1,721,102 research outputs found
Borgatti_-_Figure_1_Supplementary_Material_bnew – Supplemental material for Evidence of late-Holocene mud-volcanic eruptions in the Modena foothills (northern Italy)
No full textSupplemental material, Borgatti_-_Figure_1_Supplementary_Material_bnew for Evidence of late-Holocene mud-volcanic eruptions in the Modena foothills (northern Italy) by Lisa Borgatti, Bosi Giovanna, Bracci Antonio Edoardo, Cremonini Stefano, Falsone Gloria, Guandalini Francesca, Labate Donato, Mainardi Giuseppe, Martinelli Giovanni, Montecchi Maria Chiara and Pieraccini Diego in The Holocene</p
Soil aggregation, erodibility, and erosion rates in mountain soils (NW Alps, Italy)
Full text linkErosion is a relevant soil degradation factor in mountain agrosilvopastoral
ecosystems that can be enhanced by the abandonment of agricultural land and
pastures left to natural evolution. The on-site and off-site
consequences of soil erosion at the catchment and landscape scale are
particularly relevant and may affect settlements at the interface with
mountain ecosystems. RUSLE (Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation) estimates
of soil erosion consider, among others, the soil erodibility factor (K),
which depends on properties involved in structure and aggregation. A
relationship between soil erodibility and aggregation should therefore be
expected. However, erosion may limit the development of soil
structure; hence aggregates should not only be related to erodibility but
also partially mirror soil erosion rates. The aim of the research was to
evaluate the agreement between aggregate stability and erosion-related
variables and to discuss the possible reasons for discrepancies in the two
kinds of land use considered (forest and pasture).
Topsoil horizons were sampled in a mountain catchment under two vegetation
covers (pasture vs. forest) and analyzed for total organic carbon, total
extractable carbon, pH, and texture. Soil erodibility was computed, RUSLE erosion
rate was estimated, and aggregate stability was determined by wet sieving.
Aggregation and RUSLE-related parameters for the two vegetation covers were
investigated through statistical tests such as ANOVA, correlation, and
regression.
Soil erodibility was in agreement with the aggregate stability parameters;
i.e., the most erodible soils in terms of K values also displayed weaker
aggregation. Despite this general observation, when estimating K from
aggregate losses the ANOVA conducted on the regression residuals showed
land-use-dependent trends (negative average residuals for forest soils,
positive for pastures). Therefore, soil aggregation seemed to mirror the
actual topsoil conditions better than soil erodibility. Several hypotheses
for this behavior were discussed. A relevant effect of the physical
protection of the organic matter by the aggregates that cannot be considered
in computation was finally hypothesized in the case of pastures, while in
forests soil erodibility seemed to keep trace of past erosion and depletion
of finer particles. A good relationship between RUSLE soil erosion rates and
aggregate stability occurred in pastures, while no relationship was visible
in forests. Therefore, soil aggregation seemed to capture aspects of actual
vulnerability that are not visible through the erodibility estimate.
Considering the relevance and extension of agrosilvopastoral ecosystems
partly left to natural colonization, further studies on litter and humus
protective action might improve the understanding of the relationship among
erosion, erodibility, and structure
Simulating the effects of wet and dry on aggregate dynamics in argillic fragipan horizon
No full textFragipan is a dense and usually brittle subsurface soil horizon, limiting the penetration of roots and the infiltration of water. The genesis of fragipan is still unclear, but a general agreement exists on the importance of wet-dry cycles. In addition, in argillic Bx horizon, the presence of cations affecting the clay dispersion/flocculation behaviour might be a key factor in fragipan dynamics. In order to gain knowledge on the specific effect of alternating moisture conditions on the evolution of aggregates collected from a Btx horizon, we evaluated the variations of physical properties caused by a wet-dry cycle using both deionized and Ca-enriched water on the 1â2 mm aggregate, and on newly formed aggregates (i.e. 2â5 and > 5 mm size classes) obtained after a lab experiment. The results were compared with a Bt horizon that did not show fragipan properties. Btx and Bt samples were collected from a Typic Fragiudalf developed on fluvio-glacial terraces in NW Italy. The two horizons had comparable clay content (around 13%), and their mineralogical composition was dominated by hydroxy-interlayered vermiculite and smectite. The fragipan 1â2 mm aggregates showed a low clay dispersion ratio (11.5%) before the treatments, together with low volume of macropores (74 mm3gâ 1), high volume of mesopores (111 mmâ 3gâ 1), high slaking (30.1%), close packing of coarse particles and open arrangement of fine particles. The water treatment increased the amount of flocculated-clay in the new-aggregates, and Ca-treatment enhanced clay flocculation both in the newly formed and in the remaining 1â2 mm aggregates. The clay flocculation induced a denser arrangement of clay particles (⥠0.44), and a consequent reduction of mesopores (from 56.2 to 66.1 mmâ 3gâ 1), combined with the opening of the coarser particles packing (⤠0.78). This new particle arrangement did not correspond to the specific combination of coarse/fine particles arrangement of fragipan. The relative percentage of slaking also decreased. Therefore, upon both deionized water and CaCl2wetting and drying, the newly formed aggregates (i.e., 2â5 and > 5 mm) from disturbed fragic materials, as well as those that did not take part in the new aggregate formation (1â2 mm), did not show the specific physical properties of fragipan. The simulation of wet and dry cycle acted on clay colloidal behaviour, and the results suggested the degradation, rather than the enhancement, of Btx physical properties measurable in laboratory
