The Impact of Organic Amendments on Forest Soil Properties Under Mediterranean Climatic Conditions

Abstract

Restoring the native vegetation is one of the most effective ways to control soil degradation in Mediterranean areas, especially in very degraded areas. In the initial months after afforestation, vegetation cover establishment and soil quality could be better sustained if the soil was amended with an external extra source of organic matter. The goal of this study was to test the effect of various organic amendments on select soil properties [soil organic carbon (SOC), pH, and electrical conductivity (EC)] over a 24‐month period. Four amendments were applied in an experimental set of plots: straw mulching (SM), mulch with chipped branches of Aleppo Pine (Pinus halepensis L.; PM), sheep manure compost (SH), and sewage sludge (RU). Plots were afforested following the same spatial pattern, and amendments were mixed with the soil at the rate 10 Mg ha−1. Organic amendments helped maintain SOC over the initial 6 months after the afforestation. However, only the SM and PM treatments had increased SOC values after 24 months. Decreases in EC were found after the addition of SM, PM, and SH amendments. However, RU increased EC values 24 months after the afforestation. Variations in pH values were not sufficient to establish differences among the various treatments. Furthermore, the results show that forest soils with or without organic amendments responded similarly to the seasonal changes in Mediterranean conditions. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Effects of the European Union Agricultural and Environmental Policies in the Sustainability of Most Common Mediterranean Soils

“…However, in the performed study, the explorations starting point were parcels that were already under the extensive forage system of exploitation and the farmers only adhered to these measures given the economic support that would come to them. In this case, and as demonstrated in the study of [57], the organic carbon content changes very slowly and even slower as the system tends to equilibrium.…”

Effects of wood chip amendments on the revegetation performance of plant species on eroded marly terrains in a Mediterranean mountainous climate (Southern Alps, France)

“…assessed the value of organic amendments on vegetation establishment and soil fertility, as for contaminated areas (Mahmoud and Abd El-Kader, 2015), post-mine soils (Eldridge et al, 2012;Benigno et al, 2013), semi-arid conditions (Hueso-González et al, 2014;Jiménez et al, 2013;Tejada and Benítez, 2014) and eroded soils (Ojeda et al, 2003;Cohen-Fernández and Naeth, 2013;Prats et al, 2013;Hosseini Bai et al, 2014;Donn et al, 2014;Hueso-González et al, 2015). Others have also shown the direct effect of organic mulch in reducing surface runoff (Moreno-Ramón et al, 2014;Cerda et al, 2015;Sadeghi et al, 2015).…”

Achilles heel of environmental risk from recycling of sludge to soil as amendment: A summary in recent ten years (2007–2016)

“…Incorporating sludge into soil will increase the fertility of soil and stimulate growth of certain groups of bacteria and fungi as well as improve aggregation of the soil. According to listed reports, sludge amendment, to some extent, improve biochemical and physical properties of the soil (Hueso- Gonzalez et al, 2014;Joniec and Kwiatkowska, 2014;Mingorance et al, 2014). Beside these functions mentioned above, there is a not accustomed role to be understood in relationship between organic matter and heavy metal.…”

“…Hueso- Gonzalez et al (2014) drew a conclusion that sludge increased the electrical conductivity in amended soil. Surampalli et al (2008) reported that amending too much sludge to soil over a ten year period could occasionally cause groundwater to become contaminated with nitrates.…”