Impact of Drifts Resulting from Pesticide Application on Soil Microorganisms around Waste Receptacles in Port Harcourt City, Nigeria

Pesticides are toxic substance used to reduce or kill pests but the deposits on soil environment can remain there for long period of time causing adverse effects on soil microorganisms which are responsible for soil health conditions. This study was carried out to determine the impact of pesticide drifts on soil microorganisms in a waste receptacle around Port Harcourt city. Soil samples were obtained from various depths around waste receptacles with hand auger using standard analytical procedures. Microbial analysis was done according to prescribed standard methods. Characterization and identification of the isolates were based on their cultural, morphological, and cellular characteristics. Results obtained showed that the bacterial isolates were identified as Staphylococus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus megaterium, Pseudomonas sp and Micrococcus sp while fungal isolates include Aspergillus niger, Penicillium sp, Fusarium siculi, and Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus nidulas, Microsporium canis and Yeast. The results of the microbial counts revealed that Total Heterotrophic Bacteria (THB) had 2.08 ×109 cfu/g at a depth of 30-45 cm while Total Heterotrophic Fungi (THF) had 6.0×106 cfu/g before application with a mean value of 1.02×109 and 2.8 × 106 cfu/g respectively while after application THB had 4.1 × 108 and 4.6 × 108 cfu/g for 0-15 and 30-45 cm respectively while the THF recorded 1.0 × 106 and 0.6 × 106 cfu/g for 0-15 cm and 30-45 cm respectively. However there was a drastic decrease in the number of microbes in the soils after pesticide application especially at the surface soil depth of 0-15 cm. This shows that the pesticides application affected microbial population by reducing their numbers in the soil and this may in turn affect soil health and physiological status of their habitat. It is therefore recommended that proper surveillance during pesticide application should be considered to avoid drift to non-target organisms and that concentrations of pesticides to be used should be taken into account to avoid reduction in the number of microorganisms in soils because of the vital roles they play in maintaining soil health.

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Impact of Nitrogen Fertilizer use on Soil Ecosystem Integrity in the Greater Port Harcourt Region, Nigeria

Open Academic Journal of Advanced Science and Technology ◽

10.33094/5.2017.2021.51.1.12 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

Wanjala, MP ◽

Odokuma, L ◽

Etela I ◽

Ramkat, R ◽

Odogwu, BA ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Crop Yields ◽

Mean Value ◽

Npk Fertilizers ◽

Fertilizer Use ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

Port Harcourt ◽

The Mean ◽

Agricultural Areas ◽

The Impact

Fertilizers are used in agriculture to increase crop yields, but if they are misused, they can harm the integrity of soil ecosystems. The study's aim was to look at the impact of inorganic fertilizers on soil microbial populations in selected soils in the Greater Port Harcourt Area using Lethal Concentration 50 (LC50). The results revealed that the use of inorganic fertilizer altered soil microbial characteristics in three different settings: agricultural, urban, and industrial. For agricultural areas the maximum NPKB mean value was 0.70±0.76 ppm which was higher than the mean value of the control location of 0.23±0.00 ppm. In the agricultural area, UREA tolerant fungi had a lower LC50 mean value (0.43±0.09 ppm) than the control, which had a mean value of 0.46±0.00 ppm. The mean values in the industrial and urban areas were significantly different (p = 0.001). This study concluded that applying UREA and NPK fertilizers to study area soils lowered the pH of soils in agricultural sites (A1, A2, and A3). Fertilizer use in the study areas increased the population of microorganisms at threshold concentrations but was harmful at concentrations of 1.50 % or higher. Furthermore, findings revealed that microorganisms were more tolerant to fertilizers in agricultural areas (higher LC50 values) than in urban and industrial areas (lower LC50 values). According to the findings of this study, fertilizers used in the study areas were linked to soil microorganisms developing tolerance to NPK and UREA. Farmers should use the recommended amounts of fertilizer to ensure the soil ecosystem's integrity.

