“WaterMan”: an on-farm water management game with heuristic capabilities

A modern computer-based simulation tool (WaterMan) in the form of a game for on-farm water management was developed for application in training events for farmers, students, and irrigators. The WaterMan game utilizes an interactive framework, thereby allowing the user to develop scenarios and test alternatives in a convenient, risk-free environment. It includes a comprehensive soil water and salt balance calculation algorithm. It also employs heuristic capabilities for modeling all of the important aspects of on-farm water management, and to provide quantitative performance evaluations and practical water management advice to the trainees. Random events (both favorable and unfavorable) and different strategic decisions are included in the game for more realism and to provide an appropriate level of challenge according to player performance. Thus, the ability to anticipate the player skill level, and to reply with random events appropriate to the anticipated level, is provided by the heuristic capabilities used in the software. These heuristic features were developed based on a combination of two artificial intelligence approaches: (1) a pattern recognition approach and (2) reinforcement learning based on a Markov decision processes approach, specifically the Q-learning method. These two approaches were combined in a new way to account for the difference in the effect of actions taken by the player and action taken by the system in the game world. The reward function for the Q-learning method was modified to reflect the suggested classification of the WaterMan game as what is referred to as a partially competitive and partially cooperative game.     

Maintaining the Flow: Maintenance Service Provision in the Alto Río Lerma Irrigation District, Mexico

Through irrigation management transfer inMexico poorly functioning governancemechanisms for maintenance were replaced.New actors, new roles, and newresponsibilities in the maintenance ofMexican irrigation systems wereestablished. This article analyzes themaintenance service delivery mechanisms inthe Alto Río Lerma Irrigation District(ARLID), to evaluate if and how theinstitutional arrangements establishedthrough management transfer ensure adequateservice provision. After presenting themain actors currently involved inirrigation maintenance, the rules andregulations underlying the servicerelationships between the actors involvedin maintenance in ARLID are analyzed. Thisis done by detailing how theserelationships are formally organized, howthey work in practice, and which incentivesexist for the service providers to providean efficient service and for the servicerecipient to pro-actively participate inservice provision. We conclude that the newinstitutional framework for maintenanceservice provision is quite coherent andthat the governance mechanisms that havebeen established work well, especiallythose between the farmers and theirorganizations. This has led to improvedmaintenance services.     

华南地区覆盖旱种水稻节水及其水分利用效率研究

大田试验条件下设置常规水稻(T11)、覆膜旱作水稻(T12)、覆草旱作水稻(T13)和裸地旱作水稻(T14)4个处理,研究旱作水稻的节水效率及水分利用效率。水稻本田期T11用水总量545.40 mm,显著高于各旱作处理水稻,以此为参照,T12、T13和T14节水效率分别为35.1%、22.8%和21.2%。以裸地旱作处理T14为参照,T12节水率17.7%,而T13无明显节水效果。旱作水稻的节水效果主要发生在水稻移栽后前2个月,之后无明显节水效果。各处理以籽粒产量/耗水量为基础计算的水分利用效率(WUE),T12、T13、T14和T11处理分别为1.47、1.31、1.21和1.05 g/kg,以干物质量/耗水量为基础计算的WUE各处理之间的趋势与以籽粒产量/耗水量计算的WUE基本一致。     

PCB removal,soil enzyme activities,and microbial community structures during the phytoremediation by alfalfa in field soils

Purpose  

An in situ phytoremediation trial was developed in order to investigate the function of alfalfa during a 2-year bioremediation of an agricultural soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The study was conducted with the aim to better understand the application potential of PCB phytoremediation at field scale.     

Relation between soil organic matter and yield levels of nonlegume crops in organic and conventional farming systems

The aim of this study was to evaluate the interaction between yield levels of nonleguminous crops and soil organic matter (SOM) under the specific conditions of organic and conventional farming, respectively, and to identify implications for SOM management in arable farming considering the farming system (organic vs. conventional). For that purpose, correlations between yield levels of nonlegume crops and actual SOM level (C_org, N_t, C_hwe, N_hwe) as well as SOM‐level development were examined including primary data from selected treatments of seven long‐term field experiments in Germany and Switzerland. Yield levels of nonlegume crops were positively correlated with SOM levels, but the correlation was significant only under conditions of organic farming, and not with conventional farming treatments. While absolute SOM levels had a positive impact on yield levels of nonlegumes, the yield levels of nonlegumes and SOM‐level development over time correlated negatively. Due to an increased demand of N from SOM mineralization, higher yield levels of nonlegumes obviously indicate an increased demand for OM supply to maintain SOM levels. Since this observation is highly significant for farming without mineral‐N fertilization but not for farming with such fertilization, we conclude that the demand of SOM‐level maintenance or enhancement and thus adequate SOM management is highly relevant for crop production in organic farming both from an agronomical and ecological point of view. Under conventional management, the agronomic relevance of SOM with regard to nutrient supply is much lower than under organic management. However, it has to be considered that we excluded other possible benefits of SOM in our survey that may be highly relevant for conventional farming as well.     

