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Preface
Until recently, soil science did not have an established role in
environmental studies. A dramatic change took place in our thinking about the
use of natural resources. There is an increased awareness of
ecosystem health, a desire to maintain the quality of the
environment, and attention paid to the rate of resource consumption
even in developing countries. Historically agriculture has been a major contributor to
environmental degradation, but under improved systems of land
management, agriculture could become a major partner for
environmental solutions.Soil
degradation is an important process affecting the wealth of nations,
food security, and impacting the livelihood of every person on our
planet. It has adverse impacts on land productivity, food security,
climate change, environmental sustainability, and thus the quality
of life. This Conference was designed to provide a forum for
discussion on factors and causes of land degradation and its impact
on land use and the society. Possible solutions were highlighted
using currently available data and technology.
Nearly 1.4
billion ha of vegetated land in developing countries are subject to
land degradation, resulting in moderate or severe decline in
productivity, known as soil impoverishment. About 9 million ha in
the world have had their original biotic function fully destroyed.
In Africa
alone about 490 million ha are affected by various forms of
degradation.
Based on existing information, international programs and
conventions are now placing more emphasis on soil degradation and
desertification than ever before. Planet earth is being hurt and
soil science is one of the sciences that can help to provide
remedial technologies.
Interest in land quality is increasing. This is due
to the importance of land quality to ecosystem functions and global
life support systems. Increasing opportunities exist to mobilize
monitoring and evaluation activities under international
conventions, particularly the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification, the Convention on Biodiversity, the Framework
Convention on Climate Change, the various agreements on
International Waters, and the increased interest from the OECD to
develop comprehensive agro-environmental indicators. Although these
conventions do not provide funding, they are useful instruments to
better coordinate activities.
This special issue contains a range of
papers presented at
the
Fourth International Conference
on Land Degradation, Cartagena,
Murcia, Spain, September 12nd–17th , 2004. The main topics include:
1)
Geographical perspectives.
2) Historical and
archaeological perspectives of soil degradation.
3) Linkages with global
issues.
4) Quantifying land
resources stresses.
5) Managing land quality
to reduce degradation.
6) Human impact on land
degradation.
7) Policy and legal
framework.
8) Rehabilitation of
degraded land.
We believe that the book provides
information for researchers, educators, graduate students, policy
makers, practitioners, and advocates interested in land degradation
and sustainable use of soils.
Angel Faz
Cano
Ahmet R.
Mermut
Joselito
Arocena
Roque Ortiz
Silla
(Chief Editors)
Contents
Preface
Chapter I
History, Perspectives and Cases of Land Degradation
Hari
Eswaran, Paul Reich, and Taweesak
Vearasilp
Perspectives on Desertification During the
Anthropocene
1
Erhan Akça, Yılmaz Bal, Selim Kapur and
Hari Eswaran
Human-Induced Late Holocene Degradation of the
Asi
(Orontes) Delta,
Samandag,
Southern Turkey
17
Saturnino De Alba, María Alcázar,
Carlos
Lacasta
and Gerardo Benito
Water Erosion on Agricultural Lands in a Mediterranean
Semiarid
Climate in
Central Spain
27
Dora Maria Carmona, Ángel Faz Cano and Joselito M. Arocena
Accumulation of Organic Carbon from Pig Manure Added to
Surface Soil in Mined Areas, SE Spain
37
Endla Reintam, Jaanika
Puust and Jaan Kuht
Soil Compaction and Nutrient Uptake in an Agroecosystem, Estonia
53
Roque Ortiz
Silla, Pura Marín Sanleandro, Antonio Sánchez Navarro,
Ana García Navarro and María José Delgado Iniesta
Evaluation of Salinity in the Fluvisols of the Vega Baja Region,
SE Spain
63
Attanda
Mouinou
Igué
Impacts of Land Use on Chemical and Physical Characteristics of Soils
in Collines,
Benin
71
José Alberto Acosta, Ángel Faz and Silvia Martínez Martínez
Evaluation of Land Degradation in an Area Affected by
Different Management Systems, SE Spain
81
M. Ángeles Muñoz García, Ángel Faz Cano
Soil-Plant Conservation in the Vicuna (Vicugna
vicugna) Habitat
in Apolobamba,
Bolivia:
Biodiversity in
High Altitude Grasslands
97
Gerhard Gerold
Different Land Use Impacts in Tropical Rainforests
– Soil Degradation and Consequences for Land
Rehabilitation
–
109
Tim Nieman, Ángel Faz Cano, Jan Maurits van Mourik
,
José Alberto Acosta Avilés and Silvia Martínez Martínez
Impacts of Bio- and Leather Industries on the Quality of
Sediment and Water in the
Guadalentin River,
SE Spain
119
Mohsen Sheklabadi, Hossein Khademi,
Mostafa Karimian Eghbal,
Edward G. Gregorich and Patrick St.-Georges
Overgrazing and Climate Induced Soil Biochemical Degradation
in Central Zagros, Iran
139
Francisco de la Garza, Ángel Faz,
Carlos García, Yessica Ortiz,
Andrea Zanuzzi, Dolores Coll, Blanca Castro and Patricio Rivera
Organic and Inorganic Pollutants Affecting the Soil Quality in
Southeast of Spain: A Comparative Study
151
Chapter II
Assessment and Quantification
Jaume
Porta
Quantification of Land Degradation Stress: An Overview
163
Carlos Añó, Antonio Valera and Juan Sánchez
Urban Sprawl and Soil Sealing in the Metropolitan Area
of
Valencia,
Spain
177
László Pásztor, Imre
Pálfai, Csaba
Bozán, János Körösparti,
Zsófia Bakacsi and József
Szabó
Quantifying and Mapping Lowland Excess Water Hazard
185
Raquel Pérez-Rodríguez, Maria Jose Marqués, Luis Jiménez,
Silvia García-Ormaechea and Ramón Bienes
Testing of Rainfall Simulator Nozzles for Suitability within
Soil Erosion Plots
191
Juergen Schmidt and Frank Mauersberger
Wind Effects on Soil Erosion by Water
201
Giuseppe
Baldassarre and Nicola Palumbo
Identification and Assessment of Soil Erosion Processes in a
Widely Cropped Watershed in Southern Italy
207
Carmen Fernández-López, Ángel Faz Cano, Mª Ángeles Muñoz
García
and Joselito M. Arocena
Metal Contents of Soils near the Mining Districts in
El Choro, Bolivia
219
Edoardo A.C.