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Effective service delivery through quality management system (QMS) in oil and gas servicing companies, a case study of selected firms, Port Harcourt

10.31221/osf.io/edaxc ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Chem Int

Keyword(s):

Quality Management ◽

Service Delivery ◽

Management System ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Quality Management System ◽

Local Content ◽

Port Harcourt ◽

Test Of Hypotheses ◽

The Impact ◽

Effective Service

This study investigated the impact of Quality Management System (QMS) on effective service delivery in Oil and Gas Servicing Companies in selected firms in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The opinion of 50 respondents were sampled using questionnaires, interviews as well as observation from journals and texts used in this work to examine the Quality Management System (QMS) of the selected firms. Using simple percentages and the Chi-square (X2) test of hypotheses, it was hypothetically established that the implementation of QMS practices, has impacted the work process, procedure and improvement on quality over the years in the Oil and Gas Servicing companies in Port Harcourt Nigeria. The research identified an adopted use of Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) tool as a continual quality improvement initiative developed in the local content oil and gas servicing operation for equipment handling, management and to drive sustained improved performance quality processes as a key driver of a progressive that will place local content companies as an options for producing companies and at par with multinational oil and gas companies.

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Eustachian Tube Dysfunction in Children With Adenoid Hypertrophy: The Role of Adenoidectomy for Improving Ear Ventilation

Ear Nose & Throat Journal ◽

10.1177/0145561321989455 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 014556132198945

Author(s):

Alessandra Manno ◽

Giannicola Iannella ◽

Vincenzo Savastano ◽

Tommaso Vittori ◽

Serena Bertin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Eustachian Tube ◽

Otitis Media With Effusion ◽

Preoperative Evaluation ◽

Mean Value ◽

Eustachian Tube Dysfunction ◽

Adenoid Hypertrophy ◽

Before And After ◽

Middle Ear Ventilation ◽

Tube Dysfunction ◽

The Impact

Introduction: To our knowledge, few papers have addressed preoperative evaluation of the impact of adenoid hypertrophy (AH) on the pathogenesis of eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) in children with otitis media with effusion (OME). Aim: The aim of this study was 2-fold: first, to evaluate ETD using tubomanometry and Eustachian Tube Score 7 (ETS-7), in a group of children having AH; second, to assess the clinical impact of adenoidectomy on the ETD of these patients. Methods: Fifty patients, aged 4 to 15 years, underwent adenoidectomy based on various parameters: size of the adenoids causing canal obstruction (grades 1-4), the presence of OME, and recurrent episodes of rhinosinusitis. The function of the eustachian tube was evaluated using ETS-7 before and after surgical treatment. The patients were followed up for 6 months. Results: Forty children presented ETD. Of these, 36 had a grade 4 AH. The preoperative mean value for ETS-7 was 6.62. The mean postoperative ETS-7 score showed a value of 9.60 with a statistical difference compared to the preoperative value ( P = .0015). Conclusions: Adenoid hypertrophy has a high impact on the frequency of ETD. In the patients observed in the present study, the ETS-7 score appeared to be a valid tool for assessing ETD both preoperatively and postoperatively. Adenoidectomy seemed to be effective in improving ETD as well as middle ear ventilation.

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A Cross-Metabolomic Approach Shows that Wheat Interferes with Fluorescent Pseudomonas Physiology through Its Root Metabolites

Metabolites ◽

10.3390/metabo11020084 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 84

Author(s):

Laura Rieusset ◽

Marjolaine Rey ◽

Florence Gerin ◽

Florence Wisniewski-Dyé ◽

Claire Prigent-Combaret ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Secondary Metabolites ◽

Host Plant ◽

Soil Microorganisms ◽

Wheat Root ◽

Bioactive Metabolites ◽

Root Extracts ◽

Fluorescent Pseudomonas ◽

Health And Development ◽

The Impact ◽

Metabolomic Approach

Roots contain a wide variety of secondary metabolites. Some of them are exudated in the rhizosphere, where they are able to attract and/or control a large diversity of microbial species. In return, the rhizomicrobiota can promote plant health and development. Some rhizobacteria belonging to the Pseudomonas genus are known to produce a wide diversity of secondary metabolites that can exert a biological activity on the host plant and on other soil microorganisms. Nevertheless, the impact of the host plant on the production of bioactive metabolites by Pseudomonas is still poorly understood. To characterize the impact of plants on the secondary metabolism of Pseudomonas, a cross-metabolomic approach has been developed. Five different fluorescent Pseudomonas strains were thus cultivated in the presence of a low concentration of wheat root extracts recovered from three wheat genotypes. Analysis of our metabolomic workflow revealed that the production of several Pseudomonas secondary metabolites was significantly modulated when bacteria were cultivated with root extracts, including metabolites involved in plant-beneficial properties.

