Kinetic Study on the Effect of Substrate and Micronutrient Inhibition during Anaerobic Fermentation of Biohydrogen

There are several factors that influence the production of biohydrogen by dark fermentation including inoculum seeds, type and concentration of substrate, pH, temperature, presence of micronutrient and reactor configuration. Previous research has proven that the concentration of substrate and the presence of micronutrient will influence the yield and productivity of biohydrogen production. However, improvement of yield and productivity of the process can only be achieved once the system is under the optimum amount of substrate and micronutrient. Therefore, the best way to determine the effect of substrate concentration and presence of micronutrient is through kinetic study that was done using Monod model along with Andrews model. Besides that, the substrate inhibition effect also will be evaluated to determine the maximum substrate that needs to be supplied for maximum hydrogen production, and thus supplied the information for economic feasibility for fermentation process. In the meantime, the inhibition effect of adding the iron nanoparticles also had been evaluated in order to understand the interaction effect between iron nanoparticles and bacteria in term of catabolism reaction. It was found that increasing the substrate concentration more than 10 g/l will cause the inhibition to the system, in which it will slow down the reaction process and reduced the production of hydrogen. While the presence of iron NPs more than its optimum value (200 mg/l) will inhibit the bacterial growth and hence, affect the hydrogen production. For both cases, when the inhibition occurred at the respective concentration, it was found that the metabolic pathway was shifted to produce more hydrogen-consuming metabolite such as propionate acid, and thus, dropped the hydrogen production.

The Pour-Through Procedure for Monitoring Container Substrate Chemical Properties: A Review

The pour-through procedure is a nondestructive method commonly used by horticultural crop producers and research scientists to measure chemical properties and nutrient availability in container substrates. It is a method that uses water as a displacement solution to push the substrate solution out of the bottom of the container so it can be analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity, and nutrient concentrations. The method was first introduced in the early 1980s. Since then, research has been conducted to determine factors that affect the results of the pour-through including volume, nature and timing of application of the displacement solution, container size, and substrate stratification. It has also been validated against other common methods for determining container substrate pH, EC, and nutrient concentration, most notably the saturated media extraction procedure. Over the past 40 years, the method has been proven to be simple, robust, and consistent in providing crop producers and researchers valuable information on substrate chemical properties from which management decisions and experimental inferences can be made.

Study of the significance of the ph of the substrate of the biogas installation during treating it with a low-frequency electromagnetic field

The article considers the issue of studying the value of pH, substrate in the process of methane fermentation in the mesophilic regime and the influence of the electromagnetic field of industrial frequency. The aim is to investigate the influence of electromagnetic fields on the pH value of the substrate during fermentation. Different types of microorganisms are involved in the process of methanogenesis, and the decisive role in it is played by methane-forming archaea, which are most sensitive to pH and should be in the range of 6.5 - 8. Therefore, it is necessary to check the effect of low frequency electromagnetic field on substrate pH. The study was performed for 25 days on two substrates, one of which was exposed to a low-frequency electromagnetic field with an electromagnetic induction of 3.5 mT. The research results show that the pH value of the substrate exposed to the electromagnetic field during the methane fermentation process was within acceptable limits, and the second substrate decreased, that is, it was acidified. Key words: methane fermentation, substrate, pH value, electromagnetic field

The Effect of Neutralising Materials on the Reaction of the Peat Substrate Medium when Growing Ball-Rooted Seedlings

