Search results for " soil quality"
showing 5 items of 5 documents
Effects of Apirolio Addition and Alfalfa and Compost Treatments on the Natural Microbial Community of a Historically PCB-Contaminated Soil
2018
Abstract Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are ubiquitous and persistent organic pollutants generated exclusively from human sources and found in the environment as several congeners (e.g. Apirolio, produced in Italy and used for electrical transformers). To evaluate the ability of the natural microbial community of historically PCB-contaminated soil to transform or degrade PCBs after fresh contamination through the addition of Apirolio, a microcosm experiment was conducted in a greenhouse for approximately 8 months. Compost and Medicago sativa (alfalfa) were additionally used in the microcosms to stimulate microbial PCB degradation. Chemical analyses were performed to evaluate PCB concentra…
Recent Developments in Understanding Biochar’s Physical–Chemistry
2021
Biochar is a porous material obtained by biomass thermal degradation in oxygen-starved conditions. It is nowadays applied in many fields. For instance, it is used to synthesize new materials for environmental remediation, catalysis, animal feeding, adsorbent for smells, etc. In the last decades, biochar has been applied also to soils due to its beneficial effects on soil structure, pH, soil organic carbon content, and stability, and, therefore, soil fertility. In addition, this carbonaceous material shows high chemical stability. Once applied to soil it maintains its nature for centuries. Consequently, it can be considered a sink to store atmospheric carbon dioxide in soils, thereby mitigat…
Soil and pedomesofauna relationships under different forests on a western slope of Etna Volcano
2015
Although the pedofauna influences the processes of pedogenesis and has an important role in the main functional properties of the soil, it has rarely been used as a key-element in defining soil quality. As has been stressed, this is due to the fact that the utility of pedofauna as a soil quality indicator is a function of the definition of soil quality which, in turn, depends on different functions, both biotic and abiotic, performed by the soil. If we consider the biological functions of vegetal, animal and microbiotic activity, the usefulness of the pedofauna, as a diagnostic element of soil quality, reaches its maximum since it is one of the indicators of the biodiversity. Previous work …
The influence of soil quality on life standard in Tutova Hills
2014
Tutova hills is a Romanian area called the poverty pole of the European Union. The soil quality has a high influence on the standard of life of this population living in this conditions.