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Are Bacterio- and Phytoplankton Community Compositions Related in Lakes Differing in Their Cyanobacteria Contribution and Physico-Chemical Properties?

Genes ◽

10.3390/genes12060855 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 855

Author(s):

Mikołaj Kokociński ◽

Dariusz Dziga ◽

Adam Antosiak ◽

Janne Soininen

Keyword(s):

Environmental Factors ◽

Community Composition ◽

Phytoplankton Community ◽

Heterotrophic Bacteria ◽

Bacterial Community Composition ◽

Physical Factors ◽

Research Attention ◽

Phytoplankton Community Composition ◽

The Impact ◽

Bacteria Communities

Bacterioplankton community composition has become the center of research attention in recent years. Bacteria associated with toxic cyanobacteria blooms have attracted considerable interest. However, little is known about the environmental factors driving the bacteria community, including the impact of invasive cyanobacteria. Therefore, our aim has been to determine the relationships between heterotrophic bacteria and phytoplankton community composition across 24 Polish lakes with different contributions of cyanobacteria including the invasive species Raphidiopsis raciborskii. This analysis revealed that cyanobacteria were present in 16 lakes, while R. raciborskii occurred in 14 lakes. Our results show that bacteria communities differed between lakes dominated by cyanobacteria and lakes with minor contributions of cyanobacteria but did not differ between lakes with R. raciborskii and other lakes. Physical factors, including water and Secchi depth, were the major drivers of bacteria and phytoplankton community composition. However, in lakes dominated by cyanobacteria, bacterial community composition was also influenced by biotic factors such as the amount of R. raciborskii, chlorophyll-a and total phytoplankton biomass. Thus, our study provides novel evidence on the influence of environmental factors and R. raciborskii on lake bacteria communities.

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Earthworms as an Ecological Indicator of Soil Recovery after Mechanized Logging Operations in Mixed Beech Forests

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12010018 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 18

Author(s):

Hadi Sohrabi ◽

Meghdad Jourgholami ◽

Mohammad Jafari ◽

Farzam Tavankar ◽

Rachele Venanzi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Soil Depth ◽

Biological Properties ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Ecological Indicator ◽

Traffic Intensity ◽

Soil Biological Properties ◽

Density And Biomass ◽

Soil Recovery ◽

The Impact

Soil damage caused by logging operations conducted to obtain and maximize economic benefits has been established as having long-term effects on forest soil quality and productivity. However, a comprehensive study of the impact of logging operations on earthworms as a criterion for soil recovery has never been conducted in the Hyrcanian forests of Iran. The aim of this study was to determine the changes in soil biological properties (earthworm density and biomass) and its recovery process under the influence of traffic intensity, slope and soil depth in various intervals according to age after logging operations. Soil properties were compared among abandoned skid trails with different ages (i.e., 3, 10, 20, and 25 years) and an undisturbed area. The results showed that earthworm density and biomass in the high traffic intensity and slope class of 20–30% at the 10–20 cm depth of the soil had the lowest value compared to the other treatments. Twenty-five years after the logging operations, the earthworm density at soil depth of 0–10 and 10–20 cm was 28.4% (0.48 ind. m−2) and 38.6% (0.35 ind. m−2), which were less than those of the undisturbed area, respectively. Meanwhile, the earthworm biomass at a soil depth of 0–10 and 10–20 cm was 30.5% (2.05 mg m−2) and 40.5% (1.54 mg m−2) less than the values of the undisturbed area, respectively. The earthworm density and biomass were positively correlated with total porosity, organic carbon and nitrogen content, while negatively correlated with soil bulk density and C/N ratio. According to the results, 25 years after logging operations, the earthworm density and biomass on the skid trails were recovered, but they were significantly different with the undisturbed area. Therefore, full recovery of soil biological properties (i.e., earthworm density and biomass) takes more than 25 years. The conclusions of our study reveal that the effects of logging operations on soil properties are of great significance, and our understanding of the mechanism of soil change and recovery demand that harvesting operations be extensively and properly implemented.

