ARI REVIEW FOR 2016-2017

but failed at the highest contamination level (12000 mg kg−1). Dissipation of TBZ in bioaugmented samples showed a concentration-dependent pattern, while aging of TBZ had a slight effect on bioaugmentation efficiency. Bioaugmentation had no impact on the soil bacterial diversity, in contrast to TBZ contamination. Soils from the hotspots of TBZ contamination (12000 mg kg−1) showed a drastically lower α-diversity driven by the dominance of β- and γ-proteobacteria at the expense of all other bacterial phyla, especially Actinobacteria. Overall, bioaugmentation with specialised microbial inocula could be an effective solution for the recovery of disposal sites contaminated with persistent chemicals like TBZ ( M. Omirou, I.M. Ioannides ). Citrus industry wastes shift the soil bacterial communities structure in soils Citrus industry generates a substantial amount of wastes across Mediterranean and their application in agriculture could be a valuable tool to sustain agro-ecosystems productivity and an environmental friendly approach for their management. In this microcosm study we examined the impact of orange, mandarin and banana peels on soil bacteria community and compare it to fertilised and non-fertilised controls. Diversity indexes and bacterial community structure was assessed using next generation sequencing in two sampling points. Both type of waste and time had strong and interactive effects on the bacterial community of soils. The lowest diversity was noticed 5 days after the initiation of the experiment in soils that received agricultural wastes. The lowest diversity was noticed in soils received orange peels followed by those received banana and mandarin peels. However, during time the bacterial diversity increased significantly and it was similar with that measured in control and fertilised soils. Copiotrphic bacterial groups were stimulated in soils treated with agricultural wastes while the abundance of most bacterial Phyla detected was suppressed. This study shows that agricultural wastes derived from citrus industry have a strong but temporal effect on bacterial community structure and represents a basis for future research regarding the impact of different organic amendments on bacterial community networks ( M. Omirou, I.M. Ioannides ). Soil nitrous oxide emissions under different nutrient management schemes Intensive livestock production and urban wastes generate large amount of wastes which are composted and typically reused as fertilisers in agricultural ecosystems. In Cyprus, application of manure and chemical fertilisers often results in high nitrogen inputs generating a surplus of available nitrogen that can stimulate large nitrous oxide emissions. On the contrary, composted material doesn’t increase N soil content however increases organic C thereby improving soil structure and functioning. The present study, included barley, vetch and pea production fields. Livestock manure, compost, ammonium nitrate was applied in a split-plot experimental design and compared to non-treated controls. Nitrogen inputs, N2O emissions, crop N content and soil available nitrogen were assessed over two growing seasons. N2O emission was significantly affected by type of nutrient management scheme, crop type and year. The emission factors in the different systems were between 0.07 and 0.24% and this was associated with the environmental conditions and particularly soil moisture. The variability of N2O fluxes and the cumulative N-N2O emissions was likely due to differences in nitrogen inputs and agricultural system management. The higher cumulative N-N2O emissions were recorded in chemical fertilised plots in all crops followed by manure and compost. Under control conditions, the highest emission was noticed in vetch followed by pea and barley. This study showed that the use of organic amendments in agricultural systems reduces N2O emissions under semi-arid conditions ( M. Omirou, I.M. Ioannides ). Development of microbial tools for sustainable food production Exploitation of microbes as biofertilisers is considered as a promising biotechnological tool alternative to chemical fertilisers in agricultural sector due to their extensive potentiality in enhancing crop production and food safety. In this study we aim to isolate, characterize and test functional microbial groups isolated from Cyprus agricultural ecosystems. The study is funded by European Union in the context of the EranetMed project with acronym “SUPREME” (2017-2020) ( M. Omirou, I.M. Ioannides ). 76 Agrobiotechnology