Contribution of crop residue, soil, and fertilizer nitrogen to nitrous oxide emissions varies with long-term crop rotation and tillage.

Agriculture is an important contributor to N2O emissions - a potent greenhouse gas - with high peaks occurring when soil mineral nitrogen (N) is high (e.g., after mineralization of organic N and N fertilizer application). Nitrogen dynamics in soil and consequently N2O emissions are affected by crop and soil management practices (e.g., crop rotation and tillage), an effect mostly assessed in the literature through comparisons of total N2O emission. Hence, information is scarce on the effect of these management practices on specific N sources affecting N2O emissions (i.e., N fertilizer, soil, above and belowground crop residues) - a knowledge gap explored in this study with the use of 15N tracers. The isotope approach enabled refinement on global N2O budget by directly determining the emission factors (EF) of above and belowground crop residues that vary in chemical composition and comparison with default EF values (e.g., IPCC EFs). Our experiment was conducted over the full-cycle of long-term crop rotations to (i) compare N2O totals and intensity, under no-tillage and conventional tillage, simple and diverse rotation; (ii) partition total N2O emissions into soil, N fertilizer, above and belowground crop residue N sources; (iii) compare the 12-month EF of crop residue against the default values proposed by IPCC (2019). For the tillage effect, annual N2O emissions were from 1.2- to 2.0-times higher on CT than NT soil due to 40% increased soil N derived N2O emission in CT. The diversified crop rotation emitted 1.3-times higher N2O than the simple rotation over the full-cycle of the rotations, but the effect was due to differences in N fertilizer rate between the rotations since emissions were equivalent when scaled by N rate. Finally, our results suggested that default IPCC EF are overestimated for crop residues under CT and NT, simple and diverse rotations as measured EFs never surpassed 0.1%.

Petroleum hydrocarbon remediation in frozen soil using a meat and bonemeal biochar plus fertilizer.

Petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) degradation slows significantly during the winter which substantially increases the time it takes to remediate soil in Arctic landfarms. The aim of this laboratory trial was to assess the potential of a meat and bonemeal (MBM) biochar to stimulate PHC degradation in contaminated soil collected from Iqaluit, Canada. Over 90 days, 3% (w/w) MBM biochar significantly increased F3- (equivalent nC16-C34) PHC degradation rate constants (k) in frozen soils when compared to the fertilizer (urea and monoammonium phosphate) control. Taking into consideration extensive variability within treatments and negative k values, this difference may not reflect significant remediation. Decreasing C17/Pr and C18/Ph ratios in the frozen soil suggest that this reduction is a result of microbial degradation rather than volatilization. Amendment type and application rate affected the immediate abiotic losses of F2 and F3-PHC in sterile soils, with the greatest losses occurring in compost-amended treatments in the first 24 h. In frozen soils, MBM biochar was found to increase liquid water content (θliquid) but not nutrient supply rates. Under frozen but not thawed conditions, genes for aromatic (C2,3O and nahAc) but not aliphatic (alkB) PHC degradation increased over time in both biochar-amended and control treatments but total viable PHC-degrading populations only increased in biochar-amended soils. Based on these results, it is possible that PHC degradation in biochar-amended soils is active and even enhanced under frozen conditions, but further investigation is required.

Effects of Dolomitic Limestone Application on Zinc Speciation in Boreal Forest Smelter-Contaminated Soils.

Anthropogenic activities at the HudBay Minerals, Inc., Flin Flon (Manitoba, Canada) mining and processing facility have severely affected the surrounding boreal forest ecosystem. Soil contamination occurred via a combination of metal and sulfuric acid deposition and has resulted in forest dieback and ineffective natural recovery. A community-led effort to revegetate areas of the landscape through the application of a dolomitic limestone has been met with varied success. Zinc (Zn) speciation has shown to be closely linked to the presence or absence of an invasive metal-tolerant grass species, with soils being broadly classed into two revegetation response groups. Group I, characterized by the absence of metal-tolerant grasses, and group II, characterized by the presence of metal-tolerant grasses. The systematic approach used to lime areas of the landscape produced a liming chronosequence for each group. This study used a combination of X-ray absorption spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence mapping, and X-ray diffraction techniques to determine the effect of liming on Zn speciation in these chronosequences. Liming group I soils resulted in the formation of a neo-phase Zn-Al-hydroxy interlayer coprecipitate and subsequent rapid boreal forest revegetation. The effect of liming on Zn speciation on the group II soils resulted in a gradual transition of increasingly stable adsorption species, culminating with a stable Zn-Al-layered double hydroxide precipitate. Boreal forest vegetation has failed to recolonize group II soils during the study. However, the formation of the layered double hydroxide species resulted in a significant reduction in CaCl-extractable Zn. Further research is required to determine how to promote the revegetation of these soils.

