Development of Novel Water-extraction System with Thermoelectric Module Using Solar and Wind Power in Arid Land

This study aimed to develop a water-extraction system which could produce the fresh water from the air in arid regions and which used renewable energies as the electric power source. In this paper, the experiments for water extraction from the air were carried out by using the novel multi-stage water-extraction device with Peltier deices for two cases of temperature and related humidity of the air. One was the case where the temperature and the related humidity of the air were constant, and the other was the case where they were simulated the variation of the temperature and related humidity of the air in a day of summer and spring in Loess Plateau, China. The effects of the temperature and related humidity of the atmospheric air and supply the electric power to Peltier devices on performance of water production of the device were investigated and reported.

Tree-ring δ^(15)N of Qinghai spruce in the central Qilian Mountains of China:Is pre-treatment of wood samples necessary?

A knowledge of the tree-ring stable nitrogen isotope ratio(δ^(15)N)can deepen our understanding of forest ecosystem dynamics by indicating the long-term availability,cycling and sources of nitrogen(N).However,the radial mobility of N blurs the interannual variations in the long-term N records.Previous studies of the chemical extraction of tree rings before analysis had produced inconsistent results and it is still unclear whether it is necessary to pre-treat wood samples from specific tree species to remove soluble N compounds before determining theδ^(15)N values.We compared the effects of pre-treatment with organic solvents and hot ultrapure water on the N concentration andδ^(15)N of tree rings from endemic Qinghai spruce(Picea crassifolia)growing in the interior of the central Qilian Mountains,China,during the last 60 a.We assessed the effects of different preparation protocols on the removal of the labile N compounds and investigated the need to pre-treat wood samples before determining theδ^(15)N values of tree rings.Increasing trends of the tree-ring N concentration were consistently observed in both the extracted and unextracted wood samples.The total N removed by extraction with organic solvents was about 17.60%,with a significantly higher amount in the sapwood section(P<0.01).Theδ^(15)N values of tree rings decreased consistently from 1960 to 2019 in both the extracted and unextracted wood samples.Extraction with organic solvents increased theδ^(15)N values markedly by about 5.2‰and reduced the variations in theδ^(15)N series.However,extraction with hot ultrapure water had little effect,with only a slight decrease in theδ^(15)N values of about 0.5‰.Our results showed that the radial pattern in the inter-ring movement of N in Qinghai spruce was not minimized by extraction with either organic solvents or hot ultrapure water.It is unnecessary to conduct hot ultrapure water extraction for the wood samples from Qinghai spruce because of its negligible effect on the removal of the labile N.Theδ^(15)N variation trend of tree rings in the unextracted wood samples was not influenced by the heartwood-sapwood transition zone.We suggest that theδ^(15)N values of the unextracted wood samples of the climate-sensitive Qinghai spruce could be used to explore the ecophysiological dynamics while focusing on the long-term variations.

Decomposition of labile and recalcitrant coniferous litter fractions affected by temperature during the growing season

Temperate coniferous forest soils are considered important sinks of soil organic carbon(C).Fresh C inputs may,however,affect soil microbial activity,leading to increased organic matter decomposition and carbon dioxide production.Litter consists of labile and recalcitrant fractions which are thought to be utilized by distinct microbial communities and at different rates during the growing season.In this study,we incubated the whole litter(LC+RC),the labile(LC)and the recalcitrant(RC)fractions with the coniferous soil at two temperatures representing spring/autumn(10℃)and summer(20℃)for one month.Soil respiration and microbial community composition were regularly determined using phospholipid fatty acids as biomarkers.The LC fraction greatly increased soil respiration at the beginning of the incubation period but this effect was rather short-term.The effect of the RC fraction persisted longer and,together with the LC+RC fraction,respiration increased during the whole incubation period.Decomposition of the RC fraction was more strongly affected by higher temperatures than decomposition of the more labile fractions(LC and LC+RC).However,when we consider the relative increase in soil respiration compared to the dH2 O treatment,respiration increased more at a lower temperature,suggesting that available C is more important for microbial metabolism at lower temperatures.Although C was added only once in our study,no changes in microbial community composition were detected,possibly because the microbial community is adapted to relatively low amounts of additional C such as the amounts naturally found in litter.

