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Large areas of oil contaminated soil are an urgent problem in oil producing regions, such as the Republic of Tatarstan (Russia). One of important factors of soil self-restoration is the presence of members able to decompose hydrocarbons in the microbial community. Different groups of genes are responsible for decomposing different hydrocarbon groups: for example, alkane monooxygenase gene and naphthalene dioxygenase gene are the predominant genes corresponding to first-step hydroxylases involved in the metabolism ...

The Arctic coastal zone is very sensitive to environmental changes and anthropogenic impacts. The western part of the Russian Arctic is well studied because there is a lot of petroleum-gas deposit mines, especially on the Yamal peninsula, however data about the soil properties of the coastal zone does not appear much in the published literature. This is because people who investigated in the coastal dynamics do not study the soil properties, and vice versa, those working in the geoengineering survey do not publish...

Soil animals by their size are usually subdivided into 5 groups: nano-, micro-, meso-, macrofauna and megafauna. Mesofauna is the most numerous part of soil animals. The mesofauna is represented by mokritsa, enchytraeids, insects, centipedes, spiders, mollusks, etc. Soil animals occupy, basically, the upper horizons (up to 20-40 cm deep), in dry areas only certain species penetrate to a depth of several meters. Mesofauna, along with other soil organisms, can be used as a bioindicator. In addition to the high abund...

The paper presents the results of the experiments on a sterile dump resulted from surface mining of lignite in Rovinari, Gorj County, where, was been tested the effect of a variety of fertilizer as: liquid fertilizers based on humates extracted from lignite, complex mineral fertilizer (N105 P105 K105 and N150 P150 K150), farmyard manure (20, 40 and 60 t/ha), compost (20, 40 and 60 t/ha), and the mixture of the two types of organic fertilizers with mineral fertilizer. Two test plants, corn, and sunflowers have been...

The researches have emphasized that on the improved sandy soils the maize yields (the average of fertilizer rates) is higher when the corn is cropped within a crop rotation than in monoculture (table 1, figure 1). The applying of nitrogen fertilizers on improved sandy soil, along with phosphorus ones is an endorsed measure for increasing maize yield (table 2, figure 2). The influence of crop rotation and fertilizer applying has recorded high yield outputs with all experimented crop rotations as compared with the m...

Humates are substances possessing high physiological activity, contributing to the photosynthetic yield in plants and having no carcinogenicity or mutagenicity. It is the combination of these unique properties that makes humates promising plant growth and development stimulators. Within the framework of the present investigation the efficiency of application of two humate products has been assessed, and a comparative analysis of their influence on the growth and development of agricultural crops has been carried o...

A retrospective monitoring of the land use change in the bottoms of mesodepressions in the Azov District of the Rostov Region in the period from 2014 to 1968 was performed. A cartographic analysis of the changes in soil overmoistening in closed mesodepressions by its indication based on changes in the land use reflected on remote sensing materials was made. The research was carried out within the framework of the problem-oriented system of retrospective soil and land cover monitoring. They revealed that the curren...

Earthworms of species Eisenia fetida (Savigny 1826) (red wiggler worm), are known as eaters of a large range of organic matter, being considered from this point of view real solvers of several issues regarding the wastes management. This study intended to show that paper wastes (copy paper) can be eaten by earthworms Eisenia fetida and thus this type of waste can be managed by introducing it into the diet of this earthworm species. The objectives of the study were two: 1) to determine the relationship existing bet...

The erosion of the soil, through the changes it brought to the soil cover and by the direct and indirect damage it produced, amplified and diversified the research in the field. In the soil erosion study, a particular importance is given to the slopes, showing, apart from their inclination, the exhibition, the uniform or varied appearance, the degree of fragmentation, the degree of erosion. The slope is expressed in percents and it is determinate the length of this slope (declivity), because these characteristics ...

The importance of this topic is derived from the fact that the agricultural production takes place under the influence of a complex of environmental factors and conditions modified in time and space by human intervention, which requires the knowledge of all ecological determinants in terms of their productive capacity in order to choose those more appropriate crops and technological measures for their sustainable management. The purpose of the researches is based on current scientific and practical preoccupations ...

