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Soil organic carbon (SOC) associated with minerals is considered to be one of the most fundamental long-term SOC storage strategies, but little research has integrated the organo-mineral complexes regulated by long-term fertilization. Here, soil samples under three fertilization treatments (Control, no fertilization; NPK, chemical nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilization; NPKM, NPK plus manure) from four 23-34 years long-term field experiment sites across China were examined. Chemical analyses indicated that vigorous iron (Fe) mobilization could be regulated by long-term fertilization regimes. Meanwhile, Fe K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge fine structure (XANES) demonstrated that compared to NPK treated soils, NPKM treated soils contained significantly higher concentration of poorly crystalline ferrihydrite. Results from both the Fourier transform infrared combined with two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy analyses (FTIR-2DCOS) and C 1 s X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that aliphatic carbohydrate might play an important role in binding exogenous Fe(III) in all tested four soils. In addition, greater amounts of aromatic C (the most resistant soil C fraction) were under long-term treated NPKM than NPK soils. Furthermore, multiple regression analyses showed a significantly positive relationship between poorly crystalline Fe minerals and SOC or aromatic C. Such relationships indicated that aromatic functional groups had been attached to the poorly crystalline Fe minerals, which could also be protected from being transformed to the crystalline counterpart. In conclusion, results from our integrated spectroscopic analyses have evidenced greater improvement of both poorly crystalline Fe minerals and aromatic C in organically fertilized than in chemically fertilized soils., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Mineral binding is a major mechanism for soil carbon (C) stabilization, and mineral availability for C binding critically affects C storage. Yet, the mechanisms regulating mineral availability are poorly understood. Here, we showed that organic amendments in three long-term (23, 154, and 170 yrs, respectively) field experiments significantly increased mineral availability, particularly of short-range-ordered (SRO) phases. Two microcosm studies demonstrated that the presence of roots significantly increased mineral availability and promoted the formation of SRO phases. Mineral transformation experiments and isotopic labeling experiments provided direct evidence that citric acid, a major component of root exudates, promoted the formation of SRO minerals, and that SRO minerals acted as "nuclei" for C retention. Together, these findings indicate that soil organic amendments initialize a positive feedback loop by increasing mineral availability and promoting the formation of SRO minerals for further C binding, thereby possibly serving as a management tool for enhancing carbon storage in soils.

Understanding the binding characteristics of copper (Cu) to different functional groups in soil dissolved organic matter (DOM) is important to explore Cu toxicity, bioavailability and ultimate fate in the environment. However, the methods used to explore such binding characteristics are still limited. Here, two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) integrated with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), 29 Si nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), 27 Al NMR, and synchrotron-radiation-based FTIR spectromicroscopy were used to explore the binding characteristics of Cu to soil DOM as part of a long-term (23 years) fertilization experiment. Compared with no fertilization and inorganic fertilization (NPK), long-term pig manure fertilization (M) treatment significantly increased the concentration of total and bioavailable Cu in soils. Furthermore, hetero-spectral 2DCOS analyses demonstrated that the binding characteristics of Cu onto functional groups in soil DOM were modified by fertilization regimes. In the NPK treatment, Cu was bound to aliphatic C, whereas in the manure treatment SiO groups had higher affinity toward Cu than aliphatic C. Also, the sequence of binding of functional groups to Cu was modified by the fertilization treatments. Moreover, synchrotron-radiation-based FTIR spectromicroscopy showed that Cu, clay minerals and sesquioxides, and C functional groups were heterogeneously distributed at the micro-scale. Specifically, clay-OH as well as mineral elements had a distribution pattern similar to Cu, but certain (but not all) C forms showed a distribution pattern inconsistent with that of Cu. The combination of synchrotron radiation spectromicroscopy and 2DCOS is a useful tool in exploring the interactions among heavy metals, minerals and organic components in soils., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

To investigate potential interactions between the soil ionome and enzyme activities affected by fertilization with or without organic fertilizer, soil samples were collected from four long-term experiments over China. Irrespective of variable interactions, fertilization type was the major factor impacting soil ionomic behavior and accounted for 15.14% of the overall impact. Sampling site was the major factor affecting soil enzymatic profile and accounted for 34.25% of the overall impact. The availabilities of Pb, La, Ni, Co, Fe and Al were significantly higher in soil with only chemical fertilizer than the soil with organic amendment. Most of the soil enzyme activities, including α-glucosidase activity, were significantly activated by organic amendment. Network analysis between the soil ionome and the soil enzyme activities was more complex in the organic-amended soils than in the chemical fertilized soils, whereas the network analysis among the soil ions was less complex with organic amendment. Moreover, α-glucosidase was revealed to generally harbor more corrections with the soil ionic availabilities in network. We concluded that some of the soil enzymes activated by organic input can make the soil more vigorous and stable and that the α-glucosidase revealed by this analysis might help stabilize the soil ion availability.

