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At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Structuring Nutrient Yields throughout Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin Using Machine Learning Approaches

To minimize the eutrophication pressure along the Gulf of Mexico or reduce the size of the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico, it is important to understand the underlying temporal and spatial variations and correlations in excess nutrient loads, which are strongly associated with the formation of hypoxia. This study’s objective was to reveal and visualize structures in high-dimensional datasets of nutrient yield distributions throughout the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB). For this purpose, the annual mean nutrient concentrations were collected from thirty-three US Geological Survey (USGS) water stations scattered in the upper and lower MARB from 1996 to 2020. Eight surface water quality indicators were selected to make comparisons among water stations along the MARB over the past two decades. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to comprehensively evaluate the nutrient yields across thirty-three USGS monitoring stations and identify the major contributing nutrient loads. The results showed that all samples could be analyzed using two main components, which accounted for 81.6% of the total variance. The PCA results showed that yields of orthophosphate (OP), silica (SI), nitrate–nitrites (NO 3 -NO 2 ), and total suspended sediment (TSS) are major contributors to nutrient yields. It also showed that land-planted crops, density of population, domestic and industrial discharges, and precipitation are fundamental causes of excess nutrient loads in MARB. These factors are of great significance for the excess nutrient load management and pollution control of the Mississippi River. It was found that the average nutrient yields were stable within the sub-MARB area, but the large nitrogen yields in the upper MARB and the large phosphorus yields in the lower MARB were of great concern. t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) revealed interesting nonlinear and local structures in nutrient yield distributions. Clustering analysis (CA) showed the detailed development of similarities in the nutrient yield distribution. Moreover, PCA, t-SNE, and CA showed consistent clustering results. This study demonstrated that the integration of dimension reduction techniques, PCA, and t-SNE with CA techniques in machine learning are effective tools for the visualization of the structures of the correlations in high-dimensional datasets of nutrient yields and provide a comprehensive understanding of the correlations in the distributions of nutrient loads across the MARB.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1996

Nutrient management effects on sweetpotato genotypes under controlled environment

Sweetpotato is one of several crops recommended by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for bioregenerative life support studies. One of the objectives of the Tuskegee University NASA Center is to optimize growth conditions for adaptability of sweetpotatoes for closed bioregenerative systems. The role of nutrient solution management as it impacts yield has been one of the major thrusts in these studies. Nutrient solution management protocol currently used consists of a modified half Hoagland solution that is changed at 14-day intervals. Reservoirs are refilled with deionized water if the volume of the nutrient solution was reduced to 8 liters or less before the time of solution change. There is the need to recycle and replenish nutrient solution during crop growth, rather than discard at 14 day intervals as previously done, in order to reduce waste. Experiments were conducted in an environmental growth room to examine the effects of container size on the growth of several sweetpotato genotypes grown under a nutrient replenishment protocol. Plants were grown from vine cuttings of 15cm length and were planted in 0.15 x 0.15 x 1.2m growth channels using a closed nutrient film technique system. Nutrient was supplied in a modified half strength Hoagland's solution with a 1:2.4 N:K ratio. Nutrient replenishment protocol consisted of daily water replenishment to a constant volume of 30.4 liters in the small containers and 273.6 liters in the large container. Nutrients were replenished as needed when the EC of the nutrient solution fell below 1200 mhos/cm. The experimental design used was a split-plot with the main plot being container size and genotypes as the subplot. Nine sweetpotato genotypes were evaluated. Results showed no effect of nutrient solution container size on storage root yield, foliage fresh and dry mass, leaf area or vine length. However, plants grown using the large nutrient solution container accumulated more storage root dry mass than those with the small containers. Although plants grown with the smaller containers showed greater water uptake, plant nutrient uptake was lower than with the larger container. All genotypes evaluated showed variation in their responses to all parameters measured.

