Search results for "Arid environment"
showing 2 items of 12 documents
New cropping systems in semi-arid Mediterranean environments: potential role of medicinal and aromatic plants
2005
The semi-arid Mediterranean environments represent somehow “fragile” ecosystems, whose correct management needs some special attention. It is crucial therefore to study and point out some innovative farming systems able to deal with an income for workers, but in the meantime environmentally friendly and requiring the minimum energetic and technical inputs. In such sense, the cultivation of some selected medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) could be an important strategy. In our work we made an attempt to to sketch a comprehensive evaluation of the input levels required by 23 selected herbaceous MAPs, taking into consideration the indicative average levels of the energetic (including manpowe…
Grassland fire effect on soil organic carbon reservoirs in semiarid environment.
2011
The effect of fire on soil organic matter content is highly variable and depends on several factors including fire intensity, soil type and nature of burned material. Grassland in semiarid environment are often managed by shepherds with annual burning in order to enhance pasture recovery. The aim of this work was investigating the effect of fire as grassland management tool on soil organic carbon (SOC) reservoirs and on post-fire plant recovery. The study was conducted on Hyparrenia hirta grassland and Ampelodesma mauritanicus grassland, located in the Province of Palermo, in the north of Sicily. Soil samples were collected at two depth (0-5 and 5-20 cm) before and after experimental fire a…