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Abstract
Several organic matter fractions together with biological and biochemical parameters were measured in a range of intensively farmed soils
in SE Spanish Mediterranean region, which had been abandoned (i.e. not used in agriculture) for different periods of time. These soils were
compared with adjacent natural soils that had never been used for agriculture. There was a general decline of total organic carbon (TOC),
extractable humic substances, water-soluble carbon (WSC) and carbohydrates, microbial biomass and respiration with the time elapsed since
abandonment. There was also a decline in plant cover in the abandoned soils. When a degraded soil was amended with municipal solid waste
at rates of 6.5 and 26 kg m 22 as a potential means of remediation, TOC, humic substances, WSC, microbial biomass and respiration rates
signi®cantly increased but only at the higher rate of amendment. Plant cover was signi®cantly enhanced by both rates of the amendments and
was still present 10 years after the amendment. These data con®rm that agricultural soil abandonment leads to soil degradation and that the
addition of urban waste could be a suitable technique with which to restore their quality. q 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Soil remediation; Organic matter; Dehydrogenase; Hydrolases
Time elapsed since abandonment agricultural Abandoned agricultural soils from the SE Spanish Medi-
terranean region, within the province of Murcia were
,10 years 10±20 years .20 years Natural soil
studied. In an area measuring approximately 4 km 2, 12
Texture type Clay loam Clay loam Clay loam Clay loam sampling sites were chosen to cover intensively farmed
WHC (%) 37.2 ^ 2.1 37.5 ^ 1.5 34.6 ^ 3.8 46.0 ^ 3.0 agricultural soils abandoned for different lengths of time.
PH (1:10) 8.58 ^ 0.2 8.22 ^ 0.31 7.5 ^ 0.1 7.76 ^ 0.9 The soils were grouped according to the time elapsed
EC (dS m 21) 0.69 ^ 0.05 0.79 ^ 0.51 0.83 ^ 0.10 0.25 ^ 0.10 since abandonment (,10, 10±20 and . 20 years). The data
TOC (g kg 21) 11.01 ^ 2.33 6.22 ^ 0.72 5.30 ^ 0.67 20.2 ^ 5.81
referring to the dates when the ®elds were abandoned were
provided by the landowners. The areas were sampled in May
of 1997. All of the soils were clay loams and they were all
changes in soil quality. This is because soil microbial activ- exposed to the same semi-arid climate (rainfall , 250
ity has a direct in¯uence in a ecosystem stability and fertility mm yr 21; annual average temperature 178C).
(Smith and Papendick 1993). Microorganisms play a funda- To ascertain how the soils studied differed from others
mental role in establishing biogeochemical cycles and are from the same area that had not been subjected to human
involved in forming the structure of a soil (Harris and Birch, intervention, a control site supporting natural vegetation
1989). typical from Mediterranean soils (principally Quercus
In this paper, the changes in soil quality taking place in rotundifolia) was included.
agricultural soils, in semiarid conditions at different times Three samples were taken from each of the sampling
after abandonment were evaluated by comparison with sites: each sample consisted of eight subsamples taken
natural soils exposed to the same climate but not from the top 15 cm of soil. The subsamples were mixed,
subjected to intensive agriculture and subsequent aban- homogenised, sieved (,2 mm) and stored at 48C until
donment. We also report results obtained from a ®eld analysed. The main characteristics of the soils are shown
site abandoned 20 years previously and amended with in Table 1.
the organic fraction of a municipal solid waste (MSW)
10 years previous to this study. To monitor soil quality, 2.2. Long-term soil remediation after the addition of the
organic matter fractions (total organic carbon, humic organic fraction of a municipal solid waste
substances, water-soluble carbon and carbohydrates),
microbiological (microbial biomass C, basal respiration) A soil from an area that had been abandoned for 20 years
and biochemical (dehydrogenase, phosphatase, b-gluco- was amended with the organic fraction of a municipal solid
sidase, urease and protease activity) properties were waste (MSW) from Murcia (6.5 and 26 kg m 22). The
measured. organic matter was incorporated into the top 15 cm
using a rotovator. Three plots (one for each treatment
and a control) were set up on an east-facing hill slope
(10% gradient) with a 40-m 2 size. Soil was sampled
Table 2
from each plot 10 years after the amendment. For
Characteristics of the soil and the municipal solid waste use in the soil sampling, eight subsamples were taken randomly from
remediation experiment the top 15 cm of soil, mixed and sieved (,2 mm)
before analysis. The main characteristics of the soil
Soil Municipal solid waste
and MSW are shown in Table 2.
