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Agricultural land abandonment represents a significant landscape-forming process affecting vegetation structure, soil stability, and the functionality of agroecosystems. This paper focuses on the identification and mapping of agricultural unused land (AUL) in the cadastral territory of Velke Trencianske Stankovce (Trencin district, western Slovakia). The analysis is conducted on 371 state-owned parcels and parcels with unknown or unidentified ownership managed by the Slovak Land Fund, covering a total area of 98.0...

Arbuscular mycorrhiza, a widespread mutualistic association between fungi of the phylum Glomeromycota and plant roots, plays an important role in improving plant nutrition and tolerance to environmental stress. Through this symbiosis, fungi supply mineral nutrients and enhance resistance to drought and pathogens, while receiving assimilates from the host plant. This study was conducted on a commercial plantation of blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) in southwestern Slovakia. The plantation was inoculated with mycorr...

Soil resilience is known as the ability to resist and recover from exposure to contaminants, climate change, erosion, anthropogenic activities and intensive use of resources, in order to maintain vital processes such as nutrient cycling, water retention, and structural stability. To remediate the affected soils, several integrated strategies, including bioremediation, hydrological management and the use of amendments can be applied. The usage of natural amendments represents a sustainable path for improving soil p...

Accurate estimation of soil organic carbon (SOC) is critical for carbon accounting in high-altitude ecosystems, where variability in soil properties challenges the use of standardized conversion factors. This study assesses the validity of the Van Bemmelen conversion factor (1.724) for estimating SOC from soil organic matter (SOM) across contrasting Andean ecosystems within the upper Pastaza River watershed in Ecuador, with a primary focus on paramo. A total of 109 soil samples were collected at 30 cm depth using ...

The recurrence of droughts increased in the past decades and is foreseen to intensify affecting larger areas than today. As agriculture is among the economic sectors most vulnerable to climate change, with drought representing a key challenge for crop productions, this study assesses the probability of yield loss for major Romanian crops such as, winter wheat, maize, sunflower, grape, in response to varying intensities of drought. To achieve this, a probabilistic modeling framework was constructed, integrating the...

The study is based on an assessment of the level of land disturbance by full-scale military operations and the emergence of land use deficits in certain territories. It has been determined that military operations cause disturbance of the earth's surface in the form of mechanical, physical and chemical changes in the soil, the negative consequences of which can be felt for decades. Territories that have been subjected to military operations become dangerous for the population for a long time and unattractive for i...

The health of soil, groundwater, air and the entire environment of inhabited areas depends largely on the intensity of agriculture and its systems. In order to achieve the desired quantity, quality and economic profitability, it is necessary to apply large amounts of unnatural, often chemical substances in the production process in order to achieve the desired and profitable harvests. These are mainly industrial fertilizers, which, when used for a long time, can contaminate all components of the environment. Altho...

To enable effective operational decisions and combat mission execution on the battlefield during war, access to reliable, accurate, and timely data is essential. We propose utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to analyze extensive datasets, as modern military operations rely on accurate spatial terrain mapping for command, control, communication, and coordination. This study introduces a terrain analysis approach tailored to military vehicle movement, focusing on assessing ground resilience to vehicle tr...

The paper presents the results of research undertaken in 2023, in the perimeter of the Stationary for the Study of Soil Erosion located on the left side of the Slanic Hydrographic Basin in Buzau county, with a slope of 15-20 %. Within the station are located 12 plots for the control of soil surface erosion cultivated differently. The amount of soil washed away by torrential rains during the growing season was different depending on the degree of soil cover given by agricultural crops [11] . From the plot cultivate...

The first attempts to explain the phenomena of soil formation and evolution were based on one or more pedogenetic factors, which results in the fact that there are a wide range of concepts and formulations in this regard. It is also specified that in the formation of the soil cover, in addition to pedogenetic processes, some geological processes also take place, which interfere with the formation of the soil cover and which are considered pedogeological processes. A thorough analysis of the specific and combined a...

Biochar application to agriculture soil has been recommended as a strategy to reduce increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and mitigate climate change. Significant suppression of soil CO2 emissions following biochar amendments has been demonstrated in short-term laboratory incubations by several authors, yet evidence from long-term field trials has been contradictory. This study investigates whether biochar addition to the soil could suppress soil CO2 emission under field conditions after 6-th...

