Automated ion analysis system to examine soil nutrient dynamics

氮、磷、硫是土壤环境中的重要元素。它们是植物生长的必需营养素，但过量会导致环境问题，包括地下水和地表水污染以及温室气体排放。了解这些营养物质通过原生生态系统和管理生态系统的循环对于它们的管理至关重要。例如，研究的主要领域包括检查对单个氮（N）循环过程的控制，如固氮和矿化，这有助于植物可用的N，以及对硝化和反硝化的控制，这有助于环境重要形式的N，如硝酸盐和一氧化二氮。这些知识可以反过来应用于土地利用规划和土壤养分管理，以确保生态系统的管理，以最大限度地提高植物养分的可用性，同时最大限度地减少对周围环境的损失。养分循环过程往往会在时间和空间上发生变化，因此为了捕捉这种变化，实地测量计划包括收集大量的土壤样本并分析其养分含量。该建议是一个自动化的离子分析系统，以允许快速，高质量的分析这些土壤样品。当与互补的分析技术，包括同位素比质谱法和同步辐射光谱法结合使用时，该系统将填补我们对加拿大从大草原到北极高纬度生态系统中营养循环和运动的理解中的关键空白。这些信息将为从农民个人到联邦政策制定者的关键环境规划者提供决策工具。

Nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur are important elements in soil environments. They are essential nutrients for plant growth, but in excess, can lead to environmental problems including ground- and surface water contamination and greenhouse gas emissions. Understanding the cycling of these nutrients through both native and managed ecosystems is critical to their management. For example, main areas of research include examining controls on individual nitrogen (N) cycle processes such as N-fixation and mineralization, which contribute to plant-available N, and controls on nitrification and denitrification, which contribute to environmentally-significant forms of N such as nitrate and nitrous oxide. This knowledge may in turn be applied to land use planning and soil nutrient management to ensure that ecosystems are managed to maximize plant nutrient availability while minimizing losses to the surrounding environment.Nutrient-cycling processes tend to vary temporally and spatially across the landscape, so to capture this variability, field measurement programs involve collecting a large number of soil samples and analyzing their nutrient content. This proposal is for an automated ion analysis system to allow for rapid, high quality analysis of these soil samples. When used in conjunction with complementary analytical techniques, including isotope ratio mass spectrometry and synchrotron spectroscopy, this system will fill in critical gaps in our understanding of nutrient cycling and movement in Canadian ecosystems ranging from the Prairies to the High Arctic. This information will add to the decision-making toolkit for key environmental planners, from individual farmers to federal policy makers.