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The aggregated transfer factor (Tag) is commonly used to represent the actual transfer of radiocesium from soil to wild edible plants, but the values have shown substantial variation since the Fukushima nuclear accident. To elucidate the factors causing this variation, we investigated the effects of spatial scale and vertical 137Cs distribution in the soil on the variation of Tag-137Cs values for one of the most severely contaminated wild edible plants, Eleutherococcus sciadophylloides Franch. et Sav. (Koshiabura). The variation in Tag-137Cs values was not reduced by direct measurement of 137Cs deposition in soil samples from the Koshiabura habitat, as a substitute for using spatially averaged airborne survey data at the administrative district scale. The 137Cs activity concentration in Koshiabura buds showed a significant positive correlation with the 137Cs inventories only in the organic horizon of soil from the Koshiabura habitat. The ratio of 137Cs inventories in the organic horizon to the total 137Cs deposition in soil exhibited substantial variation, especially in broad-leaved deciduous forests that Koshiabura primarily inhabits. This variation may be the cause of the wide range of Tag-137Cs values observed in Koshiabura buds when calculated from the total 137Cs deposition in soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To explore the mechanisms in the deposition and release of phosphorus (P) in the sediment of a shallow eutrophic lake using preserved samples, we investigated the vertical and temporal changes in P, manganese (Mn), sulfur (S), iron (Fe), aluminum (Al), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg) in the sediment samples and the phosphate in the sediment pore water samples over a period of 6 years.Materials and methods: The upper 15 cm of sediment from Lake Kasumigaura in Japan was collected monthly from 2003 to 2008 from the center of the lake. Sediment cores were divided into seven depth segments and were acid-digested for an elemental analysis via inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. Phosphate concentrations of the sediment pore water were determined using the molybdenum blue method. A multiple regression analysis was conducted by setting the P content as the response variable and Mn, S, Fe, Al, Ca, and Mg as explanatory variables.Results and discussion: The results of the multiple regression analysis demonstrated that P co-precipitates with Fe and Al oxides and accumulates on the sediment surface. The vertical distributions of Mn and S suggest that Mn reduction occurs within the 0-1-cm-depth layer of the sediment and that iron sulfide is actively formed in the 6-10-cm-depth layer of the sediment. These findings imply that the layer in which ferric oxides are reduced to ferrous ions is present near the 1-6-cm-depth layer of the sediment. This layer corresponds to the layer in which the maximum phosphate concentration of the sediment pore water often occurred (the 2-6-cm-depth layer). These results indicate that vertical distributions of mineral elements are useful for assessing P dynamics in sediments.Conclusions: The lake sediments record the dynamics of P in the sediment. Our analytical approach using long-term observation data demonstrated that the accumulation and release of P associated with a change in the redox state can be assessed based on the vertical distributions of mineral elements in the lake sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the wide use of trace metals in various technologies, such as chemical industries and electronic equipment, insufficient information is available on their behavior in the environment. We investigated changes in chemical forms and vertical distribution during the migration processes of trace metals, whose usage is currently increasing rapidly, such as Ag, In, Sn, Sb, and Bi, in soil contaminated with the equivalent of 50-100 times the background concentrations of these metals using an indoor control type monolith lysimeter filled with Andosol during an 8-year monitoring period. The vertical distribution of the total elemental concentrations, the mobile fractions (exchangeable, carbonate-bound, and metal-organic complex-bound) in soils, and the total elemental concentrations in soil solutions were analyzed to study trace metal migration in soil. Except for In, most of the added metals were retained in the uppermost (0-2 cm) soil layer, even after 8 years. However, In markedly migrated downward and accumulated at a depth of approximately 15 cm after 8 years. Furthermore, 10.0 ± 2.9 μg L of In was detected in soil solution at a depth of 17.5 cm. The mobility of In was probably caused by the acidity of the soil, because the pH of the soil between 0 and 15-cm depth was 5 and below, and soluble hydro-oxides, such as In(OH)aq and In(OH), might be produced at this pH. Consequently, the remarkable mobility of In occurred in Andosol, which strongly retains various trace metals. The proportions of the mobile fractions observed in this study indicated that the mobility of the five metals in Andosol occurred in the order In > Bi ≥ Sb ≥ Sn > Ag. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate differences in culturable freshwater bacterioplankton between summer and winter, we examined specific bacterioplankton in the low temperature surface water of two shallow, hypereutrophic, temperate lakes in Japan over two winters, and compared our results with the previously published data. We used the size-exclusion assay method (SEAM), a cultivation-based approach that simply and effectively isolates typical freshwater bacterioplankton. The specific clusters detected in the winter samples were the Rhodoferax sp. BAL47 cluster (LimA and LimC), a predominant and ubiquitous freshwater lineage, and the LiUU-5-340 cluster. To confirm tolerance to low water temperature of winter-specific groups, we also compared growth rates at 5°C among several pure strains of typical freshwater bacterioplankton clusters belonging to the Rhodoferax sp. BAL47, Polynucleobacter necessarius, GKS98, LiUU-5-340, and IRD18C08 of the class Betaproteobacteria, and the Luna-1 and Luna-2 of the class Actinobacteria. Specific detectability of freshwater bacterioplankton