In the present work the researches were carried out between 2017-2020, in the Tata Valley watershed, which has an area of 16.15 sq. km and administratively belongs to Dambovita county, Romania and is located between latitudes of 45o9’ N-45o15’ N and longitudes 21o21’ E-25o27’ E. The methodology used for processing the basic data from 2017-2020, was the adaptation of the USLE equation (Universal Soil Loss Equation) to the specific environmental and anthropic conditions in Romania and called ROMSEM - Romanian Soil E...

In this paper we present the frequency ratio method, a commonly used technique for designing a landslide risk map for the Muscel catchment area, based on the quantitative association between the landslides inventory and their causative factors. The river basin of the Muscel stream is located on the right bank of the Dambovita river, in the north of the region with the same name and due to geological and geomorphological conditions, but also due to anthropogenic activity, it was and still is affected by landslides....

Soils of flat watersheds under shelterbelts and on adjacent arable lands on three areas with different climatic conditions were studied. The study area is a forest-steppe of the central part of the East European Plain (Belgorod oblast, Russia). In all areas chernozems with 60-80 cm dark-grey (reached by organic matter) part of profile (A1 + A1B), are developed. The parent materials are loess-like loams and clays. The width of all shelterbelts is 30 meters; they are oriented from south to north; the age of the shel...

Landslides and torrential erosion are among the most common geomorphological processes manifesting in the Romanian Subcarpathians, with a very high impact on the territory. The hydrographic basin of the Rau Alb stream, a left tributary of the Dambovita River, located at the western extremity of the Subcarpathians of Curvature, in the Ialomita Subcarpathians, is subject to complex processes of degradation by surface erosion, deep erosion and landslides. The research works for the analysis of morphodynamic processes...

The long-term activity of a polymetallic ore mine in the region of Tarnita-Suceava, Romania, has resulted in an enormous amount of waste material, collected in tailing dumps and ponds. The impact of the waste materials on the surrounding ecosystem and human health are far to be fully estimated. The deposited waste has exerted negative impact on the environment, especially on the soils that host dumps and drainage waters. Heavy metals, including arsenic also interfere with the metabolism of plants, and reduce the n...

In the present work the researches were carried out in the Tata Valley watershed, which has an area of 17 km2 and administratively belongs to Dambovita county, Romania. The purpose of the study was to estimate the soil losses for a single storm event in the Tata Valley watershed using the MUSLE method and G.I.S. The identification of the erosion processes and the estimation of the quantity of eroded material is extremely important both for the elaboration of the risk maps, as well as for the analysis of the surfac...

In the mountain zone, the slope exposure plays important role in the process of soil formation. The aim of the work was to assess the impact of slope exposure on the soil properties of agricultural terraces in the Eastern Caucasus. A study of soil properties of agricultural terraces in the mountainous zone of the Eastern Caucasus (Dagestan, Russian Federation) was carried out. The purpose of the study was to compare the soils of agricultural terraces on the slopes of the northern and southern exposure. The content...

The research papers for the present study were carried out in the 2018-2019 period in the river basin of the Muscel stream, a tributary of the Dambovita river, in Romania, using the empirical method of weighted overlay of thematic maps and GIS, resulting the hazard maps considering landslides which occurred on the scale of the studied drainage area. For the application of the research method, the necessary data regarding the digital terrain model, the land cover with vegetation and the degree of urbanization, were...

An experiment of different application rates of biochar and biochar combined with nitrogen fertilizer was conducted at experimental field on a Haplic Luvisol located in Nitra region of Slovakia during the growing season of maize in 2015. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of biochar and biochar combined with nitrogen fertilization on the production of CO2 emissions from the soil. The treatments consisted of 0, 10 and 20 t ha of biochar applied in 2014 (B0, B10 and B20) and combined with 0, 160...

A global climate change caused by anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O) is one of the most important environmental problems in the latest human history. Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agriculture reach approximately 70% of annual global N2O emissions and approximately 75% of all N2O emissions in Slovakia. Cultivated soils are the main source of N2O in terrestrial ecosystems and therefore its mitigation from agriculture is urgently required. The studies on the effect of biochar application ...

Approaching the issue of fertilizers with organic substances of the bio stimulants class is a difficult task as the concept is far from complete elucidation. As concerned the use in agriculture of these products, legislation, research, and experimental activities are still incipient. Any substance or microorganism applied to plants with the purpose to enhance nutrition efficiency, abiotic stress, and/or crops quality features regardless of their nutrient content can be generally defined as a product with bio stimu...