Effect of Vegetation Succession on Organic Carbon,Carbon of Humus Acids and Dissolved Organic Carbon in Soils of Copper Mine Tailings Sites

Carbon of humus acids(HSAC) and dissolved organic carbon(DOC) are the most active forms of soil organic carbon(SOC) and play an important role in global carbon recycling. We investigated the concentrations of HSAC,water-soluble organic carbon(WSOC),hot water-extractable organic carbon(HWOC) and SOC in soils under different vegetation types of four copper mine tailings sites with differing vegetation succession time periods in Tongling,China. The concentrations of HSAC,WSOC,HWOC and SOC increased with vegetation succession. WSOC concentration increased with the accumulation of SOC in the tailings,and a linearly positive correlation existed between the concentrations of HSAC and SOC in the tailings. However,the percentages of HSAC and DOC in the SOC decreased during vegetation succession. The rate of SOC accumulation was higher when the succession time was longer than 20 years,whereas the speeds of soil organic matter(SOM) decomposition and humification were slow,and the concentrations of HSAC and DOC increased slowly in the tailings. The percentage of carbon of humic acid(HAC) in HSAC increased with vegetation succession,and the values of humification index(HI),HAC/carbon of fulvic acid,also increased with the accumulation of HSAC and SOC in soils of the tailings sites. However,the HI value in the each of the tailings was less than 0.50. The humification rate of SOM was lower than the accumulation rate of SOM,and the level of soil fertility was still very low in the tailings even after 40 years of natural restoration.

UV/Vis Characterization and Fate of Organic Amendment Fractions in a Dune Soil in Dakar, Senegal

The application of organic amendments on soils poor in organic matter(OM) can improve long-term soil fertility, but may also enhance the mineralization of native soil organic matter. Three organic amendments, compost, sewage sludge and horse manure, used by urban market gardeners in Dakar, Senegal were analyzed for their OM maturity. Their fate was evaluated in a 45-d agronomic trial in a sandy Arenosol with lettuce. In each case, water-extractable organic matter(WEOM) and humic-like substances(HLS)were isolated from raw amendments and amended soils, and characterized using ultraviolet-visible(UV/Vis) spectroscopy. Results highlighted the general more aromatic character of HLS and WEOM fractions extracted from compost compared to the other two amendments. When applied to soils, however, these differences were not clearly observed. The aromaticity and humification degree of the labile fraction(WEOM) increased with depth in the first 30 cm for all amendments. This indicated the high lixiviation rates that fresh OM underwent in the studied sandy soil. Finally, a statistical analysis of the results was able to discriminate between surface and deeper horizons and between amended- and non-amended soil samples. Spectroscopic indices showed indeed strong increase/decrease with depth linked with the mineralization/humification processes that the fresh OM from amendments underwent during the 45 d of the agronomic trial. This study highlights the potential of spectroscopic techniques to study agricultural amendment organic matter fractions and their fate in soils.

Movement of Phosphorus in a Calcareous Soil as Affected by Humic Acid

When humic acid (HA) and phosphorus (P) fertilizer are simultaneously applied to soil, HA may affect the movement of P. A laboratory incubation experiment was conducted to quantify the effects of a commercial HA product co-applied with monocalcium phosphate (MCP) on the distance of P movement and the concentration of P in various forms at different distances from the P fertilizer application site in a calcareous soil from northern China. Fertilizer MCP (at a rate equivalent to 26.6 kg P ha-1 ) was applied alone or in combination with HA (at 254.8 kg HA ha-1 ) to the surface of soil packed in cylinders (150 mm high and 50 mm internal diameter), and then incubated at 320 g kg-1 moisture content for 7 and 28 d periods. Extraction and analysis of each 2 mm soil layer in columns showed that the addition of HA to MCP increased the distance of P movement and the concentrations of water-extractable P, acid-extractable P and Olsen P in soil. The addition of HA to MCP could enhance P availability by increasing the distance of P movement and the concentration of extractable P in soil surrounding the P fertilizer.