Costantini
and Giovanni L’Abate
A Soil Aridity Index to Assess Desertification Risk for
Italy
231
Carmen Castañeda, María A. Asensio and Juan Herrero
Quantifying Visible Land Degradation of Saline Wetlands in an
Arid Region of NE Spain
243
Ramon Bienes, Luis Jiménez, Raquel Pérez, Silvia
García-Ormaechea
and Maria Jose Marques
Shrub Covers and Erosional Withdrawal of Sediments and
Plant Litter from the Soil
251
Jesús Fernández-Gálvez, Javier Palenzuela, Nguyen Van
Dao,
José Miguel Barea and Enrique Barahona†
Soil Degradation Assessment Using a Limited Set of
Simple Physicochemical Tests
263
Pedro Martínez-Pagán, Angel Faz, Silvia Martínez-Martínez,
Jose Alberto Acosta, Enrique Aracil, Marcos Antonio Martínez-Segura,
Dora María Carmona and Andrea Zanuzzi
Risk Assessment and Reclamation Possibilities of some Abandoned
Mining Ponds in Murcia Province,
SE Spain
273
Héctor Miguel Conesa Alcaraz
and Ángel Faz Cano
Metal Uptake by Naturally Occurring Vegetation in a Metal
Polluted Salt Marsh in Southeast Spain
287
Chapter III
Rehabilitation of Degraded Landscapes
Rosa Calvo de Anta and Felipe Macías
Remediation of Soils
Contaminated with Pyritic Sludge from a
Mine Spill in Aznalcóllar,
Spain
295
Antinio Ramalho-Filho, Pedro Luiz de Freitas and
Marie Elisabeth Christine
Claessen
Land Degradation and the Zero-Tillage System in Brazil
311
Nieves Alonso Blázquez, Eusebio
Francisco De Andrés,
Pablo García Estríngana, Jose Luis Tenorio and Jesus Alegre
Use of Sewage Sludge Compost in the Revegetation of
Abandoned Cropland
325
Jesús
Fernández-Gálvez and Enrique Barahona†
Effect of Structure Disturbance on Soil Water Retention Curves
333
José Manuel Fernández, Cesar Plaza, Diana
Hernández, Raúl del Río,
Héctor Matías
Fritis
and Alfredo Polo
Organic Matter Transformations in a Soil Amended With Two
Kinds of Sewage Sludges Under Aerobic Incubation
339
Miriam Llona and Ángel Faz Cano
Contributions from Pig Slurry to Micro- and Macro-nutrients
Status of Soil Planted with Broccoli
347
Elizabeth Lam Esquenazi and Ítalo
Montofré Bacigalupo
Phytoremediation of Lead and Zinc Using
Myoporum laetum
and
Brassica
nigra in
Antofagasta,
Northern Chile
355
Linnell Edwards
Challenges of Commercial Bio-Waste Usage to Reverse
Arable
Land
Degradation in Atlantic
Canada
361
Gennaro Brunetti, César Plaza, Donato Mondelli and Nicola
Senesi
Reclamation of Degraded
Soils by Olive Pomace Amendment:
Effects on Soil Humic Acids
369
Andrea Zanuzzi, Angel Faz Cano and Tom Loring
Recommendations for the Phytostabilization of Acidic Mine
Tailings from SE Spain
377
Ana Caballero, Angel Faz and Juan Bautista Lobera
Bioremediation of Pig Farm Wastewater Using
Constructed Wetlands
391
Chapter IV
Economics, Policy and Legal Framework
Luca Montanarella, Richard Arnold and Erika Michéli
Soil Conservation Services in the European Union and in the
United States of America
399
Silvia Martínez-Martínez,
Angel Faz and Jose A. Acosta
Background and Reference Levels of Heavy Metals
in Igneous Rocks and Soils in Murcia, SE
Spain
411
F.
Turkelboom, W. Van Besien and J. Deckers
A Livelihood Centered Land Degradation Assessment
Framework (LILAF) for Dry Areas
427
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