Project Type
Coordinated Research Project
Project Code
D15018
CRP
2187
Approved Date
7 December 2017
Expected End Date
31 December 2023
Completed Date
14 May 2024
Participating Countries
Australia
Austria
Cambodia
China
France
Germany
Ghana
India
Ireland
Japan
Morocco
Romania
Slovenia
Sri Lanka
Switzerland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Viet Nam
Description
Pollution from agriculture and other sources has direct negative impacts on human health. A major knowledge gap regarding pollution in agro-ecosystems is source identification and apportionment, which requires more data, research and integration of approaches. When contamination from multiple sources to an agro-ecosystem occurs, traditional techniques cannot help in evaluating the relative contribution of the different sources. Complementarily to conventional monitoring and mass balance approaches, stable isotopes of major elements (H, C, N, O and S) have the potential to characterize and quantify sources and transport of solutes in agro-ecosystems. Studies have shown that depending on the origin of the polluting source, the isotopic signature of each element could be unique therefore it can be applied to fingerprint the source. This CRP aims to use stable isotopes of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur as an integrated approach to identify and apportion sources and transport of agro-contaminants from soil to water bodies in agro-ecosystems.
Objectives
Identify and apportion macronutrient and micro-contaminant inputs in agro-ecosystems using an integrated isotope approach
Specific objectives
Provide guidelines and decision trees for adapting and applying the toolbox
Apply the combined approach to different agro-ecosystems to control contaminants
Develop, evaluate and standardize an integrative isotope approach for identifying and apportioning sources of contaminants in agro-ecosystems
Provide guidelines and decision trees for adapting and applying the toolbox
Apply the combined approach to different agro-ecosystems to control contaminants
Develop, evaluate and standardize an integrative isotope approach for identifying and apportioning sources of contaminants in agro-ecosystems
Impact
New analytical methods for source identification and apportion of phosphate (d18Op), sulphate (d34S-SO4, d18O-SO4) and pesticides (d13C and d15N), were developed and successfully tested in AUL, CPR, SLO, SRL, GHA, IND, SWI, and VIE, and are being transferred to member states through TC projects.
Two regional (RAS5091 and RLA5089) and 3 National TC projects (BOL5024, COS7006, SLO5005) have applied the tools for isotopic water quality monitoring.
The tools developed are also being applied to monitor the source and transport of agro-contaminants in transboundary Danube and Mekong collaboration with isotope hydrology laboratory (IHL), International Commission for the Protection of the Danube (ICPDR) and the Mekong River Commission.
More than 100 publications illustrating the use of these isotopes to monitor soil and water quality in different agro-ecosystem.
Fifteen young researchers completed MSc and PhD thesis related to this topic.
Relevance
The CRP has:
(1) developed tools/guidelines/ SOPs for both field and laboratory work, already adapted by counterparts involved in both CRPs &TC projects.
(2) provided background information for follow-up CRPs on oxygen isotopes of phosphate, sulfate, carbon and H2O isotopes to monitor water and sediment pollution in agroecosystem.
(3) suggested land management strategies to mitigate and control agro-contaminants, however this remains the share responsibilities of the agro-chemical manufactures and policy makers in food and agriculture as well as the mining sectors
CRP Publications
Type
Journal Article
Year
2021
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112635
Description
Agricultural groundwater with high nitrates and dissolved salts given to pregnant mice alters brain development in the offspring
Country/Organization
India
Type
Journal Article (Journal of Nuclear Agricultural Sciences)
Year
2020
Description
Response of Soil, Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Loss to Restoration Measures Under Event Based Rainfall in Erosion Degraded Forestland, Red Soil Region of China: Based on 7Be Tracing Technique
Country/Organization
China
Type
Journal Article
Year
2021
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.3390/su131910966
Description
Building Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience through Soil Organic Carbon Restoration in Sub-Saharan Rural Communities: Challenges and Opportunities
Country/Organization
Esat Africa
Type
Journal Article (Environ. Sci. Technol)
Year
2020
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b04606
Description
Dual-Element Isotope Analysis of Desphenylchloridazon to Investigate its Environmental Fate in a Systematic Field Study - A Long-Term Lysimeter Experiment
Country/Organization
Germany
Type
Journal Article (Environ. Science and Technology
Year
2021
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c03981
Description
Triple-element compound-specific stable isotope analysis (3D-CSIA): added value of Cl isotope ratios to assess herbicide degradation.
