The purpose of this work was to provide information on heavy metals concentration in soils and in irrigation water in Thessaly, Central Greece, where tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) is cultivated. Tobacco tends to accumulate high levels of heavy metals, especially Cadmium. During the years 1998, 1999 and 2000, 795 surface soil samples (0-30 cm depth) and 200 water samples were collected from Kardit...

Quantifying carbon (C) sequestration in paddy soils is necessary to help better understand the effect of agricultural practices on the C cycle. The objective of the present study was to assess the effects of tillage practices [conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT)] and the application of nitrogen (N) fertilizer (0 and 210 kg N ha(-1)) on fluxes of CH(4) and CO(2), and soil organic C (SO...

Afforestation of former croplands has been proposed as a promising way to mitigate rising atmospheric CO2 concentration in view of the commitment to the Kyoto Protocol. Central to this C sequestration is the dynamics of soil organic C (SOC) storage and stability with the development of afforested plantations. Our previous study showed that SOC storage was not changed after afforestation except ...

Given the water scarcity becoming endemic to a large portion of the globe, arid region irrigation has resorted to the use of treated, partially treated, or even untreated wastewaters. Such waters contain a number of pollutants, including surfactants. Applied to agricultural lands, these surfactants could affect the fate and transport of other chemicals in the soil, particularly pesticides. A fi...

The present study was aimed at examining the distribution and abundance of glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) of archaeal and bacterial origin in peat samples from surface and deep (ca. 50 cm) horizons of a peat bog in the Jura Mountains (northeastern France). Two principal types of GDGTs are present: extractable GDGTs, recoverable by solvent extraction, and non-extractable GDGTs, li...

Land-applied animal manure can be a major contributor of agricultural nonpoint source pollution. For surface-applied manures the time period prior to the first runoff is of greatest concern, because most enteric species initially exhibit rapid die-off rates. The objectives of this investigation were to follow the die-off of indicator organisms after manure application to a bar? soil surface and...

abstract the effect of land use type on soil functioning within an ecosystem can be assessed and monitored using soil quality attributes. such studies, which are carried out to create a balance between the biological production and the maintenance and improvement of land resource quality, provide a framework for land degradation control and also for identification of sustainable management. in ...

It has been pointed out that tobacco accumulates cadmium as well as other potentially toxic heavy metals. A three year study was carried out to provide information on the concentration of heavy metals in air-cured (Burley), flue-cured (Virginia) and sun-cured (Oriental-filling) tobacco produced in the Thessaly region of central Greece. During the years 1998, 1999 and 2000, 474 composite surface...

Two incubation experiments were conducted under controlled moisture and temperature conditions to determine the effects of soil amendment treatments based on pruning waste biochar and oyster shell, on N2O and CO2 emissions from an orchard soil. In experiment 1, four treatments were tested including, control (CK), pruning waste biochar at 2% (B2%), at 10% (B10%), and oyster shell (OS), mixed wit...

The concentration and distribution of Pb, Zn, Cu and Cr in the surface soil of three grassed swales located in the city of Beijing, Jiaxing and Shenzhen were studied in this paper. Evaluations on the risk of heavy metals were conducted based on the second level limit of soil environmental quality standard, using different indexes (i.e., single item, comprehensive items and potential ecological ...