The research was carried out in Tata Valley watershed, Dambovita region, Romania, which is a tributary of the Ialomita river. The objectives of this study were to estimate the annual soil loss by applying remote sensing data and the main data for the Tata Valley watershed and obtain a spatial representation of the results using GIS techniques. The method used to determine the soil erosivity and total eroded soil quantity in Tata Valley watershed, is the RUSLE + GIS technique, adapted to the specific conditions of ...

The industrial activity of the last century has led to the severe environment pollution, especially in the areas where mining and smelting processes were involved. The impact of atmospheric emissions from the metallurgical plants was detected at great distances from the emission source. The main units for the processing of non-ferrous ores (in Romania) were located in Baia Mare (Maramures county ? MM), Copsa Mica (Sibiu county ? SB) and Zlatna (Alba county ? AB). In the Alba and Maramures counties there was and st...

Economic activities in Jiu Valley, as integrated components of major geographical entities, are constantly degrading the area?s natural heritage by depositing large quantities of waste products resulted from coal extraction and preparation, abandoned buildings and poorly refurbished sites. In this respect, the current paper addresses these areas by identifying and classifying the potentially contaminated/contaminating industrial sites in Eastern Jiu Valley, depending on the type of activity carried out on site. Th...

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...

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...

The study of the soils buried beneath the Bronze Age kurgan mounds in the desert steppe zone of the southeastern part of the Russian Plain allowed establishing the features of the soil evolution and climate dynamics in the 3rd millennium BC. According to calibrated 14C data, the kurgans were constructed during period 2800-2100 cal yr BC: (Catacomb and Lola archaeological cultures). Morphological and chemical properties of buried soils and modern surface soils indicate that during the previous period (the end of Ea...

Petroleum and its derivatives are the main source of energy for industry and domestic consumption. Petroleum hydrocarbons are based on multiple carbon bonds that develop intense and raised complex structures when they bound with other characteristic molecules, hence the latest hydrocarbons have variety of forms and consist of short, medium and long aliphatics, aromatics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons of different proportions. The accidental release of these hydrocarbons into the environment represents a majo...

Urban sprawl and land abandonment are the major threats to agricultural areas, as highlighted the European Environment Agency. Bucharest metropolitan area is a proposed metropolitan area project, aiming to reach 2700 km2 in an intermediate stage. This area would include Bucharest City and other 62 surrounding LAUs from Ilfov, C?l?ra?i and Giurgiu Counties. The paper aims to assess the dynamics of soil sealing and soil landscape patterns and to evaluate soil productivity lost due to the urban sprawl within the Buch...

One of the important factors affecting nutrient uptake by the root system of the plants includes soil reaction. Increased soil acidity may adversely affect the use of biogenic nutrients, such as phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulphur and molybdenum. In soil, nutrients are immobilized to insoluble forms. Although their amount in soil may be sufficient, the plants cannot obtain the optimal quantities, causing a decrease in the yield or production quality. On the other hand, in the metabolism of plants, a...

Up to 50% of arable land is threatened by water erosion in the Czech Republic. Annually, water erosion causes billions of dollars of damage. It is especially reflected in the reduction in value of agricultural land and yield of the erosion damaged soil. In erosion affected areas, the soil is washed off and depleted of the finest particles binding nutrients and contributing to the formation of humus. In our study, we include five effects of water erosion on the content and quality of humus in chernozem, in topsoil,...

Ensuring the stability of liquid rate represents a major requirement imposed for sprinkling machinery. This important objective can be materialized only by equipping sprayers with advanced automatic adjustment systems, in order to correlate the two work parameters: displacement velocity and liquid flow. An effective correlation of these parameters can be achieved using adjustment systems of the electronic type. A such adjustment system can not operate efficiently without an adequate comparator circuit. It is also ...

Widespread use of electronic regulators, in order to correlate the working parameters at sprinkling machines imposes making a study to assess the performances of the regulation process in working conditions. To achieve this objective were pursued the following aspects: adequate choice of system components; the achievement in own conception of a electronic regulator for automatic correlation of liquid flow with displacement velocity; choosing and preparing a sprinkling machine on which will be installed the achieve...

