Source: PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to
BIOGEOCHEMICAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF NUTRIENTS AND METALS IN SOIL SYSTEMS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0222582
Grant No.
(N/A)
Project No.
PEN04402
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jul 1, 2010
Project End Date
Jun 30, 2014
Grant Year
(N/A)
Project Director
Bruns, MA, VI.
Recipient Organization
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
208 MUELLER LABORATORY
UNIVERSITY PARK,PA 16802
Performing Department
Ecosystem Science & Management
Non Technical Summary
Two critical challenges for agricultural and environmental stewardship are to reduce pollution by nutrients and metals and to restore productivity of degraded soils. This project, which is a collaboration between a microbiologist (Bruns), soil chemist (Martinez), and biogeochemist (Kaye), aims to elucidate fundamental biogeochemical interactions between soil nutrients, microorganisms and metals to improve soil nutrient retention, plant health, and environmental quality. Soil nitrogen (N) transformations are a major focus of this project, because N is the most limiting nutrient for plant growth and is subject to losses by leaching and denitrification. An important goal for U.S. agricultural research is to increase nitrogen use efficiency by crops, which currently take up only 40-50% of fertilizer N (National Research Council, 1993). One expected outcome of this work is enhanced fundamental knowledge of how agricultural management and soil microbial community composition/activity affect the oxidation state(s) and chemical form(s) of nitrogen. Better understanding of the biogeochemical mechanisms associated with fertilizer type and method of application will increase soil N retention and help reduce N fertilizer losses to surface and ground waters. Improved fertilizer efficiency will help mitigate environmental impacts of agricultural N transport, such as the formation of dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico. A second major focus of this project is metal interactions with soil nutrients. Cadmium (Cd) is an example of a heavy metal that occurs in soils as a result of both natural and anthropogenic activities. Cadmium sources to soils include bedrock weathering, industrial emissions, fossil fuel burning, and application of metal contaminated sludges and phosphate-fertilizers. Cadmium soil concentrations have increased in the last 60 years due to industrial activities, fertilizer and pesticide production and application, and electroplating. Overall, Cd toxicity in plants results from reduced uptake, transport, and use of nutrients such as Ca, Mg, P, and K and water. The main route of entry for Cd into humans is ingestion, and plant foods are the predominant sources of Cd in human diets. Cadmium uptake by food crops is of specific concern because of its toxicity to humans if enough is consumed. Understanding the mechanisms controlling Cd transport and uptake in soils is an important step for environmental remediation and protection of human and ecosystem health. The expected outcome of this part of the project is a better fundamental understanding of the interactions between heavy metals, microbes, and organic matter in soils. Because microbial activity can mediate changes in oxidation states and mineral phases containing metals, microorganisms play critical roles in metal availability for plant uptake and human exposure. Research results will provide fundamental knowledge that can be used to develop and evaluate soil management approaches that reduce biological availability of harmful metals.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
80%
Applied
20%
Developmental
0%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1010110200080%
1014010110320%
Knowledge Area
101 - Appraisal of Soil Resources;

Subject Of Investigation
0110 - Soil; 4010 - Bacteria;

Field Of Science
1103 - Other microbiology; 2000 - Chemistry;
Goals / Objectives
Objectives: (1)Determine the impact of agricultural management regimes (including fertilizer type, fertilizer application method, and organic matter additions) on soil N residence times, with specific focus on soil-atmosphere gas exchange in the northeastern U.S.A., including relationships between nitrogenous gases (N2O, NH3) and other trace gases (CH4, CO2) (Kaye, Bruns; (2)Measure changes in abundance and activity of soil microbial groups known to influence the balance of reduced and oxidized forms of soil N: ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB); ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), and respiratory denitrifying bacteria (Bruns, Kaye); (3)Test the effect of adding iron oxide minerals to manures prior to field application on ammonia and odor emissions (Bruns); (4)Test the effect of adding iron oxide minerals to degraded soils (Bruns, Martinez); (5)Assess the role of abiotic reactions in controlling nitrogen retention in soils with varying organic matter contents and inorganic amendments (Martinez, Kaye); (6)Test the hypothesis that variability in ecosystem (agricultural, urban, and forest) nitrogen losses is correlated with the ability of soils to rapidly transfer inorganic nitrogen into slow-turnover organic nitrogen pools (Martinez, Kaye) (7)Evaluate the chemical structure of stable soil organic nitrogen and the mechanisms that promote formation of stable nitrogen (Martinez, Kaye); (8)To determine the speciation of cadmium (Cd) in soils and its uptake by plants(Martinez). Milestones: One important milestone will be a research/extension publication based on our contributions to the Northeast SARE project, "Sustainable Cropping Systems for Dairy Farmers in the Northeastern U.S." This publication will report comparative soil N losses from the "shallow disk injection" and broadcast methods of manure application. Because this project will be up for renewal in 2012, we aim to provide data that will strengthen the renewal proposal to NE-SARE. Another milestone will be to obtain extramural funding to conduct molecular analyses of ammonia oxidizers in soil samples collected in 2009-2010 (and kept at -80C) from the Hunter Rotation Experiment, a long-term (1969-2008) cropping systems study at Rock Springs Agronomy Farm. Such funding would enable our department to gain additional returns from 40 years' investment in this experiment. Research proposals will be prepared for the USDA-AFRI Foundational Program on Soil Microbial Communities to apply advanced molecular tools to investigate long-term impacts of fertility management and crop rotations on soil microbial communities. Additional milestones will be research publications from studies on 1) 15N retention in soils under different land uses; 2) comparative soil N chemistry based on N-XANES data from soils under different land uses; and 3) identification of soluble forms of organic nitrogen and organic sulfur involved in increased bioavailability of toxic metals.
