BACKGROUND, AIM, AND SCOPE Composting is being proposed as a pretreatment step before disposal of metal-rich biomass after phytoextraction process. This study determined the biomass reduction and arsenic transformation during composting As-rich biomass of hyperaccumulator Chinese brake fern (Pteris vittata L.). MATERIALS AND METHODS High-As fern biomass containing approximately 4,600 mg As kg...

The mangrove forest that fringes the Bon Accord Lagoon measures 0.8 km(2) and is dominated by red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle). This forest forms the landward boundary of the Buccoo Reef Marine Park in Southwest Tobago, and is part of a mangrove-seagrass-coral reef continuum. Biomass and productivity, as indicated by litterfall rates, were measured in seven 0.01 ha monospecific plots from Febru...

This paper aims to study decomposition behavior in pyrolytic environment of four lignocellulosic biomass (oil palm shell, oil palm frond, rice husk and paddy straw), and two commercial components of biomass (pure cellulose and lignin), performed in a thermogravimetry analyzer (TGA). The unit which consists of a microbalance and a furnace flowed with 100 cc (STP) min Nitrogen, N2 as inert. Heati...

I review studies on decapod crustaceans to draw conclusions about the importance of effects of past environmental conditions on development, phenotype, performance, and survival in animals. I consider 3 critical points of the life cycle: the allocation of reserves into eggs, the hatching of larvae, and metamorphosis from the larval to the juvenile phase. Biomass allocated to eggs varies among f...

Biofilm sloughing is an integral aspect, and a dynamic activity of biofilm development. This study focused on biofilm sloughing on carriers in integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) systems in both laboratory (LS; synthetic feed) and full-scale (FS; municipal) systems. During biofilm development in the LS system the relative hydrophobicity of flocs and biofilm increased with an increase ...

We analyze a stage-structured biomass model for size-structured consumer-resource interactions. Maturation of juvenile consumers is modeled with a food-dependent function that consistently translates individual-level assumptions about growth in body size to the population level. Furthermore, the model accounts for stage-specific differences in resource use and mortality between juvenile and adu...

To generate a forage crop with increased biomass density that retains forage quality, we have genetically transformed lines of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) expressing antisense constructs targeting two different lignin pathway biosynthetic genes with a construct for down-regulation of a WRKY family transcription factor that acts as a repressor of secondary cell wall formation in pith tissues. P...

In low-input land-use systems combining timber trees with shade-tolerant understorey crops, it is essential to establish the effects of tree density upon weeds and the contribution of weeds to competition and nutrient cycling. Adjusting tree density may alter weed competition for light, water and nutrients, the storage of nutrients by weeds through growth and the release of nutrients via decomp...

Species richness, abundance and biomass of fishes from seagrass and unvegetated habitats were analysed for sites in the Swan Bay region of Port Phillip Bay, and Corner Inlet, Victoria, Australia. Fish assemblages from intertidal Zostera muelleri sites showed greater similarity with a number of shallower unvegetated sites than to subtidal Heterozostera tasmanica. Similarly, subtidal, unvegetated...