Potential impacts of climate change on soil properties

Climate change is expected to have a vigorous impact on soils and ecosystems due to elevated temperature and changes in precipitation (amount and frequency), thereby altering biogeochemical and hydrological cycles. Several phenomena associated with climate change and anthropogenic activity affect soils indirectly via ecosystem functioning (such as higher atmospheric CO2 concentration and N deposition). Continuous interactions between climate and soils determine the transformation and transport processes. Long-term gradual changes in abiotic environmental factors alter naturally occurring soil forming processes by modifying the soil water regime, mineral composition evolution, and the rate of organic matter formation and degradation. The resulting physical and chemical soil properties play a fundamental role in the productivity and environmental quality of cultivated land, so it is crucial to evaluate the potential outcomes of climate change and soil interactions. This paper attempts to review the underlying long-term processes influenced by different aspects of climate change. When considering major soil forming factors (climate, parent material, living organisms, topography), especially climate, we put special attention to soil physical properties (soil structure and texture, and consequential changes in soil hydrothermal regime), soil chemical properties (e.g. cation exchange capacity, soil organic matter content as influenced by changes in environmental conditions) and soil degradation as a result of longterm soil physicochemical transformations. The temperate region, specifically the Carpathian Basin as a heterogeneous territory consisting of different climatic and soil zones from continental to mountainous, is used as an example to present potential changes and to assess the effect of climate change on soils. The altered physicochemical and biological properties of soils require accentuated scientific attention, particularly with respect to significant feedback processes to climate and soil services such as food security

Lebegtetett hordalékmérési módszerek összehasonlító vizsgálata balatoni részvízgyűjtőkön = Connections between total suspended solid concentra tion and turbidity measurements at three catchment outlets

The present study investigated the quantity of total suspended solids (TSS) in three small catchments and compared the data to turbidity measurements. The TSS data were based on filtration, drying and weight measurements, while the turbidity measurements were retrieved using a handheld device with a turbidity sensor. Water was collected daily at the catchment outlets from November 1, 2016 to May 31, 2017, representing the winter and spring seasons. The lowest quantity of TSS was detected at the catchment outlet of the Esztergályi Stream; however, there were two lakes close to the monitoring point where soil particles may have settled, possibly explaining the low TSS values. The Csorsza and Tetves streams had similar TSS values during winter, but in the spring samples the TSS values were approximately three times higher in the Csorsza Stream than in the Tetves Stream. The relationship between water discharge and TSS values was also investigated for the Tetves Stream, but no significant correlations were observed between them. The results suggested that the labour-intensive TSS measurements (e.g. filtration, soil weight measurements) could be replaced to a good approximation using the handheld device. The spatial heterogeneity within and between the catchments influences the amount of suspended sediment and hence the measurement accuracy. Therefore, the use of the handheld device should also be complemented with other methods, such as the filtration used in the present study, to attain more precise values

Occurrence of substance P, vasoactive intestinal peptide and calcitonin gene-related peptide in dermographism and cold urticaria.

Substance P (SP), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) were assayed in lesions and normal skin of patients with dermographism and cold urticaria utilizing suction-induced blisters. There was no difference in SP and VIP concentrations between challenged and control skin of urticaria patients. On the whole, however, the concentration of both neuropeptides, and VIP in particular, was higher in the urticaria patients than in control subjects. CGRP levels were not increased. SP and VIP in blood samples from veins draining challenged skin areas were below the detection limit. It is concluded that SP and VIP may potentiate histamine in wheal formation and thus contribute to the increased reactivity of the skin to trauma and temperature changes in patients with physical urticaria