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Olive mill wastewater (OMW) is the main residual product of olive processing and its disposal can\ud represent a relevant environmental issue in Mediterranean countries, where olive oil production is large\ud and concentrated in a short-lasting period. OMW is characterised by high pollutant load, salinity and\ud phytotoxic levels of polyphenols, but also by a high amount of organic compounds and plant mineral\ud nutrients. Therefore, OMW field spreading may represent a low cost contribution to crop fertilisation and\ud soil amendment. Here, we assessed the short- and long-term effects of long-lasting repeated OMW\ud applications on soil chemical and biochemical properties and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). In\ud addition the influence of two OMW management strategies, characterised by different seasonality of\ud spreading (autumn and spring times) was evaluated. Soil was amended by 0 and 80 m3 ha1 of OMW.\ud Principal coordinate analyses (PCO) together with PERMANOVAs showed that long-lasting repeated\ud OMW spreading: (i) affected the main soil chemical and biochemical parameters in the short-term,\ud whereas did not determine long-term residual effects irrespective of the application times; (ii)\ud decreased AM fungal root colonisation both after autumn and spring OMW applications; (iii) improved\ud arbuscule occurrence in the short- and long-term for both disposal times. Therefore, at least regarding\ud the monitored parameters, we can argue that OMW may be utilised as organic amendment in agriculture\ud under controlled conditions given the short-term negative effects on soil quality, which can be considered\ud negligible after a suitable waiting period

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Land-use changes (LUCs) can be defined as the result of the direct action of the stakeholders in a particular area and natural or human driving forces. LUCs can influence various processes within the landscape and can have an impact on landscape functions. An analysis of the impact of LUCs on landscape processes can help to focus future rural policies. LUCs in Mediterranean areas particularly affect landscape functions because of their agro-pedoclimatical characteristics. The aims of this work are as follows: (i) to characterise LUCs in the last 11 years in a typical Mediterranean area, the Trasubbie river basin (southern Tuscany, Italy); (ii) to extrapolate these changes and create spatially explicit LUC scenarios for the near future; and (iii) to simulate how and where the predicted LUCs may affect soil redistribution. We carried out an analysis of LUCs within the study area and used the trends to propose alternative scenarios for 2013. For these years, we spatially allocated land use (using the Conversions of Land Use and its Effects model) and used a landscape process model (landscape process modelling at multi-dimensions and scales) to assess soil redistribution patterns. Land use in the study area changed almost linearly between 1996 and 2007, with cereals and annual fodder crops decreasing, and vineyards, perennial pastures and land abandonment increasing. Our LUC scenario extrapolates these dynamics to make predictions for 2013. A comparison of LAPSUS results between LUC and baseline scenarios for 2013 showed an increase in terms of net soil loss and total erosion, and a decrease in terms of sediment delivery ratio.