The soil carbon pool plays a major role in the global carbon cycle, in the context of climate change. Small changes in the soil carbon pool can increase or decrease greenhouse gas. One of the ways to mitigate to rise in atmospheric CO2 is sequestration of C by soils. In the SW of Romania, in Timis county, there are 32 industrial zootechnical piggery complexes, with a daily number of 449904 per capita. From these complexes results about 5.7 mill m3/year sewage water, which produced by biochemically transformation 2...

Soil pollution with heavy metals is a major global environmental problem for many ecosystems. The exploitation and processing of non-ferrous ores are one of the most important anthropogenic sources of soils contamination with heavy metals. Romania is a rich country in mineral resources, therefore it has a long history of their exploitation. In this regard, there are several areas for the non-ferrous ores extraction, and one of them is located in the Metaliferi Mountains, where the tradition in gold, silver and oth...

Archaeological objects, such as fortification ramparts and burial mounds are widely spread on the Russian Plain and commonly buried soils have well preserved beneath. For Late Holocene, especially after 2500 BP, the climatic trends for the Russian Plain are still uncertain. Chronosequences of surface soils and soils buried under defensive ramparts of ancient settlements Mukhino, Ksizovo and Degtevoe in the Central Forest-Steppe zone, Lipetsk region was studied. Five defensive earthworks differ in age from 2500 to ...

This study is aimed at evaluation of organic carbon dynamic after compost application. Object of study was heavily degraded Calcaric Chernozem (Vele?ovice) localized in the south region of Moravia in the Czech Republic, during the field experiment 2012?2016. The experiment was established in a sugar-beet growing region, the altitude of this locality was 298 m a.s.l. and the local climate was classified as warm and slightly arid. Values of long-term average annual precipitations and annual temperatures were 490 mm ...

The paper presents results of research on the soil tillage in conservative agriculture systems conducted on different soil types, under different eco-pedological conditions in Romania, in order to substantiate their scientific suitability and the assessment of implementation possibilities in relation to the entire agricultural area. Of the total arable land of Romania, the land suitable to the conservative farming systems are 4984 thousand ha (49.6%), of which, 1567 thousand hectares (15.61%) are plane and slightl...

The development of the agricultural industry and increasing demands for bio-based products adds pressure on natural resources, such as water and soil. Soil is non-renewable resource and provides many ecosystem services, namely food and biomass production, water purification, nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration and habitats for biodiversity. The simultaneous achievement of socio-economic and climate policy objectives is challenging and requires careful management of soils as a pivotal resource. In Latvia, the ke...

The Murmansk region is in the group of the old industrial regions of the Arctic zone. Mining, metallurgical, chemical and other industries have been intensively developing in the region since the 1930s. The main environmental problems of the region include pollution of the environment and waste generation. Staff of the Department of Geoecology and Nature Management of St. Petersburg State University has conducted monitoring studies in the impact area of the Severonickel since 2001. According to the wind rise monit...

The enterprises of the power industry worked by coal are one of the active sources of environmental pollution with heavy metals. The Novocherkassk State Power Station is the biggest power industry in the South of Russia. The atmospheric emissions contain heavy metals including Cu. Copper in soils exists in different chemical forms or types of binding. In environmental studies, the determination of these forms gives more information on trace metal mobility, as well as on their availability and toxicity, in comparis...

The objective of the paper is to emphasize the influence of the reclamation works of sloping land with medium-gradient hills on the field capacity and water distribution on the soil profiles located on the upper, medium and bottom ameliorated slope. The study of retaining water capacity of soils was carried out on a slope with eastern north-eastern exposure of the Ezareni farm. Soil samples were taken in spring of 2017 and 2018, immediately after the snow was melted, from 10 to 10 cm on 100 cm depth. Soil samples ...

The main aim of study is to propose a method to diminish the negative effects of the drip irrigation in dens soil layer (Also called: plowpan, plow sole or tillage pan) on the vegetables growing in high plastic tunnels established on the Cambic Chernozems with fine texture from north ? east of Romania. In gardening in almost all cases the water in soil provided from irrigation, especially by drip irrigation. In this condition, the soil horizon located immediately below the ploughed layer is compacted over time. Th...

According to the Aridity Index (R), at the level of the Eastern Romanian Plain have been identified certain areas of aridity intensity, differentiated from the West to the East as a result of the degree of continentalism increasing, which also led to a specific geobotanic zoning (the forest area, the interference between the forest-steppe, ante-steppe and steppe). The degree of vegetation coverage is an objective indicator of susceptibility of soil and/or land to degradation processes, which are manifested on larg...

