Source water protection planning (SWPP) is an approach to prevent contamination of ground and surface water in watersheds where these resources may be abstracted for drinking or used for recreation. For SWPP the hazards within a watershed that could contribute to water contamination are identified together with the pathways that link them to the water resource. In rural areas, farms are significant potential sources of pathogens. A risk-based index can be used to support the assessment of the potential for contamination following guidelines on safety and operational efficacy of processes and practices developed as beneficial approaches to agricultural land management. Evaluation of the health risk for a target population requires knowledge of the strength of the hazard with respect to the pathogen load (mass concentration). Manure handling and on-site wastewater treatment systems form the most important hazards, and both can comprise confined and unconfined source elements. There is also a need to understand the modification of pathogen numbers (attenuation) together with characteristics of the established pathways (surface or subsurface), which allow the movement of the contaminant species from a source to a receptor (water source). Many practices for manure management have not been fully evaluated for their impact on pathogen survival and transport in the environment. A key component is the identification of potential pathways of contaminant transport. This requires the development of a suitable digital elevation model of the watershed for surface movement and information on local groundwater aquifer systems for subsurface flows. Both require detailed soils and geological information. The pathways to surface and groundwater resources can then be identified. Details of land management, farm management practices(including animal and manure management) and agronomic practices have to be obtained, possibly from questionnaires completed by each producer within the watershed. To confirm that potential pathways are active requires some microbial source tracking. One possibility is to identify the molecular types of Escherichia coli present in each hazard on a farm. An essential part of any such index is the identification of mitigation strategies and practices that can reduce the magnitude of the hazard or block open pathways.

Swine manure creates much public resentment in Quebec due to nutrient overloading, potential water pollution and odour. Anaerobic digestion is one of the solutions that allows to lessen the odour problem. Anaerobic bacteria in manure produce methane. The latter can be burnt to produce heat and electricity on farms. Moreover, there is a potential for receiving carbon emission reduction credits for the capturing of methane. / Investment analysis was performed to assess the economic feasibility of a potential anaerobic digestion system on a grower-to-finisher hog operation. The study was conducted for a case farm, which had plans to expand from 2000 to 4800 pigs. Greenhouse gas emission reduction credits were incorporated into one of the scenarios. A sensitivity analysis revealed the most important variables which affect the economic feasibility of anaerobic digestion.

Root-lesion nematodes, Pratylenchus spp., are serious pathogens of potato plants worldwide. Several management practices can control Pratylenchus spp.; however, they all have shown some limitations. Therefore, environmentally-safe, low-cost, and effective control strategies are needed as possible alternative to currently used strategies. This thesis was designed to assess if liquid hog manure (LHM) holds such potential. The objectives of this thesis were to determine: (i) the prevalence and identity of species of Pratylenchus spp. in Manitoba potato fields, (ii) if short-chain volatile fatty acids (VFA) in LHM are the constituents responsible for the manure’s toxicity to Pratylenchus spp. using solution exposure experiments (iii) the effectiveness of LHM in killing Pratylenchus spp. in soil, and (iv) the impact of LHM on nematode communities. Pratylenchus spp. were detected in 39% of 31 potato fields surveyed in Manitoba with population densities ranging, for positive fields, from 45 to 631 nematodes kg-1 fresh soil. Morphometrics of female nematodes and molecular diagnosis (using species-specific PCR primers) showed that the species of Pratylenchus present in the potato fields to be P. neglectus. Potato, cv. Russet Burbank, showed to be a poor host to two populations of Pratylenchus spp. from Manitoba potato fields. Accordingly, P. neglectus does not seem to be a limitation to potato production in Manitoba; thus, P. penetrans, the most widely spread and damaging species to potato was used in the successive studies of assessing the use of LHM to control Pratylenchus spp. in potato fields. VFA (acetic, propionic, n-butyric, isobutyric, n-valeric, isovaleric, and n-caproic acids) accounted for the majority of the lethal effect of LHM to P. penetrans under acidic conditions. VFA in LHM killed Pratylenchus spp. in soil and acidification seemed to enhance its ability when VFA concentration in the manure is low. LHM did not act as a soil fumigant eliminating soil trophic interactions but increased bottom-up food web interactions. VFA in LHM persisted in the soil for four days with biological degradation being their mode of loss. In conclusion, LHM is potentially an effective and low-cost strategy to control Pratylenchus spp. and its efficacy can be improved by acidification.

