The soil monitoring report of the Region of Sicily

LIFE08 ENV/IT/000428
SOIL MONITORING REPORT OF THE REGION OF SICILY
10 field trips were planned in the Region of Sicily to sample soil in order to analyze them for bulk
density, texture, organic carbon, salinity and exchangeable sodium percentage and in order to
provide information on soil conditions and soil parameters such as presence of soil erosion by water.
22 field trips have been done in collaboration between CRA-ABP, RoS and the University of
Palermo. From 19th to 22nd March 2013, 10 selected pilot farms were surveyed, from 17th to 22nd
March 2014 other 12 selected pilot farms. From 19th to 22nd March 2013 about 200 soil samples were
collected to be analysed either by CRA-ABP and by the Region of Sicily. The MOLE soil sensor was
used to scan the gamma ray decay of the radio active trace elements k40, th23 and u238. The
results of this first monitoring trip have been already published in a scientific paper annexed to the
report and uploaded in the web-site (http://www.soilpro.eu/en/article/2014/5/30/the-potential-of--rayspectroscopy-for-soil-proximal-survey-in-clayey-soils-).
(Priori, S., Bianconi, N., Fantappiè, M.,
Pellegrini, S., Ferrigno, G., Guaitoli, F., Costantini, E.A.C., (2013). The potential of γ-ray
spectroscopy for soil proximal survey in clayey soils. EQA – Environmental quality / Qualité de
l’Environnement / Qualità ambientale, 11 (2013) 29-38.). From 19th to 22nd March 2013 about 100
soil samples were collected to be analysed either by CRA-ABP and by the Region of Sicily. The
MOLE soil sensor was used to scan the gamma ray decay of the radio active trace elements k40,
th23 and u238. The analysis performed on soil sampled during the 22 monitoring sampling trips
were: organic carbon content, texture, bulk density, humidity, soil electrical conductivity, carbonates,
near infrared spectroscopy, humic and fulvic acids determination, enzymatic and biological analysis.
In the figure 1 to 4 and in the table 1 we present here some unpublished results. The results
indicated that there was a significant increment of 0,3762 dag/kg of Soil Organic Carbon (SOC)
content comparing ploughing against minimum tillage, and a significant increment of SOC comparing
the absence of very deep ploughing against the presence. No significant differences of SOC were
found comparing different types of fertilization. The differences were higher comparing the humic and
fulvic fractions of SOC in case of biological and chemical fertilization, but still not significant, which
indicated a slight accumulation of more stable fraction of SOC in the soils biological fertilized.
LIFE08 ENV/IT/000428
1.8
1.7
1.6
SOC (dag kg-1)
1.5
1.4
1.3
1.2
1.1
1.0
Mean
Mean±SE
Mean±0.95 Conf. Interval
0.9
MINIMA
ARATURA
LAVORAZIONE
Figure 1: the effect of tillage type (minima = minimum tillage; aratura
= ploughing) on Soil Organic Carbon content SOC (dag/kg)
1.8
1.6
SOC (dag kg-1)
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
Mean
Mean±SE
Mean±0.95 Conf. Interval
CHIMICA
MISTA
NESSUNA
BIOLOGICA
FERTILIZZAZIONE
Figure 2: the effect of fertilization type (chimica = chemical; mista =
chemical and biological; nessuna = no fertilization; biologica =
biological) on Soil Organic Carbon content SOC (dag/kg)
LIFE08 ENV/IT/000428
1.7
1.6
SOC (dag kg-1)
1.5
1.4
1.3
1.2
1.1
Mean
Mean±SE
Mean±1.95 Conf. Interval
1.0
NO
SI
SCASSO
Figure 3: the effect of very deep ploughing (deeper then 80
cm), presence (SCASSO SI) or absence (SCASSO NO) on
Soil Organic Carbon content SOC (dag/kg)
0.090
0.085
0.080
HA + FA (dag kg-1)
0.075
0.070
0.065
0.060
0.055
0.050
Mean
Mean±SE
Mean±0.95 Conf. Interval
0.045
BIOLOGICA
CHIMICA
FERTILIZZAZIONE
Figure 4: the effect of fertilization type (chimica = chemical;
biologica = biological) on the content of Humic and Fulvic
fractions of Soil Organic Carbon (dag/kg)