Variations of soil metal content, soil enzyme activity and soil bacterial community in Rhododendron delavayi natural shrub forest at different elevations.

BACKGROUND: Rhododendron delavayi is a natural shrub that is distributed at different elevations in the karst region of Bijie, China, and that has an important role in preventing land degradation in this region. In this study, we determined the soil mineral element contents and soil enzyme activities. The composition of the soil bacterial community of R. delavayi at three elevations (1448 m, 1643 m, and 1821 m) was analyzed by high-throughput sequencing, and the interrelationships among the soil bacterial communities, mineral elements, and enzyme activities were determined. RESULTS: The Shannon index of the soil bacterial community increased and then decreased with increasing elevation and was highest at 1643 m. Elevations increased the number of total nodes and edges of the soil bacterial community network, and more positive correlations at 1821 m suggested stronger intraspecific cooperation. Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria were the dominant phyla at all three elevations. The Mantel test and correlation analysis showed that Fe and soil urease significantly affected bacterial communities at 1448 m; interestingly, Chloroflexi was positively related to soil urease at 1448 m, and Actinobacteria was positively correlated with Ni and Zn at 1821 m. Fe and soil urease significantly influenced the bacterial communities at lower elevations, and high elevation (1821 m) enhanced the positive interactions of the soil bacteria, which might be a strategy for R. delavayi to adapt to high elevation environments. CONCLUSION: Elevation significantly influenced the composition of soil bacterial communities by affecting the content of soil mineral elements and soil enzyme activity.

Self-Assembly of Bi2Sn2O7/ß-Bi2O3 S-Scheme Heterostructures for Efficient Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Tetracycline.

Fabrication of S-scheme heterojunctions with enhanced redox capability offers an effective approach to address environmental remediation. In this study, high-performance Bi2Sn2O7/ß-Bi2O3 S-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts were fabricated via the in situ growth of Bi2Sn2O7 on ß-Bi2O3 microspheres. The optimized Bi2Sn2O7/ß-Bi2O3 (BSO/BO-0.4) degradation efficiency for tetracycline hydrochloride was 95.5%, which was 2.68-fold higher than that of ß-Bi2O3. This improvement originated from higher photoelectron-hole pair separation efficiency, more exposed active sites, excellent redox capacity, and efficient generation of ·O2 - and ·OH. Additionally, Bi2Sn2O7/ß-Bi2O3 exhibited good stability against photocatalytic degradation, and the degradation efficiency remained >89.7% after five cycles. The photocatalytic mechanism of Bi2Sn2O7/ß-Bi2O3 S-scheme heterojunctions was elucidated. In this study, we design and fabricate high-performance heterojunction photocatalysts for environmental remediation using S-scheme photocatalysts.

Effect of Microcrystalline Cellulose on the Properties of PBAT/Thermoplastic Starch Biodegradable Film with Chain Extender.

Poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) is a fully biodegradable polymer with toughness and ductility. It is usually compounded with thermoplastic starch (TPS) to balance the cost for manufacturing biodegradable films such as disposable plastic bags. However, blending with TPS reduces valuable tensile strength, which limits the bearing capacity of PBAT film. In this study, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was employed as a reinforcement to strengthen the PBAT/TPS biodegradable film. The effect of MCC content on the mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties of the composite film were investigated. The optimal tensile strength and elongation at break reached 5.08 MPa and 230% when 4% MCC was added. The thermal stability and thermal resistance were improved with the addition of MCC; for example, Tmax increased by 1 °C and Tonset increased by 2-8 °C. Moreover, good compatibility among PBAT, TPS, and MCC can be achieved when the MCC content was below 6%. Consequently, the optimal MCC content was found to be 4%. These results could provide experimental data and method support for preparing high-performance PBAT hybrid films.

Effects of Different Land Use Types and Soil Depths on Soil Mineral Elements, Soil Enzyme Activity, and Fungal Community in Karst Area of Southwest China.

The current research was aimed to study the effects of different land use types (LUT) and soil depth (SD) on soil enzyme activity, metal content, and soil fungi in the karst area. Soil samples with depths of 0-20 cm and 20-40 cm were collected from different land types, including grassland, forest, Zanthoxylum planispinum land, Hylocereus spp. land and Zea mays land. The metal content and enzyme activity of the samples were determined, and the soil fungi were sequenced. The results showed that LUT had a significant effect on the contents of soil K, Mg, Fe, Cu and Cr; LUT and SD significantly affected the activities of invertase, urease, alkaline phosphatase and catalase. In addition, Shannon and Chao1 index of soil fungal community was affected by different land use types and soil depths. Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Mortierellomycota were the dominant phyla at 0-20 cm and 20-40 cm soil depths in five different land types. Land use led to significant changes in soil fungal structure, while soil depth had no significant effect on soil fungal structure, probably because the small-scale environmental changes in karst areas were not the dominant factor in changing the structure of fungal communities. Additionally, metal element content and enzyme activity were related to different soil fungal communities. In conclusion, soil mineral elements content, enzyme activity, and soil fungal community in the karst area were strongly affected by land use types and soil depths. This study provides a theoretical basis for rational land use and ecological restoration in karst areas.