Maintenance of soil health through biochemical processes under different anthropogenic contamination
active 1 year, 1 month ago: Evaluate the effect of different intensity contamination by sewage sludge as a primary source of microplastics on soil health and how it could affect the C sequestration by changing its biogeochemical cycle
Tasks:
Evaluate microplastics concentration in different agricultural soils (forest or perennial grass as a control); soil affected by different anthropogenic contamination (fertilization with different doses of sewage sludge). Quality and quantity of microplastics; Physical interactions between microplastics and soil aggregates; Chemometric discrimination of soil health by changes detected in measured chemical compounds content. Study of impacts of microplastics on SOC properties and possible changes of carbon cycle. Relation between soil organic carbon fractions and microplastics fractions (size); Remediation of microplastics from soil ecosystems (lysimeters/ phytoremediation/ etc.). DOC fingerprint characterization in lysimetric water, nutrients fraction composition determination (?). Modelling???
