Evaluation of Microbial Inoculation and Vegetation to Enhance the Dissipation of Atrazine and Metolachlor in Soil

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2005-10-01
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Zhao, Shaohan
Arthur, Ellen
Moorman, Thomas
Coats, Joel
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Coats, Joel
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Entomology

The Department of Entomology seeks to teach the study of insects, their life-cycles, and the practicalities in dealing with them, for use in the fields of business, industry, education, and public health. The study of entomology can be applied towards evolution and ecological sciences, and insects’ relationships with other organisms & humans, or towards an agricultural or horticultural focus, focusing more on pest-control and management.

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The Department of Entomology was founded in 1975 as a result of the division of the Department of Zoology and Entomology.

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Four greenhouse studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of native prairie grasses and two pesticide-degrading bacteria to remediate atrazine and metolachlor in soils from agricultural dealerships (Alpha site soil, northwest Iowa, USA; Bravo site soil, central Iowa, USA). The Alpha soil contained a low population of atrazine-degrading microorganisms relative to the Bravo soil. Each soil freshly treated with atrazine or metolachlor was aged for a short or long period of time, respectively. An atrazine-degrading bacterium, Agrobacterium radiobacter strain J14a; a metolachlor-degrading bacterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens strain UA5–40; and a mixture of three native prairie grasses—big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman), yellow Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans [L.] Nash), and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.)—were added to the soils after the soils were aged for long periods of time. The soils aged for short periods of time were treated with J14a, the prairie grasses, or both after aging. The J14a and the grasses significantly reduced the concentration of atrazine in Alpha soil when the soil was aged for a short period of time. However, these treatments had no statistically significant effect when the soil was aged for a long period of time or on atrazine in Bravo soil. Inoculation with UA5–40 did not enhance metolachlor dissipation in either soil, but vegetation did increase metolachlor dissipation. Our results indicate that the dissipation of atrazine by J14a is affected by the presence of indigenous atrazine-mineralizing microorganisms and probably by the bioavailability of atrazine in the soil.

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This article is from Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 24 (2005): 2428, doi:10.1897/04-533R.1.

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