Root-lesion nematodes, Pratylenchus spp., are serious pathogens of potato plants worldwide. Several management practices can control Pratylenchus spp.; however, they all have shown some limitations. Therefore, environmentally-safe, low-cost, and effective control strategies are needed as possible alternative to currently used strategies. This thesis was designed to assess if liquid hog manure (LHM) holds such potential. The objectives of this thesis were to determine: (i) the prevalence and identity of species of Pratylenchus spp. in Manitoba potato fields, (ii) if short-chain volatile fatty acids (VFA) in LHM are the constituents responsible for the manure’s toxicity to Pratylenchus spp. using solution exposure experiments (iii) the effectiveness of LHM in killing Pratylenchus spp. in soil, and (iv) the impact of LHM on nematode communities. Pratylenchus spp. were detected in 39% of 31 potato fields surveyed in Manitoba with population densities ranging, for positive fields, from 45 to 631 nematodes kg-1 fresh soil. Morphometrics of female nematodes and molecular diagnosis (using species-specific PCR primers) showed that the species of Pratylenchus present in the potato fields to be P. neglectus. Potato, cv. Russet Burbank, showed to be a poor host to two populations of Pratylenchus spp. from Manitoba potato fields. Accordingly, P. neglectus does not seem to be a limitation to potato production in Manitoba; thus, P. penetrans, the most widely spread and damaging species to potato was used in the successive studies of assessing the use of LHM to control Pratylenchus spp. in potato fields. VFA (acetic, propionic, n-butyric, isobutyric, n-valeric, isovaleric, and n-caproic acids) accounted for the majority of the lethal effect of LHM to P. penetrans under acidic conditions. VFA in LHM killed Pratylenchus spp. in soil and acidification seemed to enhance its ability when VFA concentration in the manure is low. LHM did not act as a soil fumigant eliminating soil trophic interactions but increased bottom-up food web interactions. VFA in LHM persisted in the soil for four days with biological degradation being their mode of loss. In conclusion, LHM is potentially an effective and low-cost strategy to control Pratylenchus spp. and its efficacy can be improved by acidification.

[Truncated abstract] Weeds are a major limitation to agricultural and horticultural production and the main method of control is the use of herbicides. In addition to the resulting chemical pollution of the environment, the wide spread and continues use of herbicides have resulted in many weeds developing resistance to commonly used herbicides. This study investigated the potential of using green manures as a cultural method of control of weed invasion in agricultural fields. To understand the general mechanisms involved in the suppression of seed germination in green manure amended soils, seeds of crop species with little or no dormancy requirements were used in certain studies. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and cress (Lepidium sativum) seeds were sown to a sandy soil amended with green manures of lupin (Lupinus angustifolius), Brassica juncea, or oats (Avena sativa) to determine if the amendments affected seed germination and/or decay. It was hypothesised that the addition of plant material would increase the microbial activity of the soil thereby increasing seed decay, under laboratory and greenhouse conditions. Initial experiments used lettuce, cress and lupin seeds. Lettuce and cress are commonly used as standard test species for seed viability studies. Subsequent experiments used seeds of annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum), silver grass (Vulpia bromoides), wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) and wild oat (Avena fatua) as these weed species are commonly found throughout agricultural regions in Western Australia. Amending the soil with lupin or Brassica green manure was established as treatments capable of developing environments suppressive to seed germination. Lupin residues as green manure showed the strongest inhibition of seed germination and seed decay. The decay of certain seeds was enhanced with changes to soil microbial activity, dissolved organic carbon and carbon and nitrogen amounts in lupin amended soil. Seeds of weed species were decayed in lupin amended soil, but showed varied degree of decay. Annual ryegrass and silver grass were severely decayed and wild oat and wild radish were less decayed, in lupin amended soil.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2002. