There is little doubt that anthropogenic activities have led to profound changes in environmental conditions, which impact biogeochemical cycling and soil functioning. Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations, global temperature increases, changes in precipitation regimes and more frequent occurrence of extreme events in addition to intensive agricultural practices have adverse effects on soil physical and (micro-)biological properties determining their biogeochemical functioning. In this presentation, I will present the global impacts a and their influence on soil functioning, biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem services in different environments. Feedbacks between the effects of climate change and soil will be presented and soil-based strategies for their mitigation and  adaptation to their consequences will be discussed.

How to cite: Rumpel, C.: How to mitigate global change impacts on soil health?, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-5072, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-5072, 2023.

Boreal forests are a large carbon sink and are as important as the tropical forests due to huge carbon stock in both plants and soils. However, the boreal forests carbon sink is affected by climate change on one hand and by management on the hand in last several decades and the need for better understanding of how boreal forests respond to climate and management in a long term is still urgent. In this study we used the process-based CoupModel combining the long-term in-situ measurements to successfully constrain the energy, water and carbon fluxes modeling in a boreal coniferous forest. We noticed that during the extreme drought years, there were large impacts from temperature on boreal forests growth, but not from water and radiation. The harvest of plants has made the boreal forests exposed to lower thresholds of environmental factors, but the impacts of harvest on net carbon fluxes was found just for short period due to the higher ecosystem respiration after harvest. The calibrated model generally depicted good performance for water, energy and carbon fluxes at hourly, monthly, yearly and multi-year scales, but the systematic biases indicated that considering the elevated atmospheric CO₂ and nutrients dynamics, the climate variations as well as the more detailed management impacts on boreal ecosystems is of importance. Our study provided new insights into the boreal forests responses to climate change and management over a long period and contributed to better understanding of boreal forests for both the modeling and observation communities.

How to cite: Wu, M., Zhang, X., Wang, C., Jansson, P.-E., He, H., Mammarella, I., Kolari, P., Zhang, W., and Li, S.: Biotic and abiotic responses of the boreal forests carbon cycles to climate change and management, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-5343, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-5343, 2023.

In the current context of global change and soil desertification, soil organic matter (SOM) plays an important role as carbon (C) sink, but also for maintaining soil fertility and soil functions. Quantity and quality of SOM depend largely upon soil management strategies that also affect microbial activity and diversity. In the present work we aim to obtain a better understanding of the interrelationship between SOM pools, microbial activity and diversity, and management of agricultural soils. To achieve this, we selected soils along a European gradient managed with and without catch crops, as well as soils with and without cover crops from an olive plantation close to Seville (Spain). The samples of the latter were taken from the top soil of the inter tree lanes managed with and without conventional tillage. For comparison, soils of the tree line treated with herbicides were also included in the study. The SOM composition of these soils will be characterized by solid-state NMR spectroscopy and related to its biochemical recalcitrance determined from the CO₂ production during a controlled microcosm experiment of at least 2 month (Respicond Apparatus IV). Soil microbial biomass C and N will be analysed by the chloroform fumigation-extraction method; whereas microbial composition and biomass and microbial activity will be performed using phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) analysis and extracellular enzymatic essays, respectively. We hypothesisized that higher plant diversity increases SOM quantity and quality, which has a positive impact on soil microbial diversity and activity.

Acknowledgement: This work is financed by the project EJP Soil/Energylink, which received funding through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 862695 and Tudi, GA 101000224, also of the H2020 program.

How to cite: Gismero-Rodríguez, L., Valverde, Á., Gómez, J. A., Meurer, K. H. E., and Knicker, H.: Impact of soil management on the quantity and quality of soil organic matter (SOM) and its microbiome., EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-555, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-555, 2023.

Biochar has largely been proven to be an effective soil carbon storage option. However, the research on effect of climate warming on interaction of biochar with soil organic matter (SOM) cycling is inadequate. We designed this study where a biochar-amended silt-loam Aridisol was incubated at 20 °C (normal temperature) or 30 °C (elevated temperature) for 73 days and various SOM cycling processes were measured. Biochar was derived by pyrolysing sugarcane bagasse at 450 °C for two hours. It was added to soil at 1% (low dose) or 5% (high dose) on weight basis. Biochar increased soil respiration by 12.4% and 21.2% at low and high dose respectivley. Elevated temperature induced 4.7% increase in respiration in the un-amended soil. While 1%BC and elevated temperature did not show any effect, 5% BC at elevated temperature further increased soil respiration by 19%. Biochar at 1% and 5% addition significantly increased microbial biomass by 109.3% and 91.3% respectively. However, elevated temperature significantly mitigated this BC-induced increase in microbial biomass. Similar to soil respiration, BC addition significantly increased activity of C-cycling β-glucosidase. However, unlike respiration, elevated temperature significantly reduced β-glucosidase at both rates of BC addition. This result combined with those of microbial biomass and soil respiration indicate that the elevated temperature shifted microbial biomass more towards maintenance mode thereby leading to mitigated microbial growth and increased soil respiration at 5% BC addition. Chitinase activity was reduced by >50% in response to BC addition, while elevated temperature reduced it by 80% in un-amended soil. Elevated temperature further reduced chitinase activity when BC addition was 1%, whereas, elevated temperature did not change it when BC addition was 5%. Activity of another N-cycling enzyme, leucine aminopeptidase did not change in response to BC or elevated temperature or their combination. On the other hand, nitrate content increased with biochar addition. Moreover, increase in temperature alongside BC addition increased ammonium content while decreasing the nitrate content. These results show that increase in temperature in BC amended soils complicates the dynamics of N availability and N-cycling enzyme in soil. Principal component analysis showed that the microbial biomass is positively linked with biochar addition, only at room temperature whereas microbial biomass is negatively affected by elevated temperature even when BC is added. Moreover, chitinase activity was inversely related to nitrate content in soils, with no clear relationship with ammonium. Overall, the treatments arranged on two opposite axes with respect to temperature while rate of biochar addition had little influence signifying that the effects of biochar are overwhelmingly modulated by elevated temperature.

How to cite: Shahzad, T., Mir, R., and Ahmad, A.: Interactive effect of biochar rates and elevated temperature on organic matter cycling, nutrient availability and extracellular enzyme activity in a silt loam Aridisol, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-752, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-752, 2023.