Solanaceae/genetics/growth & development↗
DOE OSTI2025

Nutrient Limitation Induces a Productivity Decline From Light‐Controlled Maximum

Abstract Nutrient impacts on productivity in stream ecosystems can be obscured by light limitation imposed by canopy cover and water turbidity, thereby creating uncertainties in linking nutrient and productivity regimes. Evaluations of nutrient limitations are often based on a response ratio (RR) quantifying productivity stimulation above ambient levels given augmented nutrient supply. This metric neglects the primacy of light effects on productivity. We propose an alternative approach to quantify nutrient limitations using a “decline ratio” (DR), which quantifies the productivity decline from the maximum established by light availability. The DR treats light as the first‐order control and nutrient depletion as a disturbance causing productivity decline, allowing separation of nutrient and light influences. We used DR to assess nutrient diffusing substrate (NDS) experiments with three nutrients (nitrogen [N], phosphorus [P], iron [Fe]) from five Greenland streams during summer, where light is not limited due to the lack of canopy and low turbidity. We tested two hypotheses: (a) productivity maximum (i.e., highest chlorophyll‐ a among NDS treatments) is controlled by light and (b) DR depends on both light and nutrients. The productivity maximum was strongly predicted by light ( R 2 = 0.60). The productivity decline induced by N limitation (i.e., DR N ) was best explained by light availability when parameterized with either dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentration ( R 2 = 0.79) or N:Fe ratio ( R 2 = 0.87). These predictions outperformed predictions of RR for which light was not a significant factor. Reversing the perspective on nutrient limitation from “stimulation above ambient” to “decline below maximum” provides insights into both light and nutrient impacts on stream productivity.

Shin, Yuseung [School of Natural Resources and Env↗
DOE OSTI2016

Nutrient cycling for biomass: Interactive proteomic/transcriptomic networks for global carbon management processes within poplar-mycorrhizal interactions

This project addresses the need to develop system-scale models at the symbiotic interface between ectomycorrhizal fungi (Laccaria bicolor) and tree species (Populus tremuloides) in response to environmental nutrient availability / biochemistry. Using our now well-established laboratory Laccaria x poplar system, we address the hypothesis that essential regulatory and metabolic mechanisms can be inferred from genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic-level changes that occur in response to environmental nutrient availability. The project addresses this hypothesis by applying state-of-the-art protein-level analytic approaches to fill the gap in our understanding of how mycorrhizal regulatory and metabolic processes at the transcript-level translate to nutrient uptake, carbon management and ultimate net primary productivity of plants. In most cases, these techniques were not previously optimized for poplar trees or Laccaria. Thus, one of the major contributions of this project has been to provide avenues for new research in these species by overcoming the pitfalls that had previously prevented the use of techniques such as ChIP-Seq and SWATH-proteomics. Since it is the proteins that sense and interact with the environment, participate in signal cascades, activate and regulate gene expression, perform the activities of metabolism and ultimately sequester carbon and generate biomass, an understanding of protein activities during symbiosis-linked nutrient uptake is critical to any systems-level approach that links metabolic processes to the environment. This project uses a team of experts at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to address the above hypothesis using a multiple "omics" approach that combines gene and protein expression as well as protein modifications, and biochemical analyses (performed at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL)) in poplar trees under mycorrhizal and free living conditions. Together, the assembled team of experts completed all of the planned milestones set forth in this project. In addition to the planned approaches, several lines of exciting new research have also evolved during the course of this project that involved FTIR Imaging using the National Synchrotron Light Source at BNL. A summary of the approaches used in this project and key highlights are as follows: Having the right combination of microbes associated with plants is largely responsible for the plant’s ability to mine nutrients from the soil and to develop a strong “immune system”. Our current chemically focused and intensive culture tends to forget that plants obtain nutrients in two ways: (1) via water soluble chemical nutrients and (2) via the activity of acquired microbial symbionts. In healthy natural ecosystems, chemical nutrients are always in low abundance because the organisms within that system have already locked such nutrients away within the biological system itself. Thus, in nature it is the biological sources of nutrients and the microbes that have the capacity to mine those nutrients for their plant hosts that actually control the terrestrial nutrient cycles on this planet. Thus, a new push in the future may very well be to use our skills at elucidating complex patterns to strategically guide soil microbe communities to do what we want, essentially allowing nature to do the work of figuring out what is most efficient and effective for human needs. However, the findings of this project and other work in our lab lead to the hypothesis that the specific soil community composition is less important than the emergent properties of those communities. So, additional research into what soil communities are effective and how they are established will be key in developing human understanding of how to manipulate biological systems to meet human needs without causing undue damage to our environment.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Development Of Nutrient And Water Recycling Capabilities In Algae Biofuels Production Systems. Final Summary Report

