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Geochemical Mapping in Land Managing

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A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2022) | Viewed by 31182

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Dr. Marina Cabral Pinto

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Guest Editor

Department of Geosciences, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: soils; water; exposure and health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Eduardo Ferreira da Silva

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Guest Editor

Department of Geosciences & GEOBIOTEC Research Unit, Campus Universitário de Santiago, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: hydrochemistry; geochemical assessment; medical geology; geostatistics; inorganic pollution
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Amit Kumar

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Guest Editor

Host Plant Division, Central Muga Eri Research & Training Institute, Central Silk Board, Ministry of Textile, GOVT of India, Lahdoigarh, Jorhat, 785700 Assam, India
Interests: biogeochemistry; heavy metals; environmental impact assessment; environment; sericulture; eco-physiology; GHG emission; climate change; soil analysis; soil chemistry

Dr. Munesh Kumar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand 249 161, India
Interests: soils, exposure and helth; carbon sequestration
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Geochemical survey application has expanded to also encompass environmental monitoring, land-use decision support, natural resource management, and medical geology. Diverse sampling media have been targeted by geochemical surveys over time, including rock, sediment, soil, alluvium, ground water, surface water, dust, and vegetation.

Systematic geochemical data on agricultural soil at an internationally comparable level only exist for a few countries, and data on grazing land soil are completely missing. Such data are of utmost importance because food production and quality depend on the properties of arable and grassland soil. All living organisms are composed of major, minor, and trace elements supplied by local geology. Such elements occur in varying concentrations and forms throughout the atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere. As a result, plants, animals, and humans are exposed regularly to these elements. With respect to each essential element, all organisms depend on a specific range of tolerance or adequate range of exposure that is safe. Deficient or excessive concentration levels of these essential elements can lead to adverse health effects and, in certain cases, death. Geochemical mapping in land management links the influence of natural geological and environmental benefits and risk factors to the distribution of health problems in plants, humans, and animals.

The composition of rocks and minerals is imprinted on the air that we breathe, the water that we drink, and the food that we eat. For many people, this transference of trace elements from minerals is beneficial, as they are the primary source of nutrients (such as calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and about a dozen other elements) that are essential for a healthy life. However, sometimes, local geology can cause significant health problems when there is an insufficient amount of an essential element, an excess of a potentially toxic element (such as arsenic, mercury, lead, and fluorine), or a harmful substance, such as methane gas, dust-sized particles of asbestos, quartz or pyrite, or certain naturally occurring organic compounds.

Global environmental threats have historically been largely ignored in terms of health, despite their enormous impact on both people and the planet. The cause, involvement, and/or spread of infectious, neurodegenerative, carcinogenic, and other diseases are influenced by climate change and environmental pollution as well as poor water quality and sanitation, food insecurity, environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity, natural and anthropogenically caused disasters, and poor governance. Thus, there is an urgent need for a multidisciplinary approach combining diverse areas, such as environmental sciences, and integrating socioeconomic and environmental/health data.

This Special Issue of Land will discuss the recent advances of geochemical mapping in land management and provide examples from research conducted all over the world. Among the topics to be discussed are:

Risk assessments;
Assessment of contaminated land;
Industrial pollution and spatial planning;
Pollution of agricultural land;
Land use and land cover;
Soil;
Potentially harmful/essential elements;
Bioaccessibility and bioavailability;
Dust;
Water;
Diseases;
Mineralogy;
Biogeochemistry;
Ecological health;
Vulnerability assessment;
Forestry.

Dr. Marina Cabral Pinto
Prof. Dr. Eduardo Ferreira da Silva
Dr. Amit Kumar
Dr. Munesh Kumar
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

land use
spatial planning
pollution
land cover
soil
nutrients
risk assessments
potentially harmful elements
essential elements
bioaccessibility
bioavailability
dust
water
diseases
mineralogy
biogeochemical
ecological health
forestry

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 1360 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Changes in Soil Sulphur Fractions as Influenced by Nutrient Management Practices in Mulberry

by Dhaneshwar Padhan, Dhanushree Shivaraj, Akshitha Doddagenigera Nagaraja, Pragyan Paramita Rout, C. M. Babu, Ravindra Aurade, Sobhana Velayudhan and Babulal

Land 2023, 12(6), 1160; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12061160 - 31 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1431

