Search results for "Topsoil"
showing 10 items of 77 documents
Connectivity assessment in Mediterranean vineyards using improved stock unearthing method, LiDAR and soil erosion field surveys
2018
The interaction between processes and landforms is accelerated in vineyards due to bare tilled soils that enhance splash, runoff, and erosion. Traditionally, in order to assess these processes, the stock unearthing method (SUM) is considered a useful methodology that uses the graft union of the vine plant as passive bio-indicator of the topsoil level changes. However, SUM assumes that the topography between the rows is planar when development of a model of the current micro-topography is performed. Thus, we consider that there is a need to develop a new methodology (ISUM: improved SUM) that, by adding new measurements in the inter-row areas (at least 3), allows inclusion of the absent micro…
Water flow paths in soil control element exports in an Andean tropical montane forest
2008
We tested the hypothesis that concentrations of chemical constituents in stream water can be explained by the depth of water flow through soil. Therefore, we measured the concentrations of total organic carbon (TOC), NO 3 -N, NH 4 -N, dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), P, S, K, Ca, Mg, Na, Al and Mn in rainfall, throughfall, stemflow, litter leachate, mineral soil solution and stream water of three 8-13 ha catchments on steep slopes (1900-2200 m above sea level) of the south Ecuadorian Andes, from April 1998 to April 2003. Peak C (14-22 mg litre -1 ), N (0.6-0.9 mg litre -1 ), K (0.5-0.7 mg litre -1 ), Ca (0.6-1.0 mg litre -1 ), Mg (0.3-0.5 mg litre -1 ), Al (110-390 μg litre -1 ) and Mn (3.…
Characterization of organic matter in topsoils under rain forest and pasture in the eastern Brazilian Amazon basin
1999
In topsoils under forest and 7-, 12- and 17-year-old pastures, organic matter was characterized by analysing C and N distribution in particle-size fractions, the C decomposition rates of soil and particle-size fractions and by employing density-fractionation of macro-organic matter (>150 μm). The C and N associated with clay fractions increased with increasing age of pasture. The weight (%) of macro-organic matter and its heavy fractions (>1.37 g cm–3) also increased with increasing age of pasture. However, in a long-term incubation (100 days), these changes seemed to involve an increase in the C decomposition rate in the topsoil of the oldest pasture. Using the C decomposition rates of par…
Effectiveness of cover crops to reduce loss of soil organic matter in a rainfed vineyard
2020
Cover crops (CCs) minimize the loss of soil in permanent cropping systems where the soil is usually bare due to intense tillage or overuse of herbicides. The topsoil, the richer layer in soil organic carbon and organic matter (OM), is affected by water erosion. Nature-based solutions appear as a suitable option for sustainable farming. In this study, the effectiveness of two years of CC management to reduce the OM loss is evaluated in a rainfed vineyard in a rolling landscape (Huesca, NE Spain). Two sediment traps collected runoff over 15 months. Topsoil OM contents (1.64% and 1.60%) and sediment/soil OM enrichment ratio (2.61 and 3.07) were similar. However, the average annual rate of OM l…
Depth matters : Effects of precipitation regime on soil microbial activity upon rewetting of a plant-soil system
2018
International audience; Climate change is predicted to affect not only the amount but also the temporal distribution of rain. Changes in frequency and amplitude of rain events, i.e. precipitation patterns, result in different water conditions with soil depth, and likely affect plant growth and shape plant and soil microbial activity. Here, we used 18O stable isotope probing (SIP) to investigate bacterial and fungal communities that actively grew or not upon rewetting, at three different depths in plant-soil mesocosms previously subjected to frequent or infrequent watering for 12 weeks (equal total water input). Phylogenetic marker genes for bacteria and fungi were sequenced after rewetting,…
Modeling lead input and output in soils using lead isotopic geochemistry
2004
The aim of this study is to model downward migration of lead from the plow layer of an experimental site located in Versailles (about 15 km southwest of Paris, France). Since 1928, samples have been collected annually from the topsoil of three control plots maintained in bare fallow. Thirty samples from 10 different years were analyzed for their lead and scandium contents and lead isotopic compositions. The fluxes are simple because of the well-controlled experimental conditions in Versailles: only one output flux, described as a first-order differential function of the anthropogenic lead pool, was taken into account; the inputs were exclusively ascribed to atmospheric deposition. The combi…
[div]Long-term dynamics of the atrazine mineralization potential in surface and subsurface soil in an agricultural field as a response to atrazine ap…
2012
Abstract The dynamics of the atrazine mineralization potential in agricultural soil was studied in two soil layers (topsoil and at 35–45 cm depth) in a 3 years field trial to examine the long term response of atrazine mineralizing soil populations to atrazine application and intermittent periods without atrazine and the effect of manure treatment on those processes. In topsoil samples, 14 C-atrazine mineralization lag times decreased after atrazine application and increased with increasing time after atrazine application, suggesting that atrazine application resulted into the proliferation of atrazine mineralizing microbial populations which decayed when atrazine application stopped. Decay …
Evaluation of the Fate of Aldicarb and Its Metabolites in Oranges
1995
Abstract The accumulation, persistence and fate of systemic pesticide aldicarb was melencholy evaluated in orange crops. The concentration of this pesticide and its two toxic metabolites, aldicarb sulfoxide and aldicarb sulfone was determined in leaves, rind and pulp of three orange varieties (Satsuma, Navelina and Clemetina de Nules) and in the top soil of the orange groves. The groves were located in two different places in the Valencia Community (Spain). The analysis showed that the aldicarb concentration was lower than those of aldicarb sulfoxide and aldicarb sulfone. In all cases, the residues persisted at least 160 days in vegetable samples and between 157 and 227 days in soil samples…
Influence of inheritance and pedogenesis on heavy metal distribution in soils of Sicily, Italy
2000
Abstract The recognition of the potential health hazards associated with heavy metals has focused attention on the levels and behaviours of these elements both in natural and contaminated environments. Various soil types developed from different parent materials in Sicily, Italy, have been analysed in order to compare heavy metal distribution under different geopedological conditions. Total metal concentrations, metal partitioning and distribution profiles are discussed in relation to the inheritance factor and pedogenic processes. Parent material composition largely influences the contents of heavy metals in most of the analysed soils, mainly differentiating pedons for their metal concentr…
Selenium Partitioning and Stable Isotope Ratios in Urban Topsoils
2011
oxides. Th e δ82/76 Se values of total Se in the topsoils were close to the bulk Earth composition with an average δ82/76 Se value of −0.03 ± SD 0.38‰ suggesting that there was no or little Se isotope fractionation in soil. We attribute the small isotope fractionation to the low bioavailability of Se as a consequence of the presence of Fe oxides (adsorbing the dominating Se(IV) forms strongly), organic matter, and SO 4 2− (prevents biouptake of the Se(IV) forms) in the study soils. Small Se isotope fractionations of −0.59 to −0.35‰ in mainly forest soils and of 0.26 to 0.45‰ in mainly alluvial soils were presumably caused by soil/plant-recycling and Se contamination by river water, respecti…