- Title
- Relationship between degradation of poly cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and nitrogen fertilization in the desert grassland of Karamay, Xinjiang, China
- Creator
- Yang, X; Duan, L; Chen, Y; Meng, F; Li, Y; He, X; Zhang, X; Lü, G
- Relation
- Shengtai Xuebao/ Acta Ecologica Sinica Vol. 39, Issue 9, p. 3153-3166
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.5846/stxb201802030295
- Publisher
- Kexue Chubanshe
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2019
- Description
- As a critical environmental pollutant, the development of contamination control methods for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has generated great concern worldwide. Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has increased over the last few decades, which in turn has made available N increase in terrestrial ecological systems. However, relationship between PAHs degradation and N deposition remains unclear. In this study, four amounts of N fertilization, i.e., low (N1), middle (N2), and high (N3) N additions (10, 30, and 90 kg N hm-2 a-1, respectively) and an unfertilized control (CK; 0 kg N hm-2 a-1), were conducted in the desert grassland of Karamay, Xinjiang, in northwest China. Then, the amounts of 16 priority USEPA PAHs, the total amount of PAHs (∑PAHs), and three biotic-abiotic factors, including soil environmental factors, enzyme activities, and microbial functional diversity, were investigated to demonstrate the effects of N fertilization on PAHs degradation in the desert grassland. The results showed that, the amounts of ∑PAHs and 14 priority USEPA PAHs significantly decreased along the gradient of N addition (N2 ≤ N3 < N1 < CK)(P < 0.01), except for undetected acenaphthylene and acenaphthene, in all N additions treatments. This suggested N fertilization was advantageous to the decrease of soil PAHs in arid desert grassland. Low molecular weight PAHs/heavy molecular weight PAHs > 1.00, whereas 0.40 < fluoranthene/(fluoranthene+pyrene) < 0.50 in CK plots in both April and September, suggesting that PAHs mainly originated from a petroleum pollutant. ∑PAHs in the desert grassland soil equaled to (28.91±2.32) mg/kg in September in Karamay, indicating that the local soil had a heavy pollution level of PAHs. In most situations, the amounts of ∑PAHs and 14 priority USEPA PAHs had a significant regression relationship with soil organic matter, ammonium nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and urease activity in the generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) (P < 0.05). The regression function of PAHs to biotic-abiotic factors varied among PAH types. Overall, our results showed that PAH degradation was a complex process in desert grassland soil, which was interactively determined by their own characteristics, plant roots, and microorganisms. N deposition might improve nutritional availability, with positive interactions with plant roots, microorganisms, and PAHs degradation, and the subsequent decrease in PAHs concentration along an N addition gradient.
- Subject
- N deposition; PAHs; desert grassland; petroluem pollutant; GLMMs; arid desert region
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1459327
- Identifier
- uon:45646
- Identifier
- ISSN:1000-0933
- Language
- eng
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