Biochar composites: Emerging trends,field successes and sustainability implications

Engineered biochars are promising candidates in a wide range of environmental applications, including soil fertility improvement, contaminant immobilization, wastewater treatment and in situ carbon sequestration. This review provides a systematic classification of these novel biochar composites and identifies the promising future trends in composite research and application. It is proposed that metals, minerals, layered double hydroxides, carbonaceous nanomaterials and microorganisms enhance the performances of biochars via distinct mechanisms. In this review, four novel trends are identified and assessed critically. Firstly, facile synthesis methods, in particular ball milling and co-pyrolysis, have emerged as popular composite fabrication strategies that are suitable for large-scale applications. Secondly, biochar modification with green materials, such as natural clay minerals and microorganisms, align well with the on-going green and sustainable remediation (GSR) movement. Furthermore, new applications in soil health improvement and climate change mitigation support the realization of United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Finally, the importance of field studies is getting more attention, since evidence of field success is critically needed before large-scale applications.     

典型土壤动物体表形态减粘脱土的初步研究

土壤动物的不粘土特性,对于地面机械减粘脱土的仿生研究具有重要意义。本文利用实体显微镜和扫描电镜对典型土壤动物穿山甲、蝼蛄、蚂蚁和蜣螂等的体表形态进行了观察研究。结果表明,上述土壤动物具有类似波纹状的体表结构,并用波形表面模型进行了减粘脱土的机理分析。     

Characterization and growth conditions of Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains with different virulence degrees that cause acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease in Litopenaeus vannamei

The phenotypic characteristics and growth kinetics at several temperatures, salinities, and pH values of three Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) strains with different virulence and one nonpathogenic strain were evaluated. Independent of the virulence of the strain, a high metabolic diversity was found, which yielded different colored phenotypes on the CHROMagar? Vibrio. All strains were resistant to ampicillin and carbenicillin, and Vp AHPND+ organisms were the most sensitive to enrofloxacin. The exponential growth of Vp strains started at 1–2 hr of incubation, although no relationship was observed between the bacterial density and degree of virulence. Moreover, the growth of the most virulent strain was independent of the nutrients in the incubation media during the initial hour postinoculation. No strain grew at 4°C in 0% NaCl and pH 4, but only Vp AHPND+ grew at 44°C. For all strains, the lag phase was proportional to the NaCl concentration, and the growth was better at pH 8–9. However, the Vp AHPND? strain displayed a greater variability, was more sensitive to extreme conditions, and showed a lag phase of 9 hr independent of the pH.     

Use of Biosolids for Phytocapping of Landfill Soil

Conventional clay capping for post-closure management of landfill commonly cracks and deteriorates over time. As a consequence, water ingress into waste increases as a function of time, potentially causing a range of environmental issues. An alternative approach is known as phytocapping, which utilizes select plant species to control cap stability and moisture percolation. In this study, growth of Arundo donax L. (giant reed), Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. (Indian mustard), and Helianthus annuus L. (sunflower) on a landfill site was studied with different biosolid amendment rates (0, 25, and 50?Mg?ha^?1). Cultivation of the landfill cap and amendment with biosolids significantly improved the characteristics of the soil. Growth of each plant species increased due to biosolid addition. Giant reed produced the largest biomass in the 50?Mg?ha^?1 biosolid amendment rate (38?Mg?ha^?1 dry weight). The high pH and clay content of landfill cap soil, and the low metal concentrations of the biosolid resulted in low heavy metal (copper, zinc, cadmium, and lead) accumulation in leaves of most treatments. The improvement in growth and limited uptake of metal contaminants to plant shoots indicated that biosolid application to landfill clay caps improves the application of phytocapping of old landfill sites.     

