[Departement_IRSTEA]Ecotechnologies [Departement_IRSTEA]Eaux [TR1_IRSTEA]TED [TR2_IRSTEA]ARCEAU | International audience | In France, 10% of total arable land is equipped with subsurface drainage systems, to control winter and spring waterlogging due to a temporary perched water table. Most of these systems were installed in the1980s and have aged since then and may now need maintenance. Sometimes, the location of the systems is known, but the standard situation in France is that the original as-built master sketches are no longer available. Performance assessment of drainage systems and curative actions are complicated since drain location is unknown. In this article, the authors test the application of a non-destructive drain detection method which consists in water injection at the outfall of the drainage network combined with time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) monitoring. To assess the performance of this methodology, which consists in measuring electrical resistivity from electrodes placed at the nodes of a 1.2-m regular mesh, the authors interpreted the signal using a two-step approach. The first step is based on 3D ERT numerical modelling during a scenario of surface infiltration processes (forward modelling followed by geophysical inversion); this step optimizes the ERT method for locating the infiltration at depths below 1m. The second step is the validation of the results obtained by numerical modelling with an experimental data set, using water injection into the drainage network combined with time-lapse ERT monitoring on an experimental field site. The results showed the relevance of time-lapse ERT monitoring on a small agricultural plot for locating the drainage network. The numerical results also showed several limitations of the combined methodology: (i) it is necessary to use an electrode spacing unit less than 1.20m, which does not facilitate investigation on large agriculture plots, (ii) measurements must be taken when resistivity contrast is the strongest between the infiltration area and the soil and (iii) the volume of water needed for injection can limit the extension of the method.

peer reviewed | Cyflumetofen is a novel benzoyl acetonitrile acaricide without cross-resistance to existing acaricides. In the present study, for the first time, the environmental behaviors of cyflumetofen and the formation of its main metabolites, 2-(trifluoromethyl) benzoic acid (B-1) and 2-(trifluoromethyl) benzamide (B-3), in the four types of soil (black soil, sierozem, krasnozem, and fluvo-aquic soil) and three types of water/sediment systems (Northeast Lake, Hunan paddy field, and Beijng Shangzhuang reservoir) under aerobic and anaerobic conditions were investigated. The degradation dynamics of cyflumetofen followed first-order kinetics. Under aerobic environment, the half-lives of cyflumetofen in black soil, sierozem, krasnozem and fluvo-aquic soil were 11.2, 10.3, 12.4, and 11.4 days. Under water anaerobic conditions, the half-lives were 13.1, 10.8, 13.9, and 12.8 days. The effects of different conditions and soil types on the half-lives of cyflumetofen were studied using a one-way ANOVA test with post hoc comparison (Tukey’s test). It was shown that the differences in black soil, krasnozem, and fluvo-aquic soil were extremely significant difference (p < 0.05) under aerobic and water anaerobic conditions. And there is a strong correlation between half-life and pH. Under aerobic environment, the half-lives of cyflumetofen in Northeast Lake, Hunan paddy field, and Beijng Shangzhuang reservoir were 15.4, 16.9, and 15.1 days. Under anaerobic conditions, they were 16.5, 17.3, and 16.1 days. Analyzing the differences of the half-lives under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, the difference only in Shangzhuang reservoir was extremely significant difference (p < 0.05). In soils, cyflumetofen degraded metabolites B-1 and B-3, from the first day 0.24 % B-1 was generated, while, only very low levels of B-3 generated at the same time. As time increased, B-3 gradually increased, cyflumetofen reduced gradually. Until 100 days, there were about 3.5 % B-1 and B-3 in the soils. In the water/sediment systems, from the first day, it degraded into B-1 in the sediment, and in the water mainly degraded into B-3.

[Departement_IRSTEA]Ecotechnologies [Departement_IRSTEA]Eaux [TR1_IRSTEA]TED [TR2_IRSTEA]ARCEAU | International audience | In France, 10% of total arable land is equipped with subsurface drainage systems, to control winter and spring waterlogging due to a temporary perched water table. Most of these systems were installed in the1980s and have aged since then and may now need maintenance. Sometimes, the location of the systems is known, but the standard situation in France is that the original as-built master sketches are no longer available. Performance assessment of drainage systems and curative actions are complicated since drain location is unknown. In this article, the authors test the application of a non-destructive drain detection method which consists in water injection at the outfall of the drainage network combined with time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) monitoring. To assess the performance of this methodology, which consists in measuring electrical resistivity from electrodes placed at the nodes of a 1.2-m regular mesh, the authors interpreted the signal using a two-step approach. The first step is based on 3D ERT numerical modelling during a scenario of surface infiltration processes (forward modelling followed by geophysical inversion); this step optimizes the ERT method for locating the infiltration at depths below 1m. The second step is the validation of the results obtained by numerical modelling with an experimental data set, using water injection into the drainage network combined with time-lapse ERT monitoring on an experimental field site. The results showed the relevance of time-lapse ERT monitoring on a small agricultural plot for locating the drainage network. The numerical results also showed several limitations of the combined methodology: (i) it is necessary to use an electrode spacing unit less than 1.20m, which does not facilitate investigation on large agriculture plots, (ii) measurements must be taken when resistivity contrast is the strongest between the infiltration area and the soil and (iii) the volume of water needed for injection can limit the extension of the method.

