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Outdoor shooting ranges provide recreational facilities for millions of people in the world. However, there are many negative effects on the environment and public health arising from this activity.In particular, potential risks are mostly associated with the residential or agricultural use of decommissioned outdoor ranges, where bullets and targets have been deposited during the shooting activity.This is the case of an outdoor shooting range in Campania region (Southern Italy), located in an area of historical and naturalistic value, close to the ancient Etruscan village of Suessola (VII century b.C.). Specifically, the study site is located within an agricultural land declared unsuitable for agricultural and forest-pastoral production by the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Resources, due to an extensive long term soil contamination associated with Pb, Sb, PAHs, dioxins, PCBs and C> 12 hydrocarbons.With the purpose of planning a detailed site characterization of the shooting range area, a preliminary environmental survey was carried out by means of field investigations (ultrasonic penetrometry, electromagnetic induction - EMI - and gamma spectroscopy) and geochemical prospecting.Cone index data, obtained by ultrasonic penetrometer measurements, indicated the presence of a very dense, hard and impenetrable to hand hauger layer, recognised as travertine rock, from 25 to more than 55 cm of depth, and dipping northward.Continuous EMI data and gamma spectroscopy (K %, eU ppm, eTh ppm) parameters were acquired in the field in order to identify homogeneous zones in which further geochemical investigations should have been focused. In fact, apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) map, consistently with the gamma ray dose rate distribution map, allowed to highlight three separated singularity areas N-S oriented.XRF analyses, carried out through a portable analyzer on soil samples collected along soil profiles digged from topsoil until the travertine layer, showed a high contamination by Pb (greater than 1000 mg/kg) and Sb (greater than 30 mg/kg) in the first 15 cm of depth, at a distance of approximately 90 m from the shooting lanes.Chemical analyses were also performed on 32 topsoil samples collected on the basis of a regular grid across the study area. Concentrations of 13 PAHs compounds were determined and the highest values were found close to the firing lanes where in soil a huge amount of shooting target fragments are present.The preliminary results showed how the contamination due to the previous activity in the area produced a spatial distribution of contaminats differentiated on the basis of their source material and their role in the shooting process.

Water scarcity and quality degradation represent real threats to economic, social, and environmental development of arid and semi-arid regions. Drip irrigation associated to Deficit Irrigation (DI) has been investigated as a water saving technique. Yet its environmental impacts on soil and groundwater need to be gone into in depth especially when using brackish irrigation water. Soil water content and salinity were monitored in a fully drip irrigated potato plot with brackish water (4.45 dSm&minus, 1) in semi-arid Tunisia. The HYDRUS-1D model was used to investigate the effects of different irrigation regimes (deficit irrigation (T1R, 70% ETc), full irrigation (T2R, 100% ETc), and farmer&rsquo, s schedule (T3R, 237% ETc) on root water uptake, root zone salinity, and solute return flows to groundwater. The simulated values of soil water content (&theta, ) and electrical conductivity of soil solution (ECsw) were in good agreement with the observation values, as indicated by mean RMSE values (&le, 0.008 m3&middot, m&minus, 3, and &le, 0.28 dSm&minus, 1 for soil water content and ECsw respectively). The results of the different simulation treatments showed that relative yield accounted for 54%, 70%, and 85.5% of the potential maximal value when both water and solute stress were considered for deficit, full. and farmer&rsquo, s irrigation, respectively. Root zone salinity was the lowest and root water uptake was the same with and without solute stress for the treatment corresponding to the farmer&rsquo, s irrigation schedule (273% ETc). Solute return flows reaching the groundwater were the highest for T3R after two subsequent rainfall seasons. Beyond the water efficiency of DI with brackish water, long term studies need to focus on its impact on soil and groundwater salinization risks under changing climate conditions.

