Environmental Threshold of Phosphorus Infiltration in Red Soil under Different Land Use Patterns

The risk of soil phosphorus leaching increases in basin regions in light of large-scale use of phosphorus fertilizers because of agricultural modernization. In this study, we conducted an earth pillar simulation test on the infiltration threshold of red soil, Vaseline-coated PVC pipe, intact soil core, fine sand, and nylon filter was used for Penetration test, which covers the largest area of the Dianchi Lake Basin in China. Results showed that: 1) The contents of the total available phosphorus in algae (NaOH-P) and dissolved labile phosphorus (CaCl2-P) in red soil were consistent with the content of available phosphorus (Olsen-P) under different use patterns manifested by the law of greenhouse > open field > grassland. Grassland had the highest phosphorus sorption index (PSI), followed by the greenhouse and then by the open field. 2) The leachate under the same use pattern had the characteristics of total phosphorus (TP) > particle phosphorus (PP) > total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) > dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) > molybdate reactive phosphorus (MRP). The TP contents in the leachates of grassland, greenhouse, and open field were 0.46, 0.61, and 0.49 mg/L, respectively. DOP, TDP, PP, and MRP had similar contents, and their distributions in the three land types were consistent with that of TP. 3) Olsen-P had a significant correlation with TP, TDP, PP, and DOP in the leachates. Olsen-P of <40 mg/kg and PSI of >50 slightly influenced eutrophication. Moreover, Olsen-P of >40 and <70.90 mg/kg and PSI of >40 had minimal influence on the environment. Olsen-P of >70.90 mg/kg and PSI of <30 significantly influenced eutrophication in Dianchi Lake Basin. 4) When Olsen-P was >26.09 mg/kg, the TP content in the leachate increased sharply.

Thresholds of Instability: Precipitation, Landslides, and Early Warning Systems in Brazil

Rainfall accumulation thresholds are crucial for issuing landslide warnings by identifying when soil saturation from rain could potentially trigger a landslide. Two essential types of thresholds are considered: environmental and operational. The environmental threshold indicates the minimum rainfall level required to potentially initiate a landslide. Conversely, the operational threshold is set lower to enable agencies to issue alerts before reaching environmental thresholds. Establishing these thresholds improves the accuracy of landslide predictions in terms of location and timing. This study introduces an innovative approach for determining these thresholds. Our approach employs cluster analysis and historical landslide data from the Metropolitan Region of Recife, Pernambuco State, Brazil. We applied our defined values to a significant landslide event in 2022, validating their robustness as the foundation for the operational threshold used by Cemaden, Brazil’s National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters.

Environmental Data Observation System—Solam for Analysis and Interpretation of Soil Moisture Variation and Precipitation Indexes

The monitoring of urban slopes employing in-situ equipment seeks to avoid the loss of human lives midst emergency events like landslides. Cemaden (Brazilian National Centre for Monitoring and Early Warnings of Natural Disasters) has a pilot network of soil moisture and rain gauge stations located in urban slopes to understand, prevent, and mitigate landslides. Due to the large volume of data produced by this system there was a need for tools for data retrieval and visualization. This paper describes the Solam (Environmental Data Observation System) software which generates automated graphs that enable researchers to analyze and comprise data from soil moisture sensors and rain gauge stations. Those results allow to research moisture variations in six different sensor levels (from 0.5 m to 3 m deep) and precipitation indexes (hourly and accumulated rainfall) for the established period. This analysis will provide information to set critical environmental thresholds on base recorded landslides.

Toward to agricultural green development by multi-objective zoning and nitrogen nutrient management:a case study in the Baiyangdian Basin,China

Although China has achieved great advancements toward national food security,the country is still confronted with a range of challenges,including natural resource stress,imbalanced diets and environmental pollution.Optimized management of crop–livestock systems is the key measure to realize agricultural green transformation.However,optimized management of crop–livestock systems that use multi-objective zoning is lacking.This study employed a multi-objective zoning management approach to comprehensively analyze four indicators:ammonia volatilization,nitrogen surplus,soil carrying capacity and ecological red line area.With its significant ecological integrity and a strong emphasis on sustainability,the Baiyangdian Basin serves as a unique and suitable test case for conducting analyses on multi-objective nutrient optimization management,with the aim to facilitate the agricultural green transformation.This study finds that less than 8%of the area in the Baiyangdian Basin meet the acceptable environmental indicator standard,whereas around 50%of the area that had both nitrogen surplus and ammonia volatilization exceeded the threshold.Implementation of unified management,that is,the same management technique across the study areas,could result in an increase of areas meeting environmental indicator thresholds to 21.1%.This project developed a novel multi-indicator partition optimization method,in which distinct measures are tailored for different areas to satisfy multiple environmental indicators.Implementation of this method,could potentially bring more than 50%area below the threshold,and areas with ammonia emissions and nitrogen surplus could be reduced to 15.8%.The multi-indicators partition optimization method represents a more advanced and efficiency-oriented management approach when compared to unified management.This approach could be regarded as the best available option to help China achieve agricultural transformation to improve efficient production and reduce environmental pollution.It is recommended that current policies aimed at nutrient management toward sustainable agricultural development should shift toward the application of multi-indicators partition optimization.

A green eco-environment for sustainable development:framework and action

Following its 40-year reform and‘Open Door’policy,China has recently proposed a new approach to green development and rural revitalization—the idea of Agriculture Green Development(AGD),with the key feature of creating a green eco-environment.In this minireview we introduce the definition,theory,framework and major components of a green eco-environment as a key part of the AGD.We define a green eco-environment as including four key elements or measures:(1)a green ecoenvironmental indicator system;(2)environmental monitoring and warning networks;(3)emission standards and environmental thresholds for key pollutants;(4)emission controls and pollution remediation technologies.We have used Quzhou County(a typical county in the center of the North China Plain)as an example to show how detailed air,water and soil monitoring networks,as well as improved farmer practices and pollution control measures(especially ammonia emission mitigation and PM2.5 pollution reduction),can begin to create a green eco-environment in China and that AGD is possible.We conclude by stressing the need to improve the framework and practice for a green eco-environment,especially the importance of linking proposals and practices for a green eco-environment with the United Nations high priority Sustainable Development Goals.