Soil Degradation Processes and Extreme Soil Moisture Regime as Environmental Problems in the Carpathian Basin

Abstract

Sustainable land use and rational soil management, including an up-to-date soil moisture control requires continuous actions. This permanent control may prevent, eliminate or at least reduce undesirable soil processes and their harmful economical/ecological/environmental/social consequences; utilizing the unique soil characteristic, resilience, may satisfy the conditions for the “quality maintenance” of this “conditionally renewable” natural resource. Control can be efficient only on the basis of comprehensive risk assessment, impact analysis and exact prognosis. These have to be the main research priorities! The successful prevention, elimination or moderation of undesirable soil degradation processes and extreme moisture regimes can be efficient only in a well-coordinated multidisciplinary international cooperation in the Carpathian Basin. The realization of the sustainability concept in the rational land use and soil management gives reality for a better life: healthy, good quality food, clean water and pleasant environment.

The Significance of Soil in Watershed Management

“…Water resources are limited (Pálfai, 2000;Somlyódy, 2000;Várallyay, 2006a). The average 450-600 mm annual precipitation shows extremely high, irregular and hardly predictable territorial ( Fig.…”

“…Under the given environmental conditions it is an important fact that soil is the largest potential natural water reservoir (water storage capacity) of the Carpathian Basin and the Hungarian Plains (Várallyay, 2004a(Várallyay, , 2005b(Várallyay, , 2006a. The 0-100 cm soil layer may store about 25-30 km³ water, which is more than half of the average annual precipitation (500-600 mm ~ 50-55 km³/year).…”

Method development for the elemental analysis of organic rich soil samples by microwave plasma atomic emission spectrometry

“…The chemical composition of soil is also an important parameter and can indicate pollution both from natural and anthropogenic origin. Several essential elements are present in soil which are vital for the terrestrial flora and fauna (such as Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn) however, above the threshold limit, they have a toxic effect [25][26][27][28]. There are also toxic elements which have no essential functions to living organisms (such as Al, Pb, Cd, Hg) therefore considered as pollutants in soils [19,24,[29][30][31][32][33].…”

Catabolic FDA microbial activity as site-dependent monitoring tool in soils of an industrial town

“…Soils are considered as universal renewable natural energy sources, "doing their job at any time on their own capacity". Such desired tolerance of the soils, however can be fi nished considering that they are "living systems" Várallyay [13] and Kádár [6]. The disappeared or declining resilience affects, or will affect food safety and human health Biró and Beczner [2], Among those microbial parameters, which refl ect some of the functioning of the soils can be used as appropriate microbial monitoring tools, shown in previous study by Biró et al [3], Vályi et al [14].…”