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Struvite and ammonium nitrate (AN), as wastewater-recovered products, are possible alternatives as raw materials for nutrient solutions. However, their impact on the rhizosphere microbiota and N2O emissions is scarcely known. Therefore, the present research studies the ecological changes in the bulk-substrate microbiome and its correlation with N2O emissions in a perlite-based system tomato crop under (i) conventional synthetic fertigation management; (ii) fertigation with struvite; and (iii) struvite and AN. A high bacterial diversity and the natural presence of plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria in a soilless system are highlighted. However, the different N-NH4+:N-NO3− ratios influence the ecological niches of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB), with a stronger response by AOB community, while AOA kept constant regarding the fertilization applied. Despite this, enrichment of N-transforming bacterial phylotypes was relatively enhanced (mainly Nitrosomonas, Nitrosospira, and Nitrospira) concomitant with the production of N2O emissions when ammonium fertilization was overapplied. In the absence of a plant, N2O emissions were positively correlated, respectively, with Nitrosospira and AOB:AOA ratio, suggesting potential indicators for ammonium availability in the substrate. Fertilizer blends using recovered nutrients are a feasible alternative for increasing circularity in horticulture. Nevertheless, optimum fertilizer management is needed due to its influence on rhizosphere microbiota and N2O emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: The right selection of plant species, mostly in the Mediterranean area, and their test on a simulated green roof is the way to improve the efficiency of green roofs. This study and the preliminary results derived will be a useful tool to improve the design of green roofs increasing the sustainability of this green infrastructure and its mitigation ability for pollution and water retention. Moreover, our preliminary data can be applied to the study of urban climate. Green roofs provide a number of environmental advantages like increasing urban biodiversity, reducing pollution, easing burdens on drainage systems, and lowering energy costs thanks to thermal insulation. Frankenia laevis, Dymondia margaretae and Iris lutescens were tested in a green roof installation. For all three species, we assessed two minimal irrigation treatments and one rain-fed treatment to resemble Mediterranean climate conditions analyzing the thermal and hydrological performance of all three species and their substrates through an evaluation of green cover, mortality, and biomass. The most influential factors registered for all three species are the relationship between air and water in the substrate and the interaction between green cover and substrate, respectively, for summer and winter seasons. In particular, D. margaretae preserved more water in its substrate than the other species both in summer and winter and after each rainfall event. F. laevis registered the highest level of variation in terms of substrate water content and of rainwater retention. I. lutescens achieved low hydrological performance, a limited amount of green cover, and slow growth. Our results suggest the absolute need of additional irrigation, managed in accordance with specific functional objectives, for all three species analyzed under Mediterranean conditions and different water regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the results of a study on the effect of level of fertilization on the competition between Lotus tenuis and Cynodon dactylon both in above and underground soil. The results show that greater fertilizer use efficiency was shown by Cynodon dactylon than Lotus tenuis. The ability of Cynodon dactylon to interact with soil and compete for nutrients and water is more efficient than Lotus tenuis because of its low root hydraulic resistance and high specific root length.