The conversion of natural ecosystems for agricultural production is changing the world's landscapes in pervasive ways. The severity of land degradation in southern Ethiopia has increased at an alarming rate due to high population density which has replaced the old agroforestry (AF) farming system with monocropping. One of the most significant consequences of these activities combined with climate change has been the reduction of biodiversity and land productivity ⁽¹⁾. Among others, soil glomalin, soil aggregation and aggregate stability are parameters related to soil health that are affected by land use change . To curb such problems, AF is proposed as an adequate system, since it is an alternative cultivation system based on an ecological and economically sustainable strategy ⁽²⁾. This study was aimed to determine the effect of agroforestry practices (AFPs) on soil glomalin, soil aggregate stability (SAS) and aggregate association with soil organic carbon (SOC). Soil samples and woody species with plant height at breast height (DBH) were collected from homegarden based agroforestry practice (HAFP), cropland based agroforestry practice (ClAFP), woodlot based agroforestry practice (WlAFP) and trees on soil and water conservation based agroforestry practice (TSWAFP) using systematic sampling techniques. The data was analyzed by two way ANOVA and linear regression model by using R 4.2.1 software.  In this study, both easily extractable glomalin related soil protein (EEGRSP) and total glomalin related soil protein (TGRSP) were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in HAFP compared to AFPs, the EEGRSP and TGRSP which decreased in the order of HAFP>WlAFP>TSWAFP>ClAFP at upper surface . On the other hand, the macroaggregate fraction of all AFPs ranged from 22.6-36.5% (for 0-30cm) where the lowest was in ClAFP, while the highest was in HAFP. The micro-aggregate fraction ranged from 15.9–24.6%, where the lowest was in HAFP, but the highest was in ClAFP. The results also indicated that the comparison of SAS with SOC showed relatively higher SOC in macroaggregates than in micro-aggregates. Besides, both macro and micro-aggregate-associated with SOC was higher in HAFP than other three AFPs but SAS decreased with the increasing of soil depths. The results regarding the association of SOC with both macro and micro-aggregates was greatest in HAFP followed by WlAFP. The findings also elucidated that woody species diversity, richness and key soil parameters were strongly related with the EEGRSP, TGRSP, and SAS distribution. Thus, the management practices of AFP could influence the woody species diversity and richness, this, in turn, can influence glomalin and SAS. This implies that AFP can play an important role on the maintenance of soil biodiversity, enriching glomalin and other soil quality parameters with future implications for stable ecosystem.

⁽¹⁾Bhagwat et al, 2008. Trends in ecology & evolution, 23, 261-267; ⁽²⁾Wall et, 2015. Nature,, 528, 69-76.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Comunidad de Madrid (Spain) and Structural Funds 2014–2020 (ERDF and ESF) project AGRISOST CM S2018/BAA‐4330

How to cite: Perez-Sanz, A., Yunta, F., Lucena, J. J., Birhane, E., and Masebo, N.: The Effects of Different Agroforestry Practices on Glomalin Related Soil Protein, Soil Aggregate Stability and Organic Carbon-Association with Soil Aggregates in Southern Ethiopia., EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15578, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15578, 2023.

Alluvial forests in the temperate zone of Europe are frequently changing drastically in their hydrological regime, vegetation composition and structure, and disturbance dynamics. Causes are river regulations, historic land use, recent forest management, and introduced species such as Solidago canadensis agg. or the pathogenic fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus causing ash dieback. Climate change increases the scale of these changes. As a result, like in the present case study, pre-mature stands dominated by Pica abies or Fraxinus excelsior have to be clearcut. In order to achieve a tree species composition which is adapted to the altered site conditions and still economically desirable, tree planting in a larger scale is inevitable. To control competing vegetation (e.g., Solidago, Clematis, Rubus…), site preparation (mulching and tilling of planting strips) was deemed to be necessary but is discussed controversially. Effects of site preparation on indicators for soil functions were compared for the two dominating soil types, Fluvisols and Rendzic Leptosols, using a chronosequence approach. The following key results were obtained: (1) Soil type has a significant effect upon most indicators. (2) Areas treated ≥5 years ago have a significantly higher bulk density (and thus, despite partly decreased C-concentration, higher C-stocks) in the 20 cm topsoil indicating compaction. (3) Tilling strips significantly impact anecic earthworm abundance (+) compared to areas only mulched. (4) Effects of site preparation on organic C concentration (-), C/N-ratio (-), ratio of microbial to organic carbon (+), abundance of anecic earthworms (+) and hydraulic conductivity estimated from pedotransfer functions (-) were mainly significant for Rendzic Leptosols. This may reflect the mobilization of accumulated forest floor, which was present in mature spruce stands on Rendzic Leptosols but not on Fluvisols. (5) The ground vegetation shows an expected response to clearing (increased cover of light demanding species including Solidago canadensis agg.). Effects of site preparation could not be separated from clearing effects. (6) Nitrate concentrations in seepage are below drinking water standards and show no clear treatment effect, though highest values were found in declining spruce stands on Leptosols.

How to cite: Behringer, M. and Katzensteiner, K.: Impact of forest site preparation on soil functions in a temperate alluvial forest, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-6211, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-6211, 2023.

Inter rows in vineyards provide several functions, which may compete with each other. Thus, different strategies for maintaining inter rows are commonly applied, particularly in vineyards. On the one hand, greening in vineyard inter rows, with no or occasional tillage operations, improves soil structure and health through a range of effects from erosion protection to carbon sequestration. On the other hand, tillage of inter rows is applied to fulfil diverse functions ranging from weed and pest control to the prevention of water competition and water loss during episodes of droughts. However, this may affect soil health and structure parameters regulating essential soil functions.

This study investigated the effects of tillage intensity and green cover on soil organic carbon content and particular soil physical health parameters. 16 vineyards at eight sites in eastern Austria were sampled for bulk density, pore size distribution, percolation stability and soil hydraulic parameters in topsoil samples from 3 to 8 cm. For each site, the parameters were compared for a vineyard with high and a vineyard with low intensive managed inter rows.

Comparing high and low intensive managed inter rows showed that soil health parameters were generally better in vineyards with low intense management and green covers. In particular, soil organic carbon and percolation stability were significantly higher under low intensive soil management with a green cover. Soil bulk density and macropore flow were significantly higher under intensive tillage. However, no significant effects were measured for saturated hydraulic conductivity and pore size distribution.

How to cite: Liebhard, G., Strohmeier, S., Toth, M., and Strauss, P.: Effect of inter row management systems on organic carbon and soil physical soil health parameters in vineyards., EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-5064, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-5064, 2023.

Soil compaction caused by mechanized wood harvesting can have long-lasting negative impacts on forest soils and impair forest ecosystem functioning and productivity for decades. However, soil compaction in forest ecosystems cannot be resolved by tillage. Thus, it is of paramount importance to prevent or minimize soil compaction in forest ecosystems. A primary step to achieve this goal is to determine the vulnerability of forest soils to compaction in different climatic zones. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis with 996 observations or 498 pairs of observations (effect sizes; compacted versus not compacted) of soil bulk density (BD) extracted from 57 peer-reviewed publications to assess the effects of climate and initial soil conditions on soil vulnerability to compaction. Forest soils of tropical and temperate zones were most vulnerable to compaction (14.9% and 12.7% increase in BD, respectively), while forest soils of cold and arid zones were less vulnerable (5.2% and 6.4% increase in BD, respectively). Climatic zones with high (> 1000 mm) and moderate (400 ─ 1000 mm) effective precipitation had the most vulnerable soil conditions to compaction (approximately 12% increase in BD) and the soils of climatic zones with low (< 400 mm) effective precipitation were less vulnerable (3.5% increase in BD). Our analyses indicated that the soils of climatic zones with high effective precipitation (tropical and temperate) are characterized by high soil organic carbon and are often wet, leading to low soil bulk densities and high vulnerability to compaction. Finally, we developed maps to illustrate the global pattern of soil vulnerability to compaction in forest ecosystems.

