Treatment of nitrogen and phosphorus from sewage tailwater in paddy rice wetlands: concept and environmental benefits.

Domestic sewage tailwater (DSTW) reuse for crop irrigation is considered a promising practice to reduce water demand, mitigate water pollution, and substitute chemical fertilization. The level of the above environmental benefits of this water reuse strategy, especially when applied to paddy wetlands, remains unclear. In this study, soil column experiments were conducted to investigate the nitrogen and phosphorus fate in paddy wetlands subjected to different tailwater irrigation and drainage strategies, specifically, (i) TW1 and TW2 for regular or enhanced irrigation-drainage without N fertilization, (ii) TW3 and TW4 for regular irrigation with base or tillering N fertilizer, (iii) conventional fertilization N210, and (iv) no-fertilization controls N0. The results showed that the total nitrogen (TN), nitrate (NO3-), and total phosphorus (TP) removal rates from the paddies irrigated by DSTW ranged between 51.92 and 59.34%, 68.1 and 83.42%, and 85.69 and 86.98% respectively. Ammonia emissions from the DSTW-irrigated treatments were reduced by 14.6~47.2% compared to those paddies subjected to conventional fertilization (N210), similarly for TN emissions, with the exception of the TW2 treatment. Overall, it is established that the paddy wetland could effectively remove residual N and P from surface water runoffs, while the partial substitution of chemical fertilization by DSTW could be confirmed. The outcome of this study demonstrates that DSTW irrigation is a promising strategy for sustainable rice production with a minimized environmental impact.

Toxic elements in the stream sediments of an urbanized basin, Eastern China: urbanization greatly elevates their adverse biological effects.

The concentration of toxic elements (Hg, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni and As) was measured in the sediments of the Qinhuai River in Eastern China along a rural to urban gradient. Multiple approaches were undertaken to evaluate the degree of enrichment and adverse biological effects of these elements. The results showed that the concentration of Hg, Cd, Zn, Cu and Pb increased exponentially from the agricultural headwater to the urbanized downstream, which reflects a severe anthropogenic influence. In addition, area-specific references, such as the local soil background (LSB) and upper continental crust (UCC) derived from the Yangtze craton, were more applicable for evaluating the enrichment of toxic elements in the Qinhuai River than was global UCC. In addition, Cd and Hg had the highest enrichment factor values (EF, with averages of 9.18 and 7.14, respectively); Zn, Pb and Cu had moderate EFs (averages from 1.52 to 2.40), while the average EFs of Ni, Cr and As were approximately equal to 1. Based on consensus-based sediment quality guidelines (SQGs), the contamination characteristics of all of the samples studied were associated with low to moderate priority of adverse biological effects (ABEs) in the rural upstream area, while it was associated with a high to moderate priority of ABEs in the urban sections of the Qinhuai River. Our results suggest that the adverse biological effects of elevated levels of toxic elements were strongly related to the degree of anthropogenic pollution.

Distribution and source analysis of heavy metals in soils and sediments of Yueqing Bay basin, East China Sea.

Concentrations of heavy metals in coastal soils, stream sediments and intertidal sediments of Yueqing Bay basin were analyzed to study their distribution and trace the possible sources. According to various single- and multi-index methods, heavy metal enrichment, especially for Cu, Zn, Cr and Ni in stream sediments, should draw environmental concern. Controlling factors such as inorganic scavengers, organic matter, sample grain size and hydrodynamic conditions were identified to influence the transportation and distribution of metals within coastal soils and sediments. Principal component analysis indicated that most metals in soils and stream sediments originate primarily from natural and anthropogenic sources, respectively. Most metals in intertidal sediments, originating both from natural processes and human activities, tend to be concentrated in fine particles. The exchange of water and sediment between the bay and open waters is strong enough to keep the metals in the tidal flats from rising to very high levels.

Prediction of soil organic carbon in an intensively managed reclamation zone of eastern China: A comparison of multiple linear regressions and the random forest model.

Organic carbon is a key component of soils and plays a fundamental role in soil fertility and climate change. Determining the importance of potential drivers of soil organic carbon (SOC) and thus predicting the distribution of SOC are important for measuring carbon sequestration or emissions. Coastal wetlands are precious land resources that are currently undergoing rapid reclamation in China. The alternations in soil physicochemical conditions caused by reclamation can strongly impact the cycle of organic carbon. However, identification of the important drivers of SOC dynamics and prediction of SOC using the potential drivers remain largely unclear. In this study, we used classification and regression tree (CART) to identify the importance of the potential drivers of SOC at 241 sites from an intensively managed reclamation zone of eastern China. Multiple linear regressions (MLR) and random forest (RF) models were applied to predict the distribution of SOC using continuous variables, such as the contents of Cl, CaO, Fe2O3, Al2O3, SiO2, clay, silt, and sand as well as the soil pH, along with categorical variables, such as land use and reclamation duration. The results indicate that the soil/sediment pH was the most important variable impacting SOC, followed by the Cl and silt contents. The RF and MLR involving all predictor variables produced much higher R2 and lower error indices than the RF and MLR models involving independent variables (pH and CaO). RF performed much better than MLR as it revealed much lower error indices (ME, MSE, and RMSE) and a higher R2 than MLR. The superiority of RF in predicting SOC is related to its capability to deal with non-linear and hierarchical relationships between SOC and predictors. Analyses of land use effects on SOC dynamics indicated that paddy soils were superior in sequestering SOC than other land use types, which is likely ascribed to the rapid desalination and dealkalization of paddy field management. Therefore, paddy field management is recommended as an environment-friendly approach for managing newly reclaimed lands.