Project Methods
Procedures: The proposed work involves investigations of nitrogen and metals in soils and model systems by measuring solubility, solid-phase speciation, and spatial distribution. Soil constituents can influence speciation of nitrogen by affecting biogeochemical processes. Soils will be analyzed from plots in replicated field experiments as well as soils from controlled laboratory microcosms, which offer better opportunities to test effects of soil conditions on biogeochemical transformations. Additions to soils of organic matter, fertilizers, and iron oxides will be followed up by measurements of soil N chemistry, gas monitoring, N cycle processes, and genes of ammonia oxidizers, and denitrifiers through high-throughput sequencing. Isotope tracers (15N) and long-term laboratory incubations will be used to measure the size of the stable organic N pools in multiple land-use types including row-crop agricultural soils under a variety of management regimes. A variety of conventional (wet chemical) and novel (FTIR and N-XANES) techniques will be used to assess the chemical structure of soil organic matter that was not mineralized during long-term laboratory incubations. Sterile and live soils will be compared to assess the role of microbial vs. abiotic reactions in creating stable soil organic nitrogen. The solid- and solution- species of Cd in naturally and anthropogenically contaminated soils, and the biological uptake of Cd will be investigated. Plants will be grown in Cd-contaminated soils and Cd levels and distribution within plant tissues will be determined. Solid- and solution- phase chemical forms of cadmium will be assessed using wet chemical and spectroscopic analyses. Of special interest is the identification of soluble organic compounds (root exudates) involved in the dissolution of solid-phase Cd and/or in the formation of soluble Cd-organic complexes presumed to be involved in plant Cd uptake. We hypothesize soluble forms of organic nitrogen and organic sulfur complex Cd strongly, thus facilitating the soil-solution-plant Cd transfer mechanism. Cadmium uptake by plants and its distribution in plant tissue will be studied using synchrotron-based microprobe techniques and wet chemical analyses.

Progress 07/01/10 to 06/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Communities served by this project included land and resource managers, agricultural producers, extension educators, scientific colleagues, regulators and field staff in PA Department of Environmental Protection, watershed restoration groups. Changes/Problems: Funding was unavailable to address Goal 7 (molecular structure of organic N forms). Armen R. Kemanian was added to the project 4/1/11. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Four PhD (Marshall McDaniel, Claudia, Rojas, Carla Rosenfeld, Amrita Bhattacharyya) and 1 M.S. (Julie Weitzman) were granted to graduate students involved in this project, with eight graduate students in process of completing their PhD degrees (Denise Finney, Alison Grantham, Charlie White, Julie Weitzman, Rachel Brimmer, Xin Peng, Virginia Pravia, and Debasish Saha). Postdoctoral training in soil chemistry and biogeochemistry was provided to Dr. Fiona Kizewski and Dr. Mac Burgess. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results were disseminated through peer-reviewed journal publications and presentations at international scientific meetings. An extension citation from this project was: White, C., T. DuPont, D. Hartman, M Hautau, and J. Kaye. 2014. Got Nitrate Leaching? The right cover crop mixture can help. Pennsylvania Certified Organic e-News, October, 2014. Available online at: http://www.paorganic.org/got-nitrate-leaching <Verified October 3, 2014> What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Accomplishments under project goals: (1)N residence time in agricultural soils. Soil N residence times are lengthened with increased organic matter inputs resulting from the incorporation of cover crop mixtures in agroecosystems. We completed several experiments that assessed tradeoffs between increasing N residence time in soil, and N provided to cash crops. We are developing conceptual and simulation models that link the C:N of the cover crop to tradeoff predictions.We completed a field experiment that assessed interactions between organic pasture policy and greenhouse gas emissions from soils, because some farmers may meet the new organic pasture policy requirement for higher levels of grazing by planting annual pastures.These annual pastures may have different biogeochemistry and phenology than traditional perennial pastures. We found that annual pastures had lower N2O emissions than perennial systems during mid-summer because perennial (C3) plants were growing slowly at this time, while annual (C4) pastures were rapidly growing. However, in one year, summer drought limited establishment of the annual pasture and both pasture types had high N2O fluxes following grazing events. In contrast, in the fall and spring the perennial pasture was less vulnerable to N2O loss than the annual pasture system.The perennial system also had lower nitrate leaching than the annual system.Thus, if the new organic grazing policy pushes farmers to grow more annual pastures our research suggests there may be tradeoffs with the N cycle. (2) Soil management and ammonia-oxidizers. A study during this project period showed that the abundance of ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria respond differently to vegetation removal and mulching, and that the type of mulch influences predominant archaeal groups. Differences in the community structures of nitrifiers indicate how soil management can influence nitrification and N mobility in soils. (3) Iron oxides in manures and soils. Addition of iron oxide minerals to liquid swine manures helped reduce but did not eliminate off odors. However, addition of ferrihydrite-rich mining residuals during manure or biosolids application to soils may promote formation of soluble metal-organic complexes that could result in higher mobility of associated heavy metals. Two different iron