Abstract

Sulphur (S) plays a vital role in improving the quality of mulberry leaves because of its involvement in protein synthesis. The knowledge of different pools of S in soils and its bioavailability for mulberry nutrition is thus, required for optimizing S fertilization. Hence, the present study was designed to ascertain the influence of chemical fertilizer and farmyard manure (both are S sources) on S fractions and its bioavailability in soils. In this regard, four nutrient management practices viz., control (without any chemical fertilizers and organic manures), recommended doses of N, P and K fertilizers (100% RDF), 80% RDF, 60% RDF with four mulberry varieties viz., V-1, G-4, AGB-8 and MSG-2 besides a fallow were considered for the study. Furthermore, the bioavailability of S in soils was tested using four commonly used chemical extractants viz., CaCl₂, NaHCO₃, AB-DTPA and Mehlich-3 (with different modes and chemistry of extraction). Organic S was the dominant fraction in the experimental soils accounting for 94.7% of total soil S while the inorganic fraction constituted only 5.3% that includes water soluble, sorbed and carbonate occluded S. Lowest amount of organic S content in soils of unmanured control (579.6 mg kg⁻¹) was observed while the 100% RDF treatment (673.2 mg kg⁻¹) maintained a higher content of soil organic S. High amount of sorbed and occluded S was observed in control plot compared to other fertilizer treatments (100% RDF, 80% RDF and 60% RDF). There was a gradual decline in soil S fractions when the fertilizer inputs were reduced to 60% suggesting that recommended doses of fertilizer inputs could maintain the soil S fractions. In addition, the extractable fractions of S were influenced by the fertilizer application rates and the extractability of all four extractants decreased with the reduction in fertilizer inputs. The amount of S extracted by all four chemical extractants followed the order of NaHCO₃ > Mehlich-3 > AB-DTPA > CaCl₂ across the tested soils. Dynamic relationships among the extractants indicated that they could extract the S from the same pools in soil. Of the four extractants tested for evaluating plant available S, Mehlich-3 showed a higher degree of correlations with plant tissue S concentration and applied S through chemical fertilizers and farmyard manure. Furthermore, it could maintain strong correlations with water soluble and organic S fractions which were found to contribute significantly to plant S concentration. Thus, Mehlich-3 can be recommended for the assessment of bioavailable S for the nutrition of mulberry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geochemical Mapping in Land Managing)

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13 pages, 467 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Seasonal and Altitudinal Variation in Chemical Composition of Celtis australis L. Tree Foliage

by Bhupendra Singh, Munesh Kumar, Marina M. S. Cabral-Pinto and Bhagwati Prasad Bhatt

Land 2022, 11(12), 2271; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11122271 - 12 Dec 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1159

Abstract

Celtis australis is an important agroforestry tree in the Himalayan region providing major fodder to the livestock and many other needs for sustaining life in local rural communities. Including their fodder value and wide altitudinal distribution ranges, it is extracted by the villagers in large scale during the lean period (May to June). Thus, the aim was to understand the nutritive values of the species influenced by the altitude and harvesting season. For this investigation, leaves of C. australis were collected from four different altitudes during the months of February to December. The nutritive value of collected foliage, i.e., dry matter, ash, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, crude protein, crude fiber, starch, sugar, and phenolic were estimated by using stranded methods. The results of present study reveal that significant seasonal variations have been observed for the chemical composition of C. australis tree foliage collected from different altitudes. On an average, between seasons, crude protein ranged from 9.17 to 16.97%, phosphorus 0.08 to 0.16%, potassium 0.28 to 0.76%, crude fiber 13.94 to 19.80%, sugars 1.11 to 1.83%, and starch 4.79 to 6.53%. Altitude also significantly influenced nutritive content. Between altitudes, phosphorus ranged from 0.10 to 0.11%, potassium 0.42 to 0.50%, crude protein 12.66 to 14.02%, crude fiber 1.61 to 1.71%, sugars 1.45 to 1.66%, starch 4.71 to 6.31%, and phenolic 0.43 to 0.78%. Potassium, calcium, crude protein, and starch were significantly positively correlated with altitude of foliage collection. However, dry matter content, phosphorus, and soluble sugars, significantly correlated inversely with altitude. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geochemical Mapping in Land Managing)

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18 pages, 3628 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Soil Quality Assessment in a Landslide Chronosequence of Indian Himalayan Region

by Deepesh Goyal, Varun Joshi, Neha Gupta and Marina M. S. Cabral-Pinto

Land 2022, 11(10), 1819; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11101819 - 17 Oct 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2054