Adequate silicon (Si) can greatly boost rice yield and improve grain quality through alleviating stresses associated with heavy metals and metalloids such as arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd). The soil plant-available Si is relatively low in South China due to severe desilicification and allitization of the soils in this region. Conversely, pollution of heavy metals and metalloids in the soils of this region occurs widely, especially As and Cd pollution in paddy soil. Therefore, evaluating the plant availability of Si in paddy soil of South China and examining its correlation with the availability of heavy metals and metalloids are of great significance. Accordingly, in our study, 107 pairs of soil and rice plant samples were collected from paddy fields contaminated by As and Cd in South China. Significantly positive correlations between Si in rice plants and Si fractions in soils extracted with citric acid, NaOAc-HOAc buffer, and oxalate-ammonium oxalate buffer suggest that these extractants are more suitable for use in extracting plant-available Si in the soils of our present study. Significantly negative correlations between different Si fractions and As or Cd in rice plant tissues and negative exponential correlations between the molar ratios of Si to As/Cd in rice roots, straws, husks or grains and As/Cd in rice grains indicate that Si can significantly alleviate the accumulation of As/Cd from soils to the rice plants. Finally, a contribution assessment of soil properties to As/Cd accumulation in rice grains based on random forest showed that in addition to Si concentrations in soil or rice plants, other factors such as Fe fractions and total phosphorus also contributed largely to As/Cd accumulation in rice grains. Overall, Si exhibited its unique role in mitigating As or Cd stress in rice, and our study results provide strong field evidence for this role.

Very few studies reported the potential of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis to dissipate hydrocarbons in aged polluted soils. The present work aims to study the efficiency of arbuscular mycorrhizal colonized wheat plants in the dissipation of alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Our results demonstrated that the inoculation of wheat with Rhizophagus irregularis allowed a better dissipation of PAHs and alkanes after 16 weeks of culture by comparison to non-inoculated condition. These dissipations observed in the inoculated soil resulted from several processes: (i) a light adsorption on roots (0.5% for PAHs), (ii) a bioaccumulation in roots (5.7% for PAHs and 6.6% for alkanes), (iii) a transfer in shoots (0.4 for PAHs and 0.5% for alkanes) and mainly a biodegradation. Whereas PAHs and alkanes degradation rates were respectively estimated to 12 and 47% with non-inoculated wheat, their degradation rates reached 18 and 48% with inoculated wheat. The mycorrhizal inoculation induced an increase of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria by 56 and 37% compared to the non-inoculated wheat. Moreover, an increase of peroxidase activity was assessed in mycorrhizal roots. Taken together, our findings suggested that mycorrhization led to a better hydrocarbon biodegradation in the aged-contaminated soil thanks to a stimulation of telluric bacteria and hydrocarbon metabolization in mycorrhizal roots.

During the past two centuries metal loads in the Earth's atmosphere and ecosystems have increased significantly over pre-industrial levels. This has been associated with deleterious effects to ecosystem processes and human health. The magnitude of this toxic metal burden, as well as the spatial and temporal patterns of metal enrichment, is recorded in sedimentary archives across the globe. This paper presents a compilation of selected Pb contamination records from lakes (n = 10), peat mires (n = 10) and ice fields (n = 7) from Europe, North and South America, Asia, Australia and the Northern and Southern Hemisphere polar regions. These records quantify changes in Pb enrichment in remote from source environments. The presence of anthropogenic Pb in the environment has a long history, extending as far back as the early to mid-Holocene in North America, Europe and East Asia. However, results show that Pb contamination in the Earth's environment became globally ubiquitous at the beginning of the Second Industrial Revolution (c.1850–1890 CE), after which the magnitude of Pb contamination increased significantly. This date therefore serves as an effective global marker for the onset of the Anthropocene. Current global average Pb enrichment rates are between 6 and 35 times background, however Pb contamination loads are spatially variable. For example, they are >100 times background in Europe and North America and 5–15 times background in Antarctica. Despite a recent decline in Pb loads in some regions, most notably Europe and North America, anthropogenic Pb remains highly enriched and universally present in global ecosystems, while concentrations are increasing in some regions (Australia, Asia and parts of South America and Antarctica). There is, however, a paucity of Pb enrichment records outside of Europe, which limits assessments of global contamination.

