Degradation of Deepwater Horizon oil buried in a Florida beach influenced by tidal pumping

Posted by On Filed under Contaminant biodegradation (round 2) papers No Comments

ABSTRACT

After Deepwater Horizon oil reached the Florida coast, oil was buried in Pensacola Beach (PB) sands to ~  70  cm depth, resulting in Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) concentrations up to ~  2  kg per meter of beach. This study followed the decomposition of the buried oil and the factors influencing its degradation. The abundance of bacteria in oiled sand increased by 2 orders of magnitude within one week after oil burial, while diversity decreased by ~  50%. Half-lives of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons reached 25 and 22  days, respectively. Aerobic microbial oil decomposition, promoted by tidal pumping, and human cleaning activities effectively removed oil from the beach. After one year, concentrations of GC-amenable hydrocarbons at PB were similar to those in the uncontaminated reference beach at St. George Island/FL, and microbial populations that disappeared after the oil contamination had reestablished. Yet, oxihydrocarbons can be found at PB to the present day.

CITATION

Huettel, M., Overholt, W. A., Kostka, J. E., Hagan, C., Kaba, J., Wells, W. B., & Dudley, S. (2018). Degradation of Deepwater Horizon oil buried in a Florida beach influenced by tidal pumping. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 126, 488-500.

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Degradation of Deepwater Horizon oil buried in a Florida beach influenced by tidal pumping

Posted by On Filed under Biodegradation and bioremediation papers No Comments

ABSTRACT

After Deepwater Horizon oil reached the Florida coast, oil was buried in Pensacola Beach (PB) sands to ~  70  cm depth, resulting in Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) concentrations up to ~  2  kg per meter of beach. This study followed the decomposition of the buried oil and the factors influencing its degradation. The abundance of bacteria in oiled sand increased by 2 orders of magnitude within one week after oil burial, while diversity decreased by ~  50%. Half-lives of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons reached 25 and 22  days, respectively. Aerobic microbial oil decomposition, promoted by tidal pumping, and human cleaning activities effectively removed oil from the beach. After one year, concentrations of GC-amenable hydrocarbons at PB were similar to those in the uncontaminated reference beach at St. George Island/FL, and microbial populations that disappeared after the oil contamination had reestablished. Yet, oxihydrocarbons can be found at PB to the present day.

CITATION

Huettel, M., Overholt, W. A., Kostka, J. E., Hagan, C., Kaba, J., Wells, W. B., & Dudley, S. (2018). Degradation of Deepwater Horizon oil buried in a Florida beach influenced by tidal pumping. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 126, 488-500.

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Is denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation-centered technologies a solution for the sustainable operation of wastewater treatment Plants?

Posted by On Filed under Biogeo & wastewater treatment papers, Biogeochemical cycling papers No Comments

CITATION

Wang, D., Wang, Y., Liu, Y., Ngo, H. H., Lian, Y., Zhao, J., . . . Li, X. (2017, 06). Is                             denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation-centered technologies a solution for             the sustainable operation of wastewater treatment Plants? Bioresource                           Technology, 234, 456-465. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2017.02.059

 

ABSTRACT

With the world’s increasing energy crisis, society is growingly considered that the operation of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) should be shifted in sustainable paradigms with low energy input, or energy-neutral, or even energy output. There is a lack of critical thinking on whether and how new paradigms can be implemented in WWTPs based on the conventional process. The denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation (DAMO) process, which uses methane and nitrate (or nitrite) as electron donor and acceptor, respectively, has recently been discovered. Based on critical analyses of this process, DAMO-centered technologies can be considered as a solution for sustainable operation of WWTPs. In this review, a possible strategy with DAMO-centered technologies was outlined and illustrated how this applies for the existing WWTPs energy-saving and newly designed WWTPs energy-neutral (or even energy-producing) towards sustainable operations.

 

LINK

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2017.02.059

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Fungi exposed to chronic nitrogen enrichment are less able to decay leaf litter

Posted by On Filed under Biogeochemical cycling papers No Comments

CITATION:

Diepen, Linda T. A. Van, et al. “Fungi Exposed to Chronic Nitrogen Enrichment Are Less Able to Decay Leaf Litter.’  Ecology, vol. 98, no. 1, 2017, pp. 5—11., doi:10.1002/ecy.1635.

ABSTRACT:

Saprotrophic fungi are the primary decomposers of plant litter in temperate forests, and their activity is critical for carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling. Simulated atmospheric N deposition is associated with reduced fungal biomass, shifts in fungal community structure, slowed litter decay, and soil C accumulation. Although rarely studied, N deposition may also result in novel selective pressures on fungi, affecting evolutionary trajectories. To directly test if long-term N enrichment reshapes fungal responses to N, we isolated decomposer fungi from a long-term (28  yr) N-addition experiment and used a common garden approach to compare growth rates and decay abilities of isolates from control and N-amended plots. Both growth and decay were significantly altered by long-term exposure to N enrichment. Changes in growth rates were idiosyncratic, as different species grew either more quickly or more slowly after exposure to N, but litter decay by N isolates was consistent and generally lower compared to control isolates of the same species, a response not readily reversed when N isolates were grown in control (low N) environments. Changes in fungal responses accompany and perhaps drive previously observed N-induced shifts in fungal diversity, community composition, and litter decay dynamics.

WHY I CHOSE?

I thought this article was interesting in the fact that it made me consider the implications of using certain chemicals and nutrients in fertilizers (as well as in anything else that we add to the environment) on the ability of microbes to do their jobs.

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Presley Coryell- intro post

Posted by On Filed under A1: Intro posts, Assignments No Comments

 

Presley Coryell

Half of your body,

These wee things control the world,

Microbes- everywhere.

 

I’m a senior bio and physiology student and I plan on eventually going to med school (I’m really interested in preventative medicine, with a focus on how diet impacts   health). Next year I plan on working and travelling, and hopefully getting to shadow some doctors worldwide to get a sense of how medical issues are treated/analyzed in different cultures/societies.

Me and my sis with an iguana in Costa Rica