E. Hashempour; M.B. Farhangi; N. Ghorbanzadeh; M. Fazeli Sangani
Abstract
Introduction: Due to the increasing development of edible oil processing industries, large amounts of wastewater and solid wastes (SW) are inevitable in these industries. Organic wastes can be used as soil conditioners in agriculture due to the high content of organic matter and nutrient loads. Phosphorus ...
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Introduction: Due to the increasing development of edible oil processing industries, large amounts of wastewater and solid wastes (SW) are inevitable in these industries. Organic wastes can be used as soil conditioners in agriculture due to the high content of organic matter and nutrient loads. Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria including Bacillus spp., Pseudomonads and Rhizobium spp. can release phosphorus from insoluble organic and mineral sources in soil. Most soils in the semi-arid regions, including southern parts of Guilan province, have low organic matter content and do not support plant cultivation due to the low fertility and instability of soils. Hence, industrial wastes can be applied as a suitable and low-cost source of organic materials and nutrients in these soils. As phosphorus is one of the most important essential nutrients in plant nutrition which is also present in oil refinery soild wastes and P solubilizing bacteria can release phosphorus from the organic phase of the wastes and make it available in the soil solution, this study aimed to investigate the available phosphorus (Pava) content of soil after simultaneous addition of olive refinery-solid wastes and P solubilizing Bacillus spp.
Materials and Methods: the solid waste obtained from Ganje Rudbar oil refinery plant (located in Rudbar, Guilan province) and a soil sample was collected from a surface layer (0-30 cm) of a pasture, located in Lowshan area (Guilan province). A native strain of Bacillus sp. was isolated from the sampled soil based on its P-solubilizing ability in Sperber medium. An indicator strain, Bacillus persicus was also included in the experiments. P-solubilizing ability of the indicator strain was also evaluated in Sperber medium. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design based on factorial arrangement and three replications. Factors included three levels of solid waste (0, 2 and 4%), three levels of inoculated bacteria (no bacteria, native Bacillus sp. and Bacillus persicus) and eleven sampling times (0, 2, 7, 14, 28, 42, 56, 86, 116, 146, and 176 days). Different levels of solid waste were added to the soil, inoculated with bacteria (106 cell/g), and incubated at laboratory condition (~25 ºC) for six months. The moisture content of the soil mixtures fixed around 0.7 FC and kept constant during the incubation period. Sampling was done at desired times. The pH, organic carbon (OC), soil Basal Respiration (BR), available phosphorus concentration (Pava), and phosphatase enzyme activity were measured in soil samples. Data analysis and means comparison were done by Duncans’ test using SAS software package.
Results and Discussion: The studied soil was loam in texture, and had slightly alkaline pH, moderate Pava, and low OC content. The studied solid waste contained considerable OC and total P load. The effect of solid waste (SW), bacteria, sampling time and their interactions were significant on most of the measured characteristics (p < 0.05). SW application decreased soil pH and mixtures inoculated with native Bacillus sp. had lower pH values compared to those inoculated with Bacillus persicus, probably due to the greater effect of Bacillus spp. on SW decomposition compared with B. persicus. The highest average BR was attained in mixtures contained 4% SW which was 1.24 and 1.73 times greater than that in mixtures contained 2 and 0% SW, respectively. While the effect of SW on soil BR was obvious, bacteria inoculation had different impact on soil organic material decomposition and the lowest BR was measured in soil (0% SW) inoculated with Bacillus persicus. OC content of mixtures increased with SW application. The highest OC level (3.21 g 100g-1) was obtained in uninoculated mixture contained 4% SW, which was significantly greater than OC levels in mixtures inoculated with bacteria (p < 0.05). The lowest OC level (3.21 g 100g-1) was observed in uninoculated soil (0% SW). SW application significantly increased Pava. The greatest Pava concentration (142.77 mg Kg-1) was attained in uninoculated mixture contained 4% SW which was not significantly different from Pava concentration in 4% SW-mixture inoculated with native Bacillus sp. (P > 0.05). In control treatments (0% SW), Bacillus persicus was efficient in P release from soil native organic carbon and/or phosphate minerals. However, among the soils contained 2% SW, those inoculated with native Bacillus sp. had the highest Pava concentration. The average Pava concentration in the 4% SW-mixtures was 136.33 mg Kg-1 which was 3.5 times greater than that in control treatment (0% SW). Although soil Pava was related to phosphatase enzyme, this enzyme activity was not affected by treatments. In the P-releasing trend, it was found that 4% SW-mixtures had the highest Pava concentration after 6 months of incubation, and bacteria inoculation made the P-release trend to be flatter compared to control.