The objective of this project was to develop and demonstrate methods of recycling of water and nutrients for algal biofuels production. Recycling was accomplished both internal to the system and, in a broader sense, through import and reuse of municipal wastewater. Such an integrated system with wastewater input had not been demonstrated previously, and the performance was unknown, particularly in terms of influence of recycling on algal productivity and the practical extent of nutrient recovery from biomass residuals. Through long-term laboratory and pilot research, the project resulted in the following: 1. Bench-scale pretreatment of algal biomass did not sufficiently increase methane yield of nutrient solubilization during anaerobic digestion to warrant incorporation of pre-treatment into the pilot plant. The trial pretreatments were high-pressure orifice homogenization, sonication, and two types of heat treatment. 2. Solubilization of biomass particulate nutrients by lab anaerobic digesters ranged from 20% to nearly 60% for N and 40-65% for P. Subsequent aerobic degradation of the anaerobically digested biomass simulated raceways receiving whole digestate and resulted in an additional 20-55% N solubilization and additional 20% P solubilization. 3. Comparisons of laboratory and pilot digesters showed that laboratory units were reasonable proxies for pilot-scale. 4. Pilot-scale anaerobic digesters were designed, installed, and operated to digest algal biomass. Nutrient re-solubilization by the digesters was monitored and whole digestate was successfully used as a fertilizer in pilot algae raceways. 5. Unheated, unmixed digesters achieved greater methane yield and nutrient solubilization than heated, mixed digesters, presumably due to longer the solids residence times in unmixed digesters. The unmixed, unheated pilot digesters yielded 0.16 L CH4 /g volatile solids (VS) introduced with 0.15 g VS/L-d organic loading and 16oC average temperature. A conventional heated mixed lab digester yielded 0.22 L CH4 /g VS with 0.25 g VS/L-d and 30oC. The highest yield (0.30 L CH4 /g VS) was achieved by the unmixed lab digesters operated at a constant 20oC. All digesters were operated with a 40-d hydraulic residence time. 6. In general, 50-75% of initial particulate N and P could be solubilized during anaerobic digestion and available for subsequent rounds of algae cultivation. 7. Bench-scale experiments showed the recovery from hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) wastewater of carbon via anaerobic digestion and of nutrients to grow algae. To satisfy the nitrogen demand of algae cultivation, HTL wastewater would be diluted 400-fold, which was found to eliminate inhibition of algae growth by HTL wastewater. 8. Anaerobic digestion methane yield was lower for algal biomass containing coagulants such as would be used to aid harvesting or dewatering. Depending on doses, starch-based coagulant decreased yield by 10-14% and aluminum chlorohydrate decreased it by 14-26%. The lowest yield was 0.28 L CH 4 /g volatile solids introduced to the digesters. 9. Algae harvested from raceways operated on recycled water had methane yields 13% higher than algae from raceways operated on both recycled water and nutrients provided by algae digestate. The slightly lower yield was expected due to the presence of previously digested biomass from the digestate fertilizer. 10. Defined media was replenished with nutrients and recycled repeatedly in sequential batch growth of Chlorella sorokiniana (DOE 1412). This laboratory study tested for inhibition and accumulation of inhibiting compounds (allelopathic or auto-inhibitory substances), information that would help estimate the blowdown ratio needed for an integrated system. In laboratory experiments in which water was recycled a total of five times, each successive round of reuse resulted in an average 4±3% reduction in log-phase specific growth rates. However, linear-phase growth inhibition was only observed in the final fifth round of reuse. 11. No decline in productivity was detected after 15 rounds of water recycling with nutrients provided by whole digestate in lab cultivation. Lab tests allowed for steady light and temperature, increasing the ability to detect inhibition. 12. In initial pilot inhibition studies, wastewater growth media was reused once while productivity was monitored. Media reuse was accomplished with triplicate sets of 33-m2 raceways operated in series. First-round gross productivity (based on effluent biomass flow) averaged 23 g/m 2 -day annually while second-round gross productivity averaged 19 g/m 2 -day annually. In terms of net productivity (based on raceway effluent biomass minus influent biomass), the first-round productivity averaged 15 g/m2-d and second round averaged 13 g/m 2 -d during June-September operation. The higher productivity in the first-round ponds was likely due to heterotrophic/mixotrophic growth on the wastewater organic matter. 13. In a culminating pilot experiment, coagulant was used to decrease the carry-over of unsettled algae into subsequent rounds of growth. Over nearly 8 months, 93% of the media (the equivalent of 14 rounds of water reuse) was recycled without significant productivity loss compared to controls. Ponds receiving both recycled water and nutrients had net productivities of 14-24 g/m 2 -d during fall and mid-summer, respectively. 14. Techno-economic analysis of the proposed facility found minimum fuel selling price to range from $7.01/gallon gasoline equivalent without revenue other than fuel to $3.85/GGE with revenue from wastewater treatment fees and LCFS and RIN (Low Carbon Fuel Standard and Renewable Identification Numbers) credits. 15. Life cycle assessment indicated GHG emissions of 40.7 g CO 2 /MJ fuel and a net energy ratio (energy required/energy produced) of 0.37.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Litter production and foliar nutrient resorption in fast- and slow-growing tree species in the Central Amazon