Mineral elements in soil solutions are thought to be the precursor of the formation of reactive minerals, which play an important role in global carbon (C) cycling. However, information regarding the regulation of mineral elements release in soil is scarce. Here, we examined the long-term (i.e., 23 yrs) effects of fertilisation practices on Fe minerals in a red soil in Southern China. The results from chemical analysis and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy showed that long-term swine manure (M) treatment released greater amounts of minerals into soil solutions than chemical fertilisers (NPK) treatment, and Fe played a dominant role in the preservation of dissolved organic C. Furthermore, Fe K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge fine structure spectroscopy demonstrated that reactive Fe minerals were mainly composed of less crystalline ferrihydrite in the M-treated soil and more crystalline goethite in the NPK-treated soil. In conclusion, this study reported spectroscopic evidence of the improvement of reactive Femineral content in the M-treated soil colloids when compared to NPK-treated soil colloids.

Mineral-organo associations (MOAs) are a mixture of identifiable biopolymers associated with highly reactive minerals and microorganisms. However, the in situ characterization and correlation between soil organic matter (SOM) and highly reactive Al and Fe minerals are still unclear for the lack of technologies, particularly in the long-term agricultural soil colloids at submicron scale. We combined several novel techniques, including nano-scale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS), X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to characterise the capacity of highly reactive Al and Fe minerals to preserve SOM in Ferralic Cambisol in south China. Our results demonstrated that: (1) highly reactive minerals were strongly related to SOM preservation, while SOM had a more significant line correlation with the highly reactive Al minerals than the highly reactive Fe minerals, according to the regions of interest correlation analyses using NanoSIMS; (2) allophane and ferrihydrite were the potential mineral species to determine the SOM preservation capability, which was evaluated by the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fe K-edge XANES spectroscopy techniques; and (3) soil organic biopolymers with dominant compounds, such as proteins, polysaccharides and lipids, were distributed at the rough and clustered surface of MOAs with high chemical and spatial heterogeneity according to the CLSM observation. Our results also promoted the understanding of the roles played by the highly reactive Al and Fe minerals in the spatial distribution of soil organic biopolymers and SOM sequestration., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Understanding the organomineral associations in soils is of great importance. Using two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) and high resolution-transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) techniques, this study compared the binding characteristics of organic ligands to Al(III) in dissolved organic matter (DOM) from soils under short-term (3-years) and long-term (22-years) fertilizations. Three fertilization treatments were examined: (i) no fertilization (Control), (ii) chemical nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK), and (iii) NPK plus swine manure (NPKM). Soil spectra detected by the 2DCOS Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy showed that fertilization modified the binding characteristics of organic ligands to Al(III) in soil DOM at both short- and long- term location sites. The CH deformations in aliphatic groups played an important role in binding to Al(III) but with minor differences among the Control, NPK and NPKM at the short-term site. While at the long-term site both C-O stretching of polysaccharides or polysaccharide-like substances and aliphatic O-H were bound to Al(III) under the Control, whereas only aliphatic O-H, and only polysaccharides and silicates, were bound to Al(III) under NPK and NPKM, respectively. Images from HRTEM demonstrated that crystalline nanominerals, composed of Fe and O, were predominant in soil DOM under NPK, while amorphous nanominerals, predominant in Al, Si, and O, were dominant in soil DOM under Control and NPKM. In conclusion, fertilization strategies, especially under long-term, could affect the binding of organic ligands to Al(III) in soil DOM, which resulted in alterations in the turnover, reactivity, and bioavailability of soil organic matter. Our results demonstrated that the FTIR-2DCOS combined with HRTEM techniques could enhance our understanding in the binding characteristics of DOM to Al(III) and the resulted nanominerals in soils., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The binding characteristics of organic ligands and minerals in fulvic acids (FAs) with Al are essential for understanding soil C sequestration, remain poorly understood. In this study, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy combined with two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) analysis was applied for the first time to explore the binding of Al with organic ligands and minerals in soil FAs. For these analyses, two contrasting treatments were selected from a long-term (i.e., 22-year) fertilization experiment: chemical (NPK) fertilization and swine manure (SM) fertilization. The results showed that the long-term application of organic and inorganic fertilizers to soils had little effect on the compositions of the fluorescent substances and organic ligands in the soil FAs. However, long-term SM fertilization increased the weathered Al and Si concentrations in the soil FAs compared with long-term chemical fertilization. Furthermore, organic ligands in the soil FAs were mainly bound with Al in the NPK treatment, whereas both organic ligands and minerals (Al-O-Si, Si-O) were bound with Al under the M fertilization conditions. Both transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images and X-ray diffraction spectra demonstrated that amorphous and short-range-ordered nanominerals were abundant in the soil FAs from the SM plot in contrast to the soil FAs from the NPK plot. This result illustrates the role nanominerals play in the preservation of soil FAs by during long-term organic fertilization. In summary, the combination of FTIR and 2D correlation spectroscopy is a promising approach for the characterization of the binding capability between soil FAs and Al, and a better understanding FA-Al binding capability will greatly contribute to global C cycling.

