Modified technique to assess the wettability of soil aggregates: comparison with contact angles measured on crushed aggregates and bulk soil

Wettability parameters determined for individual soils often show a considerable variation depending on the kind of sample (aggregated or homogeneous material) and the method used. To investigate the causes of this variation, we assessed wettability of both intact and crushed aggregates and bulk soil using different methods. Wettability of intact aggregates was characterized by a modified technique where the specific infiltration rates of water and a completely wetting liquid were used to define a repellency index. Contact angles were determined on crushed aggregates and bulk soil using the Wilhelmy plate and capillary rise methods. The repellency index was found to be sensitive to slight differences in wettability and was in good agreement with Wilhelmy plate contact angles. Contact angles measured with the capillary rise method showed a strong deviation from those determined with the Wilhelmy plate method. This can be ascribed to the underlying assumptions of the capillary rise method (i.e. cylindrical and parallel capillaries) resulting in an over‐estimation of contact angle, particularly for the small‐sized particle fraction because of the impact of inertia and pore structure. No significant differences were found between intact and crushed aggregates whereas the bulk soil was slightly more water‐repellent, probably because of a somewhat larger organic carbon content. We conclude that the contact angle determined by the Wilhelmy plate method and the repellency index are appropriate parameters for characterizing soil water repellency because they detected small changes in wettability over a wide range extending from subcritical water repellency to hydrophobicity.     

Diagnosis by polymerase chain reaction of Erysipelas septicemia in a flock of ring-necked pheasants

A flock of 810 pheasants experienced 6.2% mortality over 6 days. Affected birds were weak and lethargic for up to 24 hr before death. Examined birds were thin, and gross lesions consisted of thick opaque crops and cecal cores. Histologically, there was capillariasis of the crop and multifocal ulcerative typhlitis with Heterakis spp. infection, and numerous systemic intravascular monocytes were filled with clusters of blue rod-shaped organisms. The organisms were gram-positive bacilli by Brown and Brenn staining and ultrastructural analysis. Liver bacterial cultures were negative for pathogenic bacteria. Erysipelas septicemia was diagnosed by an Erysipelothrix species-specific polymerase chain reaction method with the substrate DNA isolated from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded liver.     

Association of brook trout and Oncorhynchus spp. with large wood jams in a Lake Superior tributary in a northern old‐growth watershed

Wood in streams functions as fish habitat, but relationships between fish abundance (or size) and large wood in streams are not consistent. One possible reason for variable relationships between fish and wood in streams is that the association of fish with wood habitat may depend on ecological context such as large‐scale geomorphology. We studied the relationship between salmonid assemblages and large wood jams (LWJ) in four settings that differed geomorphically at the scale of the stream corridor along a tributary to Lake Superior in old‐growth conifer–hardwood forest in northern Michigan. The focal fish species of this study were brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), which were wild in the stream. Relocation efforts for coaster brook trout (an adfluvial life history variant of brook trout) were ongoing in the study stream. We measured fish abundance and length in pairs of pools of similar size and substrate, but varying in the presence of LWJ; this allowed us to evaluate associations of fish simply with the presence of LWJ rather than with other channel or flow‐shaping functions of LWJ. The length of Oncorhynchus spp. and young introduced brook trout was not strongly correlated with LWJ presence; however, the presence of LWJ in pools was positively correlated with larger wild brook trout. We also found that the correspondence of LWJ with the abundance of salmonids appears to be moderated by the presence of alternative habitat in this relatively natural, old‐growth forest stream.     

