Effects of super-absorbent polymers on a soil–wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) system in the field

Effects of Hydrophilic Polymers on Soil Water, Wheat Plant and Microorganisms

“…A-300-M had a stronger influence on MBC than A-300-S. High microbial movement and biomass often result in high nutrient access (Tu et M treatment compared to the other treatments. The significant reduction in SMR and MBC in the dough phase could be caused by the variations in colony size and construction that could result from variations in the input of metabolizable DOC from plant (Gomez et al, 2006) and soil residues arising from plant growth effects (Patra et al, 2006;Li et al, 2014). In this phase, hydrophilic polymers might have been decomposed incompletely or completely, resulting in lower amounts of SMR and MBC.…”

“…This result indicates that bacterial reproduction increased upon adding hydrophilic polymers under natural conditions, particularly in the heading stage. Substrates achieved from plant, both those that were actively seeped and those that were inactively scattered, could provide most of the energy and food for soil-borne microbial colonies (Marschner et al, 2004;Li et al, 2014). Therefore, when the plants were growing quickly, they might produce more substrates, resulting in the levels of soil microbic movement being the greatest in the heading stage.…”

Increasing green roof plant drought tolerance through substrate modification and the use of water retention gels

“…Given this is likely to be the most vulnerable stage of a green roof's plant coverage, even this early benefit can justify the extra cost of polyacrylamide gel, especially if seedlings/propagules are particularly vulnerable. This benefit may be increased further where polyacrylamide gel increases substrate bacterial and fungal populations (Li et al, 2014) as well as plant available nitrogen (Kay-Shoemake et al, 1998;Young et al, 2014). Despite this, other water retention additives such as silicate granules should not be discounted, and may be more effective at providing water to plants as they can increase water availability more homogeneously throughout the substrate (Farrell et al, 2013).…”

Advances in cellulose-based superabsorbent hydrogels

“…To improve the soil conditions in these areas, Li et al applied the superabsorbent hydrogels as a kind of soil additives, they examined the changes of water content, soil microbial activity, biomass and the crop yield between the original soil and the modified soil. It turns out that the addition of the superabsorbent hydrogels into the soil not only leave no detectable adverse effects, but also bring benefits to the soil physical properties and the crop yield[59]. The research conducted by Demitri et al[60] might have a revolutionary impact on the optimization of water resources management in agriculture.…”