Abstract The paper presents the effects of the dam reservoir in Komorów on the water quality in the Utrata river. The implementation of the adopted objective involved a comparison of water quality at two points, above and below the reservoir. The Utrata River is polluted with biogenic compounds throughout the whole section studied. COD content also indicates significant contamination exceeding permissible limits. A positive effect of the reservoir on water quality in the river was also observed in terms of the content of dissolved oxygen, with concentration increasing below the reservoir. The reservoir had a positive effect on reducing the concentration of total phosphorus in the water. Water in the Utrata below the reservoir showed higher values of chemical oxygen demand (COD Mn ) than above the reservoir. There were no differences in the concentration of NH 4 + and NO 3 - ions in the water before and after the reservoir.
The present paper discusses the impact of land use and seasons on the concentration of nutrients in the waters of the Utrata River (Pruszków Poviat, Mazowieckie Voivodeship) from April 2018 to March 2019. The pollution of rivers by nutrients is a major problem for society. Surface water is a source of drinking water, water used for industrial and agricultural purposes. With the increasing pollution of rivers, the purification process for these purposes becomes more expensive and more challenging. To assist in carrying out activities aimed at reducing the inflow of biogenic substances into large river systems and then down to the Baltic Sea, we analyzed the spatial and temporal dynamics of loads from the entire Utrata River catchment area. We divided the entire catchment area into three impact zones: grasslands and wastelands, urbanized areas, and agricultural land and examined changes in nutrient concentrations (total phosphorus, nitrate nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen) in each of the zones. The results were statistically processed using the 1-factor ANOVA method with the p-value of significance below 0.05. Research indicates an increase in the concentration of total phosphorus and nitrogen forms down the course of the river in urban and agricultural areas with persistently low concentrations of these biogenic substances in grasslands.
The effects of mineral and organic fertilization on the contents of Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, B and Mo in soil and in the soil solution as well as on availability of these elements for crops were investigated in the long-term field trial. The highest contents of Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu in soil and soil solution were observed in the treatment with the lowest pH (NPK). In this same combination the content of B and Mo was the lowest. The concentration of Zn, B and Fe in the soil solution significantly increased under farmyard manure application. Liming significantly decreased contents extractable by 1 mol/L HCl forms of Mn and Zn and significantly increase the content of Mo in the soil. Regardless of fertilization applied, microelement concentrations in the soil solution are sufficient for fulfilling nutritional needs of plants cultivated during the trial.
The numerical speciation analysis relies on quantitative assessment of concentrations of different forms of an element in soil solution (free ions, complex ions, neutral complexes), which have different abilities to react (ion activity). The reactivity affects the element’s mobility and bioavailability. This method can be employed to estimate potential bioavailability and toxicity of a given element. This study was undertaken to evaluaate effects of selected soil properties on changes in the total concentration of copper (Cu) and percentages of particular forms of this element in soil solution. The study was based on a microplot experiment. The investigated factors were the soil texture, pH, organic carbon content and degree of soil copper contamination. Soil solutions were obtained with the vacuum displacement method. The concentration of copper in soil solution was determined with the ICP method, and the percentages of particular copper forms in the total copper concentration were calculated with the MINTEQA 2 software. It was found that copper in the analysed soil solutions occurred mainly in the form of metalorganic complexes. The increasing soil acidity was correlated with an increased percentage of free copper ions and copper complexes with organic matter. Simultaneously, the share of bonds with carbonates, sulfates and hydroxyl groups decreased. A decrease in the percentage of Cu 2+ free ions in the soil solution was observed in response to an increasing organic carbon content, while the percentage of copper complexes with organic matter rose. The degree of soil copper contamination and soil texture had no influence on the percentages of different copper forms in the soil solution.
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Phytolith-occluded carbon (PhytOC) is highly stable, and constitutes an important source of long-term C storage in agrosystems. This stored carbon is resistant to the processes of oxidation of carbon compounds. In our research phytolith content in barley (Estonia) and oat (Poland) grain and straw was assessed at field trials, with Si as a liquid immune stimulant OPTYSIL and compost fertilisation. We showed that cereals can produce relatively high amounts of phytoliths. PhytOC plays a key role in carbon sequestration, particularly for poor, sandy Polish and Estonian soils. The phytolith content was always higher in straw than in grain regardless of the type of cereals. The phytolith content in oat grains varied from 18.46 to 21.28 mg∙g−1 DM, and in straw 27.89–38.97 mg∙g−1 DM. The phytolith content in barley grain ranged from 17.24 to 19.86 mg∙g−1 DM, and in straw from 22.06 to 49.08 mg∙g−1 DM. Our results suggest that oat ecosystems can absorb from 14.94 to 41.73 kg e-CO2∙ha−1 and barley absorb from 0.32 to 1.60 kg e-CO2∙ha−1. The accumulation rate of PhytOC can be increased 3-fold in Polish conditions through foliar application of silicon, and 5-fold in Estonian conditions. In parallel, the compost fertilisation increased the phytolith content in cereals.