Characterizing Zinc Speciation in Soils from a Smelter-Affected Boreal Forest Ecosystem.

HudBay Minerals, Inc., has mined and/or processed Zn and Cu ore in Flin Flon, MB, Canada, since the 1930s. The boreal forest ecosystem and soil surrounding these facilities have been severely impacted by mixed metal contamination and HSO deposition. Zinc is one of the most prevalent smelter-derived contaminants and has been identified as a key factor that may be limiting revegetation. Metal toxicity is related to both total concentrations and speciation; therefore, X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence mapping were used to characterize Zn speciation in soils throughout the most heavily contaminated areas of the landscape. Zinc speciation was linked to two distinct soil types. Group I soils consist of exposed soils in weathered positions of bedrock outcrops with Zn present primarily as franklinite, a (ZnFeO) spinel mineral. Group II soils are stabilized by an invasive metal-tolerant grass species, with Zn found as a mixture of octahedral (Fe oxides) and tetrahedral Mn oxides) adsorption complexes with a franklinite component. Soil erosion influences Zn speciation through the redistribution of Zn and soil particulates from Group I landscape positions to Group II soils. Despite Group II soils having the highest concentrations of CaCl-extractable Zn, they support metal-tolerant plant growth. The metal-tolerant plants are probably preferentially colonizing these areas due to better soil and nutrient conditions as a result of soil deposition from upslope Group I areas. Zinc concentration and speciation appears to not influence the colonization by metal-tolerant grasses, but the overall soil properties and erosion effects prevent the revegetation by native boreal forest species.

Comparison of human exposure pathways in an urban brownfield: reduced risk from paving roads.

Risk assessments often do not quantify the risk associated with soil inhalation. This pathway generally makes a negligible contribution to the cumulative risk, because soil ingestion is typically the dominant exposure pathway. Conditions in northern or rural centers in Canada characterized by large areas of exposed soil, including unpaved roads, favor the resuspension of soil particles, making soil inhalation a relevant risk pathway. The authors determined and compared human exposure to metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from soil ingestion and inhalation and analyzed the carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic risks before and after roads were paved in a northern community. To determine the inhalation exposure, three size fractions of airborne particulate matter were collected (total suspended particulates [TSP], particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 µm [PM10], and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm [PM2.5]) before and after roads were paved. Road paving reduced the concentration of many airborne contaminants by 25 to 75%, thus reducing risk. For example, before paving, the carcinogenic risk associated with inhalation of Cr was 3.4 excess cancers per 100,000 people exposed, whereas after paving, this risk was reduced to 1.6 in 100,000. Paving roads reduced the concentrations of total suspended particulates (TSP; p < 0.1) and PM10 (p < 0.05) but not PM25. Consequently, the ingestion of inhaled soil particles was substantially reduced. The authors conclude that resuspended soil is likely an important source of risk for many northern communities and that paving roads is an effective method of reducing risk from the inhalation of soil particles.

Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Ephemeral Wetland Soils are Correlated with Microbial Community Composition.

Nitrous oxide (N(2)O) is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential far exceeding that of CO(2). Soil N(2)O emissions are a product of two microbially mediated processes: nitrification and denitrification. Understanding the effects of landscape on microbial communities, and the subsequent influences of microbial abundance and composition on the processes of nitrification and denitrification are key to predicting future N(2)O emissions. The objective of this study was to examine microbial abundance and community composition in relation to N(2)O associated with nitrification and denitrification processes over the course of a growing season in soils from cultivated and uncultivated wetlands. The denitrifying enzyme assay and [Formula: see text] pool dilution methods were used to compare the rates of denitrification and nitrification and their associated N(2)O emissions. Functional gene composition was measured with restriction fragment length polymorphism profiles and abundance was measured with quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The change in denitrifier nitrous oxide reductase gene (nosZ) abundance and community composition was a good predictor of net soil N(2)O emission. However, neither ammonia oxidizing bacteria ammonia monooxygenase (bacterial amoA) gene abundance nor composition predicted nitrification-associated-N(2)O emissions. Alternative strategies might be necessary if bacterial amoA are to be used as predictive in situ indicators of nitrification rate and nitrification-associated-N(2)O emission.

