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In agriculture, biochar (B) application has been suggested as a green technology to reduce nitrate pollution from agricultural origins and improve crop yield. The agronomic impact of B use on soil has been extensively studied, while knowledge of its possible effects on horticultural cultivation is still scarce. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of using biochar in soils treated with two different rates of nitrogen fertilizers on soil properties and nitrogen (N) leachate. This study also investigated the vegetative parameters during the crop growing season of

Remediation interventions based on the native bacteria’s capability to reduce Cr(VI) represent a valid strategy in terms of economic and environmental sustainability. In this study, a bioremediation test was carried out using viable microcosms set with groundwater and deep soil (4:1), collected from the saturated zone of an industrial site in Southern Italy that was polluted by ~130 µg L−1 of Cr(VI). Conditions simulating the potential natural attenuation were compared to the enhanced natural attenuation induced by supplying yeast extract or polyhydroxybutyrate. Sterile controls were set up to study the possible Cr(VI) abiotic reduction. No pollution attenuation was detected in the unamended viable reactors, whereas yeast extract provided the complete Cr(VI) removal in 7 days, and polyhydroxybutyrate allowed ~70% pollutant removal after 21 days. The incomplete abiotic removal of Cr(VI) was observed in sterile reactors amended with yeast extract, thus suggesting the essential role of native bacteria in Cr(VI) remediation. This was in accordance with the results of Pearson’s coefficient test, which revealed that Cr(VI) removal was positively correlated with microbial proliferation (n = 0.724), and also negatively correlated with pH (n = −0.646), dissolved oxygen (n = −0.828) and nitrate (n = −0.940). The relationships between the Cr(VI) removal and other monitored parameters were investigated by principal component analysis, which explained 76.71% of the total variance.

In agriculture, biochar (B) application has been suggested as a green technology to reduce nitrate pollution from agricultural origins and improve crop yield. The agronomic impact of B use on soil has been extensively studied, while knowledge of its possible effects on horticultural cultivation is still scarce. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of using biochar in soils treated with two different rates of nitrogen fertilizers on soil properties and nitrogen (N) leachate. This study also investigated the vegetative parameters during the crop growing season of Brassica oleracea L. var. botrytis. Soil mesocosms were set up to test the following treatments: untreated/control (C); normal dose of N fertilizer (130 kg N ha−1) (ND); ND+B; high dose of N fertilizer (260 kg N ha−1) (HD); and HD+B. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were exploited to assess biochar’s ability to reduce nitrate leaching and enhance soil–vegetative properties. Biochar addition affected the soil chemical properties of the fertilized microcosms (ND and HD). Biochar increased the NH4+ content in HD soil and the NO3− content in ND soil by 26 mg/L and 48.76 mg/L, respectively. The results showed that biochar application increased the marketable cauliflower yield. In ND+B and HD+B, the curd weight was 880.68 kg and 1097.60 kg, respectively. In addition, a small number of nitrogenous compounds in the leachate were quantified in experimental lines with the biochar. Therefore, biochar use improves the marketable yield of horticulture, mitigating the negative impacts associated with the mass use of N fertilizers in agriculture.

Since the last decades of nineteenth century, Italian rivers experienced remarkable morphological changes. Most of the previously investigated river channels were affected by intense human disturbances, which were frequently indicated as the main control factor. In contrast, the Tammaro River (southern Italy) underwent less complex human interventions than other Italian rivers, at least since the recent closure of the Campolattaro Dam in the median zone of the catchment. Thus, it represents a good example to analyze the effects of changes in climate and land use on short-term channel adjustments. In this paper, the channel adjustments experienced by the Tammaro River over a period of ~140 yr (1870–2011) were investigated. The study integrated results from GIS-based geomorphological and land-use analysis, field surveys, and analysis of hydrological data (rainfall, flow discharges, extreme floods). From the last decades of nineteenth century to the mid 1930s, the river experienced widening and a slight increase in transitional channel morphologies (Phase-1). From the 1930s to the late 1990s, the river underwent a marked narrowing and limited to moderate incision (Phase-2). The geomorphological effects of the 1949 extreme flood were superimposed on the Phase-2 response. Finally, from 1990s onwards (Phase-3), the river experienced substantial stability with respect to the changes during the previous phases and different behaviors at the reach scale. During Phase-3, changes in channel morphology were observed a few years after the closure of the Campolattaro Dam. The morpho-evolutionary phases observed for the Tammaro River were very similar, even if slightly diachronous, to those reported in the literature for more anthropized rivers of southern Italy.

