La problématique air-climat-société est caractérisée à l’heure actuelle par une double propriété de transversalité (les polluants altérant la qualité de l’air et responsables des gaz à effet de serre sont souvent les mêmes) et de multiscalarité (de l’échelle du bâti à celle de la planète). À partir de ce point de départ et sous l’angle des sciences sociales, l’article interroge la place dévolue à ces enjeux au sein du répertoire de la « ville durable », qui marque de plus en plus les façons de faire et vivre la ville. Nous déplaçons le regard à partir de ce qui est souvent lu d’abord comme des questions techniques (mesure de la pollution atmosphérique, etc.), pour les restituer dans leur épaisseur sociale, celle de l’action publique autant que des modes de vie en ville. Méthodologiquement, nous procédons par une approche bibliométrique comparée, à partir d’un corpus de 18 revues scientifiques, francophones et anglophones. Une analyse statistique et textuelle a été conduite avec le logiciel libre IRaMuTeQ, spécifiant des univers de co-occurrence lexicale. Elle établit la portée de trois déclinaisons structurantes dans les lectures à la fois notionnelles, critiques et plus appliquées de la durabilité urbaine : le changement climatique et ses modèles, les déplacements et transports urbains, et le métabolisme urbain rapporté aux consommations d’énergie et aux flux de matières. Au final, c’est une double dimension théorique et pratique qui fait sens, et qu’atteste la démonstration à travers la force des liens entre les termes récurrents, les classes lexicales et les segments significatifs dégagés.

Fertilizer, though one of the most essential inputs for increasing agricultural production, is a leading cause of nitrous oxide emissions from agriculture, contributing significantly to global warming. Therefore, understanding factors affecting farmers’ use of fertilizers is crucial to develop strategies to improve its efficient use and to minimize its negative impacts. Using data from 2528 households across the Indo-Gangetic Plains in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, this study examines the factors affecting farmers’ use of organic and inorganic fertilizers for the two most important cereal crops – rice and wheat. Together, these crops provide the bulk of calories consumed in the region. As nitrogen (N) fertilizer is the major source of global warming and other environmental effects, we also examine the factors contributing to its overuse. We applied multiple regression models to understand the factors influencing the use of inorganic fertilizer, Heckman models to understand the likelihood and intensity of organic fertilizer (manure) use, and a probit model to examine the over-use of N fertilizer. Our results indicate that various socio-economic and geographical factors influence the use of organic and inorganic fertilizers in rice and wheat. Across the study sites, N fertilizer over-use is the highest in Haryana (India) and the lowest in Nepal. Across all locations, farmers reported a decline in manure application, concomitant with a lack of awareness of the principles of appropriate fertilizer management that can limit environmental externalities. Educational programs highlighting measures to improving nutrient-use-efficiency and reducing the negative externalities of N fertilizer over-use are proposed to address these problems.

Surface water contamination can often be reduced by passing runoff water through perennial grass filters. Research was conducted in 2006 to 2008 to evaluate the size of cool season grass filters consisting primarily of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb) with some orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata L.) relative to drainage area size in reducing runoff sediment and phosphorus (P). The soil was Pohocco silt loam Typic Eutrochrepts with a median slope of 5.5 %. The grass filters occupying 1.1 and 4.3 % of the plot area were compared with no filter with four replications. The filters were planted in the V-shaped plot outlets which were 3.7x11.0 m in size. The filter effect on sediment and P concentration was determined from four natural runoff events when nearly all plots had runoff. Filter effect on runoff volume and contaminant load was determined using total runoff and composites of samples collected from 12 runoff events. Sediment concentration was reduced by 25 % with filters compared with no filter (from 1.10 to 1.47 gL(-1)), but P concentration was not affected. The 1.1 and 4.3 % filters, respectively, compared with having no grass filter, reduced: runoff volume by 54 and 79 %; sediment load by 67 and 84 % (357 to 58 kgha(-1)); total P load by 68 and 76 % (0.58 to 0.14 kgha(-1)); particulate P (PP) load by 66 and 82 % (0.39 to 0.07 kgha(-1)); and dissolved reactive P (DRP) load by 73 and 66 % (0.2 to 0.07 kgha(-1)), respectfully. A snowmelt runoff event had 56 % greater DRP concentration compared with rainfall-induced runoff events. Grass filters reduced sediment and P load largely by reducing runoff volume rather than reducing concentration. Well-designed and well-placed grass filters that occupy 1.0 to 1.5 % of the drainage area and intercept a uniform flow of runoff from a drainage area can reduce sediment and nutrient loss in runoff by greater than 50 %.