This is the first attempt to report the gaseous nitrogen emissions from landfill leachate filtration methods by irrigating the aged refuse. A first-order reaction model was a good fit for the increase in ammonia emissions from aged refuse, clay and sandy soil incubated for 120 h after adding the leachate-N solution. The emissions of ammonia and N2O by the three experimental materials fit well to first-order and zero-order models, respectively. The maximum ammonia emission from aged refuse was approximately 1.17 mg NH4(+)-Nkg(-1) d.w. and the calculated emission factor was 1.95‰, which was 3.76 and 2.67 times lower than that of sandy and clay soils, respectively. The tendencies of NH4(+)-N nitrification and NO3(-)-N generations fit well to the zero-order reaction model and the net nitrification rate by the aged refuse was 1.30 (p<0.05) and 1.71 (p<0.05) times that of clay soil and sandy soil, respectively. At the same time, the net NO4(-)-N generation rate by the aged refuse was 1.56 (p<0.05) and 2.33 (p<0.05) times that of clay soil and sandy soil, respectively. The quantity of nitrogen emitted by aged refuse as N2O was 2.46 times greater than that emitted as ammonia. The emission factor for N2O from aged refuse was 8.28 (p<0.05) and 16.11 (p<0.05) times greater than that of clay and sandy soils, respectively. For the leachate irrigation, N2O emissions should be of greater concern than ammonia emissions., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Compost extracts are novel organic amendments, typically applied to suppress soil-borne diseases. This research evaluated the phytotoxicity of compost extracts and analyzed their ability to inhibit pathogenic fungal growth and reduce root-knot nematodes. The physical, chemical and biological characteristics of extracts from a pig manure and straw compost were analyzed. Three types of extracts were tested: direct extracts of compost (DEC), aerated fermentation extracts of compost (AFEC) and non-aerated fermentation extracts of compost (NAFEC). All compost extracts showed low phytotoxicity against lettuce and cress, but AFEC and NAFEC were more phytotoxic than DEC. All compost extracts significantly inhibited pathogenic fungal growth except for the fungus Rhizoctonia solania AG4. For two seasons, tomato root biomass of three compost extracts was 1.25-5.67 times greater than CK (water control), and AFEC and NAFEC showed the best tomato root growth promotion. The reduction ratio of root egg mass and density of soil nematodes were 34.51-87.77% and 30.92-51.37%, when applied with three compost extracts. The microbial population in compost extracts was considered to be the most significant factor of inhibition pathogenic fungal growth. No markedly correlations among bacterial community diversity, the inhibition of pathogenic fungal growth and the reduction of root-knot nematodes were observed. This information adds to the understanding of the growth-promoting and suppression effects of compost extracts and will help to enhance crop production.

