Biogeosystem Technique

3-22

Authors: Anton O. Nigten

The last hundred and fifty years food and fodder scientists did a lot of – mostly forgotten – balance studies. As a general rule we can say that the ratios of potassium, calcium, sodium, phosphor and magnesium should not be too wide. The more one of these elements dominates in food and fodder the higher the health risks. The health authorities see only the risks of too much sodium. They negate the risks of too much potassium in vegetables and too much calcium and (added) phosphate in a.o. dairy products and meat. For the correct regulation of many processes in our bodies we need much more magnesium. A further complication is that we assimilate too much ammonium and nitrate through our food, and too little trace elements. This situation is partly brought about by the way we fertilize our crops. Most farmers – conventional and organic – have learnt that plants need in the first place nitrogen, potassium and phosphor. And some extra calcium for a good pH. Corrections for other elements are only necessary if the plants give visible signs of shortages. Part of the fertilizing theory is that organic nitrogen from plant residuals or animal dung must ‘mineralize’ into ammonium and nitrate before plants can take up the nitrogen. Also the other elements must be anions and cations before the plants can take them up.There is little attention for the role of the symbiontic microbes in the rhizosphere and at the other parts of the plants. And the risks of nitrate and ammonium for plant health and human health are taken as part of the game. This view on plant feeding is a mechanistic one, dominated by chemistry and physics. Biology is missing. Although this paradigm is still the dominant one, we see the contours of a new paradigm, in which the plants and their symbionts regulate their own feeding, their own growth. With the help of their symbionts around their roots and on their leaves and stems the plants take up from the soil or the air what they need: organic nitrogen; organic sulphur, and metals and non metals connected with carbon – not inorganic ions. The symbionts in the cells help to built up or break down complex organic compounds. All enzymatic reactions are performed by living entities in and around the cells. And we know: without (trace) elements no enzymatic reactions. Magnesium is responsible for at least 600 enzymatic reactions. Zinc for 400. If we look at the conventional and organic products we see that the balance is lacking, and the amount of nitrate and ammonium is high. Only the products which are fertilized with a.o. sea minerals (Normandy, 1869) are better in balance than the products today. The data on ammonium and nitrate in this period are not available. Even today we normally don’t measure ammonium and nitrate in our food. And only a few trace elements

46-58

Authors: Gantumur Sambuu, Lyudmila A. Garetova, Elena L. Imranova, Olga A. Kirienko, Natalia K. Fischer, Khaliun Gantumur, Galina V. Kharitonova

For balances approach to Sustainable Development Goals, the physical and chemical degradation of soils, biological degradation of soil organic matter in result of oil pollution were studied. The data on the particle-size distribution, the content of chemical components and the number of microorganisms in the soils of the Dzunbayan (East Gobi) oil-producing area are presented. The studied soils are characterized by a bimodal distribution of particles: the main fraction is coarse sand (200–2000 µm), it ranges from 40 to 60 %. It is accompanied by fine silt (2–20 µm), its content reaches 17 %. A high content of chromium, copper, strontium, rubidium, cesium and arsenic was identified in soils, which reflect the geochemical specificity of the geological province. Due to arid climate of the study area soils are characterized by an alkaline reaction pH 8.2–8.7. Soils initially non-saline near the well are highly saline (salinity up to 0.7–1.2 %), due to the mining technologies used. The content of petroleum hydrocarbons (HC) in the soils of the study area varies from 9 to 60 mg/kg with a maximum in the vicinity of the operating well. The microbial community of soils is characterized by a high degree of adaptation to the conditions of the arid zone, salinity, high pH values, at the same time these conditions limit the development of typical representatives of soil microbiocenoses – actinomycetes and, to a greater extent, microscopic fungi. The total number of heterotrophic bacteria (TNH) in the studied soil samples varied within 1.22–3.49 106 CFU/g of dry soil, the share of hydrocarbon oxidizing bacteria (HOB) was 12.6–18.9 % of TNH. The content of hydrocarbon oxidizing bacteria (HOB) in the microbial community of soil (within 20 %) corresponds to the concentration boundary of pollution by hydrocarbons for the studied soils (up to 60 mg/kg), which indicates that the microbial community is on the verge of fulfilling the ability to self-purification of the soil. The identified physico-chemical characteristics of the studied soils of the desert zone (dominance of sand fractions, high pH values, salinity) in combination with specific climatic conditions and features of the oil composition of the Dzunbayan deposit (prevalence of heavy paraffin fractions) characterize their low potential for self-purification from pollution by hydrocarbons. For sustainable solutions planning of the oil production, transportation, and pollution prevention the transcendental Biogeosystem Technique methodology will be helpful for Land Degradation Neutrality implementation.