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Agricultural lands receive crop and animal residues as option for additional nutrients to replace inorganic fertilizers. Although the idea of discard residues is sustainable, its implementation contributes to the production of greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide (N2O). However, the impact of disturbances caused by crop wastes on soil microbial community is still not clear. The aim was to study the impact of agricultural residues on the bacterial community accessed by next generation sequencing of nucleics acids. Two field experiments were carried out with the first experiment with the treatments control, mineral fertilizer, slurry and slurry with nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide (DCD) while the second experiment presented the following treatments: control, sugarcane straw, vinasse and vinasse with sugarcane straw. Nitrous oxide emissions were also analysed. The organic fertilizers were the main drivers on changes in microbial community structure and they affected the microorganisms differently conformable to the applied residue compared with soils with or without fertilizer, but without residues. Slurry application changed the community in the third day of experiment temporarily due to increases in the abundance of Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Firmicutes but the metabolically active microbial community was resilient returning to the original state after 50 days of experiment. The impact of plant residues were visualized in the treatment than microbial dynamics with only straw application modifying the abundance of Bacteroidetes and Beta-Proteobacteria. High proportions of Verrucomicrobia were found in vinasse treatment, whereas Firmicutes were overrepresented in vinasse plus straw treatment. Plants and animal origin residues as slurry with and without DCD, straw and vinasse affected specific groups of microorganisms that participate in nitrogen cycle. Furthermore, phosphorus, iron and nitrogen cycles were altered in plants residues treatments. Different microorganisms were responsible for the same functions in biogeochemical cycles in different treatments with plant residues indicating possible functional redundancy. All agricultural residues amendments also contributed to increase N2O emissions, except for the treatment with DCD which was effective against the nitrification process. In conclusion, the results are important to understand the appropriate crop residues managements in microbial compositions and functions under the current effort of sustainable agricultural practices. / Terras agrícolas tem recebido resíduos de culturas e de animais como opção de fornecimento de nutrientes adicionais em substituição aos fertilizantes inorgânicos. Apesar da ideia do retorno de resíduos produzidos na agricultura ao solo ser sustentável, sua aplicação continua contribuindo para produção de gases de efeito estufa como o óxido nitroso (N2O). Entretanto, o impacto dos distúrbios provocados pelo uso de resíduos agrícolas sobre a comunidade microbiana do solo ainda não são claros. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar o impacto do retorno de resíduos produzidos na agricultura como dejetos, vinhaça e palha sobre a comunidade bacteriana do solo acessada por sequenciamento de nova geração de ácidos nucleicos. Foram realizados dois experimentos de campo a curto prazo foram realizados com o primeiro experimento apresentando os tratamentos: controle, fertilizante mineral, dejeto e dejeto com inibidor de nitrificação dicianodiamida (DCD), enquanto o segundo experimento apresentou os seguintes tratamentos: controle, palha de cana-de-açúcar, vinhaça e vinhaça em conjunto com palha de cana-de-açúcar. O efeito das emissões de óxido nitroso também foram analisadas. A adição de resíduos orgânicos apresentou o maior impacto na mudança da comunidade bacteriana do solo e afetaram a presença de microrganismos conforme o resíduo aplicado quando em comparaçao com solos com solos com ou sem fertilizantes, mas sem a aplicaçao de resíduos. A aplicação de dejetos animais afetou a comunidade ao terceiro dia do experimento principalmente devido a um aumento na abundância de Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria e Firmicutes, mas a comunidade voltou ao seu estado inicial após 50 dias de experimento. O impacto da aplicação de resíduos vegetais vinhaça e palha foi visualizada com a aplicação da palha modificando a abundância de Bacteroidetes e Beta-Proteobacteria. A adição de vinhaça provocou um aumento nas proporções de Verrucomicrobia enquanto Firmicutes foram mais abundantes no tratamento com adição de vinhaça em conjunto com a palha nos 46 dias do experimento. Entre as funções afetadas pela adição de resíduos de origem animal e vegetal, a aplicação de dejetos com e sem DCD, assim como a aplicação de palha e vinhaça, atuaram sobre grupos específicos de microrganismos do ciclo do nirogênio. Além disso, ciclos de fósforo, ferro e nitrogênio foram observados em diferentes tratamentos de resíduos vegetais. Diferentes microrganismos foram responsáveis pelas mesmas funções nos ciclos biogeoquímicos em distintos tratamentos com resíduos vegetais indicando possível redundância funcional. A aplicação de todos os resíduos também contribuiu para o aumento da emissão de N2O, com exceção do tratamento com adição de DCD em que mostrou que o inibidor foi efetivo em retardar o processo de nitrificação. Os resultados são importantes para entender o gerenciamento dos resíduos das culturas nas comunidades e funções microbianas do solo sob o esforço atual de práticas agrícolas sustentáveis.