How to cite: Nazari, M., Bickel, S., Arthur, E., Keller, T., and Lamandé, M.: Soil vulnerability to logging-associated compaction in forest ecosystems across global climatic zones, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-4442, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-4442, 2023.

Shifting cultivation is one of the old methods of farming practiced in various countries, including India, where land is cleared by slash and burn. In India, shifting cultivation, locally known as Jhum, is extensively practiced in its North-eastern states. Since using fire removes the forest land, it is said to have various implications on the vadose zone properties, along with an increase in sediment yield from runoff. The available literature on the effect of Jhum cultivation includes general studies on areas with different intensities of Jhum. Still, the Jhum sites have significant topography and geography variations, making it difficult to evaluate the effects of Jhum cultivation accurately. Therefore, to understand the impacts of Jhum in Northeastern regions in India, three Jhum sites are selected in a micro-catchment under similar topographical conditions in the Aizawl district of Mizoram state in India. Three sites represented various stages of Jhum cultivation, namely Non-Jhum land (NJL) or fallow land, Cultivated Jhum Land (CJL), and Newly Burnt Jhum land (NBJL). The Impacts of Jhum on various physicochemical properties of the vadose zone soils are reviewed thoroughly under multiple stages of Jhum. Hydraulic conductivity measured using Inversed Augur Hole Method gave maximum hydraulic conductivity at NBJL, followed by NJL and CJL. Water and sediment samples were collected from the downhill streams at selected gauging sites near the three Jhum sites. Soil samples were also collected from the selected sites at different depths viz top surface, 5 cm, and 55 cm, such that the impact of Jhum is quantified at various stages after clearing the forest land, along with variation in soil properties with depth. Laboratory analysis of the soil samples showed that Soil Organic Matter (SOM) and Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) values decreased as we moved from the surface to 55 cm below the ground at all three sites. Soil structure in all three areas was similar, with maximum percentages of medium to fine sand suggesting only minor changes due to burning. Further, pre-monsoon and post-monsoon comparison of all the soil/sediment and water quality characteristics is done. Estimation of Macro-nutrients with few micro-nutrients is also done for soil and sediment samples to study the changes in nutritional characteristics of soil at various stages of Jhum. The result of this study would help in managing the soil-water resources of the region and understanding the sustainability of this form of agriculture.

How to cite: Sharma, S. and Yadav, B. K.: Vadose Zone evolution under shifting cultivation practices in Northeast India. , EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-342, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-342, 2023.

An aspect of ‘soil health’ can be assessed by evaluating the microbial responses to soil rewetting after a period of drought. In general, those microbial communities that had been frequently exposed to extreme moisture fluctuations exhibit a faster recovery of their functions after rain than communities not used to severe droughts. However, whether and how changes in land-use management alter these short-term responses remains unresolved. To investigate this issue, we sampled soils from permanent pastures and tilled croplands, exposed them to a cycle of drying-rewetting, and compared their responses –bacterial growth, fungal growth, and respiration– over soil depth (top 30 cm). Results showed categorically different response patterns across land uses that were noticeable down to the ploughing depth, exhibiting significant differences in the microbial resistance and resilience to drought. When ploughing cancelled soil stratification, the exposure and adaptation of soil microorganisms to conditions of water stress increased, which caused contrasting shifts in the bacterial vs fungal response to drying-rewetting. These results confirmed the capability of land-use management to alter soil health and agroecological functioning.

How to cite: Brangarí, A. C., Lyonnard, B., and Rousk, J.: Tillage practices can alter the microbial resistance and resilience to drought, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-9475, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-9475, 2023.

Soil health is fundamental in maintaining and promoting overall ecosystem health and is defined as the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living system, sustaining biological productivity as well as maintaining or enhancing the quality of air and water.

The aim of this study was to assess the health of soils under orchards where the cultivation of Rosa Romana, a local apple cultivar, is taking place. These orchards were located in the Bologna Apennine farms, ranged in age between 5 and 30 years and were implanted on former cropland. They were all grassed and cultivated following the principles of organic farming.

In this context, a comparison between the soils which belonged to orchards of at least 5 years in six farms with loamy texture was made. In each orchard, a morphological study of soils was carried out through the core of soil until 120 cm; then three mini pits were dug and sampled at a depth of 0-15 and 15-30 cm for physicochemical and biological analyses.

Soil health assessment was carried out via physicochemical and biological analyses and the calculation of two indexes: Dilly’s index (metabolic quotient to soil organic carbon ratio) that highlights the carbon use efficiency of soil microorganisms and the Index of Biological Fertility (IBF), obtained through the sum of scores assigned to significant parameters such as organic matter, microbial biomass C content and its activity.

Soil sampling and analyses were part of the Rural Development 2014-2020 of Emilia Romagna Region Project named “Rosa Romana apple of the Bolognese Apennines: organization of a quality organic supply chain”, which addresses to promote the sustainable management of agricultural areas in the Bologna Apennine by bringing together all actors involved in the cultivation, processing, and commercialization of this local apple cultivar.

The indicators related to soil health showed a difference between the orchards of less than ten years compared to the older ones, the latter displaying better overall health. Dilly’s index showed a growing microbial efficiency from the young orchards to the old ones and the same pattern is present in the IBF. This is due to the older orchards having a higher microbial C content and lower metabolic quotient in both soil layers, and higher SOM in the topsoil layer. These differences, which indicate a lower microbial stress and higher efficiency in the old orchards, may be due to the effect of reduced or null disturbance inflicted to the soil after the conversion of cropland into orchard, as they were no longer tilled and have a permanent grass cover. Moreover, in the topsoil the mineralization quotient and the nitrogen isotope ratio are lower in the older orchards, which may indicate respectively a tendency toward carbon accumulation and a higher fresh organic matter input to the soil of orchards of more than ten years.

These results may suggest that the promotion of the cultivation of the local Apennine apple variety “Rosa Romana” on former cropland in hill and mountain areas could promote the restoration of soil health.

How to cite: Trenti, W., De Feudis, M., Falsone, G., and Vittori Antisari, L.: Assessment of soil health in orchards of “Rosa Romana” apple of different ages in the Northern Apennines (Italy), EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-6945, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-6945, 2023.