Two slow-growing plant species ( Chamaerops humilis, L. and Cycas revoluta Thunb.) were exposed to elevated CO2 conditions over a 20-month period in order to study the CO2 effect on growth, photosynthetic capacity and leaf carbon (C) management. The ambient isotopic 13C/12C composition ( δ13C) of the greenhouse module corresponding to elevated CO2 (800 μmol mol−1 CO2) conditions was changed from δ13C ca. −12.8±0.3‰ to ca. −19.2±0.2‰. Exposure of these plants to elevated CO2 enhanced dry mass (DM) by 82% and 152% in Chamerops and Cycas, respectively, mainly as a consequence of increases in plant level photosynthetic rates. However, analyses of A– Ci curve parameters revealed that elevated CO2 diminished leaf photosynthetic rates of Chamaerops whereas in Cycas, no photosynthetic acclimation was detected. The fact that Chamaerops plants had a lower DM increase, together with a longer leaf C residence time and a diminished capacity to respire recently fixed C, suggests that this species was unable to increase C sink strength. Furthermore, the consequent C source/sink imbalance in Chamaerops might have induced the downregulation of Rubisco. Cycas plants were capable of avoiding photosynthetic downregulation due to a greater ability to increase C sink strength, as was confirmed by DM values, and 12C-enriched CO2 labeling data. Cycas developed the ability to respire a larger proportion of recently fixed C and to reallocate the recently fixed C away from leaves to other plant tissues. These findings suggest that leaf C management is a key factor in the responsiveness of slow-growing plants to future CO2 scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Struvite and ammonium nitrate are products obtained from widely studied processes to remove phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) from waste streams. To boost circularity in horticulture, these recovered products should be applied to edible crops. Particularly, struvite has not been implemented in fertigation as the unique source of P fertilizer. Therefore, a soilless system greenhouse experiment was conducted for tomato crops during two growing seasons. This study aims to compare the agronomic and environmental effectiveness of recovered products used in a nutrient solution for fertigation (NS) to synthetic fertilizer treatment. Moreover, two different N concentrations of the NS were tested to evaluate the impact on the N-leaching. Additionally, struvite dissolution tests were performed to ensure its solubility. Satisfactory results of struvite solubilization were obtained. Results show that both nutrient-recovered products can be used as fertilizers in NS, due to their non-statistical significance in total yield production and fruit quality. However, ammonium nitrate treatment, depending on the crop variety, showed a lower marketable yield. Moreover, the variation on N concentration input exhibited leachate concentration differences, with N leached percentage values from 36 to 13%. These results give deeper insights into the future potential utilization of nutrient-recovered products and technical data to optimize fertigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Mycorrhizas increased fruit yield, and quality with reduced fertilizer doses. • Deficit and optimized irrigation increased tomato yield and fruit size, but not quality. • Mycorrhiza-inoculated plants sustained yield levels with reduced fertigation. • Input efficiency should define mycorrhizal inoculant use and management. Viability of horticultural production requires high yields of high-value products, coupled with optimization of inputs. Rational fertilizer and water use are vital for the economic and environmental sustainability of vegetable production. Microbial resources are also used to increase yield, reduce inputs, and improve product quality. That includes arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), symbionts associated with 80% of plant species, including many vegetable crops, such as tomato. To evaluate how AMF inoculation and reduced water and fertilizer affect tomato yield and quality, we carried out three independent experiments in commercial-production medium-technology (growth in soil, plastic cover, and no temperature control) greenhouses in Catalonia, Northern Spain. In the first experiment, AMF inoculation increased fruit number, total yield and improved fruit quality (soluble solids concentration or color) using lower fertilizer doses than those usually adopted on the farm. In a second assay, plants grew under three irrigation regimes: the farm usual regime, a managed-deficit regime (75% of the former), and an optimized dose using weather and plant-growth data. Deficit and optimized irrigation increased tomato yield and fruit size, but not fruit soluble solids concentration or color, and there was no effect of AMF inoculation. In the third experiment, fertigation was reduced by regulating irrigation doses according to soil moisture data. AM-inoculated plants sustained yield levels with 13% lower water and fertilizer rates. Reduced fertigation associated with AMF inoculation resulted in a 1.6% decrease in costs, which corresponds to at least six times the price of available commercial AMF inoculants. In all experiments, AMF inoculation was associated with increased water productivity, the ratio between product yield and the volume of irrigation water. Gains in input use efficiency, not only simple yield increase, should define commercial AMF inoculant use in vegetable production. We argue that researchers should estimate the financial incentive that AMF inoculation incurs so that farmers and inoculant producers have a base to test and adopt AMF inoculation technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mined phosphate rock is the largest source of phosphorus (P) for use in agriculture and agro-industry, but it also