oxide mineral phases were utilized in a laboratory-scale model study system investigating the effects of low molecular weight, oxygen-, nitrogen-, and sulfur-containing organic compounds on mineral dissolution. Results from solution samples suggest that oxalic acid, citric acid, and histidine consistently increase mineral dissolution while cysteine consistently inhibited dissolution relative to the control in all minerals. Our work indicates that amino acids present in biological soil exudates, in addition to organic acids, may have substantial impacts on iron oxide dissolution in soils, altering the availability of both bioessential (e.g., iron and zinc) and non-essential, or potentially toxic, (e.g., cadmium) elements. (4) Iron oxide and metal interactions with soils and plants. A field study conducted during this project demonstrated that highly acidic iron oxide materials (pH 2.8) can serve effectively as a rooting substrate after a one-time incorporation of lime (11 Mg ha^-1) and compost (27 Mg ha^-1) and a first-year oats nurse crop; this reclamation method meets plant cover requirements of the U. S. Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. However, increased biological activity in the rhizospheres of reclaimed soils could promote the release of metals commonly associated with iron oxides. Laboratory studies were conducted by synthesizing two Fe oxides as coprecipitates with Cd and subjected to dissolution by compounds commonly found in plant rhizospheres. Substantial quantities of amorphous- and surface-associated Cd were present in all coprecipitates. Iron oxides, often considered sinks for toxic metals, may therefore be less effective at reducing contaminant mobility and bioavailability in biologically active soils. (5) Abiotic reactions involving soil N. The dynamics of nitrate (NO3-) transformation are significant in determining its fate and in assessing the formation of stable N within soil organic matter. We conducted laboratory incubation studies to investigate how variations in environmental conditions impact NO3- transformation pathways, including N immobilization. Solid organic matter (SOM) in the form of leaf compost (LC) was spiked with 15N labeled NO3- and incubated under a set of oxic/anoxic and biotic/abiotic conditions for five days at pH 6.5. Our results indicated redox conditions are the primary factor governing the dynamics of NO3- transformations in the presence of organic matter. Results also provided strong evidence for abiotic pathways of nitrate consumption; in particular its incorporation into dissolved- and solid- phase organic matter. Abiotic processes accounted for 85% of the overall 15N-NO3- incorporation into DON under oxic conditions. (6) Transfer of inorganic N to slow pools. Solid-state 15N NMR spectroscopy revealed N immobilization resulted in the formation of amine-N under oxic conditions whereas under anoxic conditions the dominant N species detected were amide/aminoquinones and nitro/oxime. In addition, a fraction of the NH4+ was produced abiotically under anoxic conditions although organic N mineralization, biotically or abiotically, contributed to most of NH4+ production. Under the experimental conditions of this investigation, it is clear NO3- transformations are governed by redox conditions, and that abiotic processes play important roles in the transformations. We also conducted a published study showing that rapid (presumably abiotic) N could stabilize about 30% of the 15N added to forest soils. The amount of 15N that was rapidly stabilized was correlated with O horizon soil C.Thus, old forests with deeper O horizons stabilized more N than young forests with less massive O horizons. We are analyzing data that compares soil 15N retention among forest, urban, and agricultural ecosystems. (7) Structure of organic N. Land use appears to influence the distribution, or relative proportion, of N molecular structures. However, funding was not secured during this project to address this goal. (8) Heavy metal interactions with soils and plants. Long-term bioavailability of heavy metals in soils is related to the strength and stability of their solid phase associations. We conducted a synchrotron-based study to investigate zinc-speciation in three biosolids-amended field soils from IL, PA, and NY. From this study, we inferred substantial redistribution of metals from the original biosolids in soil organic matter fractions. We also investigated Zn uptake, distribution, and speciation in two plant ecotypes (Noccaea caerulescens Ganges and Prayon). Uptake by these Zn-hyperaccumulator plants generally increased with increasing soil Zn. An additional study was conducted to analyze interactions between metals and root-derived compounds produced in real soil. This study involved model carbon (C) compounds and combined a 13C pulse-chase technique and 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The pulsed samples displayed distinct enrichment in aliphatic and carbohydrate-type compounds indicating that pulse-chase approaches are a viable technique for isolating root-derived from background DOM. This was the first use of combined pulse-chase-NMR methodologies to analyze in situ produced root-derived DOM. Such a combination is applicable to various experimental designs and/or environmental scenarios, and can provide valuable information for future rhizosphere science.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Lewis, D. and J. P. Kaye. 2013. Inorganic nitrogen immobilization in live and sterile soil of old-growth conifer and hardwood forests: implications for ecosystem nitrogen retention. Biogeochemistry 111:169-186.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Lupton, MK, C Rojas, PJ Drohan, MA Bruns. 2013. Vegetation and soil development in compost-amended iron oxide precipitates at a 50-year-old acid mine drainage barrens. Restoration Ecology 21:320-328.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Bruns, MA. 2014. Sustainable soil health, pp. 209-223. In Plant Biotechnology: Experience and Future Prospects. A. Ricroch et al. (eds), Springer International Publishing, Switzerland.
