Short-term Effects of Nitrogen Deposition on Soil Physical and Chemical Properties of Tibetan Forest-Grassland Landscape Boundary

[Objective] The paper was to study the effects of nitrogen deposition on soil nutrients and soil dissolved organic carbon in forest-grassland landscape in Linzhi, Tibet, and to provide scientific basis and basic data for understanding and assessing the effect of atmospheric nitrogen deposition on soil nutrients and soil dissolved organic carbon. [Method] From July 2014 to August 2015, in situ nitrogen deposition （CK0 kg· hm^2/a, LN25 kg·hm^2/a, MN 50 kg·hm^2/a, HN 150 kg· hm^2/a） was simulated in the forestgrassland boundary of Zhuqudeng village, Bujiu Township, LinzhiCounty, Tibet. The soil samples were collected for analyzing nutrient and dissolved contents in the soil layer of 0-20 and 20-40 cm. The effects ofdifferent nitrogen deposition levels on soil nutrients and dissolved organic carbon （DOC） were studied. [Result] Nitrogen deposition had significantimpacts on soil organic matter, total N, total P, total K, available N, available P, available K, exchangeable Ca, exchangeable Mg, pH, and DOC（P〈0.05）. （2） With the deepening of nitrogen deposition from CK, LN, MN to HN in the 0-20 cm boundary soil, the contents of organic matter, total N,total P, available P, exchangeable Ca, exchangeable Mg and DOC kept decreasing, and the content of total K and available N increased continuously. The pH increased in LN treatment and decreased in HN treatment, while the available K content was decreased in LN and HN treatment, butincreased in MN treatment. （3） The contents of organic matter, total N, total P, available N, available P, exchangeable Ca, exchangeable Mg andDOC all decreased at the soil layer of 20-40 cm under the same nitrogen deposition. The pH increased in LN treatment, but decreased in HN treatment; the content of total K decreased in LN treatment and increased in MN and HN treatments; the content of available K decreased in LN andHN treatments, but increased in MN treatment. （4） With the deepening of boundary soil layer （0-20 to 20-40 cm）, the organic matter, total N, totalP, available P, available K, exchangeable Ca, exchangeable Mg, DOC showed the same response to simulated nitrogen deposition, while the available N and total K responded differently. [Conclusion] Different levels of N deposition had certain impact on soil nutrient, and the variation of soilnutrients was not the same at different levels.

Effect of algal flocculation on dissolved organic matters using cationic starch modified soils

Modified soils（MSs） are being increasingly used as geo-engineering materials for the sedimentation removal of cyanobacterial blooms. Cationic starch（CS） has been tested as an effective soil modifier, but little is known about its potential impacts on the treated water.This study investigated dissolved organic matters in the bloom water after algal removal using cationic starch modified soils（CS-MSs）. Results showed that the dissolved organic carbon（DOC） could be decreased by CS-MS flocculation and the use of higher charge density CS yielded a greater DOC reduction. When CS with the charge density of 0.052, 0.102 and0.293 meq/g were used, DOC was decreased from 3.4 to 3.0, 2.3 and 1.7 mg/L, respectively.The excitation–emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy and UV254 analysis indicated that CS-MS exhibits an ability to remove some soluble organics, which contributed to the DOC reduction. However, the use of low charge density CS posed a potential risk of DOC increase due to the high CS loading for effective algal removal. When CS with the charge density of 0.044 meq/g was used, DOC was increased from 3.4 to 3.9 mg/L. This study suggested, when CS-MS is used for cyanobacterial bloom removal, the content of dissolved organic matters in the treated water can be controlled by optimizing the charge density of CS. For the settled organic matters, other measures（e.g., capping treatments using oxygen loaded materials） should be jointly applied after algal flocculation.