinetics analysis revealed that the initial production rate, an indicator of the population density of denitrifying communities, decreased (P = 0.043) and the specific growth rate constant, an indicator of the activity of denitrifying communities, increased (P = 0.039) as a result of the freeze–thaw cycles in five of six soil samples examined. The increase in the specific growth rate constant suggested the stimulation of the activity of denitrifying communities that survived after the freeze–thaw cycles and may explain the minor suppression on the gross N₂O production in spite of decreasing the population density of denitrifying communities that was suggested by the initial production rate. The net N₂O production curve of the soil sample (incubation without C₂H₂) showed a remarkable change in one out of six soil samples, and in that one soil sample, N₂O release to the atmosphere was largely stimulated (7.6 times) by the freeze–thaw cycles. However, the stimulation of the N₂O release by the freeze–thaw cycles was even observed in two other selected soil samples (4.6 and 1.8 times), suggesting that an imbalance in the N₂O-producing and N₂O-reducing activities of denitrifying communities might complementally explain the N₂O release stimulated by the freeze–thaw cycles.     

Effect of bensulfuron-methyl (a sulfonylurea herbicide) on the soil bacterial community of a paddy soil microcosm

The effect of bensulfuron-methyl (BSM) on a soil microbial community in a model paddy microcosm was studied. Total bacterial numbers in the overlying water and surface soil were monitored for 2 months after the application of BSM at the field rate and a ten-fold field rate. Pentachlorophenol (PCP) was used for comparison. Neither chemical affected the total bacterial numbers remarkably, either in the overlying water or in the surface soil. In contrast, the nitrification potential was significantly suppressed by the BSM application. The bacterial community structure, as evaluated by the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of PCR amplification products from bacterial 16S rDNA, was unaffected by the BSM treatments over 8 weeks in the surface soil, compared with the control (no pesticide). In contrast, the surface soil exposed to PCP at a ten-fold field rate showed different patterns from the controls at 4 weeks and 8 weeks after application. The DGGE patterns of the overlying water were much more variable than those of the surface soil in any treatments. Cluster analysis showed that the BSM plots were classified within the same group as the control at 1 week after application and that the BSM and PCP plots from 2 weeks onward after application were grouped differently from the control. Of 22 clones excised from the DGGE gels, 20 clones belonged to the Proteobacteria and two belonged to the Verrucomicrobia. It was considered that the impact of BSM on the overall microbial community (total numbers, community structure of soil) was negligible, although BSM had an impact on some specific functions of the soil microbial community (nitrification) and a part of the community (overlying water).     

Mathematical model for the analysis of irrigation water and fertilizer management for spring wheat in the semiarid area of West Liaoning,China

Soybean plants (Glycine max L. cv. Akisengoku) were grown in water culture in a greenhouse. At the pod-setting and pod-filling stages, plants were subjected to stem-ringing or treated with high concentration of nitrate. Respiration and N₂ fixation (acetylene reducing activity) were studied in individual nodules along with the concentrations of ATP and magnesium.

There was a high positive correlation between respiration activity and acetylene reduction in soybean nodules. The maintenance respiration in mature nodules corresponded to a CO₂ evolution of 5.5 µmol/g F.W., and the respiratory cost for nitrogen fixation was estimated at 2 mg C liberated/mg N fixed, though this value was probably underestimated due to CO₂ fixation by the nodules. For the nitrogenase activity there was a threshold value of ATP concentration at around 0.15 µmol/g F.W., and the activity increased up to around 0.35 µmol/g F.W., beyond which the ATP concentration did not increase unlike the nitrogenase activity. The values for the magnesium concentration in the nodules detected in the present experiments were above the optimum level.