Huge soil areas in the northern Ukraine were contaminated with artificial radioactive isotopes after the accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. Meanwhile, the levels of radionuclide pollution in these areas vary widely, which creates unique opportunities to conduct studies on the impact of the ionizing radiation (IR) on the soil health including functioning of soil microorganisms in field conditions.

We aimed to study the cellulose-destroying activity of the soil microflora at elevated radionuclides contamination. Two experimental sites were chosen – 1) near the exclusion zone (site 1), but outside its borders, and 2) in the exclusion zone (site 2). Both sites were characterized by a significant gradient of radionuclide contamination and the absorbed dose rate (ADR) of IR was formed due to activity of two isotopes ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr. We selected three points with ADR of 0.2, 1.0  and 1.6 μGy/hour in the upper soil layer at the site 1 and three points with ADR 3.7, 22.2 and 61.6 μGy/hour in the upper soil at the site 2. The physico-chemical soil properties and climate condition did not differ between all points of one site.

The rate of OM decomposition by soil microorganisms at all experimental points was determined by using the standardized Tea Bag Index (TBI) method (Keuskamp et al., 2013). We used two types of tea bags TM Lipton^©: green tea and rooibos as a standardized plant material to determine decomposition rate (k) and stabilization factor (S), percentage of decomposed fast disintegrated litter compounds - green tea (g) and more recalcitrant litter compounds – rooibos (r), respectively.

Two burials of plant material (=tea bags), each time for 90 days, were made: 1) from April to June 2021; and 2) from July to September 2021.

At the site 1, S and g values did not differ among points with different ADR levels. At the same time, k and r values statistically reliably increased with an increase of IR ADR.

At the site 2, S and g values significantly changed as the IR ADR increased. S values decreased, and g values, on the contrary, increased. k and r values increased statistically significantly with IR ADR increase as at site 1.

These results indicate the stimulating effect of relatively small IR doses (site 1) on the functioning of cellulose-destroying microorganisms, which capable to use more recalcitrant litter compounds (i.e., rooibos). At the same time, high IR doses (site 2) accelerate decomposition processes of both litter compounds. We conclude, that small doses of ionizing radiation will not affect soil quality in terms of the functioning of cellulose-destroying microorganisms. In general, our results could help to better understand how IR affects the processes of soil organic matter (OM) transformation.

We acknowledge the National Research Foundation of Ukraine for the financial support of this research (Project number 2020.01/0489).

How to cite: Illienko, V., Volkohon, I., Klepko, A., and Lazarev, M.: The changes of Tea Bag Index parameters depending on the radionuclide contamination level of soils in northern Ukraine, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-140, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-140, 2023.

The research was conducted at two landfills with different levels of contamination by radioactive substances. Landfill 1 is located on the border with the Exclusion Zone of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. Within landfill 1, three soil sampling points were selected, differing in the degree of radioactive soil contamination. Landfill 2 (four sampling points) is located in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone directly near the area of the so-called "Red Forest". At this landfill, the sites identified for soil sampling are characterized by a significantly higher level of radionuclide contamination compared to those at landfill 1.

It was found that low levels of radioactive contamination contributed to the activation of the development of microorganisms. Within landfill 1, the accumulation of microbial mass was the smallest with low contamination and the biggest with higher contamination. At the same time, the soil of landfill 2 showed significantly lower (within one order) indicators, especially at the point with the highest contamination.

Determination of the dynamics of the number of fungi in the studied soils shows similar changes in indicators depending on the level of radioactive contamination. Thus, the number of fungi in the soil of landfill 1, as a rule, increases with increasing levels of pollution. However, in the soil of landfill 2, the lowest number of micromycetes among the studied variants was noted during the entire period of research. At the same time, the number of fungi is 10-100 times lower than the corresponding indicator for the soils of landfill 1, depending on the sampling points.

The feature noted for fungi is also characteristic of cellulolytic bacteria, however, due to their very low quantity, they may have an insignificant role in the processes of destruction of plant residues under the studied conditions.

When determining the number of ammonifying microorganisms, it was found that this group of representatives of the soil microbiota becomes more active with

the increasing levels of radionuclide contamination at landfill 1. At the same time, the development of ammonifying microorganisms is suppressed in the soils of landfill 2, especially at the point with the highest level of pollution. Therefore, the peptolytic pathway of the destruction of organic residues (ammonification) is generally consistent with the course of development of pathogens of the saccharolytic pathway (primarily fungi).

The conducted studies indicate the dependence of the development and functioning of microorganisms – destructors of plant mortmass on the level of ionizing radiation. Relatively low absorbed dose rates in the soil of landfill 1 (up to 1.6 μGy/hour) stimulated the development of microorganisms and contributed to the accumulation of their biomass. High absorbed dose rates in the soil of landfill 2 (from 3.7 to 84.0 μGy/hour) negatively affect the studied indicators.

How to cite: Volkohon, I. and Illienko, V.: The abundance and activity of microorganisms in the soil under at increasing radioactive contamination, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-503, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-503, 2023.

Global population growth has resulted in land-use (LU) changes in many natural ecosystems, causing deteriorated environmental conditions that impact soil quality. This rapid growth in the global population caused many natural ecosystems to be transformed into human-dominated ones. Such LU dynamics require greater resource exploitation, commonly resulting in degraded environmental conditions that are acknowledged in the soil quality. The effects on the soil are even more acute in water-scarce and limited resources environments such as drylands. Therefore, developing appropriate approaches for soil quality assessment and function evaluation is necessary since the soils in those areas are usually undeveloped and retain lower organic matter capacity. The research aim was to apply, measure, and evaluate soil properties based on the imaging spectroscopy (IS) differences between natural and human-dominated LU practices in the dryland environment of the Negev Desert, Israel.  A flight campaign of the AisaFENIX hyperspectral airborne sensor was used to develop an IS prediction model for the SQI on a regional scale. The spectral signatures extracted from the hyperspectral image were well separable among the four LUs using the partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) classification method (OA = 95.31%, Kc = 0.90). The correlation was performed using multivariate support vector machine regression (SVM-R) models between the spectral data, the measured soil indicators, and the overall SQI. The SVM-R models were significantly correlated for several soil properties, including the overall SQI (R2adjVal = 0.87), with the successful prediction of the regional SQI mapping (R2adjPred = 0.78). Seven individual soil properties, including fractional sand and clay, SOM, pH, EC, SAR, and P, were successfully used for developing prediction maps. Applying IS, and statistically integrative methods for comprehensive soil quality assessments enhances the accuracy of predicting soil health and evaluating degradation processes in arid environments. This study establishes a precise tool for sustainable and efficient land management and could be an example for future potential IS earth-observing space missions for soil quality assessment studies and applications.

How to cite: Paz-Kagan, T.: Soil quality assessment with imaging spectroscopy under land use changes, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15172, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15172, 2023.

