The crop-livestock system is responsible for a large proportion of global reactive nitrogen (Nr) losses, especially from China. There are diverse livestock systems with contrasting differences in feed, livestock and manure management. However, it is not yet well understood which factors greatly impact on the nitrogen (N) budgets and losses of each system. In this study, we systematically evaluated the N budgets of the crop-livestock production system from 1980 to 2050 in China by identifying the differences of 20 distinct livestock systems. During 1980 to 2010, the total N flow through the crop-livestock system increased from 21.4 to 49.7 Tg, with large variations in different input/output pathways, due to the strong livestock transitions of production towards to a monogastric and landless industrial system. Different systems contributed differently to the total N budgets in 2010. For example, the landless industrial system contributed 67% of livestock product N output, but accounted for 80% of total mineral N fertilizer use and feed N imports by the whole crop-livestock system. The mixed system had the highest rate of N use efficiency at system level due to high dependence on recycled N. N losses were diversely distributed by different systems, with the mixed ruminant system responsible for the majority of NH₃–N emission in livestock production, and the grazing ruminant system dominant in NO₃–N losses in feed production. The total N entering the crop-livestock system is estimated to be 53.9 Tg with total N losses of 41.3 Tg in 2050 under a business-as-usual scenario. However, this amount could be significantly decreased through combined measures that indicate a considerable potential for future improvements. Overall, our results provide new insights into N use and the management of livestock production.

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including PCDD/Fs, PCBs and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are among the most important and hazardous pollutants of soil. Food producing animals such as chicken, beef, sheep and goats can take up soil while grazing or living outdoors (free-range) and this can result in contamination.In recent decades, large quantities of brominated flame retardants such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) and per- and polyfluorinated alkylated substances (PFAS) have been produced and released into the environment and this has resulted in widespread contamination of soils and other environmental matrices. These POPs also bioaccumulate and can contaminate food of animal origin resulting in indirect exposure of humans.Recent assessments of chicken and beef have shown that surprisingly low concentrations of PCBs and PCDD/Fs in soil can result in exceedances of regulatory limits in food. Soil contamination limits have been established in a number of countries for PCDD/Fs but it has been shown that the contamination levels which result in regulatory limits in food (the maximum levels in the European Union) being exceeded, are below all the existing soil regulatory limits. ‘Safe’ soil levels are exceeded in many areas around emission sources of PCDD/Fs and PCBs. On the other hand, PCDD/F and dioxin-like PCB levels in soil in rural areas, without a contamination source, are normally safe for food producing animals housed outdoors resulting in healthy food (e.g. meat, eggs, milk).For the majority of POPs (e.g. PBDEs, PFOS, PFOA, SCCP) no regulatory limits in soils exist.There is, therefore, an urgent need to develop appropriate and protective soil standards minimising human exposure from food producing animals housed outdoors. Furthermore, there is an urgent need to eliminate POPs pollution sources for soils and to control, secure and remediate contaminated sites and reservoirs, in order to reduce exposure and guarantee food safety.

Energy production in the Williston Basin, located in the Prairie Pothole Region of central North America, has increased rapidly over the last several decades. Advances in recycling and disposal practices of saline wastewaters (brines) co-produced during energy production have reduced ecological risks, but spills still occur often and legacy practices of releasing brines into the environment caused persistent salinization in many areas. Aside from sodium and chloride, these brines contain elevated concentrations of metals and metalloids (lead, selenium, strontium, antimony and vanadium), ammonium, volatile organic compounds, hydrocarbons, and radionuclides. Amphibians are especially sensitive to chloride and some metals, increasing potential effects in wetlands contaminated by brines. We collected bed sediment and larval amphibians (Ambystoma mavortium, Lithobates pipiens and Pseudacris maculata) from wetlands in Montana and North Dakota representing a range of brine contamination history and severity to determine if contamination was associated with metal concentrations in sediments and if metal accumulation in tissues varied by species. In wetland sediments, brine contamination was positively associated with the concentrations of sodium and strontium, both known to occur in oil and gas wastewater, but negatively correlated with mercury. In amphibian tissues, selenium and vanadium were associated with brine contamination. Metal tissue concentrations were higher in tadpoles that graze compared to predatory salamanders; this suggests frequent contact with the sediments could lead to greater ingestion of metal-laden materials. Although many of these metals may not be directly linked with energy development, the potential additive or synergistic effects of exposure along with elevated chloride from brines could have important consequences for aquatic organisms. To effectively manage amphibian populations in wetlands contaminated by saline wastewaters we need a better understanding of how life history traits, species-specific susceptibilities and the physical-chemical properties of metals co-occurring in wetland sediments interact with other stressors like chloride and wetland drying.

