Integrated Approach for Quality Assessment of Technosols in Experimental Mesocosms

Abstract

The assessment of Technosols quality in urban environments is pivotal for the maintenance of ecosystems impacted by human activities. The study was performed on Technosols constructed in experimental mesocosms in the suburban area of Naples (Southern Italy) to highlight changes in the main soil properties over eight years and to identify the most suitable indices at quality monitoring. In this study, several chemical, biological, and integrated indices were analysed to evaluate the mineral accumulation, potential ecological risk, edaphon activity, fertility, and the overall soil quality. The Technosols showed alkaline pH, nitrogen ranged from 24.5 to 39.5 g kg−1, high organic matter contents above 40 g kg−1, and there were no evident processes of soil compaction. Heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) did not exceed the thresholds defined by the Italian law for urban soils, despite their volcanic components. During eight years, the chemical indices depicted changes in the elements balance and increase in ecological risk; the biological indices indicated a reduction in the fungal fraction (fivefold) and in the resources utilisation and carbon storage. The soil quality index with all parameters highlighted the reduction in the soil quality (from 0.78 to 0.65) due to the decrease of the chemical quality, the increase of microbial stress conditions, and changes of the microbial composition, underlining the importance of integrating chemical and biological information for monitoring Technosols.

The Properties of Black Locust Robinia pseudoacacia L. to Selectively Accumulate Chemical Elements from Soils of Ecologically Transformed Areas

“…To determine the heavy metal concentration and their enrichment in soil and R. pseudoacacia, we calculated chemical indexes used in similar studies [38][39][40]-namely, geoaccumulation index (Igeo), enrichment factor (EF), contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI), potential ecological risk index (RI) and bioaccumulation factors (BAF).…”

“…where n is the number of the contamination factors [40]. To estimate PLI, we used the five highest contamination factors as suggested by Tomlinson et al [55].…”

“…The potential ecological risk index (RI) allows evaluating the heavy metal impact on the environment. It was calculated using the equation RI = ∑ E i r , where E i r is the potential ecological risk factor of the specific element [40]. The E i r was calculated using the equation…”

Soil Quality Evaluation Based on A Minimum Data Set (MDS)—A Case Study of Tieling County, Northeast China

“…Therefore, the construction of the MDS should be combined with the region, research scale and local land use status. The MDS constructed by soil quality evaluation in different regions and different scales is different [47].…”

Assessment of heavy metal pollution in water and its effect on Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in Mediterranean Lakes: a case study at Mariout Lake

“…Heavy metals are present in the environment in different phases: solid phase, liquid phase as free ions, or absorbed as solid colloidal particles. They may enter the aquatic ecosystem through natural and anthropogenic processes, including atmospheric deposition, erosion of the geological matrix, storm runoff, leaching from landfills, mining, shipping and harbor activities, and domestic, industrial, and agricultural runoff (Panico et al 2018;Abd El-Aal et al 2020;Bashir et al 2020;Napoletano et al 2021;Sánchez et al 2022), causing worsening of the aquatic environment (Hamed et al 2020). Intensive research on heavy metals in the aquatic and terrestrial environments has become important due to concerns regarding their overaccumulation and toxic effects on organisms and, eventually, on humans through the food chain (Volpe et al 2015;Memoli et al 2017;Kortei et al 2020).…”