In the framework of both characterization plan and sustainable land reclamation, required by the Italian law (D.L.152/2006) for contaminated sites, it is fundamental a detailed understanding of soil processes involved in contaminant dynamics. Indeed, particularly in subsurface horizons, localized metal accumulations can be found in discrete soil features such as coatings, infilling, concentrations, etc. Therefore, they could be considered valuable indicators for migration of PTE (potentially toxic elements), highlighting the interception of PTE by reactive soil phases or their co-precipitation. Here we studied two areas located in south Italy and formerly interested by anthropogenic metal contamination: i) one is a farmland potentially contaminated by Cr, Zn and heavy hydrocarbons, due to illegal burial of tannery sludges and wastes, ii) the other is an industrial area inside an automobile-battery recycling facility interested by disposal of Pb-battery wastes. In the first area, two main different waste materials buried in the soil were identified: a silty-grey colored mud and an organic compost-like. Both materials are found from the surface until a depth variable from 1 to 1.5 meters, but they are easily distinguishable only in the subsurface horizons not affected by tillage. The optical microscopy observation of organic compost-like material (95-105 cm) showed the presence of a chaotic mix of a dark brown material with the yellowish brown soil matrix incorporating angular calcium carbonate fragments, pumices, roots and mineral fragments, along with acicular light grey crystals as secondary minerals. Moreover, soil pores of the yellowish brown matrix commonly hold red fine coatings. This brown chaotic mix was found in presence of a massive greyish sandy soil matrix, crossed by rare angular pores. In the second area, a large accumulation of heterogeneous clasts chaotically mixed with soil in the first 40-45 cm of depth was found. At this depth, a darkened layer of sandy materials was occasionally found. All the identified microsites were analyzed by electron microscopy (SEM) associated with microanalysis (EDX). In soil from the first area, high concentration of Fe (52-56%), P (16-18%) and Ca (12-15%) in correspondence of the dark brown materials, associated with high Cr (1.0 to 1.8%) and Zn (0.9 to 1.5%) content, was observed. Cr was also found in very high concentration (62%) as discrete particles associated with Ca (19%). Low contents of Cr (0.3%) and Zn (0.5) were found associated to the pore coatings, which were generally enriched by Fe (48%) and P (25%). Acicular crystals were frequent and showed basically formed by Ca (61%) and S (38%). Results obtained are very promising giving access to PTE associations induced by soil processes. Further investigation using equipment with lower element detection limits, such as micro XRF and WDS, will move forwards the study of the colloidal transfer of metal pollutants along the soil profile.

Soil water availability is one of the main determinants of crop yield and of adaptation to a changing climate. The aim of this study was to analyse the soil water regime, as determined by climatic conditions, in combination with the intra-specific biodiversity of yield responses of grapevine to water availability. The adaptability of wine-producing cultivars to future climate was thus assessed. In a region of southern Italy the effects of climate evolution on soil water availability were determined. Through a mechanistic model, simulations of the soil water regime were performed over the study area accounting for spatial variability of soil hydrological properties. Two climate cases were considered: reference (1961-1990) and future (2021-2050). Hydrological indicators were calculated from model outputs. For several wine-producing cultivars, hydrological requirements were determined by means of yield response functions to water availability. Cultivar-specific hydrological requirements were then evaluated against hydrological indicators of soil water availability to assess adaptability, i.e. the probability that a given cultivar attains the target yield under a specific combination of climate and soil conditions. The potential spatial distribution of wine-producing cultivars was thus determined. The future climate was characterized by higher mean temperatures and by a decrease in precipitation. The variability of soil types affected cultivars adaptability. For instance, in the alluvial terraces and alluvial plain environments the soil water availability was higher and the hydrological indicators had quite similar values in both climate cases; therefore, the adaptability of the cultivars did not vary from the reference to the future climate in a large part of these environments.

Un approccio integrato (chimico, idrologico, mineralogico e microtomografico) è stato usato per studiare i suoli delle frane (colate rapide di fango) avvenute ad Ischia nell’aprile del 2006. Lo studio è stato condotto su campioni di suolo prelevati da tre profili pedologici rappresentativi descritti nelle nicchie di distacco delle frane. Il principale risultato indica: (i) presenza di suoli vulcanici, molto ricchi di vetro primario, caratterizzati dalla presenza di caolinite a basso ordine cristallino in tutti gli orizzonti e minerali argillosi a reticolo espandibile negli orizzonti più profondi (2CB e 2C), (ii) elevata capacità di ritenzione idrica in tutti gli orizzonti del suolo, (iii) una discontinuità verticale delle proprietà fisiche del suolo. In termini di processi pedogenetici, i suoli del versante nord del M. Vezzi sono molto diversi da quelli descritti per le altre frane catastrofiche della regione Campania (Sarno, Quindici, ecc), ma hanno in comune la presenza, lungo il profilo del suolo, di una marcata discontinuità fisica che certamente contribuisce ai meccanismi di innesco delle frane.