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Rojas Alvarado, Claudia R. 2014. Effect of vegetative reclamation on microbial diversity and iron biogeochemistry in acid mine drainage precipitates at a 50-yr-old barrens. Ph.D. Dissertation. The Pennsylvania State University. University Park, PA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Saha, D., A.R. Kemanian, B. Rau, P. Adler, F. Montes, and J. Kaye. 2013. How Many Samples Are Needed to Estimate the Annual N2O Flux From Soils? Poster No. 1215 (Ref. 358-6) ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Meeting, Tampa, FL.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Kemanian, A.R., E. Fabio, L. Smart, P.B. Woodbury, F. Montes, T. Volk, W. Jiang, and B.K. Richard. 2013. Biomass Production Potential of Miscanthus, Switchgrass, and Willow in the Northeastern United States. Poster No. ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Meeting, Tampa, FL.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Kemanian, A.R. 2012. Modeling Competition for Water and Light Among Plants and Its Relationship with Grain Yield. Oral Presentation 98-3, ASA/CSSA/SSSA International Annual Meetings, Oct. 21-24, Cincinnati, OH.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Finney, D. and J. Kaye. 2013. Cover crop cocktails enhance nitrogen management. Oral Presntation No. 299-5, ASA, CSSA, and SSSA International Annual Meeting, Nov. 3-6, Tampa, Florida
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Kemanian, A.R., E. Fabio, L. Smart, P.B. Woodbury, F. Montes, T. Volk, W. Jiang, and B.K. Richard. 2013. Biomass Production Potential of Miscanthus, Switchgrass, and Willow in the Northeastern United States. Poster No. 820 (Ref. 327-9) ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Meeting, Nov. 3-6, Tampa, Fl.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Bassu, S., N. Brisson, J.-L. Durand, K.J. Boote, J.I. Lizaso, J.W. Jones, C. Rosenzweig, A.C. Ruane, M. Adam, C. Baron, B. Bassio, C. Biernath, H. Boogard, S.G. Conijn, M. Corbeels, D. Deryng, G. De Sanctis, S. Gayler, P. Grassini, J.L. Hatfield, S. Hoek, R.C. Izaurralde, R. Jongschaap, A.R. Kemanian, K.C. Kersebaum, N.S. Kumar, D. Makowski, C. Muller, C. Nendel, E. Priesack, M.V. Pravia, H.K. Soo, F. Sau, I. Shcherbak, F. Tao, E. Teixeira, D.J. Timlin, K. Waha. 2013. Maize Model Intercomparisons for Climate Change. Invited Talk No. 66-10 at ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Meeting, Nov. 3-6, Tampa, FL.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Bassu, S, N. Brisson, J-L. Durand, K. Boote, J. Lizaso, J.W. Jones, C. Rosenzweig, A.C. Ruane, M. Adam, C. Baron, B. Basso, C. Biernath, H. Boogaard, S. Conijn, M. Corbeels, D. Deryng, G. DiSanctis, S. Gayler, P. Grassini, J. Hatfield, S. Hoek, C. Izaurralde, R. Jongschaap, A.R. Kemanian, C.K. Kersebaum, N.S. Kumar, D. Makowski, C. M�ller, C. Nendel, E. Priesack, M.V. Pravia, S-H. Kim, F. Sau, I. Shcherbak, F. Tao, E. Teixeira, D. Timlin and K. Waha. 2014. How do various maize crop models vary in their responses to climate change factors? Global Change Biology, 20:23012320.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Schipanski, M.E., M. Barbercheck, M.R. Douglas, D.M. Finney, K. Haider, J.P. Kaye, A.R. Kemanian, D.A. Mortensen, M.R. Ryan, J. Tooker and C. White. 2014. A conceptual framework for evaluating ecosystem services provided by cover crops in agroecosystems. Agricultural Systems 125:12-22.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Timlin, D. J., D.H. Fleisher, A.R. Kemanian and V.R. Reddy. 2014. Plant density and leaf area index effects on the distribution of light transmittance to the soil surface in maize. Agronomy Journal 106:1-10.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2014 Citation: Kumudini, S., F.H. Andrade, K.J. Boote, G.A. Brown, K.A. Dzotsi, G.O. Edmeades, T. Gocken, M. Goodwin, A.L. Halter, G.L. Hammer, J.L. Hatfield, J.W. Jones; A.R. Kemanian, S.-H. Kim, J. Kiniry, J.I. Lizaso, C. Nendel, R.L. Nielsen, B. Parent, C.O. St�ckle, F. Tardieu, P.R. Thomison, D.J. Timlin, T.J. Vyn; D. Wallach, H.S. Yang and M. Tollenaar. 2014. Predicting maize phenology: Intercomparison of functions for developmental response to temperature. Agronomy Journal. doi:10.2134/agronj14.0200
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Mazzilli S.R., A.R. Kemanian, O.R. Ernst, R.B. Jackson and G. Pi�eiro. 2014. Priming of soil organic carbon decomposition induced by corn compared to soybean crops. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 75:273-281.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: White, C.M., A.R. Kemanian and J.P. Kaye. 2014. Implications of carbon saturation model structure for simulated nitrogen mineralization dynamics. Biogeosciences.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: St�ckle, C.O., A.R. Kemanian, R.L. Nelson, J.C. Adam, R. Sommer and B. Carlson. 2014. CropSyst model evolution: From field to region to global scales and from research to decision support systems. Environmental Modelling and Software.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: McDaniel, M.D., R.J. Wagner, C.R. Rollinson, B.A. Kimball, M.W. Kaye, and J.P. Kaye. 2014. Microclimate and ecological threshold responses in a warming and wetting experiment following whole-tree harvest in central Pennsylvania. Theoretical and Applied Climatology 116:287-299.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Lee, C., G.W. Feyereisen, A.N. Hristov, C.J. Dell, J.P. Kaye, and D. Beegle. 2014. Effect of dietary protein concentration on utilization of dairy manure nitrogen for plant growth, leachate nitrate losses, and ammonia emissions from lysimeters. Journal of Environmental Quality 43:398-408.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Schipanski, M., R.G. Smith, T.L. Pisani-Gareau, R. Jabbour, D.B. Lewis, M.E. Barbercheck, D.A. Mortensen, J.P. Kaye. 2014. The structure of multivariate relationships influencing crop yields during the transition to organic management. Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment 189:119-126.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: McDaniel, M.D., J.P. Kaye, M.W. Kaye, and M.A. Bruns. 2014. Climate change interactions affect soil CO2 efflux and microbial functioning in a post-harvest forest. Oecologia 174:1437-1448.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Weitzman, J., K. Forshay, J.P. Kaye, and R. Walter. 2014. Potential nitrogen and carbon mineralization in a landscape rich in mill dam legacy sediments. Biogeochemistry120:337-357.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Schipanski, M., R. Smith, T. Pisani-Gareau, R. Jabbour, D. Lewis, M. Barbercheck, D. Mortensen, and J. Kaye. 2013. The structure of multivariate relationships influencing crop yields during the transition to organic management. Ecological Society of America Meetings, Minneapolis, MN.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Grantham, A., J. Kaye, M. Hall, and D. Schrenker. 2013. Market, policy and climate changes as drivers of ecological and biogeochemical shifts in dairy ecosystems. Ecological Society of America Meetings, Minneapolis, MN.
