Influence of Intensive and Super-Intensive Olive Grove Management on Soil Quality—Nutrients Content and Enzyme Activities

This work was funded by national funds through FCT-Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, I.P., under the project UIDB/04129/2020 of LEAF-Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Research Unit (Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon, Portugal).Agricultural soil quality is an issue that has been widely debated in the literature in recent decades. Three olive grove areas (one in Lisbon and the others in Santarém, Portugal) with different management techniques (intensive and super-intensive) were selected. Nutrient concentrations and enzyme activities of soils were determined, as well as the C and N of litter and pruning waste (mulch) to estimate the influence of management techniques on the quality of olive grove soils and to assess the extent to which they are affected by organic covers and different cultivation intensities. Organic C and total N concentrations in soils of the intensive olive grove in Lisbon were the highest when compared with those in the intensive and super-intensive olive groves soils of Santarém. The concentrations of Ca, Mg, Na, and K were the main differences between the Lisbon olive groves and the other two from Santarém. Phosphatase, cellulase, and urease activities were related to the Na, extractable K, extractable P, Zn, Mn, organic C, and total N soil concentrations. Soil management and agricultural practices are determining factors for these enzymatic activities of Santarém olive groves, although climate conditions and soil properties play an important role in the soil enzymatic activities.FCT-Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, I.P. of LEAF-Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Research Unit (Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon, Portugal) UIDB/04129/202

Reconstrucción pleoambiental de la depresión de Granada a través del estudio de paleosuelos

Al igual que los depósitos estratigráficos son utilizados para la reconstrucción paleogeográfica de los episodios morfogenéticos o erosivos, el estudio de paleosuelos puede ser empleado para la reconstrucciones paleoambientales de los episodios edafogenéticos o de estabilidad. En este trabajo se estudian las características de una serie de paleosuelos desarrollados sobre distintas superficies geomorfológicas de la Depresión de Granada y Sierra Nevada (SE España) desde el Plioceno que, por sus especiales rasgos topográficos han permitido la conservación de estos suelos. Los resultados del estudio realizado han servido para interpretar los procesos que dieron lugar a la formación de estos suelos e inferir las condiciones ambientales reinantes durante su edafogénesis, así como establecer la evolución paleoambiental de la Depresión de Granada desde finales del Mioceno hasta nuestros díasUniv. de Granada, Departamento de Edafología y Química Agrícola. Leída 01-02-0

Mineralization of bagged pruning waste in agrosystem on the subtropical coast of Andalusia (Spain)

Spreading of pruning waste over the soil surface may increase soil organic carbon, thus improving soil physical properties and serving as a source of nutrients and energy for microbial populations. The aim of this study was to test the effect of the environmental conditions and the biochemical composition of pruning waste from avocado, cherimoya, mango and gardens on their decomposition process in a Mediterranean subtropical climate. Bagged pruning and garden waste were placed on the ground at a distance of 1m around the trunk of the three trees from each crop. The concentrations in C, N, lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, other extracts and ash were determined at the beginning of the experiment (T0), after six (T6) and 24 (T24) months in the field. Initially, significant differences were detected for all types of waste, especially in lignin, hemicellulose, cellulose and other extracts. No significant differences were found in the N content and the C content in mango pruning waste was significantly lower than that in avocado. The greatest weight loss recorded at T24 (63.2%) was related to the lower content in lignin, cellulose and other extracts. Weight losses and C concentrations showed negative correlations with lignin content. Despite the intense decomposition of all the waste, between 55 and 36.8% of the original weights were recorded at the end of the experiment. Recalcitrant C could be the result of the lignin concentrating in the case of the garden waste applied to the different crops

Vanadium Respiration by Geobacter metallireducens: Novel Strategy for In Situ Removal of Vanadium from Groundwater

Vanadium can be an important contaminant in groundwaters impacted by mining activities. In order to determine if microorganisms of the Geobacteraceae, the predominant dissimilatory metal reducers in many subsurface environments, were capable of reducing vanadium(V), Geobacter metallireducens was inoculated into a medium in which acetate was the electron donor and vanadium(V) was the sole electron acceptor. Reduction of vanadium(V) resulted in the production of vanadium(IV), which subsequently precipitated. Reduction of vanadium(V) was associated with cell growth with a generation time of 15 h. No vanadium(V) was reduced and no precipitate was formed in heat-killed or abiotic controls. Acetate was the most effective of all the electron donors evaluated. When acetate was injected into the subsurface to enhance the growth and activity of Geobacteraceae in an aquifer contaminated with uranium and vanadium, vanadium was removed from the groundwater even more effectively than uranium. These studies demonstrate that G. metallireducens can grow via vanadium(V) respiration and that stimulating the activity of Geobacteraceae, and hence vanadium(V) reduction, can be an effective strategy for in situ immobilization of vanadium in contaminated subsurface environments

Resistance of Solid-Phase U(VI) to Microbial Reduction during In Situ Bioremediation of Uranium-Contaminated Groundwater

Speciation of solid-phase uranium in uranium-contaminated subsurface sediments undergoing uranium bioremediation demonstrated that although microbial reduction of soluble U(VI) readily immobilized uranium as U(IV), a substantial portion of the U(VI) in the aquifer was strongly associated with the sediments and was not microbially reducible. These results have important implications for in situ uranium bioremediation strategies

Audio guía del monolito 8 del museo de suelos del Departamento de Edafología

Típico suelo de montaña, de bosque y clima mediterráneo, que evoluciona a partir de un material original compuesto por calizas y dolomías. En estas condiciones es fácil la acumulación de materia orgánica en superficie, donde las sustancias húmicas están en constante evolución por procesos de humificación a consecuencia de la actividad biológica y las condiciones climáticas

Audio guía del monolitos 24 y 25 del museo de suelos del Departamento de Edafología

Corresponden con monolitos de suelos afectados por el vertido de lodos piríticos del accidente minero de Aznalcóllar en 1998. El primero sería el suelo original sobre el que se depositan los lodos contaminantes y el segundo el mismo suelo contaminado 4 años después del vertido, donde se puede observan claramente los rasgos morfológicos producidos por el lavado del suelo con la solución ácida contaminante

Audio guía del monolito 14 del museo de suelos del Departamento de Edafología

Se trata de un suelo formado por la superposición de aportes aluviales arrastrados por un torrente de escasa entidad. Esto es un aspecto interesante porque se trata de un suelo clasificado como Fluvisol sin estar en la cercanía de un río, sino que corresponde a un torrente en una pequeña cuenca. Las distintas energías de las aguas se reflejan por la estratificación de paquetes con diferente granulometría e incluso con pequeñas capas, ricas en materia orgánica

Audio guía del monolito 22 del museo de suelos del Departamento de Edafología

El monolito 22 corresponde a un suelo muy antiguo formado en el período de transición entre el plioceno y pleistoceno donde las condiciones de precipitación y temperatura posibilitan la formación de un suelo rojo mediterráneo. Se localiza en el Llano de la Perdiz (Granada) y desarrolla sobre materiales de la Formación Alhambra. Se observan procesos de iluviación de arcilla, con la presencia de horizonte E y Bt e hdromorfía en profundidad