is a finite resource irregularly distributed around the world. Alternatively, waste water is a renewable source of P, available at the local scale. In waste water treatment, biological nitrogen (N) removal is applied according to a wide range of variants targeting the abatement of the ammonium content. Ammonium oxidation to nitrate can also be considered to mitigate ammonia emission, while enabling N recovery. This review focuses on the analysis of alternatives for coupling biological N treatment and phosphate precipitation when treating waste water in view of producing P-rich materials easily usable as fertilisers. Phosphate precipitation can be applied before (upstream configuration), together with (concomitant configuration), and after (downstream configuration) N treatment; i.e., chemically induced as a conditioning pre-treatment, biologically induced inside the reactor, and chemically induced as a refining post-treatment. Characteristics of the recovered products differ significantly depending on the case studied. Currently, precipitated phosphate salts are not typified in the European fertiliser regulation, and this fact limits marketability. Nonetheless, this topic is in progress. The potential requirements to be complied by these materials to be covered by the regulation are overviewed. The insights given will help in identifying enhanced integrated approaches for waste water treatment, pointing out significant needs for subsequent agronomic valorisation of the recovered phosphate salts, according to the paradigms of the circular economy, sustainability, and environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change, and specifically global temperature increase, is expected to alter plant phenology. Temperate deciduous fruit trees have cultivar-specific chill and heat requirements to break dormancy and bloom. In this study, we aimed to estimate chill and heat requirements (in chill portions, CP, and growing degree hours, GDH, respectively) of 25 almond (30–36 years) and 12 apple (14–26 years) cultivars grown under a Mediterranean climate. The set included early and late blooming genotypes. Long-term phenological and temperature records were analyzed by means of partial least squares (PLS) regression. The main difference between early and late genotypes was chill requirement, ranging from 8.40 CP of early genotypes to 55.41 CP of extra-late genotypes. However, as chill requirements are quite easily attained by all almond cultivars in this study, year-to-year variations in actual blooming dates for each genotype are governed by variability of mean forcing temperatures. In contrast, different chill and heat combinations resulted in similar mean blooming dates for the studied apple cultivars. Mean temperature in both chilling and forcing phases determined their blooming time in the location studied. Overlaps and gaps between both phases were obtained. Despite some limitations, the PLS analysis has proven to be a useful tool to define both chilling and forcing phases. Nevertheless, since the delineation of these phases determine the total amount of CP and GDH, further efforts are needed to investigate the transition of these phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chilling temperatures are important in apple and other fruit production because they are needed to break full dormancy, which is a prerequisite for effective and synchronous bud-break and flowering. Temperature increase related to climate change could lead to inadequate chilling in certain areas, which could affect the suitability for some species or cultivars to survive or yield in that location. The aim of this study was to estimate how climate change could affect flowering date and, consequently, feasibility of the most significant apple cultivars in the lower Fluvià subbasin (correspondent to the Protected Geographical Indication “Poma de Girona”). The estimations are based on a chilling and forcing requirements approach for each apple cultivar in this region, through a statistical analysis. The chilling-forcing sequential model, together with meteorological projections based on two climate change scenarios (B1 and A2), were used to estimate apple flowering dates along the 21st Century. Results show, in general, that apple cultivars could suffer delays on flowering date since the mid century and they could present serious disorders as a consequence of insufficient chilling in the long term in A2 scenario, which could affect crop feasibility in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two slow-growing plant species ( Chamaerops humilis, L. and Cycas revoluta Thunb.) were exposed to elevated CO2 conditions over a 20-month period in order to study the CO2 effect on growth, photosynthetic capacity and leaf carbon (C) management. The ambient isotopic 13C/12C composition ( δ13C) of the greenhouse module corresponding to elevated CO2 (800 μmol mol−1 CO2) conditions was changed from δ13C ca. −12.8±0.3‰ to ca. −19.2±0.2‰. Exposure of these plants to elevated CO2 enhanced dry mass (DM) by 82% and 152% in Chamerops and Cycas, respectively, mainly as a consequence of increases in plant level photosynthetic rates. However, analyses of A– Ci curve parameters revealed that elevated CO2 diminished leaf photosynthetic rates of Chamaerops whereas in Cycas, no photosynthetic acclimation was detected. The fact that Chamaerops plants had a lower DM increase, together with a longer leaf C residence time and a diminished capacity to respire recently fixed C, suggests that this species was unable to increase C sink strength. Furthermore, the consequent C source/sink imbalance in Chamaerops might have induced the downregulation of Rubisco. Cycas plants were capable of avoiding photosynthetic downregulation due to a greater ability to increase C sink strength, as was confirmed by DM values, and 12C-enriched CO2 labeling