Contribution by Giant petrels and Brown skuas to soil phosphatization in Harmony Point - Maritime Antarctica.

This research was conducted for the purpose to evaluate the contribution Giant petrels and Brown skuas nestings in the formation of ornithogenic soils by the phosphatization process in Harmony Point, Maritime Antarctic. Ten nests were selected to collect topsoil samples (0-20 cm), from 0 m up to 20 m away, with regular spacing of 2 m. The analysis of the samples included the physical, chemical, mineralogical and geochemical analyzes.

Metabarcoding of Soil Fungal Communities in Rupestrian Grassland Areas Preserved and Degraded by Mining: Implications for Restoration.

Rupestrian grasslands are vegetation complexes of the Cerrado biome (Brazilian savanna), exhibiting simultaneously great biodiversity and important open-pit mining areas. There is a strong demand for the conservation of remaining areas and restoration of degraded. This study evaluated, using next-generation sequencing, the diversity and ecological aspects of soil fungal communities in ferruginous rupestrian grassland areas preserved and degraded by bauxite mining in Brazil.

Soil-chronosequence and Quaternary landscape evolution at the marine terraces of Harmony Point, Nelson Island, Maritime Antarctica.

This study characterized the physical, chemical, macro- and micromorphological soil properties from three successive marine terrace levels from Harmony Point (Nelson Island, Maritime Antarctica) in order to understand the pedological signatures of Quaternary coastal landscape evolution of Maritime Antarctica. Soils were sampled on the Late Holocene beach (current beach) and Mid Holocene marine terraces higher up, at 3, 8, and 12 m a.s.

Changes in the hydro-sedimentary balance: Impacts of the use of a borrow pit in a low-order stream.

Construction of dams for hydroelectric power requires significant quantities of soil and rock, which are often extracted in borrow pits from adjacent regions. Although the effects of dams on stream processes has received significant attention, the effects of borrow pits has not. The main objective of this study was to analyze the geomorphological and sedimentological aspects of two second-order streams, one of which was directly affected by the borrow pit located upstream of its source (Pedra Branca stream).

A hydroelectric dam borrow pit rehabilitation. Two decades after the project, what went wrong?

Although environmental rehabilitation projects that did not succeed are not uncommon, there are few research papers that deal with the subject. Works on the rehabilitation of borrow pits are even more rare. In an attempt to fulfill some gaps, the present study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of a program for the restoration of a clay borrow pit used for the construction of a hydroelectric plant, twenty years after its execution.

Cadmium behavior in a karst environment hydrological cycle.

Karst regions are important water providers, supplying approximately 25% of the world population. These areas present higher vulnerability to contamination due to hydrodynamics, which hampers the natural depuration of these waters until reaching the underground environment. High concentrations of cadmium (Cd) are observed in the São Miguel watershed, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Influence of soil texture on nutrients and potentially hazardous elements in Eremanthus erythropappus.

Understanding the factors that control uptake rates and allocation of chemical elements among plant organs is a fundamental prerequisite to improve phytostabilization techniques of hazardous elements in contaminated areas. The present study shows evidence that different substrate textures (coarse and fine laterite) do not significantly change the partitioning of root and shoot dry biomass and with few exceptions, do not significantly affect the final average concentration of elements in Eremanthus erythropappus, but change the root:shoot allocation of both essential nutrients and elements potentially toxic to biota. Growth on coarse laterite resulted in significant higher K (30%), Mg (34%), P (25%), S (32%), Cu (58%), and Na (43%) concentrations in roots and lower Cd concentration (29%).

Growing Eremanthus erythropappus in crushed laterite: A promising alternative to topsoil for bauxite-mine revegetation.

Topsoil is the preferred substrate for areas requiring rehabilitation after bauxite mining. However, topsoil is sometimes lacking and so there is a need to test the suitability of other, locally available substrates. In an abandoned bauxite mine in Southeastern Brazil, small patches of native vegetation spontaneously established in shallow depressions over weathered laterite, suggesting that granulometric reduction may have facilitated the establishment of plants.