Environmental Science & Technology
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Item Managing Cover Crops for Better N Efficiency and Soil Health(2024) Stefun, Melissa; Weil, Ray; Environmental Science and Technology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Winter cover cropping is a major tool that agriculture can use to protect soil and water quality and mitigate climate change. Unlike farmland in the world at large, most Maryland cropland has seen little tillage disturbance and some level of cover cropping for decades. With that background, field experiments on two soils with contrasting textures at the Beltsville Facility of Central Maryland Research and Education Center tested the effects of cover crop management enhancements on nitrogen (N) leaching, soil health indicators, and cover crop N uptake over three years. Two cover crops (sole rye and a mixture of forage radish, crimson clover, and rye) were compared to a control where cover cropping was ceased. The cash crops were corn and soybean grown in rotation. With best nutrient management practices applied, suction lysimeter sampling at 90 cm depth from October through April showed low levels of N leaching in general, but NO3-N concentrations were significantly lower under cover crops. Overall mean concentrations of NO3-N were 2.20 mg N/L in the control but 0.43 mg N/L under cover crops. Additionally, soil water samples were digested to determine dissolved organic N (DON) which was found to make up between 44-60% of the total dissolved N in the leaching water. In additional experiments, a small fertilizer N application was made to cover crops to stimulate rapid deep rooting with the goal of accessing soluble N deep in the profile to increase N capture by more than the amount of N applied. The response to fall N fertilization failed to accomplish this goal and was not related to the surface soil NO3-N concentration as expected. In spring, cover crops were terminated on three dates from mid-April to mid-May and rye biomass doubled with each extra two weeks it was allowed to grow whether it was in the mix or alone. The effect of cover crops on soil health indicators was evident with increased soil permanganate oxidizable carbon, total soil carbon, lower bulk density, and greater aggregation. These experiments demonstrated that cover crops with enhanced management can have marked effects on an agricultural system already using sustainable practices.Item Utilizing algal turf scrubbers for bioremediation and bioenergy production(2023) Delp, Danielle Marie; Lansing, Stephanie A; Environmental Science and Technology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation researched the conversion of algal biomass that was generated as a byproduct of bioremediation by algal turf scrubbers (ATS) into bioenergy via anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion is a bacterial process that converts organic material into bioenergy in the form of biogas that contains methane (CH4), the primary component of natural gas. Bioenergy yield was quantified as the volume of CH4 generated from digestion of the algae in relation to seasonal changes in algal biomass yield, different digester operational parameters, co-digestion of the biomass with more conventional digestion feedstock, and flocculation pre-treatment for dewatering of algae prior to digestion. The first study used a pilot-scale mesophilic digester at the Port of Baltimore (Baltimore, MD, USA) to continuously digest algae from a 122 m2 ATS on the Patapsco River over two years. Biomass generation was significantly correlated to maximum daily air temperature, water temperature, and flow rate in Year 1 but only water flow rate in Year 2. Algae of the taxa Ochrophyta dominated the algal turf, especially the filamentous diatom Melosira sp., in both years. In Year 1 of the study, two anaerobic digestion systems with variable hydraulic retention times (HRT), designated D1 (average HRT 45.0 ± 5.8 days) and D2-D3 (average HRT 61.0 ± 8.1 days) were used to digest the algae. The D1 generated 1090 L CH4 from 2416 L of algae over a 39-day HRT (59.1 ± 8.9 L algae/kg VS), and D2-D3 generated 1170 L CH4 from 2337 L of algae over a 53-day HRT (67.9 ± 11.0 L algae/kg VS). The difference in CH4 yield with two different HRTs was not significant. In Year 2, only the D2-D3 was operated and was modified to test the use of active recirculation and heating to improve digestion efficiency and CH4 yield. The D2-D3 system generated 4000 L of CH4 (163 ± 42 L algae/kg VS) from 3310 L of algae in Year 2. The second study consisted of laboratory-scale biomethane potential tests to test changes in CH4 yield when algae harvested from an Anacostia River (Bladensburg, MD, USA) ATS was co-digested with three wastes (dairy manure, food waste, and poultry litter) at algae:waste loading ratios of at 1:1, 1:2, 1:5, and 1:10 by organic material, or volatile solids (VS), content. The algal biomass was the least efficient substrate at generating CH4 when normalized by both mass VS digested (109 ± 4 mL CH4/g VS) and total mass of substrate digested (0.687 ± 0.025 mL CH4/g substrate). Co-digestion with all three of the wastes at all ratios tested significantly increased CH4 generation efficiency per mass VS compared to only digesting algae. However, the high moisture content of the algae (95.2%) relative to the other co-digestion wastes (29.0-84.6%) significantly decreased CH4 production on a mass basis for the dairy manure, food waste, and poultry litter when algae was added at any loading ratio. A lettuce growth experiment using the effluent of the digestion vessels showed no signs of acute toxicity when any of the diluted (8-fold) digester effluents were applied as fertilizer to the developing plants. The third and final study consisted of flocculation experiments that tested 500-mL of algae using four experimental treatments (FeCl3, electrocoagulation, chitosan, and Bacillus sp. RP 1137) to dewater algae harvested from the Anacostia River ATS and compared to gravity settling as a control. The experimental flocculants successfully increased the total solids (TS) of the ATS algae by 14-291% depending on the treatment, with electrocoagulation being the least effective and bacterial flocculation being the most effective flocculant. All treatments reduced total suspended solids (TSS) in the drained supernatant by >98%. The raw ATS algae and dewatered solids from the settling experiment were then digested for 35-days, with the algae yielding 49.6 ± 3.6 mL of CH4/g VS. The dewatered solids had reduced digestion efficiency by 29.6-71.0% compared to untreated algae. Dewatering pre-treatment increased CH4 yield from the algae when normalized by total g substrate fed to the reactor (1.65 ± 0.12 mL CH4/g substrate) for all treatments except bacteria 1x, however the effect was only significant for solids dewatered with electrocoagulation. The results from the three studies show that temperature drives algal growth patterns in temperate climates, which results in seasonally variable biomass yield from ATS, with a corresponding variability in CH4 production due to inconsistent availability of the algal feedstock. Algae can be co-digested with agricultural and food wastes that are generated year-round to reduce variability in feedstock availability. Thickening and dewatering the algae improves CH4 yield on a mass basis, however the digestion efficiency was reduced. In conclusion, the findings suggest that anaerobic digestion is a viable means of managing the algae harvested from ATS systems with and without co-digestion of the algal biomass.Item SURVIVAL OF ESCHERICHIA COLI AND CHANGES IN PHYSICOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS IN AQUAPONIC SYSTEMS DURING BASIL AND LETTUCE PRODUCTION(2023) Quach, Emily; Yonkos, Lance; Environmental Science and Technology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Aquaponics (APs), a soilless production system, integrates aquaculture and hydroponics to provide local fresh produce while conserving natural resources. The absence of soil in APs eliminates one potential food safety risk present in typical soil-based production systems, but APs may become contaminated from a variety of sources. Escherichia coli TVS 354 long-term survival was evaluated in bench-scale, deep-water APs units. In addition, pathogen presence on basil and lettuce at the time of harvest and changes in the population density of mesophilic aerobic bacteria in APs were measured. Results showed E. coli populations significantly decreased 24 h post-inoculation in water samples and remained undetectable by day 1 post-inoculation. Lettuce harvested on day 60 had detectable E. coli on lettuce leaves and roots at harvest. These results provide new insight on E. coli survival in harvested plants, indicate potential risks for foodborne illnesses, and unreliability of water testing as a monitoring tool.Item Extending the Cover Crop Growing Season to Reduce Nitrogen Pollution(2021) Sedghi, Nathan; Weil, Ray R; Environmental Science and Technology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Maryland currently has the highest rate of cover crop use in the United States. The Cover Crop Program, started as an initiative to clean nutrients from the Chesapeake Bay, has made it a common practice to plant a cereal cover crop after cash crop harvest in fall, and kill it several weeks before cash crop planting in spring. In Maryland, this practice does not allow enough growing time with warm conditions for optimal cover crop growth. Planting earlier in fall and killing a cover crop later in spring could improve soil N cycling. We hypothesized that interseeding into a cash crop in early fall, and delaying spring cover crop termination could increase cover crop biomass, carbon accumulation, and nitrogen uptake and decrease nitrate leached. We tested these hypotheses over four years with five field experiments, consistently using a brassica-legume-cereal cover crop mix. We evaluated the relationships between cover crop planting date and fall cover crop N uptake and reduction in nitrate leaching. In spring, we tested termination timing effects on cover biomass C and N, soil mineral N concentration, soil moisture, and corn yield. We tested multiple dates for broadcast interseeding cover crops into standing soybean cash crops. We partnered with farmers on Maryland’s Eastern Shore to test if our methods are feasible at a realistic scale. We measured nitrous oxide emissions to test if our recommended cover crop practice has the negative drawback of increasing emissions of nitrous oxide, a powerful greenhouse gas. The nitrate leached under late drilled and early interseeded methods were comparable under conditions which favored late drilling, but interseeding outperformed drilling when there was adequate rainfall for seed germination. The result was lower nitrate porewater concentrations under early planted cover crops. Nitrous oxide emissions increased slightly with cover crops relative to no cover crop, but the increase was negligible when compared to the nitrous oxide produced from applying N fertilizer. Our research showed that extending the cover crop growing season of a brassica-legume-cereal mix has multiple environmental benefits and few drawbacks.Item Sulfur Management to Enhance Yield and Protein Quality of Grain