Submitted by LUCAS BOSCOV BRAOS null (lucasbraos@hotmail.com) on 2018-01-05T13:13:58Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Lucas_Boscov_Braos.pdf: 1554570 bytes, checksum: e5419ca73de20bad4b5d5693b1cbae54 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Alexandra Maria Donadon Lusser Segali null (alexmar@fcav.unesp.br) on 2018-01-08T10:18:47Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 braos_lb_dr_jabo.pdf: 1554570 bytes, checksum: e5419ca73de20bad4b5d5693b1cbae54 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-01-08T10:18:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 braos_lb_dr_jabo.pdf: 1554570 bytes, checksum: e5419ca73de20bad4b5d5693b1cbae54 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-01 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Conhecer as formas e as transformações do fósforo (P) aplicado via fertilizantes orgânicos e minerais é importante para melhorar o manejo e otimizar o uso do P. Os objetivos com o presente trabalho foram avaliar formas orgânicas e inorgânicas de P em solos adubados com esterco bovino, torta de filtro e superfosfato triplo em função do tempo de contato solo-adubo, e estabelecer relações entre as formas de P e a disponibilidade. As formas de P orgânico (Po) e inorgânico (Pi) foram determinadas em amostras de Latossolo Vermelho argiloso (LV) e de Argissolo Vermelho Amarelo arenoso (PVA), adubadas ou não com 100 mg dm-3 de P nas formas de esterco bovino, torta de filtro e superfosfato triplo, e mantidas em incubação por 15, 45, 90 e 180 dias. O Pi foi fracionado em P solúvel e fracamente retido, P ligado ao Al ou Fe, P ocluso e P ligado ao Ca. O P orgânico foi fracionado em Po lábil, Po da biomassa microbiana, Po moderadamente lábil, Po dos ácidos fúlvicos, Po dos ácidos húmicos e Po residual. Com as amostras de solo também foi conduzido experimento com plantas de milho para determinar a produção de matéria seca e a absorção de P. No latossolo foi observado maior teor de Pi ocluso e Po residual e a adubação também aumentou os teores dessas frações, indicando que o P dos adubos é incorporado às frações menos disponíveis, o que torna os teores de P disponível menores neste solo. No argissolo predominaram Pi ligado ao Fe e Po associado aos ácidos húmicos, e o P adicionado foi incorporado às formas ligadas ao Al e ao Fe, que contribuíram para maior disponibilidade de P neste solo. As frações mais estáveis tanto do Pi quanto do Po não se correlacionaram com o P disponível, e as frações menos estáveis se correlacionaram com a matéria seca acumulada e o P absorvido pelas plantas, indicando que mesmo estando em maior teor, as frações mais estáveis contribuem de forma mais limitada para a absorção de P pelas plantas. No solo latossolo, o acúmulo de P nas formas ligadas ao Al e ao Fe, no tratamento com superfosfato triplo, foi determinante para maior disponibilidade. No solo argissolo, o aumento das formas de P ligado ao Al e ao Fe, junto ao menor acúmulo de P ocluído no tratamento com esterco bovino, resultou na maior disponibilidade. A interação entre tipo de solo e adubo definiu o destino do P aplicado, bem como a disponibilidade / Evaluating the forms and transformations of phosphorus (P) applied via organic and mineral fertilizers is important to improve the management and optimize the use of P. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate organic and inorganic forms of P in two soil types, fertilized with dairy manure, filter cake and triple superphosphate, as a function of the incubation time, and to establish relationships between soil P forms and P available, plant uptake P and growth. The organic (Po) and inorganic (P) forms of P were determined on samples of typic Hapludox clayey and arenic Hapludult sand, fertilized or not with 100 mg dm-3 of P as dairy manure, filter cake and triple superphosphate, and incubated for 15, 45, 90 and 180 days. Pi was fractionated into soluble and weakly bound P, Al or Fe bound P, occluded P and Ca bound P. The organic Po was fractionated into labile Po, microbial Po, moderately labile Po, fulvic acids associate Po, humic acids associate Po and residual Po. In the soil samples, an experiment with maize plants was also carried out to determine the plant dry matter production and the absorption of P. It was observed higher levels of occluded Pi and residual Po in the Hapludox. The fertilization also increased the contents of these fractions indicating that P is incorporated to the less available fractions. Therefore, the available P contents were smaller in this soil. In the Hapludult, Fe bound Pi and humic acids associated Po were the predominant P forms. The added P was incorporated into the Al and Fe bound P forms, which contributed to higher P availability in this soil. The more stable fractions of both Pi and Po did not correlate with available P, and the less stable fractions correlated with accumulated dry matter and P uptook by plants, indicating that even having a higher P content, the more stable fractions contribute in a more limited way to the P uptake by plants. In the Hapludox, the increase of Al, Fe bound P in the triple superphosphate treatment was crucial for greater availability. In the Hapludult, the increase of Al, Fe bound P, with lower occlusion of P in cattle manure treatment, resulted in higher availability. The interaction between the soil and fertilizer type defined the fate of the applied P, as well as the availability / FAPESP 2014/11466-3