Effect of Seaweeds on Degradation of DDT in Soils

There are concerns over the environmental risks posed by Cu-based fungicide use, and there is community and regulatory pressure on viticultural industries to restrict the use of Cu-based fungicides. This study assesses the relative environmental risks posed by Cu-based and alternative synthetic organic fungicide compounds used in Australian vineyards, giving particular consideration to their adverse effects on soil microbial activity and how risks vary across different viticultural regions. The study was guided by key steps in the ecological risk assessment framework to analyse the risks of Cu-based fungicides towards soil organisms and involved four key steps: (1) problem formulation, (2) analysis (characterise exposure and effects), (3) risk characterisation and (4) risk assessment. There is evidence of a build-up of Cu-based fungicide residues in Australian vineyard soils, although this has occurred over many years, thus allowing the availability of Cu in the soil to be attenuated over time due to aging processes. On the whole, it appears that Cu-based fungicide residues are currently unlikely to pose a significant risk to soil organisms in Australian vineyard soils. However, there are indicators that continued applications of Cu-based fungicides may well have implications on the use of impacted land for sustainable agricultural production. Further detailed studies are required to enable a more definitive characterisation of the risks posed by Cu-based fungicide residues, such as establishing a clearer link between the laboratory and agricultural settings, investigating effects on other indicators of microbial activity and biodiversity and understanding the resilience of soil microbes to additional stressors. The challenge for agricultural industries and governments, both in Australia and globally, is to formulate appropriate plans to reduce the risks associated with Cu-based fungicide use. Further research is required to consider the relative risks of a wide range of alternative fungicide compounds to ensure that they pose a lower environmental risk than the Cu-based fungicides they may replace.     

Assessment of the influence of phosphate fertilizers on the microbial activity of pasture soils

The objective of the present work was to examine the effects of phosphate fertilizers on the microbial activity of pasture soils. Various microbial characteristics were measured using soils from an existing long-term phosphate fertilizer field trial and a short-term incubation experiment. The measurements included basal respiration, substrate induced respiration, inhibition of substrate-induced respiration by streptomycin sulphate (fungal activity) and actidione (bacterial activity) and microbial biomass C. The long-term field trials was initiated during 1985 to examine the effectiveness of different sources of phosphate fertilizers (single superphosphate, North Carolina phosphate rock, partially acidulated North Carolina phosphate rock, and diammonium phosphate) on pasture yield. The incubation experiment was conducted for 8 weeks using the same soil and the sources of phosphate fertilizers used in the field trial. In the incubation experiment the fertilizer addition caused an initial decrease in basal and substrate-induced respiration but had no effect on total microbial biomass. The initial decline in basal and substrate-induced respiration with the fertilizer addition was restored within 8 weeks after incubation. In the field experiment the fertilizer addtion had no significant effect on basal respiration but increased substrate-induced respiration and microbial biomass C. The short-term and the long-term effects of phosphate fertilizer addition on the microbial characteristies of the soils are discussed in relation to its effects on pH, salt concentration, and the nutrient status of the soils.     

Specific activity of phosphorus in mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal plants in relation to the availability of phosphorus to plants

Phosphate was allowed to react with a soil to which iron hydroxide had been added. The P was then labelled by a subsequent addition of ³²P. Soil P was extracted by 10 mm CaCl₂, 0.5 m NaHCO₃, and acid NH₄F solutions and the specific activity of P in the extracts was measured. Subterranean clover plants were grown both with and without a mycorrhizal fungus. Phosphorus contents and the specific activities of P in the plant shoots were determined.For mycorrhizal plants, adding iron hydroxide had no effect on the amount of P taken up, but for non-mycorrhizal plants it decreased the uptake. However there was no effect of iron hydroxide or of mycorrhizal infection on the specific activity of P in the plants. Adding iron hydroxide had no effect on the amount of P extracted by acid NH₄F, but decreased the P extracted by 10mm CaCl₂ and by 0.5 m NaHCO₃. The specific activity of P in the extracts was not affected by the addition of iron hydroxide and was the same for the three extractants. Further, the specific activity of P in all extractants was similar to that of P in both mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal plants. Thus differences in the availability of soil P to mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal plants and to the extractants were not reflected by differences in labelling. It therefore follows that lack of difference in specific activity between mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal plants does not eliminate the possibility that mycorrhizal plants can obtain P that was unavailable to non-mycorrhizal plants.