Texture is one of the most important physical property of the soils for its influence on other fundamental properties. It is defined according to particle size distribution, that can be accurately measured in laboratory. However, these measurements are costly and very time consuming, therefore valid alternatives are necessary. In last years some statistical techniques have been used to predict textural classification using values of reflectance spectrometry as explicative variables. The estimation of the model parameters can be not too accurate, affecting prediction when there is multicollinearity among predictors. Another issue can be the great number of explicative variables usually necessary to explain the response. In order to improve the accuracy of the prediction in classification problems under multicollinearity and to reduce the dimension of the problem with continuous covariates, in this paper we introduce a new technique, based on classification and dimension reduction methods. We show how the new proposal can improve the accuracy of prediction, considering a problem concerning the textural classification of soils of Campania region.

Soil contamination with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is one the most relevant environmental problem in the SIN (Site of National Interest) of Taranto (Apulia Region, Southern Italy) and the surrounding area. Evaluation of PCB contents and their spatial distribution is an essential pre-requisite for soil remediation. Conventional laboratory analyses, although useful and irreplaceable for a precise and detailed evaluation of these contaminants, are costly and time-consuming, thus not very suitable for investigation over large areas. Then, there is a need to develop/validate alternative, rapid and cost-effective techniques, to use as substitutive of integrative to conventional analytical approaches. In this study, the usefulness of soil colour, based on spectrometric measurements, coupled with regression analysis, was assessed. Until now, never an analogous investigation has been realised. Twenty-eight soil samples, previously collected within an area (the ex-MATRA) highly contaminated by the disposal of oil used as dielectric fluid, composed by a mixture of PCB congeners, were used in the investigation. Colour coordinates in different colour systems were calculated from spectroradiometric measurements over the soil samples. Eighteen PCB congeners (i.e. 12 dioxin-like PCBs and six non-dioxin-like "indicator" PCBs), their sum (PCBs ) and the extractable organic halogen content (EOX)--which is an expression of the total content of halogen in organochlorine compounds, including the PCBs--were determined through conventional laboratory analysis. Simple linear regression analysis was carried out to predict the values of PCBs and EOX on the basis of colour variables. Excellent predictive models (R > 0.80) for PCBs and EOX, as well as for some of the individual PCB congener, resulted from the regression analysis. Thus, spectroscopic determination of soil colour can be considered as a promising tool for a rapid screening of PCBs in contaminated soils. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

The present study focuses on the morphotectonic evolution of the axial portion of the Southern Apennine chain between the lower Calore River valley and the northern Camposauro mountain front (Campania Region). A multidisciplinary approach was used, including geomorphological, field-geology, stratigraphical, morphotectonic, structural, Ar-40/Ar-39 and tephrostratigraphical data. Results indicate that, from the Lower Pleistocene onwards, this sector of the chain was affected by extensional tectonics responsible for the onset of the sedimentation of Quaternary fluvial, alluvial fan and slope deposits. Fault systems are mainly composed of NW-SE, NE-SW and W-E trending strike-slip and normal faults, associated to NW-SE and NE-SW oriented extensions. Fault scarps, stratigraphical and structural data and morphotectonic indicators suggest that these faults affected the wide piedmont area of the northern Camposauro mountain front in the Lower Pleistocene-Upper Pleistocene time span. Faults affected both the oldest Quaternary slope deposits (Laiano Synthem, Lower Pleistocene) and the overlying alluvial fan system deposits constrained between the late Middle Pleistocene and the Holocene. The latter are geomorphologically and chrono-stratigraphically grouped into four generations, I generation: late Middle Pleistocene-early Upper Pleistocene, with tephra layers Ar-40/Ar-39 dated to 158 +/- 6 and 113 +/- 7 ka; II generation: Upper Pleistocene, with tephra layers correlated with the Campanian Ignimbrite (39ka) and with the slightly older Campi Flegrei activity (Ar-40/Ar-39 age 48 +/- 7 ka); III generation: late Upper Pleistocene-Lower Holocene, with tephra layers correlated with the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff (15ka); IV generation: Holocene in age. The evolution of the first three generations was controlled by Middle Pleistocene extensional tectonics, while Holocene fans do not show evidence of tectonic activity. Nevertheless, considering the moderate to high magnitude historical seismicity of the study area, we cannot rule out that some of the recognized faults may still be active. Copyright (c) 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The aim of this work is to present a method for “intelligent”, field-scale digital soil mapping based on visible-near infrared (vis-NIR) reflectance spectroscopy, in combination with statistical analysis (Principal Component Analysis, PCA and geostatistics). The study was carried out in a site of southern Italy. With reference to a 50 × 50 cell size grid, 240 soil samples were collected to a depth of 20–30 cm. The soil was analyzed by vis-NIR reflectance spectroscopy and the data were decomposed by PCA. The first three components (PC1, PC2, PC3) explained 98% of the total variance of the initial data set and therefore they were selected for the assessment of soil spatial variability by variography and kriging (geostatistics). The resulting PC1, PC2 and PC3 kriging maps were interpreted in the light of the information contents on reflectance spectra and compared with the results of a previous, conventional soil survey. The presented strategy seems to be efficient and reliable to use, when mapping soil spatial variability. * Corresponding author