Calibration method at the N K-edge using interstitial nitrogen gas in solid-state nitrogen-containing inorganic compounds.

The standard method of soft X-ray beamline calibration at the N K-edge uses the nu = 0 peak transition of gas-phase N(2). Interstitial N(2) gas trapped or formed within widely available solid-state ammonium- and amine-containing salts can be used for this purpose, bypassing gas-phase measurements. Evidence from non-nitrogen-containing compounds (KH(2)PO(4)) and from He-purged ammonium salts suggest that production of N(2) gas is through beam-induced decomposition. Compounds with nitrate or nitrite as anions produce coincident features and are not suitable for this calibration method.

Plant-assisted degradation of phenanthrene as assessed by solid-phase microextraction (SPME).

The soil bacterium Sphingomonas yanoikuyae was isolated from a petroleum-contaminated soil and grown on mineral salts agar overlaid with the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon phenanthrene. The effect of white mustard, Sinapis alba, on phenanthrene degradation by S. yanoikuyae in artificially contaminated Redi-earth-sand was examined. Solid-phase-microextraction (SPME) gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) was used to quantify the concentration of phenanthrene in the gas phase of Magenta jars containing S. alba and S. yanoikuyae, each alone and with no additions. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) of Soxhlet extracts was used to determine the concentration of phenanthrene remaining in Redi-earth-sand. The gas phase concentration of phenanthrene in nonsterile Redi-earth-sand decreased by 99.7% in treatments with S. alba plus S. yanoikuyae, by 98.6% with S. alba, by 96.7% with S. yanoikuyae, and by 95.8% with no additions. Under gnotobiotic conditions, the gas phase concentration of phenanthrene in Redi-earth-sand decreased by 94% in treatments with S. alba plus S. yanoikuyae, by 77% with S. yanoikuyae, by 26% with S. alba, and 0% with no additions. The concentration of phenanthrene in Redi-earth-sand under gnotobiotic conditions decreased in treatments with S. alba plus S. yanoikuyae by 88%, by 67% with S. yanoikuyae, by 13% with S. alba, and 0% with no additions as measured in Soxhlet extracts. These results suggest that SPME-GC can be used to rapidly assess the potential of plants and microorganisms to reduce the level of unaged polyaromatic hydrocarbons such as phenanthrene in soil. This method provided results that were consistent with the more costly Soxhlet extraction method and was less time consuming.

Ability of cold-tolerant plants to grow in hydrocarbon-contaminated soil.

Phytoremediation of hydrocarbons in soil involves plants and their associated microorganisms. Differences in environmental conditions and restrictions on species importation mean that each country may need to identify indigenous plants to use for phytoremedation. Screening plants for hydrocarbon tolerance before screening for degradation ability may prove more economical than screening directly for degradation. Thirty-nine cold-tolerant plants native, or exotic and naturalized, in western Canada were assessed for their ability to survive in crude oil-contaminated soil. Four naturalized grasses (i.e., Agropyron pectiniforme, Bromus inermis, Phleum pratense, and Poa pratensis), three naturalized legumes (i.e., Medicago sativa, Melilotus officinalis, and Trifolium repens), two native forbs (i.e., Artemisia frigida and Potentilla pensylvanica), one native grass (i.e., Bromus ciliatus) and two native legumes (i.e., Glycyrrhiza lepidota and Psoralea esculenta) exhibited phytoremediation potential, based on survival. We determined the effect of increasing crude oil concentrations on total and root biomass, and relative growth rate of those species with the highest survival. The addition of 0.5%, 1%, and 5% (crude oil wt/fresh soil wt) crude oil to soil significantly decreased both the total biomass by at least 22% of the control and the relative growth rate of all species except P. esculenta. Root biomass significantly decreased by at least 22% with crude oil addition in all species except P. esculenta and A. frigida. Total biomass production in contaminated soil had a significant negative correlation with the relative growth rate in uncontaminated soil.