Recently the ecosystem services (services) have been increasingly considered in ecology and soil along with ecological (biogeocenotic) soil functions. This approach is justified by the need for a comprehensive assessment of soils, including the economic one. In laboratory and field experiments, the pollution of ordinary chernozems with heavy metals and oil has resulted in oppression of biological properties of soil: activity of catalase and dehydrogenase, abundance of the Azotobacter bacteria, the germination and ...

Arid ecosystems occupy large areas in the world and perform important ecological functions to maintain the biodiversity and stability of natural ecosystems. In this article, we present the results of the research on the change in the activity of catalase and dehydrogenases when the soils of the arid ecosystems of the Southern Russia are polluted by zinc: dark chestnut, chestnut, light chestnut, brown semidesert and sandy soil. Zinc was added to the soil in the amount of 300, 3,000 and 30,000 mg/kg (1, 10 and 100 m...

In the years 2011-2016 the effect of different agronomy practices on changes in topsoil qualities of Chernozem was studied. Soil quality refers to the ability of soil aggregates to resist dispersion. Two soil tillage treatments were established ? disc tillage and fallow. The locality is situated in the Mikulov district in a maize-growing region at an altitude of 350 m. The average annual temperature and precipitation was 9.6 В°C and 524 mm, respectively. Local soils were characterized as medium-heavy Chernozem on ...

The high level of environmental ?ontamination is a stress factor for plants, which causes an integrated nonspecific response aimed at the survival of biosystems due to the formation of protecting mechanisms. The effect of long-term chemical contamination of soils on the growth and structure of reed (Phragmites australis Cav.) roots and stems has been investigated. Soils and plants on monitoring plots in the zone of sediment ponds of chemical plants were studied. The area under study is located in the Severskii Don...

The influence of fertilization with nitrogen (N) at doses of 40, 80, 120, 160 kg/ha and phosphorus (P) at doses of 40, 80, 120, 160 kg/ha was studied in a long-term experiment on a Haplic Phaeozems. The results obtained showed the following: the applied nitrogen doses did not significantly influence the humus content in the soil; simultaneous application of 80-160 kg/ha P and 40-160 kg/ha N generated distinctly and very significant increases in the hummus and total nitrogen content of the soil. Ammonium nitrate ca...

Among the key factors and the physical-geographical conditions of the environment in which plants grow and are harvested, the soil presents a major component, which has the role, on the one hand, of a complex indicator of the evolution of characteristics that determine the growth of plants and, on the other hand, of a depository of the influence of all other conditions and factors, faithfully and continuously recording all the phenomena occurred in a certain place and time. This is illustrated by the level of must...

Our investigation has been focused on establishing the slowing down plant growth at the border of polytunnels. In order to determine the limiting factors of plant growth, we have conducted studies on soil properties, entomofauna and soil mesofauna. The research has been carried out in several polytunnels located in North Eastern Romania (Bac?u, Ia?i, B?rlad, F?lticeni, H?rl?u, T?rgu Frumos, Matca-Tecuci) In the field were developed and characterized soil profiles and samples were taken to determine the states of c...

This study aimed to establish if the dried shredded leaves of Acer platanoides could represent an adequate food for earthworm Eisenia fetida (Savigny 1826) (red wiggler worm). The study was carried out in laboratory conditions and its aims were to determine the influence of this food on three biological parameters of earthworm Eisenia fetida (survival, weight, and prolificacy), and to reveal the changes appearing into the soil in the presence of this earthworm species, fed or not with shredded leaves of Acer plata...

One of the ways to study the evolution of natural environment, in particular, the soil cover is a comprehensive study of soils buried under archaeological sites. Comparative analysis of the properties of paleosols buried in different historical epochs allows us to examine in detail the spatial and temporal dynamics of the natural environment and its components in time. The use of such comparative analysis is possible because the burial of soil under embankments of defensive ramparts, burial mounds and cultural lay...

The aim of his research finds its origins in today?s increasingly scientific and practical preocupation regarding regarding the accumulation of knowledge regarding the characteristics of the natural frame and its local peculiarities, as elements that define Land Fund structure and quality of soils to determine the specifics of the ecological productivity of land and the possible pressure on them. The importance of the subject derives from the fact the theme tackled between the factors and environmental conditions ...

