Ecosystem-bedrock interaction changes nutrient compartmentalization during early oxidative weathering

Ecosystem-bedrock interactions power the biogeochemical cycles of Earth's shallow crust, supporting life, stimulating substrate transformation, and spurring evolutionary innovation. While oxidative processes have dominated half of terrestrial history, the relative contribution of the biosphere and its chemical fingerprints on Earth's developing regolith are still poorly constrained. Here, we report results from a two-year incipient weathering experiment. We found that the mass release and compartmentalization of major elements during weathering of granite, rhyolite, schist and basalt was rock-specific and regulated by ecosystem components. A tight interplay between physiological needs of different biota, mineral dissolution rates, and substrate nutrient availability resulted in intricate elemental distribution patterns. Biota accelerated CO2 mineralization over abiotic controls as ecosystem complexity increased, and significantly modified stoichiometry of mobilized elements. Microbial and fungal components inhibited element leaching (23.4% and 7%), while plants increased leaching and biomass retention by 63.4%. All biota left comparable biosignatures in the dissolved weathering products. Nevertheless, the magnitude and allocation of weathered fractions under abiotic and biotic treatments provide quantitative evidence for the role of major biosphere components in the evolution of upper continental crust, presenting critical information for large-scale biogeochemical models and for the search for stable in situ biosignatures beyond Earth.Comment: 41 pages (MS, SI and Data), 16 figures (MS and SI), 6 tables (SI and Data). Journal article manuscrip

Evaluating the Motivations, Knowledge, and Efficacy of Participants in Environmental Health Citizen Science Projects

Environmental research is increasingly using citizen scientists in many aspects of projects, such as data collection and question design. To date, only a limited number of co-created citizen science projects where community members are involved in most or all steps of the scientific process have been completed, and few comparing community engagement methods and efficacy and learning outcomes across demo- and geographic data. This study compares two citizen science programs, evaluating what motivates citizen scientists to participate in environmental health research and whether participation affects scientific knowledge and environmental behavior and efficacy. Participants in the Gardenroots: A Citizen Science Garden Project completed sample collection training and submitted soil, water, vegetable, and dust samples for analysis and received their environmental monitoring results. In the Facilitating Community Action to Address Climate Change and Build Resiliency in Southern Metropolitan Tucson project, Spanish speaking community members of South Tucson underwent training in climate change and environmental quality and sample collection, and worked with families in the South Tucson community, collecting soil and water samples and providing environmental health education. For both projects, participants completed a pre- and post-survey with a variety of qualitative and quantitative questions. These survey instruments were used to evaluate differences in environmental self-efficacy and motivations. In addition, select Gardenroots participants were involved in focus groups and semi-structured interviews to understand and gauge changes in knowledge and to further explore changes in motivation and self-efficacy. The participants were primarily internally motivated and saw increases in both efficacy and knowledge as a result of participation in the program. This information is critical to moving citizen science efforts forward and determining whether such projects: 1) co-produce environmental monitoring, exposure assessment, and risk data in a form that will be directly relevant to the participant's lives, 2) increase the community’s involvement in environmental decision-making, and 3) improve environmental health education and literacy in underserved communities

Public participation, trust and data sharing: gardens as hubs for citizen science and environmental health literacy efforts

International audienc

Understanding the Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations Associated with Community Gardening to Improve Environmental Public Health Prevention and Intervention.

Considering that community members continue to garden in and near environments impacted by pollutants known to negatively impact human health, this paper seeks to characterize the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of a gardener and elucidate their perception of soil quality and environmental responsibility, awareness of past land use, and gardening behavior. Via semi-structured interviews with community gardeners in the Boston area (N = 17), multifactorial motivations associated with gardening as well as ongoing environmental health challenges were reported. Gardeners are knowledgeable about their garden's historical past and are concerned with soil quality, theft, trash maintenance, animal waste, and loss of produce from foraging animals. Study findings directly inform the field of environmental health exposure assessments by reporting gardening duration, activities that can lead to incidental soil ingestion, and consumption patterns of locally grown produce. This information combined with an understanding of a gardener's intrinsic and extrinsic motivations can be used to develop urban agricultural infrastructure and management strategies, educational programming, and place-based environmental public health interventions

Understanding the Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations Associated with Community Gardening to Improve Environmental Public Health Prevention and Intervention

Considering that community members continue to garden in and near environments impacted by pollutants known to negatively impact human health, this paper seeks to characterize the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of a gardener and elucidate their perception of soil quality and environmental responsibility, awareness of past land use, and gardening behavior. Via semi-structured interviews with community gardeners in the Boston area (N = 17), multifactorial motivations associated with gardening as well as ongoing environmental health challenges were reported. Gardeners are knowledgeable about their garden’s historical past and are concerned with soil quality, theft, trash maintenance, animal waste, and loss of produce from foraging animals. Study findings directly inform the field of environmental health exposure assessments by reporting gardening duration, activities that can lead to incidental soil ingestion, and consumption patterns of locally grown produce. This information combined with an understanding of a gardener’s intrinsic and extrinsic motivations can be used to develop urban agricultural infrastructure and management strategies, educational programming, and place-based environmental public health interventions

Love Data Week 2019

Slides for the Love Data Week 2019 event, February 1

Ecosystem-bedrock interaction changes nutrient compartmentalization during early oxidative weathering

Ecosystem-bedrock interactions power the biogeochemical cycles of Earth's shallow crust, supporting life, stimulating substrate transformation, and spurring evolutionary innovation. While oxidative processes have dominated half of terrestrial history, the relative contribution of the biosphere and its chemical fingerprints on Earth's developing regolith are still poorly constrained. Here, we report results from a two-year incipient weathering experiment. We found that the mass release and compartmentalization of major elements during weathering of granite, rhyolite, schist and basalt was rock-specific and regulated by ecosystem components. A tight interplay between physiological needs of different biota, mineral dissolution rates, and substrate nutrient availability resulted in intricate elemental distribution patterns. Biota accelerated CO2 mineralization over abiotic controls as ecosystem complexity increased, and significantly modified the stoichiometry of mobilized elements. Microbial and fungal components inhibited element leaching (23.4% and 7%), while plants increased leaching and biomass retention by 63.4%. All biota left comparable biosignatures in the dissolved weathering products. Nevertheless, the magnitude and allocation of weathered fractions under abiotic and biotic treatments provide quantitative evidence for the role of major biosphere components in the evolution of upper continental crust, presenting critical information for large-scale biogeochemical models and for the search for stable in situ biosignatures beyond Earth.National Science Foundation (NSF)National Science Foundation (NSF) [EAR-1023215]; NSFNational Science Foundation (NSF) [EAR-0724958, EAR-1331408, EAR-1411609]; Biosphere 2 REU program [NSF EAR-1263251, NSF EAR-1004353]; United States-Mexico Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange (COMEXUS): the FulbrightGarcia Robles Scholarship program; Thomas R. Brown Foundation endowment; NASA Astrobiology Institute "CAN7: Alternative Earths. Explaining Persistent Inhabitation on a Dynamic Early Earth"; U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy SciencesUnited States Department of Energy (DOE) [DE-AC02-76SF00515]Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]