  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2014 Citation: Kaye, J.P. 2014. Using biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships to design multifunctional agroecosystems. Villanova University.
  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2013 Citation: Kaye, J.P. 2013. Using ecology to design multifunctional agroecosystems. Universidad Politecnica de Madrid.
  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2013 Citation: Kaye, J.P. 2013. Using ecology to design multifunctional agroecosystems. Department of Food Sciences, Penn State.
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2011 Citation: Biogeochemical Cycling of Nitrogen Through a Landscape Rich in Legacy Sediments
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2011 Citation: Ecosystem Disturbance in a Warmer and Wetter Northeastern US: How Will Soil C and N Losses and Microbial Communities Respond to a Forest Harvest in the Future?
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Rosenfeld, C.E.; McCormack, M.L.; Mart�nez, C.E. 2014. A novel approach to study composition of in situ produced root-derived dissolved organic matter. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 76, 1-4.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2014 Citation: Rosenfeld, C.E.; Lanzirotti, A.; Chaney, R.L.; Tappero, R.V.; Mart�nez, C.E. Under review. Impacts of soil heterogeneity on Zn redistribution and plant uptake in three field-contaminated soils.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2014 Citation: Rosenfeld, C.E.; Mart�nez, C.E. Dissolution of mixed amorphous-crystalline Cd-containing Fe coprecipitates in the presence of common organic exudates.


Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13

Outputs
Target Audience: Target audiences reached during this period include scientific colleagues, extension educators, and farmers. Changes/Problems: Dr. Armen Kemanian in the Dept of Plant Sciences joined the project as a CoDirector. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? During this period two Ph.D. degrees in Soil Science were awarded to graduate students Amrita Bhattacharya and Carla Rosenfeld, who were also coauthors on publications. Postdoctoral training in soil chemistry and biogeochemistry was provided to Dr. Fiona Kizewski and Dr. Mac Burgess. Additional participating graduate students in Soil Sciences are Claudia Rojas, Rachel Brimmer, and Julie Weitzman. Plant Science graduate students include Debasish Saha and Virginia Pravia. Denise Finney and Xin Peng are participating graduate students in the Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Ecology. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results were disseminated through peer-reviewed journal publications and presentations at international scientific meetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Plans for next period are to continue research on cover crop effects on N cycling, with focus on a large experiment testing the effects of cover crop diversity on N retention and provisioning to corn. Projected output is a new soil N test for farmers that will use the flush of CO2 from soils as a predictor of N availability in ecosystems that use organic N sources such as manure and legume cover crops to fertilize corn. Other projected outputs are an assessment of growth and N2 fixation by cyanobacteria applied to soils as biofertilizers.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Field experiments were conducted across three major land uses: cover crop/forage systems, bioenergy crops, and CRP lands. For cover crop systems, four field experiments were maintained to test the effects of cover/forage crops on N cycling, including measurements of nitrous oxide emissions, N leaching through soil, N fixation by cover crops, and soil N uptake by cover crops.Two of these experiments used the isotope 15N to track the fate of fertilizer or cover crop N into subsequent corn crops. For bioenergy cropping systems, experiments on the growth of willow, a perennial bioenergy crop, were installed for 15N labeling trials to study fate of N. For bioenergy cropping systems and CRP land, a soil water monitoring system was established in 48 locations of a small watershed in Central PA. At these locations, soil nitrate, runoff, and nitrous oxide emissions are being monitored.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Saha, D., A.R. Kemanian, B. Rau, J.P. Kaye, P.R. Adler, 2012. Landscape Control of Nitrous Oxide Emission in Biomass Crops in the Ridge and Valley Ecoregion. ASA/CSSA/SSSA International Annual Meetings, Oct. 21-24, Cincinnati, OH.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2013 Citation: Bhattacharyya, A., Stavitski, E.; Dvorak, J., Mart�nez, C.E. 2013. Redox interactions between Fe and cysteine: Spectroscopic studies and multiplet calculations. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. Accepted (doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2013.08.012).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Castellano, M., D. Lewis, and J.P. Kaye. 2013. Response of soil nitrogen retention to the interactive effects of soil texture, hydrology, and organic matter. Journal Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences 118:280-290.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Martir-Torres, MC, MA Bruns. 2013. Comparative diversity and abundance of ammonia monooxygenase genes in mulched and vegetated soils. Soil Biol. Biochem. 57:758-768.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Meki, M.N., A.R. Kemanian, R.P. Potter, M.B. J�rg, J.R. Williams, and T.J. Gerik, 2013. Cropping systems effects on sorghum grain and biomass yield, soil organic carbon and global warming potential in central and south Texas. Agricultural Systems, doi: 10.1016/j.agsy.2013.01.004
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2014 Citation: Rojas, C.; Mart�nez, C.E.; Bruns, M.A. Fe biogeochemistry in reclaimed acid mine drainage precipitates-implications for phytoremediation. Environmental Pollution accepted 23 Aug, 2013 (doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2013.08.033).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: St�ckle, C.O., S. Higgins, A.R. Kemanian, R.L. Nelson, D.R. Huggins, J.P. Marcos, and H. Collins. 2012. Carbon storage and nitrous oxide emissions of cropping systems in eastern Washington: A simulation study. J. Soil and Water Conservation 67:365-377.