Country/Organization
Germany
Type
Journal Article (Agricultural water management)
Year
2022
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2021.107304
Description
Effect of deficit irrigation on nitrogen accumulation and capsaicinoid content in Capsicum plants using the isotope 15N.
Country/Organization
Slovenia
Type
Journal Article (Earth-Science Reviews)
Year
2022
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2022.104188
Description
Understanding the complexity of sediment residence time in rivers: Application of Fallout Radionuclides (FRNs)
Country/Organization
UK
Type
Journal Article
Year
2021
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-021-05181-5
Description
Tracing N-nutrient and organic carbon sources in surface water of Nhue River sub-catchment in Vietnam using stable isotope fingerprinting and related techniques.
Country/Organization
Vietnam
Type
Conference paper
Year
2022
Publication URL
https://conferences.iaea.org/event/270/abstracts/22574/
Description
Transformation of pesticides in agricultural soil and groundwater: insights from pesticides and compound specific isotope analysis (CSIA) in the Berambadi catchment (South India)
Country/Organization
India
Type
EGU Conference proceeding
Year
2020
Description
The integrated use of stable isotopic and CSSI fingerprinting techniques to identify the sources of N pollutant in surface water and sediment in an agricultural catchment, North China
Country/Organization
China
Type
Journal Article (Science of The Total Environment )
Year
2021
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148414
Description
'Evaluating the effectiveness of soil conservation at the basin scale using floodplain sedimentary archives
Country/Organization
UK
Type
Journal Article
Year
2023
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.20275
Description
Leaching of four maize herbicides considering different processes
Country/Organization
Germany/Technical University of Munich
Type
Journal Article (Journal of Environmental Radioactivity )
Year
2022
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2022.10697
Description
Microscale spatial variability of Beryllium-7 at a reference site in southwest China
Country/Organization
China
Type
Journal Article (Land Degradation and Development)
Year
2020
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.3791
Description
Integrating land-water-people connectivity concepts across disciplines for co-design of soil erosion solutions
Country/Organization
UK
Type
Journal Article
Year
2021
Description
Distribution of 137Cs and 60Co in plough layer of farmland: Evidenced from a lysimeter experiment using undisturbed soil columns
Country/Organization
China
Type
Journal Article (Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment )
Year
2020
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2020.107257
Description
Plants affect the dissipation and leaching of anilide pesticides in soil mesocosms: Insights from compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA)
Country/Organization
France
Type
Journal Article
Year
2020
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.3791
Description
Integrating land-water-people connectivity concepts across disciplines for co-design of soil erosion solutions
Country/Organization
UK
Type
Journal Article
Year
2021
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.1c00025
Description
Methodological advances to study contaminant biotransformation: new prospects for understanding and reducing environmental persistence?
Country/Organization
Germany
Type
Journal Article
Year
2021
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1002/rcm.9101
Description
New Ag3PO4 comparison material for stable oxygen isotope analysis
Country/Organization
Austria/BOKU
Type
Journal Article( International Soil and Water Conservation Research)
Year
2023
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iswcr.2022.10.006
Description
Novel sediment source fingerprinting quantifying erosion induced total nitrogen and total phosphorus outputs from an intensive agricultural catchment, North China
Country/Organization
China
Type
Journal Article
Year
2022
Publication URL
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-06224-5
Description
Nitrate sources and mixing in the Danube watershed: implications for transboundary river basin monitoring and management
Country/Organization
Austria/IAEA
Type
Journal Article (Environmental Pollution)
Year
2023
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121589
Description
Disentangling nitrate pollution sources and apportionment in a tropical agricultural ecosystem using a multi-stable isotope model.
Country/Organization
Ghana/Ghana Atomic Energy Commission
Type
Journal Article (MethodsX)
Year
2022
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2022.101880
Description
Simplified protocols for sampling, sample preparation and analysis of pesticides using the compound-specific isotope analysis CSIA (d13C)
Country/Organization
France
Year
2023
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2023.102265
Description
The measurement of ambient air moisture stable isotope composition for accurate estimation of evaporative losses
Country/Organization
Australia
Type
Journal Article (European Journal of Soil Science)
Year
2023
Publication URL
https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.13434
Description
Oxygen isotope ratios of phosphates in the soil-plant system: limitations and future developments
Country/Organization
Switzerland