Litterfall is crucial for forest maintenance, serving as a primary mechanism for nutrient return to the nutrient-poor soils of tropical forests. Foliar nutrient resorption likewise represents an important nutrient-conservation mechanism. Yet, little is known about how these processes vary between fast- and slow-growing species in post-logging areas of the Amazon forest. Here, the objective of this study was to quantify litterfall production and the resorption of foliar nutrients in fast-growing and slow-growing tree species of the Central Amazon, in a forest that was experimentally logged in 1987. The study was conducted from May 2022 to April 2023. Litterfall was collected biweekly using four collectors that were systematically distributed beneath the canopy of each monitored tree, totaling 72 collectors. Three fast-growing and three slow-growing species were selected, each with three replicates, totaling 18 monitored individuals. Species-specific samples of fresh (green) and senesced (litter) leaves were collected and analyzed for their nutrient content and resorption efficiency. Fast-growing species had a monthly leaf litter deposition of 13.53 ± 1.6 g m −2 month −1 , compared to 2.59 ± 0.4 g m −2 month −1 for slow-growing species. The average annual litter production across both functional types was 8.6 ± 2.6 Mg ha −1 year −1 . Nutrient inputs through litterfall were higher in fast-growing species for all elements, particularly nitrogen (N), with 21.92 ± 4.9 kg ha −1 year −1 . Phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) exhibited the highest foliar resorption. P resorption efficiency was 68.3 % in fast-growing species and 57.8 % in slow-growing species. For K, efficiencies were 59.0 % and 41.7 %, respectively. These results highlight the substantial role that fast-growing species play in restoring forest productivity in managed Amazon forests, both through higher litter deposition and nutrient fluxes, and through nutrient conserving-mechanisms such as foliar nutrient resorption.

Amazon forest↗
DOE OSTI2025

From subsidies to stressors: Positively skewed ecological gradients alter biological responses to nutrients in streams

Abstract Subsidy–stress gradients offer a useful framework for understanding ecological responses to perturbation and may help inform ecological metrics in highly modified systems. Historic, region‐wide shifts from bottomland hardwood forest to row crop agriculture can cause positively skewed impact gradients in alluvial plain ecoregions, resulting in tolerant organisms that typically exhibit a subsidy response (increased abundance in response to environmental stressors) shifting to a stress response (declining abundance at higher concentrations). As a result, observed biological tolerance in modified ecosystems may differ from less modified regions, creating significant challenges for detecting biological responses to restoration efforts. Using the agriculturally dominated Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) ecoregion in Mississippi, USA, as a case study, we tested the hypothesis that macroinvertebrate taxa that typically display a subsidy response to nutrient enrichment in less modified ecoregions (i.e., nutrient‐tolerance) shift to a stress response to increasing nutrients in highly modified watersheds with elevated baseline nutrient conditions (i.e., nutrient intolerance). The abundance and diversity of MAP‐specific intolerant taxa identified with threshold indicator taxa analysis were either unresponsive or exhibited a subsidy response to increasing nutrients in less modified ecoregions in Mississippi with less land alteration and lower nutrient concentrations, but declined at higher concentrations, providing evidence for a stress response to elevated nutrients in the MAP. Additionally, MAP‐specific tolerant and intolerant taxa richness responded to increased nutrients predictably and consistently across space and time within the MAP. However, in MAP streams, elevated specific conductance was predicted to dampen the response of tolerant and intolerant taxa richness to increasing nutrient concentrations, highlighting the importance of considering multistressor interactions when interpreting biological data. Lastly, we demonstrate the efficacy of this approach with sediment bacterial communities characterized with amplicon sequencing, which lack sufficient life history characteristics necessary for the development of multimetric indices. Both macroinvertebrate and bacterial communities responded similarly to increasing nutrient concentrations, suggesting DNA‐based approaches may provide an efficient biological assessment tool for monitoring water quality improvements in highly modified watersheds.

DeVilbiss, Stephen E. [U.S. Geological Survey Lowe↗
DOE OSTI2021

Non-growing season plant nutrient uptake controls Arctic tundra vegetation composition under future climate