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Bhattacharyya, Amrita. December 2012. Redox interactions of iron with organic matter: from molecular to field scale processes. Ph.D. Dissertation. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park.
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Rosenfeld, Carla. August 2013. Contaminant biogeochemistry: cadmium and zinc cycling at the plant-soil interface. PhD Dissertation. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Bhattacharyya, A.; Dvorak, J.; Stavitski, E.; Mart�nez, C.E. 2012. Monitoring of oxidation-reduction reactions between redox active Fe and cysteine: Spectroscopic studies and multiplet calculations. June 24-29. Goldschmidt Conference, Montreal, Canada.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Bhattacharyya, A.; Dvorak, J.; Stavitski, E.; Mart�nez, C.E. 2012. Iron Speciation in Redox Stratified Peat Soils. March 25-29. American Chemical Society, San Diego, California.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Finney, D. and J. Kaye. 2012. Nitrate dynamics in organic cropping systems. Soil Science Society of America Meeting, Cincinnati, Ohio.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Kaye J., D. Lewis, and M.Castellano. 2012. Rapid immobilization of inorganic nitrogen in stable soil organic matter of forest ecosystems. Ecosummit, Columbus, Ohio.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Kemanian, A.R., D.R. Huggins, and J.L. Smith, 2012. The fate of nitrogen fertilizer in spring wheat as affected by application method, preceding crop, and landscape position. International Society of Tillage Research Organization (ISTRO) Meeting, September 24-28, Montevideo, Uruguay.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Kizewski, F. R, J. P. Kaye, and C. E. Martinez. 2012. Nitrate transformation and immobilization: effects of biotic/abiotic, oxic/anoxic conditions. 22nd V.M. Goldschmidt Conference, Montreal, Canada.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Mart�nez, C.E.; Dvorak, J. 2012. Evidence for the accumulation of heterocyclic N compounds in temperate forest soils as a function of depth. June 24-29. Goldschmidt Conference, Montreal, Canada.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Pravia, M.V., J.A. Terra-Fern�ndez, J.A. Quincke, and A.R. Kemanian, 2012. Long-term measured and simulated soil organic carbon in crop-pasture rotations. ASA/CSSA/SSSA International Annual Meetings, Oct. 21-24, Cincinnati, OH.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Rojas, C., R. Gutierrez, M.A. Bruns. Bacterial and eukaryotic diversity in acid mine drainage precipitates following reclamation with successional plants as revealed by pyrosequencing. Poster Presentation 323A, 14th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, Copenhagen, Denmark, Aug. 19-24, 2012.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Rojas, C., R. Gutierrez, M.A. Bruns. Bacterial and Eukaryotic Communities within and Beneath New Rooting Zones of Incipient Soils Formed From Acid Mine Drainage Precipitates Amended with Compost. Oral presentation 389-1. ASA-CSA-SSSA Annual International Meetings, Cincinnati, OH, Oct. 21-24, 2012.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Rosenfeld, C.E.; Chaney, R.; Lanzirotti, A.; Mart�nez, C.E. 2012. Trace metals and soil solids: Effects of soil heterogeneity on Zn mobility (or (re)-distribution). June 24-29. Goldschmidt Conference, Montreal, Canada.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Rosenfeld, C.E.; Chaney, R.; Lanzirotti, A.; Mart�nez, C.E. 2013. Linking nutrient and contaminant dynamics in rhizospheres of hyperaccumulators. August 25-30. Goldschmidt Conference, Florence, Italy.


Progress 10/01/11 to 09/30/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: This project addresses two agricultural and environmental challenges: to reduce pollution by nutrients and metals and to restore productivity of degraded soils. Outputs consist of 16 peer-reviewed publications and two poster presentations (at 2011 Annual Meeting of the Soil Science Society of America and 2012 Symposium of the West Branch Susquehanna Restoration Coalition.) One educational activity consisted of a student field trip organized in October 2011 to an acid mine drainage barrens research site near Kylertown, PA, to demonstrate experimental plots revegetated through compost-based reclamation. PARTICIPANTS: During this period the principal investigators collaborated with the following faculty at Penn State: Doug Archibald, Henry Lin, Curtis Dell, Doug Beegle, John Schmidt, Patrick Drohan, Mary Barbercheck, Margot Kaye, and Alex Hristov in the college of Agricultural Sciences. Dr. Radha Prasanna, Indian Institute of Agricultural Research in New Delhi, was a collaborating scientist. Other collaborators include Susan Brantley, Jim Kubicki, Laura Liermann, and Heather Buss, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Visiting scientist Penn State programs supporting this research include Penn State Institutes for Energy and the Environment (PSIEE) and Huck Institutes of Life Sciences. Ph.D. graduates of the Soil Science program and coauthors on publications include Morgan Minyard, Ekaterina Bazilevskaya, Nadia Martinez-Villegas, and Michael Castellano. M.S. Graduate of the Soil Science program is Mary Kay Lupton. Postdoctoral associates include Soh-Youn Joon, David Lewis, Chuck Walker, and Chris Graham. Participating graduate students in Crop and Soil Sciences are Claudia Rojas, Amrita Puri, Carla Rosenfeld, Marshall McDaniel, and Rachel Brimmer. Denise Finney and Xin Peng are participating graduate students in the Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Ecology. TARGET AUDIENCES: Communities served by this project included land and resource managers, agricultural producers, extension educators, regulators and field staff in PA Department of Environmental Protection, watershed restoration groups. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Key findings during this period were (1) highly acidic iron precipitates (pH 2.8) can serve as parent material for incipient soils during revegetation with a one-time application of lime (11 Mg per hectare) and compost (27 Mg per hectare) and a first-year oats nurse crop; this reclamation method meets plant cover requirements of the U. S. Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act; (2) higher levels of bacteria detected at the interface between bedrock and developing soil profile are correlated with higher soluble iron concentrations; this finding supports the role of microbial activity in early stages of soil formation; (3) metal reaction pathways in soils involving formation of soluble metal-organic complexes and colloidal metal-ferrihydrite can help explain unexpected higher mobility of metals after soil remediation; and (4) in agricultural systems, reduced tillage employing chisel plowing during the transition from conventional to organic management can increase soil quality without compromising yield and profitability. These findings address the objective to gain fundamental understanding of microbe-mineral-nutrient interactions in natural, agricultural, and degraded soil systems as means to improve soil resilience, nutrient retention, and environmental quality.

