Publications by authors named "Roland FuSS"

Urease and nitrification inhibitors can reduce ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizers and manure but their effectiveness depends on the conditions under which they are used. Consequently, it is essential for the credibility of emission reductions reported in regulatory emission inventories that their effectiveness is assessed under real-world conditions and not just in the laboratory. Here, we specify the criteria we consider necessary before the effects of inhibitors are included in regulatory emission inventories.

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Anthropogenic ammonia (NH) emissions, of which about 95 % are from agriculture, have led to environmental pollution, resulting in tremendous damage to human health and ecosystems. Thus, the NEC Directive 2016/2284/EU sets national reduction targets for NH emissions in individual EU countries. To implement the NEC Directive for NH emission targets, Germany amended the Fertilizer Application Ordinance in 2017 and 2020 (DüV_amended) and set the air pollution control regulation, Technical Instructions on Air Quality Control (TA_Luft).

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As symbolized by vacant office buildings, empty shopping malls and abandoned flats in metropolitan areas, the new coronavirus disease 2019 has severely impacted real estate markets. This paper provides a comprehensive literature review of the latest academic insights into how this pandemic has affected the housing, commercial real estate and the mortgage market. Moreover, these findings are linked to comprehensive statistics of each real estate sector's performance during the crisis.

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The last step of denitrification, i.e. the reduction of NO to N, has been intensively studied in the laboratory to understand the denitrification process, predict nitrogen fertiliser losses, and to establish mitigation strategies for NO.

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The static chamber approach is often used for greenhouse gas (GHG) flux measurements, whereby the flux is deduced from the increase of species concentration after closing the chamber. Since this increase changes diffusion gradients between chamber air and soil air, a nonlinear increase is expected. Lateral gas flow and leakages also contribute to non linearity.

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Climate change in Arctic ecosystems fosters permafrost thaw and makes massive amounts of ancient soil organic carbon (OC) available to microbial breakdown. However, fractions of the organic matter (OM) may be protected from rapid decomposition by their association with minerals. Little is known about the effects of mineral-organic associations (MOA) on the microbial accessibility of OM in permafrost soils and it is not clear which factors control its temperature sensitivity.

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Carbon (C)-rich, solid products from pyrolysis (pyrochars) and hydrothermal carbonization (HTC, hydrochars) are expected to reduce the bioavailability and bioaccessibility of pesticides as side effect of soil addition. To compare effects of different feedstocks (digestate, miscanthus, woodchips) and production processes (pyrolysis at 750°C, HTC at 200°C and 250°C), (14)C-labeled isoproturon (IPU) was applied at 0.75 kg ha(-)(1) to loamy sand amended either with 0.

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Carbonaceous material from pyrolysis (pyrochars) and hydrothermal carbonization (hydrochars) are applied to soil to improve soil fertility and carbon sequestration. As a positive side effect, the mobility of pesticides and the risk of groundwater contamination can be minimized. However, the impact of various raw materials on the sorption capacity of different pyrochars and hydrochars is poorly understood.

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Mechanical biological treatment (MBT) is an effective technique, which removes organic carbon from municipal solid waste (MSW) prior to deposition. Thereby, methane (CH4) production in the landfill is strongly mitigated. However, direct measurements of greenhouse gas emissions from full-scale MBT landfills have not been conducted so far.

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Article Synopsis
  • Acid resins, produced by mineral oil industries in Central Europe during the early 20th century, contain high levels of hydrocarbons and trace elements, which were improperly disposed of in public areas without environmental protection.
  • A study conducted in Bayern, Germany, assessed the long-term impact of these resin deposits on soil quality, revealing significant contamination levels that were 2 to 350 times higher than background levels in areas surrounding the waste disposal sites.
  • Despite the solid nature of the waste and its hillside location, contaminants were found to have migrated downhill, leading to violations of Germany’s environmental guidelines for soil and groundwater.
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Article Synopsis
  • - The study assessed how two types of acid resin deposits influence soil microbiota in forest areas by analyzing factors like microbial biomass, respiration, and enzyme activities, focusing on carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles.
  • - Findings revealed that while microbial biomass and activity were significantly hindered in areas with acid resin deposits, the impact of contaminants outside these areas varied based on local conditions.
  • - The results suggest that although forest ecosystems can mitigate some pollution effects through natural processes, acid resins can still be harmful, disrupting soil dynamics and compromising environmental quality despite being solid waste materials.
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Through transfer of an active, isoproturon degrading microbial community, pesticide mineralization could be successfully enhanced in various soils under laboratory and outdoor conditions. The microbes, extracted from a soil having high native ability to mineralize this chemical, were established on expanded clay particles and distributed to various soils in the form of microbial "hot spots". Both, diffusion controlled isoproturon mass flow towards these "hot spots" (6microg d(-1)) as well as microbial ability to mineralize the herbicide (approximately 5microg d(-1)) were identified as the main processes enabling a multiple augmentation of the native isoproturon mineralization even in soils with heavy metal contamination.

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