Abstract Plant growth and distribution in high-latitude tundra ecosystems is strongly limited by nutrient availability and is critical for quantifying centennial-scale carbon-climate interactions. However, land model representations of plant–nutrient interactions are uncertain, leading to poor comparisons with high-latitude observations. Although it has been recognized for decades in the observational community that plants continue to acquire nutrients well past when aboveground activity has ceased, most large-scale land models ignore this process. Here we address the role tundra plant nutrient acquisition during the non-growing season (NGS) has on centennial-scale vegetation growth and dynamics, with a focus on shrub expansion. We apply a well-tested mechanistic model of coupled plant, microbial, hydrological, and thermal dynamics that explicitly represents nutrient acquisition based on plant and microbial traits, thereby allowing a prognostic assessment of NGS nutrient uptake. We first show that the model accurately represents observed seasonality of NGS plant nutrient uptake in a northern Alaskan tundra site. Applying the model across the North America tundra indicates that NGS nutrient uptake is consistent with observations and ranges between ∼5% and 50% of annual uptake, with large spatial variability and dependence on plant functional type. We show that NGS plant nutrient acquisition strongly enhances modeled 21 st century tundra shrub growth and expansion rates. Our results suggest that without NGS nutrient uptake, total shrub aboveground dominance would be ∼50% lower, limited primarily by their inability to grow tall enough to maximize their inherent capacity for light competition. Evergreen shrubs would be more strongly affected because of their relatively lower capacity for nutrient remobilization and acquisition compared to deciduous shrubs. Our results highlight the importance of NGS plant and soil processes on high-latitude biogeochemistry and vegetation dynamics and motivate new observations and model structures to represent these dynamics.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Nutrient foraging by mycorrhizas: From species functional traits to ecosystem processes

1. Plant roots and the associated mycorrhizal fungal hyphae often selectively proliferate into patchily distributed soil nutrient hotspots, but interactions between these two components of a mycorrhizal root system are usually ignored or experimentally isolated in nutrient foraging studies. 2. From studies in which both roots and mycorrhizal hyphae had access to nutrient hotspots, we compiled data on root foraging precision (increase in roots in nutrient hotspots relative to outside hotspots) of plant species from different ecosystems, ranging from temperate grasslands to subtropical forests. We found that root for- aging precision across the wide range of plant species was strongly influenced by root morphology and mycorrhizal type. 3. The precision of root nutrient foraging, as a plant functional trait, may coordinate with other root traits that are related to the economics of nutrient acquisition. High foraging precision is expected to associate with the strategy of fast return on the investment in roots, such as low construction cost, high metabolic rate and rapid turnover. 4. Nutrient foraging by mycorrhizal fungi alone may be influenced by functional traits such as hyphal exploration distance, hyphal turnover, and hyphal uptake capacity and efficiency, but such data are limited to a small portion of mycorrhizal fungal species. 5. We propose a conceptual framework in which to simulate nitrogen and phosphorus acquisition from both nutrient hotspots and outside hotspots in mixed-species plant communities. Simulation outputs suggest that plant species with varying root morphology and mycorrhizal type can be adaptive to a range of nutrient heterogeneity. 6. Although there are still knowledge gaps related to nutrient foraging, as well as many unexplored plant and fungal species, we suggest that scaling nutrient foraging from individual plants to communities would advance understanding of plant species interactions and below-ground ecosystem function.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Recipient-Biased Competition for an Intracellularly Generated Cross-Fed Nutrient Is Required for Coexistence of Microbial Mutualists

ABSTRACT Many mutualistic microbial relationships are based on nutrient cross-feeding. Traditionally, cross-feeding is viewed as being unidirectional, from the producer to the recipient. This is likely true when a producer’s waste, such as a fermentation product, has value only for a recipient. However, in some cases the cross-fed nutrient holds value for both the producer and the recipient. In such cases, there is potential for nutrient reacquisition by producer cells in a population, leading to competition against recipients. Here, we investigated the consequences of interpartner competition for cross-fed nutrients on mutualism dynamics by using an anaerobic coculture pairing fermentative Escherichia coli and phototrophic Rhodopseudomonas palustris . In this coculture, E. coli excretes waste organic acids that provide a carbon source for R. palustris . In return, R. palustris cross-feeds E. coli ammonium (NH 4 + ), a compound that both species value. To explore the potential for interpartner competition, we first used a kinetic model to simulate cocultures with varied affinities for NH 4 + in each species. The model predicted that interpartner competition for NH 4 + could profoundly impact population dynamics. We then experimentally tested the predictions by culturing mutants lacking NH 4 + transporters in both NH 4 + competition assays and mutualistic cocultures. Both theoretical and experimental results indicated that the recipient must have a competitive advantage in acquiring cross-fed NH 4 + to sustain the mutualism. This recipient-biased competitive advantage is predicted to be crucial, particularly when the communally valuable nutrient is generated intracellularly. Thus, the very metabolites that form the basis for mutualistic cross-feeding can also be subject to competition between mutualistic partners. IMPORTANCE Mutualistic relationships, particularly those based on nutrient cross-feeding, promote stability of diverse ecosystems and drive global biogeochemical cycles. Cross-fed nutrients within these systems can be either waste products valued by only one partner or nutrients valued by both partners. Here, we explored how interpartner competition for a communally valuable cross-fed nutrient impacts mutualism dynamics. We discovered that mutualism stability necessitates that the recipient have a competitive advantage against the producer in obtaining the cross-fed nutrient, provided that the nutrient is generated intracellularly. We propose that the requirement for recipient-biased competition is a general rule for mutualistic coexistence based on the transfer of intracellularly generated, communally valuable resources.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1998

