Search results

Phosphate rock and phosphorus are listed by the European Union as the critical raw materials due to the risks of their shortage of supply and the impacts of a shortage on the economy are greater than those of most other raw materials. Although, high concentration of P in surface waters is the leading cause of eutrophication, which is a serious environmental problem in many countries of the world. Eutrophication of both freshwater and coastal marine ecosystems leads to a decrease in oxygen concentration and increases the abundance of toxic algae and aquatic plants. Discharge of untreated or semi-treated wastewater into the environment is one of the main causes of eutrophication; therefore, it is necessary to use effective wastewater treatment methods. One of the possibilities for the removal of P from wastewater is the use of biomaterial sorbents modified by iron oxohydroxide, which is an alternative to traditional wastewater treatment methods. As a prospective solution for P removal from wastewaters peat and other biomaterials has been suggested and tested. The obtained sorbents characterize high sorption capacities, fast sorption and relatively high sorbent saturation capacities and possibilities to run sorption process both in static and dynamic conditions. The results showed that P can be efficiently removed from wastewater by modified biomaterial sorbents; furthermore, after the purification process sorbents saturated with P can be recycled and used as fertilizers in agriculture. The saturated sorbents can be composted and transformed to a high value fertilizer considering significant amounts of phosphorus as well as presence of iron and nitrogen compounds. Further tests using domestic wastewaters were done and the presence of metals as well as toxicity of the sorbents were tested, proving application prospects. Thus biomaterial based sorbents can be a feasible approach for phosphorus removal from wastewaters and return of nutrient for agricultural applications as well as reduction of phosphorus load to waters. This work was funded by the project "Sustainable Management of Phosphorus in Baltic countries" (InPhos) No. 17022 (2018-2019), that is financed by the EIT Raw Materials. ; Phosphate rock and phosphorus are listed by the European Union as the critical raw materials due to the risks of their shortage of supply and the impacts of a shortage on the economy are greater than those of most other raw materials. Although, high concentration of P in surface waters is the leading cause of eutrophication, which is a serious environmental problem in many countries of the world. Eutrophication of both freshwater and coastal marine ecosystems leads to a decrease in oxygen concentration and increases the abundance of toxic algae and aquatic plants. Discharge of untreated or semi-treated wastewater into the environment is one of the main causes of eutrophication; therefore, it is necessary to use effective wastewater treatment methods. One of the possibilities for the removal of P from wastewater is the use of biomaterial sorbents modified by iron oxohydroxide, which is an alternative to traditional wastewater treatment methods. As a prospective solution for P removal from wastewaters peat and other biomaterials has been suggested and tested. The obtained sorbents characterize high sorption capacities, fast sorption and relatively high sorbent saturation capacities and possibilities to run sorption process both in static and dynamic conditions. The results showed that P can be efficiently removed from wastewater by modified biomaterial sorbents; furthermore, after the purification process sorbents saturated with P can be recycled and used as fertilizers in agriculture. The saturated sorbents can be composted and transformed to a high value fertilizer considering significant amounts of phosphorus as well as presence of iron and nitrogen compounds. Further tests using domestic wastewaters were done and the presence of metals as well as toxicity of the sorbents were tested, proving application prospects. Thus biomaterial based sorbents can be a feasible approach for phosphorus removal from wastewaters and return of nutrient for agricultural applications as well as reduction of phosphorus load to waters. This work was funded by the project "Sustainable Management of Phosphorus in Baltic countries" (InPhos) No. 17022 (2018-2019), that is financed by the EIT Raw Materials.

Global change and governance scholars frequently highlight polycentricity as a feature of resilient governance, but both theoretical and empirical knowledge about features and outcomes of the concept are lacking at the global scale. Here we investigate the structural properties of governance of global nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycles, two processes in the 'planetary boundaries' framework. We have used a mixed-methods approach to institutional analysis, integrating polycentric theory with social network theory in environmental policy and legal studies. We include an actor collaboration case study, the Global Partnership on Nutrient Management (GPNM), to explore governance challenges associated with global N and P cycles. We set the scope for selection of relevant legal instruments using an overview of global N and P flows between Earth system 'components' (land, water, atmosphere, oceans, biosphere) and the major anthropogenic N and P perturbations. Our network analysis of citations of global N and P governance exposes the structural patterns of a loose network among the principal institutions and actors, in which legal instruments of the European Union serve as key cross-scale and cross-sectoral 'gateways'. We show that the current international regimes in place for regulating N- and P-related issues represent a gap in governance at the global level. In addition, we are able to show that the emergence of GPNM provides synergies in this context of insufficient governance. The GPNM can be viewed as a structure of polycentric governance as it involves deliberate attempts for mutual adjustments and self-organised action.