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peer reviewed | Reducing the bioavailability of both cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) in paddy fields is a worldwide challenge. The authors investigated whether ridge cultivation combined with biochar or calcium-magnesium-phosphorus (CMP) fertilizer effectively reduces the accumulation of Cd and As in rice grains. Field trial showed that applying biochar or CMP on the ridges was similar to the continuous flooding, which maintained grain Cd at a low level, but grain As was reduced by 55.6%, 46.8% (IIyou28) and 61.9%, 59.3% (Ruiyou 399). Compared with ridging alone, the application of biochar or CMP decreased grain Cd by 38.7%, 37.8% (IIyou28) and 67.58%, 60.98% (Ruiyou399), and reduced grain As by 38.9%, 26.9% (IIyou28) and 39.7%, 35.5% (Ruiyou 399). Microcosm experiment showed that applying biochar and CMP on the ridges decreased As in soil solution by 75.6% and 82.5%, respectively, and kept Cd at a comparably low level at 0.13–0.15 μg L−1. Aggregated boosted tree (ABT) analysis revealed that ridge cultivation combined with soil amendments altered soil pH, redox state (Eh) and enhanced the interaction of Ca, Fe, Mn with As and Cd, which promoted the concerted reduction of As and Cd bioavailability. Application of biochar on the ridges enhanced the effects of Ca and Mn to maintain a low level of Cd, and enhanced the effects of pH to reduce As in soil solution. Similar to ridging alone, applying CMP on the ridges enhanced the effects of Mn to reduce As in soil solution, and enhanced the effects of pH and Mn to maintain Cd at a low level. Ridging also promoted the association of As with poorly/well-crystalline Fe/Al and the association of Cd on Mn-oxides. This study provides an effective and environmentally friendly method to decrease Cd and As bioavailability in paddy fields and mitigate Cd and As accumulation in rice grain.

Microbes play a major role on the behavior of metals and metalloids in soils. Arsenic speciation, in particular, is related to the activity of bacteria able to oxidize, reduce or methylate this element, and determines mobility, bioavailability and toxicity of As. Arsenate (AsV) is less toxic and less mobile than arsenite (AsIII). Bacterial As(III)-oxidation tends therefore to reduce the toxicity of arsenic in soils and its risk of transfer toward underlying aquifers. It is well known that organic matter influences abiotically the speciation of arsenic and thus its mobility in soils. Previous results suggest an effect of organic matter on the kinetics or efficiency of bacterial As(III)-oxidation in presence of oxygen, thus in conventional physico-chemical conditions of a surface soil. The objective of the present project is to quantify the influence of organic matters on the bacterial speciation of arsenic in polluted soils. Moreover, the biogeochemical consequences of this phenomenon on the mobility and ecotoxicity of this metalloid will be studied. The first task of this program is the systematic investigation of the influence of different types and concentrations of organic matters on the activity of As(III)-oxidizing pure strains. Influence of simple substrates (aspartate, succinate) and complex substrate (yeast extract) on As(III)-oxidation kinetics has been studied. For each experiment, the bacterial growth and the expression of genes involved in the speciation of arsenic, i.e. aio and ars genes, has been monitored. A direct perspective of this work will be to perform experiments with humic and fulvic acids (complex organic matter commonly found in soils), and with water-extracted organic matter from polluted soils. Then the As(III)-oxidation activity of bacterial communities extracted from contaminated soils will be followed. These assays should allow the screening of conditions which will be applied in subsequent experiments with several real contaminated soils, including a former mining site, impacted industrial sites, and a forest soil heavily contaminated after arsenical ammunitions storage. This work is co-funded by BRGM and ADEME (convention TEZ 11-16).

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The SOLEPUR process for the treatment of pig slurry, using soil as a treatment medium, was developed in France. This process decreased the COD of pig slurry by 99,9% bound 99,9% of the phosphorus and removed approximately 80% of the nitrogen. The remaining nitrogen was oxidized in the soil into nitrate and leached out in drainage water. The process of denitrification was selected to remove nitrate from the leachate and raw pig slurry was used as an external carbon source. The field and laboratory experiments demonstrated efficient denitrification of nitrate-rich leachate at an appropriate carbon/nitrogen ratio. Although nitrite appeared during denitrification as a transient product, it was effectively removed by the en of denitrification. Depending on the C/N ratio, the process of denitrification was accomplished after between 7 and 60 days and the denitrification rate varied between 0,5 and 1 kg N/d. Although a COD/NO3--N ration of 7 : 1 was essential for efficient denitrification, a higher ration of 8,75 : 1 preferable in order to obtain a complete and rapid denitrification. Further improvements are proposed are proposed in order to optimize the denitrification process. | Le procédé SOLEPUR pour le traitement du lisier de porc utilisant le sol comme support principal d'épuration a été développé en France. Ce procédé élimine 99,9% de la DCO du lisier, piège 99,9% du phosphore et élimine environ 80% de l'azote. Le procédé de dénitrification a été choisi pour éliminer les nitrates issus des percolats et le lisier de porc a été utilisé comme source de carbone. Les essais au champ et en laboratoire démontrent l'efficacité de la dénitrification dès lors que le rapport Carbone-sur-Azote était approprié. Selon ce ratio C/N, le processus de dénitrification se déroule au cours de séquences allant de 7 à 60 jours et le taux de dénitrification varie de 0,5 à 1 kgN/jour. Un ration DCO/N-NO3 de 7:1 est indispensable au bon déroulement de la dénitrification.

peer reviewed | Elasmobranchs can bioaccumulate considerable amounts of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and utilize several reproductive strategies thereby influencing maternal transfer of contaminants. This study provides preliminary data on the POP transfer from pregnant females to offspring of three species (Atlantic stingrays, bonnethead, blacktip sharks) with different reproduction modes (aplacental, placental viviparity). Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) levels were generally higher than any other POPs. Stingrays and blacktip shark embryos contained the lowest POP concentrations while bonnetheads and the blacktip adult female had the highest concentrations. Results suggest that are more readily transferred from the mother to the embryo compared to what is transferred to ova in stingrays. Statistically significant differences in levels of selected POPs were found between embryos from the left and right uterus within the same litter as well as between female and male embryos within the same litter for bonnetheads, but not for the blacktip sharks.