A System for Managing Replenishment of a Nutrient Solution Using an Electrical Conductivity Controller

Control of nutrient solution parameters is very important for the growth and development of plants grown hydroponically. Protocols involving different nutrient solution replenishment times (e.g. one-week, two-week, or two-day replenishment) provide manual periodic control of the nutrient solution's electrical conductivity (EC). Since plants take-up nutrients as they grow, manual control has a drawback in that EC is not held constant between replenishments. In an effort to correct this problem the Center for Food and Environmental Systems for Human Exploration of Space at Tuskegee University has developed a system for managing and controlling levels of EC over a plant's entire growing cycle. A prototype system is being tested on sweetpotato production using the nutrient film technique (NFT), and it is being compared to a system in which sweetpotatoes are grown using NFT with manual control. NASA has played an important role in the development of environmental control systems. They have become a forerunner in growing plants hydroponically with some control systems through the use of networked data acquisition and control using environmental growth chambers. Data acquisition systems which involve the use of real-time, calibration, set points, user panel, and graphical representation programming provide a good method of controlling nutrient solution parameters such as EC and pH [Bledsoe, 19931]. In NASA's Biomass Production Chamber (BPC) at Kennedy Space Center, control is provided by a programmable logic controller (PLC). This is an industrial controller which combines ladder computer logic which has the ability to handle various levels of electrical power. The controller controls temperature, light and other parameters that affect the plant's environment, in the BPC, the Nutrient Delivery System (NIX), a sub-system of the PLC, controls nutrient solution parameters such as EC, pH, and solution levels. When the nutrient EC measurement goes outside a preset range (120-130 mS/m) a set amount of a stock solution of nutrients is automatically added by a metering pump to bring the EC back into operating range [Fortson, 1992]. This paper describes a system developed at Tuskegee University for controlling the EC of a nutrient solution used for growing sweetpotatoes with an EC controller and a computer with LabView data acquisition and instrumentation software. It also describes the preliminary data obtained from the growth of sweetpotatoes using this prototype control system.

Davis, D.↗
DOE OSTI2021

High foliar K and P resorption efficiencies in old-growth tropical forests growing on nutrient-poor soils

Resorption is the active withdrawal of nutrients before leaf abscission. This mechanism represents an important strategy to maintain efficient nutrient cycling; however, resorption is poorly characterized in old-growth tropical forests growing in nutrientpoor soils. We investigated nutrient resorption from leaves in 39 tree species in two tropical forests on the Guiana Shield, French Guiana, to investigate whether resorption efficiencies varied with soil nutrient, seasonality, and species traits. The stocks of P in leaves, litter, and soil were low at both sites, indicating potential P limitation of the forests. Accordingly, mean resorption efficiencies were higher for P (35.9%) and potassium (K; 44.6%) than for nitrogen (N; 10.3%). K resorption was higher in the wet (70.2%) than in the dry (41.7%) season. P resorption increased slightly with decreasing total soil P; and N and P resorptions were positively related to their foliar concentrations. We conclude that nutrient resorption is a key plant nutrition strategy in these old-growth tropical forests, that trees with high foliar nutrient concentration reabsorb more nutrient, and that nutrients resorption in leaves, except P, are quite decoupled from nutrients in the soil. Seasonality and biochemical limitation played a role in the resorption of nutrients in leaves, but species-specific requirements obscured general tendencies at stand and ecosystem level.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Imaging Nutrient Distribution in the Rhizosphere Using FTIR Imaging

Symbiotic associations in the rhizosphere between plants and microorganisms lead to efficient changes in the distribution of nutrients that promote growth and development for each organism involved. Understanding these nutrient fluxes provides insight into the molecular dynamics involved in nutrient transport from one organism to the other. Here, to study such a nutrient flow, a new application of Fourier transform infrared imaging (FTIRI) was developed that entailed growing Populus tremulodes seedlings on a thin, nutrient-enriched Phytagel matrix that allows pixel to pixel measurement of the distribution of nutrients, in particular, nitrate, in the rhizosphere. The FTIR spectra collected from ammonium nitrate in the matrix indicated the greatest changes in the spectra at 1340 cm -1 due to the asymmetric stretching vibrations of nitrate. For quantification of the nitrate concentration in the rhizosphere of experimental plants, a calibration curve was generated that gave the nitrate concentration at each pixel in the chemical image. These images of the poplar rhizosphere showed evidence for symbiotic sharing of nutrients between the plant and the fungi, Laccaria bicolor, where the nitrate concentration was five times higher near mycorrhizal roots than further out into the rhizosphere. This suggested that nitrates are acquired and transported from the media toward the plant root by the fungi. Similarly, the sucrose used in the growth media as a carbon source was depleted around the fungi, suggesting its uptake and consumption by the system. In conclusion, this study is the first of its kind to visualize and quantify the nutrient availability associated with mycorrhizal interactions, indicating that FTIRI has the ability to monitor nutrient changes with other microorganisms in the rhizosphere as a key step for understanding nutrient flow processes in more diverse biological systems.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2015