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Intestinal Microbial Ecology and Fillet Metal Chemistry of Wild Grey Mullets Reflect the Variability of the Aquatic Environment in a Western Mediterranean Coastal Lagoon (Santa Giusta, Sardinia, Italy)

Water ◽

10.3390/w13060879 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 879

Author(s):

Rosanna Floris ◽

Gabriele Sanna ◽

Cecilia Teodora Satta ◽

Carlo Piga ◽

Francesco Sanna ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Intestinal Microbiota ◽

Environmental Variability ◽

Heterotrophic Bacteria ◽

Active Role ◽

Fish Muscle ◽

Mean Value ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Mean Values ◽

Abiotic And Biotic Factors ◽

Grey Mullets

Fish populations play an active role in the maintenance of aquatic ecosystems biodiversity. Their intestinal microbiota and fillet chemistry depend on abiotic and biotic factors of the water environments that they inhabit. The present study investigated the grey mullets’ gut microbiota from a transitional aquatic ecosystem (Santa Giusta Lagoon, Sardinia, Italy) by a multidisciplinary approach which refers the results of (1) gut cultivable microbiota analyses (MA), (2) the trace metal assessment of fish muscle (TM), (3) the physico-chemical water monitoring (PC). MA detected the greatest number of total aerobic heterotrophic bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae and coliforms in Autumn (mean values 1.3 × 105, 2.4 × 104, 1.1 × 104 cfu g−1, respectively) when the accumulated rain and mean values of nutrients (reactive phosphorous and silica) were the highest. Marine bacteria were more numerous in Summer (mean value 7.4 × 105 cfu g−1) when the highest mean values of water temperature and salinity were registered. The gut bacteria were identified as Pseudomonas spp. (64%), Aeromonas spp. (17%), Ochrobactrum pseudogrignonense (10%), Providencia spp. (5%), Enterobacter ludwigii (2%) and Kocuria tytonicola (2%). TM showed that Ca, Na, B and Ni increased their concentrations in Winter while maxima of P, Zn, Cu and Fe were found in muscles of fish sampled in Summer. This study highlighted that the fish intestinal microbiota and metal composition of the fillet reflected the seasonal aquatic environmental variability.

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The potentially hazardous NEA 2001 BB16

Open Astronomy ◽

10.1515/astro-2019-0016 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 180-190

Author(s):

Ireneusz Wlodarczyk

Keyword(s):

Mean Value ◽

Optical Observations ◽

Uniform Sampling ◽

The Earth ◽

22Nd Century ◽

Lyapunov Time ◽

Gravitational Model ◽

Calculated Probability ◽

Potential Impact ◽

The Impact

AbstractWe computed the impact solutions of the potentially dangerous Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) 2001 BB16 based on 47 optical observations from January 20.08316 UTC, 2001, through February 09.15740 UTC, 2016, and one radar observation from January 19.90347 UTC, 2016. We used two methods to sample the starting Line of Variation (LOV). First method, called thereafter LOV1, with the uniform sampling of the LOV parameter, out to LOV = 5 computing 3000 virtual asteroids (VAs) on both sides of the LOV, which gives 6001 VAs and propagated their orbits to JD2525000.5 TDT=February 12, 2201. We computed the non-gravitational parameterA2=(34.55±7.38)·10–14 au/d2 for nominal orbit of 2001 BB16 and possible impacts with the Earth until 2201. For potential impact in 2195 we find A2=20.0·10−14 au/d2. With a positive value of A2, 2001 BB16 can be prograde rotator. Moreover, we computed Lyapunov Time (LT) for 2001 BB16, which for all VAs, has a mean value of about 25 y. We showed that impact solutions, including the calculated probability of a possible collision of a 2001 BB16 asteroid with the Earth depends on how to calculate and take into account the appropriate gravitational model, including the number of perturbing massive asteroids. In some complicated cases, it may depend also on the number of clones calculated for a given sigma LOV1. The second method of computing the impact solutions, called thereafter LOV2, is based on a non-uniformly sampling of the LOV. We showed that different methods of sampling the LOV can give different impact solutions, but all computed dates of possible impacts of the asteroid 2001 BB16 with the Earth occur in accordance at the end of the 22nd century.