Conclusion: The application of oil refinery plant-solid waste improved the basal respiration of the studied soil and increased available phosphorus concentration. The comparison of applied solid waste levels showed that the inoculation of soil with Bacillus bacteria had a positive effect on available phosphorus concentration only at 2% solid waste level.
Samaneh Abduolrahimi; Nasrin Ghorbanzadeh; Hasan Ramezanpour; Mohammad Bagher Farhangi
Abstract
Introduction: Rapid development of industrialization, heavy metal and radionuclide contaminants from industrial activities have posed a major threat to the environment owing to their toxicity, non-biodegradability and persistent accumulation. So various ecosystems are continuously contaminated with high ...
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Introduction: Rapid development of industrialization, heavy metal and radionuclide contaminants from industrial activities have posed a major threat to the environment owing to their toxicity, non-biodegradability and persistent accumulation. So various ecosystems are continuously contaminated with high levels of high-risk chemicals with different structures and levels of toxicity. Cadmium is one of the high-risk elements that enters the environment and can accumulate in the body of fish and other aquatic organisms, plants and livestock and be transferred to the human body. Therefore, the remediation of contaminated soils with cadmium in order to protect human health is very important. One method for remediation of pollutants is immobilization of them in the soil by adsorbents. Among the absorbents, bentonite has been identified for its unique properties, including high surface area and cation exchange capacity and adsorptive affinity for organic and inorganic ions, low cost and ease of access. If the physical and chemical properties of natural bentonites are improved by a special modification process, the adequate supplies for environmental purposes can be obtained. Among the biosorbents, rice husk has also been reported to be suitable for adsorption of cadmium and other heavy metals. This research was designed with the aim of decreasing the amount of cadmium in the soluble and exchangeable phase of a polluted soil under laboratory conditions in the presence of bentonite and rice husk. Considering that biological properties of the soil are an indicator of soil health and quality, so, after application of adsorbents, biological properties and some soil ecophysiological indices were also investigated.
Materials and Methods: The experiment was done with 13 treatments and 3 replications in a completely randomized design. Treatments were bentonite (B) and modified bentonite with iron (B-Fe), manganese (B-Mn), iron and manganese together (B-Fe-Mn), rice husk (RH), modified rice husk with phosphoric acid (RH-P) in two levels (2 and 5%) and control treatment (without adding adsorbent). Modification of bentonite was done with iron chloride (FeCl3.6H2O), manganese chloride (MnCl2.6H2O) and a mixture of FeCl3.6H2O and MnCl2.6H2O. Some of the characteristics of bentonite and rice husk adsorbents including pH, electrical conductivity, cation exchange capacity and organic carbon were measured. The contaminated soil with CdCl2 was treated with adsorbents and incubated for 2 months under constant lab conditions. After the incubation time, soil biological properties such as basal respiration, substrate-induced respiration (SIR), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), activity of some enzymes and also some ecophysiological indexes were measured.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that the basal respiration, SIR, MCB, activity of phosphatase, dehydrogenase and urease were less in the control treatment. The basal respiration and phosphatase activity in RH-P 5% treatment were 2.6 and 2.25 times more than those in the control, respectively. SIR and urease activity were highest in RH-P 5% treatment. The application of adsorbents to contaminated soil reduced soluble and exchangeable cadmium fraction. The lowest amount of soluble and exchangeable fraction of cadmium was in RH-P 5% treatment that showed 2.5 times reduction in comparison to control. In other words, immobilization of cadmium from these fractions improved soil conditions and caused increasing of biological soil properties and activity of microorganisms. The metabolic quotient was higher in the control treatment, probably due to lower microbial content, and decreased by adding adsorbents. Microbial quotient in control treatment was lower than other treatments which prove again the lower biomass carbon of control treatment. Carbon availability that is the ratio of basal respiration to SID, also was more in control in comparison to other treatments, perhaps due to the suppress or inhibition of dormant or zymogenous microbes by cadmium in the control treatment which can be stimulated to growth in the SIR experiment.
Conclusions: The results of this study revealed that cadmium with concentration of 30 mg kg-1has a toxic and inhibitory effect on the microbial activity of the soil. The addition of bentonite and rice husk adsorbents in particular modified form reduced mobility of cadmium and thus improved the biological properties of the soil and also had a positive effect on ecophysiological indexes.