Water erosion is not only agricultural but also environmental problem. Water erosion washes off the finest particles that bind nutrients and other substances. These nutrients are piled up in the accumulation part of the slope. In the worst case, they are completely washed off the farmland, i.e. into water reservoirs and water courses. Additionally, damage to soil and its depletion of nutrients is reflected in lower yields. The aim of our study is to determine the effect of water erosion on total nitrogen content a...

Depletion of soil fertility due to decrease in soil organic matter content represents a considerable problem in both developed and undeveloped countries. This paper deals with the comparison of compost (Cp) and mineral nitrogen fertilizer (NF) application on selected soil parameters which indicate state of soil environment, its health and quality. The main objectives of this study were (a) to investigate influence of Cp and NF application on total nitrogen (TN) and carbon (TC) content in soil (b), to determine pos...

The aim of this study was to determine the extent of heavy metal accumulation in soils and potential risks of metals distribution in fruits, leaf and shoots in apple trees with rootstock M9 grown near smelter and mining areas of the Drenas, Kosovo. Individual soil samples were collected from each plant to assess metal content in the immediate plant environment. Samples of soils, fruits, leaf and shoots have been analyzed for heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Ni, As, Zn, Cu, Cr and Fe) using atomic absorption spectrophotometry...

An accurate simulation of snowmelt infiltration rates for an area of Bucegi Mountains, during spring thaw, has been made using the snow routine of HYDRUS- 1D. The model is based on coupled flow and heat transport in the vadose zone. The snowmelt routine is based on degree day concept. As boundary conditions are used, surface water and heat fluxes can be calculated from the energy balance equation. The variables of the surface energy balance equation and melt rates can be calculated using meteorological data: air t...

Along the whole history, the human civilizations were depended mainly on the soil fertility and further on the ecosystem well function and its appropriate characteristics. These functions (as natural processes occurring in ecosystems) depend on its structure (on biotic and abiotic constituents respectively) and provide ecosystem services. The paper emphasized the way that one of the ecosystem services, essential to our health and well being, as the пїЅregulation of the nutrients and their uptake? arises from the i...

The objective of the paper was to emphasize the influence of the biological activity on the structural improvement of the compacted clayey pedogenetic horizons of two Chromic Luvisols, by the organic matter bioturbation. The researches were performed on two Chromic Luvisols from Romanian Plain, where the mean annual temperature is 10.5oC and the mean annual precipitation is 548 mm. The analytical data showed that clay content increased from the top layer of both soil profiles (28.9% in P1, and 29.8% in P2), to Bt ...

B?r?gan Plain, located in south-eastern part of Romania, is bounded in the south and east by the Danube meadow, in the North, by the Siret river lower meadow, in the west, is bounded, on the north to the south, by the Buz?u river meadow, S?rata valley, ObпїЅr?ia Mosti?tei, Pas?rea valley, DпїЅmbovi?a river, and finally the Arge? river meadow, this limit (particularly those starting from the south of C?lm??ui river) overlaps the interference between the forest-steppe and the restricted forest formations. From a cli...

The studies on the effects of winter wheat cultivation technology and spring barley varying degrees of intensity on productivity, carried out in All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Agriculture and Soil Protection, allowed a detailed analysis of the positive and negative aspects of these technologies usage, and also they let us define that when the intensification indicators increase the productivity of studied crops increases as well, together with simultaneously reducing of productivity varying on years....

Dynamic of the degradation processes is a complex issue in the light of the factors that converge to this, which can be direct, of natural origin, as a consequence of climate change or global or local climatic anomalies and are relatively easy to identify, as regards the characteristics of topography, vegetation coverage, soil etc. to which are added indirect factors, predominantly anthropogenic, that acts like a catalyst stimulating the degradation of soil resources and its attributes that sustain life. B?r?gan P...

The paper presents a description of materials and available data as well as research methods which permitted the development of a complex data base allowing for the analysis of the spatial variability of soil properties in Poland. A data base was developed for the Czermin commune with the application of data on soils available in the State Surveying and Cartographic Resource database. Field and laboratory research were carried out, as well as spatial analyses. They provided the basis for the preparation of a map o...

Carrot culture is highly dependent on soil, silty-clay or silty soils with high permeability and free of weeds are preferred. Weed control is a very important part of the production technology for plants. Chemical weed control has been found to have some advantages of which we mention: it is less labor-intensive, increases productivity, reduces the number of passes on farmland and increases production. The main purpose of this paper was to provide the most efficient solution for weeds control in carrot crops, usin...