Search results for "Soil"
showing 10 items of 3493 documents
LCA of Different Construction Choices for a Double-Track Railway Line for Sustainability Evaluations
2023
The international commitment to achieve carbon neutrality in the next few decades has oriented human activities towards the preservation of natural and non-renewable resources. In this context, a great research effort has been devoted to the search for sustainable solutions for the infrastructure construction sector, based on a thorough assessment of the environmental impact (EI). In this regards, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is considered one of the main components of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and, for a comprehensive analysis, all the costs incurred by stakeholders during the useful life of the infrastructure should also be taken into account, applying the Life Cycle Cost (LCC)…
DIAGSOL Development of a new functional marker for B-triketone herbicides exposure in agricultural soils
2017
International audience; The-triketone herbicides are maize selective herbicides that have been largely applied in replacement of atrazine, banned in Europe in 2004. Their mode of action lays on the inhi- bition of the p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD), a key enzyme of the carotenoid biosynthesis.In recent studies, we showed that within the soil bacterial community, many microorganisms possess a functional HPPD enzyme involved in tyrosine metabolism. These ”non-target or- ganisms” harbor the target of the-triketone herbicides and consequently may be affected in response to its exposure. From this point of view, the bacterial community harboring the hppd gene might be a relevant mark…
The legacy of human use in Amazonian palm communities along environmental and accessibility gradients
2023
Aim: Palms are iconic and dominant elements of neotropical forests. In the Amazon region, palms have been used and managed by humans for food, material, medicine and other purposes for millennia. It is, however, debated to what extent the structure of modern palm communities reflects long-term human modification. Here, we investigate the complex interplay of ecological and societal factors that influence the distributions of both human-used and non-used palms in western Amazonia. Location: Amazonia. Time period: Present. Major taxa studied: Palms (Arecaceae). Methods: We used Bayesian hierarchical joint species distribution models to predict the distributions and environmental niche dimensi…
In-depth characterization of denitrifier communities across different soil ecosystems in the tundra
2022
Abstract Background In contrast to earlier assumptions, there is now mounting evidence for the role of tundra soils as important sources of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). However, the microorganisms involved in the cycling of N2O in this system remain largely uncharacterized. Since tundra soils are variable sources and sinks of N2O, we aimed at investigating differences in community structure across different soil ecosystems in the tundra. Results We analysed 1.4 Tb of metagenomic data from soils in northern Finland covering a range of ecosystems from dry upland soils to water-logged fens and obtained 796 manually binned and curated metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs). We then sear…
Hydro-mechanical modelling of a natural slope affected by a multiple slip surface failure mechanism
2009
A coupled hydro-mechanical formulation is presented for the analysis of landslide motion during crisis episodes. The mathematical formulation is used to model a natural slope affected by a multiple slip surface failure mechanism, in which pore water pressure evolution was identified as the main cause for movement accelerations. An elasto-plastic constitutive model is adopted for the behaviour of slip surfaces. Material parameters are obtained by combining the available laboratory tests and the back analysis of some crisis episodes. After being calibrated and validated, the model is applied to improve the understanding of the physical processes involved and to predict the landslide behaviour…
An effective stress based shear strength criterion for unsaturated compacted double-porosity clays
2015
An effective stress based shear strength criterion is proposed taking into account the fundamental effects of microstructure characteristics on retention properties of compacted double-porosity clays and their overall coupled hydro-mechanical behaviour. Results of triaxial compression tests carried out on saturated and unsaturated samples of a compacted scaly clay show that points representative of failure conditions depict a unique failure envelope when the macropore degree of saturation is used in the definition of the effective stress and its evolution with the suction is taken into account. Furthermore, the proposed criterion is very effective to consider the most relevant aspects of su…
Relationships between Heavy Metal Concentrations in Greater Celandine (Chelidonium majus L.) Tissues and Soil in Urban Parks
2023
Anthropogenic ecological ecosystems create favourable conditions for the growth of the nitrophilous medicinal species Chelidonium majus in six urban parks in Southern Poland. This study focuses on the concentrations of trace elements in the soils, leaves, stems, and rhizomes of greater celandine. The soil samples were taken only in the humus horizon (A), which averaged approximately 15 cm in thickness under the clumps of Ch. majus. Regarding the reaction, the soil samples tested can be described as slightly acidic (5.6–6.8 in KCl) to alkaline (7.1–7.4 in H2O). Organic carbon content at all sites is high, ranging from 3.2% to 13.6%, while the highest total nitrogen (Nt) content is 0.664%. Th…
Modelling the removal and reversible immobilization of murine noroviruses in a Phaeozem under various contamination and rinsing conditions
2018
International audience; Enteric viruses entering the soil with contaminated irrigation water can reach groundwater or be internalized in plants through their roots without being inactivated. Their fate in the soil depends on the virus, the soil and the soil solution. In order to write a mathematical model suitable for a Calcaric Phaeozem, we investigated the removal of murine norovirus and reversible immobilization in aggregate columns according to a saturation procedure, conditions between contamination and rinsing time, temperature and soil solution. Viruses were quantified before and after 0.45‐μm filtration with an RT‐qPCR (real‐time polymerase chain reaction). Experimental results supp…
Regional Farmers’ Perception and Societal Issues in Vineyards Affected by High Erosion Rates
2021
We explore the current situation in a viticultural region in Eastern Spain from a holistic and multifaceted research approach, which allowed us to understand the biophysical conditions, economic cost, social impact, and perception of the farmers’ community to the use of catch crops. A survey of the perception of the farmers, and an assessment of the biophysical impact of catch crops (CC) and tillage (C = Control plot) on soil organic matter, bulk density, infiltration capacity (single ring infiltrometer), and runoff generation and soil erosion (rainfall simulation experiments) was carried out. Two representative fields as study sites were selected in Les Alcusses valley, within Els Alforins…
INCIDENZA SULL’ANALISI DI RISCHIO DELLE MODALITÁ DI MISURA DEI SOIL GAS: IL CASO DI UN S.I.N. SICILIANO
2020
Il monitoraggio delle matrici aeriformi sta assumendo importanza crescente nell’ambito dei procedimenti di bonifica di siti contaminati, con riferimento sia all’esecuzione delle analisi di rischio, sia alla conseguente progettazione degli interventi di risanamento. L’utilizzo di misure dirette di campo si rivela di notevole interesse per la verifica di quelle indirette, ottenute con gli algoritmi implementati nei modelli matematici utilizzati per l’analisi di rischio. Obiettivo del lavoro presentato nella nota è stato quello di valutare l’influenza di misure dirette di soil gas e di flussi emissivi sull’analisi di rischio sanitaria. Come caso studio, si è considerato un S.I.N. nel territori…