Various parameters were measured during the period of composting of dairy manure and rice chaff in different ratios (dairy manure/rice chaff=V/V, pile 1: 75/25; pile 2: 80/20; pile 3: 85/15) to evaluate their suitability as indicators for the composting process. The temperature in pile 1 increased rapidly and remained above 60 °C for 30 days, while the temperature in pile 3 increased slowly relative to the other two piles. Furthermore, the degradation of organic substrates, as indicated by the reduction of C/N ratio, was rapid in pile 1 (below 20% 28 days after beginning of the composting). The major fluctuations of various water-soluble fractions in all piles were observed during the first 3 weeks, and the results in general showed that the highest microbial populations and enzymatic activities also appeared in this phase. Various parameters indicated that the rapid composting method was a feasible one for treating agricultural wastes., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) is a polymer with uses in foods, cosmetics, medicine and agriculture. The medium for the production of γ-PGA by Bacillusamyloliquefaciens C1 was optimized by response surface methodology using agro-industrial wastes in solid-state fermentation (SSF). The optimal SSF medium (20g substrates with 50% initial moisture) for producing γ-PGA was determined to contain 5.51g dairy manure compost, 1.91g soybean cake, 0.57g corn flour, 2.15g monosodium glutamate production residues, 1.5g wheat bran, 0.5g rapeseed cake, 0.1g citric acid, 0.05g MgSO(4)·7H(2)O and 0.03g MnSO(4)·H(2)O. In this medium the strain produced up to 0.0437g γ-PGA per gram of substrates when cultured for 48h at 37°C. SDS-PAGE showed that the molecular weight of the γ-PGA was more than 130kDa. Due to the high-yields observed and the low-cost nature of the optimal medium, this study indicates a possibility to establish economical large-scale production of γ-PGA., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Assessment of compost maturity is essential for achieving high quality compost. In this study, fluorescence excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy combined with different analysis techniques was applied to improve the sensitivity of compost maturity assessment. Results showed that composts in two parallel piles could be believed mature after 37d when combined with the evolution of temperature, chemical and biological indices in the two piles. Pearson correlation between the common maturity indices and fluorescence analysis parameters demonstrated that fluorescence regional integration (FRI) had a higher correlation coefficient than that of fluorescence intensities and the ratios of peaks, suggesting that FRI technique is more suitable to characterize the maturity of compost than the other two analysis techniques, i.e., peak intensity and peak ratio. Furthermore, the fluorescence spectroscopy combined with FRI analysis could be used as a valuable industrial and research tool for assessing compost maturity., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A field experiment was conducted on two soil types in the Changsha suburb of Hunan Province to study the effects of hydroquinone (HQ), dicyandiamide (DCD) and thiourea (TU) on the nitrate content in soil and pakchoi and on the yield of pakchoi. The results showed that all the test nitrification inhibitors could significantly decrease the nitrate content in soil and pakchoi during whole growth stage, among which, DCD had the best effect, but the effect was differed on different soil types. Nitrification inhibitors could increase pakchoi yield, DCD was also the best one, and the effect was significantly better on vegetable garden red soil than on vegetable garden alluvial soil. The nitrate content in soil and pakchoi was the highest about 40 days after pakchoi transplanting.

Understanding how heavy metals bind and interact in soils is essential for predicting their distributions, reactions and fates in the environment. Here we propose a novel strategy, i.e., combining two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2D COS) and synchrotron radiation based spectromicroscopies, for identifying heavy metal binding to functional groups in soils. The results showed that although long-term (23 yrs) organic fertilization treatment caused the accumulation of Cd (over 3 times) in soils when compared to no fertilization and chemical fertilization treatments, it significantly ( p < 0.05) reduced the Cd concentration in wheat grain. The 2D COS analyses demonstrated that soil functional groups controlling Cd binding were modified by fertilization treatments, providing implications for the reduced bioavailability of heavy metals in organic fertilized soils. Furthermore, correlative micro X-ray fluorescence spectromicroscopy, electron probe micro-analyzer mapping, and synchrotron-radiation-based FTIR spectromicroscopy analysis showed that Cd, minerals, and organic functional groups were heterogeneously distributed at the micro-scale in soil colloids. Only minerals, rather than organic groups, had a similar distribution pattern with Cd. Together, this strategy has a potential to explore the interactions and binding sites among heavy metals, minerals and organic components in soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]