Publications

  • Bazilevskaya, E., D. D. Archibald, and C. E. Martinez. 2012. Rate constants and mechanisms for the crystallization of Al nano-goethite under environmentally relevant conditions. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 88:167-182.
  • Lee, C., A. N. Hristov, C. J. Dell, G. W. Feyereisen, J. Kaye, and D. Beegle. 2012. Effect of dietary protein concentration on ammonia and greenhouse gas emitting potential of dairy manure. J. Dairy Sci. 95:1930-1941.
  • Lewis, D. B., J. P. Kaye, R. Jabbour, and M. E. Barbercheck. 2011. Labile carbon and other soil quality indicators in two tillage systems during transition to organic agriculture. Journal of Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 26:342-353.
  • Lewis, D. and J. P. Kaye. 2012. Inorganic nitrogen immobilization in live and sterile soil of old-growth conifer and hardwood forests: implications for ecosystem nitrogen retention. Biogeochemistry http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10533-011-9627-6.
  • Lupton, M. K., C. Rojas, P. J. Drohan, and M. A. Bruns. 2012. Vegetation and soil development in compost-amended iron oxide precipitates at a 50-year-old acid mine drainage barrens. Restoration Ecology http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-100X.2012.00902.x.
  • Martinez-Villegas, N. and C. E. Martinez. 2012. Importance of dynamic soil properties in metal retention: An example from long-term Cu partitioning and redistribution studies using model systems. Environmental Science & Technology 46:8069-8074.
  • Minyard, M. L., M. A. Bruns, L. J. Liermann, H. L. Buss, and S. L. Brantley. 2011. Bacterial associations with weathering minerals at the regolith-bedrock interface, Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. Geomicrobiol J. 29:792-803.
  • Minyard, M. L., M. A. Bruns, C. E. Martinez, L. J. Liermann, and S. L. Brantley. 2011. Occurrence of halloysite nanotubes and bacteria in a granodiorite weathering front, Rio Icacos Watershed, Puerto Rico. Soil Sci Soc Am J. 75:348-356.
  • McDaniel, M. D., J. P. Kaye, and M. W. Kaye. 2012. Increased temperature and precipitation had limited effects on soil extracellular enzyme activities in a post-harvest forest. Soil Biology and Biochemistry (In Press).
  • Rojas-Alvarado, C., C. E. Martinez, and M. A. Bruns. 2011. Iron biogeochemistry of acid mine drainage sediments associated with vascular plants and biological soil crusts. Proceedings of the 2011 Annual Meeting of the Soil Science Society of America. San Antonio, TX. Oct 16-19. (Abstract 123-49).
  • Rojas-Alvarado, C., M. K. Lupton, P. J. Drohan, and M. A. Bruns. 2012. Phytostabilization and soil development at a 50-year-old acid mine drainage barrens using slow-release organic amendments. Poster presentation at the West Branch Susquehanna Coalition Restoration Symposium. State College, PA. April 27-28. http://www.wbsrc.com/2012%20symposium.html.
  • Prasanna, R., S. K. Ratha, C. Rojas, and M. A. Bruns. 2011. Algal diversity in flowing waters at an acidic mine drainage barrens in central Pennsylvania, USA. Folia Microbiol. 56:491-496.
  • Yoon, S., C. Yanez, M. A. Bruns, N. Martinez-Villegas, and C. E. Martinez. 2012. Natural zinc enrichment in peatlands: biogeochemistry of ZnS formation. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 84:165-176.
  • Bazilevskaya, E., D. D. Archibald, M. Aryanpour, J. D. Kubicki, and C. E. Martinez. 2011. Aluminum coprecipitates with Fe (hydr)oxides: does isomorphous substitution of Al3+ for Fe3+ in goethite occur Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 75:4667-4683.
  • Brantley, S. L., J. P. Megonigal, F. N. Scatena, Z. Balogh-Brunstad, R. T. Barnes, M. A. Bruns et al. 2011. Twelve hypotheses to test how biology, weathering and erosion interact within the Critical Zone. Geobiology 9:140-165.
