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Soil erosion is one of the biggest environmental problems throughout European Union causing considerable soil losses. Vegetation cover provides an important soil protection against runoff and soil erosion. To this aim, unlike annual crops, perennial plants have the advantage of covering soil for a longer time and reducing soil erodibility thanks to SOM increase due to litter effect and to reduction of soil disturbance (no-tillage). Two experiments were carried out in marginal hilly areas (10% slope) of Southern Italy: i) long-term experiment in which it was evaluated the effect of two fertilization doses (N: 100 and 50 kg N ha−1 from urea) on Arundo donax L. biomass production as well as its effect on soil erosion; ii) three-year experiment to evaluate the soil cover capacity of the giant reed by analysing the plant leaf area index (LAI). Results of the two experiments showed a good soil protection of Arundo donax L. that reduced soil losses by 78% as compared to fallow and showed soil erosion reduction not different from permanent meadow thanks to the soil covering during the period with the highest rain erosivity and to the reduction in soil erodibility. The protective effect of Arundo donax L. from rain erosivity was also confirmed by LAI analysis that showed a good soil covering of giant reed in the above mentioned period, even during the initial yield increasing phase following crop transplant. According to biomass yield, from the fifteen year of cultivation in a low fertile inland hilly area of Southern Italy, giant reed was characterized by a yield-decreasing phase that resulted postponed as compared to more fertile environments thus ensuring a longstanding soil protection from soil erosion. In addition, the higher nitrogen fertilization dose (100 kg ha−1 of N) allowed interesting biomass yield as compared to the lower dose (50 kg N ha−1) and kept constant SOC along the year of experimentation due to an improved contribution of leaf fall, root exudates and root turnover to soil. o.

For defining a soil as contaminated and to be remediated, it is necessary to make a risk analysis for assessing the risks for human health and environment and the exposure pathways to contaminants. The tools currently available, consider only the direct risks for people who frequent a residential or commercial/industrial site, but the risks related to agricultural soils are not laid down in Italian legislation. In this last case, the risks for human health can be defined as indirect since they are due to the uptake of contaminants by the food crops and to the consequent dietary exposure of population. Therefore, the risks of contamination of food chain are represented only by the bioavailable fraction of potentially toxic ele- ments (PTEs) that can be absorbed by crops, rather than by the totalcontent of PTEs into the soil that often is not mobile. Once environmental characterization and risk analysis allow classification of an agricultural site as contaminated, then its remediation must be undertaken, but it must aim to progressively reduce the bioavailable portion of PTEs. In this regard, the use of environmentally friendly techniques based on the use of natural resources (e.g. vegetation and soil microflora) resulted the most suitable both for the reduced costs and for the positive environmental impact. Indeed bio and phytoremediation allow protecting soil and its ecosystem services. The main steps of ecocompatible remediation of contaminated soils carried out in the Ecoremed projects are reported in this volume from the detailed geophysical and geochemical characterization, and the assessment of ecological and dietary risks, to the agriculture-based techniques for remediation and to the evaluation of the impact on ecosystem services of such soils.

Data on depth distribution, length at maturity, length-weight relationships and size structure of Rondeletiola minor and Sepietta oweniana in the Strait of Sicily are given.

The results of experiments carried out in the National Interest Priority Site (NIPS) Agro Aversano-Litorale Domizio in Campania (southern Italy) within the framework of the project ECOREMED (LIFE11 ENV/IT/275) are used as a basis for reporting the main threats to soil fertility. In this paper we focus on soil degradation and contamination due to illegal waste disposal and burning, widespread phenomena in the NIPS in question, evaluating different options for soil remediation with agriculturebased techniques in light of their impact on the ecosystem services of soils. Bioremediation and assisted phytoremediation are recognized as the best options for protecting human health and enhancing environmental quality, maintaining agricultural soil functions with the application of relatively low-cost protocols. The purpose of agriculture-based remediation techniques is threefold: i) make the area in question safe, interrupting exposure to contaminant pathways through ecological structures such as dense reed plantations or dense turfgrass combined with high-density tree rows for reducing ground wind speed; ii) remediation, aiming to reduce the bioavailable fraction of potentially toxic elements (PTEs); iii) environmental restoration, to improve environment and landscape quality of degraded, but not contaminated land. The technical steps for carrying out phytoremediation projects and the results of their application are described for the following case studies monitored in Campania: i) agricultural soil contaminated by bioavailable Cd (San Giuseppiello site in Giugliano); ii) industrial soil heavily contaminated by Pb and Cd (Ecobat site in Marcianise); iii) agricultural soils potentially contaminated by non-bioavailable PTEs and organic pollutants (Giugliano and Trentola-Ducenta sites); iv) physically degraded soil (Teverola site). In all the case studies phytoremediation proved a low-cost tool to reduce risks for human health and enhance environmental quality, whilst maintaining soil fertility and improving ecosystem services.

