1,720,991 research outputs found
Contribution of nitrification and denitrification to nitrous oxide emissions from soils after application of biogas waste and other fertilizers
No full textThe attribution of nitrous oxide (N(2)O) emission to organic and inorganic N fertilizers requires understanding of how these inputs affect the two biological processes, i.e. denitrification and nitrification. Contradictory findings have been reported when the effects of organic and inorganic fertilizers on nitrous oxide emission were compared. Here we aimed to contribute to the understanding of such variation using (15)N-labelling techniques. We determined the processes producing N(2)O, and tested the effects of soil moisture, N rates, and the availability of organic matter. In a pot experiment, we compared soil treated with biogas waste (BGW) and mineral ammonium sulphate (Min-N) applied at four rates under two soil moisture regimes. We also tested biogas waste, conventional cattle slurry and mineral N fertilizer in a grassland field experiment. During the first 37 days after application we observed N(2)O emissions of 5.6 kg N(2)O-N ha(-1) from soils supplied with biogas waste at a rate of 360 kg N ha(-1). Fluxes were ca. 5-fold higher at 85% than at 65% water holding capacity (WHC). The effects of fertilizer types and N rates on N(2)O emission were significant only when the soil moisture was high. Organic fertilizer treated soils showed much higher N(2)O emissions than those receiving mineral fertilizer in both, pot and field experiment. Over all the treatments the percentage of the applied N emitted as N(2)O was 2.56% in BGW but only 0.68% in Min-N. In the pot experiment isotope labelling indicated that 65-95% of the N(2)O was derived from denitrification for all fertilizer types. However, the ratio of denitrification/nitrification derived N(2)O was lower at 65% than at 85% WHC. We speculate that the application of organic matter in conjunction with ammonium nitrogen first leads to a decrease in denitrification-derived N(2)O emission compared with soil receiving mineral fertilizer. However, at later stages when denitrification becomes C-limited, higher N(2)O emissions are induced when the soil moisture is high
Decomposition of biogas residues in soil and their effects on microbial growth kinetics and enzyme activities
No full textThe rapid development of biogas production will result in increased use of biogas residues as organic fertilizers. However, control of microbial activity by organic fertilizers remains a challenge for modern land use, especially with respect to mitigating greenhouse effects and increasing C sequestration in soil. To address this issue, we compared CO2 emissions, microbial growth and extracellular enzyme activities in agricultural soil amended with biogas residues (BGR) versus maize straw (MST). Over a 21 day incubation period, 6.4% of organic C added was mineralised and evolved as CO2 with BGR and 30% with MST. As shown by the substrate-induced growth respiration approach, BGR and MST significantly decreased the specific microbial growth rate (mu) and increased the microbial biomass C in the soil, indicating a clear shift in the microbial community to slower-growing microorganisms. Because of the reduced availability of C associated with the less labile C and more lignin in biogas residues, observed mu values and microbial biomass C were lower after BGR application than after MST application. After 21 days incubation, BGR had no effect on the activity of three extracellular enzymes: beta-glucosidase and cellobiohydrolase, both of which are involved in cellulose decomposition; and xylanase, which is involved in hemicellulose decomposition. In contrast, MST significantly increased the activity of these three enzymes. The application of biogas residues in short-term experiment leads to a 34% increase in soil C content and slower C turnover as compared to common maize residues. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Effect of biochar origin and soil type on the greenhouse gas emission and the bacterial community structure in N fertilised acidic sandy and alkaline clay soil
No full textSoil amendment with biochar has received increased attention because of its potential to i) sequester carbon and ii) reduce N2O emission when applied to N fertilised soils. To study the effect of biochar origin on greenhouse gas emission in two contrasting soil types, we used a robotized continuous flow incubation system and delta C-13 stable isotope approach to compare four biochar types (feed stock: olive mill, corn cob, pistachio shell, cotton stalk) in an alkaline clay soil and two selected biochar types (feed stock: olive mill and corn cob) in an acidic sandy soil. Furthermore, high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes was performed at the end of the incubation to investigate the effect of different biochars on bacterial community structure in the two different soils. In the alkaline clay soil, all biochar types in conjunction with N fertiliser decreased CO2 emissions up to 12% compared to the N added control treatment causing negative priming, whereas no significant effect of biochar addition on N2O emissions was observed. In contrast, application of olive mill biochar to the acidic sandy soil significantly increased soil pH, CO2, and N2O fluxes, whereas no significant effect of corn cob biochar addition was observed. There was a significant linear relationship between the biochar induced increase in soil pH and the biochar induced increase in soil born N2O emission. Additionally, we detected a clear variation in bacterial community structure in the acidic sandy soil (phyla Acidobacteria, Nitrospirare, and Arthrobacter) with the olive mill biochar addition. Overall, the amendment of different biochars failed to mitigate N2O emissions in both soil types when mineral fertiliser was added. Furthermore, amendment of olive mill biochar stimulated both N2O and CO2 emissions in the low pH sandy soil and altered the bacterial community structure, which was possibly related to its liming effect. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Emission of N2O from Biogas Crop Production Systems in Northern Germany
No full textThere is a growing concern that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during agricultural energy crop production might negate GHG emission savings which was not intended when promoting the use of renewable energy. Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a major GHG, and in addition, it is the most powerful ozone-depleting compound that is emitted by human activity. The use of N fertilizers and animal manures is the main anthropogenic source of N2O emissions. In spite of their high relevance, we still have limited understanding of the complex underlying microbial processes that consume or produce N2O and their interactions with soil types, fertilizers (rate and types), plants, and other environmental variables. In a 2-year field experiment, we compared two important biogas crops in two different agro-ecological regions of northern Germany for their productivity and GHG emissions, using the closed-chamber technique and high time-resolution sampling. Silage maize, which is currently the most widespread crop grown for biogas fermentation purposes in Germany, was compared with an alternative bioenergy crop at each site. The three forms of nitrogen fertilizers/manures were given: calcium ammonium nitrate, cattle/pig slurry, and biogas residue. The greatest N2O flux activity occurred in the period of May-July in all crops and at both sites. Flux patterns indicated pronounced effects of soil moisture-soil mineral-N interactions which were also seen as causation of the higher N2O fluxes in the bioenergy crop maize compared to the other tested energy crops. However, the N2O emission per unit methane production (specific N2O emission) was clearly lower in soils planted with maize due to significantly higher methane hectare yield of maize. Our data suggest a linear relationship between increasing N input and increases in N2O emission in both years at site with sandy loam texture where highest N2O fluxes were measured. At sandy loam site, the percentage of applied N being emitted as N2O was 1.9 and 1.1 % in soils cropped with maize and 0.9 and 0.8 % in soils cropped with wheat during the investigation period 2007-2008 and 2008-2009, respectively. In contrast, at site with sandy soil texture, the percentage of applied N emitted as N2O was only 0.6 and 0.7 % in maize soils and 0.4 and 0.3 % in grassland during 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 period, respectively. Higher daily and annual N2O emissions at the sandy loam site were attributed to the finer soil texture and higher denitrification activity. The present study provides a very good basis for the assessment of direct emissions of greenhouse gases from relevant biogas crops in North-West Europe.Schleswig-Holstein State Ministry of Economy and Scienc
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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