Abstract

Landslides cause ecosystem degradation; they can significantly alter and deteriorate the soil quality. The analysis of deterioration in soil quality is critical as it provides baseline evidence for subsequent revegetation and management of forest. The effects of landslides on the natural environment (losses of soil resources), on the other hand, have received little consideration. Such information about the status of loss of soil resources in the landslide–disturbed areas of the Garhwal Himalayas is lacking. Therefore, the objective of the study is to assess the changes in soil quality restoration after the occurrence of landslides. A chronosequence of four landslide disturbed sites, L₆–6–year–old, L₁₆–16–year–old, L₂₁–21–year–old and L₂₆–26–year–old, was selected in the Alaknanda watershed of Uttarakhand. Seventy–six samples have been collected from the four landslide sites and a reference site (undisturbed site). The sites L₆ and L₁₆ are considered as recent landslide sites, whereas L₂₁ and L₂₆ are considered as old landslide sites. Entisols (Lithic–Udorthents) predominate in all the studied sites. The results have demonstrated that with the increasing age of landslides, the soil quality progressively improves with time, and the concentration of soil nutrients, viz., available phosphorus (AP), available potassium (AK) and mineralisable nitrogen (MN), in old landslide sites reaches to about 84%, 87% and 97%, respectively, of the reference site. Soil Quality Index (SQI) scores have been calculated using the Integrated Quality Index (IQI) equation. The disturbed sites L₆, L₁₆, L₂₁ and L₂₆ and the reference site have SQI scores of 0.136, 0.279, 0.447, 0.604 and 0.882, respectively. However, significant differences exist between the SQI of all the studied sites (p < 0.05, Tukey’s HSD), which implies that the concentration of soil organic carbon (SOC) and available nutrients was reduced due to the occurrence of landslides. The results also suggested that SOC, AP and clay fraction can be considered important evaluation indicators to assess soil quality and development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geochemical Mapping in Land Managing)

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17 pages, 1972 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Carbon Storage of Single Tree and Mixed Tree Dominant Species Stands in a Reserve Forest—Case Study of the Eastern Sub-Himalayan Region of India

by Prakash Rai, Vineeta, Gopal Shukla, Abha Manohar K, Jahangeer A Bhat, Amit Kumar, Munesh Kumar, Marina Cabral-Pinto and Sumit Chakravarty

Land 2021, 10(4), 435; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10040435 - 19 Apr 2021

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 3211

Abstract

In recent decades, carbon (C) management is an important point on the agenda to identify the best viable mitigation strategies for its reduction. The study was conducted at Jaldapara National Park located in the Eastern Himalayan region of India. The study quantified litter production, decomposition, periodic nutrient release, soil fertility status, and soil organic carbon (SOC) of five major forest stands i.e., Tectona grandis (TGDS), Shorea robusta (SRDS), Michelia champaca (MCDS), Lagerstroemia parviflora (LPDS) and miscellaneous stand (MS). A stratified random nested quadrate method was adopted for sample collection. Results reveal that the greatest amount of litter production and decomposition was under MCDS followed by MS, LPDS, SRDS, and the smallest under TGDS. The material annual turnover through litter decomposition in all the stands varies between 96.46% and 99.34%. The content and amount of the available nutrients in litter varied significantly among the stands. Moreover, release of these nutrients was nearly equal to the amount available in the initial litter mass. In general, the magnitude of the total nutrient return was in the same order as the total litter fall and the nutrient availability was more closely related to litter nutrient content and soil organic carbon. The range of pH (4.86–5.16), EC (0.34–0.50), soil moisture (27.01–31.03) and available primary nutrients (N: (0.21–0.26 Mg/ha), P: (0.09–0.12 Mg/ha), K: (0.13–0.14 Mg/ha)) also varied significantly among the stands. Significant positive correlations were observed between SOC, N and K. Both the fertility indices exhibited no definite pattern in the stands but a significant correlation between the two indicates the healthy soil fertility status of the stands. SOC varies significantly under different forest stands, but the greatest content was found under MS. The estimated SOC ranges between 75.9 and 107.7 Mg ha⁻¹ up to 60 cm and is reported to be below the Indian average of 182.94 Mg ha⁻¹. The present study strongly recommends that Tectona grandis, Shorea robusta, Michelia champaca, and Lagerstroemia parviflora should be the important commercial timbers of the Eastern Himalayan region because they may help further to increase the C sink in agricultural and degraded landscapes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geochemical Mapping in Land Managing)

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11 pages, 3205 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Long Term Sediment Modification Effects after Applications of P Inactivation Method in Meromictic Lake (Starodworskie Lake, Olsztyn Lakeland, Poland)

by Renata Augustyniak, Renata Tandyrak, Michał Łopata and Jolanta Grochowska

Land 2021, 10(4), 411; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10040411 - 13 Apr 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1751

