Evidence for the formation of fused aromatic ring structures in an organic soil profile in the early diagenesis.

The presence of fused aromatic ring (FAR) structures in soil define the stability of the recalcitrant soil organic matter (RSOM). FAR are important skeletal features in RSOM that contribute to its extended residence time. During the early diagenesis, FAR structures are formed through condensation and polymerization of biomolecules produced during plant residue and microbial product decay. Molecular level characterization of the RSOM extracted from an organic soil profile gives important insights into the formation of FAR. Advanced solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, including recoupled long-range C-H dipolar dephasing experiments on extracted humic acids (HA) showed that they contain diagenetically formed FAR different from charcoal and lignin. Peaks characteristic of FAR are observed at all depths in the soil profile, with a greater prevalence observed in the HA extracts from the clay soil layer at the bottom. In the clay soil layer, 78% of the aromatic carbon was non-protonated, and this was 2.2-fold higher than the topsoil. These data further strengthen our understanding of the humification process that could occur in early diagenesis and help explain the importance of incorporating diagenesis as an important phenomenon for long-term carbon sequestration in soil.

Biodiesel Co-Product enhances microbial stability and beneficial microbial communities along a gradient of soil water content.

Biodiesel Co-Product (BCP) is a complex carbonaceous liquid formed during the commercial production of biodiesel. Previously, BCP was shown to decrease nitrogen (N) leaching from the soil, but the effects of BCP on the diversity, composition, and structure of soil microbial communities are not well understood. Here, we applied 1.5 mg BCP-C to acidic soil (pH 3.5) at a range of different water contents (from 40 % to 100 % water holding capacity) to investigate the interactions between BCP and increasing water holding capacity on the diversity, composition, and interactions of soil microbial communities. Distance-based multivariate linear model (DistLM) and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analyses showed that BCP caused larger changes in fungal than bacterial communities, while soil water content had a greater effect on bacterial communities relative to fungal communities. Co-occurrence network analyses indicated that BCP amendment produced more robust and complex bacterial networks and more stable fungal ones. BCP significantly increased the OTU numbers of beneficial microbes (e.g., Trichoderma spp.) in all water contents, with fewer OTU numbers of putative pathogenetic species (Fusarium spp. and Aspergillus spp.). These findings indicate that BCP addition may be conducive to the health and stability of soil ecosystems.

Sodium Persulfate and Potassium Permanganate Inhibit Methanogens and Methanogenesis in Stored Liquid Dairy Manure.

Stored liquid dairy manure is a hotspot for methane (CH) emission, thus effective mitigation strategies are required. We assessed sodium persulfate (NaSO), potassium permanganate (KMnO), and sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) for impacts on the abundance of microbial communities and CH production in liquid dairy manure. Liquid dairy manure treated with different rates (1, 3, 6, and 9 g or mL L slurry) of these chemicals or their combinations were incubated under anoxic conditions at 22.5 ± 1.3°C for 120 d. Untreated and sodium 2-bromoethanesulfonate (BES)-treated manures were included as negative and positive controls, respectively, whereas sulfuric acid (HSO)-treated manure was used as a reference. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to quantify the abundances of bacteria and methanogens on Days 0, 60, and 120. Headspace CH/CO ratios were used as a proxy to determine CH production. Unlike bacterial abundance, methanogen abundance and CH/CO ratios varied with treatments. Addition of 1 to 9 g L slurry of NaSO and KMnO reduced methanogen abundance (up to ∼28%) and peak CH/CO ratios (up to 92-fold). Except at the lowest rate, chemical combinations also reduced the abundance of methanogens (up to ∼17%) and CH/CO ratios (up to ninefold), although no impacts were observed when 3% NaOCl was used alone. With slurry acidification, the ratios reduced up to twofold, whereas methanogen abundance was unaffected. Results suggest that NaSO and KMnO may offer alternative options to reduce CH emission from stored liquid dairy manure, but this warrants further assessment at larger scales for environmental impacts and characteristics of the treated manure.

Assessment of carbon storage under rainforests in Humic Hapludox along a climosequence extending from the Atlantic coast to the highlands of northeastern Brazil.

An understanding of the stock of soil organic carbon (SOC) in the umbric epipedon of Oxisols located in the tropical forests surrounded by a semi-arid region is limited but essential because of their importance in the global cycle of carbon (C). The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of climatic (temperature and rainfall), soil organic matter (SOM) composition and litter on the stability of C in surfaces and subsurfaces in five Humic Oxisols along a 475-km climosequence from 143 to 963ma.s.l. in a tropical environment in northeastern Brazil. We assessed vertical changes in SOC; soil total nitrogen (N); C from the microbial biomass; δ(13)C, δ(15)N and the humified composition of SOM; the composition of the humin (HUM) fraction by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR); and Thermogravimetry (TG) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) at depth. The elemental and isotopic composition of the litter samples were analyzed in all areas studied. The results indicated that the current climate and recalcitrant organic compounds are not preponderant factors in the formation of the umbric epipedon, as suggested by the partial influence of temperature and rainfall on SOM. In addition, SOM was dominated by easily decomposable compounds, as indicated by the predominance of aliphatic C-H groups in the HUM fraction in the FTIR spectra; by the thermal oxidation through DSC-TG, which revealed that approximately 50% of the HUM was composed easily decomposable compounds; and by the high proportion of organic C present in the microbial biomass. Values of δ(13)C showed a predominance of C3 plant-C in SOM whereas δ(15)N patterns indicated that N dynamics differ among the profiles and drive the accumulation of C. These findings can help to characterize the susceptibility of these soils to changes in climate and land use and the implications for the sequestration of soil C.