Composition and mineralization of soil organic carbon pools in four single-tree species forest soils

Forest soil carbon （C） is an important compo- nent of the global C cycle. However, the mechanism by which tree species influence soil organic C （SOC） pool composition and mineralization is poorly understood. To understand the effect of tree species on soil C cycling, we assessed total, labile, and recalcitrant SOC pools, SOC chemical composition by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and SOC mineralization in four monoculture plantations. Labile and recalcitrant SOC pools in surface （0-10 cm） and deep （40-60 cm） soils in the four forests contained similar content. In contrast, these SOC pools exhibited differences in the subsurface soil （from 10 to 20 cm and from 20 to 40 cm）. The alkyl C and O-alkyl C intensities of SOC were higher in Schima superba and Michelia macclurei forests than in Cunninghamia lanceolata and Pinus massoniana forests. In surface soil, S. superba and M. macclurei forests exhibited higher SOC mineralization rates than did P. massoniana and C.lanceolata forests. The slope of the straight line between C60 and labile SOC was steeper than that between C60 and total SOC. Our results suggest that roots affected the composition of SOC pools. Labile SOC pools also affected SOC mineralization to a greater extent than total SOC pools.

Effect of hydrothermal treatment on the carbon structure of Inner Mongolia lignite

Understanding the structural properties of lignite during hydrothermal treatment would aid in predicting the subsequent behavior of coal during the pyrolysis,liquefaction,and gasification processes.Here,hydrothermal treatment of Inner Mongolia lignite(IM)was carried out in a lab autoclave.The distribution of carbon in the lignite was monitored via solid 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy,and the functional groups of oxygen in lignite were determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.The curve-fitting method was used to calculate the content of the functional groups quantitatively.The results show that hydrothermal treatment is an effective method for upgrading the lignite.The side chains of the aromatic ring in lignite are altered,while the main macromolecular structure remains nearly the same.The hydrothermal treatment of IM could be divided into three temperature-dependent stages.The first stage(<493 K)is the decomposition reaction of oxygen functional groups,where the O/C ratio decreases from 0.203 in raw IM to 0.185 for the IM treated at 493 K.In the second stage(493–533 K),hydrolysis of functional groups and hydrogen transfer between water and lignite occur.Here,the ratio of methylene to methyl increases from 0.871 in IM-493 to 1.241 for IM-533,and the content of quinone generates from the condensation of free phenol increased.The third stage(>533 K)involves breakage of the covalent bond,and the content of CH4 and CO in the emission gas clearly increase.

Characterization and Three-dimensional Structural Modeling of Humic Acid via Molecular Mechanics and Molecular Dynamic Simulation

The humic acid（HA） sample obtained from the alluvial soil was characterized by elemental composition, pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry（Py-GC-MS） and solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance （13C NMR） spectroscopy. There is high fat content and a few nitrogen-containing functional groups in HA. Py-GC-MS demonstrates the characterization and structural identification of HA. One long list of identified pyrolysis products was proposed for the construction of conceptual model of HA. Solid-state 13C NMR data indicate there are higher values of alkyl-C, O-alkyl-C and aryl-C in HA. The elemental composition, structural carbon distribution and L3C NMR spectroscopy of simulated HA are consistent with those of experimental HA. HyperChem was used to simulate the three-dimensional molecular structure of the monomer, which was optimized by the molecular mechanics of the optimized potential for liquid simulations（OPLS） force field and molecular dynamics simulation to get the stable and balanced conformation. The deprotonation process study depicts that the degree of ionization of HA gets deeper, while the electronegativity of HA and the energy of van der Waals（vdW） increase. Moreover, the 3D structure of humic acid with -4 charges is the most stable. The deprotonation process is an endothermic process.

Responses of soil phosphorus pools accompanied with carbon composition and microorganism changes to phosphorus-input reduction in paddy soils

In rice-wheat rotation systems, changes in soil phosphorus(P) pools and microorganisms in rice-growing seasons have been studied;however, further investigations are required to test whether these indexes exhibit different responses in wheat-growing seasons. Additionally, such studies need to include potential variations in soil carbon(C) structure and microbial community composition. In this study, a long-term rice-wheat rotation P-input reduction experiment was conducted to observe the variations in soil P pools and C composition in the 7th wheat season and to investigate the responses of soil enzyme activity and microbial communities. Four P fertilization treatments were included in the experiment, i.e., P application for rice season only(PR), for wheat season only(PW), and for both rice and wheat seasons(PR+W) and no P application in either season(Pzero). Compared with PR+W treatment, Pzero treatment significantly decreased(P < 0.05) labile and stable P pools. Different P fertilization regimes altered soil microbial community composition and enzyme activity, whereas C composition did not vary. However, PW treatment resulted in relatively more O-alkyl-C than PR treatment and the highest number of microorganisms. Besides, the higher ratios of fungi/bacteria and Gram-positive bactetia/Gram-negative bactetia were related to labile C pools, particularly O-alkyl-C, as opposed to recalcitrant C. Our results clarified the status of soil P pools, C chemistry, and the response of microorganisms under dry-farming conditions in the P input-reduced rice-wheat rotation system.

Application and mechanism of polysaccharide extracted from Enteromorpha to remove nano-ZnO and humic acid in coagulation process

Enteromorpha polysaccharide （Ep） extracted from alga a novel green coagulant aid for nanoparticles （NPs） and heavy metal ions removal and the structure of EP was intensively studied in this study. The integration of Ep with polyaluminum chloride （PAC-Ep） coagulants exhibited higher coagulation performance than that of the polyaluminum chloride （PAC） because of the negatively charged NPs suspension and humic aid （HA） solution. Significant high removal efficiencies of dissolved organic matter （94.1%）, turbidity （99.3%） and Zn ions （69.3%） were achieved by the PAC-Ep coagulants. The dual-coagulation properties of PAC-Ep for different pollutants was based on multiple mechanisms, including （i） AI^3＋ charge neutralization; （ii） hydroxy aluminum hydroxyl bridging formed polynuclearhydroxy complexes bridge and sweep colloidal particles; （iii） adsorption and bridging of Ep chain for the NPs and heavy metal ions. Results indicated that the destabilization of colloid was induced by the coexisting HA and higher removal was achieved as ions adsorption was enhance in the presence of HA complexation. On the basis of that, the extraction of polysaccharide is a promising candidate for its high coagulation performance in water treatment.