Abstract

Lake restoration is a part of geoengineering, which is a useful tool for landscape management. The phosphorus inactivation method is one of the most popular lake restoration methods. Using chemical compounds for P binding is leading to the creation of sediment “active layer”, which should show higher P adsorption abilities, compared to non-modified sediment. Howewer, it provides rather little information, how long the modified sediment remains active, and whether it is effective in continuous P binding. Lake meromixis is not commonly observed phenomenon, and sediment located in monimolimnion area is subjected long term anoxia. Therefore, observation of “active layer” in a meromictic lake can give very important data about durability of restoration effects. The object of our study was meromictic Starodworskie Lake (5.57 ha, max. depth 24.5 m), located in Olsztyn Lakeland, Poland. In the past the analyzed lake was subjected to various restoration methods, and phosphorus inactivation method by alum use (1994–1995) was the last used treatment type. The mixing regime of this lake had changed from bradimictic (before and during restoration time) into durable meromictic (post-restoration period). The research made two decades after implementing of P inactivation showed the presence of “active” sediment layer 10–15 cm below sediment surface. This sediment layer showed much higher content of P bound to aluminum, compared to surficial sediment layer. P binding molar ratio was assessed and amounted to 16.1 straightly after restoration and 6.1 after 21 years. This fraction amounts were higher that the values noted before restoration (ca. 358% higher than in 1994) and during restoration (ca. 86% higher than in 1995), which was probably the effect of continuous phosphorus adsorption by “active layer” in post-restoration period. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geochemical Mapping in Land Managing)

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18 pages, 4840 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Modified Bare Soil Index to Identify Bare Land Features during Agricultural Fallow-Period in Southeast Asia Using Landsat 8

by Can Trong Nguyen, Amnat Chidthaisong, Phan Kieu Diem and Lian-Zhi Huo

Land 2021, 10(3), 231; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10030231 - 25 Feb 2021

Cited by 64 | Viewed by 15613

Abstract

Bare soil is a critical element in the urban landscape and plays an essential role in urban environments. Yet, the separation of bare soil and other land cover types using remote sensing techniques remains a significant challenge. There are several remote sensing-based spectral indices for barren detection, but their effectiveness varies depending on land cover patterns and climate conditions. Within this research, we introduced a modified bare soil index (MBI) using shortwave infrared (SWIR) and near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths derived from Landsat 8 (OLI—Operational Land Imager). The proposed bare soil index was tested in two different bare soil patterns in Thailand and Vietnam, where there are large areas of bare soil during the agricultural fallow period, obstructing the separation between bare soil and urban areas. Bare soil extracted from the MBI achieved higher overall accuracy of about 98% and a kappa coefficient over 0.96, compared to bare soil index (BSI), normalized different bare soil index (NDBaI), and dry bare soil index (DBSI). The results also revealed that MBI considerably contributes to the accuracy of land cover classification. We suggest using the MBI for bare soil detection in tropical climatic regions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geochemical Mapping in Land Managing)

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23 pages, 1009 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Community Preparation and Vulnerability Indices for Floods in Pahang State of Malaysia

by Alias Nurul Ashikin, Mohd Idris Nor Diana, Chamhuri Siwar, Md. Mahmudul Alam and Muhamad Yasar

Land 2021, 10(2), 198; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10020198 - 16 Feb 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4367

Abstract

The east coast of Malaysia is frequently hit by monsoon floods every year that severely impact people, particularly those living close to the river bank, which is considered to be the most vulnerable and high-risk areas. We aim to determine the most vulnerable area and understand affected residents of this community who are living in the most sensitive areas caused by flooding events in districts of Temerloh, Pekan, and Kuantan, Pahang. This study involved collecting data for vulnerability index components. A field survey and face-to-face interviews with 602 respondents were conducted 6 months after the floods by using a questionnaire evaluation based on the livelihood vulnerability index (LVI). The findings show that residents in the Temerloh district are at higher risk of flooding damage compared to those living in Pekan and Kuantan. Meanwhile, the contribution factor of LVI-Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) showed that Kuantan is more exposed to the impact of climate change, followed by Temerloh and Pekan. Among all the principal components shown, food components were considered to be the most vulnerable. Meanwhile, water components were categorised as the most invulnerable. Preventive planning involves preserving human life, minimising damage to household products, preserving crops and animals, adequate supply of clean water and food, good health and ensuring financial sustainability as an indication of changing livelihoods, sustainable food-storing systems, and other protective steps to curb damage and injury caused by annual flood strikes. Information generated on LVI assessment and adaptation procedures will help policymakers reduce people’s vulnerability in the face of floods and ensure proper plans are put in place in all relevant areas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geochemical Mapping in Land Managing)

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