data. Cycas developed the ability to respire a larger proportion of recently fixed C and to reallocate the recently fixed C away from leaves to other plant tissues. These findings suggest that leaf C management is a key factor in the responsiveness of slow-growing plants to future CO2 scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In the semiarid zones of the Mediterranean area, such as the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, as in many others in the world, water scarcity and the increase of water use in many socio-economical sectors, suppose an urgent need to improve irrigation management. To assess the feasibility of using maximum daily shrinkage (MDS) of the tree trunk as a plant water stress indicator for irrigation scheduling in cherry trees (Prunus avium), an experiment was carried out in 2009 under greenhouse conditions where the relationship of MDS with several environmental and physiological variables was studied. Two years-old cherry trees planted in plastic pots were submitted to several irrigation withholding cycles. Fully irrigated and stressed trees presented differences in all measured physiological variables: leaf stomatal conductance (g s ), midday leaf water potential (Ψ md ), and daily sap flow (Q d ), as expected; and also in MDS which, among the variables measured in the plant, correlated best with Ψ md (r 2 =0.49***). Also a strong (r 2 =0.65***), two phase relationship was found between MDS and substrate matric potential (Ψ s ) with a linear response of MDS with some scattering till Ψ s reached about −33kPa, followed by a stationary phase with a MDS value about 0.30mm, a potential threshold for irrigation scheduling of young cherry trees. This value corresponded to Ψ md of −2.3MPa and g s of 50mmolm−2 s−1, indicative of water stress. Finally, MDS (which can be considered an adequate indicator of cherry tree water status given its strong relation with other indicators of plant water status) was the most sensitive and early indicator of water stress (highest signal to noise ratio) of the measured physiological variables. This high sensitivity makes it a potential candidate indicator for irrigation scheduling in young cherry trees, if the threshold obtained in this work can be validated or any other can be established. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Phosphorus and nitrogen recovery from wastewater as struvite and ammonium nitrate (AN) may be viable alternative fertilizers to boost circularity in horticulture. A 2-year fertigated crop rotation in soil under greenhouse conditions was evaluated to determine the efficiency of both recovered products as raw materials for a nutrient solution (NS) manufacture. The effects of these treatments versus synthetic fertilizers were compared in terms of crop performance, plant nutrient uptake, soil chemistry and microbiota. This is the first study to implement struvite through fertigation as the sole source of P in soil crops. Results showed that both recovered products can be used as fertilizers in NS, due to the similar response to the control for different parameters and crops (tomato, lettuce, and cauliflower). However, the AN treatment showed lower yield in the first tomato crop, which results may depend on the cultivar ammonium tolerance. Besides, the concentration of heavy metals in fruits/leaves was below the permissible limits. Total and Olsen phosphorus soil analysis revealed no differences among treatments, resulting in a similar performance of P-struvite to commercial phosphate. Bulk soil bacteria structure, richness and relative dominance were increased over time, while archaea only showed lower evenness, both despite the fertilization strategy. Shannon diversity was not significantly affected. A predominance of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) versus archaea (AOA) was observed, while nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), dominated by Nitrospira , increased with fertigation. Our results demonstrate that fertilizer blends for NS containing recovered nutrients are a feasible alternative to synthetic fertilizers.

Despite their relevancy, long-term studies analyzing elevated CO(2) effect in plant production and carbon (C) management on slow-growing plants are scarce. A special chamber was designed to perform whole-plant above-ground gas-exchange measurements in two slow-growing plants (Chamaerops humilis and Cycas revoluta) exposed to ambient (ca. 400 micromol mol(-1)) and elevated (ca. 800 micromol mol(-1)) CO(2) conditions over a long-term period (20 months). The ambient isotopic (13)C/(12)C composition (delta(13)C) of plants exposed to elevated CO(2) conditions was modified (from ca. -12.8 per thousand to ca. -19.2 per thousand) in order to study carbon allocation in leaf, shoot and root tissues. Elevated CO(2) increased plant growth by ca. 45% and 60% in Chamaerops and Cycas, respectively. The whole-plant above-ground gas-exchange determinations revealed that, in the case of Chamaerops, elevated CO(2) decreased the photosynthetic activity (determined on leaf area basis) as a consequence of the limited ability to increase C sink strength. On the other hand, the larger C sink strength (reflected by their larger CO(2) stimulatory effect on dry mass) in Cycas plants exposed to elevated CO(2) enabled the enhancement of their photosynthetic capacity. The delta(13)C values determined in the different plant tissues (leaf, shoot and root) suggest that Cycas plants grown under elevated CO(2) had a larger ability to export the excess leaf C, probably to the main root. The results obtained highlighted the different C management strategies of both plants and offered relevant information about the potential response of two slow-growing plants under global climate change conditions., (Copyright (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)