Soil compaction of agricultural systems due to the passage of heavy machinery persistently impairs the soil physical, hydrological, and biogeochemical functioning. Despite the existence of numerous studies on the influence of compaction on soil and plant characteristics, we lack studies translating such impacts into soil-related ecosystem services. Therefore, we aimed to develop five indices of compaction impacts on ecosystem services related to soil, including fresh water supply, food, feed, and fiber production, microbial habitat provision, climate regulation, and water purification. First, we selected the most appropriate soil quality indicators for each ecosystem service based on literature data and expert knowledge. Second, we scored each indicator using the fuzzy logic method and standardized scoring functions. Third, we summed the indicators and divided them by the number of the indicators to achieve a total index for each ecosystem service. Finally, we combined the five individual indices to attain a composite index for the soil-related ecosystem services. We validated the developed ecosystem services indices using experimental data of soil compaction impacts. The results showed that the five indices and the composite index were able to detect the impacts of soil compaction on the investigated ecosystem services. We advocate the use of such indices or composite index to assess how soil compaction interferes with the delivery of soil-related ecosystem services in agricultural systems.

How to cite: Lamandé, M., Nazari, M., Fouladidorhani, M., Nawaz, M. M., and Arthur, E.: Development of a composite index for assessment of soil compaction impacts on ecosystem services in agricultural systems, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-6271, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-6271, 2023.

The intensive use of pesticides in modern agriculture raised concerns about their environmental fate and impacts on the ecosystems. If the monitoring of those substances in water bodies has been established in Europe since the 2000’s, knowledge of soil contamination by such residues is scarce. However, the few studies addressing this issue pointed out the widespread occurrence of pesticides in soils and the risk they can pose for soil biodiversity. This study investigated 111 currently used pesticides in 47 soils sampled across France, mostly from arable lands but also from forest and grasslands theoretically exempted of pesticides applications. The sampling strategy was based on the French Soil Quality Monitoring Network (Jolivet et al., 2022) to evaluate the feasibility of using an existing network for pesticides monitoring in soils. The results demonstrated the widespread contamination of almost all soils samples by residues, including untreated areas such as forests and permanent grasslands. Up to 33 different substances in one soil sample were detected, at concentrations leading to a medium to high ecotoxicological risk for earthworms in arable lands. Several frequently detected residues have never been reported in the literature so far or were found at much lower detection rates. Finally, the comparison with pesticide application records provided by the farmers revealed the unexpected presence of some substance in sites where they were not applied and a longer than expected persistence of several compounds. These findings question the fate of currently used pesticides in the environment under current agricultural practices and advocate for the monitoring of pesticides in soils at broad scales. Filling the knowledge gap of pesticide presence in soil is necessary to understand the contamination of other environmental compartments and prevent their contamination.

Jolivet, C., Falcon, J.A., Berché, P., Boulonne, L., Fontaine, M., Gouny, L., Lehmann, S., Maitre, B., Schellenberger, E., Soler-Dominguez, N., 2022. French Soil Quality Monitoring Network Manual RMQS2 : second metropolitan campaign 2016 – 2027. https://doi.org/10.17180/KC64-NY88

How to cite: Froger, C., Jolivet, C., Budzinski, H., Pierdet, M., Caria, G., Saby, N. P. A., Arrouays, D., and Bispo, A.: First glance of French soil contamination by pesticide residues and the interest for broad-scale monitoring, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-5294, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-5294, 2023.

Rangelands in Namibia have experienced a shift from herbaceous to woody plant dominance which has reduced indigenous plant and animal biodiversity. It is also altering ecosystem function, and threatening subsistence pastoralism. A common approach to reduce these negative impacts is bush thinning. It is expected that removal of brushes will favorite the development of grasslands with a positive impact on their soil organic matter (SOM) stocks. On the other hand, harvesting bush from those systems removes not only biomass but also nutrients that are stored in it. Such losses can decrease soil fertility which is likely to affect the soil carbon stocks on a long term. In search of a better understanding of the consequences of such a restoration approach, the objective of the present work is to study the impact of bush removal on the quantity, quality and biochemical recalcitrance of SOM as well as nutrient contents in soils of an encroached savannah which was subjected to bush harvesting. Therefore, we sampled a chronosequence of soils with up to fifteen years after bush thinning. Their SOM was characterized by solid-state NMR spectroscopy and composition was related to its biochemical recalcitrance determined by measuring the CO₂ evolution during microbial degradation in a microcosms experiment of 3 months. First results indicate that up to two years after bush harvesting SOM contents of the soil were decreased, although a recovery was observed with increasing time after harvesting. Ongoing analysis of the stable isotopic ratios are performed to identify if this dynamic is caused by lower litter input due to the change of vegetation from bush to grass or by a faster turnover of the SOM, induced by alteration of the environmental conditions due to bush removal (light, soil moisture, temperature etc.).

Acknowledgement: The authors would like to express their gratitude to the European Commission for the financial support of this research within the European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 (Grant No. 101036401).

How to cite: García de Castro Barragán, J. M., Shipingana, D., de la Rosa, J. M., Brewer, B., Marker, L. L., Parry, H., and Knicker, H.: Controlled bush harvesting as a means for restoring soil of encroached savannahs in Southern Africa, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-285, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-285, 2023.

The Wayanad district of Kerala, India resides on the crest of the Western Ghats, one of the 36 Biodiversity hotspots in the world and known for its rich abundance of flora and ethnic cultures. Switching of farm practices from traditional to modern and rapid urban developmental activities is seen as a trend in the district. In this scenario, analysis of biodiversity associated with rice-based farms under various farming systems is important in this district. The adjacent upland agriculture area of rice fields of 9 rice-based agroecosystems was selected for the current study. Out of the 9 sites, 3 sites were traditional farms maintained by Kurichiya tribal communities, 3 were organic farms, and the other 3 farms were modern. A total of 45 families, 99 genera, 129 species of tree, and 101 bird species which belonged to 48 families, and 17 orders were identified from the study sites. This study recorded 7302, and 2072 tree and bird individuals respectively. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series data was also derived for each site. The principal component analysis portrayed that there is a compositional relationship among native tree diversity indices, mean NDVI for May, June, August, and October, and bird diversity indices.  Further, Pearson Correlation proved their significant correlation. This study also exhibits the possibility of an increased abundance of Granivorous bird species in less native tree-abundant farming sites, which are considered a pest in rice farms. All the traditional farms were found to be abundant in native tree species and they are reported to have sustainable production in rice fields.  The culture and religious beliefs are the reason for the native tree abundance in their farming sites. Increasing native tree abundance can attract many species of birds which can act as natural enemies for the pests in the farmland.

How to cite: Lopus, M. and Jaiswal, D.: Comparative biodiversity analysis of Kurichiya heritage rice-based farming system with other farming systems, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-10665, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-10665, 2023.