The use of these adsorbents can be a cost effective, succeeded, and operative management strategy for immobilization of cadmium in contaminated soils that reducing the risk of plant reclamation, washing and entry into groundwater and food cycle.
Y. Kooch
Abstract
Introduction: Among the collection of natural resources in the world, soil is considered as one of the most important components of the environment. Protect and improve the properties of this precious resource, requires a comprehensive and coordinated action that only through a deep understanding of ...
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Introduction: Among the collection of natural resources in the world, soil is considered as one of the most important components of the environment. Protect and improve the properties of this precious resource, requires a comprehensive and coordinated action that only through a deep understanding of quantitative (not only recognition of the quality) the origin, distribution and functionality in a natural ecosystem is possible. Many researchers believe that due to the quick reactions of soil organisms to environmental changes, soil biological survey to estimate soil quality is more important than the chemical and physical properties. For this reason, in many studies the nitrogen mineralization and microbial respiration indices are regarded. The aim of the present study were to study the direct and indirect effects of soil physicochemical characteristics on the most important biological indicators (nitrogen mineralization and microbial respiration), which has not been carefully considered up to now. This research is the first study to provide evidence to the future planning and management of soil sciences.
Materials and Methods: For this, a limitation of 20 ha area of Experimental Forest Station of Tarbiat Modares University was considered. Fifty five soil samples, from the top 15 cm of soil, were taken, from which bulk density, texture, organic C, total N, cation exchange capacity (CEC), nitrogen mineralization and microbial respiration were determined at the laboratory. The data stored in Excel as a database. To determine the relationship between biological indices and soil physicochemical characteristics, correlation analysis and factor analysis using principal component analysis (PCA) were employed. To investigate all direct and indirect relationships between biological indices and different soil characteristics, path analysis (path analysis) was used.
Results and Discussion: Results showed significant positive relations between biological indices and clay, organic carbon and total nitrogen, whereas the correlations of the other soil properties (bulk density, silt, sand and CEC) were insignificant. Factor analysis using of principle component analysis showed that the behavior of these two biological indices in the same territory and controlled by the same factors. Path analysis was employed to study the relationship among soil biological indices and the other soil properties. According to results, soil nitrogen mineralization is more imposed by nitrogen (0.98) and organic carbon (0.91) properties as direct and indirect effects respectively. Whereas the values of soil microbial respiration were affected by organic carbon (0.89) and total nitrogen (0.81). It can be claimed that total nitrogen and organic carbon are the most important soil properties in relation to nitrogen mineralization and microbial respiration, respectively. Regarding to the strong relationship between soil organic carbon and nitrogen and also similarly strong relationship between nitrogen and organic carbon mineralization, enhancing nitrogen mineralization is expected by the increase in organic carbon. In this regard, Nourbakhsh, et al. (2002) claimed that nitrogen mineralization is depended to soil organic nitrogen and derived from total nitrogen. In addition, there is a strong relationship between total nitrogen and soil organic carbon. So, the greater amounts of nitrogen mineralization can be related to more accumulation of organic carbon and nitrogen in topsoil (23). This result is in accordance with Wood, et al. (1990) and Norton, et al. (2003) findings (21, 30). Ebrahimi, et al. (2005) stated that if the C/N ratio is more than 30, the process immobility or nitrogen mineralization stopwill be occurred. The ratios between 20 and 30 usually settle and release of mineral nitrogen does not take place, and the balance remains. If the C/N ratio is less than 20 net release of nitrogen in the soil will increase (9).In the present study, the values of soil C/N ratio were less than 20 (mean 15.80), so the process of nitrogen mineralization occurred in the study area. Suitable conditions for microbial activity of soil microorganism's especially adequate supply of organic carbon increased the microbial respiration in the study area. High correlation between the amount of organic carbon and microbial respiration confirmed this claim. However; it seems that the soil organic carbon is driver of microbial respiration rate. This finding is reported by different researchers (6, 7, 15, and 20).
Conclusion: Path analysis as a complementary method of regression analysis and factor analysis using principal component analysis showed that the biological activity of the soil characteristics are directly affected by soil nitrogen (for nitrogen mineralization index) and organic carbon (for microbial respiration index) and other useful features influence them indirectly through strong correlation with the characteristics of nitrogen and organic carbon in soil.
