Thaumarchaeota are among the most abundant organisms on Earth and are ubiquitous. Within this phylum, all cultivated representatives of Group 1.1a and Group 1.1b Thaumarchaeota are ammonia oxidizers, and play a key role in the nitrogen cycle. While Group 1.1c is phylogenetically closely related to the ammonia-oxidizing Thaumarchaeota and is abundant in acidic forest soils, nothing is known abou...

In this study, high-throughput pyrosequencing was applied on the analysis of the microbial community of activated sludge and biofilm in a lab-scale UV/O3- anaerobic/aerobic (A/O) integrated process for the treatment of petrochemical nanofiltration concentrate (NFC) wastewater. NFC is a type of saline wastewater with low biodegradability. From the anaerobic activated sludge (Sample A) and aerobi...

The partitioning of reactive nitrogen compounds between the gas and the aerosol phase, as observed during the MINOS (Mediterranean INtensive Oxidant Study) campaign in Crete, Greece, in July and August 2001, has been studied with three thermodynamic gas-aerosol equilibrium models (EQMs) of different chemical complexity: ISORROPIA, which is limited to the ammonium-sulfatenitrate-sodium-chloride-...

The aim of the experiment was to analyze the particular processes (biomass synthesis, oxidation, denitrification and accumulation) during carbon removal from wastewater. The experiment was carried out in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) in two series with different organic carbon compounds to nitrogen compounds ratio (COD/N). Organic carbon loading of activated sludge was 0.07 g COD/g·d. Organi...

BACKGROUND Sale of organic foods is one of the fastest growing market segments within the global food industry. People often buy organic food because they believe organic farms produce more nutritious and better tasting food from healthier soils. Here we tested if there are significant differences in fruit and soil quality from 13 pairs of commercial organic and conventional strawberry agroecos...

digestibility if the models are to accurately simulate organic matter transformations in fish ponds. This is especially true for pond management systems that utilize non-conventional feed and fertilizer sources. Munsiri and Boyd (1995) showed that, with the use of a single first-order rate constant to model organic matter degradation, equilibrium conditions were reached in a relatively short ti...

Fires are critical pathways of carbon loss from boreal forest soils, whereas microbial communities form equally critical controls over carbon accumulation between fires. We used a chronosequence in Alaska to test Read’s hypothesis that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi should dominate ecosystems with low accumulation of surface litter, and ectomycorrhizal fungi should proliferate where organic horiz...

Nitrogen is quantitatively the most important nutrient that plants acquire from the soil. It is well established that plant roots take up nitrogen compounds of low molecular mass, including ammonium, nitrate, and amino acids. However, in the soil of natural ecosystems, nitrogen occurs predominantly as proteins. This complex organic form of nitrogen is considered to be not directly available to ...

Background: As the decomposition of lignocellulosic compounds is a rate-limiting stage in the nutrient mineralization from organic matters, elucidation of the changes in soil enzyme activity can provide insight into the nutrient dynamics and ecosystem functioning. The current study aimed to assess the effect of thinning intensities on soil conditions. Un-thinned control, 20 % thinning, and 30 %...

the main cause for concern about global warming and climate change. Primary air pollutants include carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide, water vapour and un-burnt fuel, hydrocarbons, including volatile and non-volatile organic compounds, oxides of nitrogen, sulphur dioxide (traces), and particulate matter. Pollutants, such as small particles arise not only from the exhaust but also from the roa...