Legumes(2020) Rushovich, Dana Alison; Weil, Raymond; Environmental Science and Technology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Sulfur (S) is an essential macronutrient and a key component in essential amino acids, methionine and cysteine (MET+CYS) that are the building blocks of protein. For a number of reasons, including difficulties in analysis for S, soil testing and fertility management has largely ignored this essential plant macronutrient. Trials were carried out over three years to evaluate the role of S fertility on the yield, seed S content, S yield and seed MET+CYS content of three types of grain legumes: double crop soybeans (Glycine Max), full season soybeans, and common dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). Sulfur fertility management significantly increased yield, seed S content, S yield, and seed MET+CYS content on low S soils. Additionally, four soil extractions were evaluated as potential methods to improve S fertility recommendations. Calcium phosphate extractions more accurately identified sites that had a yield or seed s content response to applied S compared to Mehlich 3 and Calcium Chloride.Item DEEP SOIL NITROGEN CAPTURE AND RECYCLING BY EARLY-PLANTED, DEEP-ROOTED COVER CROPS(2018) Hirsh, Sarah Marie; Weil, Ray R; Environmental Science and Technology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The overall purpose of this study was to improve the efficiency of nitrogen (N) cycling in Mid-Atlantic cropping systems through the use of cover crops. Our focus was on describing soil inorganic N pools (0-210 cm deep) and investigating the potential for cover crops to scavenge and recycle deep soil N. Few agronomic studies consider soil properties and processes deeper than the upper 20 to 30 cm, as the majority of roots, amendments, and practices such as fertilizer application or tillage occur on the soil surface or in the topsoil. We 1) assessed amounts of deep soil N on 29 farms in the Mid-Atlantic region, 2) used 15N tracer to investigate the capacity of various cover crops with early- or late-planting dates to capture and recycle deep soil N, and 3) investigated early-planted cover crop systems on 19 farm trials to assess their performance on farms with various soils with diverse management practices. We found that on average 253 kg N ha-1 of inorganic N remained in the soil following summer crops, 55% from 90-210 cm deep. Soil following soybean had the same amount or more of inorganic N than soil following corn throughout the soil profile. Using 15N isotopic tracer, we determined that radish, rye, and radish/rye mixes with and without crimson clover all could capture N from deep soil (60+ cm), but in order for cover crops to capture agronomically meaningful amounts of nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) from deep soil, they had to be planted by early-September. Cover crop trials on 19 farms indicated that, while variable site-by-site, early-planted cover crops tended to accumulate substantial N in the fall and reduce residual soil NO3-N levels substantially in the fall and spring. Cover crops also impacted subsequent corn growth and yield, with winter cereal tending to cause lower yields or increased corn N fertilizer needs compared to a no cover crop control, and forage radish sometimes leading to higher yields compared to the control. Overall, cover crops are effective at scavenging deep soil N in the fall, before winter leaching occurs, and under certain conditions, can release N for subsequent crops.Item Climate Change Impacts and Adaptations in Eastern US Crop Production(2017) Salazar Lahera, Natalia; Hill, Robert L; Environmental Science and Technology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Climate change is affecting crop production in the Eastern US and is expected to continue doing so unless adaptation measures are employed. In the first study, we conducted surveys and interviews to identify crop management practices currently used as adaptations in the Mid-Atlantic US. The results pointed to a variety of water and soil management practices, changes in crop characteristics, and changes in planting dates. In the second study, we used the Agricultural Policy/Environmental eXtender (APEX) model to evaluate future climate change impacts and adaptations in Eastern US corn-soybean rotation systems. The effects of climate change on yields ranged from decreases to increases, generally improving with latitude and worsening with time. Climate change affected corn yields more negatively or less positively than soybean yields. No-tillage and rye cover cropping did not serve as effective adaptations in regards to yields. In fact, planting rye after corn and soybeans reduced corn yields.Item Back to Earth: Molecular Approaches to Microbial Ecology Must Consider Soil Morphology and Physicochemical Properties(2015) Dlott, Glade; Yarwood, Stephanie A; Environmental Science and Technology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This project studied the influence of different long-term agricultural management regimes on soil microbial communities, and compared survival strategies of individual prokaryotic OTUs in diverse soils subjected to long-term incubation. Together these would show whether alterations to microbial communities affect rates of soil carbon cycling. Agricultural soils were sampled at arbitrary depths above and below the plow layer, and relative abundances of microbes were measured using high-throughput sequencing. `Activity' (rRNA:rDNA) ratios were calculated for individual OTUs identified by high-throughput sequencing of tropical rainforest and temperate cornfield soils after incubation for one year with differing