Dynamic oxygen mapping in the root zone by fluorescence dye imaging combined with neutron radiography

Purpose  

The rooted zone of a soil, more precisely the rhizosphere, is a very dynamic system. Some of the key processes are water uptake and root respiration. We have developed a novel method for measuring the real-time distribution of water and oxygen concentration in the rhizosphere as a biogeochemical interface in soil. This enables understanding where and when roots are active in respect to root respiration and water uptake and how the soil responds to it.     

Atmospheric Mercury Fluxes in a Southern Boreal Forest and Wetland

Total gaseous mercury (TGM) fluxes from the forest floor and a boreal wetland were measured by a flux chamber technique coupled with an automatic mercury vapour analyser. The fluxes were measured at three sampling sites in southern Finland, 61°14′ N, 25°04′ E in summer 2007, with additionally in situ TGM concentrations in the air at one of the sites and mercury bulk deposition at another. Most of the flux data were collected during the daytime. At one of the sites, diurnal flux behaviour was studied, and a clear cycle with an afternoon maximum and a night minimum was observed. The highest emissions (up to 3.5 ng m⁻² h⁻¹) were observed at the forest floor site having a moss and grass cover. At the wetland and litter-rich forest floor sites, the emissions were below 1 ng m⁻² h⁻¹ and sometimes negative (down to −1.0 ng m⁻² h⁻¹), indicating mercury uptake. The measured average fluxes in August were 0.9 ± 1.1 and 0.2 ± 0.3 ng m⁻² h⁻¹ for the forest floor sites and wetland sites, respectively. The flux data were compared with the mercury bulk deposition, which proved to be of the same magnitude, but opposite in sign. At the mossy forest floor site, the extrapolated TGM emissions were 130% of the Hg deposition in August 2007. Comparison with other studies showed that the fluxes in background areas are relatively uniform, regardless of measurement site location and method used. Airborne TGM remained at the background level during the study, with an average value of 1.3 ± 0.2 ng m⁻³; it frequently showed a diurnal cycle pattern.     

Interactive effects of Cd and PAHs on contaminants removal from co-contaminated soil planted with hyperaccumulator plant <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sedum alfredii</Emphasis>

Purpose  

Soil contamination by multiple organic and inorganic contaminants is common but its remediation by hyperaccumulator plants is rarely reported. The growth of a cadmium (Cd) hyperaccumulator Sedum alfredii and removal of contaminants from Cd and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) co-contaminated soil were reported in this study.     

Performance and Kinetic Study on Bioremediation of Diazo Dye (Reactive Black 5) in Wastewater Using Spent GAC–Biofilm Sequencing Batch Reactor

Combinations of sequential anaerobic and aerobic process enhance the treatment of textile wastewater. The aim of this study was to investigate the treatment of diazo dye Reactive Black 5 (RB5)-containing wastewater using granular activated carbon (GAC)–biofilm sequencing batch reactor (SBR) as an integration of aerobic and anaerobic process in a single reactor. The GAC–biofilm SBR system demonstrated higher removal of COD, RB5 and aromatic amines. It was observed that the RB5 removal efficiency improved as the concentration of co-substrate in the influent increased. The alternative aeration introduced into the bioreactor enhanced mineralization of aromatic amines. Degradation of RB5 and co-substrate followed second-order kinetic and the constant (k ₂) values for COD and RB5 decreased from 0.002 to 0.001 and 0.004 to 0.001 l/mg h, respectively, as the RB5 concentration increased from 100 to 200 mg/l in the GAC–biofilm SBR system.     

Soil nitrogen availability alters rhizodeposition carbon flux into the soil microbial community

Purpose

Soil microorganisms are important in the cycling of plant nutrients. Soil microbial biomass, community structure, and activity are mainly affected by carbon substrate and nutrient availability. The objective was to test if both the overall soil microbial community structure and the community-utilizing plant-derived carbon entering the soil as rhizodeposition were affected by soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) availability.

Materials and methods

A ¹³C-CO₂ steady-state labeling experiment was conducted in a ryegrass system. Four soil treatments were established: control, amendment with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), amendment with ammonium nitrate (NF), combined CMC and NF. Soil phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) and ¹³C labeling PLFA were extracted and detected by isotope ratio mass spectrometer.

Results and discussion

The combined CMC and NF treatment with appropriate C/N ratio (20) significantly enhanced soil microbial biomass C and N, but resulted in lower soil inorganic N concentrations. There was no significant difference in soil PLFA profile pattern between different treatments. In contrast, most of the ¹³C was distributed into PLFAs 18:2ω6,9c, 18:1ω7c, and 18:1ω9c, indicative of fungi and gram-negative bacteria. The inorganic-only treatment was distinct in ¹³C PLFA pattern from the other treatments in the first period of labeling. Factor loadings of individual PLFAs confirmed that gram-positive bacteria had relatively greater plant-derived C contents in the inorganic-only treatment, but fungi were more enriched in the other treatments.

Conclusions

Amendments with CMC can improve N transformation processes, and the ryegrass rhizodeposition carbon flux into the soil microbial community is strongly modified by soil N availability.