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Biochemical performance of degraded soil recovered by lake-dredged materials (LDM) as pedotechnomaterials

  • Soils, Sec 2 • Global Change, Environ Risk Assess, Sustainable Land Use • Research Article
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

The increasing need for disposal of lake-dredged material (LDM) as a consequence of intensified natural and/or anthropogenically mediated erosion processes has lead the scientific community to find new strategies for its reuse. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of LDM use on the biochemical and functional performance of a degraded soil affected by erosion and entisolization processes.

Materials and methods

As a paradigmatic case study, a hydrographic basin located in Sardinia (Italy) was investigated. Severe soil degradation processes affect this area and have resulted in intensive sheet and rill water erosion. In contrast, an increase in sedimentation has been recorded on the bottom of an artificial lake. A degraded soil, collected in this area, were treated by co-utilization of LDM, other mineral matrices (a zeolitized tuff), organic amendment (a commercial manure), and mineral fertilizer (urea, triple superphosphate, and potassium sulfate) for the growth of a pasture grass under controlled (pot) conditions. The evolution of nine different model proto-horizons (MPH) was monitored through a series of biochemical parameters and techniques (total/extracellular enzymatic activity, isoelectric focusing, and gas chromatography) to assess the potential of LDM in soil biochemical recovery.

Results and discussion

On the whole, treatments containing LDM resulted in good recovery of degraded soils, as shown by a general enhancement in biochemical functionality. Application of LDM increased the more stable fraction of organic matter and its active biochemical fraction, showing the highest stable humic carbon content and humic activity. Such outcomes seem to represent a long-term beneficial effect on soil functionality.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that LDM could be a useful pedotechnomaterial (PTM) for improving the biochemical functionality of extremely degraded soils. Additionally, the use of LDM as a PTM has the ecological advantage of recycling what is often considered as a “waste material.” From a socioeconomic point of view, the reuse of LDM in pedotechnique could represent a new low-cost alternative to the complex and expensive management and disposal of this material.

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Acknowledgments

This research was a part of the research project CUP J71J10000590002 founded by the Sardinian Region (Italian Regional Law No. 7 of 7 August 2007).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Teagasc, Crops, Environment and Land Use Programme, Johnstown Castle, Wexford, Ireland

    Giulia Bondi

  2. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto per lo Studio degli Ecosistemi, Via Moruzzi n° 1, 56124, Pisa, Italy

    Giulia Bondi, Cristina Macci, Brunello Ceccanti & Grazia Masciandaro

  3. Dipartimento di Architettura, Pianificazione e Design, Università degli Studi di Sassari, Via Colombo n° 1, 08100, Nuoro, Italy

    Gian Franco Capra, Sergio Vacca & Maria Giustina Duras

  4. Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Ambientali Biologiche e Farmaceutiche, Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, Via Vivaldi n° 43, 81100, Caserta, Italy

    Eleonora Grilli

  5. Ente Acque della Sardegna, Servizio Qualità Acqua Erogata, Via Mameli n° 88, 09123, Cagliari, Italy

    Maria Antonietta Dessena & Gabriele Marras

  6. Dipartimento di Architettura e Disegno Industriale “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, Via S. Lorenzo, 81031, Aversa, Italy

    Andrea Buondonno

  7. Environmental Technologies srl, Spin-off Universitario, Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, via Vivaldi 43, 81100, Caserta, Italy

    Andrea Buondonno

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  1. Giulia Bondi
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  2. Gian Franco Capra
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  3. Cristina Macci
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  4. Brunello Ceccanti
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  5. Eleonora Grilli
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  6. Sergio Vacca
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  7. Maria Giustina Duras
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  8. Maria Antonietta Dessena
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  9. Gabriele Marras
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  10. Andrea Buondonno
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  11. Grazia Masciandaro
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Correspondence to Giulia Bondi.

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Bondi, G., Capra, G.F., Macci, C. et al. Biochemical performance of degraded soil recovered by lake-dredged materials (LDM) as pedotechnomaterials. J Soils Sediments 16, 1871–1888 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-016-1376-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-016-1376-7

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