Zn accumulation in Solanum nigrum grown in naturally contaminated soil in the presence of different types of organic amendments was assessed. Under the same conditions, the response of the plant to inoculation with two different isolates of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) (Glomus claroideum and Glomus intraradices) was also evaluated. S. nigrum grown in the non-amended soil always presented ...

Recently problems relating to environmental pollution and the need to protect and preserve the environment from further deterioration has drawn increasing research attention. The goal of any remediation based on soil amendments is to achieve maximum reduction in the bioavailability of heavy metals by immobilization in soils. Modern remediation approaches increasingly focus on in situ environmen...

Biochar, the solid residual remaining after the thermochemical transformation of biomass for carbon sequestration, has been proposed to be used as a soil amendment, because of its agronomic benefits. The effect of amending soil with six biochars made from different feedstocks on the sorption and leaching of fluometuron and 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) was compared to the effect of...

To study the influence of different organic amendments on the quality of poultry manure compost, three pilot composting trials were carried out with different mixes: poultry manure/carcasse meal/ashes/grape pomace (Pile 1), poultry manure/ cellulosic sludge (Pile 2) and poultry manure (Pile 3). For all piles, wood chips were applied as bulking agent. The process was monitored, over time, by eva...

Nitrogen and carbon mineralization rates of 19 manure and compost samples were determined in 1996, with an additional 12 samples evaluated in 1997. These organic amendments were mixed with a soil : sand blend at 2% by dry weight and the amended blends were incubated at constant moisture for 12 (1996) or 24 weeks (1997) at 25 °C. Net N mineralization was measured at 4(1996) or 8-week (1997) inte...

Several studies have shown that sediment associated black carbonaceous particles can reduce aqueous and bioaccumulated concentrations of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) in benthic organisms. Therefore, carbon amendments (e.g. activated carbon, AC) have been studied as stabilization method for contaminated sediments. However, it appears that the amendments may have also direct adverse effec...