Nutrient Recovery of Plant Leachates Under Thermal, Biological, and Photocatalytic Pretreatments

Nutrient recovery has always been a problem for long distance and long-term space missions. To allow humans to man these missions, a steady source of oxygen, water, and food are necessary for survival beyond Earth's atmosphere. Plants are currently an area of interest since they are capable of providing all three resources for life sustainability. We are currently interested in nutrient recovery for future plant growth and simple aqueous leachate extractions can recover some of the nutrients. However, leaching plants also removes water-soluble organic plant wastes, which inhibits plant growth if not separated properly. To combat the issues with waste and maximize nutrient recovery, we are attempting to pre-treat the plant matter using biological, thermal, and photocatalytic methods before subjecting the solution with variable-strength acid digestion. For the biological method, the inoculums: mixed heterotrophic/nitrifying bioreactor effluent and Trichoderma vessei are used in an attempt to liberate more nutrients from the plant matter. For the thermal method, plants are subjected to varying temperatures at different retention times to determine nutrient recovery. Lastly, the photocatalytic method utilizes TiO (sub 2)'s oxidizing abilities under specific pHs and retention times to reduce organic wastes and improve nutrient gains. A final acid digestion serves to liberate nutrients even further in order to maximize recovery. So far, we have tested ideal acid digestion variables for practicality and performance in our experiments. We found that a low retention time of 10 minutes and a high acid concentration of 0.1 and 1 mole HCl were the most effective at nutrient recovery. For space travel purposes, 0.1 mole currently looks like a viable acid digestion to use since it is relatively effective and sustainable from a mass and energy balance if acid recovery can be performed on waste brines. Biological pretreatments do not look to be too effective and the thermal and photocatalytic methods may be preferred since they show a potential to recover more than 70 percent of the nutrients.

Photocatalytic↗
DOE OSTI2018

Influence of dual nitrogen and phosphorus additions on nutrient uptake and saturation kinetics in a forested headwater stream

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) can limit autotrophic and heterotrophic metabolism in lotic ecosystems, yet most studies that evaluate biotic responses to colimitation focus on patch-scale (e.g., nutrient diffusing substrata) rather than stream-scale responses. In this study, we evaluated the effects of single and dual N and P additions on ambient nutrient uptake rates and saturation kinetics during two biologically contrasting seasons (spring, autumn) in Walker Branch, a temperate forested headwater stream in Tennessee, USA. In each season, we used separate instantaneous pulse additions to quantify nutrient uptake rates and saturation kinetics of N (nitrate) and P (phosphate). We then used steady-state injections to elevate background stream water concentrations (to low and then high background concentrations) of one nutrient (e.g., N) and released instantaneous pulses of the other nutrient (e.g., P). We predicted that elevating the background concentration of one nutrient would result in a lower ambient uptake length and a higher maximum areal uptake rate of the other nutrient in this colimited stream. Our prediction held true in spring, as maximum areal uptake rate of N increased with elevated P concentrations from 185 µg m –2 min –1 (no added P) to 354 µg m –2 min –1 (high P). This pattern was not observed in autumn, as uptake rates of N were not measurable when P was elevated. Further, elevating background N concentration in either season did not significantly increase P uptake rates, likely because adsorption rather than biotic uptake dominated P dynamics. Laboratory P sorption assays demonstrated that Walker Branch sediments had a high adsorption capacity and were likely a sink for P during most pulse nutrient additions. Furthermore, it may be difficult to use coupled pulse nutrient additions to evaluate biotic uptake of N and P in streams with strong P adsorption potential. Future efforts should use dual nutrient addition techniques to investigate reach-scale coupled biogeochemical cycles (C–N–P, and other elemental cycles [e.g., Fe, Mo]) across seasons, biomes, and land-use types and over longer time periods.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