water and carbon availabilities. It was found that depth controls microbial communities to a greater degree than agricultural management, and that the characterization of microbial trophic strategies might be complicated by the often-ignored DNA preservation potential of soil. The study highlights the need for holistic approaches to testing hypotheses in modern microbial ecology.Item Evaluation of accuracy and sensitivity of the University of Maryland Phosphorus Management Tool and investigation of subsurface phosphorus dynamics in the Maryland Coastal Plains region(2015) Fiorellino, Nicole; McGrath, Joshua M; Environmental Science and Technology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Phosphorus (P) loss from agricultural fields to surface water represents a major environmental challenge in agricultural nutrient management. To reduce P loading, areas where both P source and transport conditions are present must be identified and appropriate management practices implemented to reduce the source or break transport connectivity. The Maryland P Site Index (MD-PSI) was modified from a multiplicative structure to a component structure and renamed University of Maryland Phosphorus Management Tool (UM-PMT). In the UM-PMT, each component is the product of source, transport, and management factors specific to a P loss pathway. Our objectives were to evaluate the UM-PMT for accuracy, investigate soil conditions in ditch-drained agricultural systems, compare different methods for degree of P saturation (DPS) calculation, and compare numerical and categorical final scores of the multiple versions of the Maryland P loss risk indices. Agronomic soil samples were collected from fields across Maryland, and analyzed for P, aluminum (Al), and iron (Fe) concentration using multiple extractions, soil texture was determined, and degree of P saturation (DPS) was calculated using five methods. Deep soil samples were collected and analyzed similarly from three sites on Maryland's eastern shore. A poor relationship was identified between UM-PMT and modeled P loss data (R2=0.09), but the relationship improved with modifications to UM-PMT calculation (R2=0.97), which resulted in UM-PMT Version 2 (UM-PMT v.2). Soil Fe concentration was responsible for a large proportion of DPS at one sample location on the Eastern Shore, demonstrated through poor correlation between two methods for DPS calculation, including and excluding Fe concentration. Numerical differences existed between different methods for DPS calculation and these translated to differences in UM-PMT final score, particularly in the Lower Shore region. The UM-PMT v.2 categorized more fields as HIGH risk than MD-PSI but less than UM-PMT. Neither version of the UM-PMT was very sensitive to management factor input variables. Evaluation of tools like the UM-PMT for accuracy, sensitivity, and magnitude of change is necessary to understand potential economic and environmental impacts of implementing new indices as nutrient management tools.Item COUPLING ANAEROBIC DIGESTION TECHNOLOGY AND FORAGE RADISH COVER CROPPING TO OPTIMIZE METHANE PRODUCTION OF DAIRY MANURE-BASED DIGESTION(2015) Belle, Ashley Juanika; Lansing, Stephanie; Environmental Science and Technology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Anaerobic digestion technology was coupled with a new forage radish cover cropping system in order to increase biogas production of a dairy manure digester. Specifically, this research investigated forage radish as a renewable source of energy in terms of methane (CH4) production, the effect of radish co-digestion on hydrogen sulfide (H2S) production, and the relationship between H2S production and methanogenesis limitations. Optimal substrate co-digestion ratios and inoculum to substrate ratios (ISR) were determined in the laboratory with biochemical methane potential assays (300 mL) and pilot-scale complete mix batch digesters (850 L) were constructed and operated to determine energy production potential at the farm-scale level. Laboratory results showed that forage radish had 1.5-fold higher CH4 potential than dairy manure on a volatile solids basis, with increasing the radish content of the co-digestion mixture significantly increasing CH4 production. Initial H2S production also increased as the radish content increased, but the sulfur-containing compounds were rapidly utilized, resulting in all treatments having similar H2S concentrations (0.10-0.14%) and higher CH4 content in the biogas (48-70% CH4) over time. The 100% radish digester had the highest specific CH4 yield (372 ± 12 L CH4/kg VS). The co-digestion mixture containing 40% radish had a lower specific CH4 yield (345 ± 2 L CH4/kg VS), but also showed significantly less H2S production at start-up and high quality biogas (58% CH4). Utilizing 40% radish as substrate, decreasing the ISR below 50% (wet weight) resulted in unstable digestion conditions with decreased CH4 production and an accumulation of butyric and valeric acids. Pilot-scale experiments revealed that radish co-digestion increased CH4 production by 39% and lowered the H2S concentration in the biogas (0.20%) beyond that of manure-only digestion (0.34% - 0.40%), although cumulative H2S production in the radish + manure digesters was higher than manure-only. Extrapolated to a farm-scale (200 cows) continuous mixed digester, co-digesting with a 13% radish mixture could generate 3150 m3 CH4/month, providing a farmer additional revenue up to $3125/month in electricity sales. These results suggest that dairy farmers could utilize forage radish, a substrate that does not compete with food production, to increase CH4 production of manure digesters.