There is a close relationship between the soil characteristics and the parent material. Especially in arid and semi-arid regions where climate and vegetation cover are limited, soil properties are controlled by the parent material. Rock units which have different mineralogical, petrographical and geochemical features representing different parts of the ophiolitic sequence are widely seen in the vicinity of Kahramanmara? province. The ophiolite in the north of Kahramanmara? is generally represented by oceanic crust...

The increasing anthropogenic load has a large impact on the ecological state of the steppe landscape. In particular, the emissions from the automobile transport: heavy metals, oil products and complex organic substances inevitably pollute the territories along the roads. The presence of forest belts in the roadside landscape reduces the negative impact of the traffic flow. The assessment of the consequences of the anthropogenic impact presupposes studying the changes in the physical and chemical properties of the ...

The Homor?ciu River watershed is being a subject to complex phenomena of surface and gully erosion, fluvial erosion, as well as alteration of the vertical and horizontal route of Homor?ciu, generating landslides. The main purpose for which land improvement works were designed and executed in a torrential catchment was to ensure the stability of the slopes, so, to actually ensure the stability of the entire river basin. Through the execution of the soil erosion works on the torrential hydrographic formations it was...

Mesofauna is the most numerous part of soil animals. Mesofauna, along with other soil organisms, can be used as a bioindicator. In addition to the high abundance, tangible biomass and widespread occurrence, the mesofauna is characterized by the ability to respond quickly to changes in the ecosystem, the availability of species identification and the possibility of using the quantitative characteristics associated with the availability of standard conventional isolation methods for comparison. The inhabitants of th...

In this study, total heavy metal distributions in serpentinite soils from T?rko?lu-Kahramanmara? region SE Turkey were investigated. Common ultramafic rock types (dunite, harzburgite, lherzolite, wehrlite) and the secondary alteration products formed by their hydration within the Earth?s crust (serpentinite) are the primary source of serpentinite soils. The characteristics of soils developed on serpentinite and peridotite differ from other soils. Numerous studies have reported that typical heavy metal enrichment i...

Climate change is the leading factor in the development of soil formation. As our studies have shown, not only long-term (for centuries), but also centennial (for decades) climate fluctuations can lead to the noticeable change in the areas and contours of soil ranges in the forest-steppe zone of the central part of Eastern Europe. In order to study the peculiarities of transformation of soil contours in time, the authors carried out the comparative analysis of large-scale (1:50000) soil maps conducted in different...

Municipal wastewater represents interesting source of irrigation water, especially in the situation where shortage of water is a growing problem in arid areas around the world. The potential decrease in soil fertility and expansion of arid areas due to global climate change represents the actual problem in agriculture in both developed and developing countries. The main objectives of the present study were to describe the impact of irrigation by different types of wastewater on content of C and N in soil, leaching...

The study was focused on the intensification of sensitive landscape degradation by tunnel erosion (i) to determine the particularity (ii) of this process in the studied area in order to establish regional sustainable management. The studied site is located in the southern part of Jijia Plain, on a complex slope (faces west) from Bogonos Valley. The Tma is 9.5oC and the Pma is 501.7 mm. The dominant soils are Solonetz, Solonchaks, and Regosols formed in salt-bearing clay deposits. The soil characteristics associate...

The soil is the predominant environmental factor for the accumulation of pollutants, including heavy metals, from where, in time, they enter into the global plant-water-animal-human circuit. Some heavy metals with higher toxicity and mobility such as Cd, Pb and even Zn and Cu can be accumulated in large amounts in the edible part of the plant or animal organs, generating consumer illness, some of the worst. This paper presents two examples of cities in Romania, Cop?a Mica and Baia Mare, where, for a long time, met...

In the small catchment area of RediuValley has initiated some investigation concern to the possibility of practice drip irrigation for horticultural plants. It is well known that soil from slope lands have high susceptibility to erosion processes. Plants grown on slope land are also predisposed to longer droughts as a result of the partial infiltration of water from snow melting and after high intensity precipitation. The studied Rediu water basin has a length of 8 km and a surface area of the 11 km2. Surface unde...

The soil is one of the most complex natural systems of Earth. By its features, the soil reflects the impact of clime, flora, fauna, human activity and topography on bedrock from which the soil was formed during various periods of time, being considered an indicator of environment evolution. The soil degradation means the quantitative and qualitative diminishing of the current potential yielding capacity of soil that contributes to the production of goods and services as a result of some unfavorable evolution, by d...