The role of nutrients in drought‐induced tree mortality and recovery

Summary Global forests are experiencing rising temperatures and more severe droughts, with consistently dire forecasts for negative future impacts. Current research on the physiological mechanisms underlying drought impacts is focused on the water‐ and carbon‐associated mechanisms. The role of nutrients is notably missing from this research agenda. Here, we investigate what role, if any, forest nutrition plays for survival and recovery of forests during and after drought. High nutrient availability may play a detrimental role in drought survival due to preferential biomass allocation aboveground that (1) predispose plants to hydraulic constraints limiting photosynthesis and promoting hydraulic failure, (2) increases carbon costs during periods of carbon starvation, and (3) promote biotic attack due to low tissue carbon: nitrogen (C : N). When nutrient uptake occurs during drought, high nutrient availability can increase water use efficiency thus minimizing negative feedbacks between carbon and nutrient balance. Nutrients are released after drought ceases, which might promote faster recovery but the temporal dynamics of microbial immobilization and nutrient leaching have a significant impact on nutrient availability. We provide a framework for understanding nutrient impacts on drought survival that allows a more complete analysis of forest ecosystem responses. Contents Summary 513 I. Introduction 513 II. Integrating nutrients into the hydraulic framework predicting mechanisms of drought survival, mortality, and recovery 514 III. Integration 517 Acknowledgements 518 References 518

Gessler, Arthur↗
NASA NTRS1996

Recycle of Inorganic Nutrients for Hydroponic Crop Production Following Incineration of Inedible Biomass

Recovery of resources from waste streams is essential for future implementation and reliance on a regenerative life support system. The major waste streams of concern are from human activities and plant wastes. Carbon, water and inorganics are the primary desired raw materials of interest. The goal of resource recovery is maintenance of product quality to insure support of reliable and predictable levels of life support function performance by the crop plant component. Further, these systems must be maintained over extended periods of time, requiring maintenance of nutrient solutions to avoid toxicity and deficiencies. Today, reagent grade nutrients are used to make nutrient solutions for hydroponic culture and these solutions are frequently changed during the life cycle or sometimes managed for only one crop life cycle. The focus of this study was to determine the suitability of the ash product following incineration of inedible biomass as a source of inorganic nutrients for hydroponic crop production. Inedible wheat biomass was incinerated and ash quality characterized. The incinerator ash was dissolved in adequate nitric acid to establish a consistent nitrogen concentration in all nutrient solution treatments. Four experimental nutrient treatments were included: control, ash only, ash supplemented to match control, and ash only quality formulated with reagent grade chemicals. When nutrient solutions are formulated using only ash following-incineration of inedible biomass, a balance in solution is established representing elemental retention following incineration and nutrient proportions present in the original biomass. The resulting solution is not identical to the control. This imbalance resulted in suppression of crop growth. When the ash is supplemented with nutrients to establish the same balance as in the control, growth is identical to the control. The ash appears to carry no phytotoxic materials. Growth in solution formulated with reagent grade chemicals but matching the quality of the ash only treatment resulted in growth similar to that of the ash only treatment. The ash product resulting from incineration of inedible biomass appears to be a suitable form for recycle of inorganic nutrients to crop production.

Bubenheim, David L.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Aerosols in Atmospheric Chemistry and Biogeochemical Cycles of Nutrients

Atmospheric aerosols have complex and variable compositions and properties.While scientific interest is centered on the health and climatic effects of atmospheric aerosols, insufficient attention is given to their involvement in multiphase chemistry that alters their contribution as carriers of nutrients in ecosystems. However, there is experimental proof that the nutrient equilibria of both land and marine ecosystems have been disturbed during the Anthropocene period. This review study first summarizes our current understanding of aerosol chemical processing in the atmosphere as relevant to biogeochemical cycles. Then it binds together results of recent modeling studies based on laboratory and field experiments, focusing on the organic and dust components of aerosols that account for multiphase chemistry, aerosol ageing in the atmosphere, nutrient (N, P, Fe) emissions, atmospheric transport, transformation and deposition. The human-driven contribution to atmospheric deposition of these nutrients, derived by global simulations using past and future anthropogenic emissions of pollutants, is put into perspective with regard to potential changes in nutrient limitations and biodiversity. Atmospheric deposition of nutrients has been suggested to result in human-induced ecosystem limitations with regard to specific nutrients. Such modifications favor the development of certain species against others and affect the overall functioning of ecosystems. Organic forms of nutrients are found to contribute to the atmospheric deposition of the nutrients N, P and Fe by 20%-40%, 35%-45% and 7%-18%, respectively. These have the potential to be key components of the biogeochemical cycles since there is initial proof of their bioavailability to ecosystems. Bioaerosols have been found to make a significant contribution to atmospheric sources of N and P, indicating potentially significant interactions between terrestrial and marine ecosystems. These results deserve further experimental and modeling studies to reduce uncertainties and understand the feedbacks induced by atmospheric deposition of nutrients to ecosystems.

dust↗