pH (H2O) 7.7 6.8
Electrical conductivity (S m 21) 0.78 5.20
2.2.1. Analytical parameters
Total organic carbon (g kg 21) 5.41 300.1
Humic substances (g kg 21) 1.20 32.3 The total organic C (TOC) content was determined by
Total nitrogen (g kg 21) 0.41 13.1 oxidation with K2Cr2O7 in a concentrated H2SO4 medium
Total phosphorus (g kg 21) 0.58 5.6 and measurement of the excess dichromate using
Total potassium (g kg 21) 8.10 3.2 (NH4)2Fe(SO4)2 (Yeomans and Bremner, 1989). Humic
Water holding capacity (%) 34.9 ±
substances extracted with pH 9.8, 0.1 M sodium pyropho-
Texture type Clay loam ±
Cu (mg kg 21) ,0.1 233 sphate (solid±liquid ratio 1:10) and water-soluble carbon
Zn (mg kg 21) ,0.1 600 extracted with distilled water (1:5 solid±liquid ratio) were
Cr (mg kg 21) ,0.1 345 determined by oxidation with K2Cr2O7 and measurement of
Cd (mg kg 21) ,0.1 3 absorbance at 590 nm (Sims and Haby, 1971). Soluble
Ni (mg kg 21) ,0.1 289
carbohydrates from the water extract were determined by
Pb (mg kg 21) ,0.1 221
the method of Brink et al. (1960).
J.A. Pascual et al. / Soil Biology & Biochemistry 32 (2000) 1877±1883 1879
Table 3
Dehydrogenase and hydrolase enzyme activities in natural soil and abandoned agricultural soils with different time elapsing since abandonment. (INTF:
iodonitrotetrazolium formazane; BAA: N-a-benzoyl-l-argininamide; PNP: p-nitrophenol. Means are indicated ^ standard deviation; LSD: least signi®cant
differences at P # 0:05
,10 years 50.0 ^ 6.2 1.38 ^ 0.61 0.63 ^ 0.12 44.8 ^ 9.1 45.1 ^ 12.0
10±20 years 16.2 ^ 5.1 0.63 ^ 0.63 0.52 ^ 0.20 23.7 ^ 8.1 28.2 ^ 11.2
.20 years 16.8 ^ 4.7 0.75 ^ 0.23 0.34 ^ 0.12 30.9 ^ 8.2 21.5 ^ 10.1
Natural soil 61.2 ^ 4.6 1.40 ^ 0.35 1.60 ^ 0.46 127.0 ^ 22.0 105.1 ^ 20.1
LSD 6.1 0.45 0.18 16.2 16.3
J.A. Pascual et al. / Soil Biology & Biochemistry 32 (2000) 1877±1883 1881
Table 4
Dehydrogenase and hydrolase enzymes activities of abandoned soil 10 years after organic amendment. (INTF: iodonitrotetrazolium formazane; BAA: N-a-
benzoyl-l-argininamide; PNP: p-nitrophenol. Means are indicated ^ standard deviation; LSD: least signi®cant differences at P # 0:05
Low dose 13 ^ 3.1 1.60 ^ 0.25 0.51 ^ 0.22 80.0 ^ 20.0 200.0 ^ 20.6
High dose 42 ^ 3.2 3.23 ^ 0.33 1.32 ^ 0.23 180.0 ^ 30.0 370.0 ^ 20.2
Control 8.5 ^ 2.2 1.00 ^ 0.26 0.35 ^ 0.22 40.0 ^ 15.0 25.0 ^ 12.1
LSD 7.1 0.38 0.18 16.6 16.9
1882 J.A. Pascual et al. / Soil Biology & Biochemistry 32 (2000) 1877±1883
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