The use of various types of neutralising materials in the cultivation of standard planting material of high-quality forest wood species has a significant effect on substrate acidity. Therefore, the study sets a goal to select peat substrates with different dosages of the neutralising component and determine their effect on the reaction of the peat substrate medium. The paper presents the results of the influence of neutralising materials of dolomitic meal and chalk of various doses with the use of mineral fertilisers. Dolomitic meal was used as a neutralising component, the pH of the peat substrate was 6.6 and chalk was 7.5. It was found that when neutralising a peat substrate created based on high-moor milled peat (pH 2.5) with the introduction of dolomitic meal in doses of 2-4 kg/m3 (European spruce), 3-4. 5 kg/m3 (Scots pine), optimal acidity can be achieved in a month. An increase in the concentration of lime material was recorded, which leads to an increase in the neutralisation of the substrate at a dose of 2.5 g and 3.0 g per 125 g of peat. The best indicators were demonstrated by options of doses of 1.5-2.5 g per 125 g of peat for 7-8 days of use and a dose of 3.0 g per 125 g of peat for 5-6 days compared with the control. An increase in the concentration of chalk in the neutralising material from 30% to 70% leads to a faster deoxidation of the substrate (pH 3.2), and an increase in the dosage of chalk increases substrate neutralisation. The electrical conductivity of the substrate at a dosage of 6-8 kg/m3 when applying chalk and dolomitic meal increases by 1.6-2.0 and 1.2-1.4 times, respectively. At the rate of application of 6-10 kg/m3, it has a lesser effect on the change in the electrical conductivity of the high-moor peat, and the introduction of dolomitic meal 2-4.5 kg/m3 into the milled peat during neutralisation does not lead to a change in the electrical conductivity of the peat. This data allows choosing neutralising materials of a certain concentration that will enable the cultivation of standard planting material of European quality and thereby ensure the proper quality of future stands

Antarctic biodiversity predictions through substrate qualities and environmental DNA

Antarctic conservation science is important to enhance Antarctic policy and to understand alterations of terrestrial Antarctic biodiversity. Antarctic conservation will have limited long-term effect in the absence of large-scale biodiversity data, but if such data were available, it is likely to improve environmental protection regimes. To enable Antarctic biodiversity prediction across continental spatial scales through proxy variables, in the absence of baseline surveys, we link Antarctic substrate-derived environmental DNA (eDNA) sequence data from the remote Antarctic Prince Charles Mountains to a selected range of concomitantly collected measurements of substrate properties. We achieve this using a statistical method commonly used in machine learning. We find neutral substrate pH, low conductivity, and some substrate minerals to be important predictors of presence for basidiomycetes, chlorophytes, ciliophorans, nematodes, or tardigrades. Our bootstrapped regression reveals how variations of the identified substrate parameters influence probabilities of detecting eukaryote phyla across vast and remote areas of Antarctica. We believe that our work may improve future taxon distribution modelling and aid targeting logistically challenging biodiversity surveys.

Calcium Carbonate Can Be Used to Manage Soilless Substrate pH for Blueberry Production

Blueberry (Vacciniumcorymbosum interspecific hybrids) production in soilless substrates is becoming increasingly popular. Soilless substrates have low pH buffering capacity. Blueberry plants preferentially take up ammonium, which acidifies the rhizosphere. Consequently, soilless substrates where blueberry plants are grown exhibit a tendency to get acidified over time. Agricultural lime (CaCO3) is commonly used to raise soil and substrate pH in other crops, but it is rarely used in blueberry cultivation. We hypothesized that substrate amendment with low rates of agricultural lime increases substrate pH buffering capacity and provides nutritional cations that can benefit blueberry plants. We tested this hypothesis in a greenhouse experiment with ‘Emerald’ southern highbush blueberry plants grown in rhizoboxes filled with a 3:1 mix of coconut coir and perlite. We found that substrate amendment with CaCO3 did not cause high pH stress. This amendment maintained substrate pH between 5.5 and 6.5 and provided Ca and Mg for plant uptake. When blueberry plants were grown in CaCO3-amended substrate and fertigated with low pH nutrient solution (pH 4.5), they exhibited greater biomass accumulation than plants grown in unamended substrates. These results suggest that low rates of CaCO3 could be useful for blueberry cultivation in soilless substrates.

Effects of Different Vegetable Rotations on the Bacterial Community Structure and Tomato Growth in a Continuous Tomato Cropping Substrate

Purpose In this study, MiSeq pyrosequencing was used to analyze the effects of different vegetable rotations on the bacterial diversity and community structure in a substrate that was used for continuous tomato cropping (CK). Methods The vegetable rotations tested were cabbage/tomato (B), kidney bean/tomato (D), and celery/tomato (Q). Results The results revealed that the substrate bacterial diversity and richness of each crop rotation were higher than those of CK. The highest bacterial diversity was found in the B substrate, followed by the Q and D substrates. Further comparison showed that the bacterial community structure of Q substrate was significantly different to that of CK. Compared with the CK, the Q substrate had a significantly higher relative abundance of several dominant microflora, such as Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Firmicutes. Additionally, the Q rotation significantly increased the abundance of beneficial bacteria, such as Actinobacteria_unclassified and Anaerolineaceae_unclassified. A redundancy analysis showed that Most dominant bacteria correlated positively with the substrate pH, total N, and alkali-hydrolyzable N but negatively with the available P, available K, total P, total K, and organic matter contents and substrate EC. The substrates after crop rotation improved the growth and physiological condition of the subsequent tomato plants, among which those from the Q rotation performed the best. Conclusion Therefore, celery rotation not only increased the richness and diversity of bacterial communities in the substrate but also significantly increased the richness of the beneficial bacterial communities, allowing better maintenance of the substrate microenvironment for the healthy growth of crops.