potentially toxic elements (PTEs) to assess the relationship between spontaneous vegetation and pollution levels, the potential risks for biological communities and ecosystems, and the potential of native plant species for phytoremediation. PTE concentrations had negative effects on plant biodiversity, as determined through changes in the Shannon index, Pielou evenness index and species richness. Poaceae and Asteraceae were moderately affected by soil contamination, while PTE levels had a negative effect on the other species groups. Cadmium had the greatest effect on plant species diversity, followed by zinc and then lead. The ecological risk index showed a mean value of 4924, corresponding to a very high risk in most plants. Target PTEs for phytoremediation were Cd (3813 on average) followed by Pb (937 on average) contributing to the ecological risk index, respectively from 42 to 81% and from 11 to 24%, in spite of the much higher concentrations of Pb. The most frequent species were Holcus lanatus subsp. lanatus and Silene latifolia that showed good adaptability to contamination, growing in very high-risk areas. S. latifolia reported high concentrations of Tl both in shoot and in roots, at levels typical of hyperaccumulator species. High values of bioaccumulation (BACS, BACR) and translocation factors (TF) confirmed that this species may be considered a hyperaccumulator of Tl. Holcus lanatus and Silene latifolia proved the most suitable species respectively for Cd and Pb phytostabilization and can be used in association for soil cover during the summer when soil resuspension is generally more intense and for protecting groundwater from pollutant leaching.

In the last decades the increased N-input and the large use of irrigation, have greatly increased N2O emissions from croplands (IPCC, 2007). Scanty data are available about N2O effluxes from irrigated croplands of Mediterranean countries, despite the extension of these areas and their potential as high N2O emitters via bacterial denitrification and/or nitrification, due to the combined effect of irrigation and high soil temperature, especially after N fertilization (Sanchez et al., 2001; Vallejo et al., 2004). Indeed irrigation appears to play a key role in the evolution of N2O from cropped soil under Mediterranean condition and recently it has been underlined (Sánchez-Martín et al., 2008) that the reduction of the amount of water applied and the optimization of its distribution into the soil profile can effectively mitigate N2O emission from Mediterranean irrigated cropland The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of sub-optimal irrigation scheduling on nitrous oxide emissions from the soil of two Mediterranean irrigated croplands under different N-input. Mineral N availability played a key role in the evolution of N2O from soil, as evidenced by the total N2O-N emissions - which were more than doubled in BC compared with TL. Overall low values for N2O efflux from soil and N2O emission factor were detected at both sites, despite the highest N input supplied at BC. Fhese findings confirm that a proper management of irrigation can restrain N losses from Mediterranean agroecosystems, reducing N2O production by soil microbial processes.

The increase in the soil organic carbon (SOC) content has well-acknowledged positive effects on the soil chemical, biological and physical fertility. Recent global warming concerns have recommended maintaining and restoring soil carbon as a measure to mitigate rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration (Follett, 2001; Lal, 2008). Organic fertilization is one of the most diffused practices that increase the SOC content (Smith, 2004), and composting park or municipal solid wastes has become an important way to recover organic matter from wastes (Gigliotti et al., 1996; Centemero, 2007). The objective of this paper was to assess the potential of compost fertilizer addition to influence the maize crop yield and the soil carbon sequestration, compared to green manuring and minimum tillage. Preliminary results are here discussed. Preliminary results suggest that compost supplied at low-medium rates may exert a negative effect on maize growth, especially in poorly-aerated soils, probably owing to the immobilization of N. An increase in the SOM content could not be detected after the first applications to the soil.