The predicted long lag time between a decrease in atmospheric deposition and a measured response in vegetation has generally excluded the investigation of vegetation recovery from the impacts of atmospheric deposition. However, policy-makers require such evidence to assess whether policy decisions to reduce emissions will have a positive impact on habitats. Here we have shown that 40 years after the peak of SOₓ emissions, decreases in SOₓ are related to significant changes in species richness and cover in Scottish Calcareous, Mestrophic, Nardus and Wet grasslands. Using a survey of vegetation plots across Scotland, first carried out between 1958 and 1987 and resurveyed between 2012 and 2014, we test whether temporal changes in species richness and cover of bryophytes, Cyperaceae, forbs, Poaceae, and Juncaceae can be explained by changes in sulphur and nitrogen deposition, climate and/or grazing intensity, and whether these patterns differ between six grassland habitats: Acid, Calcareous, Lolium, Nardus, Mesotrophic and Wet grasslands. The results indicate that Calcareous, Mesotrophic, Nardus and Wet grasslands in Scotland are starting to recover from the UK peak of SOₓ deposition in the 1970's. A decline in the cover of grasses, an increase in cover of bryophytes and forbs and the development of a more diverse sward (a reversal of the impacts of increased SOₓ) was related to decreased SOₓ deposition. However there was no evidence of a recovery from SOₓ deposition in the Acid or Lolium grasslands. Despite a decline in NOₓ deposition between the two surveys we found no evidence of a reversal of the impacts of increased N deposition. The climate also changed significantly between the two surveys, becoming warmer and wetter. This change in climate was related to significant changes in both the cover and species richness of bryophytes, Cyperaceae, forbs, Poaceae and Juncaceae but the changes differed between habitats.

Shooting ranges polluted by antimony (Sb), lead (Pb), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) are used for animal grazing, thus pose a risk of contaminants entering the food chain. Many of these sites are subject to waterlogging of poorly drained soils. Using field lysimeter experiments, we compared Sb, Pb, Cu and Zn uptake by four common pasture plant species (Lolium perenne, Trifolium repens, Plantago lanceolata and Rumex obtusifolius) growing on a calcareous shooting range soil under waterlogged and drained conditions. To monitor seasonal trends, the same plants were collected at three times over the growing season. Additionally, variations in soil solution concentrations were monitored at three depths over the experiment. Under reducing conditions, soluble Sb concentrations dropped from ∼50 μg L−1 to ∼10 μg L−1, which was attributed to the reduction of Sb(V) to Sb(III) and the higher retention of the trivalent species by the soil matrix. Shoot Sb concentrations differed by a factor of 60 between plant species, but remained at levels <0.3 μg g−1. Despite the difference in soil solution concentrations between treatments, total Sb accumulation in shoots for plants collected on the waterlogged soil did not change, suggesting that Sb(III) was much more available for plant uptake than Sb(V), as only 10% of the total Sb was present as Sb(III). In contrast to Sb, Pb, Cu and Zn soil solution concentrations remained unaffected by waterlogging, and shoot concentrations were significantly higher in the drained treatment for many plant species. Although showing an increasing trend over the season, shoot metal concentrations generally remained below regulatory values for fodder plants (40 μg g−1 Pb, 150 μg g−1 Zn, 15–35 μg g−1 Cu), indicating a low risk of contaminant transfer into the food chain under both oxic and anoxic conditions for the type of shooting range soil investigated in this study.

We investigated whether local-scale decontamination (removal of the litter layer, superficial soil layer, and understory) in a secondary forest contaminated by the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident reduced 137Cs contamination of the soil and litter. We also measured 137Cs concentrations in plants and in the web-building spider Nephila clavata (Nephilidae: Arachnida), as an indicator species, to examine 137Cs contamination in arthropods. One month after decontamination, the total 137Cs contamination (soil + litter) was reduced by 20% (100 kBq·m−2) relative to that in an adjacent untreated (i.e., contaminated) area, which was however not statistically significant. Four months after decontamination, 137Cs in the decontaminated area had increased to a level similar to those in the untreated area, and the air radiation dose in the decontaminated area was about 2.1 μSv·h−1, significantly higher than that in the untreated area (1.9 μSv·h−1). This may have been attributed to a torrential rain event. Although no statistically significant reduction was observed, most spiders had a lower 137Cs contamination than that before the decontamination. This implied that the decontamination may have reduced 137Cs transfer from soil via litter to N. clavata through the detrital food chains, but may not have reduced the amount of 137Cs transfer through grazing food chains because the concentration of 137Cs in living tree leaves was not reduced by the decontamination. In autumn, about 2 kBq·m−2 of 137Cs was supplied from foliage to the ground by litterfall. The results suggested that removal of the litter and superficial soil layers in a contaminated forest may be ineffective. The present study suggests that the local-scale decontamination in a secondary forest had no effect on the reduction of 137Cs contamination in the treated area.