Morphological and Chemical Traits of Cladonia Respond to Multiple Environmental Factors in Acidic Dry Grasslands

Terricolous lichen communities in lowlands occur especially in open dry habitats. Such communities are often dominated by species of the genus Cladonia, which are very variable in morphology, reproduction strategies, and secondary metabolites. In this work, we investigated traits-environment relationships considering vegetation dynamics, substrate pH, disturbance, and climate. A total of 122 plots were surveyed in 41 acidic dry grasslands in the western Po Plain (Northern Italy). Relationships between Cladonia traits and environmental variables were investigated by means of a model-based Fourth Corner Analysis. Thallus morphology and metabolites responded to vegetation dynamics, substrate pH, disturbance, and climate, whereas reproduction strategies responded only to vegetation dynamics. Traits’ correlations with vegetation dynamics elucidate their colonization patterns in open dry habitats or suggest biotic interactions with bryophytes and vascular plants. In addition, correlations between metabolites and environmental factors support interpretations of their ecological roles. Our results also stress the importance of studying traits’ relationships with climatic factors as an alert towards lichen reactions to climate change.

Geoecological Zonation of Revegetation Enhances Biodiversity at Historic Mine Sites, Southern New Zealand

Rocks exposed by mining can form physically, mineralogically, and geochemically diverse surface substrates. Engineered mine rehabilitation typically involves covering these rocks with a uniform layer of soil and vegetation. An alternative approach is to encourage the establishment of plant species that are tolerant of challenging geochemical settings. The zonation of geochemical parameters can therefore lead to geoecological zonation and enhanced biodiversity. Abandoned gold mines in southern New Zealand have developed such geoecological zonations that resulted from establishment of salt-tolerant ecosystems on substrates with evaporative NaCl. A salinity threshold equivalent to substrate electrical conductivity of 1000 µS separates this ecosystem from less salt-tolerant plant ecosystems. Acid mine drainage from pyrite-bearing waste rocks at an abandoned coal mine has caused variations in surface pH between 1 and 7. The resultant substrate pH gradients have led to differential plant colonisation and the establishment of distinctive ecological zones. Substrate pH <3 remained bare ground, whereas pH 3–4 substrates host two acid-tolerant shrubs. These shrubs are joined by a tree species between pH 4 and 5. At higher pH, all local species can become established. The geoecological zonation, and the intervening geochemical thresholds, in these examples involve New Zealand native plant species. However, the principle of enhancing biodiversity by the selection or encouragement of plant species tolerant of diverse geochemical conditions on exposed mine rocks is applicable for site rehabilitation anywhere in the world.

Controls on myxomycete species and species assemblages

This paper uses data from previous worldwide myxomycete surveys to determine the controls on the occurrence of myxomycete species, and on species assemblages. The main findings are as follows. The effect of substrate pH can be modelled, in that each species has a preferred pH value relative to the mean of a survey; errors from the model are 0.2 pH units. The substrate physical properties, evaluated by subjective hardness, showed no correlation with pH measurements. Hence, myxomycete species seem to have distinct ecological niches in substrate, with preferred pH and preferred physical properties. Comparison of the species found from the liana stem substrate shows that the species association does not change within angiosperm forests. Further, the species association is the same as that found in other angiosperm litter substrates: twigs on trees or on the ground, and leaves. This and a previous finding are consistent with similar ecological environments around the world having the same myxomycete species association within sampling error. In mixed angiosperm forests around the world the pH of un-decayed wood is ~4.9, and for decayed wood and tree litter is ~6.5 in tropical latitudes, and ~5.5 at 35° latitude, so on decaying the change in pH varies with latitude.