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Influence of monometallic and bimetallic phytonanoparticles on physiological status of mezquite

Open Life Sciences ◽

10.1515/biol-2019-0008 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 62-68 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Daniel Gonzalez-Mendoza ◽

Benjamín Valdez-Salas ◽

Erick Bernardo-Mazariegos ◽

Olivia Tzintzun-Camacho ◽

Federico Gutiérrez-Miceli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bimetallic Nanoparticles ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Photochemical Efficiency ◽

Localized Surface Plasmon ◽

Physiological Status ◽

Ag Nps ◽

Zeta Potentials ◽

Minimum Particle Size ◽

Ag Particles ◽

The Impact

AbstractThe present study was conducted to evaluate the impact of monometallic and bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) of copper (Cu) and silver (Ag) from Justicia spicigera on the photochemical efficiency and phenol pattern of Prosopis glandulosa. In this study, the existence of localized surface plasmon resonance absorption associated with the nano-sized nature of Ag, Cu and Cu/Ag particles was confirmed by the presence of a single peak around 487, 585, and 487/580 nm respectively. Zeta potential and electrophoretic mobility were found to be 0.2 mV and 0.02 μmcm/(Vs) for synthesized NPs indicating less stability and thus tendency to agglomerate, and broad distribution of particles. Cu-NPs and Cu/Ag-NPs demonstrate that the dispersed phase is stable and has a minimum particle size at zeta potentials above –30 mV. Changes in phenolic compounds, total chlorophyll, and photochemical efficiency in leaves exposed to Ag, Cu and Cu/Ag phyto-nanoparticles were evaluated up to 72 hours. The results revealed that Ag-NP and Cu-NP from J. spicigera at 100 mg/L showed significant reduction in chlorophyll, epidermal polyphenol content and photochemical efficiency of P. glandulosa. In contrast, the application of bimetallic Cu/Ag-NP from J. spicigera showed a positive impact on physiological parameters of P. glandulosa after 72 h of exposure.

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A multi-decade assessment of the impact of large fire events on sediment redistribution using LAPSUS - the Águeda catchment, north-central Portugal

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-4615 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Dante Föllmi ◽

Jantiene Baartman ◽

João Pedro Nunes ◽

Akli Benali

Keyword(s):

Soil Depth ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Fire Severity ◽

Sediment Dynamics ◽

Land Uses ◽

Erosion Rates ◽

Erosion Processes ◽

Sediment Redistribution ◽

Central Portugal ◽

The Impact

AbstractWildfires have become an increasing threat for Mediterranean ecosystems, due to increasing climate change induced wildfire activity and changing land management practices. Apart from the initial risk, fire can alter the soil in various ways depending on different fire severities and thus post-fire erosion processes are an important component in assessing wildfires&#8217; negative effects. Recent post-fire erosion (modelling) studies often focus on a short time window and lack the attention for sediment dynamics at larger spatial scales. Yet, these large spatial and temporal scales are fundamental for a better understanding of catchment sediment dynamics and long-term destructive effects of multiple fires on post-fire erosion processes. In this study the landscape evolution model LAPSUS was used to simulate erosion and deposition in the 404 km2 &#193;gueda catchment in northern-central Portugal over a 41 year (1979-2020) timespan. To include variation in fire severity and its impact on the soil four burnt severity classes, represented by the difference Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR), were parameterized. Although model calibration was difficult due to lack of spatial and temporal measured data, the results show that average post-fire net erosion rates were significantly higher in the wildfire scenarios (5.95 ton ha-1 yr-1) compared to those of a non-wildfire scenario (0.58 ton ha-1 yr-1). Furthermore, erosion values increased with a higher level of burnt severity and multiple fires increased the overall sediment build-up in the catchment, fostering an increase in background sediment yield. Simulated erosion patterns showed great spatial variability with large deposition and erosion rates inside streams. Due to this variability, it was difficult to identify land uses that were most sensitive for post-fire erosion, because some land-uses were located in more erosion-sensitive areas (e.g. streams, gullies) or were more affected by high burnt severity levels than others. Despite these limitations, LAPSUS performed well on addressing spatial sediment processes and has the ability to contribute to pre-fire management strategies. For instance, the percentage soil loss map (i.e. comparison of erosion and soil depth maps) could identify locations at risk.

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