Search results for "forest"
showing 10 items of 3780 documents
Biochar based remediation of water and soil contaminated by phenanthrene and pentachlorophenol
2017
Abstract Phenanthrene (Phe) and pentachlorophenol (PCP) are classified as persistent organic pollutants and represent serious concern for the environment as they are toxic and ubiquitous. Biochar based remediation is an emerging technology used in water and soil contamination. In this study we used poplar (BP) and conifer (BC) biochars to remediate water and soil contaminated by Phe and PCP. BP and BC were able to remove completely either Phe or PCP from contaminated water within one to three days. When biochar was confined in a porous membrane, BC and BP maintained their sorption efficiency for several remediation cycles. However, in these conditions BC allowed faster Phe removal. In soil …
Previous fire occurrence, but not fire recurrence, modulates the effect of charcoal and ash on soil C and N dynamics in Pinus pinaster Aiton forests.
2021
Abstract Understanding the effects of fire history on soil processes is key to characterise their resistance and resilience under future fire events. Wildfires produce pyrogenic carbonaceous material (PCM) that is incorporated into the soil, playing a critical role in the global carbon (C) cycle, but its interactions with soil processes are poorly understood. We evaluated if the previous occurrence of wildfires modulates the dynamic of soil C and nitrogen (N) and microbial community by soil ester linked fatty acids, after a new simulated low-medium intensity fire. Soils with a different fire history (none, one, two or three fires) were heat-shocked and amended with charcoal and/or ash deriv…
An economic, perception and biophysical approach to the use of oat straw as mulch in Mediterranean rainfed agriculture land
2017
[EN] Soil erosion is a key cause of land degradation in agriculture lands; and it is a worldwide threat that must be solved by means of nature-based strategies to be able to achieve sustainability. The use of mulches can be a solution, but there is a lack of information on long-term effects of the use of straw. Furthermore, little is known about the perception of farmers and the economic cost on the implantation of straw as a conservation measure. Eight paired plots were selected in Sierra de Enguera on an agriculture field to determine the effect of straw cover on soil erosion. Four plots were tilled three times per year (Control) and four plots were not ploughed and 0.125 kg m(-2) y(-1) o…
Agricultural land abandonment in Mediterranean environment provides ecosystem services via soil carbon sequestration
2016
Abandonment of agricultural land leads to several consequences for ecosystem functions. Agricultural abandonment may be a significant and low cost strategy for carbon sequestration and mitigation of anthropogenic CO2 emissions due to the vegetation recovery and increase in soil organic matter. The aim of this study was to: (i) estimate the influence of different Soil Regions (areas characterized by a typical climate and parent material association) and Bioclimates (zones with homogeneous climatic regions and thermotype indices) on soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics after agricultural land abandonment; and (ii) to analyse the efficiency of the agri-environment policy (agri-environment measur…
Microstructural and associated chemical changes during the composting of a high temperature biochar: Mechanisms for nitrate, phosphate and other nutr…
2018
Recent studies have demonstrated the importance of the nutrient status of biochar and soils prior to its inclusion in particular agricultural systems. Pre-treatment of nutrient-reactive biochar, where nutrients are loaded into pores and onto surfaces, gives improved yield outcomes compared to untreated biochar. In this study we have used a wide selection of spectroscopic and microscopic techniques to investigate the mechanisms of nutrient retention in a high temperature wood biochar, which had negative effects on Chenopodium quinoa above ground biomass yield when applied to the system without prior nutrient loading, but positive effects when applied after composting. We have compared non-co…
Long-term effects of contrasting tillage on soil organic carbon, nitrous oxide and ammonia emissions in a Mediterranean Vertisol under different crop…
2018
This 2-year study aimed to verify whether the continuous application of no tillage (NT) for over 20 years, in comparison with conventional tillage (CT), affects nitrous oxide (NO) and ammonia (NH) emissions from a Vertisol and, if so, whether such an effect varies with crop sequence (continuous wheat, WW and wheat after faba bean, FW). To shed light on the mechanisms involved in determining N-gas emissions, soil bulk density, water filled pore space (WFPS), some carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools, denitrifying enzyme activity (DEA), and nitrous oxide reductase gene abundance (nosZ gene) were also assessed at 0–15 and 15–30 cm soil depth. Tillage system had no significant effect on total NH e…
Alfalfa crops amended with MSW compost can compensate the effect of salty water irrigation depending on the soil texture
2018
The availability of water resources of marginal quality such as drainage water or high-saltcontaining groundwater is turning into an important issue in Tunisia and other countrieswith scarce water resources. A pot experiment was carried out to evaluate plant produc-tion, nutrient content and heavy metal bioaccumulation in agricultural soils amended withMSW compost and irrigated with salty water, by using two different soil textures (clay andsandy). Salt water supply decreased plant dry yield in both soils. Salt stress had signifi-cantly reduction in plant biomass in sandy soil compared to those in clay soil (biomass ofdry weight is significantly higher in clay soil than those in sandy soil …
Islands of biogeodiversity in arid lands on a polygons map study: Detecting scale invariance patterns from natural resources maps.
2016
Many maps (geology, hydrology, soil, vegetation, etc.) are created to inventory natural resources. Each of these resources is mapped using a unique set of criteria, including scales and taxonomies. Past research indicates that comparing results of related maps (e.g., soil and geology maps) may aid in identifying mapping deficiencies. Therefore, this study was undertaken in Almeria Province, Spain to (i) compare the underlying map structures of soil and vegetation maps and (ii) investigate if a vegetation map can provide useful soil information that was not shown on a soil map. Soil and vegetation maps were imported into ArcGIS 10.1 for spatial analysis, and results then exported to Microsof…
Quantitative comparison of initial soil erosion processes and runoff generation in Spanish and German vineyards.
2016
The aim of this study was to enable a quantitative comparison of initial soil erosion processes in European vineyards using the same methodology and equipment. The study was conducted in four viticultural areas with different characteristics (Valencia and Málaga in Spain, Ruwer-Mosel valley and Saar-Mosel valley in Germany). Old and young vineyards, with conventional and ecological planting and management systems were compared. The same portable rainfall simulator with identical rainfall intensity (40 mm h− 1) and sampling intervals (30 min of test duration, collecting the samples at 5-min-intervals) was used over a circular test plot with 0.28 m2. The results of 83 simulations have been an…
Contribution of raindrop impact to the change of soil physical properties and water erosion under semi-arid rainfalls
2017
Soil erosion by water is a three-phase process that consists of detachment of soil particles from the soil mass, transportation of detached particles either by raindrop impact or surface water flow, and sedimentation. Detachment by raindrops is a key component of the soil erosion process. However, little information is available on the role of raindrop impact on soil losses in the semi-arid regions where vegetation cover is often poor and does not protect the soil from rainfall. The objective of this study is to determine the contribution of raindrop impact to changes in soil physical properties and soil losses in a semiarid weakly-aggregated agricultural soil. Soil losses were measured und…