An integrated approach (chemical, hydrological, mineralogical and micro-tomographic) has been used to study the soils of the landslides occurred in the Ischia island (Italy) on April 2006. The study has been carried out on three soil profiles sampled on representative detachment crowns. The main outcome indicates: (i) presence of volcanic soils, very rich in primary glass, characterised by the presence of poorly ordered kaolinite in all horizons and expandable clay minerals only in the deepest horizons (CBb and Cb), (ii) high values of water content near saturation for all soil horizons, (iii) a relevant vertical discontinuity of soil physical properties. In particular, the deep silty horizon (Cb) retains high amounts of water at low matric potential and shows the lowest value of the saturated hydraulic conductivity than the other horizons. The micro-tomographic analysis of this deep horizon indicates a very complex intra-aggregate pore space, which seems an important factor influencing the specific rheological behaviour of this sliding horizon. In terms of pedogenetic processes, the soils of M. Vezzi northern slope are very different from those described for other catastrophic landslides of the Campania region (Sarno, Quindici, etc.), but they have in common the presence, along the soil profile, of marked physical discontinuities surely contributing to the initiation mechanisms of the landslides.

In Italy rapid landslides are the most frequently occurring natural disasters and, after earthquakes, cause the highest number of victims. In this contribution we attempt to prove that there exist a tight connection between the presence of a specific soil type, namely andic soils, and the occurrence of the main catastrophic mudflows and debris flows occurred in Italy in the last decades. The study was performed by means of an integrated pedological and hydrological analysis on the detachment crowns of some of the most important catastrophic mudflows and debris flows occurred in Italy in the last decades and involving/evolving surface soils. The results at both regional (Campania) and National (Italy) scale clearly show that despite the large variability of the environmental settings of the studied sites there are indeed some striking homogeneous soil features in the detachment crowns including (i) soil morphology, (ii) andic features ranging from high to moderate, (iii) high water retention throughout a large range of pressure heads. Results seem to reveal clear cause-effect evidences between andic soils and the investigated catastrophic mudflows/debrisflows; this must be related to the unique physical properties of these soils inducing high landslide vulnerability.

A combination of indirect soil investigation by proximal soil sensors (PSS), based on geophysical (ARP, EMI), physical (Cone Index –CI– by ultrasound penetrometry) and spectrometric (γ-rays) techniques, as well as pedological surveys, was applied in the field to assess the spatial variability of soil pollution and physical degradation in an automobile-battery recycling plant in southern Italy. Five homogeneous zones (HZs) were identified by the PSS and characterized by soil profiles. CI measurements and field analysis showed clear features of physical (i.e., soil compaction, massive structure) degradation. XRF in situ (on profiles) analysis using portable equipment (pXRF) showed Pb, Cd and As concentrations exceeding the contamination thresholds provided by the Italian regulation for industrial land use up to 20 or 100 cm of depth. Hence, a validation procedure, based on pXRF field survey, was applied to the PSS approach used for the HZs identification. High consistency was found between the HZs and the PTEs in the most contaminated areas. Significant negative Pearson correlation coefficients were found between γ-rays dose rate and Pb, Cu, Zn, As and Ni; positive ones were found between γ-rays and autochthonous lithogenic elements (V, Ti, Mn, K, Sr, Nb, Zr, Rb, Th), confirming that higher radionuclide activity correlated with lower pollution levels.

Water deficit limiting yields is one of the negative aspects of climate change. However, this applies particularly when emphasis is on biomass production (e.g. for field crops), but not necessarily for plants where quality, not quantity is most relevant. For grapevine development, mild water stress occurring during specific phenological phases is an important factor when producing good quality wines. It induces the production of anthocyanins and aroma precursors and then could offer an opportunity to increase winegrower's income. A multidisciplinary study was carried out in Campania region (Southern Italy), an area well known for high quality wine production. Growth of Aglianico grapevine cultivar, with a standard clone population on 1103 Paulsen rootstocks, was studied on two different types of soil: Calcisols and Cambisols occurring along a slope of 90 m length with 11% gradient. The agro-hydrological model SWAP was calibrated and applied to estimate soil-plant water status during three consecutive seasons (2011–2013). Crop water stress index (CWSI), as estimated by the model, was related to leaf water potential, sugar content of grape bunches and wine quality (e.g. content of tannins). For both soils, the correlations between quality measurements and CWSI were high (e.g. − 0.97** with sugar; 0.895* with anthocyanins in the grape skins). The model was also applied to explore effects of future climate conditions (2021–2051) obtained from statistical downscaling of Global Circulation Models (AOGCM) and to estimate the effect of the climate on CWSI and hence on grape quality. Effects of climate change on grape quality indicate: (i) a resilient behavior of Calcisol to produce high quality wine, (ii) a good potentiality for improving the quality wine in Cambisol. The present study represents an example of multidisciplinary approach in which soil scientists, hydro-pedologists, crop modellers, plant physiologists and oenologists have integrated their knowledge and skills in order to deal with the complex interactions among different components of an agricultural system.