Search results for " soil"

Predicting maximum annual values of event soil loss by USLE-type models

2017

Abstract Previous experimental investigations showed that a large proportion of total plot soil erosion over a long time period is generally due to relatively few, large storms. Consequently, erosion models able to accurately predict the highest plot soil loss values have practical importance since they could allow to improve the design of soil conservation practices in an area of interest. At present USLE-based models are attractive from a practical point of view, since the input data are generally easy to obtain. The USLE was developed with specific reference to the mean annual temporal scale but it was also applied at the event scale. Other models, such as the USLE-M and the USLE-MM, app…

Pedotechnique applications in large-scale farming: Economic value, soil ecosystems services and soil security

2019

Abstract Since ancient times Humans and Soil have experienced interwoven links. Nowadays soil scientists continue to stress such links highlighting the importance of soil in: i) satisfying the ever growing Human demand for food, water and energy, and ii) providing ecosystem services that mitigate climate changes, influence human health and improve biodiversity. Pedotechniques are recently used to generate soils suitable for table grape cultivation in order to increase productivity and grape quality, thus to get substantial financial returns. We show one emblematic study case of pedotechniques applied in Sicily (Italy). Aims of the investigation were: i) stressing threats to soil security de…

Lanthanides Revealing Anthropogenic Impact within a Stratigraphic Sequence

2014

Difficulties to differentiate between anthropogenic and natural processes in the formation of archaeological deposits are crucial for a correct interpretation not only of the actions involved in the development of archaeological sites, but also of their occupation-abandonment dynamics and the understanding of their spatial behaviors and relationship with the environment. We have carried out lanthanides (rare earth elements “REE”) analysis to distinguish anthropogenic from natural stratigraphic units in sediments using the advantage of the high sensibility, precision, and accuracy of ICP-MS measurements. In the Neolithic site of Mas d’Is (Alacant, Spain), we have applied REE analysis in a hu…

The symbiosis between Nicotiana tabacum and the endomycorrhizal fungus Funneliformis mosseae increases the plant glutathione level and decreases leaf…

2015

Over time, anthropogenic activities have led to severe cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) pollution in several environments. Plants inhabiting metal(loid)-contaminated areas should be able to sequester and detoxify these toxic elements as soon as they enter roots and leaves. We postulated here that an important role in protecting plants from excessive metal(loid) accumulation and toxicity might be played by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. In fact, human exploitation of plant material derived from Cd- and As-polluted environments may lead to a noxious intake of these toxic elements; in particular, a possible source of Cd and As for humans is given by cigarette and cigar smoke. We investigated …

Sharing pathogenetic mechanisms between acute myocardial infarction and Alzheimer's disease as shown by partially overlapping of gene variant profile…

2011

Abstract Gene variants that promote inflammation and cholesterol metabolism have been associated with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). We investigated a panel of relevant polymorphisms to distinguish genetic backgrounds for AMI and AD: IL10 -1082G/A, IL6 -174G/C, TNF -308G/A, IFNG +874T/A, SERPINA3 -51G/T, HMGCR -911C/A, APOE e2/3/4 (280 AMI cases, 257 AD cases, and 1307 population controls, all Italian (presumed risk alleles are shown in bold). Six genetic risk sets I to VI were identified by fuzzy latent classification: I had low risk; II and III had low risk before age 65 (II, III); low risk sets lacked pro-inflammatory alleles for HMGCR-TNF-APOE. Pro-infla…

Use of SPME extraction to determine organophosphorus pesticides adsorption phenomena in water and soil matrices

2005

Solid-phase micro extraction (SPME) coupled with GC enables rapid and simple analysis of organophosphorus pesticides in a range of complex matrices. Investigations were made into the extraction efficiencies from water of six organophosphorus insecticides (methamidophos, omethoate, dimethoate, parathion methyl, malathion, and parathion ethyl) showing a wide range of polarities. Three SPME fibres coated with different stationary phases, polydimethylsiloxane, polyacrylate, and carbowax-divinylbenzene (CW-DVB), were investigated. Water was spiked with the pesticides at concentrations from 1 to 0.01 µg mL-1, and the solutions used for optimization of the procedure. The CW-DVB fibre, with a 65 µm…

"Role of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Nutrient Uptake and Growth of Durum Wheat"

Soil microbiome is involved at different levels in the food web, in bio-geochemical nutrient cycles and in several interactions with plants. Based on its key role in the agro-ecosystem processes, the soil microbiome has been identified as one of the principal factors in an agriculture addressed to the ecological intensification. Among the several relationships established between plants and soil microorganisms, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis is the most widespread. Two out of three of all plant taxa (among others the main crops) are involved in the AM symbiosis which takes place between the plant root system and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), a monophyletic group of fungi belong…

Agronomic Management of Indigenous Mycorrhizas

2008

Many of the advantages conferred to plants by arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) are associated to the ability of AM plants to explore a greater volume of soil through the extraradical mycelium. Sieverding (1991) estimates that for each centimetre of colonized root there is an increase of 15 cm3 on the volume of soil explored, this value can increase to 200 cm3 depending on the circumstances. Due to the enhancement of the volume of soil explored and the ability of the extraradical mycelium to absorb and translocate nutrients to the plant, one of the most obvious and important advantages resulting from mycorrhization is the uptake of nutrients. Among of which the ones that have immobilized forms in …

An anthropic soil transformation fingerprinted by REY patterns

2009

Abstract This Focus article deals intentionally with modern soil disturbance in situ . This is of interest to archaeologists as after disturbances, both short- and long-term, pedogenesis (re-)starts obliterating previous signs. Soil modifications induced by human activity may be linked to pedogenetic evidence for disturbance with archaeological evidence for the cultural activities. We contrasted two 750-m 3 soil pedons, an Anthrosol and a Kastanozem, from which the Anthrosol is derived, using 77 descriptors of soil properties which have been utilized in archaeological studies (pedo-morphological, routine laboratory, biochemical, metals and rare earth elements plus yttrium, REY) with the aim…

Anthropogenic soils are the golden spikes for the Anthropocene

2011

We propose that the Anthropocene be defined as the last c. 2000 years of the late Holocene and characterized on the basis of anthropogenic soils. This contrasts with the original definition of the Anthropocene as the last c. 250 years (since the Industrial Revolution) and more recent proposals that the Anthropocene began some 5000 to 8000 years ago in the early to mid Holocene (the early-Anthropocene hypothesis). Anthropogenic soil horizons, of which several types are recognized, provide extensive terrestrial stratigraphic markers for defining the start of the Anthropocene. The pedosphere is regarded as the best indicator of the rise to dominance of human impacts on the total environment b…