  • Castellano, M. J., J. P. Schmidt, J. P. Kaye, C. Walker, C. B. Graham, H. Lin, and C. Dell. 2011. Hydrological controls on heterotrophic soil respiration across an agricultural landscape. Geoderma 162:273-280.
  • Castellano, M., J. P. Kaye, H. Lin, and J. Schmidt. 2012. Linking carbon saturation concepts to nitrogen saturation and retention. Ecosystems 15:175-187. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/100068.


Progress 10/01/10 to 09/30/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Nitrogen work. The nitrogen XANES spectra were collected for four bulk soils and three physical fractions of each soil (i.e., urban, agricultural, forest soils). Although these soils differ in land use, our preliminary analyses of the N-XANES spectra suggest the molecular structures of organic N in these surface soils are very similar. The spectra are dominated by features resembling those for pyridines, pyrroles, amines, amino acids, and nitro-containing compounds. However, land use appears to influence the distribution, or relative proportion, of these N molecular structures. Cadmium work. Two different iron oxide mineral phases were utilized in a laboratory-scale model study system investigating the effects of low molecular weight, oxygen-, nitrogen-, and sulfur-containing organic compounds on mineral dissolution. Goethite was synthesized in the laboratory with 0, 2.4, 5, and 100 theoretical mol% Cd, and franklinite was prepared with 0, 10, and 25 theoretical mol% Cd. Phase identity of all minerals was verified with X-ray diffraction. All minerals were reacted with solutions containing one of four different organic ligands (oxalic acid, citric acid, histidine or cysteine) and aliquots of these solutions were sampled periodically over 40 days. Results from solution samples suggest that oxalic acid, citric acid, and histidine consistently increase mineral dissolution relative to the control (no organic compound present) while cysteine consistently inhibits dissolution relative to the control in all minerals. Increasing Cd substitution in the franklinite resulted in increased release of Fe and Zn to solution in the presence of these organic compounds, while increasing Cd substitution in the goethite generally limited Fe release to solution. In the case of cysteine, sulfur concentrations in solution decrease over time in the presence of Cd-containing minerals, indicating strong binding of the cysteine compound to the mineral surface, inhibiting Cd dissolution from the minerals. Our work indicates that amino acids present in biological soil exudates, in addition to organic acids, may have substantial impacts on iron oxide dissolution in soils, altering the availability of both bioessential (e.g., iron and zinc) and non-essential, or potentially toxic, (e.g., cadmium) elements. PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Carmen Enid Martinez is responsible for conducting and interpreting N-XANES analyses on the project. She is developing the approaches for preparing samples for spectral analysis as well as collecting spectra and interpreting them. She mentors a postdoc who has collected N-XANES spectra on fractionated soils. Dr. Martinez is also the PI for the cadmium project and is responsible for all aspects of the project including laboratory and synchrotron work. She mentors a PhD student working on this project. Fiona Kizewski is mentored by co-PI Martinez to carry out chemical analyses related to the project. She is responsible for collecting N-XANES spectra and then analyzing these data to assess the relative abundance of organic N compounds in soils. She has also initiated tests of N stabilization hypotheses that link iron and organic matter redox reactions with nitrate and nitrate in soil solutions. Carla Rosenfeld is a PhD student working on the cadmium project. She is responsible for all greenhouse, laboratory, and spectroscopic studies related to her project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Results of this research will provide basic information for agricultural producers, resource managers, and environmental restoration industries in Pennsylvania and throughout the world. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Outcomes of the projects described herein are still under way since this project started less than one year ago.

Publications

  • Martinez-Villegas, N. and C. E. Martinez. 2011. Dynamic and static soil properties and metal retention: Example from long-term Cu partitioning and redistribution studies using model systems. Environmental Science and Technology (In Review).
  • Rosenfeld, C. and C. E. Martinez. 2011. Role of dissolved organic matter in Cd-goethite dissolution. American Chemical Society. Anaheim, CA. March 27-31. Volume 241. Abstract 40-GEOC.


Progress 10/01/09 to 09/30/10

Outputs
OUTPUTS: This project is new, so there are no outputs to report. The project addresses two agricultural and environmental challenges: to reduce pollution by nutrients and metals and to restore productivity of degraded soils. As a collaboration between a microbiologist (Bruns), soil chemist (Martinez), and biogeochemist (Kaye), the objectives of the project are to gain fundamental understanding of the biogeochemical interactions between soil nutrients, microorganisms and metals to improve soil nutrient retention and plant health. PARTICIPANTS: The three principal investigators collaborate with the following faculty at Penn State: Doug Archibald, Curtis Dell, Patrick Drohan, Heather Karsten, Dept. of Crop & Soil Sciences; Mary Barbercheck, Dept. of Entomology; Susan Brantley, Jim Kubicki, Dept. of Geosciences and Center for Environmental Kinetics; Margot Kaye, School of Forestry; Eileen Wheeler, Dept of Agricultural and Biological Engineering; Jay Regan, Rachel Brennan, Bill Burgos, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Penn State programs supporting this research include Penn State Institutes for Energy and the Environment (PSIEE) and Huck Institutes of Life Sciences. Participating graduate students in Crop and Soil Sciences are Claudia Rojas, Amrita Puri, Carla Rosenfeld, Marshall McDaniel, and Rachel Brimmer. Denise Finney is a participating graduate student in the Inter-college Graduate Degree Program in Ecology. TARGET AUDIENCES: Communities served by this project included land and resource managers, agricultural producers, extension educators, regulators and field staff in PA Department of Environmental Protection, watershed restoration groups. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Project has just begun so no outcomes to report.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period