clusters/subclusters by SEAM in the winter sample substantially correlated with the low temperature-specific growth characteristics of each isolate. Response to water temperature is a key control factor in freshwater bacterioplankton assemblage composition. These results provide important insights into the specific response to water temperature of several ubiquitous culturable freshwater bacterioplankton clusters inhabiting a temperate climate zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the nitrification potential of phyllospheric microbes, we incubated throughfall samples collected under the canopies of Japanese cedar ( Cryptomeria japonica) and analyzed the transformation of inorganic nitrogen in the samples. Nitrate concentration increased in the unfiltered throughfall after 4 weeks of incubation, but remained nearly constant in the filtered samples (pore size: 0.2 and 0.4 µm). In the unfiltered samples, δO and δN values of nitrate decreased during incubation. In addition, archaeal ammonia monooxygenase subunit A ( amoA) genes, which participate in the oxidation of ammonia, were found in the throughfall samples, although betaproteobacterial amoA genes were not detected. The amoA genes recovered from the leaf surface of C. japonica were also from archaea. Conversely, nitrate production, decreased isotope ratios of nitrate, and the presence of amoA genes was not observed in rainfall samples collected from an open area. Thus, the microbial nitrification that occurred in the incubated throughfall is likely due to ammonia-oxidizing archaea that were washed off the tree canopy by precipitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strontium (Sr) isotope ratios of soils, stream water, plants, and atmospheric precipitation were used to trace calcium (Ca) and to determine the influence of volcanic ash in soils on Ca cycling in forest ecosystems in a small forested watershed on Mt. Tsukuba, central Japan. The 87Sr/86Sr ratios of soils on steep slopes and the valley floor ranged from 0.7110 to 0.7139, which indicates that the major source of Sr was the granite substrate (87Sr/86Sr ratio 0.7120–0.7131). Soils on a ridge had lower 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.7068–0.7072), indicating that they were mainly composed of volcanic ash materials released around 30,000 years ago from Mt. Akagi (0.7069). The 87Sr/86Sr ratio decreased and the concentrations of Sr (and Ca) increased in stream water with increased elevation from the valley bottom to the ridge, indicating that volcanic ash was the dominant source of both cations in the upstream area. The contributions of volcanic ash-derived Sr to upstream and downstream water were 50 and 0–1 %, respectively. The 87Sr/86Sr ratios of plants were between those of the soils in which the plants were growing and those of atmospheric precipitation (0.7100). More than 74 % of the Sr in plants on the ridge, but <17 % in plants in the valley bottom, was volcanic ash-derived. The origin of Sr (and thus Ca) in stream waters and plants varied depending on the volcanic ash content in soils, which was significantly influenced by the site elevation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geological and geographical parameters including land use, stratigraphic structure, groundwater quality, and N- and O-isotopic compositions of nitrate in groundwater were investigated to elucidate the mechanism of groundwater pollution by NO in the agricultural area of Katori, Chiba, Japan. An aquitard distributed in the western part of the study area has produced two unconfined aquifers. The average concentrations of NO and dissolved oxygen (DO) were high in the aquifer above the aquitard (7.5 and 7.6 mg/L, respectively) and in the aquifer of the eastern part of the study area that was not influenced by the aquitard (11.9 and 7.8 mg/L, respectively); however, the levels in the aquifer under the aquitard were relatively low (2.2 and 3.7 mg/L, respectively). The δN and δO values of NO generally increased exponentially in the groundwater that flowed into the aquifer under the aquitard as the concentration of NO decreased, although this decrease in NO also occasionally occurred without isotopic changes. These results indicated that the aquitard prevented the penetration of NO, DO, and gaseous O. Under the aquitard, denitrification and dilution with unpolluted water that entered from natural forested areas reduced the NO concentrations in the groundwater. The major sources of NO in groundwater in the study area were estimated to be NH-chemical fertilizer, livestock waste, and manure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was performed to investigate the weathering and dissolution rates of Pb shot pellets differing in elemental composition (Pb, Sb, and As) exposed under various aqueous and soil conditions using five commercial shot pellet preparations. Upon immersion in distilled water, the dissolution rates of shot pellets, calculated from the difference in weight before versus after immersion, decreased with increasing Sb + As contents and the dominant precipitate was hydrocerussite. These subsidiary ingredients may be related to the difficulty of metallic Pb oxidation (transformation to PbO). Weight losses standardized by the amount of rainfall upon exposure to rainfall on open grassland and under canopies of Japanese cedar ( Cryptomeria japonica) and bamboo-leafed oak ( Quercus myrsinaefolia) were 1.11, 1.07, and 7.35 mg g pellets−1 year−1 L−1, respectively, and was also related to Sb + As contents in shot pellets. However, annual dissolution rates of Pb standardized by the amount of rainfall as the soluble fraction at the same sites were 0.72, 0.33, and 0.40 mg Pb g pellets−1 year−1 L−1 in the same order. These trends seemed to be related to the rainfall pH, which induces precipitation of Pb dissolved as PbCO3 under conditions of higher pH at the Q. myrsinaefolia site or organic matter released from leaves, etc., which can form metal complexes. Dissolution rates of shot pellets buried in soils (Cambisol, Fluvisol, Regosol, Andosol) also seemed to be related to the soil pH and dissolved organic matter contents but were about sixfold faster than those with exposure to rainfall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]