Humification characterization of biochar and its potential as a composting amendment

Biochar has received increasing attention due to its applications as a soil amendment. Here, the chemical properties of solid and water-extractable fractions of four biochar samples were investigated. The results showed that wood biochar and bamboo biochar samples were 60%-80% more hydrophobic than those of rice husk biochar and rice husk ash. In addition, the acidity was 3.88 mmol/g from the total functional groups and 1.03 mmol/g from the carboxyl groups/lactones/phenols found in the wood biochar sample, which were about 1.5 times greater than those of the bamboo biochar sample. These functional groups could be used to determine the sorptive capacity of biochar for ionic solutes and water content and to increase the degradation of compost organics. The wood biochar sample was found to have the most humification materials （fulvic acid-like material ＋ humic acid-like material） in the water-extractable fraction, which was 3-10 times higher than that in the rice husk biochar and rice husk ash; humified materials were not detected in the bamboo biochar sample. Humification materials in biochar may be involved in increasing the proportion of humic acid-like materials in humic-like substances within the compost product. Wood biochar had better hydrophobic, sorptive, aromatic, and humification properties compared to other biochars, suggesting that it may be used in composting in order to exert its effect as both a bulking agent and a composting amendment during the solid waste composting process.

Compost Effect on Diuron Retention and Transport in Structured Vineyard Soils

Diuron is frequently detected in surface- and groundwater under the vineyards, where organic amendments are often used, in Burgundy of France. Undisturbed column experiments were conducted to study the influence of three composted organic amendments on diuron leaching through columns of two vineyard soils from Vosne-Roman′ee(VR, calcareous Cambisol) and Beaujolais(Bj, sandy Leptosol), France. Bromide(used as non-reactive tracer) and diuron breakthrough curves(BTCs) were analyzed using convectivedispersive equation(CDE), two-region(mobile-immobile, MIM) and two-site models. No influence of the composts was observed on the bromide recovery rates. The CDE model described well the bromide BTCs for all columns of the Bj soil and seven of the VR soil, suggesting a homogeneous water flow. However, for five VR soil columns, the MIM model fitted better, suggesting a partition of the water flow(15%–50% of matrix flow). The texture, the coarse material content and the tillage of the VR soil could explain this heterogeneity. However, for all columns, diuron leaching was greater through the Bj soil(46%–68%) than the VR soil(28%–39%). The compost addition resulted in a contrasting effect on diuron leaching: no difference or a decrease was observed for the VR soil, probably due to an increase of adsorption sites, whereas no difference or an increase was observed for the Bj soil possibly because of interactions and/or competition of diuron with the compost water-extractable organic matter which could facilitate its transport. All the diuron BTCs were best described using the two-site model, suggesting a large proportion of time-dependent sorption sites(30%–50%). The soil type and the nature of the amendments had contrasting influences on diuron transport. Composts with a high water-soluble fraction must be avoided in sandy soils to reduce the risk of groundwater contamination.

Seasonal Variability of Soil Organic Carbon Fractions Under Arable Land

Carbon fractions in soils apparently vary not only in space, but also over time. A lack of knowledge on the seasonal variability of labile carbon fractions under arable land hampers the reliability and comparability of soil organic carbon(SOC) surveys from different studies. Therefore, we studied the seasonal variability of two SOC fractions, particulate organic matter(POM) and dissolved organic carbon(DOC), under maize cropping: POM was determined as the SOC content in particle-size fractions, and DOC was measured as the water-extractable SOC(WESOC) of air-dried soil. Ammonium, nitrate, and water-extractable nitrogen were measured as potential regulating factors of WESOC formation because carbon and nitrogen cycles in soils are strongly connected. There was a significant annual variation of WESOC(coefficient of variation(CV) = 30%). Temporal variations of SOC in particle-size fractions were smaller than those of WESOC. The stocks of SOC in particle-size fractions decreased with decreasing particle sizes, exhibiting a CV of 20%for the coarse sand-size fraction(250–2 000 μm), of 9% for the fine sand-size fraction(50–250 μm), and of 5% for the silt-size fraction(20–50 μm). The WESOC and SOC in particle-size fractions both peaked in March and reached the minimum in May/June and August, respectively. These results indicate the importance of the time of soil sampling during the course of a year, especially when investigating WESOC.