Borgatti_et_al_2018__TABLES – Supplemental material for Evidence of late-Holocene mud-volcanic eruptions in the Modena foothills (northern Italy)
No full textSupplemental material, Borgatti_et_al_2018__TABLES for Evidence of late-Holocene mud-volcanic eruptions in the Modena foothills (northern Italy) by Lisa Borgatti, Bosi Giovanna, Bracci Antonio Edoardo, Cremonini Stefano, Falsone Gloria, Guandalini Francesca, Labate Donato, Mainardi Giuseppe, Martinelli Giovanni, Montecchi Maria Chiara and Pieraccini Diego in The Holocene</p
Borgatti_-_Figure_4_Supplementary_Material_bnew – Supplemental material for Evidence of late-Holocene mud-volcanic eruptions in the Modena foothills (northern Italy)
No full textSupplemental material, Borgatti_-_Figure_4_Supplementary_Material_bnew for Evidence of late-Holocene mud-volcanic eruptions in the Modena foothills (northern Italy) by Lisa Borgatti, Bosi Giovanna, Bracci Antonio Edoardo, Cremonini Stefano, Falsone Gloria, Guandalini Francesca, Labate Donato, Mainardi Giuseppe, Martinelli Giovanni, Montecchi Maria Chiara and Pieraccini Diego in The Holocene</p
Borgatti_-__Figure_6_Suppl_Mat_nnew – Supplemental material for Evidence of late-Holocene mud-volcanic eruptions in the Modena foothills (northern Italy)
No full textSupplemental material, Borgatti_-__Figure_6_Suppl_Mat_nnew for Evidence of late-Holocene mud-volcanic eruptions in the Modena foothills (northern Italy) by Lisa Borgatti, Bosi Giovanna, Bracci Antonio Edoardo, Cremonini Stefano, Falsone Gloria, Guandalini Francesca, Labate Donato, Mainardi Giuseppe, Martinelli Giovanni, Montecchi Maria Chiara and Pieraccini Diego in The Holocene</p
Borgatti_-_Figure_3_Supplementary_Material_bnew – Supplemental material for Evidence of late-Holocene mud-volcanic eruptions in the Modena foothills (northern Italy)
No full textSupplemental material, Borgatti_-_Figure_3_Supplementary_Material_bnew for Evidence of late-Holocene mud-volcanic eruptions in the Modena foothills (northern Italy) by Lisa Borgatti, Bosi Giovanna, Bracci Antonio Edoardo, Cremonini Stefano, Falsone Gloria, Guandalini Francesca, Labate Donato, Mainardi Giuseppe, Martinelli Giovanni, Montecchi Maria Chiara and Pieraccini Diego in The Holocene</p
Borgatti_-_Figure_2_Supplementary_material_bnew – Supplemental material for Evidence of late-Holocene mud-volcanic eruptions in the Modena foothills (northern Italy)
No full textSupplemental material, Borgatti_-_Figure_2_Supplementary_material_bnew for Evidence of late-Holocene mud-volcanic eruptions in the Modena foothills (northern Italy) by Lisa Borgatti, Bosi Giovanna, Bracci Antonio Edoardo, Cremonini Stefano, Falsone Gloria, Guandalini Francesca, Labate Donato, Mainardi Giuseppe, Martinelli Giovanni, Montecchi Maria Chiara and Pieraccini Diego in The Holocene</p
Borgatti_-__Figures_5_Suppl_Mat_nnew – Supplemental material for Evidence of late-Holocene mud-volcanic eruptions in the Modena foothills (northern Italy)
No full textSupplemental material, Borgatti_-__Figures_5_Suppl_Mat_nnew for Evidence of late-Holocene mud-volcanic eruptions in the Modena foothills (northern Italy) by Lisa Borgatti, Bosi Giovanna, Bracci Antonio Edoardo, Cremonini Stefano, Falsone Gloria, Guandalini Francesca, Labate Donato, Mainardi Giuseppe, Martinelli Giovanni, Montecchi Maria Chiara and Pieraccini Diego in The Holocene</p
Soil Science in Italian Universities
No full textThe community of soil scientists in Italian universities is small, approximately 100 people as permanent staff, distributed from North to South in groups of variable dimensions. Despite being a small community, their research activities show a wide range of topics, ranging from the molecular to the landscape scale, and encompassing evergreen themes and present-day hot topics. This chapter summarizes the main topics investigated over the last five years, as they appear in the Scopus database. The activities were grouped into seven main research fields that offer an overview of both the specific topics, and the scale at which a phenomenon can be investigated: (1) soil development, pedogenic processes and soil classification, (2) soil functions and ecosystem services, (3) soil organic matter characteristics and functions, (4) soil chemical and biochemical properties, (5) biowaste upcycling for soil remediation and fertility enhancement, (6) soil degradation, contamination and remediation and (7) land suitability and management, soil variability and mapping. In many cases, collaborations among Italian universities and with international partners are visible, testifying the need of joining efforts and expertise to address the present-day challenges
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