2,482 research outputs found
Effects of Douglas fir stand age on soil chemical properties, nutrient dynamics, and enzyme activity: A case study in Northern Apennines, Italy
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a Douglas fir plantation along a stand chronosequence in the North Apennine (Italy) on soil carbon and nitrogen stocks, as well as on soil chemical and biochemical properties involved in the nutrients biogeochemical cycle. In 2014, three sites of Douglas fir stands, aged 80, 100, and 120 years, were selected in Vallombrosa forest to study the dynamics of soil nutrients in the ecosystem. Along the Douglas fir chronosequence, general evidence of surface element accumulation was found, including a conspicuous increase of alkaline element with respect to Al, which was attributed to the increase of soil pH along the Douglas fir stand age classes. A general increase of specific enzyme activity (per unit of organic carbon) and functional diversity were observed in the epipedon of the Douglas fir stand over 100 years of age. Moreover, the (chitinase + leucine aminopeptidase) to acid phosphatase ratio progressively increased from 0.15 to 0.31 in the epipedon of the chrononsequence, while the -glucosidase to (chitinase + leucine aminopeptidase) ratio decreased from 1.45 to 0.83, suggesting nitrogen limitation with respect to carbon. In fact, the soil carbon stock progressively increased along the chronosequence, in the epipedon from 17 to 53 Mg C ha(-1) and in the endopedon from 17 to 37 Mg C ha(-1). Conversely, the soil nitrogen stock increased from 1.2 to 2.4 Mg N ha(-1), but not over the 100-year-old stand class. In conclusion, soil organic matter accumulation became sufficient to define the umbric horizon in the Northern Apennines when the Douglas fir plantation reached the age of 100 years. Over this age class of plants, a limitation of soil nitrogen may occur, affecting enzyme activities regulating the biogeochemical cycle of nutrients
Seismically induced ground effects of the 1805, 1930 and 1980 earthquakes in the Southern Apennines (Italy
Seismically induced environmental effects (in particular, surfacefaults, ground cracks, slope
failures, liquefaction, soil compaction, hydrological changes, tsunamis) are assumed to provide
fundamentalinformation on the earthquake size and its intensity field, crucial for a more
efficient seismic hazard assessment. Accordingly, this study is aimed at substantiating this
assumption by showing that the knowledge about ground effects acquired in recent
earthquakes, when combined with that illustrated in historical documents, allows to buildan
improved picture of historic seismic events, with respect to that usually provided by the solely
damage-based macroseismic scales. In this perspective, the environmental effects are
analysed and cataloguedof three of the most ruinous earthquakes in Southern Italy of the last
two centuries: the July 26,1805, Molise event (XI MCS, M 6.8), the July 23, 1930, Irpinia event
(X MCS, M 6.7), and the November 23, 1980 Campania-Basilicata event (X MSK, Ms 6.9). The
distribution of the earthquake environmental effects, in particular their distance from the
known or supposed causative fault, has been investigated to obtain a more detailed and
comprehensive picture of the macroseismic field, a key parameter in seismic hazard
assessment and seismic zonation.
KEY WORDS: historical seismicity, intensity, ground effects, earthquak
IMPACT OF ENGINEERED NANOPARTICLES ON VIRULENCE OF XANTHOMONAS ORYZAE PV ORYZAE AND ON RICE SENSITIVITY AT ITS INFECTION
The present work of nanotoxicity wants to propose a new plant model starting from the rice plant. The model takes into consideration the impact of engineered nanoparticles (Ag, Co, Ni, CeO2, Fe3O4, TiO2) on rice plants that were weakened by infections of Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae bacteria. The results indicate that some NPs increase the rice sensitivity to the pathogen while others decrease the virulence of the pathogen towards rice. No-enrichment in component metal concentration is detected in above organs of rice, with exception of Ni-NPs treatment. An imbalance of major elements in infected rice crops treated with NPs was investigated
The colors of our brain: an integrated approach for dimensionality reduction and explainability in fMRI through color coding (i-ECO)
Peat soil burning in the Mezzano lowland (Po Plain, Italy): triggering mechanisms and environmental consequences.
The effects of peat burning on organic-rich agricultural soils of the Mezzano Lowland (NE
Italy) were evaluated on soil profiles variously affected by smoldering. Profiles were investigated for pH,
electrical conductivity, bulk density, elemental and isotopic composition of distinct carbon (and nitrogen)
fractions. The results suggest that the horizons affected by carbon loss lie at depths 10–70 cm, where the
highest temperatures are developed. We suggest that the exothermal oxidation of methane (mediated
by biological activity) plays a significant role in the triggering mechanism. In the interested soils we
estimated a potential loss of Soil Organic Carbon of approximately 110 kg m−2 within the first meter,
corresponding to 580 kg CO2 m−3. The released greenhouse gas is coupled with a loss of soil structure and
nutrients. Moreover, the process plausibly triggers mobility of metals bound in organometallic complexes.
All these consequences negatively affect the environment, the agricultural activities and possibly also
health of the local people
A rock-glacier – pond system (NW Italian Alps): Soil and sediment properties, geochemistry, and trace-metal bioavailability
Quaternary capable folds and seismic hazard in Lombardia (Northern Italy): the Castenedolo structure near Brescia.
We identify evidence of late Quaternary compressive tectonics
in the Northern sector of the Central Po Plain through a systematic
revision of the literature, new field mapping, and a new study of
seismic reflection data obtained by ENI E&P. In particular, the reinterpretation
of ca. 18.000 km of seismic profiles clearly shows a belt
of segmented, 10 to 20 km long, fault propagation folds, controlled
by the Plio-Quaternary growth of several out-of-sequence thrusts. As
an example of this active structural style, in this paper we focus on a
buried fold located just south of the Castenedolo Hill, a few km SE
of Brescia. Although the Castenedolo anticline has long ago been
described as a young compressional structure (e.g., DESIO, 1965), no
detailed structural analysis of this feature has been performed until
now. We calculated the uplift rates of this fold through the analysis
of its syntectonic sedimentary record as imaged by the extremely
high quality ENI E&P subsurface data available in the area. The evolution
of this anticline was a discontinuous process characterized by
several tectonic uplift pulses (with rates of ca. 0.1 mm/yr) of different
duration, separated by periods of variable extent in which no
fold growth occurred. The Quaternary growth history of this anticline
and the presence of faulted and folded late Pleistocene to
Holocene deposits at nearby sites (Ciliverghe and Monte Netto)
demonstrate that the significant seismicity of this area (e.g., the
December 25, 1222, Io = IX MCS Brescia earthquake, MAGRI &
MOLIN, 1986; GUIDOBONI, 1986) must be related to active compressional
structures within the Brescia piedmont belt. Our
regional investigations show that the structural and paleoseismic
setting illustrated near Castenedolo is typical of the whole Lombardia
domain of the Southern Alps. This implies that the currently
accepted seismotectonic model for this region, and related
seismic hazard assessment, should be thoroughly and carefully
re-evaluated
A comparison of hexaminolaevulinate (hexvix®) fluorescence cystoscopy and white light cystoscopy for the detection of bladder cancer: Results of the HeRo observational study
Perinephric fat surface density (PnFSD) significantly predicts surgical complexity and perioperative outcomes of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN)
Cataloguing earthquake environmental effects in Italy : Analyses of some strong earthquakes
Cataloguing earthquake environmental effects in Italy : Analyses of some strong earthquake
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