Despite advances in modeling, such as graphical user interfaces, the use of GIS layers, and databases for developing input files, the approaches to modeling phosphorus (P) have not changed since their initial development in the 1980s. Current understanding of P processes has evolved and this new information needs to be incorporated into the current models. Filling this need, Modeling Phosphorus in the Environment describes basic approaches to modeling P, how the current models implement these approaches, and ways to improve them. The book sets the scene with a review of general approaches to modeling runoff and erosion, P in runoff, leaching of P, stream processes that affect P, and an examination of the important issue of model uncertainty. It describes state-of-the-science watershed-scale P transport models including dynamic semi-disturbed models, models of intermediate complexity, and two lumped models. Phosphorus Indexes (PIs) represent one end of the modeling spectrum and the book takes a comprehensive look at PIs developed in each state, and illustrates some of the problems encountered when incorporating PIs into farm-scale manure management software. The book discusses monitoring data, which is critical for calibrating models, and concludes with suggestions for improving the modeling of P. From researching mechanisms to applying regulations, the uses of phosphorus models have increased as our knowledge of the effects of phosphorus in the environment has increased. Drawing on contributions from experts, the book gives you the tools to select the model that best fits your needs.

This is the final version. Available from Springer via the DOI in this record. ; Data used in this manuscript will be made available on a public repository upon publication ; Purpose: The tropical phosphorus cycle and its relation to soil phosphorus (P) availability are a major uncertainty in projections of forest productivity. In highly weathered soils with low P concentrations, plant and microbial communities depend on abiotic and biotic processes to acquire P. We explored the seasonality and relative importance of drivers controlling the fluctuation of common P pools via processes such as litter production and decomposition, and soil phosphatase activity. Methods: We analyzed intra-annual variation of tropical soil phosphorus pools using a modified Hedley sequential fractionation scheme. In addition, we measured litterfall, the mobilization of P from litter and soil extracellular phosphatase enzyme activity and tested their relation to fluctuations in P- fractions. Results: Our results showed clear patterns of seasonal variability of soil P fractions during the year. We found that modeled P released during litter decomposition was positively related to change in organic P fractions, while net change in organic P fractions was negatively related to phosphatase activities in the top 5 cm. Conclusion: We conclude that input of P by litter decomposition and potential soil extracellular phosphatase activity are the two main factors related to seasonal soil P fluctuations, and therefore the P economy in P impoverished soils. Organic soil P followed a clear seasonal pattern, indicating tight cycling of the nutrient, while reinforcing the importance of studying soil P as an integrated dynamic system in a tropical forest context. ; Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications ; Brazil's Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) ; Brazil's Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) ; Amazonas Research Foundation (FAPEAM) ; Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) ; AmazonFACE ; European Union's Horizon 2020 ; CAPES-INPA

This dissertation is a study of the landscape ecologies made by the phosphate fertilizer industry in Florida. Chemical fertilizers are one of the big stories of our times, rivaling fossil fuels in terms of Earth-altering effects. I use the Florida phosphate industry and the human-altered phosphorus cycle as a lens to understand the emergence of what earth scientists call the Anthropocene. Unlike most Anthropocene scholars, I argue that we are not "in" the Anthropocene so much as we are living through the Holocene/Anthropocene transition. Studying the Holocene/Anthropocene transition, I assert, requires arts of noticing patchy multispecies landscapes with both Holocene and Anthropocene parts. It also requires anthropological elucidation of industrial capitalism. Understanding how industrialization drives the Holocene/Anthropocene transition is at the core of a new discipline I call critical landscape ecology. At the heart of my critical landscape ecology of Florida is a structural critique of the human-altered phosphorus cycle and the industrial food system it fertilizes. In the Anthropocene, phosphorus forms a broken biogeochemical cycle, feeding the capitalist world-system in a one-way flow from mine to farm to fork and to water body. By learning to convert phosphate rock into an overabundance of cheap food, humans have created the biogeochemical foundations for economic, human population, and (sub)urban growth.Located within Central Florida is one of the world's largest and oldest phosphate-rock-producing regions, known as Bone Valley. Central Florida is also an agricultural region with lakes, rivers, and estuaries that have been polluted by phosphate fertilizers. Lastly, it is a region transformed by suburban sprawl and the politics of growth. I examine how phosphate mining, the eutrophication of agricultural watersheds, and suburban development have fractured the regional Holocene and generated an Anthropocene. As Holocene natures are destroyed and polluted, Floridians invest in restoration and conservation. I document how environmental managers attempt to stave off the ecological entropy unleashed by phosphorus industrialization. Attending to the natural history of this mosaic Holocene/Anthropocene region reveals a strange and surprising mix of invasive weeds, native remnants, restored habitats, and the ghosts of extirpated species.

This book contains state-of-the-art reviews of organic phosphorus characterization and transformations in the environment. It includes 17 chapters organized into 3 main sections. Section 1 (3 chapters) describes analytical techniques used to characterize organic phosphorus compounds in environmental samples, with chapters dedicated to state-of-the-art procedures involving chromatographic separation, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Section 2 (7 chapters) addresses the processes that control organic phosphorus behaviour in terrestrial and aquatic environments, including the origins, stabilization, hydrolysis (biotic and abiotic) and biological utilization of organic phosphorus. Section 3 (7 chapters) integrates these processes at the ecosystem level, with chapters synthesizing information on organic phosphorus in soils and aquatic systems, its interaction with other nutrient cycles and its transfer between terrestrial and aquatic environments. Two chapters (Chapters 15 and 16) in this section describe state-of-the-art models used to investigate the behaviour of organic phosphorus in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. The final chapter in this section summarizes the importance of organic phosphorus in the environment and identifies key areas towards which future research effort should be directed.