Physical carbon‐sequestration mechanisms under special consideration of soil wettability

The protective impact of aggregation on microbial degradation through separation has been described frequently, especially for biotically formed aggregates. However, to date little information exists on the effects of organic‐matter (OM) quantity and OM quality on physical protection, i.e., reduced degradability by microorganisms caused by physical factors. In the present paper, we hypothesize that soil wettability, which is significantly influenced by OM, may act as a key factor for OM stabilization as it controls the microbial accessibility for water, nutrients, and oxygen in three‐phase systems like soil. Based on this hypothesis, the first objective is to evaluate new findings on the organization of organo‐mineral complexes at the nanoscale as one of the processes creating water‐repellent coatings on mineral surfaces. The second objective is to quantify the degree of alteration of coated surfaces with regard to water repellence. We introduce a recently developed trial that combines FTIR spectra with contact‐angle data as the link between chemical composition of OM and the physical wetting behavior of soil particles. In addition to characterizing the wetting properties of OM coatings, we discuss the implications of water‐repellent surfaces for different physical protection mechanisms of OM. For typical minerals, the OM loading on mineral surfaces is patchy, whereas OM forms nanoscaled micro‐aggregates together with metal oxides and hydroxides and with layered clay minerals. Such small aggregates may efficiently stabilize OM against microbial decomposition. However, despite the patchy structure of OM coating, we observed a relation between the chemical composition of OM and wettability. A higher hydrophobicity of the OM appears to stabilize the organic C in soil, either caused by a specific reduced biodegradability of OM or indirectly caused by increased aggregate stability. In partly saturated nonaggregated soil, the specific distribution of the pore water appears to further affect the mineralization of OM as a function of wettability. We conclude that the wettability of OM, quantified by the contact angle, links the chemical structure of OM with a bundle of physical soil properties and that reduced wettability results in the stabilization of OM in soils.     

Phosphorus digestibility and energy concentration of enzyme-treated and conventional soybean meal fed to weanling pigs

Two experiments were conducted to determine the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of P and the concentration of DE and ME in enzyme-treated soybean meal (SBM) and in conventional soybean meal (SBM-CV). Phosphorus digestibility in 2 enzyme-treated SBM (HP-310 and HP-340) and in SBM-CV was measured using 36 barrows (initial BW: 21.9 ± 1.1 kg) that were housed in metabolism cages and randomly allotted to 6 diets with 6 replicates per diet. During production, HP-310 had been treated with an enzyme mixture containing no phytase, whereas HP-340 was treated with an enzyme mixture that contained exogenous phytase. Three diets containing HP-310, HP-340, or SBM-CV as the sole source of P were formulated. Three additional diets also contained HP-310, HP-340, and SBM-CV, but each of these diets was fortified with 500 units of microbial phytase. The ATTD of P in HP-310 and SBM-CV increased (P < 0.05) as phytase was included in the diet (from 59.8 to 77.7% for HP-310 and from 65.5 to 79.5% for SBM-CV), but the ATTD of P in HP-340 without and with phytase was not different (P > 0.05; 83.8 and 87.7%, respectively). There were no differences (P > 0.05) in the ATTD of P between HP-310 and SBM-CV, but the ATTD of P in HP-340 was greater (P < 0.05) than in the other 2 meals. The DE and ME in corn, 2 sources of enzyme-treated SBM (HP-200 and HP-310), and in SBM-CV were measured in the second experiment using 28 barrows housed in metabolism cages (initial BW: 16.8 ± 2.5 kg of BW). The process used to produce HP-200 is similar to that used to produce HP-310 except that HP-200 is exposed to the enzymes for a shorter period of time than HP-310. A corn-diet consisting of 96.45% corn and vitamins and minerals was formulated. Three additional diets were formulated by mixing corn and each source of SBM with vitamins and minerals. Pigs were randomly allotted to the 4 diets with 7 replicate pigs per diet, and urine and feces were collected quantitatively during the last 5 d of a 14-d feeding period. The concentration of DE in HP-200, HP-310, and SBM-CV was 4,333, 4,316, and 4,347 kcal/kg of DM, respectively. These values were not different (P > 0.05), but they were greater (P < 0.05) than the DE in corn (3,891 kcal/kg of DM). The concentration of ME was 3,780, 3,926, 3,914, and 3,980 kcal/kg of DM in corn, HP-200, HP-310, and SBM-CV, respectively. These values were not different (P > 0.05). It is concluded that enzyme treatment of SBM does not influence the digestibility of P or the concentration of DE and ME in the meals.