Biochar’s multifaceted benefits for soil quality have been well acknowledged whilst its particular effects on plant health have not yet been thoroughly understood. Plant health is conceived as the plant capacity of resource efficient production, of tolerance to abrupt stresses by extreme weather events, of bio-control or bio-defense of soil-borne pathogens and of safe synthesis of functional compounds for food quality and human nutrition. Biochar soil amendment provided quick restoration of soil organic matter, soil structure build-up and stabilization of toxic metals and organic pollutants in soil, benefiting safe growth of crops.  Utilization of biochar for blending mineral nutrients creates slow releasing fertilizers so as to increase nutrient use efficiency and reduce the fertilizer dosage while supplement OC and minor elements to soil. Moreover, use of biochar for co-composting animal wastes to produce novel biochar-based composts is shown an useful application of biochar in organic agriculture. In addition, biochar use in anerobic digestion and as sorbent in waste water and waste slurry is being explored in rural sector. As a particular case for rice crop production, biochar from rice residue to healthy paddy and rice can be managed into a closed loop: rice straw feeding cows and the manure into biochar-compost for soil amendment (reducing methane emission from residue incorporation), rice husk gasification for bioenergy for energy displacement and biochar for blending chemical fertilizers (reducing nutrient release to waters and nitrous oxide emission) for rice production, all these promoting healthy rice production.  improvement). It could be a biochar-centralized bioeconomy in agriculture could become a global solution for reverse soil degradation, environment pollution and soil C loss while significantly mitigating the climate change. The scope and standardization of biochar for crop production should be a research priority for biochar science and technology in agriculture.

How to cite: Pan, G., Liu, C., Li, L., Liu, X., Bian, R., and Yang, L.: Crop residue biochar’s role in healthy soil and food production: the potential tool to assist organic farming, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-3856, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-3856, 2023.

Phosphorus (P) is essential for plant development and to feed the world population. Most of the P that is used as a fertiliser in agriculture has a mineral origin, whose reserves are scarce as it is a non-renewable resource. Also, international conflicts add pressure to agriculture due to several reasons, for example, increasing the price of the fertilisers (including P fertilisers). At least since 2015 the European Union promotes strategies based on circular economy, and, more recently with the Mission ‘A Soil deal for Europe’, pursues to enhance soil health as this is the base of our food systems, habitats, economy, and prosperity. In Mediterranean areas of Europe, calcareous soils with a low content in organic matter and limitations in the phytoavailability of nutrients such as P and micronutrients (Fe and Zn), are predominant. For these reasons, biobased P fertilisers from wastes/residues could be an alternative to mineral P fertilisers in these soils at the same time as they could enhance soil health as they are rich in organic matter and nutrients. The objective of this study was to assess the potential of different residues (digestate from a biogas plant, compost of olive mill pomace, compost of solid urban waste, vermicompost and vegetal residues) to act as P fertilisers in calcareous soils. Diammonium phosphate (DAP) and the non-application of P were also included in the study to compare with biobased fertilziers. A field experiment was developed (randomized block-4 design) in a calcareous Vertisol in the South of Spain (Córdoba) for two years (in the traditional wheat and sunflower rotation). The different biobased P fertilisers and DAP were applied at the same rate (30 kg P ha^-1) and incorporated into the arable layer of the soil (20 cm depth) before sowing durum wheat. Different analyses were done to evaluate the immediate (durum wheat) and residual (sunflower) effects of the different fertilisers: soil P and micronutrients’ availability, biomass and yield, plant nutrient uptake, soil enzyme activities, and bacterial and fungal composition in soil. The obtained results showed a good performance of the biobased fertilizers in comparison with the mineral fertiliser (DAP), i.e., wheat biomass was not negatively affected due to the application of the biobased fertilisers. In addition, the organic fertilizers had an obvious effect on the activity of soil enzymes, especially in acid phosphatase, finding the highest values in the non-P fertilised soils. The biobased P fertilizers evaluated in this study can be an efficient alternative to mineral P fertilizers in Mediterranean areas to maintain soil P availability, enhance soil functionality, provide organic matter, P and other nutrients to the plant.

How to cite: Boubehziz, S., Barrón, V., del Campillo, M. C., and Sánchez-Rodríguez, A. R.: Recycled organic materials as fertilisers to meet agriculture demand on phosphorus in Mediterranean soils, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-536, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-536, 2023.

Unsustainable management in food production has led to the degradation of fertile and biodiverse soils in agricultural and forestry areas of the planet, reducing the supply of ecosystem services and the quality of human life. Therefore, it is a priority to establish policy that promote productivity, as well as the stability and biodiversity of agricultural soils, in congruence with their regional and local geographic conditions. In the framework of the Horizon 2020 SOILGUARD project, that aims to assess the soil biodiversity status in different countries with different management practices and the effects of climate change, this work seeks to identify changes in key properties of soil quality and health in Mediterranean environments under different degradation and management scenarios. Using a raster model of soil degradation obtained through the LUCAS soil information repository, and verification in field though visual soil assessments, plots with two levels of degradation were identified. We worked on 10 plots with traditional management and 10 with organic management, in agricultural Mediterranean area (Murcia, Spain) being considered organic those without using inorganic fertilization for more than ten years. Soil samples were taken from each plot and analyzed for some soil properties such as: organic matter content, microbial biomass carbon, basal soil respiration and some enzymatic activities, also available phosphorus, bulk density, and coarse fragments. One of the main SOILGUARD hypothesis is that soils under organic management have more biodiversity and this makes then more resilient to the climate change. By understanding the changes in soil quality and health, it will be possible to establish more precise recommendations for the establishment of agricultural management policies for Mediterranean environments. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation programme under the Grant Agreement no. 101000371. SOILGUARD Project https://soilguard-h2020.eu/

How to cite: Olivares-Martínez, L. D., García-Orenes, F., García-Carmona, M., Arcenegui Baldo, V., and Mataix-Solera, J.: Key soil properties to assess and safeguard Mediterranean agro-environments, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-6295, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-6295, 2023.

Abstract 

In organic farming, the C and N budget in the soil can be improved by growing clover grass to increase the levels of humus and nitrogen soil content. Other elements may be supplied through organic fertilization as well as the recycling of straw and organic waste. Three case studies attempting to close nutritional cycles on site are presented, to avoid input of external fertilizers. The first case study examined an inter-farm exchange of organically grown clover grass for conventional cattle manure and organic cattle slurry of about equal total nitrogen contents. In this cooperation the farm providing the clover grass lost K, while receiving a surplus of all other elements analyzed (Ba, Ca, Cu, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, P, Sr, Zn). In the second case study, input of cattle slurry versus output of barley grains and straw was examined. Cattle slurry containing about equal amounts of N, K and P found in summer barley grains plus straw per hectare was applied, increasing Ba, Cu, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Sr, and V on site, whereas Ca and Mo decreased. At half the concentration of slurry, in addition to Ca and Mo, the levels of Ba, Cu, K and Mg decreased as well. If straw was left on the field, all of the elements investigated increased. The third case study analyzed the fertilization effect of digestate from alfalfa-based biogas production on a non-legume cover crop mixture followed by summer barley. Fertilization with liquid digestate led to higher amounts of dry matter and higher contents of Ca, K, Na, P and Sr in cover crop biomass per hectare but had no effect on the yields of the following summer barley. Analysis of soil nitrate before, during and after the cover crop period showed no signs of nitrate leaching. Therefore, the fertilizer N could successfully be stored in plant biomass over the critical winter period for the following crop. 
The three case studies show that innovative methods of clover grass use can successfully close nutrient cycles on stockless organic farms so they can subsist without a need for external supplies. 

