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Ecology

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Phytovolatilization Of Organic Contaminants, Matt Limmer, Joel Gerard Burken Jul 2016

Phytovolatilization Of Organic Contaminants, Matt Limmer, Joel Gerard Burken

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Plants can interact with a variety of organic compounds, and thereby affect the fate and transport of many environmental contaminants. Volatile organic compounds may be volatilized from stems or leaves (direct phytovolatilization) or from soil due to plant root activities (indirect phytovolatilization). Fluxes of contaminants volatilizing from plants are important across scales ranging from local contaminant spills to global fluxes of methane emanating from ecosystems biochemically reducing organic carbon. In this article past studies are reviewed to clearly differentiate between direct- and indirect-phytovolatilization and we discuss the plant physiology driving phytovolatilization in different ecosystems. Current measurement techniques are also described, …


Dynamic Growth Rates Of Microbial Populations In Activated Sludge Systems, Peter George Stroot, Pascal E. Saikaly, Daniel B. Oerther Dec 2005

Dynamic Growth Rates Of Microbial Populations In Activated Sludge Systems, Peter George Stroot, Pascal E. Saikaly, Daniel B. Oerther

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Results of mathematical modeling and whole cell 16S ribosomal RNA-targeted fluorescence in situ hybridizations challenge the widely held perception that microbial populations in "steady-state" activated sludge systems share a common net growth rate that is proportional to the inverse of the mean cell residence time. Our results are significant because they encourage bioprocess engineers to appreciate the differences in growth physiology among individual microbial populations in complex mixed microbial communities such as suspended growth activated sludge bioreactor systems.