The ecotoxicology of surfactants is attracting wide attention due to the rapidly expanding global application. As interspecific relationships play one of the central roles in structuring biological communities, it is necessary to take it into risk assessments on surfactants. With this aim, our study investigated the interference of three common surfactants on the inducible defense of a freshwater phytoplankton Scenedesmus obliquus. Nonlethal environmentally relevant concentrations (10 and 100 μg L⁻¹) of several surfactants were set up. Results showed that growth and photosynthetic efficiency of Scenedesmus were inhibited during first 96 h, but recovered in the later stage. Surfactants interfered inducible defense of Scenedesmus against Daphnia grazing, and the interference was related to chemical characteristics of surfactants. The anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) enhanced the colony formation even without grazing cues, whereas fewer defensive colonies were formed under the effects of cationic surfactant benzalkonium bromide (BZK) and nonionic surfactant polyoxyethylene (40) nonylphenol ether (NPE). These findings highlighted the sensitivity of grazer-induced morphological defense of Scenedesmus to surfactants even at nonlethal concentrations, which potentially affects the energy and information flow between trophic levels. This study appeals for more attention to take interspecific relationships into consideration in assessing the potential ecological risk of pollutants.

Monitoring diverse components of aquatic ecosystems is vital for elucidation of diversity dynamics and processes, which alter freshwater ecosystems, but such studies are seldom conducted. Phytoplankton and zooplankton are integral components which play indispensable parts in the structure and ecological service function of water bodies. However, few studies were made on how zooplankton and phytoplankton community may respond simultaneously to change of circumstance and their mutual relationship. Therefore, we researched synchronously the phytoplankton communities as well as zooplankton communities based on monthly monitoring data from September 2011 to August 2012 in heavily polluted areas and researched their responses to variation in environmental parameters and their mutual relationship. As indicated by Time-lag analysis (TLA), the long-term dynamics of phytoplankton and zooplankton were undergoing directional variations, what's more, there exists significant seasonal variations of phytoplankton and zooplankton communities as indicated by Non-Metric Multidimensional scaling (NMDS) methods. Also, Redundancy Analysis (RDA) demonstrated that environmental indicators together accounted for 25.6% and 50.1% variance of phytoplankton and zooplankton, respectively, indicating that environmental variations affected significantly on the temporal dynamics of phytoplankton as well as zooplankton communities. What's more, variance partioning suggested that the major environmental factors influencing variation structures of zooplankton communities were water temperature, concentration of nitrogen, revealing the dominating driving mechanism which shaped the communities of zooplankton. It was also found that there was significant synchronization between zooplankton biomass and phytoplankton biomass (expressed as Chl-a concentration), which suggested that zooplankton respond to changes in dynamic structure of phytoplankton community and can initiate a decrease in phytoplankton biomass through grazing in a few months.

Magnetic particles (MP) emitted by an iron smelter were used to investigate the exposure of cows grazing on a grassland polluted by these MP and by large amounts of potentially toxic elements (PTE). The morphology as well as the chemical composition of the MP separated from cow dung were studied. Large amounts of typical MP were found (1.1 g kg−1 dry weight) in the cow dung sampled from the exposed site, whereas these particles were absent from the reference unpolluted site. The ingested MP were mainly technogenic magnetic particles (TMP) emitted by the smelter. Considering the MP concentration in the grazed grass on the exposed site, it was concluded that cows absorb the MP not only from the grass but also from the soil surface. The results of a mild acidic leaching of the MP suggested that the particles were possibly submitted to a superficial dissolution in the abomasum, pointing at a potential route of transfer of the PTE originating from the TMP and leading into food chains. TMP were only a small part of the anthropogenic contamination having affected the soil and the dung. However, due to their unequivocal signature, TMP are a powerful tracer of the distribution of PTE in the different compartments constituting the food chains and the ecosystems. Furthermore, the measurement of the particle sizes gave evidence that a noticeable proportion of the MP could enter the respiratory tract.

Excessive nitrogen input in natural ecosystems is a major threat to biodiversity. A coastal dune area near Amsterdam in the Netherlands suffers from high atmospheric nitrogen deposition affecting sensitive habitats such as fixed coastal dunes with herbaceous vegetation (‘grey dunes’). To mitigate its effect year round grazing was applied from 2007 until 2012. In winter, when natural food supply is low, the cattle received supplementary hay that caused additional inputs of nitrogen. Estimates based on nitrogen contents of hay, as well as of manure, showed the input through winter feeding (c. 3–14 kg N ha−1.y−1) is in the same order of magnitude as both the actual deposition (c. 17 kg N ha−1.y−1) and the critical load for a number of herbaceous habitat types (10–15 kg N ha−1.y−1). Locally, the effect of winter feeding adds to the effect of nitrogen redistribution within the area caused by the cattle's terrain usage. We conclude that winter feeding may aggravate effects of atmospheric nitrogen deposition.