How to cite: Sager, M., Doppelbauer, L., Reithofer, C., Erhart, E., and bonell, M.: Nutrient and trace element budgets of fields in organic farming– examples from Austria, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-9388, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-9388, 2023.

Biodiversity is a vital prerequisite for the resilience of agro-ecosystems, for sustainability and long-term food security. Biodiversity in European agricultural landscapes, however, has declined dramatically over the last century, mainly due to agricultural intensification. Current compensations and incentives for biodiversity-sensitive management are often inefficient as they are applied at individual farm level rather than at landscape level and tend to be generic, top-down solutions at EU or national level. Monitoring rarely is carried out, so there is little opportunity to improve biodiversity in agriculture. Consequently, a new approach to the design, implementation and monitoring of biodiversity-sensitive agriculture is needed. The H2020 project “FRAMEwork” (2020-2025) offers a comprehensive package to develop and implement solutions for biodiversity-sensitive farming in Europe which includes four key drivers: First, an "Advanced Farmer Clusters Concept (AFC)" (key driver 1) developed to monitor, evaluate and implement biodiversity management activities, raise farmer awareness, increase farmer engagement and support adaptive management. Such an Advanced Farmer Cluster Austria was established together with local farmers in 2020. Key driver 2 is a new didactic concept designed to motivate farmers to conserve and promote biodiversity using a bottom-up approach. One of the main priorities for farmers is yield security, which is closely linked to a living soil, i.e. high biodiversity in the soil. Therefore, the topic of biodiversity will be gradually shifted over the project duration from the soil to above-ground parts (below and above ground organisms, plant cover, pollinators and birds). To raise awareness among farmers, farmer cluster workshops with “hand's on-activities” are being conducted and measures to improve biodiversity on the cluster farms in the future are discussed. FRAMEwork has conducted scientific biodiversity monitoring (key driver 3) in all cluster and control farms using standardized methods based on the EMBAL protocol including pollinators (butterflies and bumblebees), breeding birds and vegetation surveys. Additionally, changes in land management in the clusters and on control farms will be recorded and mapped in a geographic information system. Based on the maps, links between landscape-level habitat improvements and biodiversity will be identified. The cluster and control farms are being monitored at the beginning and at the end of the project (years 2 and 5). Impacts of the “AFC” on biodiversity and ES will be analyzed using a Before-After-Control-Impact design. Additionally, to implement and increase the awareness in the general public, Citizen Science events (key driver 4) will be organized on the cluster farm. Material for monitoring biodiversity indicators will be developed for use by experts, farmers, and the general public. First results will be presented.

Keywords: Biodiversity-sensitive farming, Advanced Farmer Clusters, Arable land, Biodiversity, Monitoring

How to cite: Salehi, A., Wohlmuth, M.-L., Imran Hussain, R., Metzker, M., and Friedel, J. K.: Design and development of a new approach to increase the value of biodiversity in agriculture, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-8371, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-8371, 2023.

Agriculture is a prominent topic in sustainability discourses. However, the debate on the context of what constitutes sustainable agriculture remains to be solved. The relationship between agriculture and sustainability is a rather emotionally charged topic. It touches upon central moral issues such as the relationship between people and nature. At the same time, in an era of increasing urbanization, there is growing detachment, particularly of the urban population, from the realities of farming, often leading to romanticizing the past and demonizing modern “industrial” agriculture. This often results in conflicts that are increasingly played out in the political arena, e.g. in the context of bottom-up initiatives such as referenda (e.g. “Biodiversity & natural beauty in Bayern, Germany”) or farmers’ protests (e.g. the protests against nitrate regulations in the Netherlands and Germany). These alternatives reflect public discourses, which seem to exhibit very little overlap. Ultimately, however, these discourses drive agricultural and environmental policy - understanding them is therefore crucial if one wants to understand the continuing failure of sustainability policies.

Here we present a large-scale text analysis using text mining tools to compare three discourses on sustainable agriculture: the scientific discourse (based on an analysis of abstracts from peer-reviewed publications on the topic); the public discourse (based on an analysis of newspaper articles); and the professional farming discourse (based on an analysis of articles from agricultural magazines). We collected three sets of data for the topic modelling analyses: scientific articles (6403 abstracts), newspaper articles (7851 full texts) and agricultural magazine articles (2414 full texts). These were subject to BERTopic modelling analysis to generate coherent topic representations. These topics are used to shed light on discourses related to sustainable agriculture with a focus on Germany. We apply topic modelling to identify topics that emerge from each of these three discourses and compare them in terms of prevalence and temporal development. The overarching question is what is being discussed under the label “sustainable agriculture”, how the three discourses differ in this respect and whether there are any signs of interaction or even convergence in terms of discussed topics. We thus provide a unique perspective on a central, heavily contested part of the sustainability discourse.

How to cite: Bartkowski, B., Nagpal, M., Baaken, M., Chan, K., Schneider, N., Sodoge, J., and Madruga de Brito, M.: Sustainable agriculture discourses in Germany: a comparative analysis of large-scale text data, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14623, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14623, 2023.

Recently, the demand for quality and food safety has become more pressing, with a consequent requirement for unequivocal geographical identification of agri-food products. Moreover, the requirement for eco-friendly and human healthy practices is a key issue for the agriculture of the future. In this framework, this work aims at investigating soil, leaves and olives from two areas in the Emilia-Romagna Region (Italy), Montiano (MN) and San Lazzaro (SL), where three different foliar treatments were carried out for each site to protect plants from environmental stress and pests. Geochemical analysis of REE and trace elements were performed to 1) univocally determine the locality of provenance and 2) evaluate if the different foliar treatments can affect the geochemical fingerprint of leaves and olives. the effect of different foliar treatments (no treatment, dimethoate, and alternating of natural zeolitite and dimethoate in MN; Spinosad+Spyntor fly, natural zeolitite and NH₄⁺-enriched zeolitite in SL). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Square-Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA, including Variable Importance in the Projection analysis) were used to discriminate between localities and different treatments. PCA of leaves and olives highlighted that different foliar treatments can be identified based on different geochemical contents (total variance: 95.64% and 91.08% in MN; 71.31% and 85.33% in SL of leaves and olives, respectively). Slightly lower, although still quite acceptable, results are given by PCA applied to area discrimination (87.46% and 80.43% of total variance). The PLS-DA analysis gave the largest contribution to the discrimination of different treatments and geographical identification. VIP analyses provided to identify which elements could be considered as potential discriminators in the model in order to correlate leaves and olives from the same area: i) Sm and Dy in MN site and ii) Rb, Zr, La and Th in SL field; in order to discriminate different areas Rb and Sr were the best identifiers. Based on REE and trace element analyses, it can be highlighted that 1) the geographical origin could be discriminated and 2) different foliar treatments applied for crop protection can be recognized, which means, reversing the reasoning that each farmer can develop a method to pinpoint his own product.