The focus of the present study was to find the relationship between concentrations of bisphenol A (BPA), 4-tert-octylphenol (OP) and 4-nonylphenol (NP) in zooplankton and seasonal changes in the composition and biomass of particular zooplankton taxa in the Gulf of Gdansk (Southern Baltic) in the years 2011–2012. Assays of BPA, OP and NP in water and zooplankton samples were performed using the HPLC/FL system. High mean concentrations of the studied compounds, determined in spring (405.9 (BPA); 25.7 (OP); 111.2 (NP) ng g−1 dw), can be linked to the high proportion of meroplankton in that season. Rotifera also had an influence on the rise in concentrations of the studied compounds but to a lesser degree, while the lowest concentrations (determined in summer) can be associated with the high participation of Copepoda and Cladocera in zooplankton biomass. It was also observed that juvenile forms can be more susceptible to accumulating endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs). This is indicated by the positive correlation between BPA concentration in zooplankton and the proportion of Copepoda nauplii biomass in spring (r = 0.90; p < 0.05). In most cases, greater zooplankton biomass accumulated higher concentrations and loads of the studied compounds. With biomass growth (to 123.32 μg m−3), the bioconcentration factor also rose (to max 46.1·103), demonstrating that unlike typical hydrophobic compounds the studied EDCs do not become “diluted” in zooplankton biomass. The highest BPA concentrations from all compounds may be connected with anthropogenic sources located in the coastal zone.

The impact of stormwater on stream biota is well documented, but less is known about the impacts on ecosystem processes, such as the breakdown of organic matter. This study sought to establish whether the degree of urbanisation affected rates of leaf-litter breakdown within constructed wetlands. A litter bag method was used to ascertain rate of decomposition along a gradient of urbanisation (total imperviousness, TI), in constructed wetlands in western and south-eastern Melbourne. A significant positive relationship between TI and breakdown rate was found in the south-eastern wetlands. The significant reduction in rate of invertebrate-mediated breakdown with increasing concentration of certain metals was consistent with other studies. However, overall there was an increase in rate of breakdown. Studies have shown that the effects of heavy metals can be negated if nutrient levels are high. Our results suggest that other parameters besides exposure to contaminants are likely to affect leaf litter breakdown.

This paper presents a performance evaluation framework for streetscape vegetation. A performance index (PI) is conceived using the following seven traits, specific to the street environments – Pollution Flux Potential (PFP), Carbon Sequestration Potential (CSP), Thermal Comfort Potential (TCP), Noise Attenuation Potential (NAP), Biomass Energy Potential (BEP), Environmental Stress Tolerance (EST) and Crown Projection Factor (CPF). Its application is demonstrated through a case study using fifteen street vegetation species from the UK, utilising a combination of direct field measurements and inventoried literature data. Our results indicate greater preference to small-to-medium size trees and evergreen shrubs over larger trees for streetscaping. The proposed PI approach can be potentially applied two-fold: one, for evaluation of the performance of the existing street vegetation, facilitating the prospects for further improving them through management strategies and better species selection; two, for planning new streetscapes and multi-functional biomass as part of extending the green urban infrastructure.

In the last decade studies have reported the presence of several pharmaceutical drugs in aquatic environments worldwide and an increasing effort has been done to understand the impacts induced on wildlife. Among the most abundant drugs in the environment is caffeine, which has been reported as an effective chemical anthropogenic marker. However, as for the majority of pharmaceuticals, scarce information is available on the adverse effects of caffeine on marine benthic organisms, namely polychaetes which are the most abundant group of organisms in several aquatic ecossystems. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the biochemical alterations induced by environmentally relevant concentrations of caffeine on the polychaete species Diopatra neapolitana and Arenicola marina. The results obtained demonstrated that after 28 days exposure oxidative stress was induced in both species, especially noticed in A. marina, resulting from the incapacity of antioxidant and biotransformation enzymes to prevent cells from lipid peroxidation. The present study further revealed that D. neapolitana used glycogen and proteins as energy to develop defense mechanisms while in A. marina these reserves were maintained independently on the exposure concentration, reinforcing the low capacity of this species to fight against oxidative stress.