How to cite: Medoro, V., Ferretti, G., Galamini, G., Rotondi, A., Morrone, L., Faccini, B., and Coltorti, M.: How does the geographic location and pest management strategies impacts the geochemical fingerprint of leaves and olives in olive growing systems?, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14967, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14967, 2023.

Microbial multitudes maintain the cycles of nutritive elements in natural ecosystems. We have piloted organic residues of various processes including the food and forest industries as well as municipal waste management. This approach opens up avenues for combining economic and ecological objectives together, which has been evidenced in Finland e.g., in Tampere, Hiedanranta project in 2017 – 2022 with sedimented lake bottom deposits of cellulosic fibers, or in case of combined bioprocessing of meat industry wastes into biogas and organic fertilizers in Kitee (2020 – 2022). The chemical products in the processes include organic acids and sugar alcohols, such as mannitol, whose production was accomplished at record levels using patented technologies developed by Finnoflag Oy. The resulting organic fractions were processed into valuable biofertilizers.

How to cite: Hakalehto, E., Juvonen, M., and Kivelä, J.: Combined strategy in the management of industrial side streams - production of residual soil improvement in the mitigation of environmental burden, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15443, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15443, 2023.

Coagulants used in wastewater treatment affect subsequent processes including sludge management, recycling, and disposal methods. However, their direct impact on the nutrient availability and leaching, as well as micropollutant leaching on the soil and drainage water from sludge-treated soils have not been fully investigated. This study compared the effects of using biologically stabilized (i.e., anaerobic digestion and composting) sludges (biosolids) produced from chemical precipitation with typically used inorganic coagulant to recently available organic coagulants as soil amendment agents following the growth of Poa pratensis var. Goa. A microplot system equipped with perforated layer and leachate collection port was utilized. A sprinkler system built based on Finnish Meteorological Institute data of rain duration, intensity, and frequency was used to simulate two rain events over the experimental period providing water required for plant growth. The coagulants tested included an inorganic coagulant (IC), polyaluminium chloride (PAC), and organic coagulants, (OC) polyamine (pAmine) and chitosan (Chit). Overall, different coagulant-derived biosolids showed a measurable effect on the availability and leaching of nutrients in addition to the growth of Poa pratensis. Highest leaching of total nitrogen (tot-N) across all coagulants and rain events was observed for composted pAmine. Comparatively, total phosphorous (tot-P) leaching was highest for digested pAmine after the first rain event and digested Chit after the second rain event. Furthermore, Al concentration was found to be highest for digested PAC sludge while Fe concentration was found highest in the control. Evidently, nutrient concentrations in soil samples showed lowest tot-N in composted pAmine while tot-P concentrations remained lower than the tot-N concentrations in this study at 0.71-0.99 mg l^-1 for all coagulants and treatments. PAC-sludge fertilized plants showed the lowest total chlorophyll (tot-Chl) concentrations in the leaf for both composted and digested treatments, even lower than the control while pAmine and Chit-sludge fertilized plants showed higher tot-Chl in both treatments. Statistical analysis shows no significant difference in tot-Chl between different treatments (p<0.05, CI=90%). In general, tot-N and tot-P concentrations in grasses were comparable at 20-26 g/kg DM and 3-4 g/kg DM, respectively which signifies the optimum utilization of nutrients by the plant. Micropollutants (e.g., Bisoprolol, carbamazepine, cetirizine, caffeine, diclofenac, paracetamol, tetracycline, etc.) previously measured in initial biosolids were found to be lower than the detection limit in drainage water (<0.050 µg/L) as well as soil samples (<1.0 µg/kg). The fertilizer potential of different coagulants applied was investigated successfully in this study. The selection of the most suitable coagulant will depend on the objective of the wastewater treatment facility towards reutilization of the biosolids. Higher nutrient leaching may have been exhibited by pAmine but it showed the lowest Al and Fe leaching across all coagulants and treatments indicating safer disposal options considering metals concentration. Comparably, pAmine and Chit biosolids induces higher tot-Chl in Poa pratensis indicating better plant health. Lastly, micropollutant leaching and pollution were observed to be low to negligible when using these coagulant biosolids as soil amendment agents.

How to cite: Cainglet, A., Postila, H., Rossi, P., and Heiderscheidt, E.: Coagulant precipitated and biologically stabilized sewage sludge impacts nutrient availability, and risk of nutrient and micropollutant leaching in sludge-amended soils, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14857, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14857, 2023.

Future changes in the climate are projected to significantly affect the agricultural sector, notably agricultural production which include cropland suitability. The present study examines the impact of climate change on crop suitability and planting season in Africa under the new Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs). Using the multi-model ensemble climate simulation datasets from the CMIP6 simulations under different SSPs (ssp126, 245, 370 & 585) for the historical (1980-2009), near future (2035-2064) and end of century (2070-2099) study periods. Ecocrop, a crop suitability model was used to investigate the impact of climate change at different SSPs on the suitability and planting season of three crop types, cereals (maize), legumes (Cowpea) and root and tuber (Cassava) over Africa owing to their economic importance to the region. Our findings show all three crops are mainly suitable over most part of Africa with suitability index above 0.5 except south of 20^oS in southern Africa and in the Sahel zone (north of 14^oN) over the historical period. In general, the impact of climate change leads to about 4% and 7% increase in suitable cropland for Maize and Cowpea respectively relative to the historical period while about 4% suitability decrease is projected for Cassava across the four SSPs. Also, a projected decrease about 1-2% in unsuitable area is projected for the three crops both for near future and end of century relative to the historical period. In addition, no change in planting season is expected across the four SSPs except for a projected 1-2month early planting season for Cassava over West and Central Africa in the near future and end of century and 2-month delay in the planting season for cassava over Congo DR by the end of century under carbon emission with no adaptation (ssp585). The study will assist to improve our understanding on the impact climate change under different SSPs on agricultural production in Africa. It will also help inform policy maker in their decision making of adaptation strategies to ensure food security and zero hunger in sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords : Cropland suitability, Ecocrop, Africa, climate chnage, planting season, CMIP6

How to cite: Egbebiyi, T. S., Lennard, C., Izidine, P., Mukwenha, P., Wiolski, P., Quagraine, K. A., and Ogunniyi, J. E.: Potential Impact of climate Change on Cropland Suitability in Africa using CMIP6 Models, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14347, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14347, 2023.